A/N: Sorry sorry sorry that it took so long. I've been really busy with school and procastination. This chapter was already done last week, but I wanted to write the first part of the next chapter to keep myself motivate, but it didn't work out the way I wanted and aaargh... Anyway, here it is. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Gossip Girl

There are a lot of awkward situations you can get in when you go to school with your former best friend. You can be in each other's class, you can have the same friends, you can be forced to cooperate. Fortunately none of this applied to Kurt and Mercedes. Kurt had figured it was pretty easy to avoid Mercedes during school hours and even easier outside of school. He had forgotten of course that St. Jude's and Constance shared a library. So here they were, both waiting in line to borrow a book. Kurt hadn't noticed her when he stepped into the line, because he would have come back later if he had seen her. But then they locked eyes and it was too late to leave without telling Mercedes he was avoiding her. And there was another problem: the line wasn't moving. Some idiot was debating with the librarian about a fine they got and it didn't seem like they were going to give up any time soon, which meant that Mercedes and Kurt would be forced to stand next to each other for more time than both of them wanted.

Kurt decided to be the mature one and make a friendly conversation. "How were your holidays?"

Surprised Mercedes raised an eyebrow as if she was checking he was really talking to her. When no one else replied and Kurt kept looking at her, she seemed to realize he was indeed talking to her. Her face changed. Now he could read suspicion in her eyes, wondering what he needed from her. Somehow that still hurt him. They had been friends for so long and now they couldn't even talk about an innocent topic like the holidays. That was partly his own fault. He was aware of that. He had decided not to reconcile after their fight. He had decided to do the exact opposite of what Mercedes wanted him to do. That didn't make him feel better though.

Finally Mercedes said something. "They were okay."

It sounded so lightly that Kurt knew she wasn't interested in having a conversation with him. Now it hurt even more. He glanced down and bit his lip. Right now he was reminded that he missed their friendship. Being friends with Rachel was nice, but she wasn't Mercedes with whom he could talk about everything. He could tell her his secrets, hopes, dreams and fears. He couldn't say those things to Rachel, because she was part of the Constance scene. She couldn't be trusted with secrets. He took a deep breath. "Look, Mercedes, I...I'm sorry about that fight we had before. I...I didn't mean to say all those things."

Mercedes blinked, but didn't immediately say anything. Kurt was very good at reading her, but now it was hard. She was either still angry with him or sad or both. "But you meant them?"

He glanced down again and swallowed. He couldn't deny that it was true. He still meant what he had said, but he wished he had kept it to himself. He wished he could take it back and bury it in a dark place in his mind. But that was impossible.

"I did." He said in a small voice. Mercedes nodded and turned around again. For a moment he wanted to leave it alone. Mercedes didn't like him anymore. So what? He would find new friends. But he couldn't leave it. "Please, I can't take back what I said, but I wish I could. I still want to be friends and..."

Mercedes spun around. She looked straight at him now, her eyes glistening furiously. Kurt had never seen her like that before. Without really noticing he took a step back and bumped into to the person behind him. "Friends?" Mercedes said. She didn't raise her voice, but she sounded very attacking, sending shivers down Kurt's spine. Mercedes was really angry with him. "Like you were friends with Quinn? And Santana? And Brittany? Like you are friends with Rachel now? At the beginning of this year we were making fun of her because of her taste in fashion and now you're her bestie? I've told you before and I'll tell you again. You don't know what being a friend means, Kurt Hummel. And to ask me to be your 'friend' again, is not going to work. It's only going to insult me."

Kurt flushed. Although she hadn't raised her voice, everyone in the line had heard what she had said and they all stared at them. Even the guy who was discussing his fine with the librarian. Usually Kurt liked it when all eyes were on him, but now it felt horrible. Was this how Quinn, Santana and Brittany felt when they were at school? Did they feel everyone staring with their hungry eyes, waiting for the right moment to attack?

The worst was that Mercedes wasn't done yet. She looked right at him, her eyes piercing his skin. "I guess I'll borrow this book tomorrow." She walked away, showing everyone that she was the winner of this incident. Kurt felt small and humiliated. He looked down as he waited in the line with his book, hoping noticing would say something about it. That hope was completely false of course. As soon as Mercedes left, he noticed the whispers and the phones that were pulled out. And for the first time in a very long time he wished he hadn't moved himself into Gossip Girl's view.

K just got a very cold greeting from his best friend Mercedes. Or should I say former BFF? According to M Kurt Hummel is not a very good friend. You better watch out, R.

Quinn had just taken in a seat in her French class when she saw Mercedes enter the classroom. Like everyone else Quinn had read the Gossip Girl post earlier this morning. She felt sorry for Mercedes when all eyes turned to her and whispers emerged. It wasn't her fault that Kurt was a traitor. So Quinn waved kindly at Mercedes, who smiled and sat in the seat in front of Quinn.

"I hate those vultures." Mercedes said as she turned around.

Quinn chuckled. "Tell me about it."

Mercedes smiled, but glanced down. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but hesitated. "I think I owe you an apology." She finally said and she looked directly at Quinn, "For dropping you last semester. I shouldn't have done that. You didn't deserve it. It was just...Kurt said it was better to choose Santana's and Brittany's side, but I should have made my own decision. I'm sorry."

Quinn was astonished by Mercedes's apology. No one had said sorry to her before, not even Santana or Brittany. Everyone had just pretended like it never happened, hiding their guilt or fake kindness. It felt good to hear someone acknowledge that they had made a mistake by dropping her when they found out she was pregnant. It felt good to know that not everything had been her own fault.

Quinn smiled. "Apology accepted. And about Kurt, you were right about him. At least I think you were right, I only know what you said according to Gossip Girl."

Mercedes smiled too. "It was pretty accurate, for once."

"Then you were right. I know I have done things to friend that weren't exactly friendly, but I like to think I was never as careless as Kurt. I mean, I blackmailed Santana last semester, but I didn't only want to be popular again. I also wanted to be her friend again. I don't think Kurt feels that last part."

Mercedes shrugged. "I don't know. He and I used to be best friends and I thought we would be best friends forever, but he changed. He got interested in the battle for the Crown of Constance way too much, if you ask me. I can't be friends with someone who uses every friend he has for his own purposes. I mean there's a reason he befriended you and Santana and Finn and..."

Quinn was startled when she heard Finn's name. What did Mercedes mean by that? What did Kurt use her ex-boyfriend for? Although they had broken up, Quinn felt a sudden urge to discover the answer to that and protect Finn from Kurt. But before she could ask Mercedes what she had meant, the last bell rang and the teacher started class. Mercedes turned back around and left Quinn wondering about her words for the rest of the class.

Finally the bell rang, announcing that class was over. Quinn packed her stuff as fast as she could and followed Mercedes into the hallway. "Mercedes, wait!" She said, "What did you mean when you said K uses Finn for his own agenda?"

Mercedes seemed hesitant to tell her. "I'm not sure I should..." Then she sighed, "You know what? I'm done with protecting his secrets. Maybe Finn should know."

"What is it?"

Mercedes took a deep breath. "Did Kurt ever tell you about his dream to become a fashion icon?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "No..."She said slowly. She hadn't known Kurt well enough to know about his deepest dreams and desires.

"Well, he has that dream and he's been looking for the best way to make it come true since I've known him. In the beginning of this semester he decided that Finn could help him with that, so he befriended him."

Quinn didn't really see how Finn could help anyone with fashion, since he didn't really have a sense of fashion. She had always wondered how he managed to do that since his mother... "Oh, because of Carole."

Mercedes nodded. "Exactly. He thought if he was friends with Finn, Finn's mom could help him get a job or internship at Vogue. But that wasn't enough. After a few conversations with Finn, he realized that they had something in common: they both have only one parent that is still alive. So he decided to play matchmaker. Remember that party where Carole and Burt met? That was Kurt's work. He had taken his father there with the intention of him meeting Carole."

Quinn shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. She had been there that night and she hadn't noticed at all that Kurt was trying to make his father and Carole meet. She did remember he wanted to talk to Carole, but she hadn't given it a second thought at the moment. Again she realized how much she had underestimated Kurt, how he was more inventive than she ever thought, how he was a bigger treat than she ever imagined. "And after that?"

"He didn't do anything afterwards. That was all Burt and Carole and I think they're happy now. I just think it's horrible that he tried to make his father fall in love with a certain woman so he might work for Vogue in the future."

Quinn gave a short nod. An idea had popped up in her head. She might as well use this information. If they couldn't hurt Rachel yet, they could hurt her best friend, though Quinn suspected Kurt and Rachel were rather allies than real friends. "I think Gossip Girl would find this very interesting." She said and she dropped the volume of her voice. "B, S and I are trying to get revenge on Rachel. Do you want to help?"

Mercedes was startled, her eyes wide and her lips formed an 'O'. Slowly the idea seemed to get through to her, but she shook her head. "No, I don't. I'm sorry, Quinn, but what after happened last semester, I think I'd rather stay out of it. It doesn't mean I don't want to be your friend. It's just I don't want to be involved in this battle."

Quinn nodded and smiled, but she was disappointed. She had expected Mercedes to say 'yes' immediately. But could she blame her for saying 'no'? Wasn't that what she had wanted to do herself? Maybe it was her ego that got hurt, the fact that not everyone did everything Quinn Fabray ordered them to do. She wouldn't admit it easily, but that feeling had been amazing. It was great to have power and be in control. These days she often felt like she didn't have control over anything.

"I understand." She told Mercedes. "I have a request though. Can I send this to Gossip Girl? I mean it would be a good start to get Kurt down."

Mercedes hesitated again. Quinn could see she wondered whether sending this to Gossip Girl would involve her into the game. So she added: "I mean I barely talk to Finn. He's angry with me and he has every right to know. But I think he needs to know. Maybe not from me, but from someone else. Gossip Girl could help."

Mercedes still didn't seem convinced. "Listen," Quinn said, "Let's do it this way. I'll read an article about Burt and Carole in public and complain that it almost seems like a set-up. I bet if I say something like that, it'll get on Gossip Girl. And you know how things go around here when a rumor is out. Everyone talks about it and it would hurt Kurt's reputation. Maybe he'll realize that he can't only befriend people who can help him with something."

That seemed to do it. Mercedes sighed. "Okay, do it, but please leave me out of it."

Quinn smiled kindly. "Of course."

If you tried hard enough, you could read anywhere. At least Tina Cohen-Chang could. Today she was sitting in a corner of the empty cafeteria that the students of Constance and St. Jude's shared. She sat on the floor with her back resting against the radiator. It was the only warm place she could think of. Except for the library of course. But she didn't want to risk seeing Artie so she had avoided that place since school had started again. Not that she hadn't seen Artie this week. She had caught a few glimpses of him, but she had always looked away. She didn't want to see him.

She knew people wondered what went wrong. Artie probably himself too. She hadn't told him why she didn't respond to his text messages or phone calls. It was silly of her, but she wanted him to figure it out himself. He probably never would. Tina had accepted that fact and returned to her own self, promising she would never to fall for someone again. She couldn't go through that feeling of joy and happiness, only waiting for it to be smashed into a thousand pieces when he'd leave her alone in cold.

That's what Artie had done. At the Winter Ball he had told her he would come back, but he didn't. She had been standing there, not knowing what to do. She couldn't look for other friends to talk to, because she didn't have any and she was too afraid to make them. She had been there alone. Desperately she had wanted to go to the bathroom, an old trick to hide the fact that you were alone. But Artie said he would be right back and asked her to wait there. So she stayed. It had been long and agonizing. She had felt the curious eyes of her classmates in her back. She had seen their hidden chuckles. Tina Cohen-Chang was a loser. But she had stayed, because of Artie. He never returned though. Later she learned that was because he had found Puck who had found a devastated Quinn and they had brought her home. Maybe she could have forgiven that, but then she read on Gossip Girl that Puck could be the father of Quinn's baby. Why did Artie help a guy who had betrayed his best friend by sleeping with his girlfriend? Finn had been so nice to Artie when no one else was.

Tina didn't get it and honestly she didn't want to understand. She didn't want to be part of a world that made you turn your back on your friends. She'd rather have none. So she didn't react to Artie's messages on Whatsapp, ignored his phone calls and avoided his glances. It hurt. She had cried her eyes out during the winter break. But nothing would hurt as much as being abandoned by the person you were in love with.

She turned the page of her book. She was reading in The Raven Boys, a book she received as a gift from her parents for Christmas. It was really good. It had just the right amount of mystery, fantasy and humor in it. She had already ordered the next two books in the series, so if she finished this one, she could immediately start on the second one. She turned another page and let the story devour her.

"Leave me alone, Kurt."

Tina's head shot up. Two pairs of footsteps followed the shouted words. Two people entered the cafeteria, but they didn't see Tina hidden behind the tables and chairs. She kept quiet. She didn't want to bother them and although she didn't want to admit it, a small part was curious to know what was going on. It was definitely not meant for her ears.

"I said, leave me alone." She recognized the voice from somewhere, but she couldn't tell whose it was exactly. When the other person spoke, it wasn't hard to guess. Even if she hadn't heard his name, she would have recognized his high pitched voice. "I can explain. She's lying."

"Is she? Because that sounded just like you."

"Excuse me?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"What are you saying? Am I not a good friend? I'm sorry to say, Finn, but you don't have a lot of other friends. Puck slept with Quinn. Mike doesn't really speak to anyone these days and do you really consider people like Dave Karofsky and Matt Rutherford as your friends? Honestly I think I'm one of your best friends right now. Not to mention your stepbrother."

Finn. The first voice belonged to him. Tina recognized his voice now he spoke again. "Get out."

"Finn, come on."

"Just. Get. Out."

The fading footsteps told Tina that Kurt had taken Finn's words seriously and left. She heard a chair scrape over the floor and a sigh from Finn's direction. Should she tell him she was here? It was probably the polite thing to do, but she didn't dare. She checked her phone, wondering how long they would have to share this space. Her phone told her that it was only fifteen minutes. She could do that. She was about to put the device away when it make a loud noise. Startled she looked at the screen. It was that damn Gossip Girl app that announced a new post. She muted the sound, but it was already to late.

"Who's there?" Finn's voice sounded through the empty cafeteria.

There was no escaping now. She had to show herself. Slowly she got up from her hiding spot in the corner. "H-hi.."

Finn looked startled and a little angry, probably because he knew she had been eavesdropping on him and Kurt. She bit her lip and glanced down, her book in her right hand. "I-I'm s-sorry. I d-d-didn't mean t-to..."

The look in Finn's eyes softened, when he saw her. He came a bit closer so there were only two tables between them. "You're Tina Cohen-Chang."

She gave a quick nod, but didn't say anything.

"You and Artie were..." He didn't finish his sentence and Tina was glad for that.

"I d-don't w-w-want to t-talk a-a-about it." She told him, glancing down.

Finn didn't ask about Artie. Instead he glanced down too and asked in a somehow timid voice: "Did you hear the conversation between Kurt and me?"

Tina didn't know what to say. She didn't want to admit she had been eavesdropping, but it was kind of pointless to lie. Finn wasn't stupid. He probably already knew the answer and just need confirmation. So she nodded. "Yeah."

Finn sighed. "Could you...could you not mention that to anyone please."

Again Tina gave a nod. It was not as if she had anyone to tell it to.

Finn seemed relieved, because he smiled. He glanced to the place Tina had been sitting before. "Thanks. What were you doing here anyway?"

"R-reading." Tina showed him her book. Their conversation reminded her of Artie. Talking about books with a nice guy of her own age wasn't something she did everyday. That thought made her sad. She glanced down, trying to ban Artie out of her mind.

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

Tina was surprised by that odd request from Finn. He must have read that surprise from her face when she looked back at him, because he said: "I mean nothing by it. I just need some peace and well, it seems peaceful here"

Tina wasn't really sure if she was that comfortable with reading in Finn Hudson's presence. But she felt sorry for him. He had been cheated on by his girlfriend and best friend and apparently he was in a fight with Kurt too. Would she deny him a little bit of rest? The answer was that she couldn't. She nodded. "O-of c-c-course."

So for the next ten minutes Tina sat with her back against the radiator again, reading in The Raven Boys. A about ten feet away from her sat Finn. He didn't do anything, just stared in the distance. Tina didn't bother him and he didn't bother her. No words were said. When the bell rang, he got up, as she gathered her stuff. "Bye Tina." He told her with a smile on his face. "And thanks again."

She smiled back, but her heart was torn in two. She liked to have contact with people of her own age again, even if it was like this. But Finn's kindness reminded her of the person she didn't want to think about: Artie. She stayed on the ground for a minute more as her heart bled for him. Again.