Summary: Blaine and Kurt are having parallel conversations with two very different people. These conversations force each of them to contemplate how they got to where they are now in their lives, the good…the bad…and the ugly. Later the next day, everyone arrives at McKinley to get the Diva-Off started.

Note: I attempted something different and tried to intertwine these two conversations since they would be happening at the same time and have similar themes. If you are reading this, that means I believe I succeeded. I hope you do too.

Warning: This chapter is EXTREMELY (yes, I all capped for a reason) unfriendly to Kurt. So, I will say once again, I would have written any jealous ex in this manner. It goes to the storyline.

Sebastian took one last look around his dorm. He wanted to make sure that he had everything since he wouldn't be back to Dalton until Sunday night. *Crash* Before he could respond to the noise, Thad threw open their door "Where's Blaine?" *Crash*

"What the hell?! What's going on Harwood?"

*Crash* "We need Blaine!"

"He's with Dr. Shepard. His phone is on silent for the next two hours." *Crash* "What is that?"

"It's Nick. He just found out that Sugar has gotten a couple of phone calls in the past few days…from Ireland."

"Rory?" *Crash* "Call your girlfriend and find out what the fuck is going on." *Crash* "Now!" As he ran down the hall toward the Niff Dorm, Sebastian realized his plans for quiet time with Blaine were most likely out of the question. This was not a good way for the 4-Day Valentine's Weekend of LOVE to begin.

*Crash*

Blaine

While all hell was breaking loose at Dalton, Blaine was indeed at his therapist's office, wondering if he was about to do the right thing. In reality, he knew he had to. He just questioned his timing.

"Blaine" Dr. Shepard acknowledged him as he shut the door and then sat down "You called and asked for two hours. I thought we agreed to no more two hour sessions until you grew a pair and were willing to tackle The List?"

"Wow, harsh Doc."

"Blaine…"

"I want to talk, but I want to explain why first. Ok?"

"Of course." Dr. Shepard leaned back in his chair and studied his patient. He could tell Blaine was sincere, but he had to ask "Why now? Why the change?"

"Doc, you would not believe the day I had yesterday."

Kurt

Kurt pulled up to Breadstix and wondered why Cooper had told him to meet him there. The place was closed, but was a mess with all sorts of construction type people going in and out. There was also a big banner that read "Under New Ownership". He went ahead and walked in and saw Cooper, who was taking a phone call. He pointed to a booth, so Kurt went over and waited.

He did not have a good feeling about this.

"Sorry about that" Cooper told him when he joined him five minutes later "Had to make sure we have enough of those Crab Puff Bites for Sugar Shack 2.0."

"I don't understand" Kurt really was confused because why would…"Wait. Are you the new owner of Breadstix?"

"Yes, I am. Nice observation. And I was able to convince, actually pay, the previous owner to let me take possession early. I was also able to convince, again…pay, the people who had the place rented Friday to go elsewhere, so now my baby cousin can have her day before Valentine's party here on Friday instead of tomorrow. Isn't it great when things work out like that?"

"Ok, yeah, sure, great, but why did you want me to meet you here?"

"That's easy. I wanted you to see where you'll be working to pay off the $10,000 you owe me."

Blaine

"I'm voting for smutty cosmic coincidence" Dr. Shepard told Blaine, once he had finished laughing. "but I still don't understand how any of that led you to the point to where you're ready to finally talk about deeper issues."

"When I said What the Hell and told my friend who Santa was, it surprised me. I would have thought there was no way I would ever tell anyone. However, once I did and then later found out Bas knew all along, it was freeing. I know the issues we need to talk about will be much harder, but I want that type of freedom with every part of my life."

"So, you're sure? Because once we start down this road, there's no going back."

"I know."

"Ok, let's begin at the beginning. You want to tell me how you wound up at Westerville High in the first place?"

Kurt

"You thought I was going to just give you $10,000? Wait, does this have to do with Sam? Holy fuck, Blaine was right. Flaunting the family wealth, and the fact that he didn't tell you about it, totally threw you off."

"Blaine was doing that on purpose? Why the hell would he do that?"

"Like I said, to throw you off. Turn your focus away from the Fight Club money to something you would think would be easier to get your hands on. Yes, that's right. I know all about the blackmail and I am ending it today."

Blaine

"Do you blame Cooper?"

"Not now because he's not that person any more. He blew through his two million dollar trust fund in eight months, and then kept coming back to my parents asking for money. He wanted to say he was a struggling artist, but he didn't want to live like one. I didn't want to be that guy, an entitled brat living off mommy and daddy's money. I wanted to be what I perceived to be an ordinary kid."

"So, in other words, you wanted to be someone you're not. Blaine, you are anything but ordinary."

Kurt

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kurt's mind went into overdrive. How did Cooper know? Did Blaine tell him? Did Travis tell Santana? He told himself to not panic until he found out how much Cooper knew.

"Cut the crap, Hummel. I know how you and your fuck buddy Travis were able to somehow find the money Fight Club made from betting. Blaine thinks it was Travis that was after that money, but it was you the whole time. You never wanted to be a Warbler, but you wanted to be like them and for that you needed money."

"I do not want to be like those pompous assholes!"

"You're a liar and you know it. You always thought you were something special, but you're just a kid from Ohio with a little bit of talent and a big dream. Nothing extraordinary."

Blaine

"Your family moved to Ohio because your mom wanted to be closer to her sister."

"Yes, but I didn't know that. They didn't tell me that Aunt Cory was sick, or that they had already bought the house here. They were waiting until the end of the school year, which was a couple of weeks away."

"So, it was bad timing that you chose to come out at that time."

"I wanted to do it sooner, but the older brother of one of my friends came out and his parents sent him to one of those Pray the Gay Away Camps. Then one night over dinner, I just said it. Mom. Dad. I'm gay. My mom instantly took me in her arms and told me how much she loved me. My dad couldn't even look at me, but now I know it was because he was scared shitless that he was moving his gay son to a small town in Ohio."

"Ok, but I still don't get how you wound up at Westerville? Wouldn't your parents enroll you at Dalton to begin with?"

"They did. Long story short, end of school year they tell me about Aunt Cory, the move and that I'll be going to Dalton. I'm upset, I go to internet and look up Dalton. The first thing I saw was the No-Bullying statement, but for some reason I read it as Pray the Gay Away. I had a friend of mine help me and we somehow convinced Dalton that I was my dad and dropped my enrollment. School started and I didn't have a spot at Dalton. I had to go to Westerville, where I could be the ordinary kid I wanted to be. I thought I was so fucking smart and then six weeks later I was attacked. Now do you see how it was my fault?"

"Blaine, it's not your fault. You wound up at Westerville through a series of secrets and miscommunications. Could it have been prevented if you would have talked to your parents, especially your dad, about what you were feeling? Probably, but that does not make you responsible for the attack."

"Tell that to Tommy's parents."

Kurt

"I do not have to listen to this!" Kurt started to leave, but Cooper pulled a zip drive out of his pocket and slid it across the table.

"Oh, I think you want to stay."

"What's this?" Kurt asked as he picked the object up.

"That is a video of your fuck buddy Travis spilling his guts. I told him that I wanted to make sure he actually had the information before I gave him the money. I didn't plan on giving it to him at first, but then I found out how much greater the penalty was for extortion compared to attempted extortion. And the fact that you're the son of a Congressman, well that made it federal time. You'll love the look on his face after I told him that and then wouldn't take the money back, no matter how much he begged. Plus, now I have the fun of watching you work here to pay me back."

"Since you gave me this, I suppose this means you have other copies somewhere."

"No, but the guy who filmed it does." The smirk across Cooper's face told Kurt that this wouldn't be good. Then Cooper called for the guy to come out.

It was worse than Kurt could have imagined.

"Thanks for coming back a day early" Cooper told Finn as he sat next to him in the booth. "I know you were looking forward to flying on the private jet."

Finn didn't respond. He went right at the person he had called his brother the last few years "How could you do that to your dad? Huh? The man that has loved and accepted you without question. He was served with a fucking subpoena, Kurt. He has to go and testify about his involvement in the Dalton scandal, when you were the one involved. And for what, to keep Blaine and Sebastian apart?"

"I can't tell my dad. His heart…"

Cooper stopped Finn from jumping across the table "Ok, this ends now. Everyone has enough dirt on everyone that we all know it's in our mutual best interests to keep quiet. Tomorrow morning the Columbus DA will receive anonymous information clearing your dad. That leaves two things on the table. The first is you still owe me $10,000 and will start work here on Tuesday. The other is that you and Travis both know the Smythe family secret and that is the only reason the two of you are getting off this lightly."

"What do you mean lightly? I owe you $10,000!"

"That's right" Cooper said as he and Finn left the booth and headed toward the kitchen. "Tuesday, 3 PM. Don't be late!"

"Why are you doing this to me?" Kurt called out loud enough that everyone in the room turned to look at him.

A nod sent Finn to the kitchen as Cooper walked over to Kurt and then said straight to his face "Didn't what happened to your friend Karofsky teach you anything? You talk about Fight Club, you face the consequences."

Blaine

"Tomorrow, the Diva-Off starts at 4PM so do you want us there at three?"

"You're coming, Doc?"

"You asked my brother-in-law to be your judge. It's only right that I accompany him."

"Yes, but he's been to McKinley and you haven't" Blaine said right before he realized why his therapist wanted to be there. "You want to meet Rachel. Don't you?"

"I can't help it. I find her fascinating."

Blaine debated for a moment on whether or not he should tell Dr. Shepard that it was Rachel's boyfriend who turned out to be a gigolo. He decided it would be much more fun for him to find out on his own. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. I've got to go and meet some people at McKinley before checking out what all Cooper's doing at his new restaurant." He pulled his phone out to turn it back on and was immediately bombarded with continuous buzzing. 47 texts, and they were all about the same thing "Shit!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing for you to worry about. Evidently my cousin's present boyfriend found out she's received a couple of calls from her last boyfriend and he didn't take it well. I'll see you tomorrow."

After Blaine left, Dr. Shepard shook his head and asked himself "How did that kid ever think he was going to be ordinary?"

The next day

It wasn't until 1PM the next day that Blaine and Sebastian were finally able to see each other, when Sebastian met Blaine at the Motta's.

"Can't…breathe…Bas!" Blaine wasn't kidding considering his boyfriend had one arm tightly around his waist and the other pressing his face into his chest.

"I can't help it if I missed you. We've wasted 13 hours of the 4-Day Valentine's Weekend of LOVE." Sebastian whined as he reluctantly released him.

"Last night you had your annual Valentine's dinner with your mom, which by the way is ridiculously sweet, and I had stuff to take care of at McKinley. This morning I had physical therapy. It couldn't be helped."

Sebastian glanced over at Sugar and Kitty, who were across the room, and lowered his voice "I still can't believe you got the McKinley band to accompany you on your solo. How'd you do that?"

"Uh, I know their names and asked nicely."

"And what about…you know. Has she heard anything?"

"No, and don't make me regret telling you. Bas, I'm so nervous for her. She was born to play that role."

"Ok, then changing the subject, how do you feel about all of your little surprises for Schuster."

"Kind of guilty for some reason. Some of them are pretty mean."

"Let's do this. Let's go lay down and rest before we have to leave in an hour. I'll remind you how brilliant your plan is and Sugar and Kitty can talk freely about how big a douche Duval is in private. I still can't believe you haven't gone all Wolverine on his ass."

"Number one, I can't punch anyone any more if I want to get into Julliard. And number two, Nick's about to learn his lesson the hard way. Before you ask, I'm not telling."

While Sebastian was trying to calm Blaine's nerves, Emma was at McKinley trying to do the same for her fiancée. "Will, you need to let this go. They're just the outfits that the Warblers will wear when they perform. They also didn't have school today so they may just be their school uniforms."

"Then why did Blaine ask Figgins to put them under lock and key? I have a bad feeling about this."

"You're the one that suggested the Diva-Off" Emma reminded him.

"And you're the one who wants Blaine at the wedding" Will snapped back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that."

"Come on let's go eat lunch. Maybe your blood sugar is low. At least that would be an excuse."

At 2:30PM, the Warblers were in an empty auditorium doing a final walkthrough of their routines. When the first part was finished, Blaine went to Doug and asked "Are you ready for an audience? You have sounded great in rehearsals."

"I think so."

"Doug, this is a Diva-Off. You can't think so, you must know so. If I didn't believe you could do it, I wouldn't have asked."

"You asked because I'm the only Warbler that could do it in the first place" Doug responded with a smile. "You're right, I've got this."

The rest of the walkthrough also went well. Blaine had been particularly worried about the set change after the second song, but the McKinley stage crew handled it flawlessly. They finished at 3PM on the dot and people began to trickle into the room, the first being someone looking for Blaine "Seblaine Jr., get down here and give me a hug!" Santana demanded.

When Blaine reached her, he was crushed into a hug for the second time that day "What's going on and what happened to Richboy?"

"The last time I saw you, you were lying in a hospital bed you idiot. Don't do that to me again." She let go and smacked him across the arm to get her point across "And if I call out Richboy in this room, I would get 18 other responses. That's why today you are Seblaine Jr. That and it will bug the shit out of Hummel." Blaine had to agree and when Sebastian joined them the three walked over to where the group that flew in on the jet had gathered, along with Nari and some of her friends, as well as Mercedes who had flown in from LA. While they were talking, the band and several Cheerios, including Becky dressed as a white blob with a mortar board around her face, came in.

"I take it this means the New Directions are doing Gaga." Blaine was thankful for Becky's appearance because it gave him an in to talk to Wes about Sam's outfit. "But, we didn't agree to an audience" he added, pretending he didn't know why the band was there.

"I don't know why the band is here, but Britt said that since Amanda and Alice chose to stay in the New Directions after she and Kitty recruited them for Sectionals, the Cheerios have been more supportive" Santana told him. "Also, with the picture of Trouty that somehow got out and you hot prep school boys performing, I'm shocked there's not more girls here."

"Oh, hell no!" Nari started toward the cheerleaders but her friends were able to stop her "Those bitches aren't getting anywhere near my man!"

Blaine was about to pull Wes aside when he saw Cooper come in. Sebastian noticed Cooper's arrival as well and said "Wesley, you come with me and B, go talk to your brother."

After mouthing a "thank you" to his very astute boyfriend, Blaine did go down in front of the stage to meet up with Cooper "Thanks for coming Coop."

"I told you I would be here for you and Sug. How do you feel about what's about to happen?"

"A little guilty." Then Blaine saw Will and Emma walk across the stage "Fuck! A lot guilty."

"You didn't think she would be here?"

"No, I thought she would be busy with wedding plans." He stopped talking and plastered on a smile as the couple stopped in front of them. "Miss Pillsbury, it's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Blaine, Cooper" Emma said, but noted that Will had been excluded from the greeting.

"I didn't expect you to be here, Miss Pillsbury."

"She volunteered to be my judge" Will said, which made Blaine's guilt go into overdrive. "Technically, she told me she was going to be my judge, which is not a good sign since she wants to come to our wedding pretty badly."

"Don't worry Schuster. We will not need any assistance to win this, just like we won't at Regionals next week."

"About that. Sam told me that you and the other Warblers were upset that the New Directions would be competing against you at Regionals since you already beat them when Finn was in charge. I talked to the Show Choir officials about it and they agreed to move us to the other Regionals in the area. You know, the one that Vocal Adrenaline bribed them to make last year so they didn't have to compete against us until Nationals."

Blaine honestly couldn't remember a time when he became that angry that fast, which was saying a lot with everything that had been happening in his life lately "You knew about this last week when you came to Dalton. Didn't you? That Regionals is two weeks from now, giving the New Directions an extra week to prepare. You're a son-of-a bitch, you know that? But, I should thank you because any guilt I was feeling for what I've done is now gone." Blaine's phone began to buzz "My judge is here. I'll be back."

As soon as Blaine was gone, Emma turned and faced her soon-to-be husband "Please tell me you didn't do that on purpose."

"Of course, he did" Cooper said in a huff. "You know what Schuster, it's pathetic that you started a pissing match with an 18 year old, but I'm going to love watching your humiliation when my baby brother exposes you as the fraud you truly are." Cooper turned around when he saw Emma stiffen as Blaine walked in with his doctor. "Tell me Emma, how long has it been since you've seen your ex brother-in-law's husband?"

Before she could answer, an extremely handsome man appeared at the top of the stairs "Well, I never thought I would find myself here again."

"Carl?"

Across the auditorium, what was happening had not gone unnoticed. "Holy shit! Why is Miss Pillsbury's sexy as fuck ex-husband here?" Santana asked Sebastian assuming he would know.

"He's Blaine's judge."

"Damn, that boy is my fucking hero."

"Who's the attractive man Blaine is with?" Quinn wanted to know.

"That's Dr. Shepard, B's…"

Before Sebastian could finish the sentence, Rachel took off down the stairs. As soon as she reached him, she crashed into Dr. Sheppard and began to sob "Dr. Shepard, my boyfriend is a man whore!"

Note:

I understand the flaw in my logic in that Blaine couldn't get into Dalton at the beginning of the year but could after the attack. Let's just assume a lot of money was involved.

I assume you have guessed one of the performances the New Directions will be doing. Obviously, someone else will be wearing Blaine's outfit, Marley will not appear in a Katy costume and other members will have parts not included in canon. And don't get me started about Penny.

I have read that some people are having issues separating Puck from what is going on with the actor that portrayed him (although it has not been noted here). If you are one of those people, I am warning you that Puck will be back in a larger role over the next few chapters. If that stops you from continuing with this story, thank you for reading to this point.

Cooper's new attitude and his involvement with Finn will be addressed later.

Still taking song requests. I have a few more spots to fill.