Notes: A night out with Santana, what could go wrong?

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Chapter 14 – The Fall

Blaine stayed with Kurt until late afternoon, just lounging around on Kurt's couch, Kurt cuddled up next to him. When Blaine left Kurt regretted accepting Santana's invitation, he wasn't ready for his and Blaine's time together to come to an end so soon. Why should he spend the night with Santana who was going to try to set him up with other guys and who he couldn't tell about Blaine, when he could just stay at home with Blaine instead?

But Blaine pushed him to go out. He insisted that they needed to spend time with their friends too, that it might even be a good thing to be apart a little. Kurt argued that Blaine was new to relationships and had no insight in such things. But he knew Blaine was right, they couldn't be together 24/7 no matter how much Kurt wanted them to. He let Blaine go with a promise that they'd talk the next day and with a goodbye kiss that left them both wanting more. Then Kurt got ready for his night with Santana and her friends.

He met them at a bar where Santana got him a drink even though he was underage. Her friends were as loud as her, but friendly and welcoming and Kurt felt like one in the group right away even if he was probably five years younger than all of them.

"Okay, ladies," Santana said halfway through her drink, "we have a mission tonight. We're finding Kurt here a guy who wants to show him a good time. Doesn't have to be a nice guy, just a guy who isn't scared of who he is."

"And we're going to Tropicale right?" one of the girls asked. Santana nodded. "Oh, you're in for a treat tonight, Kurt. Gays are going to be all over your sweet little face."

"This place is nice," Kurt tried. "Why don't we stay here?" He didn't want to meet a guy who wanted to show him a good time, he already had a guy.

"Nuh-uh, Hummel. You're getting over that hobbit tonight, end of discussion," Santana proclaimed, pointing a finger at Kurt's chest. "Trust auntie Tana when she tells you this night is going to change your life. It's going to open your eyes to the world out there and when the night is over, you're going to have a new perspective on life."

"That's quite a lot you're promising," Kurt laughed, wondering how many drinks Santana had had before he arrived. The laugh was to cover up that her words scared him a little. He could only guess what she planned on putting him through tonight, with nothing but good intentions from her side of course, but Kurt wasn't looking for the kind of experience she was promising him.

How was he going to get out of this?

"You're going to thank me tomorrow when that hobbit is all but a faded memory."

"He's not going to be a faded memory if you keep bringing him up," Kurt pointed out, keeping up the charade. Also getting through this night would be easier if he didn't think about Blaine. But he could do this. He could talk and dance with random strangers without it getting further than that. Nobody could force him to kiss the guys or follow one of them home, not even Santana. He could have fun while still respecting Blaine and their relationship.

Kurt felt lighter after settling that with himself. He knew Santana would try her best to find him a guy for the night, but he could handle it. Dancing and talking was harmless, or at least it could be if Kurt decided it should be. He took a sip of his drink, grimaced at the too sweet liquid, swallowed, and took one more sip. When he put his glass down he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He discreetly fished it out so no one would noticed him looking at the screen, just in case it was Blaine calling to check up on him.

It wasn't. It was Nick. Nick who was maybe flirting with him and who wanted to meet up. It reminded Kurt that Blaine was out there, somewhere downtown, with Nick and their friends. It made Kurt's stomach clench. It seemed so unfair to Kurt now that they couldn't be out together. He fully accepted that they couldn't, but that didn't mean he didn't wish, in that moment, that they could.

"Who's Nick?" Santana asked as Kurt slid his phone back in his pocket. How did she even manage to see his screen? He had it angled away from her. "Have you already planned a rendezvous tonight?"

"He's nobody," Kurt answered automatically, but quickly realized Santana wouldn't settle for that. "He's a friend of Blaine's," Kurt added.

"Why is he calling you? Are you still pining after the hobbit?" Santana asked in a tone not approving. "Is that why you're befriending his friends?"

"It's not like that." How could he explain that Nick was the one wanting to be his friend and that Nick wanted them to meet up without explaining that he went back to see Blaine after Santana had told him to leave him behind. It would only lead to questions about what happened, and Kurt didn't want to complicate it by making up stories to keep him and Blaine a secret. It was one thing holding back on the truth about their relationship another to flat out lie to her. "Nick was just the one talking to me that night when Blaine's friends almost caught us in bed and Blaine freaked out. We've sent a few texts since then."

"Hmm… Okay," Santana shrugged and thankfully dropped the subject. Then she turned to the rest of the group. "My glass is empty, anyone else want something more to drink?"

There was a unanimous yes around the table and Santana, or one of the other girls, Kurt couldn't remember afterwards, ordered more drinks and by the time they left the bar Kurt was a little tipsy. Kurt didn't drink to forget in the way that people drink to forget someone who has left them. Kurt just drank to get some liquid courage to get through this night and maybe have a little fun while not thinking about Blaine.

Santana linked arms with him as they headed down the street to walk the three blocks to Tropicale. Thankfully the rain had stopped earlier in the afternoon and the streets were now dry again. Cars and pedestrians were moving past them in a steady stream heading somewhere on the Saturday night. The city was alive and pulsing, and Kurt enjoyed being a part of it. It had been a while since he'd gone out like that, since his friends all left town when summer arrived and the semester was over, but Kurt loved the vibration and the excitement in the air.

Santana was usually shorter than him but walking down the street in her red stiletto heels they were the same height. She was wearing a killer red dress to match, her eyes dangerously dark with full make up and her hair in loose curls around her shoulders. Kurt felt underdressed in his tight dark grey jeans, white shirt and dark grey vest. But then again, he had dressed not to draw attention to himself.

"You look amazing!" Kurt told Santana. "What are your plans for tonight? Stealing every girl's heart at Tropicale?"

Santana laughed a little at that "No, my heart has already been stolen. I just enjoy people looking at me, wishing they were me," she said, sweeping a hand across her outfit.

"Oh, you have a girlfriend?" For some reason they had never talked about Santana's love life, only Kurt's, and Kurt only knew she was a lesbian but nothing more.

"No, not in the traditional sense anyway. She's with someone else now but she'll come back to me. She just needs a little time figuring things out."

"I see. So you're telling me to forget about Blaine, but you're still hung up on some girl who needs to figure it out?" Kurt wouldn't normally be so straight forward, but the amount of alcohol Santana had poured into him had loosened his tongue.

"It's not the same thing. She was my first love, she's the reason I realized I was into girls. We had an on again off again relationship all through High School and right now we're just off again. She's the one, but she's dating some guy, some blonde looser, at the moment. I'm not worried about it because I know one day she'll come back."

It was a lot to take in at one time. Suddenly Kurt knew more about Santana in five minutes than he'd known knowing her all these months. "She's bisexual?" was all Kurt could think to ask.

"Yes, but I'm not worried about that. She can explore whatever part of her sexuality she wants but in the end Brittany and I belong together."

It was funny how Kurt felt that way about Blaine too. They had only known each other a few weeks, dated for two days, and maybe it was only the fact that he was newly in love, but there was a special connection between him and Blaine. Something at least Kurt hadn't felt before. Something that made Blaine unable to ignore his feelings for Kurt even if it complicated his life.

"Hey, you're looking awfully cozy back there," one of Santana's friends called from ahead of them. "Are you switching sides, Tana? Isn't he a little too young for you?"

The girls all laughed and giggled, none of them sober. Kurt laughed too, knowing they were only teasing. There'd be a lot of side switching for him and Santana to find each other attractive.

"You're only jealous, Kira," Santana countered. "If Kurt wasn't gay, you'd be all over him. Not that that has stopped you before."

The girl who'd spoken before blushed while the others laughed and teased. There was obviously a story there Kurt didn't know but he laughed too because it was hard to stop once he had started. The drinks had worked their magic and Kurt felt relaxed and carefree. He was having fun and that was the whole point of the evening.

They stopped at a street corner, partly because of a red light and partly because it was impossible to walk when they were laughing so hard. Kurt could see the sign with the name of the nightclub outside of Tropicale just four buildings down once they had crossed the street. It blinked in bright yellow with green palm trees on both sides of the name.

Kurt looked from the sign to Santana who had gone silent beside him. Her face had gone from bubbling with laughter to suddenly pale and distant. Her eyes were looking at something behind Kurt, her mouth slightly open. Kurt started to turn around to see what it was that had caught her attention, but Santana grabbed his arm and tugged him along.

"Let's take this way, ladies," she said and started walking down the street to the right in the intersection, not crossing the street that would lead them to Tropicale.

"But Tropicale is that way," Kurt objected and pointed in the direction of the night club.

"There's another new club this way," Santana insisted. "I wanna try it out."

Santana had seen something she wanted to avoid, and curiosity took over Kurt. He wanted to know what or who it was.

Later Kurt would regret turning around, he would wish he could continue living in oblivion, his life would have been so much easier then. But he did turn around and what he saw turned his world upside down. Later he wouldn't remember all the details or why he made certain decisions he made but he would probably ascribe them to shock and the alcohol in his body. And to the heart breaking in his chest.

When Kurt turned around, he saw Blaine on the other side of the street. There was no doubt it was Blaine even if it was dark, the black clothes and the wild curls on top of his head was a telltale sign. But Blaine wasn't with Nick and his friends like Kurt had assumed he would be. Blaine was standing next to an older man, which wasn't an alarming thing in itself. The man could be anybody, a friend Kurt didn't know of, a father to one of Blaine's friends, someone Blaine had a work connection with. Not that Kurt knew what Blaine did to get by.

It was what happened next that made Kurt's blood freeze in his veins. Santana tried to drag him along, but Kurt's feet were frozen to the ground, non-moveable. He saw Blaine getting in a car with the older man, a man Kurt would later remember as someone in his fifties, slightly overweight and with an ugly smile on his face, but it might be his brain making up images. Once they were in the car the man leaned over to kiss Blaine, Kurt could see it clearly before the light that automatically goes on when you open a car door had faded away.

Kurt couldn't look away. It was literally impossible to tear his eyes away from Blaine kissing someone else. Kurt's heart stopped. He couldn't breath, couldn't believe what he was seeing. Santana had stopped tugging at his arm. She knew he had seen what she didn't want him to see. Maybe she knew all along that Kurt was seeing Blaine, maybe she just didn't want Kurt to see Blaine and be reminded of him. Kurt would never know why she wanted to steer his attention away from what she saw across the street, but now she was standing beside him, her eyes on the same car Kurt couldn't look away from.

"Let's go, Kurt," she said softly. "Forget about him, he's not worth your time."

But Kurt was in too deep to walk away and forget about Blaine. He stayed rooted to the ground, his mind spinning with reasons why Blaine would kiss another man. Maybe there was a logical explanation. Blaine had told him he'd never felt the way he felt about Kurt with anyone before. He'd told Kurt he was special, that he'd tried to forget him but that he couldn't. Maybe Blaine was just a liar. A confidence trickster. Maybe that's how he got all the money he had stashed away.

Kurt was slowly breaking apart. The kiss that lasted for probably not longer than two seconds went on for minutes in Kurt's mind.

Then it got worse.

Kurt watched as the man sat back in his seat and then, and this was the image Kurt would have nightmares about for days later on, Kurt saw Blaine leaning forward across the center console and down into the man's lap.

Kurt couldn't tell what possessed him to pick up his phone then, but he did and he dialed Blaine's number. He wanted so bad for his eyes to be deceiving him, for Blaine to answer and for him to hear Nick's and Thad's and the other's voices in the background. For Blaine to be anywhere but in the car across the street. But the call went straight to voicemail. Blaine had turned his phone off and Kurt knew then that what he had just seen was real.

Kurt couldn't think. Couldn't move, couldn't speak. His hands were shaking, and everything was just blank. Santana was talking to him, but her words didn't register in Kurt's brain. Blaine was with another man. Kira and the other girls were saying things, too, but Kurt didn't hear any of it. Blaine was with another man. He couldn't be. Kurt was in love with him.

Then Kurt's phone started ringing. He fumbled with it, his fingers not hitting the green accept button the first three times he tried.

"Blaine?" Kurt answered, hoping, hoping it was him. That this nightmare wasn't real.

"Hey, Kurt! It's Nick, what's up?" The voice on the other side answered happily, drunkenly.

"Is Blaine with you?" Kurt asked, not thinking to care about Nick wondering why Kurt was asking for Blaine, just hoping Nick would confirm.

"No," Nick answered and Kurt's heart sunk through the ground. "He told us he had other plans tonight. Is something wrong, Kurt. Did something happen to Blaine? You sound worried." There was alarm in Nick's voice too now.

"I-I just saw Blaine getting in a car with an older man, kissing him and… and… going down on him." Kurt could barely get the words out.

Afterwards, Kurt couldn't say what possessed him to tell Nick this. Nick didn't know Blaine was gay, Blaine didn't want him to know, but Kurt's mind was blank and it didn't occur to him then to keep Blaine's secret.

"Where are you, Kurt? I'll get to you," Nick answered in a voice that didn't sound as shocked as it should be. Kurt looked around, saw a street sign and repeated the name to Nick. "I'll be there in five minutes."

"Who was that?" Santana asked.

"Nick, I need to talk to him," Kurt said without knowing why because what information could Nick offer him about this? Kurt just needed to talk to someone who knew Blaine.

Kurt started to pace the street, shock turning into anger. What the hell was Blaine doing? Why had he even come back to Kurt if he was still hooking up with others? Why didn't he want to have sex with Kurt but with other guys he had no problem doing it? Who the hell was Blaine and why had Kurt trusted him when there were so many warning signs around him?

Santana tried talking to him, but Kurt was too riled up to listen now. He had heard people saying how they sobered in situations like this, that they were able to suddenly think clearly, but Kurt only felt more drunk, more confused. He told Santana that she and her friends could leave, go to Tropicale, have fun, but he needed to stay and talk to Nick. When Nick arrived, the car was gone with Blaine still in it. Nick looked stressed and worried.

"Where is Blaine?" Nick asked. "What exactly did you see?"

"He's gone," Kurt said, pulling him to the side because of course Santana refused to leave.

"What did you see?" Nick insisted.

"Nothing," Kurt answered, his mind for some reason deciding to protect Blaine's secret.

"You said you saw Blaine with a man."

"No."

"Look, Kurt. I know Blaine is gay."

"You…. What?" Kurt scrunched his nose. He was confused. Could Nick really know? How was that possible?

"And I know that you two are seeing each other."

"How do you know that?" Kurt didn't care about being discreet any longer. It was obvious Nick knew something.

"Because I have eyes. And because I've had a crush on Blaine for years. When you spend your time pining after someone you start noticing things. And that night Thad and I found you and Blaine on his boat it was written in both of your eyes. You were hard, you couldn't even get off the bed to say hello."

"Okay. So you know…," Kurt contemplated, a little embarrassed that Nick had realized he was still hard that night. "Does Blaine know that you know? Does he know that you're gay?"

"No. Blaine is very private, he doesn't talk about feelings and, well, none of us really do so the fact that I know or that I'm gay hasn't really come up in conversation. Thad knows but it's not a big deal to him. But that's not really important now. You said you saw Blaine getting into a car with another man?"

Kurt nodded. The images of Blaine in the car with that man, kissing him and leaning forward played like a movie on repeat in Kurt's mind. He felt like he was going to vomit, his stomach acting up.

"You don't seem horrified by this," Kurt noted. In fact, Nick didn't seem shocked or surprised at all. Kurt didn't know if that should make him relieved or scared. Did Nick know something? Was Kurt overreacting? He tried to remember what Blaine had told him… He knew he wasn't the first guy Blaine picked up. That night when Blaine took him to the beach and went down on him… Kurt suddenly felt dirty, the memory tainted. That's what Blaine did, picked up guys and blew them. Kurt hadn't been special no matter what Blaine had told him. He was just one in a long line of guys. A line that apparently didn't end when they started dating.

"I… I don't really know how to say this…"

"Say what?" Kurt asked. Nick was quiet for a moment, choosing his words. Kurt started to become impatient and irritated. "What?!"

"Blaine… Look, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think Blaine is selling sex."

The words were like a reverse cold shower, numbing at first but then only painful.

"What the hell are you saying?!" Kurt grabbed Nick's shirt in his fist just under his chin, making Nick stumble backwards until his back was pressed against the wall of the nearest building and Kurt was in his face. "Are you implying Blaine is a-, a prostitute?" It felt ridiculous saying it, impossible, but that was what Nick was saying wasn't it?

"I wouldn't use that word, but if that's what you want to call it, then yes." Nick clawed at Kurt's hand, trying to remove it. Kurt let go without a fight, all of his fight gone. He had no reason to defend Blaine.

Blaine. A prostitute. A prostitute? No, that was impossible, he couldn't be. Just because he got in a car with a middle-aged, overweight man that didn't mean… A prostitute? The stack of money in Blaine's cupboard came to Kurt's mind. Blaine saying his life was complicated, that he wasn't boyfriend material or fit for a relationship. Was this why? It made sense even if Kurt didn't want to, couldn't, believe it.

"Hey, what's going on? Is everything alright?" Santana's voice cut into Kurt's thoughts. She was concerned, maybe even worried. "Kurt, are you okay?"

Kurt took a step back and Nick smoothed out his shirt. He kept his eyes on Nick as he answered her. "Santana, please take your girls and walk away from this. I'm fine. I need to talk to Nick and figure out what's going on."

"I'm not leaving you like this," Santana answered. "You're obviously not fine."

"This is not me asking you, this is me telling you to leave me alone." Kurt said, turning to look at her.

A stare down and a battle of wills went down between their eyes until Santana gave up, threw her hands in the air, and said as if she didn't care. "Fine, suit yourself." Then she added to Nick, "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. He's your responsibility now."

Santana turned and walked back to her friends without another glance at Kurt. Kurt in his hand turned to Nick and continued as if Santana didn't just interrupt them.

"If you knew, why haven't you stopped it? Why haven't you made Blaine stop?" His voice was still hostile, still angry.

"It's not as easy as you think. You don't know Blaine like I do. It's complicated." Nick started and Kurt cringed. He hated that word. Complicated. "I guess Blaine has told you about his parents? When they died, Blaine sort of disappeared. He shut down and he shut us out, he's only recently started hanging with us again."

"But you said you'd had a crush on him for years," Kurt said trying to make it all come together in his head because Blaine hadn't told him that he'd pulled away when his patents died. If Blaine had just recently started to spend time with his friends how could Nick have had a crush on him for years?

"Yes, since I was fifteen, Blaine's parents died when we were seventeen."

"Okay, so how did you know Blaine is gay if you haven't seen him in the past three years?"

"I didn't say I haven't seen him, just that he's been shutting us out. I've seen him around and I've seen him with…," Nick made a short pause before continuing. "With middle-aged men before."

The images of the scene in the car was there again, playing on repeat, making Kurt feel nauseated. Kurt had so many questions he wanted answers to. Where had Nick seen this? How many times? Why hadn't he confronted Blaine? To name a few, but only one came out.

"How does that make him a prostitute?" Maybe Blaine just liked older men. Kurt didn't know why he was still clutching at straws, why he was still trying to find other explanations when the truth was right there in Nick's words.

"He has a lot of money hidden on his boat."

"I know, I've seen them too..." Kurt confessed.

"How would he get that kind of money? His parents left him with nothing, he doesn't have a job… And why would he be going down on another man if he's got you now?"

"Oh my god…" Kurt finally let it sink in. The truth. Blaine was selling sex. "Oh my god!" Kurt was disgusted. He felt dirty having kissed Blaine just hours ago knowing now that Blaine maybe had been with someone, a man paying for sex, before he came to pick Kurt up at the diner last night. Kurt spit out the saliva in his mouth on the asphalt as if it was still the same saliva he'd shared with Blaine. He wanted to go home and empty the entire content of his toothpaste tube into his mouth and clean away any remnants of Blaine's tongue in there. He wanted to take a long shower and scrub Blaine's hands away from his skin. He wanted to burn his couch and clean his entire apartment, everything Blaine had touched.

"Maybe we can talk to him together?" Nick suggested. "I haven't told anyone else. I haven't known how to deal with it without Blaine shutting us out again, but now we're two and I think he will listen to you."

"I never want to see him again," Kurt said with finality.

"He needs help, Kurt. He needs us."

"I don't need him," Kurt said and then he stepped right into Nick's space again. Only this time he didn't grab Nick's shirt, this time he pressed his lips against Nick's.

Nick pushed him away, frowning. "What are you doing?!"

"You like me, right? You've been flirting with me and you put that emoji at the end of your name on my phone because you like me."

"Well, yes, but…"

Kurt kissed him again, this time with tongue and more heat. Nick went limp under his touch, surrendering to the kiss. Kurt pressed Nick against the wall with his whole body, felt excited when he heard Nick moan.

"We shouldn't…" Nick tried but at the same time he reached his hands up to Kurt's cheek.

"We should," Kurt insisted and looked deeply into Nick's eyes. "You want me and I want you." Kurt could be persuasive like that when he wanted something. It had worked in the past, it would work now.

Nick didn't answer. He pulled Kurt's face in for another kiss instead.

Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the anger and the betrayal. Maybe it was the pain in his heart and the hollow feeling in his chest. Maybe it was all of the above that made Kurt decide to take Nick home. All Kurt knew was that he wanted revenge. He wanted to hurt Blaine the way Blaine had hurt him, and he couldn't think of a better way.

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Notes: So… the secret is out… and I think Kurt is in shock. How do you feel about everything that went down in this chapter?