Forever Has to Start Somewhere

Chapter 13: Never Been Kissed

"I just wish I knew what to do," Rachel confessed.

Jesse gave a soft sigh, pushing his hand through his hair. "Rach, I'm not sure there is anything you can do. It's one thing for you to stand up against Quinn or Santana. They mostly just fling words and you're roughly the same size. It's a completely different situation for Kurt to handle a bully that's twice his size and getting physical."

"I know, but I feel like I can't even be there for him," Rachel said. "I can't understand where he's coming from because our situations are completely different."

"Have you thought about talking to your dads?" Jesse questioned. He glanced around as he stepped into the auditorium, looking for a familiar face to sit near. They were doing performances for one of his classes today and Jesse wanted to make sure he was sitting near someone who was used to the way he muttered criticisms under his breath.

"I know it's selfish considering Kurt really needs help, but if I tell them about him they might figure something out about me. I don't want them to worry."

"Selfish, yes," Jesse agreed. "But also understandable."

In the front rows of the auditorium, Jesse spotted dirty blonde hair poking out of a gray beanie.

Brody and Jesse had met Adam at the party they'd attended, which he was attending dressed as a male Tinkerbell, and the three of them had laughed over their matching costumes.

The three of them had clicked instantly and they'd spent most of the night talking, which Jesse was secretly grateful for since he really hadn't been looking forward to trying to lug Brody back to their room.

As he made his way down the stairs, one very important fact about Adam stood out in Jesse's mind.

"Hey, Rach, I might have thought of a solution to your problem," Jesse said.

"How exactly?"

"Can't tell you yet. I've got to find a way to ask someone to be a gay Yoda for a random teen in Ohio without getting punched first."

"Jesse?" Rachel questioned. Her voice was tinted with concern. "You can't get punched! Your face is an asset!"

A laugh bubbled out of Jesse's throat. "I'm glad you think so. I've got to go now before my lecture starts. Love you."

"Love you too," Rachel returned. "Be careful!"

"Will do." He said a quick goodbye as he reached the row Adam was sitting in. He took a moment to consider his options. On one hand, it was probably best to just get the situation over with. On the other, he really didn't want to risk offending Adam in front of their whole class or going on stage with a bruised cheek. Mind made up, he waked down the row, calling out, "Hey, Adam, do you wanna go out for coffee after class? There's something I need to talk to you about."

Adam stared at Jesse as he took a sip of his java chip frappuccino.

Jesse toyed with the straw of his own drink, his usual iced caffè americano, as he fidgeted under Adam's gaze. He wasn't usually nervous under pressure, but he understood how badly what he had asked could be taken and fighting wasn't really his thing. He could hold his own in a fight, yes, but when it came to confrontation he preferred a sing off.

"So," Adam said, speaking for the first time since Jesse had made his request. He set his drink on the table between them, "You want me to call up some kid I've never met and give him advice on how to be gay?"

"It's not quite like that," Jesse denied. "It's just that Kurt is going through a lot and none of us can really understand him. I just want him to have someone to vent to that can at least understand the discrimination he's facing."

"And you're asking me to be that person?" Adam asked.

"Yes." Jesse leaned back, licking dry lips. "Look, I know it's weird to ask that of you. But I promise, I'm not just asking this of you because you're the only gay guy I've met here."

"How is that even possible?" he mused. "We're at a performing arts school. I'm pretty sure you're the minority here."

A small smile quirked at Jesse's lips. "And here I thought I was stereotyping." Adam gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "Honestly, though, I think you'll like Kurt. We're all similar people."

They settled into silence.

After a few more sips of his coffee, Adam nodded, "Give me his number. I'll at least see if we get along."

"Thank you. Seriously."

Kurt's body slammed into the locker. He stared after Karofsky as the older boy stalked away.

Blaine's text swam in front of his eyes 'Courage'.

At the same time, he remembered the other boy who had been giving him advice on the situation.

Adam had been livid when Kurt had relied Blaine's advice about standing up to Karofsky.

'I'm not saying you shouldn't stand up for yourself,' Adam insisted, 'but if you push him the situation will keep escalating. He may do more than just shove you into lockers and none of us want that.'

Kurt took a deep breath before walking in the direction opposite Karofsky.

He certainly wasn't going to let Karofsky keep pushing him around, but he wasn't about to start a fight with someone twice his size either. He'd figure out a way to handle the situation without putting himself at risk.

However, that was a problem to deal with later.

Right now his face ached where it had slammed against the locker and he could feel tears prickling in the corners of his eyes.

He dug his phone out of his pocket as he slipped around the corner, making his way to the double doors which would lead to the back parking lot. The stoners were the only people who wandered out there during school hours so it would be mostly secluded and no one who saw him out there was likely to remember seeing him.

He clicked on the contact that hadn't been in his phone for very long, but had already offered him more strength and support than even his friends could.

"Hullo?"

"Adam," Kurt choked out. He felt the first few tears fall from his eyes as he stepped into the sunshine. "Do you have time to talk?"

"I don't have class for a few hours," Adam assured. "Although, I certainly hope you aren't planning on skipping class for that long. School's important, love."

The laugh that fell from Kurt's lips were somewhere between a watery chuckle and a sob. "I wasn't planning on that. I just needed someone to talk to for a few minutes who would understand."

"Well, I am at your disposal then."

"Thank you," Kurt said. "I know you're doing this for Jesse-"

Adam interrupted, "It started out that way, yes. But I do genuinely enjoy your company Kurt. I wouldn't have kept answering your phone calls or texting you if I didn't."

"That's nice to know."

"Certainly. Now, tell me what happened and I'll tell you how stupid whoever did it was."

E/n: So here's the dealio right: me? Not a huge blaine fan tbh. Klaine was good for a hot second in season two, season three made blaine into someone i actually couldn't stand, and season four was legit my last straw when it came to him. But I am debating whether I wanna do beginning Klaine with Adam just encouraging Kurt in his relationship for a while, or if I wanna go for klaine friendship and slowly build into a kadam relationship. Either way this story is gonna have some lovely kadam bc Adam Crawford actually treats Kurt like royalty and wow that is exactly how my baby deserves to be treated?

Your opinion on that matter would be appreciated readers.

On that note, I hope you guys aren't too turned off by this chapter not having a particular focus on St. Berry? I feel like Never Been Kissed is an episode that Rachel is pretty much eliminated from when you take our her relationship with Finn. I worked in her friend with Kurt and put a heavy focus on that side of the episode, but I hope it didn't come off too different from previous chapters?

And! Just in case: the second section and the third section are a few days apart. It's not as though Adam and Kurt are talking for the first time. it's still a little sudden since they've only been talking for two-three days max but still.

Okay! This end note is getting entirely too long.

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