Will Schuester had to drag himself out of bed the next morning. He hadn't been able to sleep until about four, and then his sleep was interrupted by nightmares of what might be happening to Kurt. He wished he could stay and hide, hide from his having failed the Glee kids, hide from having to see their eyes, hide from whatever Figgins would say and do, hide from himself. His father had been one of the cops who ended up eating his gun and for the first time, Will understood at a gut level, not just in his mind. But he had to be there and do whatever he could do for his kids and for Kurt.
"William, you know that I don't have a choice here."
"I understand." Principal Figgins looked surprised that for once, Will wasn't arguing.
"I have to cut the club and exercise the option on your salary to make up for our financial losses." Did Figgins think that he hadn't understood or wasn't listening?
"I understand."
Figgins was definitely taken aback. "William, I cannot afford to let you make another mistake."
"I know." Well, at least you managed something other than saying you understand. "Is there anything else?"
"No, Will, you can go."
He saw Sue Sylvester in the hallway, striding towards him. Oh, God, not her. He was not ready to hear her mocking him, his Glee kids, or Kurt. But then he couldn't avoid this encounter, either. She stood right in front of him, staring right into his eyes, and the eye contact was so intense that he quite literally did not see her fist coming at him until it struck his nose.
He put his hand up. There was blood and his nose felt off-center. "Anybody would know that putting fake videos online is the first part of psychological warfare. You want to be a nice guy, Will, but it's not a nice world. If you can't make those kids of yours fail-proof, you shouldn't let them compete. There's a reason that I put everything I've got and everything they've got into the Cheerios. And if you don't know tactics, you shouldn't go to war." Her voice was actually sober until she continued, "I just explained to Porcelain's teachers that they are going to file his grades as they stand as long as he promises to keep up with reading." A faint smile, a ghost of the usual Sue Sylvester smile, crossed her face. "Three of the teachers thought they'd charge the kid. One of them said it was cost him five thousand." She shook her head. "That was a big mistake." Sue looked at him directly again, "Will, while you've often disgusted me and usually repel me, I can't ever say that you disappointed me. Not until this." She turned and walked away.
Will had never thought that he'd find inspiration and even a source of strength in Sue. She'd even taken over responsibility for getting his grades taken care of. A broken nose was a very, very small price.
Blaine let go of Kurt's hand to briefly stroke his buttocks and then took his hand again. He had learned on the bus that he had to ration himself carefully when it came to more intimate touches. Knowing that he had the freedom to help himself to Kurt at any time was both driving him crazy and letting him keep control enough to savor waiting. It was what kept him able to go to classes and even to pay attention instead of skipping in favor of spending all that morning in bed with his trophy, as well as taking him out for a little spoiling after classes.
He opened the passenger door for Kurt and when he started the ignition, took Kurt's face in his hands for a kiss. Kurt was still very much the recipient, but Blaine was confident that hormones and adding some courtship would make him more of a participant. In the meantime, Blaine could be quite content with the absolute freedom he had with Kurt, more than he'd had with any other relationship in the past.
He had to admit that morally, he had some doubts about Trophy Rules, or, rather, how they were applied. Sure, the theory behind it made a lot of sense, but he'd never actually seen them helping the loser. But then, they had given him this opportunity, and as he had said in the bus to his frightened, brave, almost-trembling trophy, he wasn't going to hurt him.
At the store, he led Kurt right to the latest models. The struggle he could see in Kurt's eyes awakened an unusual tenderness in him and he put his arm around Kurt's waist as he simply said, "We'll take that one" and handed over his credit card and the SIM card from Kurt's old phone. "Can you put this in, please?"
"Blaine, thanks, it's not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but you don't..." Kurt sounded subdued. That will never do, you want him grateful and happy.
"You wouldn't deprive me of the pleasure of taking good care of you, would you?" Blaine wound his fingers through Kurt's hair. So soft, so soft. And he's all mine. Entirely mine.