Of Avril and Spencer's
There were a lot of things people could fault Kurt on when it came to his friends. Sometimes he didn't consider their feelings before he spoke, such as when he told Mercedes she was using him as a crutch; sometimes he was very reserved and secretive, which was part of what led to the escalation with Karofsky in the first place; and sometimes he just complained a lot, which Puck would point out whenever they watched a movie he wanted to watch instead of Clueless for the millionth time and Kurt spent the first thirty minutes complaining about wardrobe choices.
No, Kurt knew he wasn't the perfect friend, but he knew if there was one thing he could always be praised for in his relationships, it was in getting gifts. Whether it was Christmas, a birthday, or just a random thing he saw while out shopping, Kurt had a knack for picking out the perfect gifts. And if it required sprinting through racks at Black Friday events or camping out all night for midnight releases, Kurt was there. His dad would often bemoan how he could never match Kurt's perfectly thought out gifts, all of which had come tied up with a neat bow before most kids his age had even moved passed macaroni art. Carole and Finn both learned of the guilt that came from Kurt's presents when they received handcrafted items from Kurt's sewing machine under the Christmas tree.
Then, of course, there was Noah. While Kurt worked hard on every present he gave out, his gifts to Noah often went overboard by even Kurt's own lucrative standards. There were handmade scrapbooks, old VHS tapes he bid way too much money on eBay for, and mixes upon mixes. The smallest gift always had the largest symbol behind it, such as giving Noah a pair of earplugs when Noah's parents started to fight. And Kurt's gift to Noah on his bat mitzvah…well, let's just say even his rich uncle couldn't compete with that gift.
So, really, it shouldn't have been a surprise that, since they weren't speaking during Noah's birthday, Kurt had been on the look for a perfect make up gift. Sure, Noah hadn't given him anything for his, but gifts were Kurt's thing; it was his standard to live up to. And it shouldn't have been a surprise that Kurt stayed the night at home on a school night just so he could get the perfect gift for Puck at midnight right when it was released at Wal-Mart. Since it was a school night and his school was two hours away, it also shouldn't have been a surprise that Kurt showed up at Noah's house at 5:30 AM.
It was a surprise that Kurt snuck in with his own key instead of calling Noah.
He crept into Noah's room and, seeing his sleeping form, he crawled into bed and lay beside him. Kurt put a hand on Puck's side and just relaxed for a moment, watching him breathe. Sometimes he really wished he could cuddle up with him at Dalton; it would make the stressful class load much easier.
After several minutes, Kurt lightly sang, "Noooooah." Puck stirred a bit and Kurt repeated his name, this time a bit louder. He put his elbow on the bed and his head in this hand, posing himself perfectly as Noah started to wake up.
"Kurt?" Noah asked sleepily, starting to blink more in an effort to wake up. Once he realized it wasn't a dream—not like he dreamt about Kurt or anything, obviously, of course not—he sat up. "Is everything okay?"
"Of course," Kurt said, sitting up gracefully. "I guess you just don't realize what today is."
Noah's eyebrows furrowed together. It wasn't their friendship anniversary; Kurt's birthday was in May and Burt's was in October along with his mom's while Sarah's wasn't for another month; it couldn't be Christmas, obviously, and all other holidays were off the table. "March something?" Noah offered. He was just impressed he remembered the month.
"No," Kurt said. Then he corrected himself, "Well, yes, it is March, but that's not what I'm talking about." He grinned and turned slightly to pull a perfectly wrapped CD out of his messenger bag. "Tada! It's a random Kurt Gift Day—patent pending—to honor the release of this CD."
"Dude, you really didn't have to do this," Puck said even as he started to unwrap it. He had gone through this conversation too many times to count with Kurt and it always ended with him unwrapping the damn thing. Once the bow was set to the side and the wrapping paper was torn, Noah smirked and let out a small laugh. "I didn't even realize Avril's new CD was finally coming out."
Kurt mock sighed and shook his head, "You're the worst fan, did you know that?" He laughed as Puck gave him a look, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You know I just have to stay on top of pop culture. And it was the perfect gift and totally worth only getting a few hours of sleep. I'll listen to it on the way to Dalton and when I'm home this weekend, we'll talk and listen to it together and compare thoughts. It's a perfect system."
Puck wanted to say that the perfect system wouldn't involve Kurt anywhere near that stupid private school, but he knew better than to say that out loud. Instead, he pulled Kurt into a hug. "And now I'll be thinking of you when I listen to it in between classes. It'll be like you're back at McKinley."
Kurt closed his eyes and relaxed into Noah's arms. "That was symbolic part of it."
The two of them slowly pulled away and Kurt looked at the clock with sorrow in his eyes. The idea of driving back to Dalton, with or without Avril Lavigne's Goodbye Lullaby playing was daunting enough; the idea of driving back that early when he was sitting in Noah's warm, comfy bed? That was a nightmare. "Well, I should be going," Kurt said half heartedly.
Noah frowned as Kurt sat there, obviously not wanting to leave, either. He slowly smiled and said laid back down. "C'mon," Puck said, pulling Kurt back to lay down next to him. "My alarm's going to go off in about thirty minutes. You'll have plenty of time to make it there."
Kurt thought it over. "Well…the only thing I'd possibly miss is a Warbler meeting," he said, wrinkling his nose a bit, "And we're only working on a tour of retirement communities and it's not like we'll be discussing costumes or solos or anything…" Noah raised an eyebrow, wanting to egg him on in his rant about his current glee club, but he stayed silent as Kurt smiled. "Thirty more minutes sounds great." And with that, he snuggled into Noah's chest and got under his blankets, breathing in his scent and smiling peacefully. It wasn't long before the two of them were asleep once again.
Between driving, parking, and fixing his hair and disheveled uniform, Kurt just barely made it to homeroom on time. But he couldn't help but smile the rest of the day; the extra thirty minutes of sleep seemed to really help his mood.
—
"Mr. Schue?" Puck raised his hand as the teacher looked over at him. "Is it cool if I sing something?"
Everyone looked at him in confusion, especially Lauren. "You're not gonna sing something offensive again, are you?" she asked as he stood up.
"No way," Puck said, getting down to the floor and grabbing his guitar. "I was just…y'know, listening to something and it reminded me of this awesome song and, well…" Puck shrugged, "It seemed fitting for the moment."
The rest of the club looked at him doubtfully, obviously expecting a bit more of an introduction, or at least a bit more of the usual Puck attitude. Puck rolled his eyes. "Okay," he said, adjusting the strap of his guitar, "My, uh, sister's been playing the new Avril CD on loop." Finn raised his eyebrow at that and smirked, since he definitely remembered being told about his Avril obsession. "And there's a song called 'Wish You Were Here' and, well…" Puck looked at them, struggling to get the words out. Being vulnerable around them was not something he was used to and he wasn't sure he would be comfortable with it. But he wanted to get the words out. "There's a Pink Floyd song with the same name and it got me thinking so…well, I really miss someone right now." He looked down at his guitar, avoiding eye contact with everyone as he started to tune up with the band.
Mr. Schue smiled, obviously happy just to have Puck opening up to them. "That sounds like a great choice, Puck. Whenever you're ready." Puck nodded, still not looking at them, before having the drummer count off.
"So," Puck sang, "So you think you can tell Heaven from Hell? Blue skies from pain? Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?" Skipping ahead, he continued, "Did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?" Sometimes Puck wondered if people realized just how much Kurt had given up to be at Dalton. Yeah, he had a boyfriend now, whatever, but he was a shitty one and he wasn't good enough for him and he had to sing back up to him for whatever reason instead of having solos like he could've at McKinley.
Finally looking up from his guitar, Puck continued to play as he sang, "How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year, running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears…" Puck paused, looking at the window Kurt always gazed out of before Glee club started. Maybe they really did need to move on. He just had to accept that Kurt was at Dalton and he was at McKinley and that was okay. Maybe it was time to let go of those old fears of losing him; Kurt was allowed to date and make friends and Puck had no reason to be jealous. It shouldn't hurt him so much to see his best friend with someone else, right? And it wasn't like they never saw each other on weekends or anything; they were still attached at the hip then.
Still, he found himself playing one last chord and quietly ending with, "Wish you were here…"
After a moment, the rest of New Directions clapped and Puck forced a small smile on his face before he took off his guitar. Mercedes leaned over to Tina and whispered, "Was that a love song?" Tina shrugged, not sure what the song was about. All the while, Santana gave Puck a calculating look, plans starting to form in her head.
—
"You haven't asked us anything about our New York trip," Mercedes said to Kurt. She, Tina, Kurt, Puck, Blaine, and, surprisingly, Santana, were all sharing a drink together. Dalton had let out early that day so Blaine and Kurt could make it down easily for an after school drink and Kurt was happy to be there.
"Is it because it's too painful?" Tina asked.
Kurt tipped his mocha cup a bit. "Yes, as a matter of fact," he said, before dryly adding, "But while the New Directions are preparing to perform at Nationals, the Warblers are preparing to perform at a nursing home in a strip mall next to a bank." Tina and Puck both laughed while Mercedes gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm so proud of you guys, though. I really am; your songs killed it at Regionals."
"I miss you so much," Tina said.
"Same," Puck said, finally speaking up. Kurt gave him a smile and a small aw, moving his head to rest it on Puck's shoulder.
"It's true; he even sang a song for you," Tina said.
"Really?" Kurt asked, "What song?"
"'Wish You Were Here'—"
"Oh my God, did I really miss your Avril debut?" Kurt asked, his eyes widening as he pulled off of Puck's shoulder to look at him better.
"No!" Puck said immediately, his own eyes wide and panicked. "I wouldn't sing her. Ever. Sara plays her constantly but I don't."
He gave Kurt a meaningful look and Kurt slowly nodded. "…Riiiight. Sara plays her, not you. I just thought maybe she'd influence you at some point. Because that new album of hers. That Sara plays. Nonstop."
Puck nodded. "Yes." Then he explained, "I meant the Pink Floyd song. Much more my style." Kurt nodded one more time before putting his head back on Noah's shoulder.
Tina, Mercedes, and Blaine all stared at the two of them for a moment. Tina and Mercedes were very confused by the conversation that just happened while Blaine was just trying his best not to glare at the fact they were cuddling in public while he was literally right next to him.
"Anyways," Mercedes said, "Isn't there anyway you can come back to McKinley?"
"I told him I'd be all for it if it wasn't for Karofsky," Blaine said, taking Kurt's hand. Kurt gave him a look, not sure why he had moved so close to him, and pulled his hand away. Puck didn't offer Blaine the same courtesy he had given him, glaring at the guy. Did he really just say he had given him permission to attend McKinley again? Did Kurt need that from him?
"Wait what did you just say?" Santana asked, finally focusing back on the conversation and not how Brittany and Artie were giggling a few tables away from them.
"Yeah, repeat that one for me, please," Puck said, his voice on edge.
"Kurt needs to be safe," Blaine said, a bit of a challenge in his voice as he looked at Puck.
"Kurt needs to make his own decisions and not be given permission by his boyfriend on what school he can go to," Puck said, his voice slightly louder and angrier.
"Can we please change subjects?" Kurt said, sitting up straight and putting his hands up in surrender. "I don't want to think about this right now, okay?" Blaine and Puck remained staring at each other angrily for a few more silent, tense moments before nodding and looking back at their drinks. Kurt breathed a sigh of relief and Tina and Mercedes exchanged looks; obviously Blaine was starting to see what everyone else had seen long ago.
As Kurt started them on a new topic, Santana looked back over at Puck, who was too busy staring at his cup in anger to even notice. Ever since Santana had seen Karofsky stare at Sam's ass, she knew what had made Kurt transfer. Karofsky wasn't just bullying Kurt because he was gay, but because Karofsky liked him. It all made sense, like why Kurt and his midget boyfriend said something about a secret when she protected them from Karofsky. Karofsky must have been upset at the idea of Kurt knowing and then made his life hell until Kurt left.
Honestly, she couldn't blame him. Well, yeah, she wasn't down with him actually threatening to kill Kurt, but she had to admit that when she saw Brittany being all-cutesy with Artie, she would think of cunning ways to push him in front of a bus, but at least she never acted on it. They were kind of in the same position.
And Puck's whiny, apparently Avril-inspired glee club performance proved just how badly people needed Kurt back at McKinley. Puck was acting like a complete chick without him, his little girlfriends were at a loss without his fashion advice, and, honestly, their alto and tenor sections were both lacking without the little boost Kurt would give them when he traded between the parts. If they wanted to win Nationals, they needed Kurt back.
…And if she brought Kurt back, everyone would love her. She'd change Karofsky's image so people would like him even more and get him as her running mate. She could totally win Prom Queen over Quinn, be the most popular girl in school, and get Britt to dump the cripple and get her non-cheating mack on with her. And no one was going to give the Prom Queen grief for dating a girl.
Santana suddenly stood up. "I've gotta gay," she said. At Kurt's eyebrow raise she corrected, "Go. I've gotta go." And with that she left, not even giving them a passing look.
"…That was weird," Mercedes said.
Kurt nodded and asked, "Has she been acting…different lately? Last time I talked to her she was actually defending me and Blaine instead of insulting us."
"Not really," Tina said. "I mean, she hasn't been cheerleading you know, so maybe it's all affecting her brain. You remember what happened last year when Ms. Sylvester stopped having Cheerio practices." Kurt nodded gravely as he remembered how much Santana and Brittany fell apart; maybe that was all it was, but he was sure there was something else there.
"To be fair, everything about Glee club is weird right now. Quinn and Finn are dating, Sam's been quieter than usual, Brittany's dating Artie…" Mercedes looked over at the latter couple and shook her head. "It's all strange. Plus you're not there to help balance things out."
"That's true," Puck added thoughtfully.
"Yeah, but at least you still get sleepovers with Kurt; Rachel and I haven't been able to schedule one since February," Mercedes pointed out without thinking.
"What?" Blaine asked, looking over at Kurt incredulously.
"What?" Kurt asked back, his own face the picture of confusion. "Puck and I always have weekend sleepovers after family dinners on Friday. You know that."
"I thought your dad said no boys in your room anymore," Blaine said.
"Well, yeah, but it's Noah," Kurt said. He knew his dad had said once that maybe Puck shouldn't sleep in there, but he hadn't talked to him about that since and Noah had slept over many times after that. Kurt didn't want to bring it up with him again in case he decided to actually enforce that rule.
Blaine just nodded again, not wanting to admit how jealous he was to Kurt. After all, they were just friends. Yes, they were close, but that didn't mean Puck wanted anything with Kurt, even if he had sung a song about missing him. But that didn't mean that Kurt wanted him back anyways, right?
But when Kurt delicately wiped a bit of coffee from Puck's mouth with his napkin and a giggle, Blaine took a long sip of coffee to calm him down. His sneaking suspicions just seemed to be proving themselves true right in front of his eyes.
—
Having a visit with Kurt helped lift Puck's spirits, enough so that when he saw Lauren gazing longingly at the Prom King and Queen crowns, he went over to see her, ready to charm her off her feet. "Those crowns are a crock," he said. "You know what I found out? Not real jewels. Kurt's tiara collection is fancier than this."
Normally Lauren would roll her eyes at yet another reference to Kurt, but she was too focused on the crown to move her eyes away. "A crown hasn't rested on my head since I won Miss Tiara Toddler Allen County," she said.
"Are you serious?"
She finally broke eye contact with the fake jewels to look over at Puck, noting his shock. "Yeah. Three years in a row. I dominated in Western Wear and Runway, but my real talent was baby pull-ups," she said, starting to walk away from the crowns as she thought of her winning talent. She was always beating out those other little girls. "I was on my way to becoming Miss Ohio…that is, until the shoddy Zizes thyroid kicked in along with a love of chips and suddenly I was denied entry into the pageant circuit. They said I no longer looked the part. My dreams were dashed." She sighed a bit, just thinking over the stupid body rules women were forced to meet in order to be considered pretty.
Speaking of perfect, skinny bodies, the two of them stopped as they watched Quinn put up a poster for her Prom Royalty campaign. She rolled her eyes and said, "There's our future queen: a size two teenage dream."
Puck looked over at his former girl and then back at his current girl. Well, not like a girlfriend or anything, since Lauren still wouldn't say they were actually dating, possible sex tape or not. But as he looked back at the Finn and Quinn campaign poster, he thought of an idea. "You know what?" Puck said, looking back at Lauren with a smile, "We're gonna change that."
"How?"
"Baby, you're gonna get that crown," Puck said, "And I'm gonna be your king."
Lauren smiled at him, making him smile back. If this worked, they were basically demanded by royal decree to date. And since they were both badasses, of course they would win.
It was a foolproof plan.
—
"Kurt, we have to do something," Puck said as soon as Kurt picked up his call.
"What happened now?" Kurt asked, continuing to lotion up with one hand as he talked to his best friend.
"Okay. So I told you how Finn accidentally broke Rachel's nose, right?"
"Yeah, of course. We spent a whole conversation coming up with movie names for his killer dance moves," Kurt agreed, "Night of the Living Pas de Deux."
"Right," Puck said with a small laugh. "Anyways, so Rachel came in with these pictures the doc helped make of her face with Quinn's nose on it."
Kurt's hand dropped from where he had been carefully patting in eye cream. "No!" he gasped, turning away from the mirror. Obviously this was a bigger drama he had expected. "She's not thinking of getting a nose job, is she?"
"She is. Just like every girl at temple," Puck said with a sigh. "Look, I like the smaller noses when it comes to kissing, you know, but she can't do this. It's a Jewish symbol and she wants to take it off her face for Quinn's nose!"
"She's doing this because of Finn, I bet," Kurt said, standing up and starting to pace. "Rachel still wants him and he's with Quinn, so she thinks getting this nose will help win him back." He ran a finger down his own nose in thought. "True, not all of us are as lucky as me to be born with a cute little button nose, but that's beside the point."
Puck rolled his eyes slightly. "Yeah, yeah, your nose is perfect, Kurt we all know that. I'm sure she'd look super hot with your nose instead." Kurt thanked him and Puck asked, "Wouldn't that chick she's always yammering on about be disappointed? Barbra Streisand?"
At the mention of the legend, Kurt snapped his fingers. "That's it!" He went over to his computer and opened his browser. "Okay, you need to get her to agree to meet with you for an hour in two days. That should be enough time to put this all together. Just bring her to the mall and I'll take care of it from there."
"Wait, what are you doing at the mall?"
"You'll see, don't you worry—" Kurt was cut off by a beep on his phone. He pulled it away from his face in confusion and saw a call waiting for him from his dad. "Hey, sorry, honey, I have to go; my dad's calling."
"Okay," Puck said, a bit bummed to already have to say goodbye.
"I'm so sorry, Noah. I promise I'll talk to you soon, okay?" Puck agreed and the two exchanged their goodybe's and I love you's before Kurt switched over to the other call. "Hi, Dad, what's up?"
—
Kurt still wasn't sure how it happened. His dad had called him the night before to say he was going to pick him up for a meeting at McKinley the next day after breakfast, which was confusing enough; his dad had sworn to keep him out of that school for the rest of his high school career no matter what the cost since it wasn't safe for him. But there he was, right at 8:30 to pick Kurt up and have some meeting. All Kurt was told is that Figgins had called to propose a way to get Kurt back after a suggestion from a student.
This student, Kurt found out, was none over than his former bully, Dave Karofsky. Kurt had frozen upon seeing him in Figgins' office, but Mr. Schuester and the principal (and even Karofsky's dad) all said it was okay. Kurt slowly made his way in, his eyes never leaving Karofsky as Figgins explained the situation. Apparently Karofsky, along with another student, had started something called the Bully Whips that made the school safe for everyone. Kurt leaned back in his chair, feeling a small shred of hope as he explained it would be safe for Kurt to come back to McKinley.
"You know, you talk a great game, but all I'm hearing is talk, and talk isn't going to keep Kurt safe," Burt said, immediately making Kurt doubt that his dad would even let him come back.
"But an anti-bullying club will," Figgins said. "The fact is since they've started enforcing the anti-bullying rule, we haven't had one incident."
"Yeah, and if I took all the water out of the ocean it wouldn't be wet anymore," Burt said. He gestured to Karofsky and explained, "The bullying stopped because your top offender stopped."
"Mr. Hummel," Mr. Karofsky—Paul, if Kurt remembered right—interrupted, "Can I call you Burt?"
"Of course," his dad said tensely, enough so Kurt had to resist the urge to put a hand on his to calm him down.
"You remember how understanding I was about this when it all began?" Paul said, "I believed your son and that's because the David I was seeing wasn't the David I knew. My David was a Cub Scout. He was kind; he was a good citizen. I still don't know what was going through his mind when all this bullying started, but I can tell you the David I'm seeing now is my son, back again."
Kurt smiled a bit at that; maybe Dave had finally come out and accepted himself. Maybe things were really going to be okay now. But his dad just launched back into a fight, "Do you have any idea how much stress this has caused my family? My son leaving his friends? My wife and I spending money we don't have on private school because of your son?" Kurt looked back down at his lap. The last weekend he was at home, he overheard his dad and Carole discussing selling some items or putting another mortgage on the house; his bill for the final quarter was due in the next few weeks and it was money they simply didn't have. He shrunk back in shame, wishing his dad would let him at least sell some of his clothes or something.
"Look, you and I are the same age," Paul said, "I remember what we used too say about the gays when we were younger." Kurt looked up at him and narrowed his eyes a bit; the use of the gays combined with how Dave avoided looking at his dad made it clear that his hope of Dave being out was just a pipe dream. But Paul just continued on, not noticing Kurt's look or Dave's uncomfortable body language, "Now it's taken us a long time to figure out what's right. Why can't you just allow David the couple of months that it's taken him to figure it out?"
"Because he said he's gonna kill my son!"
"I didn't mean that! It's a figure of speech," Dave defended himself.
"How's he supposed to know that?" Burt fired back, gesturing towards his still silent son.
"Your words still matter, David," Mr. Schuester said gravely.
"I know and I feel awful about them, especially those ones. That's not me," he said. Dave sounded truly sorry as he said, "Not anymore."
Realizing Kurt had yet to say anything (which was odd, given how opinionated he was), Will asked, "What do you think, Kurt?"
Kurt paused as everyone turned to look at him. "I think he realizes what he did was wrong," Kurt said carefully.
"You're just saying that because you want to be back in this school so bad," Burt said rather unhappily.
Kurt gave his dad a significant look. Of course he wanted to come back, but he also knew something was up. He needed to find that out before he risked his safety by coming back to McKinley. "Can Dave and I speak for a moment alone?" Kurt asked quietly and politely. Before his dad could argue, he said "You can wait for us outside in the hall." His dad looked out of the window and realized that he'd be able to see if that guy took even one step toward his son, so he nodded. After Figgins agreed, all four adults left and Kurt watched them walk away.
As soon as the two were alone, Kurt's voice turned blunt, "What's your angle here?"
"I'm just trying to make things right."
Kurt wasn't letting him off that easy. "David, I know, remember? And I haven't told anyone." At Dave's look, he added, "Well…except Blaine…and Noah."
"Dude!" Dave said, his face looking panicked. "Why did you tell him that? He's gonna tell someone!"
"He saw me in the locker room after…it happened," Kurt said calmly. "And I tell Noah everything. It's not like he's told anyone; I swore him to secrecy." Dave snorted and crossed his arms. "Besides, if he told anyone, I have much more dirt on him I could expose than he has on you. He would never even try it."
Dave lowered his arms as his face softened. "Why? It would have made your lives a lot easier."
"I don't believe in denying who you are," Kurt said, "but I don't believe in outing anyone either."
"…Thanks," Dave said softly.
"Just be glad Noah's on parole, otherwise he would've done a lot worse," Kurt said bluntly. At the other boy's nod, he leaned forward, "You owe me the truth. What's going on here?"
Dave hesitated before admitting, "Okay, it was Santana's idea." Kurt raised an eyebrow and Dave continued, "She wants to be Prom Queen. She figured if we got you back, everyone would vote for us."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm both repulsed and impressed by her Lady Macbethian ways. A Latina Eve Harrington." He smiled at his own pop culture reference until he noticed Dave's blank look. "Okay if you're going to be gay, you simply must know who that is. Even Noah does."
Dave immediately rolled his eyes again. "Of course he knows. He's your friend." Kurt nodded in agreement while still giving Dave one of those soul-piercing looks. He had no idea how the dude did that, but it made him all kinds of uncomfortable. "Look, I don't know for sure I am gay, okay? Stop bringing it up."
Kurt nodded and leaned forward. "Okay. I have several options here. I could tell everyone the truth about you—"
"Dude I said I'm sorry, you said you wouldn't do that!"
Kurt held up a calming hand, "Or, I could return here and marvel with pride at your new anti-bullying movement, which I fully believe in by the way, and further endorse your campaign." Dave started to smile and Kurt added, "But I'll be helping you and your Bully Whips create a GSA: a Gay Straight Alliance." Immediately the jock's nose wrinkled and Kurt said, "Look, you may not have to come out, but you need to be educated. The whole school does, but you especially." After a moment, Dave gave in and nodded.
Meanwhile, as Kurt looked out the window to smile at his dad, Finn walked over to check out how the meeting was going. "You're gonna look out for your brother, right?"
"Definitely," Finn said with a nod. Kurt was truly his brother now and he was never letting anyone hurt him again.
—
Blaine knocked on Kurt's door and let himself in after a moment. "Hey, Kurt, you weren't in classes or Warbler practices today, so I thought I'd bring you some soup…" his voice drifted off as he saw Kurt's bags on his bed. Then he saw the TV and DVD player were unhooked from the wall and put back in the crate Kurt carried them in on. And then there was Kurt, over by his vanity, sorting out his lotions in whatever pattern he used; Blaine was never sure how it worked.
"…What's going on?" Blaine asked as he put the plastic bowl down on the dresser Dalton provided its students.
Kurt smiled and stepped away from his packing. "I wanted to tell you in person, I just haven't had a chance to text you to come over," he said, his hands together at his chest. "I'm going back to McKinley!"
While Kurt was all smiles, obviously expecting Blaine to be happy, his boyfriend was very unenthusiastic. "…What? What about Karofsky?"
"Apparently Santana is using him to get a Prom Queen title. She thinks bringing me back will make her look like a hero, I guess, and somehow he's popular enough to help the fact she's no longer a Cheerio," Kurt said. He frowned for a moment and said, "Heaven knows why, since she really seems to be acting strange as of late, but I guess that's her decision." Kurt shrugged and shook his hands to change the subject. "Anyways, they're doing some anti-bullying thing that has lowered the bullying rate down to zero, mostly because he's stopped bullying, I'm sure, but they reached out to me and my dad." He turned back to his vanity and started packing up his moisturizers again. "That's where I was today; I had to talk with my dad, our principal, Mr. Schue, Mr. Karofsky, and David in a meeting about all of this so they'd know I'm safe to come back."
"David? You're calling him David now?"
"Well, yeah," Kurt said, not looking up from his packing. "It is his name. We actually had a nice chat about things. He's obviously still confused but he seemed genuinely sorry about what he did and really repentant. It was nice."
Blaine crossed his arms, frowning at Kurt. "I mean, I guess that's good…"
"It is! We're even going to start a GSA, you know, to help educate the school," Kurt said. He looked up into the mirror and made eye contact with Blaine, his face falling. "What's wrong? I thought you'd be happy for me."
Blaine dropped his arms. "Of course I am, Kurt. I know you missed everyone there." He shrugged, "I just…I don't know, I hoped you discuss it with me before you made your decision."
Kurt turned around and raised an eyebrow. "There's nothing to discuss. The threat is gone. I'm safe to go back whenever I want. And my parents can't afford to keep me here. Just a quarter of the tuition here plus room and board costs more than most of my wardrobe and that's saying something. If I lived closer it'd be feasible, but I can't drive four hours everyday in order to afford this place. And all the scholarships are merit ones. Yes, I'm smart and I was an honor roll student at McKinley, but I can't compete with the brainiacs here for money." Blaine continued to look unhappy and Kurt countered, "Besides, it's not your decision if I go back to McKinley or not. It's mine and my family's. You don't get a say in it."
Of course, all that did was remind Blaine of that conversation with Puck. He looked over to the side, away from Kurt, and clenched his fists. Still, he nodded and Kurt seemed pleased enough with that to walk over and kiss his cheek. "Thank you for the soup, though," Kurt said. "That was really sweet of you."
Blaine finally smiled at that sand said, "You're welcome. I try." He leaned in to kiss Kurt on the mouth, only for AC/DC to start playing from Kurt's pocket.
"Hold on," Kurt said, putting his hand in front of Blaine's lips in order to pull out his phone. There was a simple text from Puck reading, Talked to Rachel, she's set for the mall. "Yes!" Kurt cheered softly, quickly sending Noah a thank you in response. "That was Noah," Kurt explained, walking backwards as he typed, "He and I are planning a flash mob to hopefully stop Rachel from making a huge mistake." His grin grew as he pocketed his phone again. "I'm so excited for this. I can't wait to see his face tomorrow when I show up at school. He's going to freak out. Best make up present ever. I bet he's even going to do one of those spinning hugs like he did when he got out of Juvie."
That was the last straw from Blaine. Not only was their kiss and moment ruined by a text from Kurt's "friend", but he had to hear about his boyfriend planning to go back to that school to be with said "friend" all day every day? Kurt didn't have time to text him the news but had texted Noah about something else while planning a flash mob? He couldn't stand it.
"Oh my God, Kurt, I can't do this anymore."
Kurt looked up to him, both very confused and hurt. "Do what?"
"I can't pretend that I'm okay with this-this thing you have with Puck!" Blaine said loudly. "I can't have you back at that school with Puck. I can't go out with you and have him hold his hand when you should be holding mine. I can't compete for my boyfriend's attention with his best friend!" Blaine ranted. "I get that he's your best friend and I love that you have someone you're that close to, but it's like you'd rather spend time with him than spend time with me."
"Oh my God, how possessive can you be?" Kurt volleyed back. "Just because I'm not with you 24/7 or holding your hand doesn't mean anything."
"You spend more time in bed with Puck than you ever have with me. I don't think being upset over you two having sleepovers is me being possessive."
"It's not like we've done anything, Blaine! We haven't done anything you or I have," Kurt said furiously. "Noah is my best friend. That's it. You're my boyfriend. And, at this rate, a really controlling one at that! You're trying to control where I go to school, how I sing solos for this stupid school, and even what I do with my hands in public apparently! I'm not stopping my friendship with Noah just because you're being irrational."
"Then maybe we should stop dating to solve this."
Blaine's words seemed to echo in Kurt's room. The two stared at each other, obviously not sure what to say, both still angry and upset.
Kurt was the one to break the silence a few moments later. "Out," he said quietly but firmly, almost scarily serious as he pointed his finger at the door. "Get out of here before I say something I'll regret."
Blaine took his plastic soup container and left. Kurt followed him to the door and slammed it shut, letting out a scream of frustration as he threw one of the Dalton pillows at the dresser.
Eventually Burt showed up with Carole and Finn to help move Kurt's stuff to their new place. Kurt left without saying goodbye to anyone and remained rather silent on the way home, not even picking up his phone to text Noah.
—
Despite the foul mood he had been in the night before, Kurt cheered up quickly as he finished unpacking his room and choosing an outfit. To wear to school. He was glad that he wasn't scheduled to go back until lunch because it took some time to finally choose everything. And he probably went a bit overboard with his top hat and gloves and the straightjacket—obviously a symbol of his release from Dalton and, if he was being brutally honest, a possible release from something else—but it felt so good to finally be free.
When Mercedes announced it was official, Kurt gladly raised his arms in the air and walked over the steps of the outdoor cafeteria. Just feeling the sun on his arms and the familiar smells of the bad cafeteria food while his friends looked at him was great. "My transfer!" He yelled in response to Sam's question. "Kurt Hummel's back at McKinley!"
All the Glee club that was there cheered for him, but as he ran down the steps, he was looking for one and only one person. Noah was stunned, his mouth open in shock but as Kurt ran towards him, he opened his arms. Kurt eagerly jumped into them, his knees locking around his hips as he laughed and Puck spun him around. "I knew you'd do that!" Kurt said as he kissed his cheek. "I knew it!" He laughed kept laughing as Puck kept spinning him around until they were both dizzy. He finally stopped when Tina said, "Hey, hey, spread the love around!"
Kurt gently slipped out of Noah's arms and let him take his top hat. As he continued to hug Tina, Mercedes, and Finn and high five everyone else (Lauren still seemed iffy about him), he didn't notice a sea of Warblers walk down the steps. It wasn't until he heard a throat being cleared that he looked up.
"Blaine," Kurt said softly. He looked over at him, flanked by Wes and David. "What are you doing here? Wh-how did you know the time?"
"Finn told me," Blaine admitted. Kurt looked over at his brother, but he just shrugged at him, not sure what was making him so upset. "David, Wes, and I had a number planned for your inevitable return to McKinley. I'd like to sing it, still, if you don't mind. I know these guys would like to say goodbye."
Kurt bit his lip but slowly nodded, fading back against Noah's body. After giving them a pitch, the Warblers started on an acapella version of "Somewhere Only We Know". Kurt loved that song. Well, he had, but now he wasn't sure what to think. He loved saying goodbye to the rest of the Warblers, enough so he even left his circle of Glee friends to hug them all goodbye, but after the fight last night, the song choice made him uncomfortable. It was like Blaine was rubbing in the idea of wanting to be alone with Kurt, isolated and, most importantly, without Noah.
When the song finished, Blaine was standing in front of him, actually looking pretty repentant. Kurt took a few steps forward to get a moment of privacy between the two of them. "Blaine…" he looked at him and knew deep down in his heart that it wasn't going to work any longer, but he couldn't just tell him that. Not like this. "Thank you," Kurt finally finished.
Blaine took his hands and Kurt gave them a gentle squeeze. "Can you meet me here after school, before glee club?" Kurt asked. "I need to talk to you. In private." Blaine looked very hesitant about it, but he still nodded his head. "I'll see you then." After one last squeeze of his hands, Kurt stepped away and went back to his circle of friends, all of whom seemed very concerned about what had just happened.
Thankfully, Puck broke the silence by declaring, "Guess someone gets a ride to class!" Kurt smiled gratefully and, with a small jump, got on his back and put the top hat Noah had been carrying on top of his Mohawk. He laughed as Puck brought him inside the familiar building, all while Blaine watched him from a distance.
—
"Thanks for meeting me here," Kurt said, holding his elbows as he stood in front of Blaine. He gestured to a bench nearby and sat down with him, looking at the other students all leaving at the final bell. He didn't have long to do this but he also didn't want to rush it.
"I'm so sorry about yesterday, Kurt," Blaine said. "I didn't mean any of that."
"Yes, you did," Kurt said defiantly as he turned his face to look at Blaine.
Blaine opened his mouth as if he was about to deny it, but, after a short moment, he closed his mouth and nodded. Kurt was right and he knew it.
"You know," Kurt said softly, looking back in front of him, "I know how Noah and I act is weird. I know we're not like normal friends. Everyone seems to think I'm oblivious to the stares and looks and all of that, but I'm not. Even if I wasn't, I know we're weird." He snorted quietly and shook his head. "I don't get why, though. I mean, if Tina sat on my lap it wouldn't be weird. I hold hands and link arms with Mercedes all the time. But as soon as I hold Noah's hand or sit on his lap or cuddle with him, it's not okay."
Kurt sighed and looked back at the buses lined up in front of the building. "The first time he ever held my hand, it was at my mom's funeral," Kurt said softly. "It made me feel like I wasn't alone. Every time he holds my hand or hugs me or is just there, he makes me feel that same thing." He sighed and rolled his eyes up, feeling tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. It always hurt to think of his mom's death. "Everyone treats us like we're weird just because we love each other. I can take the looks, I can take the comments from strangers," he looked back over at Blaine, "But I can't take accusations from my boyfriend."
Blaine looked down in shame and Kurt pressed on. "I get it, this is your first relationship; it's mine, too. I get that we're going to make mistakes. But you…" Kurt sighed and put a hand on his, "I felt like you were trying to control me, but I figured, you know, this is our first relationships, and you're younger, so of course you might feel this need to have control, but honey…I can't be in a relationship where only you're allowed to shine and I only get to have a moment in the spotlight if I share it with you. I love singing duets, but I need more than that with someone I'm dating. I don't want someone to get mad about my choice of school or the fact that I hang out with my best friend instead of them." He bit his lip, not wanting to add anything more to the critical words he just said. After a moment, Kurt finished, "I just don't think we're meant to be. I think we just rushed into this thing and maybe…maybe we were meant to just be friends."
Blaine looked up at Kurt and said, "I'm so sorry, Kurt. I really am."
Kurt gave him a small, sad smile as his eyes teared up a bit, "Me, too, Blaine. Me, too."
They both slowly stood up and Kurt said, "I should, um, get to glee practice. I have a solo I want to sing."
"Yeah," Blaine said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "I should, uh, head home." He looked back up at Kurt and offered him a half-smile. "Can we…god, I know this is what they say in the movies and everything, but do you think we can really stay friends?"
"You want that?" Kurt asked with a surprised smile. He wouldn't have blamed Blaine for slapping him in the face.
"Of course I do," Blaine said. "I think you were right, you know, about how we were meant to be friends. You're a cool guy, Kurt: funny, considerate, fashionable, sweet."
"I can't argue with that," Kurt said, laughing a bit before he sniffed and wiped his eyes. "I'd really like that, Blaine. You're really sweet, too, and smart and talented and I'd love to see you some more as friends." He looked down at his feet and then back up at Blaine, "Well, you have my number."
"Yeah…I do."
The two smiled at each other before Kurt reached forward and gave him a hug. "Thank you," Kurt said softly. Whether if it was because he didn't blame him or because he was taking it so well or what, Kurt didn't know, but he was all to thankful for how it all happened.
"Kurt?"
Kurt pulled away from the hung to see Mercedes and Noah waiting for him at the cafeteria doors. "Just a minute!" he called to them. He turned back to Blaine and said a simple goodbye before giving him a parting squeeze on his shoulder.
Blaine wiped his eyes and looked over at the now departing buses then back at the school building. Through the windows, he could already see Kurt walking with Noah, his arm around Kurt's shoulders. While he could tell Kurt wasn't his happiest or anything, he already looked much more cheerful with Noah poking his side.
When he scanned down the hall, Blaine's eyes fell on Mercedes. Sensing him watching, she looked out the window and gave him a sad, knowing smile. He returned it as best as he could before looking back over in time to see Kurt laughing in Noah's arms. As upset as he might have been, Blaine had to admit he looked like he belonged there. And once he took off his straightjacket, he looked freer than ever.
—
"Do you want to listen to some music? That might help," Noah offered while he and Kurt were continuing unpacking his room.
Kurt sighed and crossed his arms with a shrug. Telling Noah and his friends that he and Blaine were over was hard, but he wasn't nearly as upset as he planned on being. "I don't know…maybe." He sat down on his bed as Noah kept on putting Kurt's DVDs in alphabetical order. "I already scheduled a crying session with Tee and 'Cedes on Friday, just so you know. If all goes well tomorrow, Rachel can join us, too. But I don't think I just want to sit here and cry until I'm surrounded by my girls with a pint of Chocolate Fudge Brownie."
He sat down on his bed and Noah nodded. "Makes sense. But it doesn't have to be sad, you know. There's plenty of angry music you can jam to." Noah looked over his shoulder at Kurt with a smile and an eyebrow raise. Kurt slowly smiled and let out a small laugh; he knew exactly what Noah meant.
"Okay, Noah. Bring on the Avril."
Once Noah's iPod was hooked up to the speaker, most of the unpacking was forgotten so they could focus on dancing around the room to some of the break up material off of Under My Skin. Maybe the words of "My Happy Ending" weren't fitting for how his relationship with Blaine ended, but few things cheered him up like playing the air guitars to crappy teenage angst music with Noah Puckerman. And when Finn came in and started to play the air drums, Kurt realized just how lucky he was to be back where he belonged.
—
Kurt high fived Noah as Rachel beamed. "I think we got the job done!" Kurt said excitedly as everyone clapped at the flash mob's performance.
"I can't believe you got all this done in a matter of days," Puck said, "Somehow you still manage to impress me, Kurt. I don't know how you do it."
Kurt shrugged and chuckled softly, "It's what I do." He looked over at Rachel as she laughed with Santana and Mike. "Ultimately it's her decision, but I think we helped her a lot."
Noah wrapped an arm around Kurt's shoulders as they walked down the mall. When they came by a Spencer's, Kurt looked in; through the black paint and T-shirts and marijuana paraphernalia, Kurt could see a line of vibrators, butt plugs, and other sex toys on the shelves.
He looked back in front of him, but not fast enough for Noah to not notice. "What are you—" Noah's eyes widened as Kurt's face went bright red. "Oh my god—Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, were you looking at dildos?"
"Shut up," Kurt said, ducking his head. "I wasn't looking at anything."
"That is a lie, Kurt, and you know it!" Noah laughed, clapping Kurt on the back. "C'mon, let's go in and give them a look." Noah tried to steer Kurt into the Spencer's Gift store, but Kurt twisted out of his hold and started jogging away, only for Noah to run behind him, wrap his arms around his stomach, and lifting him up a bit. Kurt kicked his legs and laughed as Noah dragged him over to the store.
A few minutes later they were asked to leave Spencer's due to their loud laughter and the fact that, as 17 year olds, they weren't eligible to buy any of the dildos they were playing with. "I guess I know what gift card to get you for your birthday."
Noah got a slap on the head for that.
—
"I know I'm biased, but I do have to commend Noah's choice of a Born This Way shirt," Kurt said as he leaned back on his bed. New Directions had just finished their number and were christening Kurt's bedroom with its first ever ladies sleepover. Tina, Mercedes, Rachel, and Kurt were still wearing their own T-shirts with pajama pants as they all got comfortable in Kurt's room, ready for a night of fun, each person holding a pint of ice cream (vegan ice cream, in Rachel's case).
"His 'I'm With Stupid' shirt was definitely one of the best ones," Rachel agreed, "But I would like credit for embracing my nose, thank you very much."
"Of course, Rach, you know I'm proud of you," Kurt said with a smile. "And of all of you girls. It took a lot of bravery to say what you guys said."
"Says the only openly gay guy in the whole county, probably," Tina joked.
"I like the shirt change by the way," Mercedes chimed in. "Last I heard it was going to say Likes Boys."
Kurt looked down at his shirt and then back up at them with a sad smile. "Well, after the whole break up, I just know I don't want to date anyone younger than me…or, well, at least not someone more than a couple of months younger than me. So it had to be Likes Men." The girls all cooed over him for a moment and he shook his hand at them. "Girls, girls, it's okay. I'm feeling much better already."
"Good," Mercedes said. "We know he made you happy, but you'll find someone again. Really soon, too, I bet."
Kurt smiled a bit and nodded. It was then that Rachel said, "Okay, I'm sorry, I just have to know: was Noah in with Lauren on the whole Quinn/Lucy thing?"
Kurt sighed. "No. She broke into the offices on her own and found out; Noah was helping me unpack the rest of my stuff when that happened. He was not involved in the least."
"I still can't believe that's real," Mercedes said, "I mean, she lived with me and I didn't even know her real name. I saw her give birth and never knew she was really a Lucy."
"Quinn fits her so much better," Tina agreed.
Rachel made a face but nodded. "It just seemed to help her and Finn's candidacy for Prom Royalty."
"Yeah," Kurt agreed. "It definitely backfired for Lauren."
"Speaking of," Mercedes said, "Who are you guys voting for?"
Kurt looked to make sure the door was closed before leaning in and whispering, "Okay, I love Finn, I really do. He's a great brother. But I have to vote for Noah. It's important to him. And he's my best friend; whom else could I vote for? Plus, Quinn's been acting strangely this whole year; I don't like the effect this has had on Finn."
"I have to agree to that," Rachel said rather bitterly as she shoved her spoon into her green apple sorbet. Kurt gave her a comforting pat on the arm; this night was mainly for Kurt's breakup, but he also knew Rachel still seemed to feel much more pain about Finn than he did about Blaine (though he already made her promise not to creep in on Finn or anything while she was over).
"I think he has my vote, too," Tina said.
"Me, too," Mercedes agreed. "I want to support Santana since she's my best duet partner, so I might vote for her for Queen, but I just can't vote for Karofsky. Not after what he did."
"It's a complicated issue I won't get into," Kurt said simply, "But I don't plan on voting for David either, no." He took another bite of ice cream. "The Queen vote is tricky, that's for sure."
"I support all of them," Tina said, "I don't know who to vote for. I do think Quinn might go crazy if she doesn't win."
"I honestly don't know who I prefer," Rachel admitted. "Santana has always been nothing but rude to me and Quinn is…well, the whole her dating Finn thing doesn't help. So I guess Lauren."
"What about you, Kurt?"
Kurt had another bite of his Ben and Jerry's to stall. When he swallowed he finally said, "I don't know. On one hand, I know Quinn wants this the most. On the other, Santana brought me back to school, so I feel obligated to vote for her. But if I'm voting Noah for King, I think I need to vote for his first choice of Queen. I do like that she's plus size and completely her own self..." He frowned, leaving the sentence hanging in the air.
"But…?" Mercedes egged on.
Kurt sighed. "But I don't know if I like her with Noah," he said. "Look, I think her confidence is great; I love hanging out with her and I think she's hilarious. But…" Kurt sighed again and ran a hand through his (already messy) hair, "I spent all of last school year watching him pine over Quinn. I don't like having to watch him pine over anyone. If she were dating anyone else, I'd love to see her make a guy beg like he has. But I don't like seeing it with Noah. I mean, he already got dumped by Santana for having a low credit score at sixteen, he was used by all his pool cleaning clients, the whole Quinn thing happened, and now he's going after Lauren. I don't like the girls he's choosing."
"So you didn't like him with me," Rachel said, her eyebrows raised, "You didn't like him with Quinn, you didn't like him with Santana, and you don't like him with Lauren. Is there anyone you like him with?"
"I don't know," Kurt said. "I guess I'm just never going to think anyone's good enough for him, you know?" The girls all gave each other annoyed looks as Kurt had another bite of ice cream; for a moment he seemed so close to realizing his own feelings. But then he shrugged and said, "But I guess he feels the same about me. I mean, he hated Blaine."
The girls stopped in their tracks. Maybe Kurt was realizing at least some things after all. "Yeah…" Mercedes said, "I guess that's true."
"It was pretty obvious. And it's even more obvious why he didn't like him," Kurt shrugged.
They all stared at him. Did he know how his friend felt about him? "…Why did he?"
Kurt looked at them with his eyebrows furrowed. "Well, he's not used to sharing time with me, duh." They rolled their eyes again, but Kurt didn't notice. "That's why we fought last year and that's why I didn't talk to him much about the break up. I know he was happy to see him go."
"But you two are staying friends, right?" Tina asked.
"Of course," Kurt said, "And I think that'll make Puck realize he's a good guy." He put his spoon in his pint of ice cream and put it on his nightstand, "But for now, let's focus on choosing a movie. I normally go for The Notebook when I'm depressed, but I think something lighter might be good."
Kurt got off the bed and started looking through his DVD collection. After shared sighs by his friends, they went up to follow him to choose selections. They all knew they couldn't force anything anyways.
—
Barely over a week later, the Glee club, which had bonded so well over accepting their flaws, was fighting like none other about stupid rumors going around the school. "I can't believe I really missed this place," Kurt said with a roll of his eyes as he and Noah hid in their special spot under the tree outside the cafeteria. He popped a grape in his mouth, "Everything even seemed so perfect when I got back, but now everyone's losing their damn minds."
Noah shrugged, "They're always doing that. It's high school; people always lose either their minds or their virginities."
"That was almost deep," Kurt said solemnly before taking a thoughtful bite. "Maybe I should work on the latter before I get swept up into the madness."
Noah was definitely intrigued by that thought, but played it off by saying, "I guess we can order off of Spencer's website."
"Ha. Ha," Kurt said dryly. Noah still seemed to have no plans on letting that go. He stretched his arms above his head for a moment before leaning back against Noah's chest. "I guess there's some truth behind the motel stuff. I just wish they'd believe Quinn; it sucks that she's actually being faithful this time and no one believes her because she was at that motel."
"Speaking of the motel," Noah said, "I found some of Sara's old stuff for his sister and some clothes I have that might fit him. When are you dropping off more clothes for him?"
"I can do a run tonight," Kurt said. "Want to come with? I'm sure Stacey would love to see you again; she thought you were the coolest."
Noah smirked but shook his head. "I have babysitting duty tonight. She's almost a teenager but Ma won't let her stay home alone, even for a few hours." He rolled his eyes but shrugged, "Can't say I blame her; I feel like Sara would do something crazy if she wasn't being watched."
"Yeah, the twelve year old straight-A student totally has something hidden up her sleeve," Kurt teased. "But okay, I'll pick up your clothes on the way there tonight."
"Sounds like a plan."
—
"I can't thank you enough for this," Sam told Kurt for the millionth time. Stacey was happily twirling around in one of Sara's old skirts and smiling widely
"I'm always happy to help, but even more so when it's a fashion emergency," Kurt said. Stacey giggled at that and Sam smiled as well.
"Still, it's really awesome for you to do," Sam said. He looked over at the clock radio on the table and sighed. "I didn't realize how late it was getting," he said. "Hey, Stace, Stevie, go get in your PJs and brush your teeth." They both groaned but when Sam promised them a story, they both smiled and went to the bathroom.
"You're really lucky; Noah's sister almost never went to brush her teeth that easily," Kurt said as he watched their blond heads run into the bathroom. "I should go before story time; my parents don't like me out too late on school nights anyways."
"I'll walk you out," Sam insisted.
Once they were both on the front porch of the motel, Kurt put his hand on Sam's arm and gave it a supportive squeeze. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Kurt said kindly. He always wanted to say something better than that, but that was usually all that came out.
"Okay," Sam said. "Thanks again for not telling anyone."
"You're welcome," Kurt said. Then, with one last squeeze, he walked over to the parking lot. Sam waited until Kurt was in his car before going back inside.
Meanwhile, Finn and Rachel watched from afar.
"I can't believe Sam's with Kurt," Finn said.
"I know!" Rachel said, her face indignant. "Kurt's finally broken up with Blaine and Noah's not getting any closer with Lauren; they were so close and now Sam has stepped in and ruined all of that! At this rate they'll never get together!"
—
If Rachel needed anymore proof that Sam and Kurt were having some dirty little affair, Sam showing up in Kurt's Earth Day jacket was all she needed. Of course, Kurt just dismissed her concerns and walked away before she could truly confront him about what was going on in that motel room. That meant she had to talk to the next best person.
"Noah," Rachel greeted at his locker. "Shalom!"
Noah raised his eyebrows at Rachel's choice of greeting. "Shalom to you, too, Rachel," he said, "What do you want?"
Rachel did her best to act offended, "What? Can't one Jew speak to another in our own language without wanting something?" Noah just stared at her until she broke with a sigh. "Okay, fine. I need to know what's going on between Sam and Kurt."
"Sam and Kurt?" Noah asked with a furrowed brow. "What do you mean? Nothing's going on with them."
"Don't play coy with me, Puckerman," Rachel said. "Finn and I saw them at the motel near Lima Heights last night and I know you know what's going on; you know everything about Kurt. Now spill it."
"Nothing's going on," Noah said honestly as he put his backpack on. "And even if it were, it would be none of your business."
"But—"
"Look, if you want more help with that song in glee like we talked about this week, feel free to talk to me again. But if you're going to just talk about bullshit from the Muckracker, leave me out of it." With that, Noah closed his locker and walked in the same direction Kurt had left in earlier.
—
All of the New Directions but Quinn, Kurt, and Noah remained awkwardly silent after Sam stormed out of the choir room. Those three had looks of contempt and judgment on their faces, their arms crossed as they waited for one of the members to offer an apology or at least talk. But Sam revealing that he was homeless and had been receiving help from Quinn and Kurt seemed to stun them all.
Finally Kurt spoke up. "When I had mono at Dalton, Noah stayed the night with me before driving me back home. We ordered a pizza and Sam was the one who delivered it. It was his last delivery so we invited him to stay and everything just sort of spilled out."
Noah nodded. "Yeah. Kurt gave him some clothes right then and there. I gave him some of mine as soon as I could, but I guess my clothes aren't as well known as Kurt's."
Quinn stood up and put her bag on her shoulder. "Look, you guys need to make this right," she said to Finn and Rachel. "He sold his guitar and almost everything he owns. He's done everything he can for his family and this club and all you guys did to return the favor was spy on him and spread rumors about him. And about us." Kurt stood up and put his own bag on as he joined her down on the main floor of the choir room.
"Yeah, you'd think you'd at least think they'd do better than a motel room," Puck said once his guitar was packed. Both Quinn and Kurt rolled their eyes at him and shared a look. It made Kurt happy to at least be connecting with her again. Maybe he would vote for her for Prom Queen.
—
"So everyone in Glee club seemed to think you weren't a virgin this week," Noah said as he sprawled out on Kurt's bed.
"I really can't believe they think I'd have an affair in some motel," Kurt bemoaned.
"Hey, it may not be a bed of lilacs, but at least they thought it was with Sam. That's something, right? He even does that Taylor Lautner impression," Noah teased.
Kurt smirked. "Okay, it's true; the idea that they thought I had slept with someone like Sam was a nice ego boost. But Rachel and Finn both should've known that I wasn't going to just have sex with anyone for my first time." After a moment of thought he added, "Well, I guess after that trip to IHOP they all think I had sex with Blaine, so I guess they figured I wouldn't mind sleeping with a second person without being in love." With a smile he crawled onto his bed next to Puck. "Or maybe they just thought you were a bad influence on me," he teased again.
Noah shrugged with a grin, "That's what I'm here for. Maybe I'll encourage more rumors by lecturing you in public about how you don't have to be in love for your first time instead of the usual private ones."
Kurt laughed. "Sounds like a good idea. Now go put your movie in or I'm going to complain even more than usual."
Puck stuck out his tongue but laughed and got up. As Kurt watched him, he remembered how Noah had told him that many times before; he specifically remembered how Noah fit about everything he wanted for the person he lost his virginity to. Ever since their conversations about the matter started over a year ago, Kurt had thought about it on and off, but then he started dating Blaine and he crossed that thought out of his mind.
Now, however, that he was single and (mostly) ready to mingle…well, the idea was crossing his mind yet again.
But when Noah sat back down next to him, some Will Ferrell comedy sitting in the DVD player, Kurt pushed that thought away and grabbed a handful of popcorn.
Maybe he really needed that gift card to Spencer's after all.
—
A/N: I'm so sorry for how long this took, guys. I truly, deeply apologize and I thank all of you who end up reading this for your continued support. It really means so much to me. I also apologize if this comes across as rushed; I didn't want to write a whole separate chapter for "Rumours" but it wasn't light enough for an interlude, so I thought I'd stick it on here. I still hope you all enjoyed it.
Since I have a firm idea of what I want for the next chapter, I hope to have it up soon, but I'm also taking summer classes and life is busy. I promise I will do my best because the end is in sight and I really want you guys to get to read this story that's been in my head for years now.
Thank you for everything,
xLessxThanx3x