Author's Note: I've spent the last two days doing a lot of writing for this story. I wanted to finish the entire episode before posting and now have two chapters to show for it and I don't know if I really like them too much mostly because the whole Dave thing threw me because I'd forgotten about it and that just changed everything I wanted to do with it...anyhow, I hope you all like it. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Fox does...and RIB

Chapter Fifteen

Bad News

Despite everything that Blaine had gone through in his short life, he had never once hated someone, or disliked someone as much as he disliked Sebastian Smythe.

He had just gotten home from driving Rory to Brittany's after school when he got the call from Kurt. At first he frowned because he remembered that Kurt was supposed to be spending the day with Rachel looking at dresses and other things for the wedding – not that Kurt approved – he was just in it for the shopping and because he'd resolved to just go along with the insanity.

"You'll never guess what just happened," his boyfriend said.

Blaine had faintly thought back to Valentine's Day when Kurt had eventually told him that David Karofsky had professed his love for Kurt. So, the first thing that his mind had imagined was a run in with the former bully. Blaine didn't know how to feel about Karofsky, exactly, but mostly because he understood the feeling of liking someone and wanting to get those feelings out there. Then again, Blaine had also been the person that picked Kurt back up after all the hurt and pain that Karofsky had caused and for that Blaine couldn't easily forgive him. Now, he turned around claiming to love Kurt and Blaine just didn't like it and it didn't stem from any jealousy because he knew as sure as anything that he and Kurt were soulmates.

"What?" he asked.

"Sebastian showed up," Kurt said, "we seriously need to find a different coffee shop to hang out at, or buy to go and hope there's not a run in."

Blaine laughed. Sebastian was a whole other issue that Blaine hadn't really got the chance to deal with. Nothing had come from informing the headmaster at Dalton that Sebastian had thrown that slushy at Blaine and almost left permanent damage. And as much as Blaine understood why Kurt hadn't used the proof Santana had gathered to really get Sebastian in trouble, he wished he'd played a bigger role in dealing with it, or that the glee club had bothered to ask him what they should do. He could admit to himself that he probably would have done what he did. Blaine was more angry at the warblers as a whole, though, because they had no excuse for what they did. A few of them had called Blaine to tell him how sorry they were. Blaine wasn't quite ready to forgive any of them.

"What did he do, now?" He asked cautiously.

"Well," Kurt said, "let me just say that I've seen some horrible things before, but none as bad as what I had to see today. He, um, photoshopped a picture of Finn. Rachel took the copy he gave us. He wants Rachel to not sing at regionals so that the Warblers win."

Blaine could have laughed at the absurdity of it all, if it hadn't been for how serious it all really was and not just because he wanted to win, but because Kurt needed to have this win to get into NYADA, and because Sebastian was really starting to cross too many lines.

"Rachel's talking to Finn about it. They're going to go to Mr. Shuester about it. I just can't believe he can get away from this stuff."

Kurt talked to him for a while longer, but then had to hang up because Rachel was calling him. Blaine could hear her in the background.

Mojo trailed him into his room and Blaine dropped his phone on the bed before moving to his armchair and depositing his bag there. He took off his shoes and undid the bowtie around his neck. Blaine had been hoping to put Sebastian and everything to do with the slushy incident behind him once he was told his eye would be just fine and that he wouldn't even need glasses.

Still though he couldn't believe Sebastian would resort to blackmail right after the whole thing with the slushy. Did he really believe that he could just get away with this stuff? This time they would do something about it. This time he couldn't just get his way.

Blaine was so adamant that Sebastian not be allowed to just do as he liked, that he was one of the first to want to do something the next day when it was brought up during glee club the next day. Mostly everyone else seemed to be on his side, but Mr. Shuester put a stop to it and said that he'd contacted Dalton about it already. That wasn't enough. Blaine knew nothing would come of it. Sebastian might be told he needed to do some community service, or he might be told to see the school psychologist but it wouldn't change anything.

Maybe it was time that they did stop trying to fight them. He felt bad that Finn might have to face that picture going up on the internet, and he didn't wholly agree with Rachel and how she wanted to sing regardless of her fiancé's embarrassment, but maybe they should just focus on beating them, on showing Sebastian that he could cheat and find loopholes and do a number of other things to try and stop them from doing well, but that they would win anyway through hard work. It didn't mean that he still wasn't upset.

He got through the rest of his classes with just a little bit of annoyance about the whole thing, so much so that about halfway through the day he texted Kurt to meet him in the auditorium.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and Blaine just dropped his head onto his shoulder. He didn't have to say anything and Kurt didn't really think that Blaine needed him to say anything for the moment. So, they stood on the stage and just held each other. Eventually, Kurt pulled him towards the steps that would take them off stage. Kurt lead him to the closest seats in the auditorium.

For a long time they just held hands, but their moment was broken when Kurt's phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Sorry," Kurt said.

Blaine didn't say anything

Kurt frowned at the name that flashed on the screen and without another second of thought pressed 'ignore'. As if it hadn't been enough that Dave confessed he was in love with him just a few days before, he had also started to call him constantly. Kurt had said they could be friends, but he felt uncomfortable answering and it was just much easier to ignore him for the time being. He would pick up eventually and maybe ask Dave to go out with him and Blaine or something.

"Who was that?" Blaine asked.

"Karofsky," Kurt said, "he's been calling me today, practically all day."

"Oh," Blaine said.

On Valentine's day, Kurt had told Blaine all about the cards he'd been receiving and then what happened at Breadstix before Sugar's party. Blaine hadn't reacted badly, he'd just been a bit surprised which was just what Kurt was, but now he seemed a little weird at hearing that Dave was calling him.

"I have no idea what he wants, but I just can't talk to him now," Kurt said, "not so soon after all that. Maybe another time."

Blaine nodded slowly.

Kurt stared at him. "You're not jealous are you?"

Blaine shook his head. "Are you kidding? I know you would never be with him – not after everything he put you through."

They sat in comfortable silence after that, until Blaine finally spoke again: "When I was at home healing up and resting I didn't really have to think about The Warblers or Sebastian. I could cuddle with you when you were out of school, my mom was pretty much making me anything I wanted to eat, I had all of the New Directions visiting me, I had a new dog to take care of, and I just didn't have the time to really think about what they did, not really, and now they're blackmailing Rachel and – and they're not the boys I knew and sung with."

"Oh, honey," Kurt said, "I really do think it's all been Sebastian. They're under his influence and they were my friends too, and you weren't here when we told them about what Sebastian did – they were worried about you."

Blaine shook his head.

"Yes, they were, and I would bet a lot of money that they don't even know about the picture Sebastian altered."

Kurt hadn't realized how much it had all affected Blaine, though he didn't know why he didn't notice. Blaine had probably been trying to hide it from him though. He gripped Blaine's hand tightly.

His phone chose to ring again.

It was Karofsky. Kurt hit ignore even though he was starting to get curious. How many times would Kurt have to ignore him before he got that Kurt didn't want anything to do with him for the moment.

"You might have to answer one of these times," Blaine pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe. But, listen, I want you to stop worrying about The Warblers and Sebastian. Rachel will do the right thing and that might just mean giving me her solo, and then we'll beat them and it'll be the end of it."

Blaine laughed and then stood up. "Come on," he said and offered his hand to Kurt.

It wouldn't be until much later in the day that Kurt would wish that he had answered his ringing phone. Instead, he and Blaine went back to Kurt's house and they cuddled and watched T.V. in the living room. They helped Carole cook dinner and ate it with Finn. Burt was in Washington D.C. it being early in the week, but it was still a pleasant dinner.

After dinner, he and Blaine joined Finn watching some sport on the T.V. that Kurt didn't care for. He was flipping through the latest copy of Vogue and showing Blaine the things that caught his eye.

It was Finn that found out first. He was checking facebook on his phone during a break in the game and then he gasped.

"Finn?" Kurt asked.

"Are you okay?"

"I – wow, this is…I think Karofsky tried to kill himself."

How Finn could have known that did not even enter Kurt's mind. Instead all he could remember was the constant buzzing of his phone all day and Dave's name flashing at him.

"How do you know?" Blaine asked.

"It's all over facebook, I'm friends with a few of the kids from his school and someone posted about it – his neighbor, I think. There's also…um, there's a bunch of things on his wall, they're not very nice."

Kurt went cold. He couldn't believe it. It was almost sort of ironic to think that his bully had gone on to be bullied for the exact same thing and that it had gotten so bad that it had pushed him right to the edge that Kurt had never really reached. But he could have if it had gone on for much longer and if he never met Blaine, he could have gotten there.

A hand wrapped around his and he was pulled closer. Blaine wrapped an arm around his shoulders and Kurt could only manage to press himself into his boyfriend.

"It's not your fault," Blaine said, "you didn't know."

But he had. He had seen Dave's expression when that other boy saw them at Breadstix that night. Of course he should have seen this coming. That other boy must have gone and told everyone and it was still Ohio and everyone was still closed minded. Kurt felt like he might throw up.

All Rory could think about when he heard about the almost suicide was what he had said just the day before – what he had added to Sugar's thoughts on Finn's picture. He felt ashamed.

"Twice to make sure I was dead."

It had been such a callous thing to think, and even worse to say. But he'd said it as a joke, speaking without thinking that someone out there in the world might take such action when confronted with strife. Perhaps it was that he'd been so surrounded by people that had overcome the worst of struggles, or that he'd never had a reason to feel so alone or so desperate for it all to end.

He'd never met David, not now and not in the future, but everyone else in glee except for Sugar had and they were all affected by it, most of all his parents. It wasn't from them that he heard about what had happened before Sugar's party and how David had been calling his dad all day the day he tried to hang himself. Instead, it was Rachel who mentioned it and she hadn't been talking to Rory, but to Finn.

It seemed that the two of them had dropped their argument now that there were more serious things going on.

"Kurt just didn't think he was ready to talk to him yet, we never thought it'd be something like this. He feels horrible," Rachel had said to Finn.

Rory had paused to listen in.

"Wait, why was Karofsky calling Kurt again?"

"I thought you knew. Karofsky was Kurt's secret admirer. He and Kurt met up on Valentine's day and Karofsky pretty much asked him to leave Blaine or something…well, professed his undying love for him anyway. And Kurt let him down and then yesterday Karofsky was calling Kurt nonstop I guess because he needed someone that knew about his sexuality and Kurt ignored him…"

Rory had had to hold onto the wall. He leaned against it and tried to get his breathing under control. How had he not noticed that all of this was going on?

He felt strange about David Karofsky after hearing all about that. Over the course of the day, he'd been hearing a lot about the boy and he now knew that just the year before he'd been tormenting his dad, being the main cause of his bullying and also the reason that his dad transferred to Dalton. In a way he'd paved the way for his dads to meet, but nevertheless he'd been horrible to his dad. A part of him wanted to be childish and say that he was getting his comeuppance, but the bigger part reminded him that if even his dad could forgive him, so should he.

Most of the teachers were acting strange the entire day as well. Everyone was quieter, and there was not one person that was talking about it. Rory strayed clear of most of it and mostly stuck to Sugar.

"My mami went with him to junior prom," Sugar told him while they were standing by her locker, "she still had pictures from the night back home. They were running for Prom Queen and King, but only he won. I don't think they talk or anything, but I asked about him. She said she ran into him once and that he seemed happy."

It was odd to think about his Aunt Santana of all people going to prom with someone like Dave, but now that he was thinking about it he remembered the pictures of his dad's junior Prom, his dad with a crown atop his head dancing with his papa. That was the one where he'd been crowned Prom Queen, and apparently it was David Karofsky who had been King.

That day Finn and Rachel announced their plans to move their wedding up. Rory thought their reasoning just wasn't sound, but he was starting to worry that he had done something that had pushed them into this whole early marriage thing, because it didn't look like anything was going to stop them from going through with it. They would get married after their glee competition. Rory was suddenly hoping that they lost, but he knew better. This was the year they got Nationals.

"I can't believe that's what they got out of all of this," Kurt said when they were leaving Glee later, "Rory, please tell me they don't go through with it?"

Rory could just shrug. "At this point, I have no idea."

Kurt just sighed and then after squeezing his shoulder he just walked away.

"He's having a hard time with all the Karofsky stuff," his papa said, coming up behind him.

"I can tell," Rory said, "can't we do anything?"

Blaine just shook his head. "We've talked about it and he still sort of feels guilty about it, but I think he just needs time. Finn and Rachel are just stressing everyone out and I promised to go tell his dad all about the big change. Wanna come with?"

"See Grandpa Burt, totally."

Blaine laughed. "I forget sometimes who you are to me, and then you say things like that and I remember."

He didn't spend a lot of time one-on-one with Blaine, not like he did with Kurt, but he enjoyed walking to his papa's car. Blaine put his things in the backseat and Rory followed suit, and then when they were seated in the front, Blaine handed Rory his phone.

"You are in charge of keeping the temptation of texting and driving away from me," Blaine explained.

They were just about halway to Kurt's house when the phone in his hand indicated a new text.

"Read it to me," Blaine said, "0315."

Rory wasn't surprised at the picture on Blaine's phone, one that featured both his dads, faces pressed together and smiling. He unlocked it and opened the messages.

"It's from Sebastian," Rory said.

It took a moment for his papa to react, "what does it say?" His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Can we meet at The Lima Bean in an hour? No funny business."

Blaine scoffed. "Don't text him back anything. I'm not meeting him. I can't believe he's even asking."

A text from Santana came in next.

"From Santana," Rory said.

"What does she want? She never texts me."

Rory was confused too.

"Oh. She got a text from Sebastian too," Rory said because he refused to read the profanity with which Santana texted to his papa. It just felt weird to say anything like that even though he wouldn't get into trouble for doing so.

Before Blaine could say anything the phone began to ring. It was his dad. Somehow, Rory already knew what it was about. Sebastian. He answered.

"Hello," Rory said, "Blaine's driving, but I'll put you on speaker."

"Oh, hey, Rory. That's fine."

His dad still sounded a bit odd. Rory put him on speaker.

"Hey, Kurt!"

"Blaine, why does Sebastian want to see me at The Lima Bean? What the hell does he have on us now? This is not the time for more blackmail."

They pulled over in front of Kurt's house.

"No idea. He texted me and Santana too. Maybe we should go see what he wants, or, I don't know, try and put a stop to everything before the competition Saturday? Gosh is there just so much to worry about this week. I was going to try and visit Dave but I guess I can do it another time."

Blaine grabbed his phone and took it off speaker. There was a look that his papa got when he was talking to his dad. Rory was enjoying himself just watching him. He could still sort of hear his dad on the other line and all it brought back were memories of the numerous times when he'd found himself with one while a phone was pressed to an ear. It was almost comforting. What wasn't comforting was having Blaine at the wheel of a car, but he'd managed to not think about that too much. It hadn't been his papa's fault. It was the other driver. Still.

"If you have to go meet up with Sebastian, I can go deal with telling Grandpa Burt," Rory found himself offering when Blaine got off the phone.

Blaine seemed unsure.

"I like spending time with him," Rory said, "and I know he'll insist you stay if you come in."

Rory didn't add that he really wanted to talk to Grandpa Burt on his own because it was about time that Rory share everything he'd been considering lately.

Eventually his papa agreed. That was how Rory found himself knocking on the door and then being let in by Grandma Carole.

"Oh, hello, Rory," she said, "all the boys are out. Were you looking for one of them?"

Rory shook his head. "I was looking for you and Mr. Hummel actually," he said, "is he here?"

"Yes," Carole nodded. She had led Rory into the living room, she moved towards the door, "can I get you anything to drink? Or eat?"

"No thanks," Rory said.

She left to come back with Burt a moment later. "Hey, kiddo," Grandpa Burt said.

"I've been instructed to tell you that Finn and Rachel moved up their wedding to Saturday after Regionals."

They talked about it for a while about what to do about the whole wedding situation, and then Carole went to get on the phone with Rachel's dads. After she'd gone upstairs, his grandpa put his hands together and leaned forward in his chair.

"And what's going on with you, kiddo?"

Author's Note: Oh boy oh boy was this one interesting to write. It was hard in a sense because the episode touched on such a big issue (even though I don't think they did it well what with it coming almost out of the blue) and yet it was also Regionals and the wedding and the whole thing with Quinn. But I don't even want to think about that. I did for a while want to really delve into the suicide thing in relation to one of the boys, but I think they have enough problems as it is. It did end up being quite long. And so 2 chapters.

The next one is pretty much written. So it will be up in a few days, probably not later than next Friday unless I get busy with other things. And am I really looking forward to writing Uncle Cooper. Like, can you imagine him and Rory in the future? I'm so excited for Rory to share Uncle Coop stories. I just feel like Finn and Cooper would just compete over which one got to be called favorite uncle and like Kurt just wouldn't have it and tell them to leave his Rory alone and just...yeah, I have a deep love for one Cooper Anderson and I haven't gotten to really write him much other than in my soulmate fic and he wasn't in it for very long.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'm also on tumblr where I will probably leave little progress reports on how my writing is going and occasionally previews for upcoming chapters. So stop by. tumblr: emquin.

Thank you for reading. Hope you all liked it.

Please Review.

-Erika