I swear Chapter 9: Miss, a glee fanfic

I am fail. that is all. :
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee

"Kuuurt…" Thad warned, drawing out his roommate's name absently, not taking his eyes away from the old copy of Othello he was reading.

"Nnnng!"

The dark-haired boy slammed the book down in his lap with a huff and snapped his head in the direction of the pale boy. "Dammit, Kurt… Shut up!" He grabbed blindly for something on his bed, his annoyed expression, eyebrow raised, not leaving Kurt, and found a spare pillow resting beside him. Thad hurled the item at the mumbling, sleeping boy on the room's other bed and watched hopefully as it landed directly on his red, distressed face. Thad's face fell when the boy didn't react in even the slightest way at the object thrown at him.

Seeming to have muffled his noises slightly, Thad returned to his reading, only to be interrupted a few minutes later, when Kurt gasped loudly and flung the pillow from his face, his arms jolting around to grasp at the sheets and his head falling sideways to bury into his own pillow.

"Oh," Kurt moaned, his face looking hurt and flushed, shining with sweat, "Oh God!"

Thad placed his book down entirely on the table beside him and sat up, sighing, his eyes scanning over his obviously-dreaming roommate, still rolling around and making incoherent noises and mumbling bits of words.

He stood up and approached Kurt, sitting down hesitantly beside him on his bed. Thad carefully reached a hand out, and placed it on the boy's shoulder, beginning to gently shake him. "Kurt, man, come on. Wake up… Kurt... Kurt… Wake up!" His shaking the boy had progressed until it was rather urgent, and as he opened his mouth to try to wake the boy again, he was suddenly struck hard across his right cheekbone.

Stunned, he stumbled back and ended up half-kneeling on the floor, staring wide-eyed at the pale boy in bed, realizing that he had just been punched. Kurt muttered something feverishly and rolled onto his side, his guilty hand fisting the sheets, and letting out another soft mewling noise.

Thad squinted the eye on his right side, and the numbness of the impact began to wear off. He brought his fingers up to cautiously run over the place of hurt and his hand flinched away and he hissed in pain. "Fucking shit, Kurt!" He grunted, shooting up to his feet and sighing in frustration, his eyes clamped shut. He moaned and tried to hold the bruising area, and suddenly, the door to their room flung open.

"-not saying that it's not also a good movie, but just that it's not…"

"Naked enough for your taste?" David offered Wes, as they, along with Blaine and Jeff, came into the room, carrying heavy-looking French textbooks and binders. Blaine rolled his eyes as he fully entered, closing the door behind himself. He turned towards his two arguing friends.

"You guys, if you think about what the movie was actually about, then – oh, shit!" Blaine just noticed Thad standing, squinting one eye, the side of his face already beginning to swell to a reddish-purple, supporting himself slightly on the edge of his bedside table. Blaine rushed over to his friend, not even looking down as he dropped his school supplies to the floor. "Thad, what the fuck happened?"

Thad snapped up, wincing as he tried to make a facial expression. "You! Your – your boyfriend!" He pointed an accusing finger at Blaine, then switched it over to Kurt, looking desperate, angry and confused at the still-slumbering boy.

Blaine's eyes darted back and forth, between his seemingly napping boyfriend and the angry dark-haired boy in front of him, trying to grasp the situation. "I – Kurt…? Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Your boyfriend punched me in the face! I was just trying to wake him up and –"

Kurt's sleep-driven-self chose this moment to jump violently and let out a long, breathy moan, melting into an airy scream, getting his boyfriend's attention, as well as every other occupant of the room.

"Oh, Kurt," Blaine's voice was dripping in concern for the small boy, and he stumbled over to the bed and crawled into the covers, slowly moving himself closer to Kurt, who was facing away from him, and tentatively placing a hand on the boy's back, sweat soaking through his shirt. "Kurt, baby, wake up… You're having a nightmare…"

At his words, the small boy's eyes shot open, and he frantically began eyeing his surroundings, his gaze finally landing on the boy in his bed, causing his eyes to widen dramatically and his pale skin to flush brightly, his neck and tips of his ears turning especially red. "B-Blaine! Babe, I – I didn't –" Kurt staggered anxiously onto his feet and tried to walk his way away from his boyfriend, but knocked into Jeff, then David, causing him to stutter out noises.

"Kurt, it's okay. Just… Uh…" Blaine trailed off, his face blushing to a shade even darker than Kurt's as his stare shifted down to the boy's waist. At this, the others in the room followed his gaze, Jeff taking in a sharp breath and averting his eyes after he noticed what everyone was looking at.

Kurt looked down at himself and shrieked, his hands flying down to cover his horribly-obvious erection, pitching a tent in his gray uniform slacks that he had fallen asleep in. He dashed into the attached bathroom and slammed the door shut, rattling the contents of the room and leaving the boys in a terribly awkward silence.

Thad crossed his arms, the swollen side of his face still slightly scrunched up in pain. "You were getting turned on by your rape dream?" He questioned the boy, loud enough so he could hear it through the wooden door. Blaine smacked the dark-haired boy in the chest, giving him a narrowed-eyed glare, to which Thad rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"N-no," Kurt's soft, slightly trembling voice sounded into the room, muffled by the door, "I-I wasn't… I'm n-not… It wasn't about…that. I just…" He trailed off, sounding broken and hurt. Blaine made a face at Thad again, then approached the bathroom door and leaned close to it.

"Kurt, don't freak out… We all have sex dreams…all the time. Like, really, just last week, Nick had a wet dream and –"

"What the fuck, Jeff! You told them about that?"

"– no one cared…" Still getting no response, Blaine cleared his throat briefly and leaned against the door on his shoulder. "Kurt…?" He sighed, and closed his eyes, pushing his ear against the wooden surface. Inside the bathroom, he heard faint hitching breath, and shuffling noises. "Babe… Can you let me in?" Realizing he was asking to join his aroused boyfriend in a closed space, Blaine shot a look behind him, at the others in the room, only to see their suspicious, slightly questioning looks. He turned back to the door, giving a few light raps against the wood. "Kurt…? Kurt, I'm gonna…" He turned the doorknob and, noticing it was unlocked, cracked it open and peeked inside.

His boyfriend was sitting on the ground, his back facing him, his knees pulled against his chest. He looked like a child, scared or upset. At the sound of the door closing as Blaine entered the room, Kurt subtly turned his head, catching a glimpse of the curly-haired boy as he leaned his back against the counter.

"Blaine, please. I'm not…in a," he gestured up and down his body, his eyes drifting to the ceiling as he did so, "proper condition to see you right now…"

Blaine let out a small scoff, regretting it immediately afterwards, seeing the hurt look that fell on Kurt's face. He shuffled down onto the floor and sat beside the small boy, searching his profile as Kurt turned forward as to not face him. "Baby, come on. We're teenage guys, this is so normal, I don't know why you're so embarrassed –"

"I'm not embarrassed!" Kurt snapped, his head turning violently to look at his boyfriend. "I just… Well, I guess I'm embarrassed… But not because of the…" He rolled his eyes and gestured to his crotch, "this. It's just… I was… My dream…" Blaine just watched him, silently urging him to continue, causing Kurt to sigh. "I was dreaming about…us," he mumbled, his eyes flicking away from the boy beside him.

Blaine's body stiffened and he could feel heat rushing through his face and neck. Sure, he'd had sex dreams about Kurt, especially since they had become official, but somehow the idea of Kurt dreaming about him was so, so much better. The curly-haired boy leaned into Kurt, resting his chin on the boy's shoulder, his lips mere centimeters from his ear. "Oh yeah? What were we doing?"

The small boy gasped at the whispering, low voice, and flinched away on instinct, but then leaned slightly back towards his boyfriend, his face flushed a deep shade of red. "I – we… We were… You were…" He trailed off, his voice sounding breathy and quiet.

"Mmm," Blaine shifted them so Kurt was pressed against the cabinets below the counter, and leaned into him, tilting his head to place soft, open-mouthed kisses on his pale neck.

"You were…touching me… But it wasn't bad…" Kurt panted slightly, tipping his head to allow more of his neck to be available, but Blaine froze.

"It – bad? Were you expecting it to be…bad?" He pulled away from the boy and looked him in the eyes, a slightly worried, confused look taking over his features. Kurt returned with a small, sad smile, and leaned forward to brush a hand against his boyfriend's neck.

"Blaine… I… I've had a hard time thinking of…sex in any kind of…positive way, since... But this… My dream… It was – it was good," he assured the still-hesitant-looking boy. Kurt pulled his head forward and connected their lips, letting out a content sigh.

Blaine smiled into the kiss and moved back down to the milky-white skin of Kurt's collarbone, changing his position so he was kneeling between the small boy's outstretched legs. "So… What was I doing…? How was I," he dragged his hand over the young boy's side, feeling the hot jolt of electricity run through him, "touching you?"

Kurt stuttered out noises in response, and Blaine took it as motive to run his other hand up Kurt's thigh, though stopping before he got too far. "Kurt," he breathed, causing the boy to shiver from the vibrations and hot air against his neck, "is this – is this okay?"

Kurt clamped his eyes shut and nodded feverishly, astounded at how good this was all feeling. When Blaine ran his hand further up, palming Kurt through his uniform pants, he moaned, jerking into the touch, not even having time to even mentally evaluate how he was reacting. It felt amazing, it really did. And it was Blaine who was doing it to him, not the greasy, black-haired, gap-toothed man, or Karofsky, it was Blaine. And there was a short moment when his body's nerves remembered the last time he was touched in such a way, when he was molested, and raped, and he wanted it to stop, but the reality of the situation seemed to win.

"Uh – uh, Blaine!" He groaned, as his cock was gripped smoothly through his slacks, Blaine's thumb rubbing over the head, causing the muscles in Kurt's legs to constrict as he shifted to straddle Blaine's thighs. The young boy's head fell forward onto his boyfriend's shoulder, causing the curly-haired boy to nip at his ear. "B-Blaine, I'm not gonna – I'm c-close. It – it's been a while," he tried to stutter out, his words muffled from his boyfriend's shirt.

Blaine breathed out a small giggle, causing Kurt's muscles to tense up as the air ran across his skin. "Been neglecting yourself, babe?"

"I-I haven't – I couldn't… Not… Not since the rape," the young boy mumbled out, still completely gone in his boyfriend's touches, bucking up and letting out a shaky breath.

Blaine's steady, stroking hand faltered, but he picked up the movement again, this time with slightly more speed, causing Kurt to jolt in surprise and pant out a breath into his shoulder. "You… You haven't…? Wasn't that almost…a year ago?"

Kurt's eyes shot open and he flinched away from the other boy, drawing his head back from his shoulder so he could see his face. "I – well, yes… It's just… every – every time I t-tried to – to do it, I –"

"Kurt," Blaine interrupted him, pulling by the small of his back and stretching out his own legs beneath him, so the young boy was back where he was, wrapped around Blaine's waist. "I…get it. I know it must've been horrible trying to…touch yourself…after what happened… But, Kurt… I… If you let me, I want to make you feel good… I mean, after all that time…" Blaine ran his hands up and down the small boy's back, and Kurt closed his eyes, nodding.

"It wasn't…weird. When you were…touching me, just now… It felt – it feels good. Blaine… Can you…? I mean, if you want to…?"

At this, Blaine grinned, and brought one of his hands down to begin tracing over the bulge in Kurt's pants lightly with his fingers, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from the boy. "Tell me to stop if you want me to."

"Y-yeah," Kurt breathed in response, as his boyfriend picked up his movement and resumed his skilled stroking over his pants.

"Promise?"

"I –" Blaine brought his other hand down to Kurt's ass, squeezing lightly as he stroked. "Oh! I – I promise. Nnnng – B-Blaine!" Kurt's hand flew up to grip the curly-haired boy's shoulder, his eyes clamping shut. Blaine's eyes ran over his flushed, shaking boyfriend, smiling at the sight of him falling apart, though trying to push aside the thought that he hadn't had an orgasm in ten, or however many, months since his rape. He couldn't imagine being so violated that he couldn't bear to touch himself. "Blaine, Blaine, I'm – I'm –"

The curly-haired boy sped up, putting special pressure over the head of Kurt's cock, wishing he could just touch the boy, his hand on the most likely soft skin of his penis, but knowing his boyfriend wasn't ready for that kind of contact, for that kind of intimacy. His thoughts were cut off short when the beautiful boy in front of him tensed, the grip on his shoulder tightening.

"B-Blaine – I – fuck!" And he shuddered violently and came, hard, his head falling forward onto his boyfriend's shoulder in an unsteady jolt, his breath hitching and shaky, as his vision clouded in a white, starry blur. Blaine ran his hand along Kurt's length through his pants, riding him through his orgasm, shocking himself at how good it felt to make Kurt feel good. An act of sex had never been so personal before, never so real.

Somewhere in Kurt's mind, as he pulsed through his post-orgasmic state, he realized there was hot, sticky, semen soaking through his underwear and uniform slacks, but so many other, more important things were running through his mental newsfeed. He had, in the last few moments, gotten through his first act of consensual intimacy since his attack, his first act of consensual intimacy ever, had an orgasm after surviving nearly a year without one, and, in Kurt's teenage boy mind, the most freak-out-worthy, he had just gotten a – sort of – handjob, from a boy. He had just climaxed because someone else wanted to touch him, in a real, wholesome, connected way.

Blaine chuckled lowly and softly, planting a couple gentle kisses on his boyfriend's jaw, removing his hands from their positions and bringing them up to Kurt's upper arms and tracing small patterns through his white shirt. "…Was that…? Are… Are you okay, baby?"

Kurt let a smile fall onto his lips, and turned his head so his lips met Blaine's. "I'm… I'm very okay…" He panted, still slightly breathless. Digging his face into his boyfriend's shoulder again, he spoke softly. "Thank you, Blaine," and the curly-haired boy squeezed his arms affectionately.

"Don't thank me," Blaine whispered into the boy's ear, kissing him again on his neck. "It was so hot watching you fall apart under my touch…" He could feel the heat emanating from the boy's face, tucked in his shoulder, and wondered momentarily how often this boy was told he was hot, or beautiful, or any kind of word to mean attractive, because he was all of those things. "Kurt… I'm just glad you…enjoyed it," he lowered his voice seductively, a smirk falling onto his lips.

Kurt drew his face away and scanned the boy in front of him, searching his eyes and form. His eyebrows furrowed together when his gaze shifted to his boyfriend's hips. "B-Blaine… I can…" He trailed off, eyes still focused on the other boy's erection throbbing through his pants. He reached his hand out tentatively, making a move towards Blaine's crotch, but the curly-haired boy seized his hand before it could reach, his eyes shifting up to meet Kurt's.

"No, Kurt. This was for you… Please," he smiled, squeezing Kurt's hand in his and tilting his head, gazing at the pale boy fondly, before an amused grin graced his lips. "And… Uh, Kurt, you might want to…" He motioned towards the boy's crotch, where a large, wet stain had seeped through the material, "…clean up, or shower, or something."

Kurt sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes flying down to his pants and a rosy flush creeping up his neck, and onto his face. He sprung up to his feet, off of Blaine, and darted to the shower, jumping in and closing the curtain around himself with his clothes still on. There were a few sounds of ruffling and clothing being removed, random articles being tossed out and landing on the floor, and then it ceased.

"Baby… Are you just gonna sit out there while I shower…?" Kurt's timid voice sounded through the room, muffled by the curtain, echoing slightly from the closed, tiled space.

Blaine cocked his pierced eyebrow and smiled, leaning back on his hands and letting his head fall forward, his humored grin growing slightly at his boyfriend's words. "I think it's sort of fair this way… You saw me naked… Back when I was sick," he pointed out, his voice light and teasing.

Kurt's blushing face appeared, the shower curtain being yanked open. "I-I didn't look! We weren't dating then!"

Blaine let out a small laugh, rising to his feet. "Really? You didn't look…?"

If possible, Kurt's face flooded with even more color. "N-no! Of course not, Blaine!" But Blaine's face told him that he wasn't convinced, and Kurt mumbled out a string of incoherent, stuttering noises. "I mean, I looked, but I didn't…look!" Blaine just let out a loud, breathy laugh, and shook his head in amusement. "Blaine," Kurt whined, but there was a precious smile on his face, and an obvious look of lightness in his expression, "Just go!"

"Are you fucking serious?"

Kurt sighed and held his face in his hands, nodding slowly. "I… I don't even – after we did the invitational, and everything…" He drew his hands away and looked at his roommate and his boyfriend, who both had identical expressions of anger-mixed-with-shock.

"I mean – we're already in the competition… We're gonna have to withdraw if we don't work this out," Blaine mumbled, his voice sounding angry and disappointed.

Thad scoffed and flicked his cigarette butt in the direction of the soda can on his table, missing it entirely and, instead, hitting Kurt's leg, causing him to gasp, offended. He glared at the dark-haired boy, but was cut off when his friend spoke. "We're already, like, fucking ready for it and everything…" He rolled his eyes and reached for the pack of cigarettes lying beside Blaine, but cocking his eyebrow when finding it empty. "Was that your second pack?"

The curly-haired boy grimaced sheepishly. "Uh – yeah…" When both Kurt and Thad looked at him skeptically, he stuttered out defensive noises. "I – it's been a long day! First all the shit with Mr. Goff this morning, and then – then this!" Blaine's eyebrows furrowed together in frustration and he took a long drag of his cigarette, causing his pale boyfriend to frown worriedly and crawl behind him and squeeze his shoulders.

"Blaine, babe, don't worry… We'll figure something out," Kurt rested his chin on the boy's shoulder from behind, bringing his arms to wrap around his chest and closing his eyes, breathing in the smoky air. How had he gone from not standing the smell of smoke to appreciating it and cherishing it? Every time he got a whiff of Blaine's brand of cigarettes, Kurt was engulfed in the warm feeling the curly-haired boy brought with him. That, and his boyfriend's cologne was enough to drive him wild. In fact… Kurt scooted back slightly, hoping his growing arousal hadn't been yet discovered, his face burning.

Blaine felt the slight tensing and shifting of his boyfriend's body, but didn't think much of it, his attention instead focusing on the opening door, where a few people began filtering in. David removed his coat and placed it over the back of Kurt's chair, his eyebrow rising when he took in the upset mood of the room.

"What's…going on?" The dark-skinned boy's eyebrows knotted together when no one immediately responded, and he shared a concerned look with Wes and Nick.

Jeff sat down tentatively on Thad's bed beside him, and eyed the dark-haired boy, still astounded by the eerie, purpling bruise on his face from the week before, finding it hard to believe the large mark had been the result of the pale, slight boy sitting across the room. The blonde then turned his attention to Blaine, who looked angry as he sucked on the tiny remains of his cigarette. "Yeah… You kind of said it was, like, a huge emergency," he paused slightly, but no one said anything, "and we all kind of rushed to get over here… So…"

Wes was about to snap at them for not replying when the door flew open again and a frenzied-looking Trent stumbled in, obviously freshly-showered. His hair was sopping wet and there were spots on his shirt where the water on his skin had seeped through. He took in the room before him and turned to look at Kurt with an expectant look. "Okay, what's up, Dude? Because you texted me, all, like 'oh my god, get over here right now,' and I thought another Thad scenario went down, or something…"

Thad glared at the bigger teen, but was cut off by Blaine before he could say anything. The curly-haired boy let out an annoyed, sarcastic huff, angrily shoving his cigarette butt into the soda can. "What's up is that we can't compete at sectionals," he spoke through his teeth, causing a few other boys to make upset or disbelieving noises.

"That's fucking bullshit –"

"Wait. Shut up, Wes," David cut off his roommate and turned to look at Blaine and Kurt. "Why?"

Kurt looked to his boyfriend, and when he made no sign of responding, he turned to the dark-skinned boy, though his eyes were downcast. The pale boy licked his lips once before responding, sounding defeated. "We, um… We need a…" He trailed off, blinking a few times, trying to find the correct word, "a faculty member leader…of sorts. To be able to leave campus, and compete. And we don't have one."

Nick stared dumbly at the other boy in front of him. "No... No, you said if we did the invitational thing, we'd be a club and get a teacher, or something to do that stuff."

Kurt nodded slowly, then removed himself from behind Blaine and sat beside him, shifting to face the boys better, who had all accumulated on Thad's bed. "Yes. Well… They declined my request to make the Warblers an official club –"

"What the fuck!"

"Trent, please," Kurt held his hand up to sternly keep the teen at bay. "…Now. Because we have our newly-elected council members," Kurt gestured to Wes, David, and Thad, "we really don't need anyone to run the club. When a club becomes official, the faculty member assigned to it usually has to be in charge… But we don't need that. We really only need someone to take us to and from competitions…" No one seemed to be quite following where he was going, so he took a deep breath and continued. "So, even if we don't have a real, assigned head of the club…if we get someone to be our chaperone, we could still compete as an unofficial group."

Thad huffed and leaned back slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "And who the fuck would do that for us?"

"But, Ms. Webber –"

"No, absolutely not. I stick my neck out for you boys enough as it is," the woman had a tone of finality in her voice, trying to leave no room for argument, but the Warblers were not giving up so easily.

"We've been practicing every Saturday –"

"We hosted that stupid invitational that no one came to –"

"We choreographed dance moves."

Silence.

The woman put down her clipboard slowly and removed her glasses, looking at Cameron who had shared the last comment. "Excuse me?"

The short, red-haired boy's eyes widened and he glanced around, unsure of why the teacher had taken such interest in his sentence. "We – dance moves. We choreographed…dance…moves…" Cameron's voice got quieter as the statement went on, and his eyes never left those of the teacher.

Ms. Webber stared at the boy for a few brief seconds, then turned away and made a hum of acknowledgment. "I'm impressed. You boys never danced when the Warblers were a class, did you?" There was collective head-shaking, though it was hesitant.

"Does that…" Trent began, sounding confused. "Does that mean…you'll do it?"

Instead of instantly turning down the idea, as she had done before, the woman considered the teen's statement for a moment, before sighing and focusing on the papers on her clipboard, her head slowly shaking. "I…" Again, the dark-haired woman faced the students, though this time with a look of sympathy and conflict in her face. "Boys," her tone shifted, slightly taking a more careful, empathetic tone, "I want you to all understand that I fully support your group," the Warblers' faces fell subtly at her words, the fact that it was obvious she was leading up to letting them down, "and I think the fact that you all took on such a commitment is – is absolutely wonderful... But, I already look the other way when I know you boys use the abandoned Arts and Music building for your rehearsals… And I'm not sure how far I can go in enabling this technically non-permitted activity…"

The boys looked stunned and slightly hurt at their counselor's words. She had always been one to advocate for them, whether it had to do with the harassment from the other students, or switching groups. And although Ms. Webber had the tendency to be on the colder side at times, they hadn't expected her to oppose their efforts.

"But… If you don't lead the group…we won't be able to go to the competition," Wes stated, bitterness and disappointment dripping from his voice.

"I don't know what to tell you, gentlemen. You shouldn't have anticipated the club to be passed before entering the competition. The arts funding was cut after all. They're not going to be so quick to start up a singing club."

"All you have to do," Blaine began slowly, eyeing the teacher, cutting off the disgruntled noises of the other boys, "is take us to the hotel in Sidney on Friday after school…" The curly-haired boy licked his lips, his eyes flicking to his boyfriend, who was sitting next to him, giving him an encouraging look, and back to the teacher. "…And the competition is being held there… So… We'll stay there until it's over…then we come back on Sunday morning."

Ms. Webber leaned back in her chair, her eyes raking over the occupants in the room, all giving her hopeful, pleading looks. She sighed, sounding slightly defeated. "So, we'd be driving the two, or so, hours to Sidney –"

"A bus driver!" Jeff interrupted suddenly, his body straightening up at her response. As the teacher and students gave him somewhat questioning stares, he shrunk back slightly, embarrassed at his own outburst, and clarified. "We, uh – we got a bus driver scheduled… We just need a chaperone…"

The gears turning in the woman's head could be clearly seen, but she interrupted her own thoughts and turned to the boys. "But, you'd need to be excused from campus – and – and papers need to be filled out –"

"We've taken care of it! You just need to sign the part of the form that says 'chaperone' and we're good…" David sounded so optimistic, and there was so much hope in his eyes – all of their eyes, really – that the dark-haired woman couldn't help herself.

"Alright," she breathed finally, causing a chorus of cheers and high-fives to erupt throughout the room. "Now! We still have 25 minutes of group therapy left for today! And I, for one, would appreciate knowing where exactly that bruise on your face came from, Mr. Harwood," she turned to Thad, a slightly curious look on her face as she gazed at the purpling mark on the boy's cheek.

"Kurt's a dick! He hates me and punched me in the fucking face!"

"What the – Thad!"

"It's true! I heard them yelling next door to us! And Kurt was threatening him!" Nick chimed in, false seriousness in his voice, trying to hide the teasing smile that was threatening to curl onto his lips.

At this, the pale boy, as well as most of the occupants of the room, broke out into fits of giggles, the mental image of the slight boy trying to intimidate the larger, harsher teen invading their minds. "Oh, screw you guys!" Kurt giggled, giving a playful shove to Wes, who was sitting next to him, and had given him a silly, threatening gesture.

The teacher smiled along with the antics of the boys, but cleared her throat purposefully, gaining the attention of the Warblers. "Now, Mr. Harwood, where did you actually get that bruise on your face?"

"Kurt punched me."

"Mr. Har –"

"No, really, he punched me in his sleep," Thad chuckled with a smirk, his eyes darting to his pale roommate as the boys in the room laughed harder at this.

"Mr. Hummel?" Ms. Webber prompted him, crossing her arms over her chest with an amused smile.

"I – Well, I was dreaming and I, um – I guess I punched him…" The boy's lips twitched down in a slightly embarrassed frown, his cheeks falling to a deep shade of red. Everyone in the room, excluding the teacher and Kurt, burst out laughing, causing the young boy's frown to deepen.

"Y-you! Kurt punching – That's – that's the most hilarious thing – I've ever heard!" One of the boys commented, struggling to speak through his laughter, doubling over in his chair.

At this, Kurt stiffened slightly, his embarrassment being replaced by insult. "Why exactly is me punching Thad hilarious?"

The giggles in the room died down slightly at his obvious hurt tone, and Trent, after making eye contact with a few other boys, turned to Kurt, and cleared his throat.

"Dude, just that…you're so… And punching him…" Kurt was still staring at him with a confused, hurt expression. "Bro! You're just kinda girly!" Trent finally blurted out with a laugh, trying to make the statement less offensive, but the way the pale boy tensed and raised his chin haughtily at his words implied he, indeed, had been offended.

"Oh…"

There were a few moments of silence that filled the room, and Ms. Webber decided to leave the conversation to the boys, focusing her attention, instead, on papers she needed to grade, and casual chatter picked up eventually among the students.

Blaine looked at his boyfriend, having a difficult time finding words to comfort him, and sighed. He placed a careful hand on the boy's thigh, initially receiving a jolt of surprise, but Kurt turned to face him, relaxing slightly at realization of what the touch was, and the sight of the curly-haired boy's caring face.

"Baby, you know I don't think you're girly," he mumbled in a whisper, running his hand up and down the boy's leg, affectionately, searching his boyfriend's face and taking in his concerned expression.

Kurt shifted his gaze to meet the other boy's, a tight, fake smile in place as he nodded. "Thanks, Blaine."

"I wooed thee with my sword!" David threw his head back and spoke in grossly over exaggerated enthusiasm, his Shakespearean accent in place.

His Asian roommate began fanning himself in fake infatuation. "Oh, Theseus! You have wooed me so! Take me now, and have your wicked way with me!"

The guys around them snickered, but David's face fell to a deadpan expression. "Stop fucking me up. At least read the lines if you're gonna talk, Wesley."

"Yeah," Nick piped up and lowered his book from where he was on his bed, doing his Trigonometry, to face the two, "Don't interrupt, Wes. David's performance was beautiful!" The seven other boys in the room laughed at this, and the dark-haired boy blushed intensely at their mocking him, muttering something that sounded like 'it was.'

"What's the date today?" Trent asked absently from Jeff's desk, as he scribbled on a piece of paper in front of him.

"December…13th," Kurt mumbled, hardly audible from where he was lying on his stomach, on Jeff's bed, his head resting on his French book, as he was barely awake, facing the foot of the bed.

Blaine shot a quick glance down to his boyfriend, moving so he could properly see his face, as he was sitting up against the headboard working on his own French assignment, and gave a fond, warm smile at the half-asleep boy, whose eyes were drooping and mouth was hanging slightly agape.

"Oh!" Everyone jumped, and Kurt was shaken awake, as Nick exclaimed suddenly, slamming his Math book down and looking incredibly thrilled. "Next month is Birthday Month already!" He gave a quick, excited squirm and went back to facing his work.

"Mmm, 'Birthday Month'?" Kurt wiped his eyes and rolled over onto his back, partially on top of Blaine's legs, and gazed up at his boyfriend's hazel eyes. "Whus that?"

Blaine had to hold back the goofy smile that wanted to fall onto his face at the pale boy's sleepy manner. "Well, basically…" He trailed off, a thoughtful expression falling over his features as he tried to think of a good way to explain the admittedly strange idea the group had adopted.

"It's just that we have a bunch of birthdays in January, and we basically spend the whole month partying," Thad explained with a devilish smirk, eyes trained on the cigarette he was lighting, from his position beside Nick on the boy's bed.

Jeff, sitting on the floor, against his own bed, rolled his head back to see the dark-haired boy's face. "Thad. It's not just about partying. Do you remember our intense, philosophical theory behind Birthday Month?"

Thad scoffed and took a quick puff of his cigarette, passing the open pack down to Jeff. "No. I was probably really drunk."

Jeff considered this, staring off into space as he absently drew a cigarette from the pack, then turned himself around and folded his arms over his bed, facing Kurt and Blaine, but not without shooting a quick look at Thad first. "That's most likely very true… But anyway," he turned to the two boys on his bed, focusing on Kurt, "it's also, like…we figured out that everyone in the group either has a birthday in January, or has someone really close to them that has a birthday in January... Or, at least – I mean – I don't know if it applies to you –"

"No, it does."

"Your birthday's in January?" Blaine sounded slightly surprised, as though he figured he would have known such a fact. But Kurt shook his head slowly, a soft, sad smile tugging up his lips.

"No… No, not mine," Kurt replied in a barely-audible voice, and didn't elaborate any further. Then, after a few beats of silence, the young boy tried to slightly shift the subject. "So… How many of your birthdays are next month?"

"Mine is. And Nick's," Jeff replied easily, speaking for his roommate, and best friend, as he often did.

"And mine," Trent chimed in, still intensely focused on his assignment.

"And mine," Wes added, sighing, sounding mock-bored, but he gave a teasing smile to Kurt, who was looking shocked at the amount of boys in their group that were born in the first month of the year.

"W-wow… I never realized –"

"And," Blaine cut in, teasingly haughty, sitting up and crawling over the young boy, so he was hovering over him, "your gorgeous boyfriend's," he finished, speaking in an overly self-centered tone and rolling his eyes. At Kurt's still-surprised face, Blaine dropped his joking façade and grinned, even letting out a low chuckle that shook his body slightly.

"And B's the oldest, too," David added, and Kurt realized the dark-skinned boy didn't have a birthday in January. "He beats Trent by two days."

Kurt smiled shyly up at his curly-haired boyfriend, who was giving him a silly, suggestive look, and reached up to kiss him softly, resting his hand in the boy's hair. "Hmm… I feel so left out," the pale boy smiled, as Blaine rolled over his body to lie beside him.

"I know, right!" David threw his arms up in exasperation. "My birthday's in May!"

Kurt giggled at the boy's slight outburst, then turned to his roommate, who had fallen silent for a while, knowing he'd have to prompt the boy if he wanted participation. "Thad? When's your birthday?"

"February 1st," he replied immediately, a harsh tone to his voice, as though they'd been over this before. Kurt seemed slightly taken aback by this attitude, but judging by the faces on those around him, there was more to the story. Without any encouraging, Thad continued. "Theo was born on January 31st."

Oh.

Kurt felt his own throat tightening up at the mention of the boy's deceased twin. He understood person Thad was close to, who was born in January, was his twin. Kurt had heard of twins being born on different dates, but this situation, with Birthday Month, and the recent death, seemed like too much.

Kurt just nodded, and Thad went back to his homework. And nothing else was said about Theo.

"Babe?" Blaine questioned his boyfriend lightly, and Kurt rolled to face him, a curious look on his face. "When's your birthday?"

"August… August 11th," Kurt replied casually, then moved to sit up, closing his French book and lazily making his way to the edge of the bed.

Blaine froze, and blinked a few times at his boyfriend, who was now on his feet, stretching his arms over his head, facing away from him. "Was that…? Wasn't that while you were in jail this year?" At his words, the boys in the room ceased their actions and turned their attention towards the pale boy, who had turned to face them and, after a split-second of looking upset, let a small, half-smile fall onto his face.

"Blaine… It's not like I would have done anything, anyway…" He yawned and stretched his arms out again, then took a couple steps towards the bathroom. "We should probably go to dinner soon," he mumbled absently as he walked into the attached room, closing the door behind himself.

Blaine's face scrunched up in confusion and concern. Sure, he knew all about not properly celebrating birthdays. His family had forgotten his on a couple different occasions. But he usually at least had his friends remember, and to hang out with. But spending it alone…? In jail…? After everything he had been through so recently before that?

It hurt to think about.

It hurt to think about Kurt sitting in a dirty, cold, cell, most likely staring blankly around himself, trying to not let it hurt.

"Jeff!" Kurt squeaked in surprise, chancing a look behind him at the empty classroom he'd just exited before turning his attention to the blonde boy he'd nearly ran into. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I… I had to stay after Chemistry with Mr. Connors. H-he said I did the individual lab thing wrong and, um, I had to fix it."

Kurt, so flustered and on edge from the fact that he had just snuck into an empty classroom to fool around with his boyfriend, almost missed the odd manner and tone in which the other boy was speaking.

Almost.

"Jeff… Are you okay?" He led the blonde away from the classroom door, noticing when he touched Jeff's back to get him to continue walking, the boy flinched back slightly, his muscles tensing, his entirely body screaming that he was alarmed. They walked towards the lounge where they usually all hung out after Wednesday classes, Kurt hoping that he was giving Blaine enough time to sneak out of the classroom in a few minutes.

The blonde boy seemed to be deep in thought, his eyebrows furrowed together and his eyes cast downwards, and Kurt was about to ask the question again, thinking perhaps he hadn't heard it, when Jeff shook his head slightly and faced him. "Uh… Yeah?" He responded in a questioning tone, as though he had no idea what Kurt was referring to, but there was obvious falseness in his voice.

They arrived at the lounge and, as predicted, the five other boys were already splayed out among the furniture and spots on the floor. "Are you sure…? You seem kinda… I don't know…" He ran his eyes up and down the boy's stressed movements, and he was suddenly positive that Jeff had lied about where he'd been.

Nick took notice when Kurt addressed his roommate, immediately scrunching his face up at the appearance of the blonde boy. Something was off.

"Yes, Kurt! Fuck! You do this all the time, it's so fucking annoying!" He stormed off to plop into a chair beside David, who merely coughed, trying to hold in a laugh at the boy's outburst.

Kurt was confused. Jeff rarely swore, and his behavior wasn't adding up. Something happened and it wasn't good. Kurt knew that there were guys on campus that would beat people up, and jump them, just because they could, and Jeff was pretty lanky, not too strong or menacing. He would be a particularly easy target for a bunch of testosterone-filled teenagers who needed a violent outlet. But Jeff looked fine, physically, no obvious cuts or bruises. Kurt thought back to Renny, and the others that hung around him… There was definitely a chance he had a run-in with those guys and they had threatened him in some way… Hopefully nothing too serious was happening…

Kurt turned to sit down on the floor beside Trent when he locked eyes with Nick. It was clear to Kurt the second he met the dark-haired boy's gaze that Nick had been thinking all the things Kurt had been. Perhaps they'd talk about it in private some other time. After a few minutes, both boys were brought out of their thoughts as Wes spoke.

"Where's the chips?"

Everyone looked up to who the Asian boy was addressing and saw Blaine sheepishly walk into the lounge, his face red and sweaty, and his uniform slacks suspiciously clean and pressed.

"W-what?"

Wes frowned and put his book down, crossing his arms over his chest. "You said you were gonna go get the chips from your room…? So we could eat them? Fuck, B, I was starving. I was excited about this!"

"I – right. I, um – I went up to my room…to get them…but they're not there. So, yeah – I mean I looked for them, and everything, but…I don't know…" He shrugged and took a seat beside Kurt on the floor and gave the boy a suggestive wink, causing his pale skin to heat up and color a bright pink, though no one seemed to notice.

Wes was going on about how Justin probably ate them, and how they should put a bag of decoy chips up in Blaine's room, that were drugged, or poisoned, to see if he fell for it, but Kurt tuned it out.

He was more focused on the gorgeous boy up against his side, who had placed a warm hand on his knee, and was rubbing small circles with his thumb. The two boys shared a fond, intimate smile, the kind you could only exchange after doing what they had just done.

"Kurt! What are you doing?" Blaine all but shrieked in surprise, but a small, confused smirk fell on his face as his boyfriend began dragging him by the arm away from the direction of the dorms, where he had been heading.

The pale boy considered this for a moment, his eyes finding the ceiling as he thought, still tugging Blaine along the hallways. He came to a sudden stop, outside a couple empty classrooms and faced the curly-haired boy, an extreme passion in his eyes that wasn't there often enough. "It's a surprise!" And with that, he flung the door open and all but shoved his boyfriend inside, devouring his mouth the second the door clicked behind them.

Kurt flipped them around, so he was pushing the other boy against the door, and ran his hands along his body, stopping to rest on the sides of Blaine's ass.

The curly-haired boy, still stunned from the intense situation, was just beginning to respond to the kiss when Kurt pulled away. "Wait – no! I like this surprise!" And he made grabby-hands at his boyfriend who was backing away from him.

Kurt giggled at Blaine's desperation, stepping towards him only to yank on his shirt-front, pulling him closer and sitting him down clumsily in a stray chair. "You like…this?" Kurt approached the touch-hungry boy and placed a chaste kiss on his collarbone, gently pulling away his white uniform shirt to access it. The other boy hummed a needy response, trying to reach out, but barely missing as Kurt stepped behind the chair. "And…this?" Kurt placed his lips against the spot behind Blaine's ear, sucking softly and darting his tongue out to touch the skin, causing a deep moan to sound, low in Blaine's throat.

"Oh…shit, Kurt,"

With that, the pale boy came around the front of the chair and flung one leg over Blaine, straddling his hips and pressing down onto the boy's hard cock, causing him to whimper quietly. Kurt was about to lunge towards his boyfriend's neck when he felt a soft push against his chest. He pulled back to see Blaine giving him a careful look.

"Babe, you don't have to do any of this if you don't want to…"

But Kurt's face just shifted into an evil smirk and he bent over to be near the boy's ear. "Wanna know a secret…?" Without an answer, he pressed his lips against the soft skin on Blaine's neck, and sucked hard, causing the boy to shiver slightly. "I…had a dirty dream about you last night. And I've been wanting to do this," he pushed himself down onto his boyfriend, grinding his ass into his cock roughly, "…all…day…"

Not needing to be told twice, Blaine let out a breathy moan and lunged forward, capturing the young boy's lips with his own, and thrusting up against him. Kurt was surprised at how good that kind of touch was. The only time he'd ever had sexual stimulation that involved his, well, rear end, had been when he was raped, and that hadn't felt pleasant at all. He didn't know that something that didn't involve his penis could be so arousing.

Even with his body reacting in a positive way, there was still a sore part of his mind that panicked when he got touched sexually. He had to remind himself that this all was okay, that these were good touches, that he wanted this.

Because he did. And it felt so damn good.

The two boys found a steady rhythm, grinding against each other and exchanging steamy kisses. Blaine's body tensed up slightly and he clutched onto his boyfriend's ass, squeezing slightly and speeding up the pace.

"I – Kurt. I-I'm gonna – I –" But the pale boy just latched onto his neck and pushed down harder, creating more friction through their slacks. Blaine was so, so close and –

The curly-haired boy's entire body jolted and shook, as he came hot and hard into his pants, letting out a noise that could have been a groan, or a moaning attempt at his boyfriend's name, feeling his throbbing cock pressing against Kurt's ass as he rode through his orgasm. Blaine let out a shaky, unsteady breath, his head falling back and exposing the long stretch of throat, now adorned with two dark hickeys.

After a few seconds, Blaine's head shot up as his boyfriend began shifting to move himself off of him, and he pulled him back down, his hand instinctively reaching to palm the boy's still-hard penis through his pants. "Baby, I –"

But Kurt swatted his hand away, his devilish smile perfectly in place. "I don't think so, Mr. Anderson," he laughed, bringing himself to a standing position, trying to calm down from his arousal. He leaned down and placed his hand on his boyfriend's shoulder, his mouth centimeters from his ear. "Now we're even," he whispered lewdly, then pulled away and examined the large wet spot on his boyfriend's pants. "Oh, and Blaine, you might want to clean up, or shower, or something," he said in a condescending tone, using Blaine's words from earlier back on him, a smirk gracing his delicate features.

After quickly fixing his hair and making sure he had no inappropriate bodily fluids on his pants from grinding Blaine, Kurt slipped out of the room, leaving his boyfriend in a satisfied, shocked state.

"Don't say shit."

Kurt cleared his throat, placing his fist in front of his mouth to hide the laughter. He coughed and looked up at his roommate, giving him an overly-innocent face. "What? Thad –"

"Don't…say shit," he repeated, tugging his uniform pants back on, his eyes closed as he avoided Kurt's gaze.

"I'm not saying anything."

Thad turned around to face the boy, opening his eyes only to narrow them at his roommate, who was obviously still trying to hide his amusement. Thad yanked his shoes on, which had been removed for a random strip 'n' search, tying the laces rougher than necessary, and eyed Kurt. "Well, you're not allowed to…" he made a gesture with his hands, indicating Kurt's face, "give me that look, either."

"What look? I'm just –"

"Your judging face. That's your judging face."

"I'm not judging you, Thad. Please," Kurt rolled his eyes, and Thad seemed to be somewhat satisfied as he picked up his white oxford and tie from the floor. "Just because you got turned on by a dog –"

"Fuck! I didn't get turned on by the damn dog!" Kurt lost it and surrendered to his laughter, unable to hold himself back any longer. "I just – it was rubbing its nose all up in my junk and I really need to get laid!" But Kurt couldn't compose himself, still doubling over in hysterics over the awkward erection-causing experience. "I'm not, like, into beastiality or some shit… And you know, you are so not in a position to talk about weird boners. Not after last week when you popped a hard-on in front of everyone and punched me in the face."

Kurt calmed down slightly at this, and rolled his eyes, about to make a snide remark, when something caught his attention as Thad was pulling his shirt on. "When did you get that?"

"What?"

"That. Your tattoo… Have you always had that?"

Thad craned his neck to glance at the small, simple tattoo on his left shoulder blade. A thin, black outline of the word 'ενότητα.' "Yep," and he pulled his white shirt on, turning around to face Kurt, "I was born with it."

The pale boy rolled his eyes. "Ha. Ha. Really, though… How did I not notice that?"

Thad shrugged. "Me and Trent both have them... We got them freshman year…" Kurt gave his roommate a look of disbelief, and his eyes were directed at him in such a way that practically said, 'go on.' "I – we… We got them after this whole…thing. It's really a long story, to be honest. Maybe some other time, Kurt," Thad decided, shrugging on his blazer and slinging his tie over his neck, beginning to tie it.

Kurt still gazed idly at the spot on his roommate's shoulder where he knew the ink was, slightly mesmerized by the idea of the tattoo.

Thad seemed to notice, smirking slightly and blinking a few times thoughtfully, remembering back to the day he got it. "It means unity," Thad said abruptly, his voice obviously trying to sound casual, "in Greek."

"…Why Greek?"

"Another time, roomie… Another time…" And as he was trailing off, a smile in place, Thad's face suddenly lit up, the gears in his head turning.

"What?" Kurt prompted him, seeing the odd expression that took over his roommate's features. At his inquiring, Thad's eyebrows shot up, and his eyes darted around the room, seemingly trying to form words.

"I – nothing. Nothing, I gotta… Nothing."

Kurt raised an eyebrow questioningly at this behavior, but said nothing, instead turning away to pull out a small collection of sheet music from his bedside drawer, absently rifling through it. "Whateeever you say, Thaddeus."

"…Is he…okay?"

Blaine glanced up at the three boys entering his room and nodded gently, not wanting to wake up the sleeping Warbler. Trent, David and Thad began removing their coats and scarves, and took careful, quiet seats on Justin's bed, still giving the slumbering boy questioning looks.

Noticing this, Blaine sighed, craning his neck away from himself to look at Kurt. His arms were hanging uselessly around Blaine's shoulders, and his face was mostly buried in the curly-haired boy's neck. Blaine held Kurt's back, cradling him closer where he was sitting in his lap, and tilted his head, pulling away to be able to scan his boyfriend's peaceful face.

"Yeah… He… He's just…really exhausted," Blaine told them in a half-whisper, eyes flickering to the sleeping boy to check if he had been disturbed by the talking, but found him entirely asleep.

"Well, yeah. I mean, he doesn't really sleep," Thad commented with a raised eyebrow, lighting a cigarette and laying back, supporting himself on his elbows and looking at Blaine's boyfriend. "I mean… I guess sometimes he does, but most of the time, he hardly ever sleeps... Like, seriously, I don't think I've seen him asleep since that whole sex dream thing… At least, not for more than a few minutes here and there."

Blaine swallowed audibly and drew his lips together in a tight line, nodding his head, a pained expression on his face. "I know," he mumbled, running a soft hand over Kurt's warm back, which was rising and falling with slow, even breaths. "So, what's up?"

David began digging out a cigarette for himself and shrugged lightly, bringing his eyes up to meet Blaine's. "Um… We were gonna see if you guys wanted to go smoke that joint I got last weekend." Blaine simply cocked his pierced eyebrow, tilting his head slightly.

"Because we're leaving tomorrow and everything... We thought it be good to have a little fun," Trent added.

"All the Warblers, or…?"

"Nah, just us," Trent replied, but then remembered the fatigued boy sleeping on Blaine. "But if Kurt's, like, whatever, it's fine… We were just seeing if you guys wanted to."

Blaine sighed heavily and glanced to the boy in his arms. "Well… To be honest, he's probably gonna wake up soon… I doubt he would get high, but if he did, he'd probably be able to sleep better… It'd be good for him, you know, before the competition."

The other boys all nodded slightly, eyes still fixed on Blaine's exhausted boyfriend, breathing loudly in his sleep.

Thad suddenly perked up, his eyes bright with a thought. "You guys, I was thinking, we could do something for Kurt's birthday –"

"Didn't we already talk about this?" Trent cut in with a raised eyebrow, referring to the conversation they'd had the day before about the pale boy's missed celebration.

"Trent – I swear to fucking God – don't interrupt me. It pisses me the fuck off… Now, as I was saying, I thought of something, specifically, we could do for him..." Blaine checked the sleeping boy one more time before nodding to Thad to continue. "We could do a TP birthday."

All the boys looked at him skeptically for a few moments before David spoke up. "What even is that? TP…? Like…?" He trailed off, making motions with his hands as though he was throwing rolls of toilet paper.

Thad scoffed and rolled his eyes. "No. It stands for tattoo and piercing," he said with attitude, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. When no one responded to this, he sighed. "Basically, we all get either a tattoo or piercing of his choice, but he has to get one, too."

Trent let out a sarcastic laugh. "Are you shitting me? Why would we do that? Why would anyone do that?"

"Well, it's usually for drunk guys on their 21st birthdays... But I think it'd be fun… Besides, it's not like he's gonna pick something really fucked-up, or weird. He'd probably actually think of really cool ideas for tattoos… And pick pretty basic piercings. I mean, it's Kurt, after all. He's not a dick."

"Whubout Kurt?" The boy in question mumbled against Blaine's neck, causing everyone in the room to freeze. He pulled away from his boyfriend, his eyes hardly open, and looked at the curly-haired boy groggily, giving him a half-smile. "Is – is that the same thing with the…lolli… With the lollipops?" Realizing quickly that the boy was still in a mostly-asleep state, the Warblers in the room relaxed, though were still hoping he hadn't heard their plans.

Blaine, eyebrow raised, gave his boyfriend a questioning look. "I – um, yes… Of course it is… Do you…want a lollipop, babe?"

Kurt giggled tiredly at this, scanning over the curly-haired boy's face and body before reattaching himself with Blaine's neck, though this time trailing long, slow kisses along his jaw. "I want…your lollipop…babe," he said against the other boy's skin, who was having a hard time convincing himself to detach his boyfriend after a comment as incredibly evocative as that, especially as it suggested some kind of involvement of his penis.

"Kurt – mmm – Kurt, the guys are in here," Blaine said, finally getting the pale boy to pull away, now blushed bright red. Kurt turned slowly to face the others, an awkward, embarrassed smile in place.

"Oh," he breathed out after a while, when no one had said anything. "Um… What's…going on? Were we gonna…study or something?"

David shared an amused look with Thad, who shrugged in a 'go ahead' fashion, and the dark-skinned boy dug through his jacket pocket before pulling out a small, clear plastic bag, a fairly-sized rolled joint inside of it, a sheepish smile falling over his lips. "Wanna blaze?"

"Whoa," Jeff raised an eyebrow, a slightly amused expression taking over his features as he stripped off his coat. "Kurt's getting high?" He made eye contact with Nick, who simply smiled and shrugged, sitting down in the circle already forming in the center of the Arts Building, watching as Blaine was trying to help the pale boy with lighting the joint. "This is an occasion. Sign me up for some of that," he giggled, completing the circle of eight boys.

"You're gonna burn? Jeffery! How naughty!" Nick teased his blonde roommate, earning a few laughs from the others.

Kurt glanced up from the stick he was so carefully trying to take the first hit of to look at the two boys. "Do… Do you guys all smoke…pot, then?" He eyed Trent and Nick especially, knowing the boys' opposition to cigarettes.

"Jeff doesn't usually, because he gets really high…really easily… But sometimes the peer pressure is just too much for young Jeffery, here," Nick shook his head sadly, mock-concerned, initiating a playful shove from the blonde.

"You guys smoke…this? But you don't smoke cigarettes?" Kurt directed the question at the anti-tobacco advocates.

"At least smoking this shit has a purpose," Trent rolled his eyes, looking at the four smokers in the group, who just shrugged.

"Anyway," Wes sighed suddenly, an impatient tone to his voice, directing his attention to Kurt, "can we just light this shit up?"

Kurt held the joint up to his lips, his eyes not leaving his boyfriend, who was giving him an especially fond smile as he helped the boy light it. "Take a hit… Take a small hit."

Kurt did as he was told and choked out a small puff of smoke, and began to cough violently. "Oh," cough, "mygod," cough.

Blaine, along with the others in the group, laughed lightly at this, and Trent passed Blaine a bottle of water, who unscrewed it and handed it to his boyfriend, first taking the joint from him and passing it to David, who was on the boy's other side. "Here," the curly-haired boy laughed, helping Kurt tip the water into his mouth, and scanning his now-red face. "You okay?" He ran a hand up and down his back as his coughing began to subside, still trying not to laugh too hard at his boyfriend's discomfort.

Kurt nodded, still fighting through his cough, as David took a long hit, keeping the smoke in for a few moments before blowing it out smoothly, not a single cough escaping his mouth. The pale boy raised an eyebrow at this, trying to remember his reasoning for agreeing to try smoking for the first time, especially with a group of smokers, but said nothing as he felt a small high begin to take over him.

The joint was passed around, and it was given to Blaine, who pinched it between his fingers and took a smooth hit, blowing out the smoke in terribly-formed rings, earning a few giggles. He passed it to his boyfriend, who narrowed his eyes, taking it cautiously, and sucking in the smoke, though this time taking a slightly longer, deeper hit. As he opened his mouth to release the smoke, he let out a single cough, and handed the joint to David, who eyed him critically.

"Feeling it?" David asked him, then brought the stick to his lips, taking a puff and passing it along.

"I…don't know," Kurt admitted, but found his lips curling into a particularly wide smile, causing his boyfriend next to him to chuckle.

"Here…" Blaine pulled him closer, resting his arms around the pale boy's neck and making lazy eye contact with him. Kurt could already see the whites of his boyfriend's eyes turning slightly bloodshot and wondered briefly what his eyes looked like, but was suddenly brought into a deep kiss.

He noticed it felt different. Good. But different.

He could feel everything more and his senses were…heightened? Whatever it was, it was nice…and…different.

"Mmm," Kurt hummed, leaning further forward to try to follow Blaine's lips as he pulled away from the kiss. The young boy opened his eyes when he missed the contact, to see his boyfriend's face very tired-looking and his crooked half-smile perfectly in place. "What?"

"You're…" The curly-haired boy chuckled, low in his throat, his eyes seemingly struggling to stay open. "You're definitely feeling it."

Kurt wasn't exactly sure what Blaine meant by that, but either way, all of a sudden, the very idea of him, Kurt Hummel, smoking marijuana, made him want to laugh. So he did. He giggled. A lot.

Wes, who currently had the joint, watched the young Warbler in his laughing fit, making eye contact with Thad as he blew out the smoke through a grin.

"Cute," Thad breathed flatly, taking the drugs from the Asian boy and sucking in the smoke. "Watch out, roomie... B gets dumb when he's high. And horny," he passed the joint along, "which isn't even a thing. A horny stoner? But he does."

The pale boy simply continued giggling, eyeing his boyfriend with a mischievous smile and tilting his head to the side. "I feel pretty dumb…"

"No… More…giggly…" Jeff observed insightfully, his eyes narrowing as he watched Kurt. The blonde didn't break his eye contact as he took two hits in a row and handed it to Trent, who eyed the blonde skeptically.

"Watch yourself, bro," he mumbled, taking his own hit. Jeff nodded absently, still focusing intently on Kurt, a now slightly confused, pained expression taking over his features.

"Right… No, I'm done… I've had enough."

The eight Warblers, after completely finishing off their joint, began to devour the small stash of snacks they had stocked the Arts Building with. Kurt was so busy shoveling endless amounts of Cheez-It's into his mouth that he didn't notice the other boys had stopped eating and were now attentively watching him.

"Shit, Kurt," Wes finally spoke, an almost disgusted, yet impressed tone to his voice, causing the young boy to stop dead in his tracks. "You just ate, like, 14 doughnuts and drank two cans of soda… I think this is more than I've ever seen you eat…like… cumulatively," he snickered, and the other Warblers joined him, aside from Kurt, who tried to form a smile, but ended up looking hurt.

The pale boy put down the box of crackers and wiped his mouth, looking embarrassed. "Yeah… Well… Munchies…right…? I, um – I'm just gonna go to the bathroom…"

When the boy left the room, Thad got the attention of the THC-induced Warblers and let them in on his tattoo/piercing plan. They figured that while they were off school grounds, they'd be able to find a tattoo parlor and go through with their idea, as long as Kurt wanted to go along with it.

"You really think Kurt's gonna get a tattoo…? Or piercing?" Wes asked, sounding skeptical.

Blaine and Thad exchanged a quick glance, both of them shrugging slightly. "Well," Blaine began, his face and movements still sluggish from the high, "he already has a piercing… So… I mean – I think he'd be into it because he'd get to pick out stuff for us. I… Yeah… It'll be great," the curly-haired boy decided, nodding to himself, the others in the room seeming to agree.

"No way," Santana shook her head, her arms crossed over her chest. "Hummel would have told us. This is bullshit."

"Maybe it's a different Dalton Reform School for Boys," Brittany suggested, giving a sympathetic look to Santana, who just glanced at her and sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I just talked to him…two days ago. This is so not cool," Finn sounded a mix between hurt and annoyed, the list in his hand crumpling as he held it tighter.

"Guys! I just got an updated, accurate list for our competition – oh. Did you guys get a copy?" Mr. Schuester entered the greenroom and noticed the upset looks the members of New Directions were wearing as they crowded around a piece of paper Finn was holding. "What's wrong?"

"Mr. Schue! Kurt's reaffirm school is our other competition!" Finn's voice had crossed the line to entirely annoyed, even slightly aggravated.

Mr. Schue nodded slowly, licking his lips slightly before talking. "I – I know. They entered the competition late… That's why they weren't able to provide us an updated list…"

"First of all, Finn, it's reform school," Rachel stepped forward, addressing the tall teen. "And secondly… I can't believe he didn't tell us…" Her voice got quieter and it wasn't clear whether she was talking to the group or mostly to herself.

"Maybe he didn't know?" Tina offered hesitantly, her voice questioning. "I mean, he probably doesn't even know about their Glee club. Or maybe he thought we knew."

"But, if they didn't confirm their spot in the competition until a few days ago, obviously we wouldn't know about them…" Artie pointed out logically, causing Tina and a few others to nod sadly.

"Here."

"Liam?"

"Here."

"David?"

"Oh no! He's gone!"

"What?" Wes yelped, snapping his head up and beginning to scan the boys in front of him frantically, before finding the dark-skinned boy standing right in front of him, being the one who had said the comment, giving him a deadpan expression. Wes's face fell to an annoyed glare. "Shit, David!"

"For fuck's sake, Wes. You've taken attendance eight times already. We're not going anywhere."

Wes quickly ran his eyes over the group of boys, secretly trying to tell if any of them were missing, as well as doing a head-count. He reluctantly nodded and sighed, placing his clipboard in his backpack. "Fine…" He mumbled grudgingly, looking down at his watch. "We have a while before we need to warm up. So everyone can just relax back here, I guess…" A woman sporting a headset walked into the greenroom and began collecting a few pieces of paper that were scattered on a table.

"Can we smoke back here?" Jeff questioned Wes, beginning to draw a cigarette from his pack, regardless.

"No smoking in the building. You need to go outside," the woman informed them sternly, before leaving the room in a rush. Jeff made a face at her retreating back, beginning to search the ceiling discreetly for smoke detectors.

"You heard the woman!" David clapped Jeff on the shoulder, surprising him out of his slightly annoyed state. "We have to go outside!" With that, the Warblers who smoked, which happened to be only Jeff, David, Blaine, and Thad, as well as the four other boys who hung out with them, began making their way towards the door.

"Not so fast, gentlemen," Ms. Webber sounded from the other side of the room, where she was sitting with a stack of papers. She scribbled something quickly and stood up, sighing. "I'll be chaperoning your leaving the authorized building."

The boys made brief eye contact with each other and shrugged, leaving the room and heading towards the door that lead to the outside, this time accompanied by their teacher.

"That was them!" Puck sounded both surprised and angry, his finger pointing accusingly at the door near the back, visible from where the members of the New Directions were waiting for their rehearsal time backstage.

"What?" Mike sounded confused, looking in the direction the mohawked teen was pointing, but finding nothing.

"The Dalton kids. I saw some of them walk out that door... They have those snooty-ass uniforms," Puck sneered, making a face in the direction he saw the students. "Whoa, whoa what are you doing?"

Rachel was striding firmly towards the door, a determined look on her face. "I just want to evaluate our competition. They knew ahead of time that they were competing against us, and I'm just evening out the playing field," she breathed out haughtily, raising her chin up and striding out the door. She was soon followed by the rest of the Glee club, who all rolled their eyes and went after the brunette diva.

As soon as they stepped out the door, the group froze. There were eight boys, four of them smoking – smoking! – cigarettes, all casually leaning or sitting against the wall of the building, clad in their navy uniforms and heavy coats to shield them from the winter weather, not seeming to be bothered by the fact that their slacks would get damp from the light scattering of snow that covered the ground. There was a woman standing a few yards away, her dark hair cut in a bob, talking away on her cell phone, facing away from the group.

And there was Kurt.

There was Kurt, sitting against the wall, in between the legs of a curly-haired boy, who was resting his chin on Kurt's shoulder from behind, and the hand that wasn't holding a cigarette was wrapped around their dear, countertenor's stomach, seemingly some kind of attempt to keep the small boy warm, for he had his arms curled around himself, looking cold. For a few moments, the New Directions just stood in shock, not noticed by the group of uniform-clad boys, who were a few good yards away from the doorway they were standing in.

The pale boy suddenly froze in mid-laugh, having been giggling at something the curly-haired boy – his boyfriend? – had said to him, now catching sight of the members of his old Glee club, his face paling and scrunching up in confusion. He instantly threw on a fake smile and mumbled something to the boy he was sitting against, both of them coming to their feet, the boy holding the cigarette dropping it to the ground and stomping it out.

He then gave a last, fond look at Kurt and walked past the group, back inside to the backstage area, and Kurt approached the New Directions cautiously, glancing behind himself nervously at the group of Warblers before facing his old friends.

"Hi, you guys…" He spoke sheepishly, looking immediately guilty and embarrassed, making special effort to not meet any of their eyes.

"…Boy, what the hell?" Mercedes.

Oh God… What have I done…?

Kurt looked up slowly, meeting making eye contact with her for a split second before averting her gaze again. "Listen, you guys… We didn't even know we were definitely competing u-until a few days ago, and –"

"You didn't even tell us you were in a new Glee club, Kurt…"

The pale boy turned towards the group of people, seeing their matching outfits, their close proximity to each other, the new member – the one who had replaced him – and everything he used to be a part of. He shifted his gaze towards the diva, his face changing from a guilty look to a frustrated one. "So… You're upset…because I didn't tell you something that was going on…in my life?" The group's upset energy dropped slightly as Kurt's voice rose in anger. The Warblers began to take notice of the situation, exchanging a few concerned glances. "I believe you lost that privilege when you completely ignored my existence for five months!" He searched the faces in front of him, seeing them all having varying expressions of hurt or shock.

"Babe?" Kurt took in a sharp breath, not even having noticed Blaine stepping up to his side, holding out a bottle. When the pale boy didn't react to it, just staring blankly at the offered beverage, Blaine's eyes flickered to the New Directions, and back to Kurt, seeing his troubled expression and watering eyes. He placed a hand on the small of the boy's back, leading him back to sit down. "Baby, here. I got your water. Let's sit down for a few more minutes…" He shot an irritated look back at the McKinley kids, not knowing the situation, but angry at them for hurting his boyfriend.

Kurt clamped his eyes shut, his breathing heavy as he felt his body tense again, gagging into the toilet, mostly water and stomach acid falling into the bowl. He thought for a moment that he was done vomiting, but suddenly, he choked again, coughing and spitting bile from his mouth, sighing as waited to see if his body would calm down. He took a deep breath and rolled back onto his heels, looking down at his stomach, furrowing his eyebrows at the offensive organ.

Why does this keep happening…?

Just as he was about to stand up, his stomach turned again, and he lunged forward, hardly making the toilet as another round of watery content dribbled from his lips, surprising him to the point of him beginning to choke violently.

"…Kurt?"

The pale boy mouthed a curse and spit into the bowl, flushing the bile. He came to his feet and began wiping his mouth with toilet paper, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to think of something to say in reply.

"Kurt? Is that you? Are you okay…?"

It was David.

Kurt heard the dark-skinned boy shuffle around the ground slightly, then could hear the noise of his urine splashing into the urinal. He carefully stepped outside of the bathroom stall and the boy relieving himself finished up and turned to look at Kurt, his eyebrow instantly quirking in suspicion.

"Kurt… Were you throwing up?"

The pale – paler than usual – boy smiled weakly and nodded, making his way to the sink to rinse out his mouth. David stepped up behind him and watched his actions through the mirror. Kurt made eye contact with him as he dried his face off, after splashing cool water on himself.

"Are you sick…? Still?"

Kurt broke eye contact and sighed. He had been caught vomiting the week before by Thad, and had told his group of friends that he was feeling ill. It wasn't a lie. He was feeling some kind of ill that day… These months since the attack… Just perhaps not the flu…

"I… I think I'm nervous," Kurt mumbled randomly, hoping his uncertainty sounded like actual anxiety. Fortunately, the dark-skinned boy smiled understandingly and patted the young boy on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Kurt. We sound fucking awesome… It's gonna be fine," he assured the other boy with a warm smile, jerking his head in the direction of the door to imply they exit. Kurt nodded and smiled tightly, following him out of the door and actually beginning to get the stir of emotions and nerves in the deep pit of his stomach.

"Jeff?"

The blonde snapped back into reality, a small smile curling on his lips, though it didn't seem to reach his eyes.

"Sorry… I was…spacing out," he muttered with a humorless laugh, shrugging lightly and going back to straightening his tie, his eyebrows furrowing together.

Nick stared at his roommate's odd behavior, seeing everyone else leaving the greenroom from the corner of his eye, only moments left before they needed to be in position, about to perform. "Are you okay, man?"

Jeff froze for a moment, but then finished his task, smoothing out his entire uniform before turning to face the dark-haired boy. "Of course. I'm nervous as hell, but I'm fine. Let's go… Come on."

The Warblers lined up in their positions on stage, all taking deep, even breaths as they heard the announcers call their school's name, followed by a non-shockingly pathetic amount of applause.

They were a reform school, after all.

"We're actually doing this. We're competing. We're singing… I'm singing," Kurt whispered, mostly to himself, his eyes having taken the shape of giant orbs, almost popping out of his head as the curtain began to ruffle, starting to rise.

"Fuck yeah, you are. And you're gonna do amazing," Kurt's eyes flickered to his left, where, in the dark, he had heard the voice come from. As the curtain rose, flooding the boys in light, Kurt couldn't mistake the curly-haired boy he knew so well giving him a small wink, accompanied by an honest smile.

And he did sing. And he did do amazing.

…And they tied.

"Hey, man! Guess we get to see you at Regionals!"

Kurt hardly had time to look up, from where he was backstage, basking in his after-performance high and glory, before a blur of color came crashing at him, and before he knew it, someone's arms were wrapped around him in a tight hug. He was about to scream, or grunt, or squirm, but instead –

"Get the fuck off him!" And then he was released, still completely confused until seeing Puck, stumbling back from him, the New Directions all in a group, and Trent giving the mohawked teen an aggressive look, before lunging toward him and socking him in the jaw.

"What the fuck!"

And then Sam and Puck flew at the Warbler, shoving him away and, somehow, a punch was thrown and ended up landing on Wes's cheek, resulting in the smaller Asian boy to tumble backwards, landing on his rear end. At this, Kurt flew in between the two groups, hoping to the Lord he didn't believe in that he didn't get punched.

"Guys! Please! They're just used to me getting hurt… They're just protective," he directed at the members of his old Glee club, not noticing how their faces fell slightly at Kurt's unintentional implication that they hadn't protected him.

"How the fuck did I end up getting punched?" Wes growled from the floor, where he still sat, a hand placed over his cheek, his eyes narrowed at the group of rival Glee members.

As Sam, who looked oddly guilty, opened his mouth to respond, Kurt snapped his head towards the blonde boy, as well as Puck and the others, who had subtly stepped back away from the group, his bitch-face in place and his hand raised up to stop him.

"Okay, and also, " he started, his hands flying to his hips, "you don't get to hug me – you," he turned to Puck, a confused look on his face, then scanned the rest of the New Directions, "or – or whoever did that! I'm still mad at you guys… And you know what? Here's. The. Bottom. Line… I killed someone," Kurt spoke slowly, pronouncing each syllable carefully, his eyes narrowing, trying to ignore the few odd glances he got from the passing staff members, as well as a few performers from the third group. "I got raped, and I went crazy, and I killed someone. And now I'm at a reform school. And that's how it is. At first, you guys all completely pretended I wasn't alive. And now, you're trying to come back into my life, like nothing happened…? With nothing more than a couple awkward acknowledges of those past – five, six? – months? No."

And with that, the pale boy stalked away, feeling proud of himself that the tears in his eyes decided not to fall until he was facing away from his old friends.

"Kurt – wait! We didn't mean it like that –"

"No. I don't give a fuck!" He knew that would get them. He never swore in front of that group before. Kurt's mind was spinning, his thoughts completely jumbled around and chaotic as he stormed out of the back door, where he knew his boyfriend and Thad were taking another smoke break.

The curly-haired boy glanced up, smiling at the sight of the pale boy. His initial grin dropped instantly as he saw the tear tracks on his boyfriend's pale cheeks, his delicate face blotchy and red. "Kurt –?"

But he was cut off when said boy fell into his arms, his face scrunching up in hurt, his crying staying calm and silent, but his breathing heavy and shaky, visible puffs in the chill air. "I-I wanna leave… I want to get out of here… I want to go back to Dalton…" He spoke into Blaine's chest, curling his arms around the boy's back, speaking in a tone that suggested his utter surprise at his own last comment.

Blaine, still mostly confused at the situation, looked over his boyfriend's head at Thad, who merely nodded, raising his eyebrows. The curly-haired boy ran a hand along Kurt's neck, resting his chin on the boy's head. "I have a better idea…"

"Ow – ow – ow – ow!" Kurt whined, but there was sheer laughter in his eyes. "I can't believe I did this! Ow!"

The group of boys all snickered, making their way quietly back into the hotel room the eight of them shared, attempting – and failing – to be discreet.

"To be honest," Thad whispered, an amused and somewhat impressed smile on his face, as they closed the door behind themselves, "neither can I."

Kurt laughed, then cringed in pain, bringing his hand up to his mouth, then laughed again, simply at the idea of the situation.

Kurt Hummel got his tongue pierced. His tongue. Pierced.

The pale boy scanned the room in front of him, taking in all the boys, exchanging their new rebellious body modifications. He realized quickly how lucky he was. How absolutely entirely lucky he was. He reviewed the important, permanent decisions he'd made for his friends, and relished in the idea that they trusted him enough to give him that power. And go through with it.

Jeff got a small ring on his lip, on his left side, which Kurt argued went along perfectly with the blonde boy's sheepish grin.

Kurt chose a perfectly ironic tattoo for his dear friend Nick. The dark-haired boy ended up with a simple barcode design, tastefully placed on his ankle, and Kurt insisted that he could now be bought, though Nick would forever fight for his life that Kurt was the one who was a prostitute.

Thad would deny it for the rest of his life, but every other boy in the room, as well as the tattoo artist, would attest to the fact that the boy started to tear up when Kurt told him he chose the symbol for 'twin,' more commonly known as the symbol for Gemini, in honor of his recently-deceased brother, to be forever inked on his right wrist.

Kurt decided David, already having two tattoos, deserved a piercing, and felt that his face was symmetrical enough to pull off a labret, simply a small stud, and that it would complement the boy's large, enthusiastic smile.

Wes commented, immediately upon entering the tattoo parlor, how he felt Chinese lettering tattoos were completely cliché and overdone, prompting obvious reason for Kurt to choose such a mark. He, along with encouragement from the other boys, ended up picking the two, small Chinese symbols for 'irony' to be inked onto the boy's ass cheek.

Trent informed Kurt that he wanted something done on his chest, assuming for some reason that the pale boy would pick a tattoo. When Kurt acknowledged this request, the bigger teen removed his shirt, only to have Kurt inform the piercing specialist to give him a nipple ring.

"Fuck you guys! At least you don't have something on your ass!" Wes shrieked from one of the two beds, where he lay on his stomach with a small bag of ice pressed firmly against his left ass cheek, wincing in pain. The boys all howled in laughter, and Kurt was brought out of his daydreaming by the Asian boy's outburst.

He once again raked his eyes over the occupants of the room, this time falling over a particularly curly-haired boy, who he just happened to be romantically involved with.

Blaine.

"Oh my fucking – Kurt! That was – that was the best thing I've ever seen in my life!" David was trying to speak, having a hard timed doing so between his laughter and utter shock at the pale boy's tattoo choice for his Asian roommate.

Kurt shrugged smugly, a smirk falling onto his lips. "What can I say? I'm kind of a bitch," he giggled, watching Wes look in horror at the lettering on his reddened skin through the mirror.

"Any more? Or is that all for you boys tonight?" Linda, the very sweet, delicate tattoo artist inquired softly, peeking meekly around at the group of delinquents.

"We got one more! Kurt, my man! What have you decided for your boy?" David clapped the pale boy on the shoulder, and watched Blaine, sitting across the room, sitting beside Nick chatting idly.

"Courage," he mumbled, almost immediately, as though it was the answer to something that he'd been trying to remember for days. At his decision, the room grew mostly silent.

Blaine and Nick looked up, both seemingly interested in the shift in mood. Blaine smiled at his boyfriend, standing up from the couch to walk over and place a warm hand over the pale boy's hip. "Choose something for me yet, babe?" He questioned, raising his pierced eyebrow with attitude, his half-smile quirking up on his lips.

"Courage," Kurt repeated, this time louder, and with more feeling behind it, as he placed his hand over the one on his hip.

Blaine's cocky face fell, and both his eyebrows rose, his expression softening and looking slightly surprised at the genuine design idea. "…'Courage'?"

"Baby… You…have given me…so much courage…since day one," Kurt's eyes fluttered shut, and he tried to think of a sincere way of saying what he felt. "Every day, you give me courage to get up and face the school, and everyone in it… It's you that helps me, and supports me, when I break down… You gave me courage to sing again, Blaine… You… You are my courage," Kurt drew his eyes open, only to see Blaine looking at him in a way he didn't often see.

A tender sort of longing that almost made it seem he was having a difficult time believing someone could care for him like Kurt was describing.

"How do you want it done?" Linda's soft voice sounded through the room, and Kurt broke away from his boyfriend, after one last warm look, to instruct her on the design. When Blaine approached the tattooing supplies, Linda turned to him, then shifted her gaze back to Kurt, not sure which one of them to question. "Where is it going to be?"

Kurt looked at Blaine. "I want you to get it wherever you want..."

Blaine blinked a couple of times, then reached for his boyfriend's hand, bringing it up to lay across his own chest. "Here... I want it over my heart."

"Hey there, sexy,"

Kurt snapped his head up, breaking out of his flashback, only to see the other occupants of the room looking at him, with amused expressions of expectance.

"I – what? Are you talking to me?" He knew he had recognized the voice as Blaine's, but suddenly, he wasn't sure of the situation, and the looks he was getting were slightly concerning.

Blaine chuckled deep in his throat, approaching the slight boy's front and wrapping his arms around his back, resting his chin on the boy's shoulder. "Yes, you. Who else here is sexy?" Kurt was about to make a snarky comeback, but before he could even form a syllable, his boyfriend cut him off, pulling away and looking at him in the face, an honest curiosity and worry in his eyes. "How's that tongue?"

The pale boy nodded in response, giggling slightly. "It's fine. Not too sore… Just a bit swollen… And your heart?" Kurt asked, smiling coyly.

"…Absolutely perfect."

Kurt scrunched his nose up at the corniness of his boyfriend, bringing his hands up to the curly-haired boy's face and drawing him into a kiss, gasping when Blaine's tongue gently ran over the still-tender area of his piercing.

"Well, I don't know about you guys," Trent's voice sounded throughout the room, sounding bored, "but my god damn nipple hurts like a bitch. And I know Wes here has been bitching all night about his ass," the Asian boy flipped him off from his position lying on the bed, "so I think…we should take a little something…to numb the pain…" He smiled devilishly and raised an eyebrow, reaching into his backpack to pull out two bottles, one of vodka, and the other rum. "Anyone?"

A few cheers and yells were heard, and Kurt turned towards his boyfriend, a sly smile playing on his lips. "Are you gonna drink?"

Blaine's mouth twitched up into a small smirk, and then fell into a look of mock-hurt. "Well, now that you mention it, my tattoo is sort of killing me…" Kurt gave him a playful smack on the arm, rolling his eyes. "No, really! I mean, I'm kind of in dying agony over here… Maybe just…one drink – two! Just to take the edge off," he finished with a sigh, as though it pained him to think of drinking alcohol.

The other boy chuckled, taking his boyfriend by the shoulders and manually turning him and pushing him in the direction of the alcohol distribution. "Blaine Anderson," he giggled, watching as the curly-haired boy stalked off, "just get me one, too!" He called after the boy, shaking his head in amusement.

"A-and – and it's just so…nice," Kurt murmured, sounding a mix between laughter and confusion. "I mean, look – look at this!" He tugged lightly at his boyfriend's curly hair, his arms draped over him, giggling slightly. The two boys danced sloppily to the music, making vague movements and singing along with questionable lyrics.

It had been an hour since the alcohol had been released, and the Warblers in the room had taken full advantage of it.

"Oh, Blaine, I love this song!" Kurt squirmed excitedly, a small splash of his drink dribbling from his cup, spilling onto his boyfriend's shoulder.

The curly-haired boy cocked an eyebrow, smiling with amusement at the sight in front of him. He reached out to grab the still-spilling drink from the pale boy's hand as he began to dance enthusiastically. "Babe, I – I think you should – I think you should take a break," Blaine mumbled, placing the drink down cautiously on a table, eliciting a small whine from his boyfriend.

"Blaaaine," but as soon as the curly-haired boy wrapped his arms around the drunken Warbler, he seemed to forget about his drink altogether. They danced for a few more minutes before Kurt pulled away, fanning himself with his hands and making sounds of discomfort. "Mmm, I'm so hot!"

Blaine smirked and reached for him slowly, gripping his hips tightly and scanning the pale boy's body with his eyes. "Yeah, you are," and with that, they began messily devouring each other's faces, moving slightly to the front of the room, near the door.

"Oh god, I – I'm gonna die in these pants! Too hot!"

Blaine fumbled down to Kurt's waistband and began to unbutton and unzip his slacks, plunging his hands down into them, over his boxers, reaching around the back to feel up his tight ass, not breaking the kiss. He backed them up against the door, moving to Kurt's neck and letting the pale boy get a breath of air in, his panting blowing hot air onto the side of Blaine's face.

"Sh-shit, Blaine," Kurt stuttered breathily, pulling away momentarily, noticing his slacks had fallen off his slim hips in the process of moving, and kicking them off from where they lay pooled around his ankles, leaving him in his pair of tight, black boxers and white oxford. Kurt glanced down at his mostly-bare legs and back up to his boyfriend, an evil smirk falling onto his lips. "You, too, Anderson," and he reached up to take hold of each side of the curly-haired boy's white shirt and ripped it open, the sound of buttons clattering to the floor audible.

Kurt's mouth fell open at the sight, and he ran his hands over the tan expanse of skin, eyes raking over the scattering of chest hair and defined stomach muscles.

I somehow don't remember it being this glorious the last time I saw him shirtless…

The pale boy grabbed the useless sides of Blaine's shirt to flip them around, him now pushing the curly-haired boy against the door, and attached his lips to the tan skin of the other boy's neck. Blaine let out a noise between a hum and a moan, tilting his head to give better access to his boyfriend's talented mouth, chills running up his spine as the tiny piece of metal that now adorned the boy's tongue ran over his skin.

He fumbled helplessly with the top buttons of his the pale boy's shirt, his fingers numb and clumsy as he was victorious in undoing the first few, before giving up and capturing the other boy's soft lips with his own.

A couple of the Warblers in the room had begun to take notice to their two drunken, partially naked friends. Trent and Nick shared a questioning glance and then began to watch the two boys enthusiastically enjoy each other.

"This… This is weird…" Nick slurred, his eyes narrowing as he tilted his head, still watching the two boys with a mild interest, a look of slight repulse taking over his features at Kurt let out a small moan. "I-I mean… I don't care when – or if – guys…do it with…with guys, but…" He trailed off, his eyebrow raising, words seeming to be lost.

Trent nodded enthusiastically, his eyes drifting shut and opening again, his features drowsy. "Yeah, bro. I know – I know what you mean… Even if this was…a chick and a dude getting it on, I – I'd still be like… I'd be like 'whoa, ch-chill out…you guys…' You know…?"

The dark-haired boy conveyed his agreement with a slow nod, grabbing the other boy by the arm and turning him back in the direction of the other Warblers, who were now passionately dancing in the dimmed light, the music from Jeff's portable speakers blaring. "We should…stop watching them make out, probably…"

Knock! knock! knock!

The boys all froze. A few eyed the door as though it was going to explode, or speak. Others subconsciously backed away from it. Wes's eyes darted to the bathroom, a conflicted look on his face, as though he was questioning hiding from whoever was behind the door. Kurt pulled away from his boyfriend, bringing a hand up to trace over the freshly-made hickeys that now adorned his neck, and shrugged.

"I guess… I-I'll open it. I'll answer it…" The pale boy nodded, but didn't move from where he stood. Blaine noticed this, placing a reassuring hand on his upper arm.

"It's…prolly just – just…Ms. Webber…or security, or something… Just act…act cool, babe. You – you got this."

Kurt nodded and tilted his chin up, approaching the door and looking through the peephole, his blurry eyes having a hard time figuring out the sight. Cracking the door open hesitantly, his eyes widened at the visitor.

There was a tall, dark-haired, upset looking man standing outside the door, his skin tan and smooth-looking. He didn't look much older than 20, and the way that he held himself, the clothes he was wearing – a Marc Jacobs winter coat, designer jeans and boots – Kurt knew.

He was gay. This man was gay.

The man's angry expression melted away the instant he laid eyes on Kurt. His face shifted into a curious look, his one eyebrow cocked and a smile falling onto his lips. He shamelessly ran his eyes up and down the pale boy's body, and Kurt remembered suddenly that he wasn't wearing pants, causing him to flush a bright red – even redder than he already was, from his intoxication – and hide behind the door slightly.

"I-I – yes? May I help you…?"

"Well," he drew out the word absently, eyes still focused on the slight amount of leg that was visible to him, "I was going to come and yell and you all, and ask you to turn your music the fuck down…but," he brought his eyes back up to meet Kurt's, a sly smirk now on his lips, "you have alcohol, don't you?"

Kurt's mouth fell open unattractively, but he closed it quickly, his face morphing into a look of disbelief. "N-no! Of course not!"

The tall man chuckled, leaning in slightly closer to Kurt, causing the boy to pull away. "Hun, you reek of it…" He smiled, seemingly amused at the teenage rebellion, though his face turned slightly thoughtful, and he tilted his head, seeming to have gotten an idea. "Say, how would you feel about adding a few more to this shindig? We have a few fun drinks!" Without receiving an answer, the man whipped out his cell phone, pressing a speed dial and holding it up to his ear. He turned it away for a moment and looked at Kurt, who still stood in the doorway, feeling and looking confused. "Hun, mind if I come in?"

"K-Kurt," he mumbled randomly, correcting the man, attempting to get him to stop using the pet name.

Only Blaine was allowed to use pet names for him.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"My name's Kurt," he repeated, and for reasons unknown to himself, opened the door fully and let the man inside. He got curious glances from the other occupants of the room, and simply shrugged as the man followed him in.

"Cute – I like it. Oh! Jessica!" He turned away sharply, his eyes becoming unfocused as he listened to the person speaking on the other side of the line. "Yes. And you girls gotta get up here, and bring the booze…" He glanced up, taking in David and Blaine thoroughly, who had stepped up beside Kurt, and smiled coyly. "Trust me, you girls are gonna want to get in on this."

No one was entirely sure how it happened, but as an hour passed, the small hotel room was filled with 14 drunk, very loud, very drunk people. The promise of more alcohol was all it took for the man – Daniel – to win over most of the Warblers. And apparently, 'a few more' actually meant five, already-intoxicated college girls.

"W-where's – where's Nick?" Jeff slurred, asking no one in particular as he clutched his drink in his hand, searching the room for someone who could help him find his roommate.

He saw Kurt, swaying in the corner of the room to the booming music, mostly to himself, though there were a few people near him.

Kurt's curly-haired boyfriend was nowhere in sight, either.

Didn't Blaine leave to get ice ages ago?

The rest of the Warblers were scattered about the room, in various stages of intoxication and embarrassment, but Jeff's dark-haired roommate wasn't in sight.

"Hey, Blondie," Jeff turned around unsteadily, nearly losing his balance, only to come face to face with a tall, very thin, brunette girl with her hair cut in a short style, tucked behind her ears. When Jeff continued to stare at her blankly, the girl approached him and took hold of his arm, beginning to lead him into a slow, dancing movement.

"You – you know where, uh – w-where Nick is?" The blonde boy tried, having a difficult time speaking in general. The girl giggled, pulling him close and leaning forward so her lips were close to his ear.

"I don't care where Nick is," she hissed smoothly, and placed a soft kiss to the boy's ear, making his jump slightly, "and neither should you, Blondie… Come with me," she tugged his arm, smiling coyly at his confused face, still in shock from the kiss, and led him towards the bathroom door.

"W-what are we doing…?"

"Just taking a quick bathroom break," she raised an eyebrow and turned away sharply to face the door, rapping on it quickly a few times, then moved to turn the doorknob.

"Occupied!" But it was heard too late, as the tall girl flung the door open, entering the doorway and coming upon the very boy Jeff had been seeking, Nick, pressed skin-to-skin against a blonde girl, up against the wall of the bathroom, twisting sharply and looking terrified when they were interrupted.

"Oh, fuck! Sorry, Ash!" The brunette girl slammed the door shut, a mix of amusement and humiliation on her face. She turned to Jeff, and shrugged. "The guy she was fucking was hot, though," she giggled, and reached for a shot glass on the nearest table, pouring one for herself and tilting it back. She noticed the distressed look on the blonde boy's face. "What's up with you, Blondie?"

"Nick," he murmured simply, confliction flooding his features. The brunette looked puzzled for a moment, before following the boy's gaze to the closed bathroom door, a look of understanding dawning on her face as she nodded.

"That's him? Well, he's got a great ass. I should get in on that," she mused, her gaze drifting slightly as she poured another shot for herself. "I'm Tanya, by the way. And unless your name's actually Blondie…"

"Uh… Jeff…"

"Cute. Well… You're really nice, and all, Blondie, but you seem to be kind of a lost cause, and I need to get laid…but it was fun talking to you," with a quick wink, she began walking away, and Jeff took a few moments, blinking slowly, to comprehend her statement.

"Wait, T-Tanya!" The girl turned back around, waving seductively at Trent before turning her eyes to the blonde boy. "W-what'd you – what do you mean I was – that I was a 'lost cause'?" He slurred, leaning forward and throwing his free hand up in emphasis.

"I just don't think I'd get what I'm looking for tonight from you," she raised an eyebrow, watching Jeff blink slowly in response, not saying anything, looking dumbfounded. "Exactly," she giggled, turning away again, but this time twisting back around to face the blonde boy. "Besides, Blondie… I don't think…I'm," she gestured with her hands up and down her body, emphasizing her woman-shaped body, "exactly your type…" And with that, she left him, blurring into the haze of the room, mixing somewhere between David and Thad.

"I'm not…" Jeff spoke after her, knowing positively that she couldn't hear him, "gay."

"N-No… I – I've…" Kurt trailed off, blinking a few times, trying to keep his eyes open and focused on the man's piercing dark eyes that were set on him. "I've had…e-enough. Enough…" He nodded, turning his head away slightly when Daniel moved closer to him on the bed, slinging a sweaty arm over his shoulder and placing the previously-offered drink on the bedside table.

"If you say so, Hun," the man chuckled, eyes shamelessly sweeping over the intoxicated boy's body and drooping face. He glanced to the bathroom door as a victorious-looking – and sloppy-looking – Thad exited with a tall, brunette girl – Tanya – and turned back to the pale, hardly-awake boy. "Why don't we go have a little fun, hmm? Bathroom's free."

Kurt just shook his head very slowly, his eyes falling shut and clamping tightly in distress. "Mmm," he shook his head again, this time more forcefully.

"Don't tell me you're straight, hun. Shit, with these legs, you're a tease to gay men everywhere," he placed a firm hand on Kurt's still-exposed thigh and ran it up near his crotch, not stopping his stroking when Kurt jumped violently at the touch and tried to scoot away.

"N-n-no, my – my boyfriend –"

Daniel cut him off with a harsh laugh, moving even closer to the pale boy, watching his face, "I have a boyfriend, too. They don't need to know. It's just a little fun –"

"No, my – Blaine – he… He – the ice," Kurt slurred, his eyes fighting to crack open as he gestured messily towards the door where Blaine had disappeared forever ago to retrieve ice.

Daniel seemed confused for a few moments before nodding understandingly. "The curly-haired kid. He's pretty fucking hot. Not gonna lie… I've never been too into piercings, myself, though."

Kurt let out a tired giggle and stuck his tongue out, the freshly-pierced skin hanging out in clear view. "This a – a t-turn-off?" He spoke around his tongue, a drowsy-looking smile hanging on his lips.

Instead of answering, Daniel lunged forward, capturing the boy's open mouth with his own lips, causing Kurt to jerk suddenly, attempting the best he could to push away at the man's chest, but his intoxication making the task difficult. Finally, Daniel broke away and moved on to the pale boy's neck, still exposed from the few buttons Blaine had undone previously.

"W-what the –" Kurt pushed away at his shoulders, tears leaking from his eyes, but the man just leaned onto him, pushing him down into the mattress. "What the f-fuck are you d-doing? Get – get off!"

"Dammit," Daniel spoke, sitting up, straddling the young boy's hips against his efforts to move away. "Don't be such a fucking tease. Loosen up!" He moved back down to kiss and nibble on Kurt's neck, holding his arms above his head.

"Get off!"

"What the fuck!"

The weight suddenly evaporated from on top of him, and Kurt shot up, hardly catching sight of his curly-haired boyfriend holding the man in front of him by the collar of his shirt and punching him hard in the nose, an audible – and concerning – crack resulting. The blow in the face hit him down to the ground and Blaine looked mixed between going after him again or stepping back. He ended up taking a step back and his eyes shot up to his boyfriend on the bed, his expression ridden with concern and fright.

"Oh, fuck, Kurt. Kurt, baby, are you okay?" He crawled up onto the bed and scooted on his knees towards the pale boy, who was sitting up with a conflicted, twisted look on his face, and ran his eyes over him, placing a warm hand on his back, trying to read him. Kurt saw the others in the room had all froze, watching the situation carefully.

"I – I'm, " he turned to Blaine, his face in a complete look of horror, "I'm… I'mgonnathrowup –" He sprung up onto his feet and darted to the bathroom, with surprising coordination, given his drunken state, and the sound of him coughing and choking, and his vomit splashing into the toilet, could be heard.

Blaine winced at the sound of his boyfriend suffering and rushed up to follow him, closing the bathroom door behind himself.

After a few good minutes, Blaine exited the bathroom, and the sound of the shower running was heard. He glanced around the hotel room, noticing only the original occupants were present, and that they were all seated on one of the two beds, looking upset or half-asleep.

Trent looked up as Blaine plopped down onto the bed. "Is he –?"

"Yeah," Blaine cut him off, nodding and rubbing his eyes with his hands, then faced the boys, who were still waiting for him to elaborate on the situation. He sighed. "I mean – he's… He's feeling better, he's in the – the shower. I think he won't – I hope he won't remember it tomorrow. But…" He shrugged, scanning the room in front of him and raising an eyebrow when he spotted a blonde boy curled up in the corner of the room. "What's…? Is Jeff…?"

Wes looked over his shoulder to the boy in question, and shrugged. "He's r-really, really wasted. Him… Him and Kurt. They definitely drank too much…" In response, Blaine simply sighed and nodded, taking another long glance at the closed bathroom door and blinking thoughtfully.

David noticed this behavior and raised an eyebrow, tonguing his fresh piercing, his lip poking out where the stud was. "You alright, B?"

The curly-haired boy came out of his thoughtful haze, shaking his head slightly. "Hmm?" He turned back to David, and the dark-skinned boy just raised his eyebrows, an inquisitive look still in place on his face, knowing Blaine had heard him. "I, um… Yeah. I just… I got so fucking pissed. S-someone doing that to him after – after everything. I just… Ugh," he shook his head, trying to calm down from the anger that seemed to take over him at the mere thought. "I didn't mean to…to hit him. I'm not supposed to do that kind of shit anymore…"

Nick turned to him, from his place on the bed beside Blaine, and placed a tentative hand on the boy's shoulder, searching his face. "You… It was a good reason, B. That guy was a total p-prick. And you backed off…" The dark-haired boy trailed off, but his voice made it obvious he wanted to say more. He made brief eye contact with a few of the other boys, and turned back to the curly-haired boy. "So, B… You and Kurt… You guys are getting kind of…s-serious, then?"

Blaine jolted at the statement, and his eyes widened as he faced the other boy. "What do you mean?"

Nick shrugged, his voice attempting a casual tone. "Well…nothing. I mean – just that it takes a lot for you to…lose your t-temper like that these days. You must be kind of… You gotta, like, care about him a lot…" Nick shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed at his attempt at emotional talk.

Blaine didn't seem to notice, and his face turned slightly pink, a look of concern dominating his features. "I… I do. I mean, yeah, I do. But…" He sighed, tilting his head thoughtfully, his eyes seeming to be drowsy. "I'm just worried I'm not d-doing this whole thing right, you know?"

The other boys made eye contact with each other, it being obvious that they had an opinion on the matter but were trying to determine whether or not to speak it. Finally, Thad, who had been quiet for the conversation, surprising everyone, spoke up.

"Look, B. We never really thought we'd see you get into a r-relationship like this, okay? We were pretty sure you'd – you'd fuck it up real bad because you kind of…suck at this stuff…" He shrugged, leaning back onto the pillow of the bed.

Blaine's mouth fell open slightly, but he closed it, a questioning look taking over his face. "Um… Thanks –?"

"But now that you and Kurt are…w-whatever, we just want to make sure you don't…fuck it up… He's like…fragile, or whatever."

Blaine ran his hands through his hair, tugging at a few curls, a thoughtful, pained expression on his face. "I – I know, I'm not – ugh… Listen…" He paused, sighing heavily and closing his eyes briefly before opening them again to face the boys in front of him. "I don't know w-what the fuck I'm doing. I thought…that I'd fuck this up…really, really bad… A-and then, I just end up doing stuff... Like we hold hands, and k-kiss, and talk… And it's just so… I don't know. It's j-just, like, so perfect, and… Like I don't know what I'm doing, but somehow I do know what I'm doing? Fuck… I know not all of you guys have had g-girlfriends, or whatever, but is that what it's supposed to be like? Like… Like everything is exactly right without trying…? Because I'm just going into this…fucking – fucking blind…"

Thad sat up quickly, watching Blaine intently as he did so, looking at the curly-haired boy's sincere face, ridden with worry and concern. After a few moments of this, the dark-haired boy chuckled lightly, shaking his head in disbelief. "Shit," he mumbled, an amused tone to his voice. "Fucking shit…"

"W-what?" Blaine looked to the boy, as did the other occupants of the room, with questioning gazes.

"Damn, B," Thad chuckled, shaking his head again, leaving no answer to the curly-haired boy.

"Fuck, Thad! What?"

Thad's face got slightly more serious as he faced Blaine, his eyes watching the other boy's face for his reaction. "You f-fucking love him."

It hit Blaine like a ton of bricks.

"What…?"

"You do. It's so fucking obvious. Shit…" He laughed again, reaching for the bottle of vodka the others had abandoned long ago and took a small swig of it. "Fucking…shit… I don't think we have to worry about this one…" He addressed the other boys, sticking his thumb in the direction of Blaine, who was still wide-eyed with the realization that dawned on him.

Wes made grabby-hands for the bottle that Thad was holding and the dark-haired boy passed it to him. "You guys… This is – this is the best drunk-talk we've ever had," he laughed and took a sip of the alcohol, wincing at the burn. "Seriously…"

Their discussion was cut short when the sound of the shower turning off was heard, and then the curtain being violently dragged open. After a few seconds of audible fumbling from the bathroom, "Blaine…?" Kurt's tired voice was heard coming into the room, muffled by the door, calling for his boyfriend.

"Yeah, I'm coming, babe!" Blaine got to his feet, noticing the other boys making amused faces at each other at Blaine's affectionate use of his pet name, after the discussion they'd had. "Don't… Don't, like, say anything, okay? R-really. Don't."

Trent laughed, yanking the bottle from the Asian boy's hands, resulting in a glare from him. "We wouldn't."

Blaine raised an eyebrow before attempting, mostly with success, to walk with coordination into the bathroom, closing the door behind himself.

Kurt winced as the door creaked, hoping that it didn't make Thad stir. He very carefully and deliberately shut the door, hearing the small clicking of the latch closing. Just as he was turning around, a pair of arms closed around his front, making him shriek in surprise.

"Blaine!" he hissed, but there was a smile on his face as the curly-haired boy went in for the pale skin on his neck, kissing and briefly nibbling the sensitive area. "We – we said… In the hallway…" Kurt panted, his eyes falling shut and his head tilting, giving his boyfriend better access at the soft skin. "The – the hallway doesn't mean…you attacking me outside my d-d-d-door – ugh, Blaine!" Kurt shuddered, giving in to the boy's very convincing lips and capturing them in his own.

The two boys ended up collapsing down onto the carpeted ground, a hot mess of lips and tongues and teeth and lost shirts.

"K-Kurt…" Blaine mumbled after they had broken apart for a few moments, as he lay panting beside the other boy, rubbing small circles with his thumb on the pale, smooth expanse of chest that was present before him. "I… I…" love you. But he couldn't. He couldn't. "I… I'm gonna miss you," he leaned over Kurt, whispering into the other boy's neck, following the statement with a soft, tender kiss there, over the spot where a fresh hickey was visible.

The pale boy nodded, bringing his hand up to cradle Blaine's head, his finger twirling an especially springy curl. "I know… I…" He sighed, his other hand pressing against the small of the curly-haired boy's back, bringing him down so he was lying completely on top of him, bare chest to bare chest. "Me too…" Kurt ran his hand up and down his boyfriend's back for a few moments, before speaking again. "Blaine… Are… Are you leaving after classes tomorrow…? For Christmas."

Blaine kept his head down where it was, buried in Kurt's shoulder, and Kurt could tell from his silence that he was conflicted about answering.

"I… I don't know," he muttered finally, a false tone of nonchalance to his voice.

"Baby," Kurt began, concern obvious in his voice as he sat up, forcing Blaine up as well, "tomorrow's the 20th. Don't you know what you're doing yet?"

A flash of hurt ran across the curly-haired boy's face, until it was replaced with slight annoyance. "I don't know, okay, Kurt? My parents just drop in and decide out of nowhere that they want to see me sometimes. It's not exactly up to me," he huffed, turning his face away from his boyfriend's.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the pale boy's delicate face looking at him with sincere worry, tilting his head in thought as he watched his boyfriend. Finally, Blaine sighed and turned back to Kurt, not saying anything, but letting his face drop down to the hurt look that truly conveyed what he felt, the tears forming in his eyes as he let out a half-choking sound as his throat tightened up.

Kurt hummed, understanding the unspoken apology, cupping the boy's scruffy cheek in his hand and bringing the curly-haired boy closer to him until their foreheads were pressed together. "If your family doesn't want to see you…they're missing out, Blaine… Because… You. Are. The. Most…wonderful, amazing –"

Kurt was cut off when Blaine let out a choking sob, his body jerking forward, turning to bury his face into his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Shhh… Amazing, brilliant, caring, beautiful person…I've ever met… And… And we all fucked up, here. We messed up to get here… And, sometimes, our families forget who we are…" Kurt kissed Blaine's neck, feeling his crying settling down, and pulled away from him so he could see him in the eyes. "But listen to me… You, Blaine Anderson, are an amazing person… No matter who forgets, you still are. And I'll never… I'll never forget…"

Blaine sniffled softly, his eyes searching his boyfriend's face – his beautiful boyfriend's face – and he leaned in, kissing his intensely on the lips, drawing his hands around to snake around his back, pulling him even closer and deepening the kiss. After a couple minutes, the boys pulled away from each other, and Blaine sighed deeply, letting his head fall onto Kurt's shoulder, letting out a small chuckle that caused his body to vibrate.

"I'm gonna miss you so much…"

Kurt giggled, realizing it was late and that the first round of security would be coming by soon to do hallway and lounge checks. He nudged Blaine, implying silently that it was time to go back to their rooms. As they began pulling their shirts back on, Kurt turned to his boyfriend. "It's two weeks, babe…"

As Blaine tugged his thermal shirt over his head, he blinked thoughtfully and embraced the pale boy, swaying slightly as he cherished the last moment before bed that he would see Kurt. "Two weeks too many," he shrugged, holding the sides of his boyfriend's face and kissing him softly on the mouth, then pulling away and giving his half-smile as he appreciated the boy's face affectionately.

Kurt opened his mouth to say goodnight to the curly-haired boy, when a loud, choking, coughing sound surprised the two boys so much that they jumped, both instinctively clutching onto each other. Kurt turned towards the door beside his own, Nick and Jeff's, and pressed his ear against the door.

"Hmm… Someone's throwing up…" He looked at Blaine and raised an eyebrow with a shrug.

"Jeff, man, you okay?"

Blaine and Kurt exchanged a quick glance at the words they could hear through the door, both getting increasingly concerned as the vomiting continued, and especially so when there seemed to be a sort of crying, sobbing sound accompanying it.

"Do you think he's okay…? He couldn't still be hungover…" Blaine mused out loud, turning towards his boyfriend, who looked extremely worried. At the curly-haired boy's words, Kurt's face shifted into a more relaxed expression, seeming false as a tight smile fell onto his lips.

"I'm sure it's just something like that… He drank a lot… Well, anyway…" Kurt held his boyfriend one final time, kissing him briefly on the cheek and pulling away. "'Night, Blaine…"

"'Night, Kurt."

As the curly-haired boy shot him one last smile and began stalking off in the direction of his room, Kurt's smile fell. He gave another lingering look to his neighbor's door and frowned, before creeping carefully back into his own door.

What's wrong with Jeff…?

He collapsed into his own bed, pulling his covers tightly over his shoulders to shield himself from the chilly air, now that Blaine wasn't there to do it. His thoughts drifted back over the past few days, thinking of the man, Daniel, trying to take advantage of him, of the drunken vomiting, of their oblivious chaperone and the finals he had the day before…

And then he heard the choking sound, loud and clear, coming from the room next to his, followed again by a loud, whimpering cry and attempted comforting from Nick.

And he thought about Jeff, and everything that he needed to figure out about what was happening to him, as he drifted off to sleep.