Chapter 49: Porcelain

Later that afternoon, Kurt was at his locker gathering his books and smiling at the small wedding cake topper he had picked out for the wedding cake.

He was still smiling at it when Finn came up to him.

"Hey, uh," Finn started as Kurt turned to look up at his soon to be step-brother. "So, I've been viewing this itinerary you gave me in Glee and I don't really get it."

Kurt gave a neutral look as Finn went on.

"Are you sure we should release three hundred live doves indoors?" He asked, looking down at the paper in his hand and looking back at Kurt's slightly scrunched up face. "Won't that get kinda...messy?"

"That's why we feed them glitter, Finn." Kurt said, shaking his head as if it was obvious.

"Oh." Finn said, believing Kurt.

"Well, l-look. Yeah, I've been thinking about it," He went on, and Kurt looked up, annoyed. "And I-I really wanna do something special for the wedding, and I-I wanted to take this opportunity to sort of...remind everyone that I'm sort of, you know, a leader."

Kurt closed his books, looking at Finn.

"I have the perfect idea." He said. "After you walk your Mom down the aisle, and give her away to my Dad-"

"Incredibly creepy." Finn cuts in and walks to the other side of Kurt.

"And give your speech to the Newlyweds, which I will write, though you are free to suggest overall themes, you and Carole will have a lovely Mother-Son dance in front of everyone." Kurt gushed.

"Uh, that's a terrible idea, everybody knows I'm the worst dancer." Finn laughed nervously.

"Finn, trust me on this." Kurt said to the bigger boy. "I've been planning weddings since I was two. My Power Rangers got married and divorced in so many combinations they were like Fleetwood Mack."

Finn was standing there thinking about it while Kurt talked.

"I guess if I could pull it off..." He said, glancing down at Kurt. "It would make me seem like a cool stud."

"Totally." Kurt said, leaning in to the giant teen and smiling.

"Thanks," He said, leaning over and grinning as he patted Kurt on the shoulder. "It's a plan."

Kurt raised his eyebrows and smiled as Finn walked away, before turning to his open locker.

He picked up the cake topper and shut his locker, coming face to face with Karofsky, who had been briefly forgotten from the assault in the boys' washroom earlier that day.

The smile he had been wearing had dropped from his face. Karofsky was giving him a deadly look, and creeping closer, making Kurt back up. Kurt felt nothing but fear after what Karofsky had done to him earlier in the boys' washroom. His heart was pounding and he couldn't hide how scared he was.

"I don't want you near me." He said in a shaky voice, his body still stepping back as Karofsky advanced on him.

Karofsky raised and lowered his eyebrows in acknowledgement, tilting his head slightly in a nod. He jabbed a finger into Kurt's pounding chest, resting it there. Kurt stared at the burly boy in fear, his mouth open. Karofsky smiled tightly and evilly, leaning in as he began trailing his finger down Kurt's chest to his ribs, before snatching the cake topper from Kurt's trembling hand.

The whole time Karofsky touched him, his mind was on what Karofsky had done to him in the washroom.

Kurt looked at the cake topper in Karofsky's beefy hand.

"Can I have this?" Karofsky asked, holding it up and staring into Kurt's scared eyes. Kurt lowered his eyes, his body trembling as he tried to breath.

"Thanks." Karofsky said to the submissive gesture Kurt gave him. He smirked as he walked away, switching the cake topper to his other hand before putting it in his Letterman jacket pocket.


Kurt stood against the lockers, trying to breathe. Mr. Schue looked over at him and walked over, leaving the two girls he was talking to.

"Are you okay?" He asked Kurt, who was red in the face and his lips quivering in fear as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"No. No." Kurt gasped out, shaking his head and clutching his books to his chest.

"Okay, let's-let's go to the Principal." Mr. Schue turned Kurt towards the office. "Come on."

Kurt sniffed as he let his teacher guide him down the hall, his face still red and tears falling from his eyes.


"Did he physically hurt you?" Sue Sylvester asked Kurt, as he and his teacher sat in her office.

Kurt sighed, lifting his eyes to the ceiling, opting not to tell her about the washroom assault.

"No." He said, lying.

"You said he shoved you into the lockers before." Mr. Schue said, trying to get something out of Kurt.

"Well, I can't expel a kid for shoving, he'll just say 'I didn't mean to shove that kid; I tripped'."

Kurt looked up at the acting Principal, wanting to tell her about what had transpired.

"Excuse works like a charm," she said. "I use it all the time."

"He didn't shove me this time." Kurt said, shaking his head, and avoiding eye contact. "He just...terrified me."

"Lady," Sue said, and both Kurt and Mr. Schue looked up at her. "I can't suspend a student just because he scares you."

Kurt looks at his teacher while Sue goes on.

"High school is a dry run for the rest of your life." Kurt looks back at her as she talks. "It's rough, people can be mean."

"That's your advice?" Mr. Schue said. "That's all you have to say?"

"William, I was bullied my entire life." Sue said as she walked to the chair behind her desk and sat down. "I grew up with a handicapable sister. I know very well how cruel people can be."

Kurt sat on his chair, hand covering his mouth as he listened.

"Was it difficult? Yes. Did it make me stronger? You bet it did." She said directly to Kurt.

"It's the fear that's the worst." Kurt said. "I never know when it's coming, I can't concentrate; I don't feel like I'm part of this school at all."

'Except for Sam.' He thought.

"I feel like I'm in a horror movie where this creature follows me around terrifying me, and there's nothing I can do about it?" He said. "I mean, you...you don't know what's going on in this kid's head. You don't know what he's capable of."

Kurt bit his lip, realizing what he just let slip out.

Mr. Schue turned to lean on Sue's desk as they both looked at Kurt.

"What does that mean?" Mr. Schue asked gently, his brow curled inward.

"Nothing." Kurt said, trying to dismiss what he said. "Maybe I'm overreacting."

"Lady," Sue says, leaning over the table. "This kid lays a finger on you, you come straight to me, and I will expel him faster than a Thai-take out place can read back your delivery order. Okay?"

She leans back in her chair as Kurt looks at her.

"But until that happens, and I'm genuinely sorry to say this, there is nothing legally I or the school board can do."

Kurt looks up at his teacher for help. Mr. Schue turns and glances at Sue before talking to Kurt.

"Come on, Kurt." He said. "You're gonna be late for class."

Kurt sighed, picking up his bag and standing from his chair. He went to leave as Sue watched. Kurt paused at the door and turned back and said:

"You know, when you call me 'Lady', that's bullying. And it's really hurtful."

"I'm sorry. I thought that was your name." Sue said. "As an apology, I'll allow you to choose from the following nicknames: Gelfling, Porcelain, and Tickle-Me-Doughface."

Kurt didn't fancy any of them, but the second wasn't the worst of the group.

"I guess I'll go with Porcelain." He said, looking back at Sue.

"Damn." She said, trying to make light of the ordeal Kurt went through. "Totally wanted Tickle-me-Doughface."