Thank you guys so much for reading, adding the story to your alerts, etc. It all makes me happy.
Also, thanks for those who took the time to review - it's always nice to know exactly how your story is coming across to others, and I'm so glad people seem to be enjoying it so far.
Kurt was sourly regretting his decision as they walked down the hall hand in hand after their last period. He'd thought he had made a good choice when Quinn smiled at him in the bathroom and thanked him. She thanked him. Quinn Fabray not only had been nice to him (admittedly in her own weird way), she actually thanked him for accepting to fake date her.
They'd gone their separate ways after their conversation in the guys' bathroom, with Quinn going to whatever class she had next and Kurt still trying to clean his sweater as best as he could. He was leaving his last class for the day when he found Quinn standing before him in yet another facade he'd never seen; this time, she still had that Queen Bee air to her, but she was also giving him a little... flirtatious smile.
Thank God she wasn't actually flirting with him, because if that was the case, he could probably just throw away any sanity he still had left. Instead, she just asked him if he wasn't going to offer to carry her books for her, obviously just to gauge his reaction. He grit his teeth but didn't say anything as he took her books - he was the one who agreed to all this, after all.
The awkwardness he was feeling as she led him by the hand to her locker was pushed away by a sense of dread when he noticed a few Cheerios standing by their destination. Quinn seemed to notice his pace suddenly slowing down, because she squeezed his hand as if saying "don't you dare giving up on me, Hummel". In fact, he could practically hear her voice in his head, threatening to claw his eyes out or something.
Of course he wouldn't admit it, but somewhere inside him, he still wondered if Quinn was just going to turn to him and tell him that she couldn't believe he fell for her joke. It seemed like something perfectly plausible... if he ignored pretty much everything he'd seen and heard in the bathroom earlier, that is. But after years of suffering in the hands of the likes of Quinn, the fear was still there.
Instead of hearing the laughter and sarcasm he expected when they got near the other Cheerios, all he was greeted with was silence. Quinn didn't seem to mind it at all, she just threw them a "hey" and proceeded to open her locker. "Thanks for carrying my books for me, Kurt," she then told him.
That managed to snap him out of his surprised daze. "Sure, no problem," he said a bit hesitantly, as if by saying something he would trigger an attack from the girls around them, handing her the books as he did so.
He was starting to become convinced that he'd rather have those cheerleaders actually attack him already rather than looking at him like that. It was weird. Their looks were not only of curiosity, but also surprised and fearful. Fearful. Kurt had never seen anyone in that school throw him a look of fear like that - the closest he ever got was the ones the other guys would throw him when they were changing in the locker room after P.E. class.
A naïve looking blonde (Brittany, if he remembered correctly) smiled at him when Quinn wasn't looking and he gave her his best I'm-not-interested diva smile. Not only because he obviously wasn't interested in whatever that smile was supposed to mean, but because it only seemed appropriate, being Quinn's "boyfriend" and all (as weird as that still sounded). He was sure that Quinn's master plan would fall apart if he gave those Cheerios a(nother) reason to want to tear him apart.
Quinn was now resting her back against her locker and casting him a look that clearly meant "get over here right now", so he did. As soon as Quinn took his hand in hers, the Cheerios around them hesitantly started some sort of conversation that couldn't sound more boring.
He just wanted to go home and forget he had actually agreed to put up with all of this. He was trying to figure out a way to tell Quinn that, when she pulled him towards her. His first reaction was almost pulling back immediately - he could've sworn she was going to kiss him! -, but he held it back in time.
Making it seem like she was whispering something naughty in his ear, Quinn said "I suggest you put your arm around me, because Puck is coming this way."
And surely enough, Kurt could see Puck strutting towards their small group with his loyal companion, Finn, by his side.
If Kurt wasn't Kurt Hummel, he would've gulped down nervously, fidgeted on his feet and started stuttering some excuse to get the hell out of there. But since that was not the case, he simply put his game face on and wrapped an arm casually around Quinn's shoulders, trying to ignore how weird it felt as she snuggled up against him.
"What the fuck is he doing here?" Puck said as soon as he got closer, ignoring something Finn ushered to him.
"Why do you care?" Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You know why!"
"I don't care, Puck, go annoy someone else."
Kurt and the other Cheerios didn't say a word as they watched Quinn and Puck's glare match. Finn, on the other hand, tried to get Puck to let it go, to no effect. Apparently deciding to change techniques, Puck gave Quinn a smug smirk. "You think I don't know what this is?"
Quinn was sure Puck couldn't be farther from the truth. She felt like laughing. He obviously thought she was playing some sort of game with him, trying to make him jealous. It was kind of pathetic how he still thought she wanted to go to bed with him.
Kurt rolled his eyes dramatically at the whole exchange, and Quinn smiled at him just to make sure the rumors were flying around by tomorrow morning. Also because he was kind of funny.
Finn probably had just realized Kurt and Quinn had a thing, because not only he looked at Kurt weirdly, but also because he looked like he was afraid Puck was going to punch someone - probably Kurt - right then and there. "Puck, come on, we should get going..."
"You know what?" Kurt suddenly said, surprising everybody else. "Don't bother. Sorry I can't stay to watch you practice, Quinn, but you know I promised Dad I'd help him out at the garage today." She certainly did not know such a thing, especially since he'd never made such a promise to his father, but she nodded nevertheless, looking a bit upset. Kurt gave her a smile and a kiss in the cheek. "I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll call you later, okay?"
She smiles brightly at him, despite them both knowing he wasn't going to call her, and he walks away with his head held high. If the others' expressions were any clue, his acting skills were really starting to pay off.
As Quinn led the other Cheerios to practice, she can't help but think she'd made the right choice when picking Kurt to be her "boyfriend". He was good.
I'm just going to say that the next update will take a bit more time than the previous ones, since my body seems to think it's the perfect time for me to get sick. No worries, though, since writing distracts me from stuff like that, but I obviously won't be able to write at the usual pace.
As always, thanks for reading.
