Prompt: Malcolm Reynolds - "May have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." - 'Firefly'

Looking in the mirror I cringed at the sight of my eye. This was definitely a case of 'it looks worse than it feels'. The pain had subsided to a dull ache, which after the dislocated shoulder wasn't a big deal. However, I wasn't going to win any beauty contests any time soon.

I thought of Quinn's words in Glee this afternoon. "It's pretty hot actually,"* she had said. Somehow I don't think my mother was going to share that sentiment when she saw my eye. I knew I was going to be in for some motherly fussing tonight. Although I wouldn't admit it to anyone at school, I really didn't mind that aspect of it.

I also knew that even though my parents didn't exactly condone fighting, that I wouldn't get more than a lecture about trying to settle problems without violence out of this one. Even my Dad knew that sometimes a fight was unavoidable, and this was one of those times. The other guys and I hadn't gone looking for a fight with Karofsky, but it was also clear that we'd had to make a stand for Kurt. Once Karofsky had shoved Mike into Artie, I knew talking wasn't going to be enough any longer. I just hoped I had made a good enough showing of myself to convince Karofsky to leave Kurt alone, especially as I couldn't say who had really won the fight. Like I had told Mr. Schue, I had gotten a few good hits in, but even I knew that if Coach Beiste hadn't broken up the fight that I would have ended up with more than a black eye.

Still, even if I was on the losing side of the fight, I still didn't think it was the wrong side. I couldn't claim to understand Kurt's choice of lifestyle but I did realize that he wasn't hurting anyone by that choice. Though I may think that being gay was wrong, I didn't believe that it made Kurt a bad person. He had as much right to fall in love with whoever he wanted as I did to fall in love with Quinn. From what I had seen so far, Kurt was one of the most accepting and caring person that I had ever met and he didn't deserve the treatment he was receiving from Karofsky and some of the other guys. Though I knew that standing up for him wasn't going to do much for my quest to be popular in my new school, I didn't care. The more important thing was knowing that I had done the right thing by standing up for Kurt.

And if that had gained me some points in Quinn's eyes, than that was a nice little bonus because Kurt's thank-you was the only acknowledgment that I really needed. What I had done had been appreciated and that made even the black eye worth it.

*From the episode "Furt"