Chapter Two: May 2011

The mailbox contained six big envelopes on the day Kurt's letter came from B-W, and Kurt missed it entirely. But Finn saw it, sprawled in the pile of letters on the kitchen table next to Sarah's backpack and Puck's guitar case. He subtly appropriated it, stuck it in his backpack, and brought it out just before Glee for Mike to see.

"Is that what I think it is?" Mike's eyes were wide, and he reached for it, but Finn held it back. "Are you... you're not going to open it, are you?"

"No," Finn scoffed, because although he'd considered doing just that, when he heard Mike say it, it was clear that would have been a huge breach of Kurt's trust. "I just thought I'd bring it for him, to open."

"I bet I have one waiting at my house, too." Mike stared at the envelope. "Probably a rejection."

Finn shook his head, laughing. "Are you kidding? You're, like, the most talented dancer in the whole freaking world."

"Whatever," Mike muttered, ducking into his blush. Finn couldn't help feel an unreasonable sense of pleasure when Mike did that. He was so predictable, and Finn guessed maybe he was manipulating Mike a little, just to make him turn scarlet.

But, really, he meant every word. Mike was astonishing, and not just his technical maneuvers. He had an earnest, jubilant stage presence that left Finn breathless when he watched him perform. He grinned at Mike, waiting for him to recover.

"Yeah, you'll get in. And Kurt... we all know how awesome he is. The two of you, you've got it in the bag."

He clapped Mike on the shoulder, trying to show him on his face how much he believed in him, and Mike returned his grin, a little shyly.

"Thanks, man," he said softly. "But what about you? Don't tell me you don't love Glee as much as me or Kurt."

Finn gazed past Mike's shoulder, seeing the stack of his responsibilities in his head. Blaine. Puck and Beth. Kurt. Rachel. School, Glee, sports. My mom. Sarah.

"I don't... think I have time," Finn said. He leaned back a little in his chair, lost his thoughts, but jerked to attention as he felt Mike's hand on his arm. Mike looked tentative, but concerned.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Finn replied.

"Because..." Mike looked like he was wrestling with a thought, something that he couldn't say.

Finn sighed. "Mike... spit it out."

"You're... it's just that you're so talented, too, Finn. Really." He reddened, but he pressed on. "It's like, I think, somewhere along the line you decided you were less than Kurt, or Puck."

Finn shrugged. "I like singing with Glee. I like singing with my band. But I'm not like them - I'm not ever going to be a star."

Mike shook his head, eyes wide. "Finn, I'm telling you, you're wrong. You're - " His mouth shut on whatever it was he was going to say next, and Mr. Schue caught their attention a moment later. Their conversation was set aside.

But I'm not forgetting it, thought Finn, sneaking a glance at Mike.

Kurt was in a good mood that day, and Finn decided to take advantage of it. When Mr. Schue stopped at the end of class to ask if there were any announcements, he raised his hand.

"Finn?" said Mr. Schue.

"I think I'm going to apply for music camp at Baldwin-Wallace this summer," he said, and Rachel's eyes widened. Kurt's mouth split in a smile. Mike just looked stunned.

"Finn, that's wonderful," she gushed. "You'd have a stellar time - so many opportunities, opening up for you." He knew she attended the summer arts academy at Oberlin College most summers, but she'd been strangely silent about her plans for the upcoming vacation.

Mr. Schue was smiling big, too. "Hey, Finn, I think that's a terrific idea. B-W would offer you a chance to explore so many more aspects of dramatic arts. You could do some theater, music theory, sing in different styles... you could even choose dance."

"And I'd be careful not to stand too close to anyone if I did," he affirmed, grinning at Rachel, who touched the bridge of her own nose with a delicate finger.

"Well." Mr. Schue cleared his throat. "You'll have to hurry... I believe the deadline for applications is approaching quickly."

Finn pulled Kurt's letter out of his bag and held it up. "Yeah, it says on the back of this letter that Kurt got in the mail that the last day is -"

"What?" Kurt screeched, grabbing for the letter, and Finn handed it over willingly, grinning. He bore Kurt's swats on his shoulder with good humor. "Where'd you get that?"

"At home," he shrugged. "Not my fault if you don't even look at the mail." They all watched as Kurt tore into the envelope.

Finn wasn't watching Kurt. He knew Kurt would get in. He was watching Mike, who was clenching and unclenching his hands and bouncing one leg. None of them were unfamiliar nervous habits to Finn; in fact they were all pretty common, and Mike did them a lot. Somehow, though, today, they felt different to him.

When Kurt pulled out the acceptance letter, along with the promise of a fat financial aid package, Mike was as pleased as anyone, but he looked away as Kurt and Mr. Schue chattered about the summer and all the things he could expect to find waiting for him at Baldwin-Wallace.

Finn slipped away from the group, and dropped into the chair next to Mike. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Mike sighed. "I mean, I'm sure everything will be fine."

"It's good, that Kurt got in, huh?"

"I'm happy for him. But I kind of wonder what my chances are, now." Mike's voice was soft, sad-sounding.

Finn leaned his elbows on his knees. "What do you mean?"

"Well. Kurt's gotten in, and you're applying. Would they really take two of us from the same school, much less three? I should just withdraw my application and go back to Asian Camp. At least I know I have a place there."

"Hey... Mike." Finn put a hand on Mike's arm. "You really think they wouldn't let you in just because somebody else from McKinley got in? No way." He hoped, anyway. Now he was starting to doubt, too.

Mike shrugged. "I have no idea, really. I just- I mean, I'm not competitive like some people." He slid his eyes over to Rachel, and then to Quinn and Santana. "Stuff like that, it's not that important to me. I just want to dance."

"So, you should come to B-W this summer and do that. Dance. Not that you're not already awesome at it, but... there are teachers, and classes. You'd knock their freaking socks off."

Mike's blush was high on his cheeks, but he was smiling. "Toby was talking about singing, too, and getting me to try out for the musical in the fall." His smile dropped away. "I don't know if I want to do that, but I don't want to disappoint Toby. He's given me so much of his time, with the free dance lessons and everything, and the B-W application."

"Well... you can feel grateful to Toby, but this, this summer program - that's for you. Right?" Finn tilted his head. "Don't you think you deserve something that's just for you?"

Mike shook his head, stared at his knees. "I've never done anything that's just for me. It's not what you do, in my family. There are expectations and understandings. And even things I enjoy, like Glee and football, are things I'm supposed to be doing not really because I love them but because they'll help me get into college."

Finn wrinkled his brow. "But some things you should do just because you love to do them. No matter what other people say."

Mike stood with a little annoyed huff. "That's easy for you to say, Finn. Your whole family loves you and accepts you, no matter what. It's not like that at my house. It's just- nothing is like that at my house. I can't... god." He grabbed his backpack and started towards the door.

"Mike, wait!" Finn reached for his arm, but Mike twisted away and headed around the corner, slamming into the lockers along the way.

Finn followed slowly, watching him disappear. It wasn't clear to him if he should follow, because even after years in football together, he and Mike still weren't very close. He wasn't sure if it wouldn't be better just to leave him alone. But - there was something. He saw something today in Mike, something familiar. Something he recognized. He had to find out what it was.

He rounded the corner just as the door to the mens' bathroom swung shut, and Finn followed him in. The last of the underclassmen hurried out, throwing startled glances over their shoulder at Mike, who was hunched over the sink and glaring into the mirror. This wasn't like Mike, not at all. He was usually so calm, so easygoing. Even when he was nervous or scared, he was quiet about it. This Mike wasn't being quiet. He was barely keeping it together. Finn could see the tension simmering, just under the surface.

"Hey," he said, holding out a hand. Mike shot him a glance of pure fury, and Finn stopped, mid-gesture.

"You can't- you can't fix this, Finn. Just... please, let it go."

"Dude, you're so not okay right now. If I promise not to try to fix it? If I just listen? Would you tell me what's going on?"

Mike turned away, and Finn could see his shoulders shaking. "I can't. There's too much."

He took one slow step forward, then another. "What's too much, man? Come on, you're scaring me a little. Let me help."

Finn reached out and put a cautious hand on Mike's arm, and he relaxed a tiny bit when Mike didn't pull away. His voice was muffled. "Was it always so easy for you, knowing who you were?"

The question caught Finn off guard, but he tried to roll with it. "I - no. No, I didn't. Not for a long time. I mean, I knew I was me, but there were things I didn't know, until sophomore year, until I joined Glee, that... " He squinted at Mike. "What are we talking about here?"

Mike turned to face Finn, then, and his eyes were brimming with tears. "I'm sorry," he gasped. "God, Finn, I'm so sorry, but I need to know." He closed the last of the distance between them, and leaned in and pressed his lips to Finn's.

He was tentative and terrified, and Finn knew that he should push Mike away. But he couldn't, because he knew what it felt like, to be confused and scared like that. Kurt had helped him, back then. He thought that maybe paying it forward was okay. And it didn't feel like any of this was hurting anyone, so he let it go.

He smiled gently at Mike when the kiss ended, and touched him, softly, on the side of his neck. "Did that help?"

Mike blinked at him and blushed hotly. "I- I think maybe. Is it okay if the jury is still out?"

Finn chuckled. "I think that's totally normal? I mean, I'm not any kind of a model for how these things should go. Take your time, man. You'll be okay. And I'm here, whenever you want to talk or anything."

"Thanks." Mike rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "You won't tell anybody?"

"Your business," he shrugged, "and nobody else's. I won't say a word."

Mike nodded slowly, and blinked again, like he was coming out of a daze or something. "You really think I should keep my application in for B-W?"

"Yeah, definitely." Finn slung his arm casually over Mike's shoulders. "We're gonna have a blast there, man. You and me and Kurt, we're gonna rule."

0M0

"Kurt?" Kurt turned from his locker to see Tina, moving slowly up the hall towards him.

"Hey, T. Are you getting excited about Interlochen? That's such an amazing opportunity for you!"

"I'm n-n-nervous," she stuttered, and Kurt fixed her with a stare that made her giggle. "Sorry. It was habit for so long, sometimes it's like it just . . . shows up again."

"Well. You'll do amazing there. Don't be nervous. What's up?"

She leaned against the lockers and waited while he slipped his History and English books into his bag. He hadn't missed a whole lot of McKinley classwork while he was at Dalton, which was kind of sad now that he really thought about it, but he still needed to do his homework to make sure he could remain in the senior class next year. Once he'd closed his locker door, she fell into step beside him and walked with him out the doors and into the parking lot.

"Can I talk to you? About Mike?"

Kurt studied her for a moment. "Everything okay? You guys seem really solid."

"We are." She brushed a piece of hair off her cheek. "We're fine. There's just stuff, you know? That nobody else sees?"

Kurt nodded. "I do know. Maybe . . . better than you think?"

Tina's smile was understanding. "Yeah. I figured that there was something going on with you, beyond what we all see at school."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Oh, honey... you have no idea. Now, is this a Lima Bean kind of talk, or a closed bedroom door kind of talk?" He watched Tina turn pink into her hairline, so he just opened the door to the Nav and gave her a hand up into the passenger seat. "Mmmm... closed bedroom door talk it is."

She was silent for a few minutes as Kurt drove toward his house, gazing out the window. Eventually she turned toward him, knitting her hands together. "You know how things, familiar things, can suddenly look... different? Like, you've always seen things one way... and then all of a sudden, you wake up one day and everything has changed, even though nothing has?" She shook her head. "I'm not making sense."

"No, I think I have the general idea. You and Mike are okay, I get that. But there is something going on there, right?"

"Yeah." Tina frowned into her lap as Kurt pulled into the driveway. His dad was at the garage until six, Carole was at the hospital until later than that, and Finn wouldn't be back from his usual Wednesday with Blaine until after dark. Only Puck's car was here.

He helped Tina down from the Nav and led her into the front door. "You haven't been here since we moved in, have you?"

She gazed around at the spacious foyer, eyes wide. "No. It's . . . wow. Um. Big?"

"Yeah, well. We needed lots of room because there are lots of us, now." He nodded for Tina to remove her shoes by the door, and he left his own next to Sarah's Docs and Frances' loafers. He turned to the stairs and started calling out. "Girls? Puck? Where is everyone?"

An answering crash from the kitchen startled Tina into dropping her boots, but Kurt just laughed. "C'mon," he said, tugging on her sleeve. "I suspect there's baking."

There was indeed baking. Sarah was moving pans of cupcakes in and out of the oven, and Frances was carefully scooping batter into the paper cups. Puck was just watching, a satisfied smile on his face.

Kurt rested a hand on the back of his neck, and Puck leaned into the touch. "Hey, baby. Hey, Tina." Puck nodded at the girls. "Francie has a bake sale tomorrow for the Environmental Club."

"You're supervising?"

"We don't need supervising," Sarah muttered sharply before glaring at Puck. "And he's not, anyway. He's just trying to steal a cupcake."

Frances pointed at them imperiously with her spatula. She had a dab of batter on her left cheek. "Trust me, we already have more cooks than we need. You go talk about your weird high school stuff, and we'll bring you cupcakes when they're cool and frosted."

Kurt stifled a giggle before pulling both her and Sarah close and dropping kisses to the tops of their heads. "We'll look forward to it. Just don't make too much of a mess, and clean up after yourselves. We don't need to leave any extra work for Dad and Carole, okay?"

"Of course," Francie said, saluting him with the spatula. "Oh captain my captain."

"We never should have watched that movie," Puck said as Kurt moved past him again. "What're you and Tina up to?"

Kurt rested his head briefly against Puck's shoulder. "A little girl talk. We'll be in my room. What about you?"

"Since I can't be in the kitchen, I guess I'll see if A- um. You know. If he's around."

"Good. If you connect, tell him hey for me, and that I'll call tonight." Kurt leaned in and kissed Puck, hard. He would have kept kissing him if Sarah hadn't scolded them.

"Hey, there are children present!"

Kurt pulled away and mouthed a half-hearted sorry to the girls before saying the same, genuinely, to Tina.

"It's okay," she said as she followed him to the stairs. "It's just- nice, to see you so happy."

"We had... a hard winter," Kurt admitted. "It's a lot easier now that we're here, at the house, together. Well - most of us."

"Blaine? I thought you and he . . ."

"Oh, yeah. We are."

"And I saw him, once, out with Puck."

"Yeah. We're all . . ." he waved his hand. "It's been really difficult, getting it all worked out. But he's a part of all of us." He sighed as they reached his bedroom. "There's a place for him here, too, but it's going to be a while before that happens. In the meantime, nobody else uses Blaine's room." He nodded down the hall at the closed door as he opened the door to his own.

"Oh." Tina looked confused.

"It's okay, T. I'll tell you as much as I can later."

"Okay. Who's the other girl, in the kitchen? I thought Puck only had one sister."

"That's Frances. She's a friend of Sarah's; they're really like sisters, which I guess means I have two sisters. It's kind of nice, actually. She's a good kid, and she's here a lot because we're all about not being judgmental."

Tina nodded. "That's why I wanted to talk to you, actually. Well, the non-judgy thing and your awesome secret-keeping abilities."

Kurt flopped onto his bed and motioned for Tina to join him. "Come over here and tell me what's going on."

She reached for his stuffed Ernie and propped it up next to her, heaving a tremendous sigh. "God, Kurt. It's Mike." Then she laughed. "Listen to me. I sound like something terrible has happened. But really, something wonderful happened."

He knew Tina well enough by now to know she'd say it all if he gave her a little time, so he just rested his head on his hand and watched, nodding.

"We've been talking about it for a long time, and with school ending soon and both of us going away, we decided it was just time. It was right, you know?"

Kurt sat up, eyes round. "You - you and Mike? The two of you...?" He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Really?"

Tina swatted at his knee. "Please. I bet you've been . . . doing that for over a year, Kurt Hummel." She whispered right back, "With both of them, if I've been paying attention."

Kurt swallowed, hard, and shook his head. "No, Blaine and I haven't . . ."

"Not Blaine. Finn."

"What? He's my brother!" Kurt started to protest, but at Tina's steady stare he felt all the blood rush from his head, and he knew that he couldn't deny it to her any longer. "How did you - um...?"

"Last Christmas, Mike and I saw the three of you, the night we all went caroling. And I've just been paying attention. Don't worry, you guys hide it really well. I just - you know, had something to look for, so I saw it."

Kurt shook his head, feeling dazed. "God. I'd forgotten about that. And here I thought we were being so careful."

Tina snorted. "Yeah. Sure. Dancing together at your parents' wedding? The way he hugged you when you came back to McKinley's? I thought he was never going to let you out of his sight."

Kurt sighed. "Yeah. Like I said, it was a really hard winter. But. You and Mike? Was it . . . I mean, it was a good thing, right?"

"Way to change the subject," Tina said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, it's a good thing. We're happy. But Mike's got some other stuff going on."

Kurt shook his head. "I don't like to gossip, you know that."

"It's not gossip if it's true, Kurt. And Mike said that I could talk about it with my friends."

Kurt blinked. "He - okay. I didn't expect that. You mean you guys talked about... uh. What are we talking about here?"

"Mike told me that he's, um... curious. About boys?"

Kurt thought about what he'd seen from Mike at dance lessons with Toby, the way Mike's eyes had strayed, and his dark blush whenever Toby positioned him or gave him praise. "Oh." Kurt blinked at her. "That - yeah. Makes sense, actually."

"Yeah. It does. But I never expected Mike to admit it to me, you know? He's always kept his feelings pretty close to his chest, especially the scary ones. The ones his father wouldn't approve of."

"Sometimes . . ." Kurt nibbled at his lip with his front teeth. "Sometimes, after, when you're feeling really close to the other . . . person? It's easier, to talk about the scary stuff. That means that Mike felt safe with you. That's good, T."

She smiled, looking kind of relieved. "Yeah," she said. "It is. I was proud of him. But now... he's had these thoughts for a while, I think, and I don't want him to feel like he can't talk about them, now that they're... out there."

Kurt put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close to him. "Then tell him that. The most important thing for us has been being totally honest, all the time, even when it hurts or feels scary or overwhelming. Just tell him that you don't want him to feel like he needs to hide anything from you."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I don't think he thinks he has to. I just don't want him to feel alone."

Kurt smiled. "Then tell him that, too. Mike follows your lead a lot, doesn't he?" At her brief nod, he went on. "If you show him that you're okay, that it doesn't bother you, then he'll pick up on that, I think, and maybe he'll open up more."

"No," Tina said. "It doesn't bother me." She giggled a little. "I think it's kind of hot, actually. Two boys together?"

Kurt snorted, and it felt so good to have another person who knew, that he couldn't resist poking a little fun. "You think two is hot, you should see three."

"Don't tempt me," she blurted before covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, shit. Did I actually say that out loud?"

Kurt just patted her shoulder gently. "Don't worry, baby. Your secret's safe with me."