Chapter 18: Burt Hummel vs Wilhelm McKinley High School – Part 1

Kurt

He really liked Rachel by now, don't get him wrong, but some days he was wondering why he was the one seeing a therapist. He was currently waiting for Rachel to pick him up at the Hummels so they could drive to Breadstix together. Apparently she needed to discuss her newest crush with him, though he had no idea why they had to go out for dinner to do that and why he had been forced to dress rather nicely. His boyfriend was nowhere to be seen, and Kurt wasn't sure if he should be worried about Blaine ignoring him or not. Maybe it was a good idea to go out with Rachel after all – he could use a relaxing night during which he wasn't constantly reevaluating his behavior as to not to destroy his first relationship before it even really began.

All the way to the most popular student hang out in town, Rachel refused to tell him anything about this new guy but Kurt was glad she was apparently moving on and putting herself back out there. Breadstix was packed, but Kurt wasn't surprised as it was a Friday night a.k.a date night for most couples. Usually, Friday nights were reserved for family dinner at the Hummels, but Burt was on a date as well, so Kurt didn't feel too bad about skipping it, especially after Blaine had been avoiding him all day.

There were some students he recognized from school, but most only looked at them confusedly for a moment before getting back to their meals. Still, he was relieved at first when Rachel led him to a secluded table in a corner, away from most prying eyes until he spotted the single red rose on the table.

"Rachel, what…?" Before he could finish, Rachel excuses herself to go freshen up and Kurt sank into one of the chairs utterly confused. He really hoped this was all one huge misunderstanding because Rachel wouldn't really hit on him, after she tried so hard to get him and Blaine together, right?

"Excuse me? Is this seat taken?" a voice suddenly asked from behind him and Kurt was about to say yes when he recognized the voice and he squealed to his embarrassment.

"Blaine! Oh my god, what are you doing here?" he jumped up and threw his arms around his boyfriend's neck before he remembered where they were and he quickly let go, hoping people would think it was just two friends hugging.

"You didn't really think I'd let you go out on a date with Rachel?" Blaine chuckled and Kurt gave him a onceover. Blaine had cleaned up nicely as well, wearing dark jeans, a dark blue shirt and a grey cardigan with matching tie.

"The only person I want to take out on a date is you," he added and the butterflies in Kurt's stomach started to tango. He hit Blaine's shoulder lightly.

"You could have just asked me out. You know I wouldn't have said no to you," he chided as Blaine pulled out the chair for him, before sitting down opposite him.

"I know Kurt, but I wanted to take the pressure off. This way I was the only one freaking out and I hope that now we can enjoy a nice evening together," Blaine told him and Kurt knew he was right. He would probably have spent hours in front of the mirror trying to look attractive for Blaine, freaking out over how to behave on a date in public and so on. He was still unsure about the second thing, but at least he hadn't have time for an internal freak out before he even left the house.

They chatted about random things until a waitress came by to take their orders and Kurt quickly ordered a salad, trying to ignore Blaine's disapproving look. Blaine had ordered pasta and breadsticks for himself and Kurt did his best to make sure most of the ones Blaine was handing him ended up in a napkin in his lap. He felt bad for wasting food, especially because not too long ago he would have gladly stuffed himself with breadsticks had he had the opportunity, but that was before a gorgeous boy had agreed to date him and Kurt hadn't had any reason to care about his weight.

As soon as the waitress had delivered their drinks, Blaine reached for Kurt's hand on the table, but Kurt quickly put a napkin on top of their linked hands, afraid some of the McKinley students would see and spill the beans about them at school.

Blaine's pasta looked delicious when it arrived and Kurt put a fake smile on his face as he munched on his tasteless salad, trying not to show how much he wanted to steal Blaine's plate right now.

Apart from the food everything was going great. All though they were just doing what they had done lots of times before at the Lima Bean, somehow it was still different now. Because now, Blaine was holding his hand throughout dinner even if that meant having to eat with just one hand. Now Blaine would kiss him good night at the end of the day. Now they weren't meeting for just coffee any longer.

Unfortunately good things always come to an end for Kurt and that evening wasn't any exception.

"What do we have here? Trying to spread the gay even more," a voice that made Kurt tense up interrupted them and Kurt looked up to come face to face with Karofsky who was leering at Kurt while managing to glare at Blaine at pretty much the same time.

"A little birdy told me that you didn't manage to keep your hands of Anderson like I told you, so now it's payback time," he threatened and Kurt gulped, because apparently a jealous Karofsky was even worse than normal.

Blaine looked puzzled for a moment before his eyes narrowed. "What I do with my hands is no concern of yours and if you don't want the whole of Breastix to hear the reason why it shouldn't interest you I'd get out of here," Blaine shot back and Kurt's grip on his arm tightened, because yes Karofsky was an epic jerk, but Kurt believed that no one deserved to be outed. Not that he himself had ever really had a chance to stay in the closet, because people always had assumed and after his locker had been defaced, everyone had taken it as confirmation.

"Don't threaten me Hummel," Karofsky growled. "And I don't intend to do it here. See my buddies over there," Karofsky turned and pointed to three members of the hockey team glaring in their direction. "We'll be waiting outside for you."

With a last glare at Blaine, Karofsky turned and the three hockey players followed him outside. Kurt's heart sank because Breadstix closed at midnight and it was already nearly ten. He had no doubt Karofsky and his goonies would wait outside in the parking lot for them until they were forced to leave.

Blaine

Blaine was no stranger to violence, but this was different. This wasn't about dealing with a few homophobic jocks – this was worse, because of Karofsky's delusional claim on Kurt. If it were just him Kurt and Karofsky, he'd risk getting into a fight because he was sure Karofsky wouldn't seriously hurt Kurt because he was after Blaine, but with members of the hockey team around, things were different because they would hurt Kurt, just as they had hurt him in school ever since Karofsky had joined forces with them.

Kurt looked pale when Blaine finally looked at him, but he looked a lot calmer than Blaine felt. "Should we call the police?" his boyfriend asked and Blaine could see that Kurt didn't really want that but was worried enough about Blaine's safety to suggest it. Blaine shook his head. "We don't have proof that this is why they are out in the parking lot. We need to call my dad."

He didn't really want to involve his dad because it was embarrassing that he couldn't even take his boyfriend out on a date without having to ask his dad to come and get him.

Kurt immediately shook his head though. "Please, no Blaine. He already has done so much for me, I really don't want to add to the problems he already has to deal with when it comes to me," Kurt pleaded and Blaine wanted to tell him he wouldn't and that his dad didn't mind taking care of Kurt.

"Do you have a better idea?" he asked, because he also really didn't want to call his dad, although his reasons weren't the same.

Kurt shrugged. "We could just make a run for it. I'm sure they wouldn't actually try to hurt us in a parking lot. Someone could see."

Blaine tensed and his hands started to shake. He had never told Kurt about the things that had happened in his own past because Kurt had had enough on his own plate but apparently he had to come clean if he wanted to convince Kurt that trying to run was not a good idea. He took a deep breath before he took Kurt's hand again.

"Kurt, the reason I went to Dalton was not because my dad thought private school would be the better choice. In eighth grade I wasn't out at the beginning of the school year. Only one other boy knew and we decided to go to a dance together. We had to leave early because he wasn't feeling too well, and while we were waiting to be picked up we got dragged out of the school parking lot and were beaten up pretty badly. People were outside as well, but no one either saw or pretended not to see. For the second half of eighth grade my dad found me a school in a LGBT friendly neighborhood but I would have been force to go to high school with the boys that beat my friend and me up. So that's why my dad sent me to Dalton."

When he looked at Kurt after he had finished his story, there were tears in his eyes and Blaine could feel them welling up in his own eyes as well. It felt good to finally tell someone that wasn't his dad or the cops he realized.

"I'm so sorry Blaine, I had no idea," Kurt whispered and Blaine quickly wiped his face with his sleeve because the last thing they needed was causing a scene at Breadstix.

"I'm fine now I promise, but I just don't want a repeat of that. And I had to promise my dad to call if I ever was in a situation like that again and to stay somewhere safe until he could get to me," Blaine explained and Kurt squeezed his hand.

"Call him. I don't ever want to see you hurt again even if that means having to reveal some of my own secrets," his boyfriend told him and Blaine breathed out a sigh of relief.

His dad sounded weirdly calm after Blaine explained where they were and why they needed help, but Blaine suspected he was furious. He knew his dad hated nothing more than feeling helpless but there wasn't anything anyone could do.

Luckily his dad arrived at the restaurant pretty quickly, and Blaine put on a fake smile, when he saw that his dad had brought Finn's mom along.

"Kurt, Blaine, you remember Carole Hudson," he introduced her and Kurt gave her a genuine smile while Blaine tried to act polite at least. Blaine had already taken care of paying for dinner, so he and Kurt walked out of Breadstix, flanked by his dad and Carole on either side.

He could see Karofsky and the hockey players leaning against a car as they passed, but Blaine looked away when he caught Karofsky's expression. The message was clear – this isn't over. His dad must have caught it too because instead of leading them to Blaine's car he walked them over to his truck.

"Blaine, if you give Carole your keys she is going to drive your car back to the house," his dad told him and Blaine reluctantly handed them over because he knew it was the best solution.

He and Kurt sat close together in the backseat, and Blaine was waiting for the inevitable questions but they didn't come.

"I need to drive Carole home," his dad finally spoke as they pulled into the driveway. "I want you two to wait for me in the living room, because we really need to have a talk as soon as I get back."

Blaine nodded and took Kurt's hand as they walked over to the living room couch. He sat down first and pulled Kurt against his chest, pressing a kiss to his temple.

"It's going to be okay. I promise."

Burt

It had been a long time since Burt had been out on a date with a woman and so it came as a surprise how much he enjoyed spending time with Carole. He knew from Blaine's outburst that his and Carole's kids didn't really get along but he hoped that would change in the future if he and Carole kept seeing each other.

When his phone rang right in the middle of dessert he quickly excused himself and took the call because he knew it had to be important if his son called him in the middle of his first date with Kurt. Before he knew it his fist were clenched and he took a few calming breath because he knew that stress wasn't good for him. Blaine sounded panicked enough as it was and someone had to stay clear headed.

"What's wrong?" Carole asked when he returned to the table with their jackets. "I'm sorry Carole but we need to leave. My son just called to say that he and his date got threatened at a restaurant and I need to go there and pick them up," he explained and Carole quickly put on her coat as well.

"I don't understand. Why would someone threaten your son and his date?" she asked on the way to the car and Burt sighed. It was probably a good idea to find out early if she was homophobic instead of after they'd been seeing each other for a while.

"Kurt Anderson is his boyfriend," he replied, checking her reaction from the corner of his eye. Carole's eyes widened for a moment before she told him that Kurt was a really sweet boy and didn't deserve all the things that had happened to him. Burt gave her a small smile, appreciating her support, and they held hands like a couple of teenagers while they were driving to Breadsticks.

It was a good thing she was with him, because when he caught sight of some large jock looking threateningly at his son and Kurt, he was tempted to run over and beat him up himself. But he knew that wouldn't help anyone, so he led the boys to his car and drove them home.

"I'm sorry for cutting our evening short," he told Carole as he walked her up to her front door. Carole shook her head. "I understand. Can I just ask you a favor? I recognized the boy from the parking lot – he's been over here a few times. If Kurt or Blaine tell you that Finn is involved as well, will you let me know. I've done the best that I could with him, but it feels like I'm losing him to people who are a bad influence on him."

Burt felt bad for Carole because she was a sweet woman, but if it came to light that her son was one of his kids' tormentors, he didn't know how he would handle it. "I promise," he told her before he got back into his truck and drove back home to talk with the boys.

They were cuddled up on the living room couch but pretty much sprang apart when he came inside. So far they'd been following his rules to a tee, but he wished Kurt wouldn't jump away from his son whenever he was in a room. He wasn't surprised however, Kurt was still afraid to be himself completely around another father, especially after how his own parents had treated him for over a decade.

"Why do I have the feeling this wasn't the first time this guy threatened you?" he asked as he sat down opposite the boys. He remembered the jock from Blaine's football team but as far as he understood the football team was leaving Blaine alone and Blaine and the glee club protected Kurt.

Kurt didn't say anything, staring at his hands in his laps, so Burt focused his attention on his son. "Come on buddy. I can't help you if you won't tell me what's going on," he tried to guilt his son into telling the truth and like always it worked like a charm.

"His name is Dave Karofsky and he's been mean to us pretty much since elementary school. He is the worst of the bullies at school because he targets Kurt all the time, pushing him around, throwing him in dumpsters, throwing slushies at him, and…"

Whatever it was his son wanted to add, Kurt's wide eyes seemed to stop him, but for now those things were bad enough.

"What does the school say about all this?" Burt asked already knowing the answer because he didn't think McKinley was much better than Blaine's old public school.

"Nothing. The other students either look away or enjoy watching and the teacher say we don't have proof. Most teachers just stay away from the hallways between classes, but there are some who just look the other way. No one dares to go against the football team, so we can basically do whatever we want without fear of punishment," Blaine continued and Burt felt his blood boil.

He had been on the football team as well in high school and some times they had taken other kids lunches until he got caught and his mom got called into the school. She had told him how disappointed she was and that she had raised him to be better than that and he had taken it to heart. Being nice might not have been the cool thing to do when you were on top of the food chain, but it had gotten him Blaine's mother out of it, while his teammates were often ignored by girls at school because they were jerks.

It was time to have a little talk with the other parents to see if they couldn't talk sense into their kids. But then he remembered what Carole had told him about having a hard time getting through to her son.

"Is Finn, is Finn one of those who bullies you as well?" he had to ask because he had promised Carole. Kurt finally spoke.

"He did before I joined glee. I mean he never shoved me but he was part of the group who threw me into dumpsters and threw pee balloons at me. Now he just stands by and lets it happen while the rest of glee is helping me out."

Burt was appalled. He couldn't believe what those kids were doing to one of their classmates. A boy they had probably gone to school with since they were kids.

He was honestly surprised Kurt was as put together as he was considering the abuse he had to deal with not only at home but at school as well. It was time to take action for both of his boys, because apparently Blaine wasn't protected by being on the football team anymore either.

"That's it. First thing Monday morning I'll have a little talk with your principle. No one pushes my family around, and it's time I'll let him know that," he growled causing Kurt to flinch for a moment.

He immediately lowered his voice as he added. "I'll take care of it because neither of you deserves anything other but a safe school environment."

Part 2: Burt takes on McKinley.