CHAPTER 4: Teen Kurt

2007/ 2008, Kurt, aged 14

Kurt knew by now who he was, but decided to stay in the closet because he was scared of the bullies at school, even though he was now, once again, one of the oldest kids. He had debated telling his mother because of her friendship with Rachel's parents, but in the end he hadn't been sure enough that she would still be so open-minded if it concerned her own son.

Telling either Rachel or Mercedes was also out of the question, because the two couldn't keep a secret if their lives depended on it. In addition to that, Mercedes had been acting weird around him lately. She was always looking at him and when he caught her staring, she was always quick to look away and blushed.

He got his explanation for her strange behavior when she invited him to a youth dance – as her date. Kurt panicked and told her that even though he was flattered, he was actually into someone else. Because he couldn't just tell her that the one he had his eye on was Tom Miller, a boy on the track team, he said the first girl's name that came to mind. Rachel.

Rachel, who knew that Mercedes was crushing on Kurt, but suspected that Kurt was gay – she did have to gay dads after all - tried to discourage Mercedes from going after Kurt, to save her from heartbreak. Unfortunately, Mercedes interpreted this as jealousy. When Kurt, however, said he was into Rachel, she was deeply hurt and a fight between the three of them broke out in the middle of the hallway between second and third period.

For a while Mercedes refused to talk to either Kurt or Rachel, but ironically it was the fight that got the bullies of Kurt's back for a while. Apparently having two girls fight over you will do that.

The fight escalated when Mercedes set Kurt's favorite scarf on fire. Kurt didn't want to lose his only two friends and came out to both of them before things could get even worse. Mercedes got her heart broken, but apologized for the ruined scarf and both girls promised to keep his secret.

Rachel also agreed to become Kurt's fake girlfriend to keep the bullying to a minimum. Mercedes, at first, was disappointed that Kurt hadn't asked her to be the girlfriend, but he explained that it wouldn't be fair to her because of her feelings for him. If she would play his girlfriend, he would always feel as if he were stringing her along, knowing nothing really could ever come of it. In the end, she agreed that it wouldn't have been a very good idea.

Rachel and Kurt stayed together for the rest of the school year and his situation at school drastically improved. Elisabeth was certain that the relationship wasn't real but didn't call him out on it.

Whenever they went shopping, and she knew it was only happening because Kurt still needed someone to drive him around, she still saw him looking at boys and therefore, she tried to tell him as subtle as possible that she would have absolutely no problem if he liked boys instead of girls, or possibly both.

Kurtchel, as Mercedes had dubbed them, broke up on the last day of Middle School, so Rachel would be free to pursue boys once they started High School in the fall.

On Kurt's fifteenth birthday, Burt and Kurt shared a lengthy phone conversation in which Burt went on and on about his new stepson Finn. Kurt was extremely jealous because even though he had tried really hard to be the son Burt wanted – at least when dealing with his father - his father still liked his new son better.

After talking to his new wife, who had conveniently overheard his conversation and accused him of neglecting his biological son, Burt called back two days later and promised Kurt a car, once he got his drivers license.

The Hummels spent a lot of time with the Berrys that summer and after observing how his mom acted around Rachel's dads, Kurt finally found the courage to come out to his mom two weeks before the start of his freshman year of high school.

His mom hugged him and told him, she already knew, because when he was younger, he was always trying to walk around in her high heels. Kurt was relieved, but asked his mom not to tell his father. Elisabeth promised and hugged Kurt some more. Her baby was not a baby anymore.

2008/2009, Kurt aged 15

In the fall of 2008, Mercedes, Rachel and Kurt started their freshman year at William McKinley High School. Kurt was still in the closet at school but his fashion choices got bolder and bolder. Elisabeth put her foot down once, when he tried to go to school in a corset.

The bullies at the new school were bigger and more dangerous and after his second dumpster toss and fifth slushie facial, Kurt really wished he could have his fake girlfriend back. But he had promised Rachel to set her free and even though Mercedes seemed to be over him, he didn't want to open that particular can of worms again.

Kurt and Burt started talking regularly again, but Burt mostly talked about Finn – who had just joined the football team and his sweet cheerleader girlfriend, which Kurt was sure meant that she was a bitch, and so he told his dad that he had a girlfriend as well, because he wanted to be able to compete with Finn, who apparently liked all the things his dad liked, and looked more like Burt's biological son than Kurt ever had. As proof he emailed a picture Mercedes had taken of him and Rachel the previous year.

To escape the bullying at school, Kurt publicly asked out the dizzy cheerleader sitting next to him in his history class. To his surprise the blonde agreed because it was her goal to make out with every guy in school.

Kurt had never imagined that his first kiss would be with a girl, but if it would keep him from getting slushied or worse, he would be able to endure it. He convinced Brittany to kiss him somewhere where everyone could see them – after all, if she wanted to reach her goal she needed witnesses to make it count.

Surrounded by jocks and cheerleaders, Kurt received his first kiss. Brittany's lips were soft and tasted like strawberry lip gloss and Kurt figured that his first kiss could have gone a lot worse, especially if it meant a bully free high school experience. Brittany, for only being a freshman, already had quite the reputation, and so Kurt just hoped that he could date her for a while before she wanted more from him.

In the end, Kurt didn't have to worry about Brittany trying to get with him. An older jock – Dave Karofsky, Kurt later learnt – overheard Mercedes, Kurt and Rachel rating the hotness of the male Harry Potter cast and outed Kurt to the whole school.

Brittany, instead of being mad that she had been used, just hugged him and told him she hoped he would find another dolphin soon. What Kurt had learnt in his brief relationship with the blonde, was to never question her if you wanted to keep your sanity. Unfortunately, the rest of the school didn't take too kindly to Karofsky's revelation.

Kurt got slushied at least once every day and the jocks used every opportunity they got to push Kurt into the lockers. Mercedes and Rachel had to watch their friend being tormented, but when they complained to principle Figgins, he told them he had bigger problems than the complaints of a single student.

To cheer Kurt up, the trio joined the school's derelict glee club, led by a creepy looking teacher named Sandy Ryerson, who spent more time hitting on the older male students than teaching music.

Being in glee club let Kurt do what he liked doing the most, but it most certainly didn't help with his reputation at school. Even though Karofsky had become his chief tormentor at school, other jocks, most notably Noah Puckerman and Azizmo Adams used every chance they got to throw him into dumpsters.

Kurt tried to stay strong and put on a brave face at home, but he reached his breaking point when Karofsky cornered him one day after school in the locker room.

Kurt had it made a habit to always stay late after P.E. to avoid having to change with the rest of the boys and by the time he was done, everyone else was already gone. When Karofsky came in, blocking the exit, Kurt was sure he was in for the beating he'd escaped so far.

Later, when he was finally home in the safety of his bedroom crying his eyes out, he wished Karofsky had beaten him up. Instead of hitting him, the large bully had roughly grabbed his face and had forced his ugly lips onto his. Kurt had frozen in shock and only when Karofsky had tried for a second kiss, Kurt had regained his motor functions and had pushed the bully away.

Instead of waiting for the school bus, Kurt had run the 2.5 miles back to his house and had locked himself into his bedroom before his mom could see him.

Kurt managed to convince his mom that he was sick the next day and was allowed to stay home from school. It was at least already Friday, which meant he wouldn't have to go back for another three days.

Kurt spent the rest of the weekend hiding in his bedroom blasting Wicked and Rent through the speakers. When he returned to school on Monday, he made sure to always stay close to Rachel and Mercedes. Only two more months was Kurt's constant mantra after he returned to school.

Karofsky kept up his harassment and shot Kurt dirty looks whenever he thought no one was watching. Kurt got more and more scared every day and dreaded having to go to school which resulted in him skipping classes he had close to where Karofsky had his, when he thought he could get away with it.

His friends, of course, noticed that there was something wrong with him, but Kurt refused to tell because he was afraid of what Karofsky might do if it came out.

Three weeks before school ended, Karofsky cornered Kurt again. Kurt put up a brave front, but inside he was shaking. Nevertheless, he tried to talk to the bully about his feelings. Karofsky refused to acknowledge what Kurt was saying and blamed Kurt's girly voice and girly clothes for the locker room kiss, which Karofsky denied was instigated by him.

When Kurt didn't back down, he threatened to kill him if he told anyone his lies. Rachel, who had followed Kurt out of concern for the safety of her favorite duet partner and only real competition, comforted Kurt after Karofsky was gone, and tried to convince him to tell someone about the death threat and assault.

Kurt refused because he didn't want to out Karofsky, even though Karofsky had been the one who had outed Kurt, and because he was afraid that the closeted bully might make good on his threat.

When Kurt came home that day, his mom was waiting for him in the living room. She confronted him with the Karofsky situation and promised that she would do everything in her power to make things better for him. Kurt was furious at first, because Rachel had betrayed his trust, but forgave her nevertheless after letting her stew for a couple of days.

Later that night, the Berrys visited Elisabeth, and gave her information about a private school with a zero tolerance bullying policy; Dalton Academy for boys in Westerville, 1 ½ hours from Lima. Elisabeth didn't really want her son to move away, but in the end she had to do what was best for him. The Berrys helped her get an academic scholarship for the following school year.

After another unsuccessful complaint to principle Figgins, Elisabeth took Kurt out of school early to protect him from Karofsky whose actions had again gone unpunished. Kurt, initially, didn't want to leave his only two friends, but they all agreed that a new school was unfortunately the only solution.

On Kurt's sixteenth birthday, a car was delivered to the Hummel's driveway with a card saying – "Something to impress the ladies with." Elisabeth called Burt to thank him on Kurt's behalf, who was pissed because of the note, pointedly avoiding mentioning the card herself.

She told him about Kurt's transfer to a private school, because public school in Lima was a joke. Burt told her he didn't have a problem with Kurt attending a more academically challenging school, but voiced his concern about the all boys part.

He was worried that Kurt attending an all boys school might undo all the progress Kurt had made recently behaving like a normal boy. As it had become the norm with many of their phone calls concerning Kurt, Elisabeth promptly hung up the phone.

AN: Next chapter we'll meet Blaine and the rest of the McKinley Glee Club.