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Chapter 2

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Quinn Fabray had no weight to add to the words she said when she walked in and saw Kurt Hummel sitting at the table with Rachel Berry, Mercedes Jones and a few of the other girls she'd formed the group with.

"You can't be here." She had meant the girls' side of the meeting, they'd meet with the boys later. Kurt raised an eyebrow, Rachel Berry raised her voice but no one listened to the words she was saying.

Quinn and Kurt held each other's eyes for a long time before she huffed. "I don't mean that you can't be celibate, I encourage you to remain that way, I just mean that you belong with the boys for now."

"I don't think I'm very welcomed by the boys." He hadn't been exactly welcomed here either except by Rachel who had latched onto his arm and preened that this was something they could do together. Since Kurt had painted a target on his own back with his actions, she'd been unable to leave his side, just putting herself in danger too but at least this way they were in danger together and she couldn't get corned by herself.

Boys had never threatened her that way but she was also still 15. Boys would begin to start noticing her soon though, even if everyone would swear she wasn't their type or found her attractive in the least, she was a female and had female parts and boys were disgustingly boys. All except Kurt.

The second he'd shown up to school in something other than his regular attire, Rachel knew. She had two gay dads after all. She should have known before, but Kurt managed to pass and had kept enough to himself, and had been a cute boy. Now that he'd shot up, he was still cute but he was going through a little bit of an awkward stage but she knew, she knew that he'd be hot and both men and women would think so. Until then, he wouldn't be able to pass and in the future, had he wanted to, he might, he probably could but only if he wanted to and never by those who knew the real him, who would know who he really was and what he was capable of putting together and doing. Oh and boy was he capable.

His outfits were lit and Rachel found herself running her hands over them sometimes, ignoring his protests and pushing her hands away, they were always of the best quality material, always so put together. He'd always been put together, even after working at his dad's shop and getting dirty – except he never allowed himself to get really dirty, a dirty he couldn't clean up right away and his hair was always perfect, even then.

She offered to be his beard one day after Glee Club, so far it had been her and Kurt who'd signed up and tried out. She wanted permission to run her hands through his hair, over his body

"Thanks Rachel, honestly, that's a sweet offer but I don't need it. I'm already in a relationship and I'm proud of it."

That was news to her. "Oh? Anyone I know."

"Not yet, you might meet him down the road though, if this club ever gets off it's feet."

"Another glee club?" Rachel was scandalized. "What if they want to spy on us, get information from you to help beat us?"

Kurt snorted. "We're not even a glee club yet, we haven't even attended invitationals. We're nobody's threat yet and even so, I wouldn't be worried about it. We're not like that, we won't disclose vital information to each other." Kurt was only teasing but he knew that it didn't matter, the Warblers were honest boys and so was he. He'd met all of Blaine's friends ages ago and liked all of the and they'd been nice to him too. Well, all except Sebastian who'd been trying for ages to get into Blaine's pants.

He just hadn't been what Blaine was looking for. Kurt was. Blaine didn't like it himself, he had wanted to like someone like Sebastian, it would have made his life a lot easier, someone who was familiar with his social circles, could afford to be on his level with things, attend the same school, graduate at the same time, go to the same places after graduation. That's what Sebastian had said.

What Blaine had said was that none of those things mattered, he'd just been upset about Kurt's presence in his life because he knew that Kurt was going to be trouble, get into trouble and he didn't want that, he wanted the person he was with to always be safe. Oh and maybe he wanted to spend more time with Kurt while attending the same school, that would be nice too.

Kurt had known that Sebastian was right, that Blaine had trouble accepting that Kurt was the one who his heart had chosen. He'd also known that Blaine was right, he had no problems with Kurt himself, loved him in fact, and didn't disavow him of anything he wanted to do or came from, but was scared for Kurt because they lived so far away from each other and couldn't be there for him like he wanted to be. Like he could be.

Blaine hated and loved in equal measures everything about Kurt. He loved Kurt for who he was, what he stood for, what his life's goals and aspirations were and every single little part of him and his abilities and his personality and character, everything. But that also meant that Kurt was a target, had always been a target because he liked boys, but even more so now because everyone else knew it too and knew he wasn't going to be a quiet gay. So far he hadn't done anything except express his fashion sense but that wasn't going to last. Soon he'd be showing it far more and all over the place and be even more in their face. They'd fear that he would be trying to convert them to be more like him and they weren't far off the mark, he did want to convert them. He just didn't want them to be gay like him, he wanted them to accept him and those like him and he would push until that was a thing everyone in Lima could expect. A thing all of Ohio was behind, and then the country, treating those different than them with respect and fairness and for all the gay kids to feel safe in their own skin, be accepted and have a chance to live and love and be happy, just like the rest of them.

There was one fatal flaw to Kurt's plan, and Rachel Berry was the prime example of it. "Normal" kids didn't always get to live and love and be happy and treated with respect. In fact, equality just meant that they could do the same to her as well as him because it wasn't a hate crime then, it was just treating them all equally the same, even if that meant equally bad.

He would still push for everyone to be treated well, if not well than just accepted and ignored and allowed to be themselves and pretend it wasn't happening. That too though was the problem, if you ignored that two boys were in love, you could also ignore the fact that other boys didn't like it and did something about their dislike.

Ignoring the situation was not the answer. But neither was ignorance.

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Back to the matter at hand though, Quinn Fabray was staring at Kurt still. She shook her head when Rachel only laid her head on Kurt's shoulder, ignoring what he'd said about not needing a beard. She was firmly attached to him either way and she ignored his protests about her messing up his clothes. They got messed up with the slushies and other attacks anyway, she said, at least this was nice. He had wanted to argue with her but didn't. He let her continue to keep her head on his shoulder, Blaine would have a field day if he knew someone else was touching Kurt. He'd liked having been the only one to be that close, but then again, Blaine may not be angry, he'd want Kurt to have friends and close relationships and be loved by others and love others and have physical human connections, as long as it wasn't romantic. As long as it wasn't romantic or truly intimate, Blaine was more than willing to share, knowing it was good for Kurt and in the long run good for both of them and their relationship. As long as nobody tried to interfere in their relationship, that was.

For Kurt, it was the same way, as long as no one tried to get close to Blaine in the way Kurt was or to try and break them up or cause tension in their relationship, then Kurt was more than willing to share Blaine too, knowing he had already had ties to others before he entered Blaine's life.

"You belong with the boys." Quinn said and then they all realized what she'd said and inadvertently said and she blushed bright red.

"He belongs here!" Rachel protested, not wanting him to leave her alone with these other girls, she'd joined the group because he did but she knew none of them liked her.

"Kurt belongs wherever he wants to be, he belongs with all of us." Mercedes spoke and was glad that she hadn't gone the opposite direction – that he'd belonged nowhere. It was a surprise to hear it from her though, she was a largely religious person, had attended church not only every Sunday but also went every Wednesday and every other event there ever was that would have something for her to do or attend. She went all the time and practiced what she preached. She wanted a boyfriend, sure, someone to love but was not willing to go further than what she was comfortable with and mostly that was just holding hands if it ever got that far, maybe some kissing if she was feeling comfortable with the other one but nothing more than that until marriage.

She believed in god and the bible and for Kurt, anyone else he'd ever met that way, that meant they didn't believe in anything else, didn't accept anyone else. He was glad that she was the exception to the rule but he'd still have to watch and wait and see if she tried to convert him. See if she truly accepted him, all of him and his feelings and beliefs about matters. Is she could handle seeing him and Blaine together without rude comment or pushing for them to stop.

Kurt turned his gaze over to Mercedes who looked a little embarrassed about her outburst but not apologetic that she said anything. He offered her a small smile and she smiled just a little bit back at him. He leaned back into his seat and nudged her with his shoulder. She smiled a little wider. He'd just made another friend.

Rachel saw it, frowned a little and then a light bulb went off in her brain. She was the one to convince Mercedes to join and her name appeared under Kurt's on the list with sure strokes about who she was and what she was doing. Kurt and Mercedes shared another smile at Glee Practice the day she came and joined them.

Quinn never said anything again about Kurt being with the girls first and then the bigger group. She wasn't sure how long Kurt would last and if she could reach at least one person, the better. Even though she herself had no ability to put weight behind her words. She hadn't practiced what she preached and in a few short months it would be as obvious to the rest of the school as it was to Kurt.

He hoped he could reach her and the others before that happened. Tolerance was a lesson everyone needed to learn, even himself.

One he would be reminding himself again in a few short weeks. That night though, he only met half of the problem soon to be part of his life. He met Carole Hudson, whom he learned was dating his father for a few months now.

Carole herself wasn't the problem. It was the two boys she dragged along with her a few weeks later that had Kurt up in arms, trying to put as much space and distance between him and them, a little scared now that his private space was no longer safe.

Blaine had tried to reason with him, calm him, tell him that it was actually a good thing. "So if your bullies were suddenly in your living room, you'd be cool with it?" Kurt snapped back and Blaine held up his hands in peace and surrender.

"No, of course not." Blaine looked Kurt directly in the eye, they were in Kurt's bedroom in the basement. "But you know how that story went, started and unfurled and how it ended. Maybe you can have a different ending than I did. Have they actually hurt you?"

Kurt thought about all of what Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman had done to him over the years and then since he started changing his fashion. Neither of them had done anything directly to him. They'd been part of nailing his lawn furniture to the roof but he had always had an envelop of security around him as they hadn't been interested in tormenting him, he hadn't appeared to be fun, not like Ben was or Artie or even Rachel Berry. He had been in the nondescript category until just recently, just another body wandering through the halls, neither antagonizing anyone nor receiving their interest due to something positive he'd done or looked.

No, it was the other jocks that had hit him over the last few weeks or shoved him into the lockers as they passed him or slushied him. No, Puck had slushied and pushed him into lockers too but that was all. Finn, the head jock had ignored him and kept his distance. Perhaps because he knew their parents were dating. Kurt himself hadn't put those two things together until they were all in his living room. Not that he'd thought anything weird about Finn Hudson sharing the same last name as Carole Hudson, it was a fairly common name in the end, even in Lima and the fact that she was of the same nondescript coloring of brown hair and brown eyes, hadn't even registered, because again, common. Or the fact that she was the appropriate age to have a child around Kurt and Finn's ages. Why had Puck come though? He thought about it and remembered Carole saying something about how Puck was part of the package because he was always over and they might as well all meet at one time.

Kurt sighed and sank onto his bed that also acted as a couch for anyone who spent any time down there with him, which until this summer was just him. Now it was Blaine, Rachel and Mercedes and himself (alone still at times by choice). "Too bad I couldn't say you were part of the package deal too, he'd sprung the introduction on me. Probably on purpose so I didn't make it more awkward."

"Does anyone know about me?" Blaine asked, sinking down onto the bed with Kurt. He didn't sound accusatory.

"My dad does, of course." Kurt didn't know where this was heading.

"Anyone at school?" Blaine asked, his fingers sliding along Kurt's palm to intertwine with his.

Kurt played with his tie with his free hand. He thought about it and his blue eyes slid over to Blaine. If he wasn't going out anywhere, he was actually pretty casual and laid back about appearances, slouching with his hair free of product and in casual pants and shirt. Now was not a time where that was true, but Blaine had caught him a few times when he just stayed in, not expecting anyone to show up on his doorstep. Even if he and Blaine had planned to stay home, he always dressed well. Blaine was glad he'd surprised Kurt a few times but after that, Kurt never fully relaxed in his style, keeping it up, knowing Blaine liked to spring up on him when he was out of his norm. Blaine laid his head onto Kurt's shoulder, wishing Kurt would feel that relaxed around him too, not feel the need to dress up when they just hung out at home, especially while planned. He liked that Kurt dressed up for him too, and wanted to look nice no matter what they were doing, but he wanted all of Kurt, especially that undone look.

Patience, he reminded himself, they'd get there. In the meantime, he kept up appearances for Kurt too because he would match Kurt on whatever level he was at. They always had the future to relax, now it was new and exciting and they were trying hard and they'd never have this again, it was just the nature of things. They couldn't meet each other for the first time again, it just wasn't possible. So he wouldn't rush things, he'd just enjoy what they had when they had it. This was an incredible time in their relationship and all of the next steps would be too, he might as well just sink in and enjoy whatever they had whenever they had it.

Kurt let go of his tie and slid his now free hand up into Blaine's curls and sighed and relaxed into the comfortable position they had found themselves in. "Rachel knows of you but not about you specifically. I told her I had no need of a beard, I had a boyfriend."

Blaine chuckled. "Why do I have the feeling those are the actual words that went between the two of you?"

"Because there's no reason not to use the actual words?"

That was true enough, especially when the actual words were so much more accurate than any euphemisms that could be used to mean the same thing.

"No one else?" Blaine asked.

"No, but I'm sure they're all beginning to suspect." Kurt responded slowly and his fingers stilled in Blaine's hair. "Why?"

Kurt knew that Blaine was out and proud and everyone at his school who actually listened knew and knew of Kurt because Blaine talked about him often to anyone who wanted to listen, he was just that in love and proud of his boyfriend. Kurt didn't go out of his way to hide himself anymore but he hadn't exactly made an announcement to the school.

"Perhaps, don't for awhile?" Blaine suggested carefully keeping his tone even. "Public school isn't exactly known for being accepting of the fact and the longer you give them to adjust, the better."

Kurt snorted and resumed his task of running his fingers through ever part of his boyfriend's perfectly gelled hair.

On Monday there was a new poster on the board of clubs. One that was announcing in big bold letters the start of a new one. PFLAG. It listed a time and day of the week the members would meeting.

So what if someone defaced it and wrote "Loser FAG Party" underneath it. Another one showed up the next day PFLAG "Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays." It was also defaced but wasn't taken down.

Kurt sat in that room every week, unmoved by the fact that for the first three weeks there wasn't another single soul in that room. He started handing out fliers and pamphlets that could rival Miss Pillsbury's. Blaine had groaned and wished that Kurt had listened to his advice rather than go the completely opposite direction with it.

Kurt didn't care and then he was joined by Blaine in his Dalton uniform and Blaine's hand was in his own. "You don't go to school here." Kurt murmured that fourth week when they were the only two there.

Blaine looked up at him through his incredibly long lashes. "Doesn't it say 'friends and families'? Aren't I welcome, even if I don't attend the same school?"

"You'll always be welcomed."

Meanwhile Glee had gained 2 new members, an interesting duo of goth girl and wheelchair boy, totally with different styles and looks and no one would have imagined they'd have been friends first and then joined Glee together. The original five. He attended some of their meetings when he was there for the PFLAG meetings too, which was only once a week.

He sat there despite Rachel's bitchiest glares and words and complaining to Mr. Schuester. Kurt wouldn't accept it and argued right back, never backing down and claiming that Blaine had a right to be there. They still weren't competition ready and he was his boyfriend first and foremost and wouldn't be going anywhere, no matter what she had to say.

Oh she had a lot to say in response.

She always did, no matter how often he showed up in support of not only his boyfriend but their struggling club, at least the members had grown. If Rachel had really pushed it, she would be right, he didn't have a right to be there, he wasn't a student.

Looking around at this public school that had been so much like his own, he was glad that he wasn't. Kurt shouldn't be either but there was no way to convince him of that. At least Blaine couldn't.

Kurt would argue the other hand, if all gays went to private school, who would be there to help teach the masses that they weren't something to fear? That they inhabited all walks of life, just like everyone else? If they didn't meet in school when they were forced to be together, then there was no hope of peace or freedom in the real world when they were older. Hiding wasn't going to solve anything.