I Lied

Summary: Kurt confesses the truth about the Defying Gravity debacle to the Glee Club.

Rating: T

Characters: Kurt Hummel, New Directions

AU: Kurt hasn't gone to Dalton

Will smiled as he walked into the choir room. His set list for Sectionals was almost chosen, he just needed the songs. The lead vocalists were set and he was feeling confident. After seeing how much work they had all put in, Will had decided (with a little help from Emma) to showcase the voices of the Glee Club that perhaps felt neglected and underused. That included giving the solo to Kurt, which Will was more than comfortable to do.

"Alright, guys! Sectionals is in two weeks and I've decided the set list. We'll be doing a solo, a duet and a group number."

"Isn't it a little bit too early to be deciding the set list, Mr Schue? I mean, we need to wait until the last possible moment before deciding what songs to sing." Brittany piped up before being silenced by Rachel.

"What song would you like me to sing for my solo, Mr Schuester?" Rachel stood up, beaming. Will cocked his head. Rachel instantly knew what this meant.

"You're not getting the solo this time, Rachel. During Duets week, I realised that so many of you needed that time to shine. So, I've decided to showcase you." Will took out his list. "The group number will be sung by Artie, Brittany, Mercedes, Puck, Quinn and Tina. You guys should decide the song and get back to me. The sooner you start rehearsing, the better it can be!" The group members clapped their hands. Kurt smiled for them. He was happy for them to be finally singing at Sectionals, but that just meant that it was unlikely that he would be.

He sighed, doubting that Mr Schuester would hand him the duet. He had proved his capabilities, but Mr. Schuester would never let him sing with a boy.

Rachel steeled herself, figuring that she had the duet. She could work with that. A group number meant that the lines were split between six other people, meaning that she wouldn't be able to sing very much.

"I'd like Sam and Santana to take the duet." Will spoke, nodding to the two that sat side by side. Sam turned immediately to Quinn and hugged her whilst Santana shared celebration with Brittany. Will knew that he had made the right decision by just seeing the looks on their faces. He also shared a laugh with himself at Rachel's expression. It was thunderous. Will thought that she was just being spoiled and not a team player. This was a lesson that she needed to learn the hard way. And she would. Maybe not singing at Sectionals would make her realise that the New Directions could win without her. Maybe it would spur her on to try harder and make her voice even better for Regionals and Nationals.

Will also spotted the despondence on Kurt's face. Will knew that it was cruel, leaving the solo announcement until last, making Kurt believe that he wasn't going to sing, yet again. But Will would definitely make his day by telling him that he was getting the solo.

"And with whatever song you wish to sing, you two. Just make sure I hear it before the end of the week so we can sort out harmonies if you need them." The two nodded and individually brainstormed ideas. Quinn was a little bit wary of leaving her boyfriend to practise with Santana alone for the next two weeks. But she trusted Sam, more than she trusted Finn and especially Puck, but Santana was Santana. She stole people's boyfriends as a hobby. And she had definitely fought to steal Puck from her while she was pregnant. Her hands reflexively moved to her stomach. She sighed when she realised that she was getting her abs back. She sort of missed the company of the foetus. It meant that she wasn't so alone.

Speaking of alone, she noticed how dejected Kurt looked lately, sitting apart from the rest of the group, not contributing to discussions. He sometimes skipped lunch and ate elsewhere. Quinn made a note to talk to him about things. She genuinely liked Kurt, but admittedly had not made much of an effort to befriend him beyond the generic acquaintanceship that they shared through being in Glee Club together.

"Kurt!" Mr. Schuester yelled, making the boy jolt in his seat. He looked up timidly and bit his lip.

"Sorry, Mr. Schue. I spaced." Kurt frowned. Quinn's heart went out to him.

"That's alright, Kurt. But you're going to have to pay attention if you want the solo." Mr. Schue grinned.

Kurt frowned. "I can audition for the solo?"

"No, Kurt. You misunderstood. The solo is yours. I'm giving it to you. You, Kurt Hummel, are singing the solo for Sectionals."

"Really?" Rachel said bitchily.

Santana raised a hand. "Erm, Mr. Schue, Kurt's good and all, but I'm sure we all remember Defying Gravity."

Kurt froze. He didn't want to get into that. He had gone a year without it coming back up, so why now? He would have to tell him to protect the solo, right?

Mr. Schuester considered it. "I have no concerns about Kurt's ability to sing the solo, Santana. You should apologise."

"No, that's okay, Mr. Schuester. Santana is perfectly entitled to her own opinions. But I have something to say about that particular incident." Will nodded and Kurt went to the front, putting his hands on his hip as he always did.

"I'm sure Santana is not the only one who remembers Defying Gravity. But I have to clarify something."

New Directions were intrigued to say the least. They thrived off drama and this was surely going to be it.

"I blew the note."

Gasps scattered around the room and Kurt just saw Puck nodding knowingly. How would Puck even know? Unless he made the call and put two and two together.

"Why would you do that, Kurt? You wanted the solo!" Will pointed out. Kurt shrugged.

"I did. But not enough. The day before the competition, my dad got a call at work. The anonymous kind." The Glee kids exchanged looks. They knew that Kurt was harassed anonymously but they hadn't realised it had gotten to his father. "Telling him that his son was...a fag. I couldn't go up on stage at Sectionals and sing a song traditionally sung by a woman. That would just subject my father to more vicarious abuse. And I love my father. I would never do something to hurt him like that. So I figured that the best way to do that was to intentionally lose. I could deal with everyone thinking I wasn't good enough as long as my dad was okay.

"And now we're here. I didn't think this would ever come up again, but there you have it. But I'm sure it wouldn't have changed anything. Rachel was spectacular."

"The hell it wouldn't. I was about to vote for you until that happened!" Puck shot a half-apologetic look to Rachel before looking to Kurt indignantly. Several echoes were heard throughout the room but Kurt shook his head.

"Never mind, what's done is done. It wasn't even performed at Sectionals, anyway."

Will had an idea. "You know, you could always sing it."

Rachel gaped. "No! That is my song, Mr. Schuester! You can't just give it to Kurt after I won it!"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Pipe down, Fanny. Kurt would've won and you know it. Let him sing it. He deserves to."

Kurt eyed Santana suspiciously. "So first you instigate this whole thing and then defend me?"

"I like to cause drama. Plus, I was sick of keeping your secret."

"You knew?"

"I'm quite surprised everyone else didn't! We've heard Kurt hit higher notes before. It's not like a High F would escape him." Tina nodded her agreement. Mike cheered.

"Well, it looks like Sectionals is about to hear Defying Gravity sung by a countertenor." Kurt beamed and sat down, to raucous applause.

Mr. Schuester took command of the room once more. "So there we have it. The plans for Sectionals. Everyone go and rehearse this week. Mike, I'd like to talk to you about choreography if that's okay. Good job everyone."

Everyone suddenly had a great feeling about Sectionals that year.

Author's Note: I currently have 70 different one shots planned. To help me write them, could you all leave a review with a number and I'll write whichever ones you pick!

The song is I Lied by Nicki Minaj from her album The Pinkprint.