Santana, Kurt and Mercedes spent the rest of the day shopping and making plans for their new operation.
Their first step, they decided, was to subtly ask Blaine's best friends what was going on. And who better to ask than Wes and David? But Kurt needed to be careful. He needed to bring it up casually and not let them know what he suspected for fear of them relaying it to Blaine.
Hey, he texted Wes the next day. You doing anything today?
The response was almost immediate. No, David and I are hanging out at his house and we're bored!
Excellent Kurt typed back. I'm bored too. Want to hang out?
We wondered when you'd remember about us :P Wes replied.
I would never forget about you two! I've just been busy. Lima Bean in an hour?
Sounds good :) See you then! Kurt fired off his last text to Wes before immediately sending a text to both Mercedes and Santana. Wes and David are meeting me at the Lima Bean in an hour under the illusion that I just want to catch up. That means you two can't come and I don't want to see your faces anywhere near the place for the next two hours or more.
Santana's reply was quick to come. All right, keep your skinny jeans on. I'm going to visit Brittany today, anyway.
Good, Kurt replied, I'll meet you both later tonight to give you the information.
Mercedes took a little longer to respond and when she did it read, I've got plans today anyway, don't worry. I'll stay away from your little interrogation ;)
Kurt scrunched his eyebrows in confusion at who she could be going out with, but didn't have time to dwell on it because it was time for him to go. He replied with the exact same thing he had sent Santana before heading out the door and driving to the Lima Bean.
When he got to the crowded coffee shop, he saw Wes and David already there, coffees in hand at a table in a corner. Kurt ordered his coffee from the flustered-looking barista and plopped himself next to David in the booth.
"Hey," he said. "Glad you guys were free. I've been meaning to catch up with you."
"I'm glad you finally remembered us," David replied.
"I never forgot you," Kurt said indignantly. "I was just busy."
"Yeah, yeah," Wes teased. "Excuses, excuses."
Kurt sipped his coffee and surveyed the two boys. "So what's new? I see that Wes is growing his hair longer."
"Yeah," Wes shrugged. "I can't be bothered to cut it during the summer. It'll have to be cut again when school starts, but for now, I don't really care."
"Well it looks good."
"Thanks. Did you hear about Jeff's horseback riding accident?"
Kurt raised his eyebrows and urged Wes to continue. "Last week he went riding with Nick, Thad and Ethan. He was fooling around, trying to impress some girl near them and tried to stand up on his horse."
Kurt gasped lightly, shaking his head at the boy's stupidity.
"Well, of course he fell off and landed himself in the hospital with a broken wrist and a concussion. He's fine now, but he won't be horseback rising again anytime soon."
David laughed. "Some days I wonder about that boy, I really do."
"Any other Dalton gossip I need to know about?" Kurt asked, leaning forward, resting his chin on his hand.
"Thad broke up with Alicia and Owen took it upon himself to find out why and get them back together."
The conversation continued for a while about the antics of the Warblers and Kurt, in turn, shared his amusing stories.
"So have you seen much of Blaine this summer?" Kurt asked the boys.
Wes nodded. "He lives right around the corner from me, remember? We hang out as much as we can around his gigs at the six flags. Why, haven't you seen him?"
"Oh, I see him as much as we can. He's always so busy. He's either working at the six flags or hanging out with his friends. Like yesterday, for instance. Only this time, it was somebody I didn't know."
"That's weird," David said. "You know almost everyone he knows. And we know almost everyone he knows. Unless it was that Alexander kid. Remember the one who came down to Dalton at the end of the school year, looking for Blaine?"
Wes nodded. "Yeah, I remember him. I think he's the only person that I've seen Blaine with who I haven't met."
"Wait—a guy came to Dalton for Blaine?"
"Yeah, some kid named Alexander. I don't know what it was about, though. They went out for coffee and Blaine seemed pretty happy that he was there. Wait—you don't think Blaine's cheating on you, do you? Because he loves you, Kurt. I really don't think he's cheating on you."
"Of course I don't think that!" Kurt lied. "I was just curious because I know most of his friends. I'll ask him tomorrow when he comes over. I just thought you two might know."
"We don't know anything," Wes shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, Kurt."
"That's all right," Kurt replied. "So what ever happened with Eric's against-the-rules Kitten?"
And the conversation drifted away from Blaine and his possible less than honest motives.
When he got home, Kurt texted Mercedes and Santana. Didn't get much from the boys. They don't seem to know much.
That's all right, Mercedes replied. I'm having a sleepover tonight with all the glee girls. You in?
Of course, he replied How could I ever turn down a suggestion like that? I'll tell you what I found out then. We might as well come clean to the other girls. They'll want to know.
And with that, he packed a bag of his overnight essentials and jotted a note to his father, Carole and Finn, heading out the door, not really in the mood for a slumber party, but knowing that it would get his mind off of things.
As he drove, Kurt mulled over everything that had happened in the past two days. Was Blaine really cheating on him? So far, the evidence pointed to likely. He was holding hands with another guy at the mall, hugging said other guy, and even his best friends didn't know who the other guy was.
Against his will, his eyes started filling with tears. He knew he should just confront Blaine, but until he had proof, he didn't want to accuse him of anything.
He wiped his eyes as he pulled into Mercedes' driveway where several other cars were parked, including Rachel's, Tina's and Quinn's. He wondered if he was the last to arrive.
"Kurt!" they all cried as he entered the house. Mercedes' parents had told him to stop knocking years ago because he was there often enough for it to be his home as well.
"Hi everyone," Kurt replied, forcing a smile. He stepped back and surveyed everyone. It appeared that he was right: he was the last one to arrive. Brittany and Santana were standing next to each other near the back of the group while Rachel, Tina and Mercedes were next to Kurt, squealing about needing to catch up on the drama. Quinn was standing next to Lauren in the middle of the crowd, frowning at Kurt's face, knowing something was off.
"Let's go back to the rec room!" Mercedes called. "That's where we've set up camp for the night," she added to Kurt, "There's not enough room in my room for all of us."
Kurt simply nodded and made his way to the familiar room. He put his things down on one of the pull out couches and plopped beside his bag, putting his face in his hands and sighing loudly.
"Hey Kurt?" Rachel called. "Will you do that braid thing that only you can do?" She gestured to her hair. Kurt nodded, forcing a smile. Rachel beamed and sat down in front of Kurt, flipping her hair out behind her. Kurt reached for the dark locks and began braiding them in the familiar way that began to relax him. He then wondered if that was Rachel's intent. She did know that doing hair relaxed him.
"So...?" Mercedes asked.
"So what?" Kurt replied, pretending he didn't know what she was talking about.
"Catch everyone else up so I can hear the latest news!"
"Ooh," Lauren grinned as she shovelled potato chips in her mouth. "More glee drama!"
"Share!" Rachel ordered from in front of Kurt.
Kurt glared at Mercedes but knew he couldn't get out of it now.
"Well it all started yesterday when Mercedes, Santana and I went to the mall in Westerville..." Kurt told the story with a little bit of help from Mercedes and Santana during the parts where he choked up. Then he told them about his conversation with Wes and David about them not knowing who he was. Everyone was perfectly silent, processing what they had just heard about their dapper little warbler.
"No way," Was the first response from Tina, whose mouth was open in pure shock. "It appears we're going to have to give him a talking to—glee girl's style."
"Mercedes and I have already called dibs on kicking his ass," Santana said quickly.
"I've won seven consecutive boy's wrestling championships," Lauren said. "I'll help."
"Wait—I thought Blaine was an elf," Brittany said. "Like one of Santa's slaves. But elves are always nice, not mean."
Kurt chuckled a little before saying, "No, Brit. I can assure you that Blaine is human, not an elf."
"I don't think you have enough evidence to accuse him of cheating just yet," Quinn said slowly. "I mean, all you know is that he's hanging out with some other guy. We don't even know if this other guy is straight."
"For once I agree with Quinn," Rachel said. "Despite our many differences in the past, I feel she may be right. From my observations on the subject, it appears that Blaine is truly in love with Kurt and would not be unfaithful to his significant other. From the few days I dated Blaine and from the many times we have gone out with Kurt, I truly believe that he is a respectable boy and even if he no longer reciprocated the feelings, I believe that Blaine would have the decency to break up with him before engaging in another relationship."
"You didn't see that hug," Mercedes said. "It was almost more lingering than the one Kurt and Blaine had during Blaine's rendition of Somewhere Only We Know."
At the mention of the song Blaine had sung to Kurt, the boy burst into tears.
"Oh," Mercedes said. "I'm sorry boo, I didn't mean to make you cry."
Rachel stood up from where Kurt had dropped her hair and pulled him into a tight hug. "It's okay, Kurt," she said. "We're going to find out the truth. You just gained yourself five more spies. And I, for one, happen to be an excellent spy, having done so on Vocal Adrenaline several times."
"And getting caught once, discovering your birth mother and then dating a guy who proceeded to throw eggs at your head." Quinn replied viciously, knowing that this was a sensitive subject. Despite the fact that all the glee girls hung out, Quinn and Rachel were still truly mean to each other.
"At least I didn't cheat on Jesse," Rachel responded. "At least I had the decency to stay with one guy, unlike you."
"Stop fighting," Brittany said loudly, but calmly. "You're going to make Kurtie feel even worse."
Kurt let out a watery chuckle. "Thanks, Brit."
"You're welcome."
"So," Mercedes said. "We need to make a plan."
"Wait," Rachel said. "Is this a secret from the other boys?"
"Can we not tell them, please?" Kurt piped up. "I really don't want them to rush over there and beat the crap out of him. If it turns out true and we tell them, they need to promise that they won't hurt him."
"You're too nice for your own good," Santana said. "But fine. The boys are not allowed to know yet. Especially Finn, Rachel."
"Hey!" Rachel cried indignantly. "I can keep a secret!"
"Baby drama?" Quinn asked.
"Finn needed to know!"
"Guys!" Lauren said. "Break it up before I do it for you!"
"Thank you, Lauren." Santana flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Now, as for our plans..."
A/N: WOW! What an overwhelming response! I got home from school today to find 48 emails from Fanfiction in my inbox. At first I was confused because I forgot that I posted this fic, but I remembered when I started going through the emails. THANK YOU, THANK YOU! But now comes the part that as a reader, I hate to read and usually ignore, but as a writer, I must add. For the first chapter I got 23 alerts and 9 favourites but only 2 reviews? Call me attention-seeking, insecure, whatever, but I REALLY want to know your thoughts! So if you have just ten seconds to leave a two word review, you would make me the happiest fanfiction writer alive!
P.S. Updates may not be every day like they appear to be based on today's update. :)