The Scholarship

by Sopphires

When Kurt is chased out of McKinley he runs to Dalton Academy, but the private school is expensive and even with the extra money from Burt and Carole's honeymoon, they can't cover the cost of tuition. There is one way, though, for Kurt to get in, but that means winning a scholarship off the black-haired, hazel eyed Warbler Kurt is pretty sure he just fell for. Rated T for swearing

13. Pulled Taut

Dear Readers,

First of all, just another thank you for all the support you've given this story! It really keeps me motivated, especially if I hit a little block in the writing.

Secondly, in answer to a guest review by ANITAA who asked me what Keats looked like. He's about the same height as Kurt, and he's got a sort average build - not really fat or thin, slender or thick-set. He has grey eyes, and wavy brown hair that just about reaches his collar. He's got quite a long, sharp, nose, but other than that he's not really meant to be physically dominant, or really present...he's kind of, just, ordinary looking. I hope that helped, anyway.

Lastly, I don't speak Spanish, and I really don't know any - except hello which I think, correct me if I'm wrong, is "hola" - so I apologise for any mistakes that may have been made; I used Google translate so I have no idea how accurate that will be.

Enjoy, and feel free to leave your thoughts!

---

The Scholarship

Episode 13: Pulled Taut

I am utterly exhausted! I thought that, kind of like at McKinley, things would wind down just a bit after something like the concert, given that that seems to have been the big event of the term, but no…I have just been piled with a ton more work. No one else is complaining, though, so I guess this is normal. The only bad thing is that they've begun talking about exams, actual proper exams. Professor Lloyd held me back after class and told me that it was far more important that I passed it than the rest of my year put together because I didn't take entrance exams…great…

Kurt rubbed a hand over his eyes, and closed his History textbook, hand aching. He had been writing an essay that the rest of the class had done at the beginning of the term, and he was completely shattered. It was due in tomorrow - meaning he'd had only one day to do it because Mrs Daniels was mean enough to ask for homework to be handed in on a Sunday. He'd also been threatened with severe punishment "beyond anything he could possibly imagine" if he considered copying anyone's work because she would know.

He blinked, heavily, and yawned. He'd stayed up until one in the morning last night trying to get all the research done, and, eventually, Juri had been awoken by the light, thrown his planning notes - such was the disarray of Juri's half of the room that they were right by his bed - and told Kurt to turn the light off, before promptly dropping back off to sleep, snoring loudly. Kurt had rolled his eyes, acknowledged that he was too tired to keep working effectively, and climbed into bed fully clothed, dropping off to sleep instantly.

Now, it was the middle of the afternoon, and Juri had wondered off to some music group. The house was distinctly quiet, and Kurt sighed, deciding that he wanted to go and find the company of some people that were still alive, and got to his feet. He stretched, rolled his neck and picked up Blaine's scarf, it was now a permanent fixture around his neck when he went out and about at Dalton. He looped it round his neck, securing the knot loosely, and strode out of his room.

After questioning six people in the common room he discovered that Keats was off campus with his friends, Chris was comforting Drew and Fred - they were both in the medical wing again - and Blaine and the others were in the hall doing something to do with Flint's dad. Deciding that, because he was a nosy person, and because going to the clinic wing was not that appealing, he was going to go to the hall to see what Flint and the others were doing, and so he set off across the grounds of Dalton.

The grass was crisp, and the air was sharp against his cheeks, and Kurt tightened the scarf around his neck before stuffing his hands into his pockets as the cold began to turn them a raw pink. He picked up the pace, taking longer strides on legs that had slowly and slowly become more muscular under Coach Met's extensive training, and he nodded, briefly, to the other boys that were dashing around outside.

He slipped in through one of the back doors - not the one he normally used - and ended up at the back of the hall. He looked down onto the stage and saw that Thad sat, legs dangling over the edge, with a guitar on his lap and Flint stood on stage, singing his heart out.

Maybe I know, somewhere deep in my soul

That love never lasts

And we've got to find other ways to make it alone

Or keep a straight face

Kurt felt his mouth drop open just a tad at the weight that was in Flint's voice. Kurt could hear a mournfulness in his voice. He could just feel how sad this was making him. There was also a tiredness, like it all cost him a great effort, like he was trying so hard to be brave, be strong.

But darling, you are the only exception

You are the only exception

And it was so much better than when Rachel had delivered it to the New Directions. She'd belted it out, like she would any other show tune, and missed all the subtle sadness, that resignation - that, though this wasn't what they really wanted it's what he felt - and Kurt could almost not believe how talented Flint was. Luc must be ma- oh, he was, but still! It was insane to not give him a solo.

I've got a tight grip on reality-

"No, no, can't sing this." Flint stopped singing abruptly, and Thad played a couple more chords before breaking off with a frown on his face.

"Why not?" asked Blaine, and Kurt noticed him sitting with the others somewhere near the front. Flint gave him a glare, and then shook his head.

"I just- I can't sing that to my dad! Do you want to come to my funeral?"

"Well…" said Nick, a note of consideration in his voice, and Flint almost threw him a glare but seemed to stop himself.

"I just- he'll know I'm singing about a guy, and stop-" Kurt stumbled over his own feet in shock. Flint was gay? Since when? All the heads turned to look at him as his mind reeled - why hadn't anyone told him that Flint was gay? Was Flint- well, it sounded like Flint was out so what was the problem?

"Oh, hey Kurt." said David, waving at him.

"Wanna come and join us?" suggested Jeff, and Kurt, looking still a little shocked, nodded and came to sit on Blaine's other side.

"You alright, Kurt? You look shell shocked." Kurt gave Blaine a small smile, and glanced at Flint. Flint looked at him, and then his mouth fell open in shock and understanding.

"You didn't know I was gay, did you?" Kurt nodded, dumbly, and Flint gave him a small, apologetic, smile. "Yeah, I never mentioned it, not that it's too relevant. I'm not- I'm not quite as confident with my sexuality as others." He shrugged. "Ah well, anyway, I could use your expertises." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Expertise?" Flint sighed, running a hand over his forehead.

"My dad wants to hear me sing…the song has to be carefully chosen, and perfect." Kurt nodded, having already sort of guessed this.

"What are your song choices?" The other boys sniggered, and Kurt looked around in confusion. "What?" Blaine rolled his eyes, clearly taking pity on Kurt's confused state of mind.

"Flint doesn't really make "song choices"…he just sings every song he can think of until he finds one that he thinks will go down well."

"It's a long process." said David, leaning back against the back of his chair. "We've been here since breakfast." Kurt nodded, and turned back to the stage where Thad seemed to be strumming the intro to various songs, and Flint was shaking his head at everything.

"No, Thad, I will not sing the Beatles, you know that my dad won't listen to anything from a non-American artist unless it was produced after the turn of the century." Thad rolled his eyes, and began to strum the intro to Million Dollar Bill.

"No." said Jeff, shaking his head. "He doesn't have the voice for Whitney." The other boys nodded as one, and Thad sighed, looking up at Flint in confusion. Flint just shrugged.

"I need something different, new." He glared down at Thad, demanding him to come up with something that he could use. Thad began to play something by Elvis, and Kurt narrowed his eyes after Flint had shaken his head, and Thad had moved onto Metallica.

"Does Thad know every song?" he demanded as the opening of Hungry Heart was shot down with a glare. Blaine nodded.

"Yeah, we think so…If you ever need someone to accompany you at short notice than Thad is your man; we're pretty sure he knows every popular song written since 1930, and that includes musicals."

"No Thad, we need something more modern, something he doesn't know as well." Thad seemed to pause before tentatively playing the opening to Grace Kelly. Flint, who was striding around the stage in an agitated manner, froze, his body swivelling to Thad.

"Mika! That's good, but not that song." Thad screwed his face up in thought before beginning to play. He was hesitant with the first couple of chords, but Flint's nodding was enough to encourage him.

You talk about life, you talk about death,

And everything in between,

Like it's nothing, and the words are easy.

Flint began with a quiet tone of his voice, hunching his shoulders slightly, and sticking his neck forward.

You talk about me, and you talk about you,

And everything I do,

Like it's something, that needs repeating.

He sang in an honest manner. His facial expressions, hand gesticulations and head movements were like he was speaking to them, like he was just adding pitch to the words that he was saying.

I don't need an alibi or for you to realize,

The things we left unsaid,

Are only taking space up in our head.

Make it my fault, win the game

Point the finger, place the blame

And toss me up and down,

It doesn't matter now

He grew slowly more intense in the lead up into the chorus. His features became more stuck into a frown, and Kurt found himself leaning forward, being drawn into what Flint was singing, trying to discern what Flint was attempting to communicate to him.

'Cause I don't care if I ever talk to you again.

He lost all pretence when he reached the chorus. He went from standing still in an almost stationary manner, to leaping into the air. He seemed to loosen up, the tension from his hunched posture flying away as he leapt into the air.

This is not about emotion,

I don't need a reason not to care what you say,

Or what happened in the end.

This is my interpretation,

And it don't, don't make sense…

Kurt had never really seen this side of Flint before; he was generally uptight and got stressed over school work and Warblers easily, but now he was completely free. He punched his fists into the air, his face relaxed with a sort of "ha, see if I care what you think" look on his features.

"Hey, Flint." said Nick, raising his head from where the chin had been resting in his hand as the friends watched him with a great deal of intensity. "There's a high note coming up soon." Flint, still moving to the music, nodded, grinning back at him.

It's really not such a sacrifice

Kurt had to admit that Flint was definitely pulled out of his vocal range right at the end, but he seemed to cope well enough to make it convincing - though Kurt wouldn't classify it as "perfect" in anyway.

If I never talk to you again.

This is not about emotion,

I don't need a reason not to care what you say,

Or what happened in the end.

This is my interpretation,

And it don't, don't make sense.

And it don't have to make no sense to you at all,

'Cause this is my interpretation, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kurt noticed that, as Flint ran his way through the last chorus, the face's of his friends became more and more serious and concerned. Kurt, personally, was of the opinion that it was really good. He sounded the part, he had enough emotion to make it his own without loosing the energy of the music. The only thing that he could think of was that wasn't good was that it became less of a performance and more Flint almost ranting at them.

"Well?" he asked, breathlessly as Thad leaned against the guitar on his lap. The boys looked between each other. Nick sighed as most of the eyes seemed to be directed on him. Flint's face fell. "It wasn't good, was it?"

"No, no." said Nick, hastily, looking a little put upon. "It's not that, it's just…do you really want to, sort of, rant at your dad? It just- it sounds a bit like you're saying "screw you" to him, and if you really want to put your middle finger up to him than I think you'd be better doing The Only Exception because you just sound better." he shrugged, looking apologetic, and Flint bit down on the inside of his lip.

"I- is that what you all think?" There was a pause before the others nodded. Kurt joined in because, honestly, he'd preferred The Only Exception as a performance. He sighed, ruffling up his light brown hair in a stressed manner. "Okay, okay, let me think about this." He regained his serious expression as he put a hand over his mouth, and Kurt turned to Blaine who was smiling lightly.

"How come you're out of Franklin?" he asked. "And David, too?" Blaine turned his face to Kurt, grinning.

"Oh, 'cause of the run up to the Carol Concert and exams, and crap - and because of me talking to him about Keats and being "mature" - he's suspended our house arrest." Kurt nodded, deciding to just ignore the part about Keats because he wasn't getting anything from there.

"Do we have rehearsals with Crawford then?" he asked, and Blaine nodded in an annoyed manner.

"Oh yes, what fun." he said, dryly, and Kurt chuckled. "Just you wait," he warned. "it's only a matter of time before someone develops a crush on you." Kurt was about to keep laughing when he remembered the end of the last cheerleading practise when one of the girls - a tall, thin, Sophomore called Abby - had come up to him and tentatively complimented him on his singing, asking how she could be so good. He'd been flattered, but in a hurry and so had rushed past, but now it occurred to him that that was the route that Charles had taken when he'd tried to ask him to marry him.

Oh crap, not what I need.

"Um, is there a War- sorry, I mean Lark called Abby?" Blaine rolled his eyes whilst David snorted, loudly.

"Oh yes," he said, breaking into the conversation. "Abby is one of the marginally less obsessive ones." Kurt rolled his eyes whilst David just laughed at his expense, having guessed what was going on.

"What?" asked Blaine looking confused, and David just patted his arm in a sympathetic manner.

"Don't worry your pretty little mind about it, Blaine, it's nothing of great importance." Blaine continued to look confused and just a little bit baffled, but Flint interrupted looking a little unsure.

"Okay, so, I've given it a lot of thought, and I'm doing My Interpretation." There were raised eyebrows, and Flint sighed. "I know, I know, but I reckon if I tone it down a bit, it'll be better because, well, the other's just…it's too personal…me and my dad don't get one well enough for us to share that." There was a pause before the boys nodded, and Kurt guessed that if Flint actually felt that way about someone, and he didn't feel like sharing it with his dad, then it wasn't right for him to sing it.

"Wow…" said Jeff, checking his watch. "It's before four, this has to be some sort of record!"

"Hey, it's Kurt!" said Nick brightly. "He's our good luck charm!" Kurt turned felt himself blushing, faintly, at Nick's words - for whatever strange reason - and shook his head, frowning a little.

"All hail the Kurtsie pie!" said Jeff and Nick as one, pretending to bow down and worship his feet. Flint rolled his eyes, smiling, Blaine just shook his head, David produced a deep bow of his own and Thad just stared blankly at them all, passively questioning their sanity.

"Don't-" began Kurt in a threatening tone, but the two best friends had already upped and dashed from the hall before he could draw breath for the next word. He exhaled, the loss of air deflating his chest, which he'd puffed up to make him look more menacing. There were chuckles from Flint, David and Blaine as Thad moved to put the guitar he'd been using somewhere safe.

"Sorry, Kurt," said Blaine, hands landing on his shoulders as he began to lead him to the exit, and Kurt felt his chest swell just a little at the contact. "but it's stuck, you're doomed."

"Now, really," said David, cheerful smile on his face as they walked along out of the hall, Flint and Thad trailing someway behind. "there's no need for such negative tidings." Kurt grinned at him, noticing Blaine's conspiratorial wink, and just shook his head.

"I think there is," said Flint. "remember when the whole school called me Flintwood and Mac, for a year - the only thing that stopped them from calling me that was Luc bursting into one of my classrooms and yelling that I was one person and that if they used the name again he'd behead them, or something like that." There were chuckles from Blaine and David in a reminiscent manner. Kurt wasn't even that shocked at the tale, and simply rolled his eyes.

"I'm not surprised." he said dryly. "I just hope the rest if the school doesn't pick up on it, then, because I get the feeling Luc won't have too much against calling me "Kurtsie" at all, unless he gets annoyed because it's not in The Sound of Music." This got laughs from the other three boys, and Kurt looked around, suddenly noticing that Thad was missing. "Where's Thad?" he asked and the other boys shrugged.

"Probably gone out." said Flint, casually, not looking that bothered by the sudden disappearance of one of their friends. Kurt frowned, wondering where he'd gone all of a sudden, but decided not to chase it up.

"So, when's our first rehearsal with the Larks?" he asked, a touch nervous at the idea of meeting the crazy bunch of girls properly, most of the cheerleaders weren't that crazy - and Kurt didn't really talk to anyone but Elise.

"Oh, not until the weekend." said Blaine with a relieved smile. "I think that's too soon, though." There were chuckles from the other boys, jabbing him in the ribs. Kurt gave him a smile that stopped a little short of being one that laughed at him.

"You know you love them, really." Blaine glared at David.

"I hate you." he muttered, under his breath, arms folded in a huff. "I really hate you."

"No, you don't, Blainey, you looooove me. Your sisters looooove me, your family-"

"Don't go there, David." he said, glaring at his friend, and David put his hands up, admitting that it wasn't a good place to go. Kurt glanced at him wondering whether he dared ask about what he'd heard between Blaine and his father.

"Why does your dad, you know…" he shrugged, glancing at David and then back to Blaine. Blaine sighed, rubbing the end of his nose with a tired look in his eyes.

"My mum ran away with an actor to LA. She fell in love with him, and he was all sort of open-minded and he cared about what she said and stuff…" he shrugged, biting the inside of his mouth, and Kurt nodded, understanding what Blaine had been saying.

"And, of course, your brother is an actor too." Blaine nodded sadly.

"My dad- my dad blames actors and singers and stuff for all of what went wrong, as opposed to the fact that he was just an ass, but Cooper was about fifteen when mum left so it was too late for him to really like Emily. He "ran away" when he was eighteen, got into an arts college over in LA." Blaine shook his head. "I don't know…" he frowned, just a little bit as if suddenly considering something he hadn't previously. Then he shook his head and smiled at Kurt. "Anyway, it just means he's not that partial to my talent of singing…he things music made me gay." he added, and Kurt almost snorted, but he knew this was serious for Blaine.

"God, guys!" exclaimed David into the oppressive silence that had descended over the four friends. "Lighten up; it's nearly Christmas! Holidays! At least you get to see Oscar and Caz." Blaine rolled his eyes, but nodded a bit. Kurt opened his mouth to ask who these people were, but Nick and Jeff had turned up at that exact moment, singing at the top of their voices about homework and angels and coffee.

I don't even want to know what's going through their minds right now. They just seem to be randomly singing about whatever comes into their minds to the tune of 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua…I have no idea what that's about…I just learn more and more about these guys everyday that I'm here, and I like the new things, and quirks, that I learn about them all the time, even the crazy things…

---

Kurt hurried towards Luc's office, arms overflowing with bits and pieces - and the streamers that Trinity had thrown on him - and absolutely certain that the music director was the only person who could help him. He had no idea why, but Travis had thrust a sheet of music in his hands and Mac told him that he now had a solo in the carol concert. They'd offered him no explanation, simply dashing back away, and Kurt was feeling just a tad stressed.

The news of exams had been incredibly unwelcome, added to that they were doing their most intensive cheerleading practise now because they had Regionals just after they got back, and, whilst he wanted a solo desperately, he didn't want it singing praises to a God that he didn't think existed.

This was why he either needed Luc to talk Travis and Mac out of their decision, or at least tell him how the song was meant to go because he'd never heard it before, which didn't really shock him. He knew that if he caught Luc at the wrong time he'd refuse to help him, but Kurt felt that he had to at least try because if this was his first solo in front of the school, it had to be better than perfect.

He knocked on Luc's door, and got no response. He bit down on his lip, wondering whether he was in or whether Kurt should check some of the other music rooms. He was missing his lunch, though, so he hoped that it wasn't a waste of time. He sighed, preparing to turn around, when he heard a crash inside. Ears perking up, he opened the door and saw Luc at his desk, red head in hands and emitting a low groan.

Kurt looked the around the room in worried shock. It was a mess. There was paper everywhere, pens littered over them with dirty cups and plates scattered, higgledy-piggledy, across the floor. There was a powerful smell of rotting food, coffee and body odour that made Kurt wrinkle his nose in disgust. The walls had pins stuck into it; some with full sheets of manuscript paper hanging from them and others just had little scraps from where sheets had been torn down.

Kurt stepped into the room carefully, trying not to stand on anything when he realised that the paper was music, handwritten, and that it must be Luc's own compositions - well, Thad had said he was genius. Luc seemed unaware of his presence, though, as he picked his way across to his desk, hopping from empty space to empty space, and so Kurt cleared his throat.

Luc looked up, his green eyes flashed, and his hands seemed to ball into fists. Kurt knew something was wrong, immediately. There was something…different. Kurt couldn't say what, but it was just different, wrong. He felt uncomfortable, immediately, by this Luc. He didn't know what to do.

Something smashed, Luc had flung the cup on the desk at the wall. The last dredges of once hot coffee slid down the wall, dribbling onto the manuscript paper.

"No!" cried out Luc, his whole demeanour changing when he saw the coffee blotting the notes. "Get out of my room! Get the fuck out of my room!" Kurt didn't argue. Heart in mouth he fled from Luc's room, not caring about stamping on his pieces of music, or that he dropped his things the moment he left the room. He didn't see anything, but what was directly in front of him.

This must be what it's like to be Juri, normally.

He shook the thought from his mind, quickly, because he needed to focus on one thing, and one thing alone;

Find Sebastian.

It wasn't something he'd ever thought would be going round and round his mind, but he remembered the morning of his first day at Dalton, when he'd first met Luc-

…"…you boys keep an eye on him, though, we don't want him to fall off the wagon again."

"That's why I threatened him, I don't do it norm-"

"It's okay, Sebastian…"…

-and Sebastian in the kitchen the one time he'd earned Kurt's respect.

…."…and you can't do anything because they pull the "my-parents-can-ruin-your-life" card on teachers."

"People like you, then."

"Yes, like I do with Luc."…

Sebastian took care of Luc. He needed to find Sebastian. Luc was…well, he had definitely fallen off the wagon. He needed Sebastian.

"Sebastian!" he yelled, almost falling over his own feet in his haste to reach the lead Warbler. Sebastian turned around, one eyebrow rising, delicately, in surprise.

"Kurt, do you know the rules about running and shouting and-"

"Luc!" he cried, coming to a halt, not that short of breath actually, but desperate to get moving. He hoped that Sebastian would understand that that this was very serious, and he seemingly did as his whole demeanour shifted. The other boys around him readily accepted his books, and he overtook Kurt in their sprint back to Luc's office.

Kurt could feel the blood pumping his ears. He didn't know what was wrong, but he'd known it was bad, and then he'd seen the change in Sebastian… Sebastian - for a half of a split second - had looked scared. He'd taken in Kurt, red-faced and in obvious distress, and - just for that moment - he had been worried. Kurt knew he had the power to care - he didn't hate him that much - but Sebastian never looked shocked let alone scared…That just made Kurt all the more worried because if Sebastian was afraid than the end of days might as well be occurring!

Kurt was surprised that, when they arrived back in Luc's office, Thad was already in there, and that Luc had collapsed onto the floor, sprawled over his music. Kurt stopped when Sebastian flew to his side - his heart was pounding too fast to be of use - and he'd just noticed the white coloured sick covering the floor.

"What the fuck are you doing?" demanded Sebastian, shoving the younger boy off Luc where he'd clearly been attempting to give some form of CPR. "We have an AED for a fucking reason!" Thad blinked at him, clearly trying to take in what Sebastian had said.

AED? Doesn't that- that means…oh my god…he's having a heart attack!

Luc certainly seemed to barely be breathing and Thad stumbled across the room, knocking books from shelves as he attempted to find the machine.

"Hurry the fuck up you retard!" Thad didn't have anything to say as Kurt slid down the wall wondering, horrified, whether this had been what had happened to his father. Lying on the floor in his own sick, barely able to breathe, choking.

Thad dropped down next to Sebastian, opening up the machine and Sebastian snatched out the pads and put them on Luc's already bare chest. The world was blurring around Kurt as he heard the machine working, and Sebastian yelling at Thad - ordering him around with a ruthless tongue - and rushing footsteps, people moving in and out of the room. He saw Luc being lifted onto a stretcher, he heard words like "stomach pump" "overdose" "cardiac arrest" and "hospital" and "intensive care".

"Kurt?" it was David, a hand on his shoulder. "Come with me." he lifted Kurt up, a hand going around his waist, helping him put his own arm over David's shoulders. "Are you okay?" Kurt's head was spinning. He never thought he'd have to see it. The thought of his dad having to go through something like that. That Kurt had been the cause, partially, of something like that, and he hadn't given it any thought! He hadn't thought about his dad's health in ages! He was meant to not be getting under any stress!

Kurt swallowed. What if his dad had another heart attack? Kurt was stuck here in Westerville, a good two hour drive from his dad! If anything happened… two hours was a long time. If Sebastian had come two minutes later than Luc might not have made it, Thad seemed to not be able to think clearly or he would have used the thing in the first place… His dad could die, and Kurt wouldn't be there!

"What's wrong with him?" he heard the voices floating around at the edge of his consciousness that was clouded over with blinding, white, panic.

"I don't know…he saw Luc."

"Luc?"

"Heart attack…co-fucking-caine by the looks of it!"

"Not again…"

"What should we do?"

"You go to the clinic, we'll take him back to Franklin." He felt himself be passed over, and he flopped like a rag doll from person to person.

"It'll be okay, Kurt." came a soothing voice, and somewhere in his blind state of horror and shock and panic, he realised that it was Nick. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he shut it because Nick wouldn't understand. Nick had a rich and famous dad who he obviously loved him to pieces, and obviously treated Nick right. Who, despite being nearly seventy, didn't seem to have anything wrong with him because he was still writing, and publishing and making stupid TV programmes! Nick who didn't seem to have a damned worry in the world! Who ran around doing whatever he wanted!

"Kurt, can you tell us what happened?" he'd felt the cold wind on his face, feeling cold shivers pass through his body, and then the still heat so he knew that he'd been carried to his house, probably his room. He bit down on the inside of his lip. Who understood?

"My dad." he said, in a quiet voice. There was a long pause before two pairs of feet padded across the room, opening and closing the door. He felt the bed sink next to him, and felt someone's arm around his shoulders.

"He have a heart attack?" guessed Jeff, and Kurt nodded, mutely. "Yeah…" said Jeff, sadly. "I think I understand." Kurt looked at him, his world coming into focus at the sound of his voice. Jeff sighed, and reached into his blazer pocket, pulling out his wallet. "Here." he handed Kurt a strip of pictures.

They all showed a blonde man with his arms around a lean, sharp eyed, seven year old. He noted that it was Jeff, instantly, seeing that he looked more lanky when he was a kid, being skinny and practically crushing his dad into the wall. They were pulling funny faces; the first one they had their tongues stuck out, then they were pinching at their skin around their mouth and eyes, and they were also giving they other bunny ears. The last one though, Jeff was just sprawled against his dad's chest, his father's arms around his waist, and they had happy smiles on their faces.

"Your dad, is he…?" he didn't finish forming the question, but Jeff nodded, eyes going sad for a moment.

"Yeah…we had those taken two weeks before…" Kurt bit the inside of his mouth, nodding.

"My mum…she, err, passed away when I was…eight." Jeff nodded.

"We'd kind of guessed." Kurt wrinkled his nose at him in confusion. Jeff shrugged. "You just- you never mention her, but you talk about your family; your dad, Carole, Finn, quite a lot…" he shrugged again. Kurt nodded.

"Not that long ago, just a bit before the bullying got really bad, my dad had a heart attack." Jeff nodded, sitting back a little, but keeping the arm around his shoulder. "It was, you know, mainly diet, but it was also…also stress, and just that day, me and him, we'd had this row…I didn't want to do Friday night dinner, I wanted to go to some stupid Sound of Music sing-a-long."

"Don't let Luc hear you saying that." Kurt chuckled, and then stopped because what if Luc didn't because he didn't wake up. Jeff sighed, looking into his face. "Luc'll be fine…this isn't the first time he's collapsed…probably won't be the last." Kurt nodded.

"I just- I wasn't there when it happened…I was there with him in hospital though, and I just- I just remembered…my dad was the only family I had left…" Jeff nodded and Kurt knew he understood. "I never really, I never allowed myself to think of what had happened…I never thought I'd see it happening to someone…" Jeff nodded.

"Of course, yeah…"

"I don't know, it's kind of stupid, but…I just- I realised I hadn't given my dad's health any thought since I got here…I just- this must be so stressful for him, and I just- what if he has another heart attack? And I'm not there because I'm here! I wasn't around when my mum died…my dad wouldn't let me go to the hospital…he kept telling me she would come back." his voice cracked at the memory. He had been so sure that his dad was lying. So sure that his mummy was coming back, right up until the funeral. He'd thought she was coming back.

"It's okay." said Jeff, softly, rubbing his arm. "I know how you feel…of course you were scared…I'm terrified of fire now, and, well, the first time my mum went away after my dad died I tried to follow her…" he broke of snorting to himself. "I finally learnt out what my mum did for a living." Kurt blinked up at him. "That did not help me…" Kurt blinked at him.

"What - if you don't mind me asking?" Jeff shrugged.

"It's not really a secret…my mum works for the CIA." Kurt's mouth fell open.

"Your mum works for the what?" he demanded. Jeff chuckled.

"Yeah, the CIA…ironic much." Kurt frowned at him, not quite sure why it was ironic given that his dad had died in a fire. Jeff rolled his eyes, and took a deep breath. "My mum used to work in counter terrorism, wasn't so big back then…my dad…" he broke off, taking a huge breath. "my dad died in 9/11."

Kurt swallowed, feeling the wind leave him slightly. He didn't have anything to say. His mum, well, that had…not natural, but…it was cancer. The older he'd gotten the more he realised that her beating the cancer twice, her having him, was nothing short of a miracle, but Jeff's dad…he'd been murdered with no chance of justice because the people who hijacked the planes - they were dead too.

"I'm sorry…which…was he…?"

"He wasn't on any of the planes." said Jeff, sadly. "He was- it was the Twin Towers…" he explained slowly. "My dad was an artist, and he sort of…he hung around there a lot…I think he had friends in the building…I went there a few times - lots of ladies that loved pinching my cheeks and telling me just how much I've grown - and when…when the plane crashed he went inside…" Jeff broke off, shaking his blonde head. "Well, he never came back…He wasn't gone for a week before my mum was back at work. I followed her and, well…" he shrugged. "That's basically how I ended up here…it's completely out of the way…" Kurt nodded, sadly.

"I'm sorry." Jeff shrugged.

"Well, what can you do? People always tell me my dad died a hero, but…I'd much rather just have my dad, you know." Kurt nodded, but he didn't really know. His mum hadn't had a choice, but Jeff's dad had to have known that there was a high chance of not coming back if he ran in.

"I'm so sorry…I mean, at least I have my dad." Jeff nodded.

"That's kind of why I get angry with her. I mean, most people here aren't all Happy Families…I think Liam has the most normal family 'cause Wes' is just incest galore." Kurt looked at him, mildly alarmed. Jeff shook his head. "You just, err, you just don't want to know. You just don't." Kurt nodded.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it." Jeff chuckled.

"Yeah, like I said, most people aren't Happy Families, but…I-I feel like I don't have parents most of the time…my mum's never around, and when she is it's because the school has problems with me." Kurt looked at him, seeing a sadness in his eyes.

"Is it- is that why you do the pranks?" he asked, tentatively, just a little cautious that he was overstepping the mark. Jeff shrugged.

"Yeah, a bit, I just- I mean they're fun, and they're good at taking my mind of things, and Nick's pretty intense…you don't really say no, but when I first got suspended I realised that, actually, it got my mum's attention." he shrugged, and shook his head. Kurt swallowed.

"Thank you, Jeff, for talking to me." Jeff shrugged, giving him a tiny wry smile.

"We're friends, Kurt, and we look out for each other." Kurt nodded, feeling like he didn't really look out for them, but guessed that - because he was going through such a rough time in his life - he could be excused from that.

"Why-" he began, again feeling a touch nervous about asking. "Why does Luc take drugs?" Jeff sighed, exhaling heavily through his nose.

"I-I don't know if I should be the one to tell you that, Kurt." he said, eyes more serious than Kurt had ever seen. "It's Luc's story to tell…I'm not sure if that's up to me to talk about it, you know?" Kurt nodded in complete understanding.

"Yeah, 'course." Jeff nodded, getting to his feet.

"I'll leave you on your own, just for a bit - I know you probably want to be on your own-" Kurt nodded in gratitude. "-but are you sure you're okay?" Kurt nodded some more.

"Yeah, I just- it just overwhelmed me, I think. You know, some much time I've been focusing on myself, and my problems, and just not thinking about it, but now it's hit me - right in the face - just how serious this is." Jeff nodded, getting to his feet and moving to the door. He reached it, hand on the door handle, as he turned around.

"Kurt, if you ever need anyone to talk to…just someone who understands, I'm here." he gave Kurt a small smile from the corner of his mouth. "You know, just if you need anything…I sometimes get quite upset around Father's day." Kurt nodded, remembering Sunday's where he'd sat hunched next to his mother's dresser, refusing to talking to anyone.

"Thank you, Jeff, and if you need anything…" he returned the offer, not just out of politeness, but because Jeff really knew what he'd experienced - him and Finn had both lost parents, but Finn hadn't known his dad, Jeff had.

"Thanks," he said, wide smile appearing back on his face. "I'll see you around." Kurt flopped down onto his bed, exhaling heavily through his nose. Then, after lying there for a couple of moments. He bounded forward and snatched up his phone. He quickly dialled his home number.

"Hello?" he gave a little huff of annoyance when he heard that it was Carole on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Carole, it's Kurt."

"Oh," she said in a tone of delight, and Kurt chastised himself for being annoyed. "Kurt, sweetie, it's so good to hear from you. Is everything okay?" Kurt sighed, rubbing a hand over his suddenly tired eyes.

"No, not really, just- is my dad there?" He heard Carole sigh, and knew that she was shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, Kurt, but I managed to talk him into going with Finn on his run. His doctor told him he needs regular exercise, I told Finn to take it easy though…just jogging round the park." Kurt felt his heart leap just a little bit. He ought to have remembered that Carole would be looking after his dad. He felt his throat stick a little a second later. It wasn't just him and his dad anymore, he had to remember that. "Kurt, sweetheart, is something wrong?" Kurt cleared his throat noisily.

"No, not really, just…" he sighed, before deciding that he might as well tell her seeing as she was looking after his dad. "One of the teachers at school had a heart attack, and I kind of saw, and I just…I realised that I haven't been thinking about dad's health and that I'm not around to check what he eats and that this whole thing must be really stressful for him, and I kind of forgot that you were looking out for him - of course - but I just- I got worried, and-"

"Oh, Kurt, darling, of course you did!" Carole interrupted his ramblings at just the right moment - right before Kurt got lost in panic - and Kurt swallowed heavily. "But you need to calm down, alright? Your dad wouldn't want you to worry about him." Kurt nodded, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, he wouldn't."

"Look, Kurt, I know you've looked after your dad - and you've done a good job - but you need to get back to being a kid. You've been through so much, and you're so grown up, and mature, but you need a chance to be a kid, right?" Kurt smiled. He could completely understand why his dad had fallen in love with - and married - Carole. She was just a lovely person through and through. She treated Kurt the same as Finn, and just wanted to make them a family.

"Okay."

"If it's any consolation I'm making him eat right…I can't do much about his stress levels, but I think they're really coming down since the concert…since he's seen how much those boys care about you, and that the school takes things seriously." Kurt nodded in understanding.

"Okay, yeah, that's good."

"If you want I could get him to call you back when him and Finn come back." Kurt shook his head. He didn't want his dad to worry about Kurt worrying about him. It was probably better that his dad didn't know what had happened to Luc.

"No, no, it's okay. I think it's better that he doesn't…you know…" he could hear Carole's noise of ascent through the phone.

"Okay, Kurt, try not worry." Kurt smiled a little.

"I'll try." He heard give a little laugh.

"Do call me, though, if you need anything. I am here for you, Kurt." Kurt blinked very quickly at that, biting down on his bottom lip.

"Thank you." he said, quietly. "I will."

"Good." There was a short pause before Kurt exhaled, heavily, through his nose.

"I guess, goodbye."

"Goodbye, sweetie." Kurt hung up, letting himself flopping back onto the bed. His dad was going to be fine. He was being looked after.

I feel kind of light, now. Before it was all crashing down on me, how crap I'd been towards my dad - how selfish - but now that I've spoken to Jeff and Carole I feel better. Both of them understand, and it was nice to see a different side to Jeff…he's normally just so upbeat and jokey, and that's brilliant, but it's nice to see that he can be serious. I'm really feeling like I belong in Dalton which is kind of new, last time I felt like that it turned out crap…

---

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" A motley collection of boys had gathered in Luc's office to tidy it up, and it was Tyler that had broken the silence as they attempted to sort the papers, and find the hidden stash of cocaine that had to be somewhere. Sebastian pulled a frustrated expression, eyes flickering closed in annoyance, and David threw a rubber at Tyler's head.

"Don't be mean," said Blaine, prodding Sebastian, lightly. "this is his first time." Tyler looked even more alarmed, and Braden slipped over in shock.

"This happen lots?" asked Pedro in a tight voice. "Mis dioses!" "My gods!" he muttered in a quiet voice. Sebastian glared at him, too.

"Don't speak in Spanish; I hate that language." Pedro slammed the mug down on the table, a glint coming into his eyes.

"No insultes mi idioma! No hablaba ni una palabra en contra de mi herencia!" "Don't insult my language! Don't speak a word against my heritage!" Everyone rolled their eyes, beginning to move back to their jobs as Pedro continued to rant in Spanish. "Yo vengo de un lugar tan hermoso! El lenguaje es hermoso! Es Inglés que es crudo y antipoético!" "I come from a beautiful place! The language is beautiful! It's English that is crude and unpoetic!" Sebastian turned to Pedro, eyebrow raised and a disparaging look on his face.

"Su argumento es erróneo en muchos aspectos que es ridículo. Usted no citar más que su propia opinión, y es poco convincente para decir lo menos. Además, ¿cómo se puede decir que el Inglés es "antipoético"? Usted está hablando de la lengua que escritores como Shakespeare, TS Eliot y Louisa May Alcott, por nombrar unos pocos, que se utiliza. También es utilizado por gente tan buena como Martin Luther King, Roosevelt y Franklin Benjamin, por mencionar sólo un par de personas."

"Your argument is flawed in so many ways that it is ridiculous. You cite only your own opinion, and it is unconvincing to say the least. Also, how can you say that English is "unpoetic"? You are talking about the language that writers such as Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot and Louisa May Alcott, to name a few, used. It is also used by such great people as Martin Luther King, Roosevelt and Benjamin Franklin, again to only mention a couple of people."

Sebastian delivered his whole speech calmly, his voice completely even, apart from a slight hint of arrogance and the patronising tone. Pedro looked completely stunned, his mouth falling further open, and the others turned away, beginning to laugh, as Pedro was made to look more and more foolish. When Sebastian finished, with a supercilious nod, Pedro looked flabbergasted. He seemed to not be able to do anything before he bowed, hands pressed together.

"Me inclino ante ti, oh sabio de la lengua sable!" "I bow to you O wise one of the sabre tongue!" Sebastian snorted, turning away with a slightly victorious look on his face. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Por favor, no inflar su cabeza más lejos!" "Please don't inflate his head any further!" Pedro laughed at Blaine, and opened his mouth to reply when David emitted a loud groan.

"No, don't respond in Spanish!" he begged. "I can't understand a word that's going on! It's going to do my head in! I can't cope with French, please don't mix things up!" There was a moment in which everyone looked at David before turning away.

"Lo intentaré, pero es difícil no hacerlo! Quiero decir, eso era lo único que podía decir que no me maten!" "I'll try, but it's just hard not to do it! I mean, that was the only thing that I could say that wouldn't get me killed!" Most of the boys chuckled, amused looks on their faces as David and Juri both exchanged frustrated looks - Juri having never learnt Spanish before.

"Cierto, cierto." "True, true."

"He'll be okay." Before David could murder someone because they were speaking in a language that wasn't English, Wes dashed into the room blazer hanging open with a relieved look on his face. "The ambulance guys were pretty cool…reckoned that whoever found him saved his life; guess he owes it to you again Sebastian." Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"I think it would be easier, though, if we could just find the drugs and stop him from going mad again." Wes tilted his head in acknowledgement, pushing up his sleeves and stepping into the room.

"Where's Jeff, and Kurt? He looked pretty bad earlier."

"Jeff took him to Franklin," said Nick, picking up a rotten apple core with a disgusted look on his face. "We think that his dad had a heart attack." Wes blinked, eyes going to the ceiling in confusion.

"I thought his dad was alive…?" Everyone looked at him before bursting out in laughter.

"Wes, you've met him!" exclaimed David, doubled over in hysterics. "Twice!" Wes threw him a bitchy look and examined some of the manuscript paper he'd picked up from the floor.

"Whatever, you left him with Jeff?" Nick and Flint nodded as one.

"Yeah," said Flint, ruffling up his light brown hair. "seemed like a good thing to do." Wes nodded, again.

"How did the threesome take it?" asked Aaron, brow pinched in confusion.

"Can we please stop calling them that?" demanded Warren, to deaf ears, as Wes just shrugged and examined the diary that was lying open on the desk.

"Well, Hammonds was pissed, Sutherland was spouting some psycho-shit, but you could tell he just wanted to cry, and Hartfield was behaving like some sort of rabbit."

"Rabbit?" inquired Francis.

"He was trying to bite his lip open-" said David, examining a tissue that had a very odd orange stain on it. "-when I was there, so I imagine that when the ambulance turned up it was pretty bad." The twins - Edward and Marcus - exchanged bemused looks at the idea of the Maths teacher biting his lip when he scolded them for the same habit.

"Yeah, he'd moved onto tearing the skin from his fingers, figured that he might faint when the ambulance guys said that he thought he was going be okay so I grabbed him."

"Did he accuse you of sexual assault again?" asked Liam, and Wes threw the stapler at his head. "Ow! Fuck, man, that hurt!"

"Stop whining." said Sebastian, scowling, and Liam rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"Guys," said David, suddenly, examining the room with a tense frown. "where the hell is Pavarotti?" There was a long pause as the boys examined the room, unable to see the bright yellow bird.

"Oh fuck." exclaimed Wes, slamming his hands onto Luc's desk. "What's he done with him now?" Sebastian let out a heavy sigh, brow furrowing in annoyance and thought.

"I'll go ask Sutherland." said David, getting to his feet, and stretching. "He might know."

"Yeah, might." David just glared at Sebastian as he picked his way out the classroom.

"Are you alright, mate?" asked Wes, suddenly putting down the diary which he'd been trying to decipher - Luc seemed to have created some sort of code since last time - to examine the state of his best friend. Blaine looked up at Sebastian's face, finally looking at him properly since they'd found Luc.

Sebastian looked rather pasty, dark shadows beneath his eyes and a rather hollowed look in his eyes. His hair, whilst being as high as it normally was, didn't seem to be quite as put together as it normally was, if the drooping hairs and sudden appearance of a miniature fringe before it curved upwards were anything to go by. He'd definitely not spent as much time on it as he normally did, and there was something wrong with his eyes, that Blaine was sure that only he or Wes would pick up on, that caused his heart to leap into his mouth.

Sebastian gave a nod that wasn't quite as sharp as it was meant to be, and Wes moved over to his side, leaning in as he'd quickly noticed this wasn't something to discuss with a large group of people. Nick cleared his throat, picking up another sheet of paper, and began to demand whether anyone had part of The Shining Star.

"I just- I was talking to him yesterday, and he was going on about how it just wasn't clicking, and I thought "ah, what the hell, he'll be fine", and now…" he shrugged, looking around the room in an annoyed manner. "I mean, yeah, it's not my fault, but I could have read the signs, kept an eye on it, not let it get this bad…" Wes shook his head.

"Come on, man, we're eighteen! He's four years older than us, we're not meant to be looking out for him, it ought to be the other way around." Blaine nodded.

"He's right, Bastian, maybe you ought to have picked up on it, but…we shouldn't have to be worried about him." Sebastian shook his head, clearly showing that they didn't understand what he was thinking.

"Hammonds has made it clear that what Luc does reflects on me…I'm meant to be stopping this kind of thing from happening. It's ridiculous, I know, because he has enough brain cells to know that he can't just use it once, and he certainly should know better than to just carry on when he feels like using…" Sebastian shook his head. "It doesn't help, though; he still does it." Blaine, biting the inside of his lip, nodded, but Wes frowned.

"Doesn't explaining you looking like Caspar the friendly ghost." Sebastian glared at him.

"I resent that statement; if I were a ghost I would most certainly not be Caspar, I would be a violent, vengeful spirit." Wes snorted.

"Yeah, again I say; whatever."

"Are you sleeping alright?" asked Blaine, brow furrowing in concern for his boyfriend, and heart pounding just a little faster at the idea that there might be something going on - something serious if it was stopping him sleeping - that he didn't know about. Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine, head boy is just a little more difficult than I thought; Mrs Daniels gave me a long list of all the things that Nick and Jeff have done to disrupt the Carol Concert and told me to come up with a comprehensive way to deal with it." he snorted. "Why she thinks that I want to do anything to stop their pranks I have no idea." he shook his head.

"Look, on the bright side," said Wes, with a sickening grin on his face. "it's almost the holidays." Sebastian threw him a glare of such intensity that Wes, his best friend since he set foot on Dalton ground, recoiled.

"Oh yes," he remarked scathingly. "the holidays - the Christmas holidays. The joyous time in which I freeze to death in Alaska with my moronic cousins, what fun!" Wes rolled his eyes, but Blaine had to agree with Sebastian; he wasn't looking forward to going back to Chicago either, and not just because of the weather.

He had only spoken to Emily, briefly, about what had happened at the concert, but he was fairly certain that his reception would be anything but warm when he got back. He wouldn't be surprised that, because of the backchat he gave his father, he was thrown out onto the curb. Cooper was probably angry with him for dragging him into the argument, even if he knew that Blaine was right because Cooper was trying to sponge money of his dad - Emily had caught him stealing from his wallet - for whatever reason, and Blaine just seriously damaged his chances.

However, Blaine stood by what he said. After all, it wasn't his fault that his mum had fallen in love with an artist. His dad was boring, and narrow-minded, and his mum was a day dreamer, and she loved to sing. He sniffed at the memory of her spinning him and Cooper around the garden whilst singing something she'd written herself, and both boys had failed spectacularly at recreating. Most of the time Blaine was torn about wanting her to take him with her. On the one hand, he'd have been away from dad, but on the other he'd never have met Emily or Anna and Meg, or any of the Dalton boys, but, again, Garth might still be okay…

He sighed, moving away to get another bin liner, leaving Wes and Sebastian talking about Mrs Richardson was a terrible teacher and how they would "fail" their exams, wondering how he'd managed to screw things up more. If he didn't know better, or fear Sebastian's wrath, he'd say that he had a tendency to do that kind of thing, but that was one of the few things that seemed to really set Sebastian off into full-on-pissed-off-rant mode, so Blaine found that it was best to keep himself from thinking those things.

He sighed and glanced out of the window. Approximately four weeks until the end of term. Not good. The sky was clouding over, and Blaine vaguely wondered if there was any hope that he might be allowed to stay at Dalton. He shook his head quickly, though, dispelling the thoughts because - barring some sort of snow storm that prevented him reaching the airport - there was no way he'd be staying at Dalton. Speaking of snow, though…

Blaine drifted over to the window, eyes wide, and watched as tiny white flakes began to descend from the grey clouds from above. He frowned, just a tad, and he had no idea why, but he felt strangely mournful all of a sudden. Maybe it was his meeting with his dad, or Luc's relapse, that had given a rather sharper perspective to his life all of a sudden, but Blaine knew that he hadn't felt this depressed since he first came to Dalton. He bowed his head and felt a hand on his shoulder. Twisting round he saw Sebastian standing behind him. Sebastian didn't say anything - God only knew he was awful with words of comfort - but he just stood there, hand on Blaine's shoulder, and let his shoulder's shake with fear of going home.

---

"Okay, everyone, from the top." Mrs Fellany, standing behind the music stand that had music spilling over on both sides, waved her baton at the assembled choirs. "And, please, ladies on the Soprano part, try not to screech at me; I want to hear angels, not banshees." The girls all giggled. "And boys," she said, turning to them with a pleasant enough smile. "I'm drowning in basses, and it sounds like - well, I'm not sure - but I don't like it." The guys all rolled their eyes, and Kurt stared at her a little blankly.

"Mrs Fellany, I think I'm going to faint." George's hand went up a second before the mousey haired boy slumped into a dead faint, and was hastily caught by Warren. Mrs Fellany blinked, and then dropped her baton in concern, scurrying over to his side.

"Alright, let's put the recap on hold, and take some time till George recovers." Blaine groaned, audibly, at the prospect of a break because it meant the Crawford girls could get to him. Sebastian had hurried over to speak to Jenny about something musical, and Blaine began to hide between Thad, who was busy texting someone, and Flint, who was busy trying to perfect My Interpretation.

"Blaine, you know they've seen you."

"And they're doing dares on whose going to come and talk to you." Two girls - one with ginger ringlets and the other who stood head and shoulders above everybody else - came over. Kurt had quickly identified them as the two other girls that Blaine got on with, meaning they were both lesbians. Kurt hadn't managed to work out if they were together though, and thought it was maybe a little rude to ask considering he didn't really know them.

"I'm not here, Ros." he protested to Rosalyn.

"Yeah, sure you aren't." said Beatrice, rolling her eyes and shaking her head so that the ringlets bounced around and shimmered in the light. Kurt looked between the three of them with amused eyes, and they gave him a small smile before turning back to Blaine.

"Now," said Ros, a southern lilt beginning to colour her accent. "I never thought I'd say this, but I think it's time to go all "Sebastian" on their asses, what do you think?" Blaine shook his head.

"You know I can't do that…I don't have Sebastian's…" Blaine trailed off, looking for the right words, the girls shared smirks.

"Bitchy attitude."

"Lack of conscience." Blaine gave them weak smiles whilst Kurt snorted to himself.

"Not quite what I-" he broke off as a tall girl with carefully styled hair and the figure of a model came striding towards him.

"Hey Blaine," she purred, and Kurt had to turn away to hide his laughter as Blaine blanched at Michelle's presence.

"H-hi!" he said, giving her a sickly grin. "How's school been?" Ros and Beatrice just shook their heads and turned to Kurt.

"So, Kurt, we've not really met." said Rosalyn sitting down on the ground, curling up her long legs, and handing him a juice box. Kurt accepted it with a wary smile.

"No, I suppose we haven't."

"Don't look so worried." said Beatrice with an easy grin, reaching over to pat his arm. "We're not going to eat you…we've just heard lots about you from Elise." Kurt let out a long breath, and looked over at the girl who was giggling in David's arms.

"Right…" he said, taking a sip of orange juice in a relaxed manner, but still not sure what they wanted from him. Beatrice glanced at Rosalyn, and Ros scooted over to his shoulder.

"Lookee here." she said, crossing her legs. "We just want to make sure that you're alright." Kurt frowned, not sure he knew what they were talking about, and just a little confused as to why they were asking him that anyway.

"You're one of us, Kurt," said Beatrice in a soft voice, tugging at one of her curls. "I don't know if you know it, but you are…and we're a close knit group of friends-" her eyes flitted to Rosalyn for a moment, who gave her a reassuring smile. "-and we're there for each other." Kurt nodded, not questioning the silent communication between the girls.

"I'm fine," he said, frown letting up just a little bit. "really." They nodded, but shared a glance weighed down with significance.

"Good," Kurt looked at them, not quite sure what to make of that statement. There was another weighted look, and then Ros broke into an excited grin. "because we heard about what happened with Luc, and we were just a bit worried that we might lose our Once in Royal lead…" Kurt gave them half smiles as he knew they were lying, but still felt a little out of his depth and so just ignored it.

"Hello, Kurt," said Abby, sliding down by Beatrice's side. Kurt looked at the two girls, and saw that they didn't look that amused by her presence, and so guessed that he might just be wrong. "how are you?"

"Good, Abby." he replied with a small, tight, smile. She shuffled just a little closer to him; far enough away so that it appeared to be a respectable distance, but just close enough to be intruding upon his personal space. She gave him a smile that almost simpered.

"I'm so glad to hear it," her voice was too soft to be normal, and the smell of a rose perfume that had been copiously applied filled his nostrils. "I've been practising my singing, why don't you come round some time and give me some pointers." Before Kurt could think of a good reason to not, the other two girls both let out shouts of laughter. Abby turned, and glared at them whilst Kurt's mind spun for a good way to shoot her down.

"I can't do that…I have to…talk to Sebastian about the campaign for marriage equality in all states." he lied smoothly, and out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Beatrice giggling into her hands and Ros gave him an appreciative nod. Abby looked a little taken aback.

"Oh, well, after that…?"

"I have to revise for my exams, if I do badly I'll have to go back to McKinley where people constantly bully me for being the only person who is brave enough to come out of the closet." Abby gaped a little at him, clearly thinking that she was being subtle about her advances on him.

"Oh, well, I guess I'll see you around…" blushing scarlet she leapt to her feet and aimed a kick at Michelle. The girl who was practically sprawled across the scowling Blaine leapt up, apologising and dashing after Abby. Blaine let out a long sigh, and turned to Kurt.

"What did you do?" he asked, face pulled into a frown. "And what was up with Abby?" Beatrice seemed to reign in her giggles, and Ros stretched out, leaning against Thad's back, who didn't seem to care - or notice - about the new situation, and grinned, sanguinely, at Blaine.

"Oh, Kurt was just showing the professionals how it's done." Blaine blinked in confusion, glancing between Kurt and the girls with a frown. Then his face dropped into understanding, a small smile curving the edges of his mouth.

"I see…" he said, a self-satisfied look on his face. "I told you that would happen." Kurt rolled his eyes, not bothering to point out that Blaine was considerably behind the times.

"Yes, but Kurt can obviously fend them off." Blaine's frown fell back into place, and he turned back to Kurt.

"So, what did you say?" Kurt felt a smirk working it's way onto his face as he saw the amused looks in Beatrice and Ros' eyes.

"I told her that I had to talk to Sebastian about marriage equality and then that I had to revise otherwise I'd have to go back to McKinley where I was bullied for being gay." Blaine blinked at him at a moment before snorting, and shrugging.

"I wish I could say something like that, but…I don't know…it's exhausting talking to them, but…" he shrugged. "Never mind," he said grinning, and getting to his feet as George began to walk of his own accord, free of his blazer and tie, and Mrs Fellany was calling places. "but Kurt," he said, catching his hand as they moved to split. "you're not leaving." Kurt blinked.

"What?"

"If you fail," said Blaine, serious frown on his face. "you're not leaving." Kurt felt a reassured smile slide onto his face.

"I know, my dad would never allow it." Blaine allowed himself a small smile, and squeezed his hand in a reassuring manner, almost closing Kurt's airways.

"Yeah, actually, that's true, but it's not what I meant…" Kurt frowned, and Blaine sighed. "I meant, that I wouldn't let you leave." Kurt felt a grateful smile, generated by the rush of warmth inside of him, cross his face. "You know, me and everyone else - even Bastian - we've got your back…and we're not going to let you just leave." Kurt nodded, into the weighty silence that had fallen between them. Kurt could feel his heart beating faster and faster at the intent look he was getting from Blaine. "I mean," said Blaine, swallowing and looking awkward. "Trinity would probably destroy the school if you did leave so it's not that likely…" Kurt laughed it away with Blaine, and let him move off, but couldn't remove the weight that was pressing against his chest.

I know it's not likely to happen, but…I can't help, but shake off the feeling that, maybe, they won't let me come back. I don't know what I'd do…I mean, I know I can pass these exams, but…I don't know, my head hasn't been in a good space a lot of the time that I've been here so I'm not sure how much I've actually learnt…

---

"It's snowing…" said Nick in a voice of pure wonder, spinning around and around in the falling flakes with a childish grin on his face. He seemed to move with an ethereal kind of grace, and even Jeff looked a little bit perturbed by his behaviour.

"Yeah, dude, have you never seen snow before?" David was looking at Nick as if he'd just turned orange and sprouted bunny ears and antlers. Nick continued to just spin around, and Jeff looked at Thad, who was shivering, arms wrapped around his chest.

"What the hell? He's never done that before." Thad shrugged, teeth chattering together fiercely.

"He'sssss been….in-in-inssside t-t-t-too long." the cold was clearly making his stutter worse, and Jeff cast him a withering look at his decision to go outside without any kind over extra layer. Juri was the only person that wasn't bothered, and Blaine had to laugh at him as he tried to catch some of the elusive flakes on his tongue.

"Is he stoned?" demanded Sebastian, whose side Blaine was warmly snuggled into, and was giving Nick a look of total disapproval. Thad shook his head, but Sebastian didn't seem to notice the gesture. Kurt was grinning a little, too, at both Nick and Juri, his cheeks pink, and Blaine's old scarf wrapped around his neck securely. Blaine felt a little of the worry leave him at that; he wasn't too stressed about the exams…unlike Blaine had been…

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Wes, who was staring at the screen of a phone that Mac had thrust into his hands. Everyone looked at him as he crossed dashed to Sebastian's side, stamping over newly fallen snow, and shoving the mobile into Sebastian's face. Blaine stepped away from Sebastian's side as he tried to see what was being waved around in front of his face. He read the words on the screen, and his face fell into a murderous expression.

"Fucking hell!" he exclaimed, pulling out his phone, and Blaine stood on tiptoe enough to see the words "Daley" "big reveal" and "tomorrow".

"You can't call him!" exclaimed Wes, snatching the phone from between his fingers, looking scandalised. Sebastian blinked as the other boys came to a stop, even Nick had stopped spinning around, to watch the scene unfurl. Blaine felt a rising sense of panic in his chest; this had better not be what he thought it was.

"Why not?" demanded Sebastian, looking somewhere between agitated and livid.

"Because he won't take it well…call Morri-"

"Call Cameron." Liam interrupted the conversation with a soft order. "He'll be the only one that's available." Sebastian looked at Liam, sparing him a half glance before pulling the hone from between Wes' fingers and storming off across the grounds. There was silence as Blaine caught sight of Kurt, and the others, trying to catch his attention. He held up a finger. Wes looked at Liam with a raised eyebrow.

"Good call," he muttered. There was a heavy silence before David spoke.

"Wes, what the hell just-"

"I'll tell you when we get back inside." he answered, shortly. Blaine shifted a little feeling uncomfortable, and hurried over to David's side as they trudged through the increasingly heavy snow to the little out house. Emma happily let them all pass as it meant she could go to bed early and nurse her hangover. The atmosphere was awkward, naturally, because of the situation, and Blaine knew that Kurt, especially, would be baffled, but he couldn't explain because…well, he couldn't tell Kurt what had happened to Daley anymore than he could tell any of his friends what Karofsky had really done to Kurt.

When they'd entered the Dalton grounds, Jeff and Nick seemed to make it their business to lighten the heavy atmosphere. They danced around in the snow singing Christmas songs at the top of their lungs. Jeff almost lifted Juri off the ground as he spun him around, and Flint had a look of happy resignation as he got thrown left right and centre by Nick. Blaine watched as Jeff sent Juri flying into David's arms, and knew, as he bent down, what was coming next.

"Oof!" Kurt stumbled backwards a snowball flew into his face, and Blaine felt a grin work it's way onto his face as he wiped the snow from his eyes, a furious look on his face. "Jeff!" he yelled, and then let out a little shriek as Nick and Flint's snowballs hit him on the side of the face. Blaine felt himself wince a little, imagining the stinging feeling as frozen water collided with his face, and watched as Kurt bent down, scooped up some snow, and threw it at Jeff with a battle cry.

It was the cue that the other boys had been waiting for, and Blaine happily bent down and scooped up a handful of snow, feeling his fingers freeze as he did so, and threw it at Mac. It landed in his hair, becoming lost and tangled in the curls, and Mac scowled at him, and hurled a perfectly rounded ball he'd had hidden behind his back. Blaine threw himself out of the way, and heard it collide with a tree.

The snowball fight quickly became a huge battle of the boarding students. Blaine, flanked by David and Juri with whom he'd formed a temporary alliance, were hiding behind a bush, waiting to ambush Nick whenever he next came by. Nick, along with Jeff and Thad, had the most effective strategy when it came to a snowball fight, and the others often struggled to land a hit. That was why they were trying to track him, and then ambush him.

"Guys," said Jeff, and they all jumped, and Juri dropped some of the snowballs he was holding.

"Jeff!" exclaimed David, frowning and looking very annoyed. "How did you find us?" Jeff tapped the side of his nose, and then smirked.

"That's not here nor there…Sebastian is coming out of the main building, and we're going to ambush him." Blaine felt a grin spread across his face, and saw that David and Juri had similar looks of glee.

"Cool! I'm on!" he exclaimed, and Jeff clapped Blaine on the back.

"Great, Blaine, you're key in the plan; you stand around, you run towards each other like in one of those rom-coms that he hates so much, and then we pummel him with snowballs…or, if you want to think of it in a more "Sebastian friendly" way; it's kind of like that scene in the Doctor Who season 4 finale, except Sebastian will get hit by snowballs instead of a Dalek beam." There was a moment of silence in which the other three just stared at Jeff before dismissing the random reference.

"I'm game." said Blaine with another grin, and followed Jeff as he scuttled around, just in time to see Kurt, covered from head to toe in white snow laughing with Drew and Chris, both of whom had been beaten into the ground by Fred's catapult. He looked incredibly happy, and Blaine smiled just a little bit more at the sight.

"Blaine, I think we're going to be in luck," Sebastian was striding along, seemingly oblivious to the lack of fighting that ought to be occurring. "I spoke to Cameron, and he seemed to be game. He has a plan, of sorts, and-" Sebastian didn't get to the end of the sentence because Blaine, a devilish grin breaking up his over composed features, threw a snowball into his face. Sebastian wiped his eyes in shock as Blaine laughed.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, continuing to laugh at the shocked look on his face.

"Blaine, what-" his sentence was cut off again as a load of snow landed in his mouth. Mac and Travis let out exclamations of joy and high-fived each other as Sebastian spat out the snow, and then Sebastian had to duck and cower as he was pelted from all angles by the laughing and cheering students of Dalton. Sebastian let out a growl of; "Nick!" and scooped up some of the snow that was constantly falling, and hurled it at the black-haired boy, who shrieked, cackled, and ducked.

Blaine cried out loud when he felt cold water drip down the back of his neck, and saw Kurt standing there, laughing, and Blaine shook his head, feeling more water dribble down his back, and tried to twist his face into the most threatening sneer he could manage.

"This is war, Hummel!"

---

Kurt's arms were overflowing with textbooks, past papers, revision notes and advice from his teachers as he hurried along the corridor desperate to get to Franklin after his last period French lesson so that he could get to cheerleading practise. Whilst he felt confident that French was one lesson he would be able to gain a "mark acceptable of a Dalton student" in, it was also infuriating that he'd gotten a load of homework from her even though he almost topped the class.

Stupid end of term exams! No big deal for everyone but me, it seems! I can't believe that my whole Dalton future has to rest on these stupid tests! I've barely been here! I mean, they won't kick me out, but they'll do something…I was threatened by Professor Lloyd, and I get the impression - from her dark expression - that I won't like it. Urgh!

"Kurt! Hey, Kurt!" Kurt whirled around, several pieces of paper flying from his arms and he let out an exasperated groan. Keats, looking far less stressed and burdened, was running towards him. Kurt bent down to pick up the papers that he'd dropped, and succeeded in dropping most of his books.

"Eurgh!" he exclaimed, groaning in annoyed frustration. He dropped his bag onto the floor with a loud thump, and Keats squatted down, helping to gather up all of his things.

"Here, let me take this for you, alright?" Kurt gave him a soft smile as he got to his feet, feeling calmed by the presence of Keats' eyes, and not feeling too angry about the papers being out of order as a result.

"Right." he said, voice slightly hoarse.

Oh god, I hope I'm not developing a cold! That is the last thing I need right now! Curse, Nick! Curse, Jeff! Curse, Dalton! Stupid snowball-

"Cluck…?" the awkward, quiet, chicken impression shook Kurt from his angry thoughts, and he glanced around. He spotted two Freshmen at the other end of the corridor, both looking incredibly awkward, and obviously trying not to giggle. Rolling his eyes, his heart slightly heavy with worry and butterflies flitting through his insides, he looked upwards.

He was standing in the doorway for the chess club, Keats opposite him, and, above their heads, mistletoe hung from the doorframe. It was a small clump of the plant, attached, somehow, by a red ribbon. There was an ample amount of white berries upon it, and the shoots and leaves seemed to spread out, stretching as far down to the two unsuspecting teens as it could. The green leaves sharply contrasted with the dark wood of the doorframe and it was a wonder that Kurt had not spotted it, or at least suspected that it was there.

He let out a sigh, swallowing his nerves. He directed his eyes back to Keats, surprised to find that they were still startlingly calm. He wasn't sure what to do. The only two kisses that Kurt counted - he was trying to erase the memory of his time with Brittney completely from his mind - had been forced upon him, and he felt distinctly uncomfortable. Kurt, though he was unsure of what his feelings for Keats exactly were, he knew he had some - and strong ones at that. Ever since the concert, though, Kurt was unsure whether Keats actually liked him, after what he'd seen from Sebastian.

Does Keats like me? Do I like Keats? Will Keats kiss me, or will he back away? Do I want him to kiss me? Am I ready? If he doesn't kiss me, I know I'll think that he thinks I'm broken, but can I go there…I know this is different, I trust Keats - something that can't be said for the other two - and we're not in a deserted locker room, we're in a corridor…what could happen?

Kurt felt something tugging on his arms, and he noticed that Keats was trying to take his books and papers from him. Kurt released them from his arms, letting him place them on the ground, and slid the shoulder bag down his arm and onto the floor. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pointless, cluttering, feeling of panic in his chest. Keats put a hand against his neck, cupping it, and making their gaze level.

"Do you want me to kiss you, Kurt?" he asked, voice soft, and Kurt's mind was slowly, slowly, grinding to a halt, being melted into a mush by all the warm fuzzy feelings in his chest.

"I-I…I don't know…" he said, quietly, and heard the feet scurrying away, no doubt having been made uncomfortable by Keats and Kurt. Keats nodded, his gaze soft and understanding. "I'm sorry…" he whispered, his hand coming to land on Keats' chest, eyes flickering shut.

"No, Kurt, don't be sorry…after what happened to you with Charles, I can understand that you might not want to kiss just anyone." Kurt looked up at him, brow creasing and a certain sadness appearing on his face. His other hand landed on the other side of Keats' chest. Keats' hand pressed against his right shoulder blade, bringing them just a little closer.

"You're not just "anyone", Keats…you- you mean a lot to me, but I…I'm just a bit confused…" Keats nodded, eyes still understanding.

"I know the feeling…" he murmured. "Do you think- do you think if I kissed you that would help clear up matters?" Kurt shrugged just a little bit, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.

"I don't know…"

"Should we find out?" Kurt paused for a second of thought. He trusted Keats, and it probably would help to clear up some of his feelings. Besides, he was beginning to suspect that he really wanted to kiss Keats, if his hands, which were moving slowly up and down his chest, were anything to go by. If he didn't - if he'd got his feelings wrong (and he was pretty sure that he hadn't) then they could still stay friends, right?

"Yes." he whispered, nodding. Keats brought both his hands to rest on either side of Kurt's face. Unlike either of the other boys, his touch was tender and he gently stroked Kurt's cheeks. Kurt could feel them heating up under his touch. He brought their faces inches apart. Their breaths mingled, and Kurt could barely breathe from anticipation, his chest was almost unbearably tight. Keats' nose brushed against at his, and he shivered at the touch. Their lips met.

Kurt could feel a strange bubble rising up inside of him. It was a tiny bubble that grew and expanded as Keats continued to press his lips against Kurt's, continuing to thumb his cheekbones. Kurt knew that his hands had fisted into the lapels of Keats' blazer, and that he was running completely late for cheerleading, but he didn't care. The bubble was filling up every inch of him. He could feel his extremities tingling. He felt so…so…full. He couldn't describe what that meant, why that was important, but it was the only thing he could acknowledge. He felt full, aglow…brimming with contentedness, joy, happi-

Crash!

The two boys broke apart, both starting and Keats' eyes fluttered open in surprise. Kurt looked around, glancing over his shoulder, and felt a fresh wave of colour sweep up his cheeks, right to the tips of his ears.

Behind him, a layer of books on the floor before them, stood Blaine and the other five Junior Warblers, Juri, Chris, Drew and Fred. They all looked shocked by what they'd just seen, but Blaine was also a deathly pale colour as if he was horrified. Keats removed his hands from Kurt's face, smoothing out the creases in his blazer as started at the ten rather hostile looking boys who looked ready to bulldoze him down.

"Keats!" growled Jeff, his hands balled into fists. "What do you think you're doing?" Keats' face suddenly became very composed, and he stepped round Kurt.

"I'll think that you'll find that I was happily kissing Kurt." Kurt flushed red at his words, looking at the ground feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Kurt, you okay?" asked Juri, taking a couple of steps towards his roommate. Kurt looked up at his friend, smiling widely.

"Yeah…I'm fine…" There was a long, uncomfortable, pause. Feeling uncomfortable in the situation, and what he'd just felt, he stooped to pick up his books. "I-I…I need to go to cheerleading." he stammered.

"Kurt, did you- did he…" Blaine was taking a couple of steps towards him, a floored look on his face, perhaps slightly hurt, and that caused something to flair up inside of him. Blaine didn't have a right to be hurt or annoyed or anything because he and Sebastian had been taking great pleasure in stopping under every bundle to kiss, and no one had cared about how he'd felt.

"It's none of your business." he snapped, suddenly, letting his feelings take over what he wanted to say, letting his mind speak freely, which was perhaps a little unwise. "You go around snogging your boyfriend at every turn so why can't I kiss anyone? Just because you don't like Keats doesn't mean that everyone else does! You're just- I can't! It's none of your business, Blaine! I can take care of myself!"

"Kurt, I never-" said Blaine, walking towards Kurt. "Why can't you just-"

"Why can't I what?" he spat. "Take everything you say blindly? You've done nothing, but refuse to talk to me about what happened, and do you know what I think?" Blaine shook his head. "That you've done something! That- that this is your fault!" There was a long pause. A heavy silence weighed down upon them. Blaine looked nothing short of dumbstruck. Then he lunged at Keats.

"You-"

"Blaine?" Sebastian had rounded the corner, and his voice alone seemed to pull him back. He jerked back, like someone had pulled him backwards. Kurt felt his heart thudding wildly in panic. Blaine had just lost control! He'd just tried to attack Keats!

"Bastian, I…" Blaine was pressed against the wall, looking a little frightened.

"What's going on?" demanded Sebastian, looking sharp, alert, and his eyes focused in on Keats. Kurt bit the inside of his lip, feeling a little bit shaken.

"Keats kissed Kurt," said David into the silence that had built up. Something flashed in Sebastian's eyes. The fire had lit up inside his green eyes. "and then Kurt yelled at Blaine." Sebastian's dark look intensified.

"You-" he said, snapping his fingers at Keats. "-explain." Keats glared at him, but Kurt saw that there was something a little different about it, like it was just a touch…exasperated…?

"I kissed Kurt, under the mistletoe." Sebastian glanced up at the little plant above their heads.

"I see, and then?"

"Then, we were disturbed by these inconsiderate idi-"

"Don't be foolish." Keats snapped his mouth shut, swallowing just a little bit. Kurt glanced between them, noting the incredible amount of tension.

"Well, they seemed to thing that I'd forced myself upon Kurt."

"I wonder why." said Sebastian in a stage whisper, Keats' eyes turned from calm to angry in a flash.

"Don't you dare insinuate that-"

"Boys!" Luc had appeared, unnoticed by anyone, behind Keats and caught a hold of his blazer. "Do we want to get expelled?" he asked, eyebrow raised and - no doubt because he'd been ordered to stay in bed - wearing a dressing gown over a pair of jogging bottoms and a lurid looking green sweater.

"No," muttered Keats, pulling himself from Luc's grasp with a scowl on his face, looking sour. Kurt swallowed, relieved that Luc had appeared when he had because he had been about to get worried that everything would descend into a fight.

"Good, that's good. Now, someone want to tell me what's going on?" The pause before someone spoke was longer than with Sebastian because Luc was a teacher, no matter how young and immature he was, and discussing this kind of thing was just a bit awkward. "Thad, come on, spill all." Thad shifted, uncomfortably, at the spotlight being dropped onto him.

"Um…Keatsss….Keatssss, um, he, err, he, Kurt…kissssed." Luc looked him up and down, perhaps noting that he looked completely uncomfortable, before raising an eyebrow.

"You-" he said, pointing at Keats. "-kissed one of my Trapps?" Kurt rolled his eyes as Luc indicated to him, and felt a little irritated that Thad had told Luc.

"Yes!" he said, tersely.

"Now, now, no need to snap. What else happened?" There was a long pause. "Thad, don't make me pick on you again." Thad looked at the ground for a second before sighing.

"Kurt- Kurt blamed…blamed Blaine for-for Fressshman year…" Luc raised his eyebrows higher, eyes falling onto the sheepish looking Warbler.

"Now, how would you know that, Kurt? I don't recall you being there." Kurt bit down on the inside of his lip.

"I just- I got a bit upset…" Luc nodded.

"Yeah, I guessed…what I want to know is, why did you-" he indicated to Keats again. "-kiss Kurtsie, here."

"Will you stop-"

"Sorry, Kurt, nickname's stuck." Kurt glared at his teacher before rolling his eyes just a little. Keats shifted, definitely looking uncomfortable in the situation he'd been placed in.

"I like him." Luc nodded, narrowing his eyes, and Kurt was also curious as to why it had taken him so long to say it.

"I see; better or worse than Sebastian." Keats looked startled, Sebastian snorted incredulously. Blaine looked at the ceiling and Kurt just choked on the air.

"What?" he exclaimed, and Luc looked startled before rolling his eyes.

"I have got to stop telling you things that you're not meant to know." Kurt, however, wasn't so bothered with the music director, more focused on Keats.

"You kissed Sebastian!" he exclaimed, eyes wide, thinking that it had just been a crush, not something that had been reciprocated. Keats looked incredibly awkward now.

"Yeah, once."

"You kissed him!" he repeated, completely incredulous. He couldn't believe it. Why would he kiss Sebastian, of all guys? So what if he had a crush, Sebastian clearly didn't do relationships with anyone other than Blaine! Sebastian snorted, loudly.

"Well, it was a bit more than that!" Blaine groaned, putting his hands over his ears, the other boys just shook their head and Keats balled his hands into fists. Kurt felt something plunge inside of him as it occurred to him what was being insinuated.

"You…with him?" he stuttered out in disbelief. "You had…you-know-what with him?" Keats' knuckles were white.

"Sebastian, really?" said Luc, rolling his eyes. "Even I wasn't going to mention that!" There was a long pause before Keats turned on his heel and walked away. They all watched him go before Luc snorted. "Never thought I'd say this, but; smart kid…did well to walk away then…now, don't you all have places you need to be?" There was another long pause before Sebastian beckoned for Blaine to come with him. The others followed them, gathering up their things, and Luc put a hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"Come with me." he said, scooping up Kurt's things. Kurt followed him, heart hammering a little slower now. "You wanted to speak to me." Kurt nodded, a little mutely, trying to turn his mind back on, and get away from all the revelations that had just been shoved upon him.

"Yeah…about Once in Royal David's City?"

"Oh yes, I heard you were bequeathed the first verse." Luc turned a rather stern eye upon him, that wasn't overly terrifying given the fact that he still looked pale and walked with a slight limp.

"Bequeathed?" questioned Kurt, looking just a little bit confused. He'd put the solo to the back of his mind, finding that it inexplicably caused him to think of heart attacks and his dad dying, but now found that Luc's curious lexical choice - he would shoot Professor Lloyd for a affecting his sub consciousness another day - was enough for it to come to the front without him panicking.

"It's an honour, Kurt, to sing the first verse. You'll be joining the greats, such as me." Kurt looked up at him, a small smile tweaking the left corner of his mouth. He was glad that Luc was acting like himself, now, and guessed that if it was prestigious than maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"It's just, I don't believe in God." Luc shrugged.

"Who cares? It's a performance, Kurt, who cares if you believe in it." Kurt nodded. "Look it up on Youtube, look for the English choir boys, they tend to be good." Kurt nodded, again. "I've also been told that you were upset by finding me the way I was." Kurt shrugged.

"My dad had a heart attack." he said, quietly.

"Ah, not cocaine induced, though?" Kurt shook his head.

"No, diet and stress."

"Ah…" he said, nodding in an understanding manner. Kurt looked up at the 22 year old, trying to work out if he dared ask him why. Luc eyed him up and down. "You want to know why someone as smart as me uses cocaine, right?" Kurt nodded, slowly. Luc sighed. "I'm a genius, Kurt, and when things click it's brilliant…imagine rainbows, butterflies, unicorns and Blaine and Keats in harmony and some wicked ménage à trois." Kurt choked on the air, cheeks colouring scarlet.

"Luc!" he protested. "You're my teacher!" Luc raised an eyebrow.

"Technically I'm not, I don't teach you anything…anyway, lets move on from your love life before someone spreads that rumour." Kurt covered his face in his hands at the idea of the school thinking that he was involved in some sort of threesome with Keats and Blaine. He cheeks were definitely very hot from thinking about it.

"So, you take it when you feel bad?" Luc shook his head.

"When the ideas don't click, when the music doesn't sound right, when it-" he broke off, looking frustrated by his inability to put what he felt into words. "-when I just can't get what I want in my head onto the paper…I use the cocaine as a stimulant." Kurt frowned.

"But, isn't it addictive? Have been on it this whole time?" Luc shook his head, looking faintly amused by his upset tone of voice. Kurt felt that the blush wouldn't be leaving his cheeks some time soon so he stopped thinking about it.

"No, I got clean last year, actually…You don't want to get on the wrong side of that little group." he indicated into the space behind Kurt, and Kurt guessed that he was referring to Blaine and his friends.

"They got you clean?" he said, mildly surprised. Luc nodded.

"Thad and Sebastian are very good at emotionally blackmailing people, and, well, you just don't get on the wrong side of Wes, David, Nick and Jeff…" he shrugged. "I just- Hammonds commissioned a piece for the Carol Service, he always does, but this one wasn't working…I needed something…and there was the cocaine." Kurt nodded, thinking that he understood what Luc was saying.

"But you've heart attacks before, that's what Jeff said?" Luc nodded.

"I know…I just took too much…I got high, wrote a lot, came down, took some more and it just…it wasn't working for me…then you walked in, disturbed me, I threw the cup and freaked out…I took some more, and I don't really remember what happened…" he looked suddenly morose. "I stop thinking, or I'm thinking too much, and I don't care about what happens…" Kurt nodded.

"What…what happened to Thad?" he asked, tentatively, remembering the boy turning up on the sofa the next morning looking pale and shaken. Luc sighed.

"I had my first heart attack ever in front of the Thad…he panicked - stopped him from singing Once in Royal coincidentally - and he never quite got over it; he nearly failed all of his exams because he just sort of stopped, wouldn't do anything…He's not a good person in a crisis, that's why Sebastian shouts every name under the sun about him being a bastard and his mum being a whore." Kurt's eyebrows shouldn't have jumped up as high as they did.

"What? Are you even allowed to say that?" Luc shrugged.

"'S true isn't it? He was born out of marriage ergo he is a bastard, and his mum is a prostitute ipso facto his mum is a whore." Kurt spluttered on the air, feeling a sudden rush of sympathy for Thad, realising that he must get mocked for his heritage constantly.

"But, you can't call him that…you could get fired!" Luc chuckled, letting Kurt into his suddenly clean office.

"Not going to happen, Hammonds would never turf me from Dalton…I'm like the son he never had." Kurt raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue. "Either way, it tends to shake him up…he did save my life by stopping me choking on my sick, but I did also need the AED. He's okay, though, he just needed Sebastian - or someone - to yell at him for him to get focused and do what was needed." Kurt nodded swallowing slightly.

"Yeah, alright, thank you, I guess." Luc nodded at Kurt as he took a seat behind his desk.

"It's no problem Kurtsie von Trapp, now hurrying along before you're murdered." With a final groan at the name that he knew he'd be stuck with for a long time, Kurt left Luc's office, not caring that he didn't have all his things, and began a mad dash towards Crawford.

---

"I'm surprised you're not dead." Kurt had been banished to a corner of the playing fields with Elise doing squat thrusts whilst she listened to different songs and tried to pick a definitive one for their routine. Kurt threw his blonde friend a glare before dropping onto the ground and beginning to do his punishment push-ups.

"Yeah, well, I will be soon." Elise rolled her eyes, clearly stating that she had suffered much worse from Coach Met, and flipped back a couple of tracks.

"What happened, anyway?" she asked, looking over at him as she began to braid her hair. "I mean, I'm sure you were waylaid by Luc, but it doesn't take that long to talk about a song." Kurt felt his cheeks heat up at the thought of the kiss in the corridor. Elise rolled her eyes at his blush. "You might as well tell me now because David will mention it anyway." Kurt rolled his eyes, and sat up, reaching for the water bottle.

"Well, Keats came up to me in the corridor, and we were going to talk, but then someone clucked and we realised that, err, that we were standing under the mistletoe." Elise's eyes lit up, and her mouth dropped open.

"Did you kiss?" she asked in an excited whisper. Kurt nodded. Elise's eyes went wide, an excited look on her face. "You wanted it, right?" she asked, quickly, but Kurt knew that she already knew the answer. He nodded again. She squealed, leaping at him, wrapping her arms around his torso and sending them sprawling onto the grass.

"Argh!" he exclaimed as he was squashed against the slightly damp grass. "Elise!" he groused. "Stop trying to kill me." the giggling girl got off him, happily pulling him up.

"This is so exciting! Are you guys dating now?" Kurt frowned, slightly taken aback by his reaction.

"Why are you so happy?" he asked, and Elise frowned in return, clearly a little affronted by the question.

"Why wouldn't I be? We're friends, and, given everything with Blaine and Charlie, you deserve this." Kurt blinked at the nickname, and then shook his head.

"No, I mean…don't you hate Keats? What with David being your boyfriend and all." Elise sighed, crossing her legs and tugging the letterman jacket tighter around herself.

"It's a bit complicated, but I wasn't really around that much…I mean, I'd only just gotten with David before it all went bad, and, well, I didn't really know them overly well." she seemed to be struggling to string a sentence together, and Kurt got the impression that she was now distinctly uncomfortable.

"Look," she said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that hovered over the two of them. "I don't really know how much you know, but if Keats really likes you then I say it's good…maybe it's the first step to smoothing the whole thing over…I mean, shit, it was bad, Kurt…David broke down over it in the end - that's how upset they all were, it's the only time I've ever seen him cry…" Kurt swallowed, trying to imagine David - who just came across as strong and solid - crying.

"Did you- did you know that Keats had slept with Sebastian?" Elise looked at him, as if trying to work out whether it was trick question before nodding.

"Everyone knows." Kurt swallowed, heavily.

"So, why didn't anyone tell me?" Elise shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ears and looking mildly thoughtful.

"Well, no one really talks about it, do they? I mean, I know Trinity run around and try to fix everything, but no one else bothers…not after Fred and Andy…" she shivered, slightly, and Kurt knew that it had nothing to do with the cold winds.

"What happened?" he asked, tentatively. "Because that's the second time someone's mentioned that." Elise shook her head, firmly.

"I'm sorry, Kurt, but I can't…I promised." she shrugged. "Nothing's going to happen to you, though, you've got Trinity on your side…" Kurt frowned at her as she bit the inside of her lip.

"How do you know all of this?" Elise rolled her eyes, wiggling around on the ground.

"Between me, Cat, Jen and Lottie we find out everything." Kurt frowned, momentarily distracted.

"Who's Lottie?" Elise seemed to pause, her eyes widened a little bit, and her composure seemed to slip.

"Oh, she's, um, Charlie's older sister." Kurt felt his heart stop beating for a second.

Charles has an older sister and no one told me!

"He has an older sister?" he asked, trying to hide how angry he was about no one telling him. "At Crawford, and nobody said anything!" Elise rolled her eyes, flipping her hair.

"It wasn't that relevant, Kurt. I mean, Lottie and Charlie hadn't been as close as they could have been - not since Lottie and Morrison got engaged."

"Morri-"

"Oh, it doesn't matter, you'll meet him soon enough, he's lovely. Anyways, Lottie did want to speak to you when she found out, but Hammonds thought you'd prefer it if she didn't, and there wasn't much she could do. She cried, a lot, and then yelled at her parents, and then decided that she couldn't face England." Elise sighed and looked Kurt up and down. "Lottie's a lovely person, one of my best friends and my roommate, and she almost came out to see you when you came back, but she's a little bit…she's not as confident Charlie, not by a long shot, and she balked at the idea." Elise shrugged, and Kurt narrowed her eyes.

"Was she going to tell me that there was absolutely no way she would ever have dreamed that her brother would do this." he spoke a little scathingly, and Elise glared at him.

"No, she was going to tell you that she thought it was her fault for encouraging him to just go for it. He spoke to her, said that he'd found someone who he thought would make everything okay, but that he didn't think that they knew he existed…Lottie told him to just go for it…she didn't think he'd do what he did. I think she thought he was going to ask you out. That was, like, the first time they'd spoken properly in ages." Kurt bit down onto the inside of his lip, feeling just a little annoyed.

"You mean she had no idea of what he'd do?" Elise shook her head, eyes slightly sharp.

"No…they use to be really close, and then of course they were separated for a year when Lottie came to Crawford, but they were both messed up…Both of them were like…zombies, or whatever…They just did as they were told, didn't think about themselves, how they felt, or anything…" Elise shook her head. "They should have had everything, but…" she shrugged. "Sometimes, talking to a brick wall was more interesting than talking to Lottie, and then she met Morrison and all the walls fell down, and she was…alive…you've no idea…and Charlie was the same when he came, and he made good friends - Al and Dom, namely - but Lottie told him when he met that someone, nothing was going to stop him…" Kurt frowned.

Wow, this sounds really messed up. I mean, I don't feel sorry for him, but feel sorry for his sister…I think I understand, though, he thought that, because his sister got the person that she wanted, and I was gay, that nothing was going stop us - which I guess explains why he thought I wanted to kiss him…That is utterly depressing…

"And it didn't help that Charlie got his superiority complex." Kurt blinked at her, and then remembered;

…"…he kept trying to leave, and I wasn't finished. You don't just leave my presence."…

"Oh, well that explains that." Elise nodded.

"Quite…I actually think, but I don't know if this is true, that he was still smarting from Al's rejection…I mean, he took it well, and they were still friends, but…I think Charlie thought Al was the one-" Kurt thought back from the crying boy in Warbler Hall, and reckoned that Alvin had thought that too. "-and, well, he wasn't going to get rejected, again…no one likes getting rejected twice!" Kurt nodded.

"Nobody does." he muttered under his breath. Elise shot him a look, eyes calculating, and obviously trying to discern what the bitterness in his voice was about.

"I take it that you and Keats aren't an official couple?" Kurt shook his head.

"We got interrupted by Blaine, David and the rest, and then I got angry and Blaine was going to attack Keats-" Elise didn't look that surprised. "-when Sebastian came, and then Keats got angry, and then Luc came and I found out about Keats and Sebastian, and Keats just walked away…" he sighed, and Elise looked mildly sympathetic.

"I guess it's better that he didn't start a fight." Kurt shrugged, nodding in a vague manner.

"Yes, I suppose, but…what happens if he doesn't want to come back." Elise gave him a knowing look.

"Trust me, that's not his style." Kurt opened his mouth, about to question why Keats would sleep with Sebastian if he was into long term; Sebastian had made it abundantly clear that the only relationship that would ever mean anything was his one with Blaine, when Coach Met's voice sounded over the grounds.

"If you don't start doing press-ups right now, I'll have you doing callisthenics at four in the morning for the rest of the year! And Tomkins, if you haven't got three songs by the end of the practise you'll get the same!" Both cheerleaders sprung from their sitting positions, Kurt falling forwards to do a push-up whilst Elise sprang back to the jukebox.

I've never really had that meaningful a conversation with Elise before. I have to admit, it's nice to have a good girlfriend around who understands what's going on. I guess this is why I made friends with the girls, that and they get fashion.

---

"I don't believe this!" said Blaine, striding around the room in an agitated manner. "I really don't believe this! I just- I can't- eurgh!" The other boys lounging in Sebastian's room all rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

"Blaine, please sit down." Blaine glanced at Jeff who had an annoyed look on his face. Blaine exhaled, heavily, and flopped down onto Sebastian's bed. The boy himself was not present, having hurried off to lacrosse practise with Drew and Nick, but they'd taken his room because it was the largest one they had.

"Look," said Fred, sitting up. "take this as an opportunity to smooth it over." Blaine tried his best to glare at his friend, but found that he couldn't.

"Look, Fred, I don't think that's going to happen." Chris had set down his pocket sized edition of Alice in Wonderland which he'd been reading, and was staring at his friend with a sympathetic look on his face. Fred sighed.

"Can't stop me wishing, though." There was a long pause before Juri slid off the chair he'd perched himself on and walked over to his friend. He wrapped his arms around him and began to hum. There was a long pause, in which everyone else turned away as they tried to not crack up.

"Erm, Juri, whilst I appreciate the gesture; I'm not friggin' Ivan! I am not five years old!" Juri released him, sheepish smile firmly in place.

"My apologises."

"You know, though, I reckon I'd still trust Ivan more with a blow torch." Fred let out a frustrated cry and kicked out at Jeff who cackled with laughter.

"You vill never give Ivan blow torch!" said Juri, looking just a little over protective and Fred just ruffled Juri's mop of black hair.

"Don't worry, if he's anything like you I'll keep dangerous objects far, far away." Juri nodded in a satisfied manner.

"Seriously, though," said Chris sitting up. "if you want to go and be friends with him…" he shrugged, pouting his lips and raising an eyebrow. "I reckon now's as good a time as ever." Fred gave him a shocked look, but Blaine nodded, sitting up, suddenly looking alert.

"Yeah, maybe you and Andy could make up as friends, and then you could find-"

"Don't finish that sentence!" warned Fred, and Blaine cast him an apologetic look, ruffling up his normally immaculate hair.

"Sorry, I just- I can't think of anything else right now- argh!" he flopped back down onto the bed, looking frustrated beyond belief. "I want Morrison back." he grumbled, and the others nodded.

"By now he would have figured something out…or at least made fun of the situation." Heads were nodded, morosely as Flint spoke for the first time. Blaine could feel tears creeping into his eyes, he suddenly felt scared. He felt like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff. He felt sure that if he made a wrong move he'd go tumbling off; dragging Kurt with him. Kurt, who really didn't need any of Blaine's shit in his life after everything he'd been through.

"It's probably better," said Jeff, quietly. "that he's still with Daley…I mean…" he shrugged, and there was a moment of silence when all the boys shared collective understanding. "Things with Cameron have obviously really come on, and I'm so looking forward to meeting him, but I think he needs Morrison there…I mean they're basically brothers." Blaine barely nodded along with the others as he continued to stare at the floor, feeling an overwhelming sense of worry and failure.

"Blaine, this is going to be okay." Blaine sniffed and looked up at Chris, who was staring at him with wide brown eyes, that were sharp and alert, in tune to what Blaine was thinking.

"What happens- what happens if Kurt gets hurt?" There was a long pause before Chris looked at the other boys in the room. Jeff ran a hand through his hair, Flint stretched his limbs, Juri chewed his bottom lip and Fred picked at a blister on his hand.

"If he gets worried we tell him everything, Keats has to tell him everything, and then Kurt has to make his own decision…" Chris shrugged. "I don't think that there's anything more you can do."

"Also, make sure he knows that it wasn't your fault." added Flint. "'Cause he's got that wrong, but he doesn't know that."

"I can't stop it, can I?" Flint let out a frustrated noise, and threw his hands into the air.

"Blaine, if you are that worried, than please just tell him what happened! I think he'll believe you." Blaine sighed, not sure whether he was able to do that. For whatever reason, he knew that Keats to Kurt was something like Sebastian to him. Blaine understood that, and he couldn't take that away from him.

"Then please," said Jeff, noting the reluctant look on his face. "stop stressing over it. What happens will happen, and there's nothing we can do other than be there for him…It sucks like hell, but if you don't want to talk about it…" he shrugged. "Nothing any of us can do." Blaine groaned, hands over his face.

"I know, I know…I just- I need to be distracted."

"Well, I know one thing that we can do." said Chris getting to his feet. "We can get out of Sebastian's room, and teach Fred how to pass a biology exam." the boy groaned, dragging a hand through his shaggy, strawberry blonde locks, and glaring at his friend.

"He makes a good point," said Flint, a grin on his face. "you're really going to fail this time round if you're not careful."

"I will not fail!" he exclaimed. The other boys snorted.

"Yeah, and David's gonna get the top mark in French." There was more laughter from the boys, and Blaine pushed himself off the bed, a worried expression still gracing his features. Chris reached over and clapped him on the shoulder. Blaine smiled over at him. Him and Chris may not be that close - they hadn't had much in common when they first met - but when Keats had drawn the battle lines, and made it clear that it was one side or the other; Chris was the first person not involved to pick him. He'd done it without question, just closed his book and walked to Blaine's side. He hadn't even said anything, but Blaine knew that it had given the others to confidence to choose a side - his side. For that reason, Blaine felt a certain affection towards the boy, even if he could bore pants off Blaine when he began to talk about Renaissance art, or books.

"Blaine," he said, pulling him to the side a little bit as the others filtered into Blaine and Thad's room a rather intent look on his face. "don't overreact to the situation." Blaine raised an eyebrow, and Chris sighed in a sympathetic manner. "Look, Blaine, all Keats wanted was to be wanted, right?" Blaine nodded, slowly. "And Kurt strikes me as a similar type of guy, so, you know…it might be good for him, for them both." Blaine nodded, licking his lips in a tiniest bit of apprehension. "Also, doesn't that fact he didn't react when - a - he found that you kissed Sebastian-"

"Sebastian kissed me." Chris waved it away.

"Details, details." Blaine narrowed his eyes.

"Not really, if you think about it." Chris acknowledged the point he was making with a slight nod of the head.

"Anyway, and - b - when he sang She Will Be Loved, so doesn't that kind of indicate that, maybe, he's moved on…?" Blaine bit down on the inside of his lip, trying not to nod too vigorously.

"Yeah, it's just- just something Sebastian said…" Chris held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay…I don't know him like Sebastian." he tipped his head, smile on his face. "But just…think about it." he walked into Blaine's room. Blaine let out a long breath, shoulders dropping down. He knew he ought to consider that, maybe, what Chris was saying was true, but he trusted Sebastian more, he couldn't help that.

---

I feel a lot more relaxed after cheerleading and talking to Elise. I mean, don't get me wrong; I'm dead on my feet, but I just- I can't believe that I didn't think of unloading onto Mercedes. Oh god, she's going to kill me when she finds out that I didn't tell her first; in my defence I was kind of busy. Still she's going to murder me…and then I'll have to talk to Finn, and dad…though I guess I only have to do that if we become official.

"Greetings Kurt."

"Salutations Hummel."

"G'day Kurtsie." Kurt rolled his eyes, but gave the boys a smile as he noticed they were carrying his things.

"You know," he said, not really caring what had been said to him. "I think I preferred it when you used my middle name." They all giggled, a small skip in their step, and Kurt thought he knew why they'd cornered him.

Well, didn't I once think that there wasn't anyone better to ask about this whole thing?

"Do you, um, you heard about what happened in the corridor, right?" The three of them cast him condescending looks, and Kurt rolled his eyes. "Of course you have."

"A poetic birdie-"

"-a distressed one-"

"-all ruffled feathers." Kurt held up his hands, nodding and rolling his eyes.

"Okay, okay, enough with the analogy, I've got the picture." The three all grinned at him, and Kurt shook his head, rolling his eyes again in mild exasperation and amusement. "What do you think?" They all looked at him, wide eyed, obviously a little taken aback by his desire for their opinion. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know I'll regret it, but I want to know about Keats…and guys seem to be the best people to ask."

"Oh, Kurtsie!" they all exclaimed as one, and wrapped their arms around him, clearly attempting to squeeze the air out of him from all angles. Kurt groaned, patting their backs at random intervals in an attempt to get them to let go.

"Guys, come on, let go!" he said, wincing in pain. "Guys, I really need you to talk about Keats, please." Eventually they let go, Kurt took several steps back, putting a safe distance between them and holding up his hands. They continued to grin at him in a creepy manner. "I just- can please tell me what you think about me and Keats…together." They shared looks before replying.

"You go to him."

"He calms you down."

"He understands you."

Kurt almost rolled his eyes before stopping. They'd told him things that he'd basically already known, but they were things that hadn't really been given much weight until that moment; until someone had said it out loud. He swallowed, considering that to his relationship with Blaine. Blaine didn't- he didn't look down on Kurt; he constantly said that he was amazing and that he really cared about Kurt, but Kurt knew that Blaine saw him as someone to be looked after, someone Blaine needed to mentor and guide, and Kurt knew that he almost didn't need that anymore. Almost…

"Kurt?" Kurt hadn't been able to give Trinity an answer, or ask anymore questions before there were footsteps in the hall, and he turned to see Keats standing there. Trinity giggled, a little hysterically, before darting away down the corridor, shouting how they would return his books to Franklin.

"Keats." he said, moving over to his wavy haired friend. "How, um, how are you?" Keats raised an eyebrow at the question, and Kurt managed to giggle at how stupid he had sounded. "Okay, dumb question." Keats nodded.

"Yeah, look…" he said. "Can you hear me out? Without interrupting?" Kurt nodded. "Good." he said, taking Kurt's hand and pulling him into a corner. "First, I just want to say that I'm sorry for just walking away, I just didn't want to get into a fight and get expelled." Kurt nodded.

"Yeah, I understand. It's o-"

"Kurt, what did I say about interrupting?" Kurt rolled his eyes, blushing, acutely aware that Keats was still holding his hand.

"Right, sorry." Keats rolled his eyes.

"Okay, well, anyway…I need to know, the kiss…was that just about the mistletoe?" Kurt blinked at him, a little confused because it was Keats that had, sort of, initiated the whole thing. "Kurt?"

"I thought I was hearing you out?" he said, a slightly amused smile on his face. Keats rolled his eyes again, humour glinting in his eyes.

"Oh, shut up!" he said, lips curving into a smile. "Look, the thing with Sebastian, you have to know that it was a mistake…I just- I thought that he liked me." he shook his head, Kurt looked up at him, grey eyes wide.

"You thought he liked you?" he asked, sympathy creeping into his voice. Keats nodded.

"He sort of, you know, flirted with me and he paid me a lot more attention than quite a lot of the other people he bedded." Kurt felt his face fall into a more and more gentle expression, his mouth falling slightly open. "I just…we had sex just before Christmas; the week of the Carol Service, right before the end of term… There wasn't much time for talking, and so, when we came back, I figured that we might get together…it didn't quite work out that way because Blaine came, and Sebastian was, well, you know…" he trailed off shrugging, and Kurt did something without thinking. He reached forward, grabbed Keats' face and kissed him.

He didn't think about doing it, it just seemed like the right thing to do in that situation. He just saw the sadness, and the loneliness and the pain, and knew that he needed a stronger form of comfort than words or a hug. The solution had been obvious. He knew that he was seeing something that Blaine, and the others didn't see, or maybe they couldn't see it, steeped in the past as they were. He knew that Keats had friends, he had four plus Trinity, but he knew that they couldn't comfort him like this. They probably didn't know how lonely he was, they probably didn't understand…maybe they didn't want to because nobody wanted to see pain.

"Does that answer your question?" he asked, a sly smile creeping across his face, and Keats let out a huff of shocked laughter, eyes rolling towards the ceiling.

"I'm not sure…" he said, absolutely unable to keep the smile off his face. "I'd have to hear it again." Without further ado he crashed their lips together, and Kurt had no time for thought because the sensation was new and good, and God did he not want it to end, but then came a long, shrill, wolf whistle. They broke apart, and Kurt looked past Keats' shoulder and saw that Vince, Andy, Parker and Stuart. They all had smug grins on their faces, though those grins didn't seem to reach their eyes.

"You know," said Stuart, hands in pockets. "if you wanna snog in the corridors, I suggest doing it under the mistletoe…I mean, it would really suck to be in detention now…"

"Cheers, Stuart." said Keats, rolling his eyes.

"We'll leave you too it," said Vince, winking. "See ya back in the common room…preferably alone." Keats gave his friends the finger as they walked away, sniggering. Kurt smiled up at him as Keats turned around, leaning against the wall.

"So, are we moving to a more…appropriate location?" he asked, a satisfied look on his face. Kurt slapped him playfully on the arm.

"No, I have to revise." Keats rolled his eyes in a manner that was way too practised. "No, come on, I need to pass these exams."

"Kurt," he said in a slightly placating tone. "you need to get below fifty per cent to get kicked out, and that is not happening to you. I mean, heck, Thad got below fifty in Spanish last year, and he's still around." Kurt looked up in surprise.

"I thought he was a scholar."

"He is a scholar, but predominantly a music one…his academic scholarship is small." Kurt nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Why is he still around?" Keats shrugged.

"Couple of reasons; one, it was just one exam, two, he's not great with speaking languages, as you can imagine, because he got, like, fifty-one in French, and the school were prepared to cut some slack. That, and he's only had Mr Earl as his teacher who sucks like hell."

"Why don't the just fire him?" asked Kurt in a tone of confusion. Keats shrugged.

"Because he'd probably crawl into the nearest hole and die if they did, a bit like Luc, but Luc's a genius." Kurt swallowed, thinking hard.

"Keats, I know this is going to sound weird, but…will come home with me on Saturday, to meet my dad." Keats opened his mouth, and Kurt gave him a look to silence him. "When you're not underhandedly trying to convince him to send me back." Keats grinned.

"Okay, I'll come on the condition that you never, ever, meet my father, deal?" Kurt paused, remembering what Sebastian had said to him. Kurt wanted to face that man - if he could call him that - but he had to respect that that wasn't what Keats wanted.

"Okay, deal."

"Can we seal it with a kiss?" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Just this once."

Okay, now if we can through that meeting without my dad shooting Keats on principle than I guess I might just have a boyfriend! Oh god, I could sing…actually, that's not a bad idea…I'm sure that Luc wouldn't mind me using the music rooms…I am confused about my feelings. Blaine's just popped into my head, see, and now…Now, I've suddenly got this pang in my chest, and a strong desire to be sick… Oh god, I'm in way over my head!

"You okay, Kurt?" Kurt blinked, and saw a little group of boys poking their heads out of one of the doors to the music rooms and observing him with wide eyes. After the concert, Kurt had found that he could now put names to most of the faces that haunted the music corridor, and hung around with Juri. At this moment he could see Aaron - his silent neighbour in maths, Braden - the enthusiastic cellist who lived above Kurt and Juri, and his constant companion Pedro - who sometimes seemed to forget he wasn't in a place where everyone understands Spanish.

Kurt blinked and rubbed his eyes, eyeing them all up before replying; "yeah, I think I'm fine." They all shared frowns.

"Someone's not being expelled are they?" said Aaron, stepping out into the hallway, after checking the doorway for mistletoe. Kurt blinked.

"What?" Aaron rolled his eyes.

"The kiss in the hallway, there's rumours flying all over that Blaine and Keats had another fight." He rolled his eyes, and Kurt nodded, and then realised what he'd done.

"No-no…there was no fighting." Aaron leant against the wall, folding his arms and mouthing making a silent "ah" of comprehension.

"That makes a change." he said, with a small grin. Kurt sent him an annoyed frown.

"Don't tell me that you know everything as well." Aaron rolled his eyes, but his face was sympathetic.

"Kurt, day student or not, everyone in our year, and the one above, knows what happened." Kurt frowned, distracted by his words.

"Wait, day student? I thought that you were in Putnam." Aaron rolled his eyes whilst Pedro and Braden sniggered behind their hands. Aaron drew himself up to his full height, puffed out his chest and Kurt rolled his eyes, sensing an indignant outburst coming on, and shifted his position to get comfortable.

"I may be a day student, but I still require a house! Your house is like your family. They are meant to be there for you, and they are a supportive community who can…" Kurt tuned at that point. Hearing Aaron rant about the importance of being a unified house - like a family - wasn't that interesting to Kurt, and he had more concerning things to think about. Braden and Pedro were both sniggering into their hands, and eventually Pedro got up from his seat, and began to play on the piano. The cheerful melody cut straight through Aaron's words, and he turned around with a fearsome glare in his eyes.

"Thank you, Ro." said Braden, slipping inside. "Now, please stop playing The Entertainer." Pedro stopped obediently, and Kurt walked into the room with the three boys, not caring that he was meant to be doing revision.

"Anyway," said Aaron, sitting down on a piano stool. "is everything okay? You looked…distracted." Kurt shrugged, not at all keen on opening up to three veritable strangers. They looked between each other, and shared knowing looks.

"You don't want to talk to us, that's fine." said Braden with a grin. "Why don't you sing it out? That's what you people do, right?" Kurt looked at him with a confused, slightly put out, frown.

"What do you mean "you people"?"

"He means a "show choirer"."

"You mean chorister, Ro, chorister." Pedro nodded his thanks at Aaron, and turned to Kurt with a satisfied expression on his face that confused Kurt.

"Um…I think…I think you're right, Braden." They smiled at each other, and Aaron offered him the piano stool he was sitting on.

"You do play, right?" Kurt smiled, and nodded.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Aaron shrugged.

"Lucky guess." Kurt slid onto the seat, and looked at the keys. He frowned, sorting through his mental encyclopaedia of music to find the one that fitted his emotions and the situations, and his considerable voice.

He began to play the short intro a little tentatively. The other three boys sat up, and shared knowing looks between them behind his head.

I've made up my mind, don't need to think it over

If I'm wrong I am right, don't need to look no further

This ain't lust, I know this is love

He was going to be with Keats; the fact that he'd invited him to see his family should have been definitive enough for him, but the fact was…He knew that he loved Blaine, and he didn't really knew how he felt about Keats. Keats was just nice. It wasn't a rush of jumbled, conflicting, emotions…it was just nice. Just right.

But if I tell the world, I'll never say enough

'Cause it was not said to you

And that's exactly what I need to do if I end up with you

He knew that the only way for him to get anywhere with Blaine was to just tell him, but he wasn't prepared to risk the friendship they had - even if Blaine felt the need to mentor and protect him, which was getting old because Kurt was getting surer and surer, especially in situations like this, that he could stand on his own two feet.

Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavementsE

ven if it leads nowhere?

It would be so easy to just surrender his love for Blaine to the feelings he had for Keats. It would be almost painless, but he wasn't sure if he could do it.

Or would it be a waste even if I knew my place

Should I leave it there?

He wasn't sure that he could go into a relationship where he was constantly looking over his shoulder to examine Blaine and Sebastian's relationship, even if he was meant to be a supportive friend.

Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements

Even if it leads nowhere?

I build myself up and fly around in circles

Wait then as my heart drops and my back begins to tingle

Finally could this be it?

He'd been in love - in infatuation - twice before; he knew the routine. It ought to end with a broken heart for him, but with Keats it could be a different ending…It could almost be a happy ending, but with Blaine… Blaine could - would given how his relationship with Sebastian was - shoot him down. Keats and him, though…they could last, and that's what Kurt wanted - what they both wanted…

Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements

Even if it leads nowhere?

He closed his eyes, raising his head, and knew that now was the time to start letting go. He'd given up on Finn and Sam, but he hadn't had Keats then. He might not give him the same feelings, but when they'd kissed…

Or would it be a waste even if I knew my place

Should I leave it there?

He couldn't just let an opportunity pass before him without taking it. He knew that he deserved Keats, and that he deserved to be happy after all the suffering and torment he'd had to put up with at McKinley.

Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements

Even if it leads nowhere?…

He continued to sing, fingers gliding over the keys, and aware that Pedro had begun to accompany him with a steady beat.

Close your eyes, Kurt, he told himself, close your eyes and let go. For once you're not giving up to go back into loneliness and solitude; you're giving up to get an honest boyfriend. You might never get another chance like this - the two other boys who've liked you have been… Keats is kind and good, despite what I'm being told by all my other friends…I might not be in love, but I'm happy and content, and that's good enough for me…

"That's beautiful!" said Braden in a hushed voice. "Oh wow! You should sing like that more often!" Kurt let out a little laugh, slowly removing his hands from the keys, and turned to the boys with a smile, remembering that they'd only heard him sing Dynamite.

"Yeah," said Aaron nodded. "no more of that Taio Cruz crap…please always sing like a girl!" he begged with wide eyes.

"Por todos los santos!" "By the saints!" whispered Pedro. "You mean angel!" Kurt didn't know what he'd said originally, but he blushed at the word "angel". He would never, ever, get tired of hearing the praise for his voice. He was sure that he had been parched of it whilst at McKinley, and now he could lap it up like water.

"Thank you," he said, dipping his head in gratitude.

"I take it you're giving up on Blaine, then?" Kurt swallowed, and didn't bother asking how he knew.

"That's the plan." Aaron smiled at him, lightly.

"It's a good one." he assured him, and Kurt nodded, getting to his feet.

"Thank you, I need to revise." The boys gave groans, glaring at him for reminding them, and he let out a small sigh, even though he left the room with a small smile on his face.

You know, it's situations like that that make me thing I'm making Dalton up…I mean, those are people that I don't talk to who are concerned about me, and trying to offer me advice and support…It's so unlike McKinley it's unreal…I just- I'm letting go of Blaine…it's worked before; I'll make it work again…

---

"So, what was it like? I mean, it was your first kiss." Kurt smiled at Mercedes' words, glad that she'd tactfully chosen to omit Charles from the whole equation. What had it been like? It had been incredible, he thought, but how did he put that into words? "White boy, don't leave me hanging!" Kurt snorted, and rolled onto his front.

"I don't know…it was…it was pretty amazing." he said, finally, rolling his eyes at his inability to truly express how it had felt. He could hear Mercedes tutting over the other end of the line.

"I need more details than that; was there tongue?" Kurt found himself blushing, and thanked the heavens that Juri had an extortionate amount of Orchestra practises.

"No." he said, calmly. "It was just…sweet, you know? He was really…careful." He shook his head immediately after he said that, guessing that it had come out slightly weird and wrong, but just let it pass.

"I see…have you organised a date?" Kurt sighed, rubbing his hand over his face, and shaking his head as he spoke.

"No, I mean, I kind of want to, you know, introduce him to dad so he's coming to mine on the weekend, but we have exams, and I have a ton of rehearsals…" he sighed, and heard Mercedes tutting again.

"Come on, boy, this is your boyfriend, make time." Kurt rolled his eyes in a manner of mild annoyance.

"It's not that simple, 'Cedes," he said, in a placating tone of voice. "I mean, I need to pass these exams…it's important…I need to stay at Dalton."

"Come on, Kurt, you're, like, the smartest guy I know…smarter than Mike, and he's Asian-" Kurt snorted, and rolled his eyes. "There's no way they'd kick you out…besides, you're a counter-tenor." Kurt rolled his eyes, again, because, obviously, that would solve all of life's problems.

"Yeah, well, whatever…maybe when the exams are over." he heard Mercedes sigh, despairingly, but didn't comment.

"What about Blaine?" she asked, after a couple of moments of comfortable silence. "I mean, you were crazy about him." Kurt sighed, loudly, and closed his eyes briefly.

"I don't know…I just- I'll get over it…there's no way he likes me, and his relationship with Sebastian is solid, like, really solid…"

"But, Kurt, you loved-"

"I thought I loved Finn," he interrupted, a little sharply. "and now we're brothers…it's fine, Mercedes…there's no point waiting for someone who doesn't like me the way I like them…I'd much rather be happy with Keats as my boyfriend, than sit around and pine over Blaine, and just get more and more heartbroken."

"I guess…" said Mercedes, but she sounded unconvinced. Kurt lay down on his bed, nestling his head into his pillow and staring at the ceiling.

"Mercedes, I'm really okay with this, I promise…I just- I need time…" There was a long pause in which he heard some rustling as he presumed she moved around, and then she answered him

"Yeah, I'll bet you do…oh, man, I can't wait to tell the others…" Kurt almost sat upright in shock and worry.

"Mercedes!" he exclaimed, eyes wide. "You can't! There's no way Finn could keep that a secret! You can't tell anyone, until I've spoken to my dad, okay? I don't want him finding out from anyone, but me, okay?" He heard her frustrated sigh.

"Okay, okay, I won't tell anyone…They'll freak out when you do, though…" Kurt rolled his eyes, but allowed himself a happy smile at the thought.

"Yeah…shame I won't be seeing you guys in a while…" He could hear Mercedes sighing, and felt a pang as he remembered how much he missed his friends in the New Directions.

Damn, I thought it would get easier.

"'S alright, white boy, we've got enough drama to keep us entertained without you." Kurt snorted.

"Is this the Finn-Rachel-Santana thing, right? Rachel finally found out?"

"Oh yeah, and she was pissed…still is, actually, but we did learn that Puck has morals." Kurt chuckled a little incredulously, not having got the whole story off Finn in his brief stay in Lima.

"What?"

"Oh, when Rachel was trying to get revenge, Puck walked out when they were making-out, said he couldn't hurt Finn like that again, said it felt wrong." Kurt was stunned into an impressed silence, one eyebrow arching.

"Would've guessed?" he mused, and he heard Mercedes chuckling in agreement.

"Anyways, Schuster is trying to get us in the Christmas spirit, which totally isn't working….I mean, we had shoes thrown at us." Kurt let out a long snort of laughter, and heard Mercedes' growls over the other end of the line.

"You guys should have seen that coming!"

"We sounded awesome, Kurt, there was no need to throw a shoe!" Kurt just laughed a little bit harder, and shook his head at the crazy antics of the McKinley.

"I'm sure…what else has been going on in the choir room? I need all the gossip." he heard Mercedes laugh down the other end, and he relaxed into the bed.

"Where do you want me to begin?"

---

"Calm down," said Keats, shifting in the passenger seat, and eyeing Kurt as Kurt continued to flex his grip on the steering wheel, and bite his lower lip occasionally. "you're making me nervous."

"You should be nervous, my dad has a shotgun." Keats raised an eyebrow.

"Okay…I'm still not scared of him, I've had worse."

"Your dad?" asked Kurt in a cautious tone. "Did he, um, hit you…?" Keats closed his eyes, leaning against the headrest.

"Can I make you another deal?" he asked, with a tiny smile on his face. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Okay, one more deal, but no kissing, I don't wanna crash."

"I don't want to crash either, so we're good." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I don't want to talk about it, not now, okay? After your dad, I'll tell you, deal?" Kurt bit down on the inside of his lip before shrugging.

"Deal…was it bad?" Keats shook his head.

"We have a deal." Kurt shook his head, and examined the boy next to him a little more carefully. He was smartly dressed; lilac shirt, black slacks, grey v-neck sweater and a black blazer, but Kurt got the impression that Keats always dressed well. He had a rather blank look upon his face, and Kurt guessed that he was steeling himself for a poor reaction from Kurt's dad.

Kurt turned his gaze back onto the road, and silently questioning how his father would take it. Kurt knew that he was overprotective, and that - after what had happened with Charles - he wouldn't be that open to Kurt dating. However, there was nothing he could do to stop him from going out with Keats. Of course, it mattered a lot to him for his dad to approve of Keats, but his dad being unreasonable wasn't about to stop Kurt from getting his first shot of having a boyfriend.

…"Dad, you have no idea what's it like!…I am the only openly gay kid at school; in this town! I mean, why can't I walk hand in hand down a hall with a person that I like? Why can't I slow dance at my prom?"

"…You think I don't want those things for you? I do…You know, until you find someone as open and as brave as you…you're just going to have to get use to going it alone."…

This was his chance. His chance to be able to - well, not walk hand in hand down the hall with Keats because that was against school policy - do what any normal teenager in high school got to do. He'd finally found someone, some people, who were open and as brave as him. He knew of four people at Dalton, and Nick, and they were all out and had difficult relationships with at least one of their parents - he wasn't counting Nick in this because he didn't know whether that was the reasons were for Nick's difficult relations with Tristan - as a result.

If his dad couldn't see that Keats was that person than that was his problem. Kurt couldn't make his dad see what Kurt saw in other people, it would be a little odd if he did, but at the same time he knew that he had a good chance of persuading him to meet him halfway on this. Of course, there would be threats to Keats' life if he ever hurt Kurt in anyway, but Kurt, whilst it was annoying, didn't mind because it meant that his dad cared, and him and his dad came first, above everyone and everything else.

He glanced back at Keats, and was a little surprised to see that Keats was moving his head from side to side to some beat that apparently only he could hear.

"Um, Keats?" he questioned, trying hard not to laugh at him, and Keats jumped slightly. His grey eyes were a little bit abashed, but he just shrugged.

"Sorry, I always listen to music when I drive…and if I don't have an iPod, or I can't control the radio, I listen to things in my head." Kurt gave him an almost glare before rolling his eyes.

"Well, why didn't you just say that? After all, aren't I the musical one?" Keats rolled his eyes.

"I'm turning the radio on." Kurt nodded, and let him fiddle with the channels until he found a channel that he was playing music he liked.

…Stood there was my neighbour called Peter

And a flux capacitator…

"Seriously, Keats? Busted?" Keats just grinned at him, flashing all his perfect white teeth at him, and Kurt just shook his head at the childish look on his face.

"He said "I've been to the year three thousand!" Kurt scrunched up his nose, shooting him a pitying look.

"Please don't sing, Keats, please." Keats just continued to dance around in his seat, jutting his head backwards and forward.

"And your great, great, great, granddaughter is pretty fine"!" Kurt shook his head, completely shocked by this other, incredibly childish, side to Keats and couldn't help but laugh as Keats continued to sing along; "He took me to the future in the flux thing, and I saw everything!" Kurt rolled his eyes, deciding he might as well join in the fun.

"Boy bands and another one and another one and another one!"

"See, fun!"

Triple breasted women

Swim around town

Totally naked!

The two of them made eye contact and broke down into hysterics, Keats doubling up and Kurt having a great deal of trouble keeping his eyes on the road. Keats kept trying to get back into the song, but every time he opened his mouth laughter came out instead of the lyrics. Kurt couldn't look him in the eye for fear of crashing the car.

He said;

"I've been to the year three thousand,

Not much has changed, but they live under water

And your great, great, great granddaughter is pretty fine!

They belted out the last chorus, Keats wonderfully off-key, and Kurt shouting over the top of him in an attempt to drown out the sound of his voice. Kurt found that he was breathless as a result, and saw that Keats was resting his head against the window as he continued to laugh.

"You are a terrible singer!" he exclaimed, and Keats.

"I won't pretend that my skills lie in other areas." he said as the Backstreet Boys came on, and Kurt considered turning it off at the look on Keats' face.

"You're going to sing along again, aren't you?" Keats nodded, lips pressed together and a look of false seriousness on his face. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Okay, can you just sing the chorus? Leave the verses to me, alright?" Keats frowned at him.

"I'm not sure I can do that-

Tell me why?

Ain't nothin' but a heartache

Tell me why?

Ain't nothin' but a mistake

Tell me why?

I never wanna hear you say

Kurt rolled his eyes at his - maybe soon to be - boyfriend, and decided that he might as well just join in;

I want it that way

Am I your fire?

Your one desire?

He tried hard not to glance over at Keats as he sung, but was mildly glad that he'd decided to obey Kurt, and not sing - to Kurt's eternal relief because he was completely tone-deaf.

Yes, I know it's too late

But I want it that way

Tell me why?

Despite that, though, he didn't seem at all shy when he was singing. He just jerked his head back and belted out the words to what he thought were the right notes. Kurt wasn't sure that his perfectly tuned ear could handle it, but it was still fun. He didn't remember the last time he'd just sat around and sung just for the heck of it. He would never have guessed that Keats would be the one to bring it back to him the fun.

Now I can see that we're falling apart

From the way that it used to be, yeah

He gave Keats a look that said "yes-this-isn't-a-verse-but-you-are-not-singing-this-part-either", and Keats held up his hands, smirking with grey eyes that twinkled, mischievously, with mirth. Kurt rolled his eyes.

No matter the distance

I want you to know

That deep down inside of me…

You are my fire

The one desire

Kurt glared at him, but couldn't keep a straight face because he was meant to be focusing on the road, and Keats was just making him laugh too hard.

Ain't nothing but a heartache…

Kurt was pretty sure that the two hour car drive just melted into nothing as he continued to sing along to various nineties and early two thousands hits that came onto the radio, slowly sure that his perfect pitch was being worn away by Keats' horrendous singing. His enthusiasm, which Kurt had absolutely never guessed was there, seemed to be bursting from it, and Kurt knew that he was going to make a great impression on Carole and Finn, at least.

"Okay," he said, pulling his Navigator to a stop. "we're here." Keats' smile seemed to freeze a little bit, and he glanced at Kurt with a look of apprehension in his eyes. "It's going to be fine."

"Well, as long as I don't get shot, I guess it will be." Kurt whacked his arm.

"I won't let my dad shoot you."

"So, you'd take a bullet for me?" Kurt rolled his eyes, not dignifying the question with an answer and simply getting out of the car. Keats slipped out of the car. "It's a serious question, you know, Kurt. I mean, if we're going to be going out, there are certain things that I need to know." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, can we be serious?" He said, raising the other eyebrow. "You do not need to know whether I would take a bullet for you. There are more important things that I need to know; like, what really happened when you were Freshmen, or what happened with your dad?" Keats raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Touche, but I believe we made a deal regarding the last one, or have we not sealed it properly?" Before Kurt could think of a snappy retort, Keats had pulled him towards him and kissing him on the lips.

"Hey, Kurt I saw your- oh!" Finn had opened the door, an excited look on his face, and fell silent with shock as he saw the two of them, locked at the lips, on the doorsteps. Kurt broke away, going red and noting Finn's look of stunned surprise.

"Hi Finn." he said as Keats looked away from them, with only a faint blush in his face.

"Err…hey Kurt…hello Keats…" Finn looked completely awkward, like he wasn't sure whether he was meant to be congratulating Kurt, running away or punching Keats in the face.

"Can you get out of the way, Finn, we need to come in."

"S-s-sure." he said, stepping out of the way, and Keats came in looking marginally awkward.

"Do you want anything to drink?" asked Kurt as he hung up his coat, and Keats shrugged.

"Um, sure, some water?" Kurt nodded.

"Okay, go through to the front room, come on Finn." Finn obediently trailed him into the kitchen as the sounds of Keats greeting Carole could be heard. Kurt glanced over his shoulder and saw that Keats was smiling and nodding a lot.

"So, um, what was that?" asked Finn as he opened the fridge and poured himself a glass of milk. Kurt rolled his eyes as he poured some water from a bottle into a cup for Keats.

"What did it look like?" he asked, a little scathingly. Finn sighed, taking a long gulp from his cup.

"Okay, so are you guys…you know, dating?" Kurt shrugged setting his cup down on the countertop.

"Not, not exactly, but we've kissed…quite a few times…I was just going to tell dad." Finn nodded, and then grinned at him a little kid, and hugged him. Still not quite used to the affectionate version of Finn he had as a brother, he hastily set down the bottle and patted Finn's back. "Oh, okay…" Finn let go, still grinning, and Kurt raised an eyebrow. Finn shrugged.

"I dunno, I'm just happy for you, you know…after everything that's happened you found someone." Kurt smiled up at his brother.

"Thanks, Finn."

"But, I have to threaten him."

"Finn."

"Come on, that's, like, one of the best things about being an older brother, right?" Kurt shot him a confused look, picking up the glass of water.

"That's ridiculous, Finn, I'm older than you! By that logic, I should be threatening Rachel…actually I should be killing her!" Carole and Keats both shared slightly confused as they wandered in and Kurt handed Keats his water whilst Finn shook his head.

"You might not want to do that…she slaps; hard." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Please, I could take her in cat fight, after all I can pull her hair." Keats narrowed his eyes, looking between Kurt and Finn in confusion.

"Sorry, um, who are you fighting?" Kurt waved it away, sitting down on the sofa between his stepbrother and Keats.

"No one…it's nothing." he shook his head, and turned to Carole who was watching Keats and Kurt with slightly amused eyes.

"So, are you going to tell us why you've brought your charming friend with you?" Finn opened his mouth, and Kurt stepped on his foot, glaring at him. Finn shut his mouth, and Kurt turned back to the woman whose wardrobe looked far better now that Kurt had been at it.

"Yes, but where's my dad?"

"Oh, he just popped out for some more milk, Finn gets through it like he did when he was an infant." Kurt chuckled, and Finn used it as an opportunity to step back on Kurt's foot.

"Hey, it's why I'm so big and strong." Finn posed like a superhero, and Carole shook her head rolling her eyes, and Kurt just shook his head as he laughed.

"What are you doing, Finn?" asked Burt as he came into the room, paper carrier back in his hand. "Kurt I wasn't expecting- what are you doing here?" his gaze had zoned in on Keats, and Kurt looked at Finn with an exasperated look.

"I'll save the milk." said Finn, leaping to his feet and taking the bag as Burt took a seat, looking warily at the boy on the other side of his son. For whatever reason, Burt didn't find that he trusted the boy as he did Blaine or the other kid - Juri - that he'd met. Juri came across as polite, nice and clumsy, and Blaine always seemed to be there for his son, but this Keats…He was always looking at him with this look in his grey eyes, and then there was the constant hand-holding, and the tension he'd picked up on between him and the other two boys.

"Um, dad, there's something we want to tell you…" began Kurt, a little hesitantly as Finn retook his seat.

"Go on." said Burt, trying to sit back and look unthreatening to his son, but menacing to the other kid.

"Well, um-"

"Look, Mr Hummel." said Keats interrupting Kurt, and Burt gave him a glare, but Kurt just looked a little worried. Keats took his hand, and Burt tensed a little bit. "I really, really, care about your son, and, preferably with your permission, I'd like to go out with him." There was a very tense silence. Carol put her hands over her mouth, but there was a glint in her eyes said that she was shocked-happy, but Burt had a slightly blank look. He turned his body, angling away from the other boy.

"Son," he said, directly addressing Kurt. "is this what you want?" Kurt nodded, just a little dumbly, before scrambling to find his voice.

"Yes, yeah dad, it is." Burt frowned, glancing between the two of them with a terse expression.

"Have you kissed him?"

"Dad!"

"Answer the question, Kurt, it's a fair one, given what's happened." Kurt sighed, glancing at Keats who shrugged, slightly.

"Yes, dad, several times."

"And did you want it?"

"Yes, he asked for my permission, okay dad? Burt nodded, glancing back at the kid whose other hand had clamped around his son's when he'd heard the slight rise in his son's voice. He had a very tense expression on his face.

"Are you aware that I own a shotgun?"

"Yes sir." he said, and Burt wasn't impressed by the smirk that was playing on the corners of his lips.

"And that I would shoot you if you laid a finger on Kurt in a way that he doesn't like?"

"Yes sir." he was nodding, but there was something about the look on his face - he'd seen on Kurt's before - that told him he was biting his tongue, holding back something he really wanted to say.

"What is it?" Keats blinked, glancing at Kurt who shrugged. "You want to say something; say it." Keats sighed.

"I was just thinking that you'd only be able to shoot me if the boys at Dalton hadn't murdered me first." Burt nodded in a satisfied manner, glad to know that the boys at Dalton would be looking out for his son.

"Good, one more thing. You're out to your parents, correct?" A wry grin twisted onto his face.

"Oh yes, sir, I'm out." Burt frowned at him.

"Something wrong with that question?" Keats shook his head.

"No, sir." Burt frowned.

"I don't believe you." Kurt felt Finn shift uncomfortably, Carole placed a hand on his arm, and Kurt glared at his dad.

"Dad." he said in a warning, but Keats shook his head.

"It's okay, Kurt, I made you a deal, right?" Kurt rolled his eyes, but nodded. Keats swallowed. "I came out to my parents just before I hit high school, and it went down…" he seemed to struggle for a word that he could say that wasn't a swear one. "My dad grabbed me by the lapels of my blazer and threw me against the wall. He told me I was a spiteful, selfish, person who was just trying to ruin his career and he threw me into every fucking piece of furniture in that room, and my mum…" he said, breaking off, swallowing heavily. "My mum stood there. Just stood there. She didn't scream, she didn't cry, she didn't do anything." he broke off, and Kurt felt his chest rising and falling rapidly in horror.

"Keats, I'm so…"

"It doesn't matter, Kurt, it really doesn't…she just believes the same crap as my dad, not quite as militant though…" he shrugged, turning to face Mr Hummel with a steely gaze. "So, yeah, I'm out, and I'm proud, but you don't scare me because nothing is worse than your dad throwing you into a glass fronted cabinet whilst your mum just stands there." There was a heavy pause in which Carole looked at him with sad eyes, Finn looked shocked, Kurt had his eyes closed and Burt Hummel just nodded. Keats shifted in his seat, loosening up his body. "That, and it's hard to be scared of somebody who loves their son so much, even if that makes you more dangerous." Burt nodded.

"Okay, but you take everything my son's pace, and if he says he's not ready for something than he's not ready." Keats nodded, gravely.

"Don't worry, I've been there once, not going back in a hurry." he said more to himself than the other occupants in the room, but they all heard it. Kurt sunk his head into his free hand, Finn sat back in surprise, Carole shook her head and Burt just had a very blank look on his face.

"Excuse me?" Keats looked at Kurt who was just shaking his head. He shifted, looking a touch out of his depth.

"'Bout two years ago I had a…one night stand…my mistake, really, I thought they liked me, but they didn't…I was in way over my head, and I thought I was ready, but I wasn't." Kurt frowned, looking up in shock.

"You mean, he forced you?" Keats shook his head, eyes slightly narrowed as if he couldn't quite find the right words.

"No, I just…I wasn't emotionally ready for…" he shrugged. "I don't know…I just remember feeling pretty crap afterwards…I didn't regret it till later…till it was too late, and then everyone knew." Kurt frowned, still thinking.

"Does…?" Keats looked at him, studying his expression before nodding.

"Yeah, eventually, but he's so oblivious he may as well have been blind…he didn't know what was going, not for a long time." Kurt nodded, and Carole cleared her throat.

"Well, why don't you two go up to your room, Kurt, and you can stay for lunch?" Kurt grinned at Keats and took his hand, leading up to his room.

---

I don't know if this means anything, but I was a lot less nervous about showing Keats my room than Blaine. I know that I need to stop thinking about him - it's not going to do my relationship any good - but he's managed to get those darned hazel eyes ingrained into my mind. I just have to let go, like I let go of Finn and Sam…It shouldn't be too hard, right? I mean, I still have to tell him that I'm dating Keats…I mean, what if he takes it really badly? What if he says we can't be friends? Oh this is going to be hell…It's just a friggin' door, Kurt, you can open it!

"Hey," said Blaine, looking up as Kurt entered his room. Blaine had his wardrobe open and clothes were scattered around the room as he seemed to be attempting to pack. Kurt gave him a small smile, biting the inside of his lip, and cautiously sitting down on Thad's bed. "You okay?" asked Blaine, throwing some clothes into the suitcase.

"Yeah…" said Kurt, slowly, biting down on his lower lip in a nervous manner. Blaine looked at him, noting that his scarf was still wound around his neck, part of it dangling down over his breast. He frowned, and threw down the shoes that he'd been holding.

"I know how to cheer you up," he said, moving over to Thad's desk and shifting through some of the stuff that was still scattered there. Kurt frowned at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Give me a sec." said Blaine, and the panic in Kurt's chest was beginning to dissipate. He still had to break the news to Blaine, but he reckoned that the other boy already knew. Kurt put his hands in his lap as Blaine found what he was looking forward, and plopped down next to Kurt. "Take a look at this." he proffered a photo to Kurt, and Kurt took it, bemused.

"Does Thad mind you showing me this?" he asked, noticing that, on the back, it had the words-

Nick and Thad - 2000

May the new century bring you joy

-written in messy handwriting, that was almost illegible, but Kurt had managed to decipher it.

"Course not, turn it over, and guess who's who." Kurt, frowning, flipped the picture over and felt his mouth drop open at the two little boys who had party hats on their heads at jaunty angles, party hooters in their mouths, cheeks puffed out, and surrounded by brightly coloured balloons and streamers. They were identical. His mouth hung open.

"What. The. Hell?" he demanded. When he'd first met Nick and Thad he'd been shocked to find out they were related - however distantly - because they just didn't look alike, to Kurt, but here…! Blaine chuckled, lightly, by Kurt's shoulder. Kurt swallowed, ignoring the butterflies that just made him feel guilty.

"Come on, guess!" he egged. Kurt bit down on his lip, again, this time in thought. He glanced between the two boys, examining their features carefully.

"That one's Thad," he said pointing to the boy on the left. "I think." Blaine grinned at him.

"Wrong." Kurt gaped at him, lifting the picture closer to his face in disbelief.

"You mean the one with lighter hair isn't Thad?" Blaine grinned at him, shaking his head. "You're joking!" he exclaimed, re-examining the two boys and noticed - on reflection - that the boy on the right had a similar looking nose to Thad.

"I made the same mistake." said Blaine, a ghost of an old smile on his face. "I was sure that the one on the left was Thad, but I was wrong…" he turned to Kurt, looking him up and down. "How was your family, you're back earlier than we thought, everything okay?" Kurt nodded, hands twisting together.

"I-I…me and Keats…" Blaine put a hand on his shoulder, looking concerned.

"Is everything okay…has anything happened?" Kurt threw him a disparaging look, annoyed that he always assumed the worst. Blaine gave him a semi-apologetic look.

"Sorry, okay, I'm…well, I guess I'm kind of…paranoid." Blaine let out a small chuckle, and Kurt gave him a small smile.

"No, actually, kind of the opposite…we're dating, it's official." Kurt watched the expression of his face as he processed the news. First he looked shocked, then anxious, then a little annoyed, and finally he had a look of tired acceptance.

"Right, okay…" Kurt sighed, looking at his rather upset expression. He could tell that Blaine was unhappy, but Kurt felt no sympathy for him because he wasn't exactly thrilled about Blaine dating Sebastian, but he didn't say anything.

"Look, Blaine, I know you guys aren't friends, but you're mine and you've…" he broke off, swallowing, aware that this could be goodbye, even if it broke his heart to consider it. "you've really been there for me, and you understand me, but…I really like him, and I'd really like for you to still be there for me…I'm not- I'm not asking you guys to make up, or anything…but I'd appreciate it if you toned down the "I-want-to-murder-you" vibes whilst I'm around." Blaine chuckled.

"Right…" he hung his head in a tired fashion. "I just- Kurt, I don't know what Keats has told you, but he betrayed me…" Blaine shivered, his hand touching Kurt's - or was it still Blaine's? - scarf for a second. "He did some things to me…" Kurt watched at him with an intent expression, surprised that he was suddenly opening up to him. "I-I don't want to put you off, because you deserve to be happy so much, and I can't stop him from making you happy, but you have to promise me something, okay?" Kurt nodded.

"Okay, of course, what?"

"Promise me that if anything happens-"

"Blaine!"

"Please, Kurt, just humour me, alright?" Kurt nodded, slowly, an exasperated look on his face. "Thank you…I just- if anything happens, anything that makes you uncomfortable or just anything, you come and tell me, alright?" Kurt swallowed, frown dipping on his face.

"You- you won't get angry, will you? Because I don't want you to be expelled." Blaine gave him a small smile.

"No, of course not, I do have plans on staying alive, preferably graduating." Kurt snorted, chuckling to himself.

"Okay, if you promise you won't start a fight, I promise to tell you if "anything" happens to me. Deal?" Blaine took Kurt's hand in his own.

"Deal." he said, shaking it briefly. Kurt breathed out, deeply, as they broke contact, but remained sitting side by side. Blaine shook his head, staring at the carpet between his toes. "Look, Kurt, what you said in the hallway-" he began, but Kurt began to shake his head, vigorously.

"Blaine, no, it's okay…I take it back, well, most of it." Blaine shook his head, shooting Kurt a look that Kurt was sure he'd learnt from Sebastian that told him to shut up.

"I just- you were right…like I've said, you deserve to be happy, and if he makes you happy…" he shrugged. "You were right to think that I'm not telling you things, but…" Blaine shook his head, a tense, pensive, expression appearing on his face. "You were wrong; I didn't start it, okay? I did things, at the end, in the end, that I'm not proud of…but it's…it wasn't really about me, per se…" Kurt frowned, considering it all.

"I know…I think I realised in the concert…it's about Sebastian, right? You were fighting over him?" Blaine sighed, bowing his head for a couple of seconds.

"I wish it was that simple." he muttered. "I wouldn't call it that," he said, looking up. "because I had no idea what was going on…" he chuckled, a little darkly. "You've probably heard, by now, stories of my oblivious nature…I was baffled, for a long time." Kurt nodded.

"Yeah, that's what Keats said." Blaine nodded, taking a deep breath, and dipping his head just a little bit. Kurt took a deep breath, and glanced at Blaine, the ghost of a question hovering on his tongue. "How did it feel?" he blurted out, suddenly. Blaine looked at him, confused. "How did it feel when you found out?" Blaine blinked.

"Found out what?" he said, brow wrinkling in confusion, and Kurt really had to despair over Blaine's ability to not pick up on the intense look Kurt was giving him.

"That Sebastian and Keats had…you know…" Blaine bit down on his upper lip, thinking hard. Kurt sat, hands folded in his lap, patiently waiting for him to answer.

"I don't know…" he said, eventually, shrugging. "I guess…when I found out I was little…distracted." he shrugged. "I guess it hurt 'cause I thought, maybe, he liked me, but…Sebastian told me that it didn't really mean anything to him…I mean, he's slept with Nick."

"What?" exclaimed Kurt, flying off the bed in shock. Blaine blinked up at him, and then shrugged.

"You didn't know about that, did you?" Kurt shook his head, thoroughly shocked.

"Wh- why?" he asked. Blaine shrugged, not looking at all bothered.

"I don't know; Nick was curious and Sebastian thought he was mildly attractive…" Kurt felt his lip curl, slightly, in mild horror and disgust.

"That was it?" he demanded, incredulously. "That was all they needed to sleep together?" Blaine nodded, slowly, giving him a small smile.

"Look, for Nick and Sebastian sex doesn't carry the same…weight, I guess…it doesn't mean as much to them as it does to us." Kurt frowned at him, sitting back down and trying to shake off the weird feeling he now had all over his body at the thought of Nick sleeping with Sebastian. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to Blaine, but the door flew open before he could find the right words.

"Snowball fight!" cried Braden, and an excitable grin spread onto Blaine's face as Kurt muttered "not again" under his breath, and glanced out of the window, realising that it had been snowing since he got back. He also realised that there was no way that Blaine was going to let him pass this up, even if Kurt had a load of revision to do. True to what Kurt had thought, Blaine grabbed Kurt's arm and proceeded to drag him from the room, despite Kurt's protestations about schoolwork and hair.

Kurt had to admit that, though he was completely behind on revision for the History exam, he had enjoyed the gigantic snowball fight that had occurred outside. The snowflakes had continued to fall in great droves as they played, and, though it was meant to be the houses against each other, Kurt found himself being pelted at by Juri, who had remarkably good aim, until Keats had found him, dragged him down behind a tree and kissed him to the extent that Kurt was sure the snow would melt because of his burning cheeks.

---

I don't know how I made it through exam week. I had no sleep, and it was a nightmare to practise with the Larks - Abby seemed to have "forgotten" the conversation we had - and I think I might take up Blaine's strategy of just running away, but they're talented, there's no getting around it, and I think the Carol Service is going to be good. We get our results in the first week of the holidays - they get emailed to our parents. According to Flint they do this - not because they don't trust the students to tell them - but to make sure that the parents get some indication. I'm constantly surprised by Dalton's attempts to get parents interested in their children's lives. They actually give a damn, for a change, but it's such a shame that Dalton doesn't invite friends or family to the service - the church isn't big enough - so my second solo will be going unwatched by my family and friends.

Kurt rubbed his hands together. He looked at the other boys, all of whom had their badges adorning their lapels, and he tried not to freak out too much. He'd heard, over the course of the week, that the first verse of Once in Royal was the biggest honour a Dalton student could be given, and a true acknowledgmentof his talent far greater than that of getting a solo at any of the concerts or competitions. That had been enough for him to completely forget that he was singing about Jesus.

"You ready?" asked Blaine, leaning into Kurt's shoulder. Kurt nodded, not sure that he really was, but not about to let his nerves show in front of everyone. He was disappointed that he'd been almost unable to spend anytime with Keats whatsoever during the examination period, and-

"You'll be fine." assured David, popping up from nowhere. "You have the voice for this." Kurt nodded, knowing that that statement was completely true.

"Yes, I do."

"Well, there were are then, Blaine, no need to stress, Kurtsie is full of self confidence." Kurt looked over at Blaine, who gave him a sheepish smile in return.

"Sorry, just…performances stress me out, and you're amazing, no doubt about it, but I just start thinking "oh my god, what if this happens, or that, and all of this could go wrong" and I just really stress out for whoever's performing; it drives Sebastian loopy." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Really? I'd never have guessed." Blaine threw him a look through narrowed eyes.

"Oh ha ha." he muttered, and then dived behind David and Nick as the Crawford girls came on. They were wearing navy blazers, too, with similar but different crests and badges pinned on. Elise and Cat came running over immediately, and most of the others looked around, clearly searching for Blaine. Kurt felt to hands grab the back of his blazer and he was moved backwards as David stepped out of the way to sweep Elise off her feet. Cat just stopped short when she realised that Jeff was running late.

"Hey, Kurt," said Abby, sidling up to him. "I'm looking forward to your performance."

"You've heard me sing it like a dozen times." Unlike Keats.

"Still, it'll sound magical in the church."

"She has a point." said Nick, smirking, and winking at both of them. "The church's acoustics are amazing!" Kurt nodded, mutely.

"Kurt, this is your moment." Luc had chosen that moment to appear, and the Crawford girls scuttled away at the sight of Sebastian by his shoulder. "If you do well; you go down in Dalton history, you screw up; you also go down in Dalton history - it's win win." Kurt shook his head, a laugh escaping his lips.

"Thanks, Luc, reassuring." Luc held out his arms.

"It's not what I'm here for."

"Look on the bright side," said Wes, appearing with tousled hair and a girlfriend whose blazer was rumpled and creased. "now that you're snogging Keats, you can't a bad review." Kurt glared at Wes who chuckled to himself.

"Seriously, though, Kurt don't mess this up. I have several readings to give, and if you ruin the one good thing about this service, I will make your life hell." Kurt rolled his eyes.

Like you don't already.

"Alright, everybody, let's roll!" it was Hammonds, face pulled into a rather austere expression, and eyeing the ladies from Crawford and their unusual distance from the Dalton boys. "Kurt, good luck with your song."

"Get up onto the balcony, Kurt," said Luc. "and wait for my signal." Kurt nodded, leaving the small antechamber with trembling knees. The teachers in the back row smiled at him as he crept past them. Sutherland gave him the thumbs up and Hartfield wiggled his eyebrows whilst Coach Met just winked at him. He climbed the stairs as Luc strode, imperiously, down the aisle the front where the Orchestra was arranged. Mac, who was seated at the organ, gave him a small smile as Kurt turned to stand at the front, looking over the pews to the stain glass windows behind the altar. He saw Luc turn around, waving at Kurt, and flicked his wrist, queuing Kurt to sing.

Once in royal David's city,

Stood a lowly cattle shed,

Kurt felt exposed as he began to sing - completely unaccompanied - on the balcony of the church. His voice echoed around the high ceiling, and he sounded strangely thin compared to when he'd been singing in the halls at Dalton and Crawford.

Where a mother laid her Baby,

In a manger for His bed:

Following Luc's instruction, which was a lot of hand gesturing, he raised his voice, and tried to pretend that this was just another song by Lady Gaga that he could belt out at the top of his voice. He was thrown by the sudden quiver in his voice, and he cursed Nick who had told him the acoustics would be amazing.

Mary was that mother mild,

Jesus Christ, her little Child.

He had to admit, though, that the more he projected the better it sounded. At the end he sounded less like a frightened ten year old, and more like the soon-to-be Broadway legend that he was. He didn't get anytime to marvel in his success because Mac had slammed down on the keys, and the four combined choirs had come in with;

He came down to Earth from Heaven…

and that was Kurt's queue to scurry back down the steps and join in the procession that was making it's way down the aisle. He was relatively near the beginning, and, thankfully, next to Aaron, who still didn't speak to him in maths despite them being sort-of-friends. It was a slow walk, and he had to try and keep a straight face when he went past Chris, Drew and Fred who all pretended to swoon at the sight of him. Keats shot him a wink and blew a kiss whilst Stuart and Andy made kissing faces behind his back, Parker turned off his hearing aide, and Vince slumped against Stuart's shoulder, half-asleep.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,

Through His own redeeming love;

The choirs formed a three line deep semi-circle around the Orchestra as the congregation, minus Vince who was slumped in a pew sleeping, sang with them. Kurt found himself behind Juri's chair, and Aaron poked him in the back as Juri sung, standing on his feet. Juri almost fell into his stand, but Kurt snatched the back of his blazer, and shot Aaron a half glare as they continued sing a harmony part.

And He leads His children on,

To the place where He is gone.

The song came to an end, and there was a moment of respectful silence before a round of applause started in the hall whilst Mac came to the front of the balcony to take a bow, and the Orchestra and choir sat down so that Kurt could take his own bow. He went a little pink as loud whistles sounded through the church that broke the decorum of the ceremony just a little bit. He sank down onto his seat as Hammonds got to his feet accompanied by someone who must be Crawford's headmistress to give thanks to the people who gave them the church, and Sebastian picked his way to the pulpit to deliver his first reading.

Kurt began to understand, quickly, why they said the service was boring. After Sebastian had read one passage from the bible, followed by the church - minister? - reverend? - pastor? - Kurt wasn't even sure - talking about how God had sacrificed his son, and that we should all be grateful blah blah blah. Aaron had to jab him in the ribs to make him focus when they had to sing their next him. Kurt had to admit that the choir did sound good in the church, but he just wanted to fall asleep by the time Sebastian was doing his third reading.

---

I'm not sure how I managed to not fall asleep during that service. Even Nick and Jeff racing toy cars down the aisle and around and around Mrs Daniels when she tried to catch them and Thad "fainting" across the brass section when she tried to grab them, causing a huge pile up, wasn't enough to get me interested. Now, it's the end of a term. My mind is officially blown, I can't quite believe I've been here so long. I'm fully packed - unlike some people (Juri) - and my dad said he'd be here in a few minutes to help me take my stuff back. Now I just have to say my goodbyes…

"Hey, Kurt," it was Parker, leaning on the doorframe, small smile on his face. Kurt got up, leaving Juri lying on the floor where he was looking for something, and walked over to the deaf boy.

"Hey Parker." he said, coming to stop and giving him a smile. Had Parker been one of his other friends he would have given him a hug, but he'd always felt like Keats' friends didn't really want to be hugged in any kind of way.

"Just came to say goodbye." he said, nodding to himself. "And, I guess, that I'll see you at the New Year's party, right?" Kurt shrugged.

"I don't know…I guess…when is it?" Parker snorted, and Kurt rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean." Parker nodded, still laughing to himself.

"You just turn up on some time on the 31st, heck, you can go back before that…it's up to you." Kurt nodded, a small smile remaining on his face.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you there then." Parker nodded, stepping backwards as Juri let a "aha!" of triumph.

"See you, Kurt." Kurt gave him a final wave as he moved along the corridor to the stairs. He yawned, moving back into the room as Juri crawled out from under his bed.

"I found my sock." he said by way of explanation. Kurt nodded, trying hard not to laugh at him, and just shook his head, checking his phone and seeing his dad wasn't here yet.

"That's great, Juri, now answer me this; are you bringing all your things back?" Juri's blue eye's pierced into him, accusing him of being an idiot. Kurt raised an eyebrow, sending a patronising expression back at him. "So, why are you so bothered about one sock?" Juri opened his mouth, gaping at him.

"Vell…" he said, suddenly frowning at him. Kurt just shook his head, and got to his feet, examining the corridor and looking to see if anyone else he knew was leaving. Right on cue, Chris turned up, headphones resting around his neck, and a satchel of books slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, Kurt, Juri!" There was a crash and Juri was flinging himself onto his friend. Chris took a step backwards, trying to not topple over, and Kurt laughed. "Okay, okay, dying!" Juri let him go, and Chris gave Kurt a much gentler, warmer, hug.

"I'll see you at New Year?" asked Kurt, stepping back, and Chris nodded.

"You bet, you'll love it." Kurt nodded, smiling lightly. Chris ruffled up his hair, and grinned at Juri whose eyes were dancing with electricity. Kurt looked between, frowning just a little bit in mild confusion at the silent communication. "Just don't die." said Chris rolling his eyes. Kurt frowned properly in alarm, and Juri just flung himself back onto Chris. "Help me!" he wheezed, and Kurt tugged Juri off.

"Okay, calm down." he said, putting the boy a little distance away from the one he seemed to want to strangle. Chris nodded to both the boys, and dashed away, before Kurt could get a chance to demand to know why Juri might be dying. "Okay, so why might you being dying?" he asked, giving Juri a severe look.

"I like some person…I trek out to see them, but I caught new-mone-e-a." Kurt looked at him, eyebrow rising.

"You caught pneumonia visiting your girlfriend?" Juri gave him a glare.

"Not my girlfriend." he mumbled, his accent almost swallowing his words. Kurt rolled his eyes, and then began to grin at the pink flush rising in Juri's cheeks.

"You like this girl?" Juri turned even redder, his normally pale face alight with colour. "Juri, come on."

"If you're trying to get Juri to tell you about his crush, then you're wasting your time." Kurt twisted around and saw Blaine standing there, Thad by his shoulder.

"So, you don't know anything about this girl?" Blaine shook his head.

"We've been trying for over a year, but we got nothing." Kurt back round for Juri and saw that he'd dashed into bathroom, and was humming as loud as he could.

"Well, I'll see if I can't wear him down." Blaine chuckled, shaking his head.

"Good luck…" a heavy pause settled over the two of them, and Blaine shifted on his feet. "Well, I just wanted to say goodbye, and that, fingers crossed, I'll see you at New Year." He sighed, and Kurt looked at him with a frown.

"Are you okay?" Blaine let out a snort, and levelled his gaze with Kurt's again.

"Actually, that's what I want to ask you." he made his way into the room, leaving Thad in the doorway, and sat down on the bed next to Kurt. "This whole…experience at Dalton must have been pretty crazy; needing the scholarship, being away from your friends and family, Charles and Keats…I guess I want to make sure that you're leaving here on a good note." Kurt let his face sink into a thoughtful frown.

I guess…I guess I am leaving on a high note. Yeah, the downs were low, but they weren't as bad as McKinley, and I have a boyfriend - an actual honest-to-God boyfriend - which is something I wouldn't have dreamed of at the start of the year. I think I've got my head around Dalton at last…I've kind of worked out that you just, sort of, have to go with the flow, and see where it takes you. I never imagined I'd be a cheerleader again, or singing in Carol Service, but both of those things I've had solos in, and it's garnered me respect…I mean, I've met Katelyn Slade and Rosanne Watters! I'm really okay with where I am…I mean, don't get me wrong, there's a part of me that wishes I didn't have to come here, but I'm starting to appreciate that it's what I needed, not just the safety, but the community. I'm a part of Dalton, a school that protects it's gay students. Don't get me wrong, things could be better; mainly Blaine. The fact that I have unrequited feelings for him is bad enough, but the fact is they're not going away…It's not getting better, I can just get distracted from them, but they're still there…

"I'm okay," he said, a grin tugging at his mouth. "I'm really good." Blaine smiled, and patted his knee in a strange gesture of comfort that made his cheeks go a little red, and caused Thad to shoot him a look through narrowed eyes. Kurt glared back at him, and he just readjusted the position he'd adopted against the doorframe. Blaine glanced in the direction that Kurt was looking, and let out a hearty chuckle.

"Thad hasn't set foot in this room since Freshman year," he informed Kurt. "He walked in and was promptly attacked by a load of balloons." Kurt quirked his eyebrow, looking between the two boys. Thad had rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, and Blaine laughed again. "It was Juri's birthday, see, and Trinity had rigged a surprise…Thad screamed so loudly…" Blaine shook his head, still grinning at the old memory. Kurt looked back at Thad who scowled and muttered.

"Clownsss." under his breath and shuddered visibly. Kurt blinked in shock.

"You're scared of clowns?" Thad scowled deeper, shooting Kurt daggers, but eventually shook his head. Kurt looked back at Blaine who was choking on his laughter now. "You're not scared of clowns?" Thad nodded, emphatically, and Kurt frowned. "Well, why did you scream?" Blaine took a deep breath, and looked back at Kurt.

"They weren't balloon clowns, they were balloon animals!" Kurt was sure that Blaine was joking, but then he glanced at Thad's pale face and realised that Blaine wasn't messing with him.

"You're afraid of balloon animals?" he demanded, incredulously. "Is that even a legitimate fear?" Blaine shrugged, still smiling, and Thad let out another huff of annoyance. "I mean, are you afraid of animals and balloons too?" Thad shook his head with a grunt of annoyance. Kurt blinked in shock. "Okay…"

"Don't question the reason." said Blaine. "We tried and tried, but even Nick couldn't work it out." Kurt turned to Thad with wide eyes, but Thad just shook his head.

"Your eyes won't work on me, I grew up with Nick." Kurt blinked in shock, sure that that was the longest, most coherent, sentence Thad had ever said to him. He turned to Blaine to point it out, but saw that he'd become engaged in helping Juri pack, which meant he was throwing some things into the suitcases and others back into the open cupboards.

"You're done!" exclaimed Blaine when Juri walked in, his normal pale safe. Juri did a double take at the closed suitcases, and stumbled in confusion. Blaine leapt up and caught Juri before he smashed his face into the floor, and Juri gave him a grateful smile.

"Thank you." he said, righting himself, and smoothing out the wrinkles in his uniform. Blaine rolled his eyes, and yawned.

"Come on, let's go to the foyer, we can say goodbye to everyone." Kurt got to his feet and grabbed his two cases, and slung the satchel over his shoulder which was filled with the books he needed for the holiday work he'd got for his subjects. Kurt wasn't sure whether or not he felt comfortable with the idea of Juri carrying two large suitcases, but Daniel had turned up to assist him.

"You know something, Blainey," said Daniel as he ambled across the grass. "you've had a very good term." Blaine looked at his pixie friend with a frown on his face.

"What do you mean, Feel? I had a good Sophomore year." There was a long pause in which Blaine was glared at by three people and Kurt looked up in surprise.

"Blaine!" exclaimed Juri, staring at him with wide eyes. "Autumn term you vere terrified!" Kurt looked over at Blaine who looked uncomfortable.

"It was nothing." said Blaine, glaring at them for talking about something that he could not bare thinking about. "I got over it all…Summer term was fine." There was a moment of silence in which Thad shrugged at the questioning looks he was getting from Daniel.

"Yeah, I'm sure it was." Daniel patted his forearm, and Blaine shook his head whilst Kurt frowned at him.

"What was wrong?" he asked, and Blaine shook his head again.

"You don't want to know." Kurt fixed him with an intense glare.

"You can't speak for me." Blaine let out a frustrated sigh.

"Okay, I don't want to talk about it. I never want to ever talk about what happened!" Blaine stormed off across the lawn in a frustrated manner. Kurt blinked, and Daniel looked at the other two boys with raised eyebrows.

"Is it just me, or is Blaine getting angrier?" Thad rolled his eyes, and shrugged, not answering Daniel's question. Kurt rolled his eyes, realising that it was probably something to do with what had happened with Keats, and guessed he wasn't getting any more answers than he had previously.

Ah well, I guess I'll have a couple of weeks to just forget about it all…I mean, I'm definitely going to be keeping in close touch with Keats because we're dating, but I don't think I'll be in touch with others much…I'd like to talk to Blaine, but he'll probably be talking to Sebastian, and the time difference between Ohio and Moscow is huge…it's got to be about eight-nine hours, right?

"Kurtsie pie!" The moment they made it to the foyer, they were launched on by various people. Juri was attacked by Fred and Drew, David, Nick, Jeff and Flint leapt at Blaine, and Kurt was attacked by Trinity - Daniel had flung his arms around his back, all screaming his nickname. Kurt stumbled back several paces and caught sight of his dad with a small smile on his face as he dropped his cases so that he could pat them.

"Hey guys," he wheezed. "can you let go of me now?" They refused to release him, tightening their grip, and Kurt wheezed a little.

"We'll miss you!"

"We'll write everyday!"

"We'll phone too!"

"Great!" he exclaimed. "If you haven't killed me." They looked up at him with wide eyes of green, brown and blue that promised that they wouldn't kill him, or let any form of harm befall him.

"Okay, guys, leave my boyfriend be." The three small boys were pulled from his body, and he let out a great sigh of relief, stumbling a little forward and straight into Keats' arms. "Easy." said Keats, a smirk on his face. "Why don't we try and live until New Year?" Kurt straightened up, catching sight of his dad watching them.

"Yeah…" Keats took a half step backwards.

"I'm going to miss you…South Carolina's a bore…if I don't come back for the party it's cause my dad's killed me - or forced me to go to a work thing, which is only marginally more likely." Kurt looked him up and down, a worried look on his face.

"If anything happens, and you get really worried, will you promise me that you'll get in your car and drive to me? Or failing that call." Keats sighed, looking a little torn.

"I'll call, but I can only promise that I'll go to Vince's…I don't want my parents - my dad - to find out where you are," he looked very serious, his grey eyes clouding over. "because I can't promise that he won't hurt you." Kurt swallowed, heavily.

"You don't have to protect me, Keats, my dad has a shotgun!" Keats' eyes went even darker.

"And my dad has sixty armed guards on rotational duty who can use snipers!" Kurt's mouth snapped shut as he fought for something that would trump that. Keats' head quirked to the side, and a "told-you-so" expression appeared on his face. Kurt rolled his eyes. "But if I go to Vince's my dad won't care because Vince's dad is his election campaign manager, but he's never around so he can't get pissed off about me being gay!" Kurt sighed, heavily.

"Okay, okay." he said, sighing and dipping his head. "I just wish…"

"Wish what? That we could go around and be how we wanted? That we didn't have to worry about my dad? Or anybody? Time's are changing, Kurt, but it's happening slowly." Kurt looked up and nodded.

"I know, I know…it just sucks." Keats gave him a lopsided smile.

"That's what life does." Kurt returned the smile with a small one of his own, and he fought for some words that would take away the hanging silence.

"Can we make that a deal?" he asked in a hoarse whisper. Keats' eyes flashed with amusement, and he bent down, closing the distance between them quickly. Some people wolf-whistled, others sniggered and some made retching noises.

"Get a room!" exclaimed Stuart. "A soundproofed room!" Keats broke away from the kiss, pulling too far from Kurt for him to be happy, and glared at his friend, giving him the finger. Burt cleared his throat.

"Kurt, son, you ready to go?"

"Yeah," said Kurt, fighting the blush and ignoring the uncomfortable looks on the others' faces. "just give me a sec." He left Keats being beaten by his friends, and moved round hugging all the various friends he'd made, and several acquaintances from the Warblers. Keats' friends didn't hug him, but they did clap him on the back and shake his hand.

"Take it easy, Kurt." said Wes, slapping his back. "And we'll see you at New Year. You too, Mr Hummel, take it easy…don't die on Kurt." Kurt choked, and kicked at Wes' shin. Wes leapt back, yelping, whilst Burt frowned down at his son.

"What?"

"No-nothing, we just- I told them about the heart attack." he muttered, and Burt nodded, rubbing his shoulder.

"Okay, kid, let's go." He got a couple of waves and "bye Kurt's" as they left the building. Kurt let his dad lift the suitcases into his car, and told Kurt to leave his, and Kurt felt touched that his dad wants to drive him home, and then back for the New Year Party, and so he didn't complain - he could always borrow Finn's car if he needed to go anywhere in the holiday.

He climbed into the car with a slightly sad feeling in his chest. It wasn't long until he was going back - even if he had to clear the party with his dad first - but he had a feeling he was going to miss Dalton more than he originally thought. The New Directions had just been a hodgepodge of students, where their only combined love was singing, and the differences had been the best thing. Now, though, he was at a school where he was welcomed for everything that made him similar to other people and different. He wasn't "the only gay kid" anymore, but Kurt Hummel.

I never thought I'd find anywhere like Dalton, and when I did I never thought I'd be able to go here. Even if it took a death threat to get me here, I'm still happy… I'm safe, and I'm happy - I really couldn't ask for anything more…

---

Next Time- Tidings: 'Tis the most wonderful time of the year, but for some Christmas is more a trial than a holiday. Whilst Kurt enjoys the company of his family and friends, Blaine struggles to make his way back in the city he used to call home, but when Kurt runs into an old face, he begins to question the validity of his relationships…