"Hi Kurt!"

Kurt looked out from behind his locker door to see Jared bouncing up to him.

"Hello," Kurt greeted cordially.

"I had a question."

It was nearly a month in to the semester and Jared was already proving to be an alright kid.

"Mhmm?" Kurt responded, rifling through his locker for a notebook.

"I was wondering if you'd help me study for the physics test that we have in a couple of days," Jared said, looking at his feet.

"Of course," Kurt obliged. "We can meet for coffee after school tomorrow."

"Thank you so much," Jared said with a relieved sigh. "You don't know how much. I'll buy your coffee, I swear."

Kurt shut his locker and smiled. "Lovely."

"Okay…yeah…I'll see you there tomorrow! Or…also tomorrow before then, since we have class and all…so…tomorrow. Okay, bye!"

"Bye," Kurt said with a small wave.

Blaine slid up behind him, pressing a kiss to Kurt's neck. "He's such a nervous fellow."

"Fellow?" Kurt repeated, raising an eyebrow. "How dapper."

"I can be dapper," Blaine said. "I can be so dapper. I went to a boarding school."

"Oh yes, I keep forgetting."

"What did he want, anyway?"

"Help with studying for the physics test. He really is not that bright, like I said before. He's failed two quizzes already."

"You're tutoring that? Please take video."

"So much for dapper."

"I'll make it up to you. I'll buy you lunch."

"Don't make me swoon."

"Swoon away," Blaine said, hooking his arm with Kurt's and escorting him to his class.

Okay. So sometimes Blaine really could be dapper.

"He gave me a C," Kurt says later that day when he, Blaine, Quinn, Rachel, and Mercedes are all at the coffee shop on their off period.

"What?" Blaine asked in pure shock. Because Kurt's never gotten a C in his life. On anything. Or so Kurt has told him.

"My government teacher. Granted, it was a rough draft of the paper, but it was a C. And there weren't even that many mistakes or corrections that he pointed out."

"Did you talk to him about it?" Rachel wondered.

"No, I was too angry," Kurt admitted. "I would have said some really…awful things."

"There weren't any comments in the margins or anything?" Blaine asked.

"Not that weren't related to the paper. Nothing out of the ordinary. And it's not even the final grade, that's just what he said the grades would be if we didn't correct things."

"So correct the things he pointed out, make the changes he wants, and if he doesn't give you at least a B then you know something's up," Blaine reasoned.

Kurt shrugged. "I wish I could just have the other teacher. Why did I have to get the homophobe?"

"Do we even know for sure yet if that's what he is?" Quinn pointed out.

"No," Kurt said. "But it seems to reason out that way. He's got no other reason to dislike me. I've actually been a diligent student. I haven't done anything worth…not liking."

"If he doesn't change the grade after you rewrite what he wants," said Blaine, "then you're going to have to talk to him."

"I know. I don't rue the day."

Blaine slid his arm around Kurt's waist. "I know," he whispered into his ear.

"So…the equation for velocity is this?" Jared asked, pointing down to what he'd written on the paper.

Kurt looked over at his work and bit back a frustrated sigh. "No. That's…actually, I don't even know where you got that, but the equation for velocity is this," Kurt corrected, pointing to the proper equation in his notes.

Jared let his head fall to the table next to his coffee cup. "I'm so screwed."

"Just program the equations into your graphing calculator. Everyone else will," Kurt tried to comfort him. "You're going to be fine. You know everything else well enough, you just get the equations confused."

"Yeah but the equations are like, half the test."

"You'll be okay."

"How do you even remember all this crap?"

"I guess I just have a good memory," Kurt shrugged.

Jared sighed heavily and drained the last bit of his coffee. "You're lucky."

"I suppose."

"Can I ask you something totally not related to physics?"

Kurt paused, bringing his own cup to his lips. "I don't see why not."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Kurt almost spewed coffee all over the table after he heard the question. This guy…he actually thought…that Kurt was STRAIGHT?

"Ah…no. I'm…not of that persuasion."

"What persuasion?"

"The girl-liking persuasion."

"Oh! So…you're…"

"Gay," Kurt stated. "Very much so."

"Oh. Huh," Jared replied, his brows furrowing in a bit of confusion.

"Sorry if that…upsets you."

"What? Oh, no! I'm not upset, not at all. I've just never met a gay guy before."

"Never?" Kurt inquired. "Ever?"

"Dude, I'm from Kansas."

"Gay guys don't exist in Kansas?"

"Not where I lived. Not unless they wanted to be like…shot."

Kurt raised his head in acknowledgement. "Ah. Well, at least it isn't that bad here."

"Do you…do you get a bunch of crap for it? Being gay, I mean?"

"I used to," Kurt admitted quietly. "Not so much anymore."

"Like what?"

Kurt gave the boy a hard look because, really that wasn't something you just brought up.

Unless you're visiting Dalton and you meet your first out and proud gay male and start crying to him and telling him your life story.

But Jared wasn't Blaine.

"Sorry…if you don't…that was really like, inconsiderate," Jared quickly apologized. "You don't have to tell me."

"There was someone last year that nearly put me in a coma," Kurt finally said. "He's expelled. Sent to some alternate education facility very far away from Lima. And that's all I really want to say."

"Wow, I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. It's resolved."

Jared nodded quickly and then an awkward silence settled between the two of them in the coffee shop.

"So…do you have a boyfriend then?" Jared asked after a few minutes.

Really, this kid was the epitome of the curious cat. But it was definitely an opportunity to gush about the boy he loved so…

"I do," Kurt said, attempting to hide a smile.

"Does he go to our school?"

"He does," Kurt nodded.

"Are you gonna…tell me who he is?"

"You really can't guess?" Kurt wondered with that eyebrow quirk he had perfected.

"Uh…no?"

Kurt reached into his bag and fished around for his wallet. He pulled it out and opened it to one of the two pictures he had and showed it to the other boy. It was a picture of him and Blaine snapped at his birthday party. The two boys were sitting hip to hip, their cheeks pressed together, both of them giving broad smiles.

"You're dating Blaine?"

"I am."

"But he doesn't…even seem gay."

"You didn't seem to think I was gay ten minutes ago," Kurt pointed out. "And I'm the rather obvious one in the relationship."

"So I suck with the gaydar thing but…still. Lots of girls must be jealous."

"If they are, they certainly don't show it."

"But I didn't…I don't know."

"You don't see us holding hands or kissing each other in the halls? Because that, to me, seems like a really big give away."

"I guess I just never noticed it," Jared said with a small shrug of his shoulders. "Then again I keep to myself a lot and don't really…notice much of anything. How long have you been dating?"

"Almost a year now."

"Wow, you must really like him."

"I do. Very much so," Kurt said, a smile creeping onto his face as he toyed with the promise ring on his left hand before putting his wallet back into his bag.

"Is he your…first boyfriend?"

"He is."

"So I'm guessing you've only ever…ever, like done stuff with him?"

Damn, pry much? "He was my first in everything, yes."

"Do you think you guys will be together for much longer?"

"I think we'll be together for quite a while. I have dreams of marriage, but of course he's being the sensible one and always talks about how we never know what life will throw at us. So I really try not to be too hopeful," Kurt said.

"But how do you like…hm. How do you know?"

"…I don't follow."

"How do you know it's him you want to spend the rest of your life with when you haven't been with anyone else?"

Kurt paused. He didn't really have an answer to that question because…well…Blaine's Blaine. And they're…they're them and they worked ridiculously well together. They'd been through so much and here they were, nearly a year later and they were still going strong, despite everything life had thrown at them.

"I just…know," Kurt finally said. "I don't feel the need to be with anyone else, not when he gives me everything."

"See I don't get that," Jared said. "High school couples thinking they'll stay together forever. There's like, so many other people you're gonna meet. I don't get how you can know that Blaine's the one for you. I mean, my best friend in Kansas thought he was gonna be with this girl for like, ever and until the end of time and then he saw this super hot chick at a party. They started hanging out a lot and he realized he liked her way better than his girlfriend, so he dumped her and started dating the other girl. And he and his girlfriend were together for like, two years."

"Not everyone is Blaine. And not everyone is me," Kurt attempted to reason.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. Everyone's different. Still seems weird to me."

Kurt shrugged and sipped at the last bit of his coffee. He and Blaine…there was nothing stopping them. They certainly weren't like Jared's friend. They most definitely weren't like many other high school couples.

Yet…the seed had been planted.

"How'd the study date go?" Blaine asked him later that night while they were on the phone.

"It definitely wasn't a date," Kurt said.

"Kurt," Blaine gave a small laugh. "I know that."

"It was fine. He had trouble with the equations but the rest of the material he pretty much understood."

"That's good, then."

"He didn't know I was gay," Kurt blurted. "And he didn't know that you were my boyfriend. How…how do you miss that?"

"Some people are just very…unobservant."

"Or totally oblivious," Kurt grumbled.

"Does it…make you mad that he didn't realize any of this?"

"No…I don't know. Do I fail as a gay?"

"Oh my god."

Blaine had to pull the phone away from his face because he was laughing so loudly. Kurt's face turned into a scowl even though he knew Blaine couldn't see it.

"No I-" Blaine was still laughing. "Oh god, I'm crying."

"Yes, because this is so hilarious."

"I'm sorry," Blaine apologized, attempting to compose himself. "Sorry. I don't think you can fail at being gay. Unless there really was a certain set stereotype for how a gay man is supposed to act, I don't think that's something you can pass or fail."

"Well when you put it like that, you make me sound stupid."

"No, no. The way you phrased it is what makes it so funny."

"Maybe I just feel like I suck at…at…" Kurt went kind of quiet for a few seconds, not really knowing how to put it.

"At what, baby?" Blaine finally prompted him quietly.

"At…displaying my affection for you."

"What?"

"You're always so…showy and loving. Do I not do that enough?" Kurt asked sadly.

"You don't like a lot of PDA anyway," Blaine tried to reason.

"So I do. I do suck."

"No, Kurt, you do not suck at displaying affection for me."

"But he didn't even notice that we were-"

"So? You just said he didn't even know you were gay. If he didn't know you were gay, then obviously he wasn't going to think you had a boyfriend."

"Well…I'll do better."

"You don't have to do better at anything, though. I like the way you…"

There was a bit of silence on the other end of the phone and Kurt threw his hand up in defeat.

"See, you can't even tell me what I do!"

"Actually," Blaine countered, "I'm just trying to think of a less cheesy way to phrase 'the way you show your love for me'."

"…Oh," Kurt replied, the bit of anger he had deflating easily.

"You're not too showy and you're not like, made of stone. You're fine, Kurt. We're fine."

"You promise?" Kurt asked softly.

"I promise."

Kurt did not bring up the rest of the conversation he'd had with Jared because, really, Blaine didn't need to know about that part.

Because they were perfect together and that was that.

"Did you get your paper back?" Blaine asked when Kurt walked into the choir room. They were having their off period in here today rather than at the coffee shop. "The one for government?"

"Yeah. I got a B minus," Kurt huffed, tossing his bag onto the floor and sitting hard into the chair next to his boyfriend. "I'm pissed."

"At least it's not a C," Mercedes commented.

"Yeah, but it's like he gave me the minimum I deserved for doing the rewrites," Kurt said. "OH. And then a bunch of new notes show up in the margins, picking at things that he DIDN'T have a problem with in the rough draft! I can't win!"

"So talk to him and bring that up," Blaine said. "It's a valid point."

"It's not going to do a damn bit of good and you know it," Kurt snapped.

"Hey. Don't get bitchy with me just because you won't go talk to him."

"I'm not getting bitchy!"

"You sound kind of bitchy," Quinn put in with an odd look on her face.

"Well fuck you too, then!" Kurt shouted.

"Boy, calm the hell down before I bitch slap you!" Mercedes yelled back.

Kurt sighed heavily and put his head in his hands. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Baby," Blaine whispered, settling a hand on Kurt's back. "Why won't you just talk to him?"

"Because if I do I'm terrified that we're going to be right and that he does hate me for being gay and I don't want to deal with it," Kurt admitted sadly. "I'm tired of that."

Everyone was silent. The truth weighed heavily in the room and for once, Blaine really didn't know what to say. He looked to Quinn and Mercedes who just shook their heads at him because if Blaine didn't have the answer, how could they? The sad part was, they were going to have to deal with loads of this kind of intolerance when they graduated and had to be out in the real world. They'd end up working with people who had to tolerate their presence but not necessarily accept them or even like them as people. It was awful that it was a fact of life. But Blaine knew that Kurt knew this too, and he really didn't want to make things worse, so he just kept his mouth shut about that.

"If things get worse, I'll go with you to talk to him," Blaine ended up saying. Because, really, that's the only thing he could do right now.

Blaine sat on Kurt's bed, once again ignoring whatever he was supposed to be studying in favor of staring at Kurt, who was laying on his stomach with a textbook and a bunch of notes spread out in front of him. His knees were bent, his bare feet up in the air and crossed at the ankle. Blaine let his eyes trail down from there, appreciating the way his light jeans clung to his thighs and his ass. The green and cream colored striped shirt he wore hugged his sides, but a thin strip of skin was visible on his lower back, where the shirt had risen only slightly. Blaine smiled to himself and crouched over, planting small kisses along the line of skin on Kurt's back that he could see. He heard Kurt give a small sigh and he took that as the signal to continue, so he climbed on top of Kurt, straddling his waist and bringing his lips to Kurt's tense neck.

"Blaine…"

Blaine smiled against Kurt's skin and moved his lips to Kurt's ear, letting his tongue slip out to flick at his earlobe.

"Stop it, I really need to study," Kurt said.

"What're you studying for?" Blaine breathed into Kurt's ear, letting one of his hands drift up to trail along Kurt's shoulder and down his arm.

"Government," Kurt said flatly.

"Your test isn't until next week," Blaine reminded him.

"I know but I'd actually like to do well in this class so he doesn't have a reason to hate me."

"No one could possibly hate you," Blaine soothed, nipping at the skin behind Kurt's small ear. He attempted to slide a hand around to Kurt's front so that he could pull him closer.

"I said stop it!" Kurt ground out, physically removing Blaine's hand from his chest.

Blaine froze.

Then he quickly clambered off Kurt so that he was standing on the floor. What…had he done? He began putting his school things back into his bag while Kurt kept his eyes focused on the passage he had been reading.

"I'm…I'm sorry," Blaine whispered sadly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Blaine," Kurt sighed irritably. "You don't have to go."

"Yes," Blaine stated simply. "I do."

"I'm just not in the mood for-"

"No, no, it's okay," Blaine assured him. "I understand. You said to stop and I didn't. I was in the wrong."

"You weren't-"

"Yes. I was," Blaine said, leaning down to kiss the top of Kurt's head. "I'm sorry. I'll pick you up tomorrow for school. Don't stay up too late."

Kurt watched him go without another word. A deep frustrated sound that he couldn't even identify made its way out of his throat and he threw himself face down onto his bed.

What. The actual. Fuck.

When Blaine picked him up for school the next morning, he came bearing a extra large vanilla latte, a fresh cinnamon raisin bagel, and two containers of sushi his mother had made.

"The sushi is for our lunch, but the bagel and the coffee is for you now," Blaine explained.

"What-"

"I just wanted to apologize again," Blaine interrupted. "Because I shouldn't have done what I did last night. I just explained the merits of respect and conversation to all the guys in Glee and I went back on that word. I won't do it again. I promise."

Blaine was looking at him so hopefully and he couldn't help but smile at him and take the proffered bagel and coffee. Blaine smiled too and put the car in reverse so he could pull out of the driveway and that was it.

Kurt had planned on saying that he, too, was sorry for snapping so much at his boyfriend the night before, but he didn't. Because they were okay and Blaine had apologized first and it really only took one apology to clear something up.

Right?

Things seemed okay, at least. They were completely fine the entire day and Blaine still held his hand and kissed his cheek and gave him that heart-stopping smile. So Kurt shrugged it off and continued on.

"Hey Kurt," Jared greeted him near the end of the day. Blaine was in the bathroom and Kurt was standing outside the men's room door while he waited for him.

"Hello," Kurt replied. "How'd you do on the physics test? He passed them back today didn't he?"

"Yeah, I got a C!"

Kurt decided not to boast about his A and gave the kid a smile. "I told you you'd be fine."

"Yeah, I guess. But I was wondering if you'd want to get coffee again sometime," Jared asked plainly. "No physics invited."

"Oh, um…when?"

"Today, tomorrow, whenever," Jared said. "You're just fun to hang out with." He shrugged.

"Hey," Blaine said, walking out of the bathroom and kissing Kurt's temple. "Hey Jared," he said with a smile.

"Oh…uh, hi Blaine," Jared kind of stuttered.

"Ooh, am I intimidating?" Blaine asked, thumbs proudly hooked behind his suspenders.

"Oh shut your face," Kurt said, nudging his shoulder. "Don't be mean."

"I am hurt, Kurt. I'm never mean."

"We can definitely have coffee today, Jared," Kurt said, attempting to ignore Blaine's shenanigans.

"Are – are you sure? I mean, I don't…it isn't…I'm not asking you out on a date or anything," Jared responded, his eyes darting back between Kurt and Blaine's amused face. "Just…hanging out."

"Bring me a danish afterwards!" Blaine said excitedly.

"Yes, it's fine," Kurt said, still ignoring his boyfriend. "I'll meet you at four. We have Glee practice after school."

"Okay! Awesome. Great. And uh…thanks, Blaine. For…letting me steal him for a little while," said Jared.

"Oh, it's okay. I get tired of him sometimes. Might as well shove him off on someone else."

Jared's face looked kind of panicked and he was looking at Kurt, as if asking whether or not the boy was serious.

"That was a joke," Blaine said, trying to ease the nervous boy's fears. "I don't get tired of Kurt, I promise. But I don't care if he hangs out with other people either."

Jared released an anxious sigh and gave an awkward laugh. "Right. Duh! Of course. I'm stupid. But so…I'll see you later, Kurt?"

"Yes, you will," Kurt said, one corner of his mouth turned up into and amused sort of half-smile.

"Okay! Bye!" Jared ran off down the hallway.

"Tired of me, huh?" Kurt finally asked in amusement, turning to his boyfriend.

"Well you're just like, around all the time. I'm so sick of the sight of your face," Blaine replied, giving a mock disgusted shiver. "Better I pawn you off on someone else before I put a bag over your head or something."

"You're ridiculous," Kurt said, beginning to walk off.

"I could just close my eyes!" Blaine shouted as he ran after him.

"You're an idiot!"

"But I love you!"

Kurt shook his head and laughed at Blaine's antics. Really, the boy was just too damn adorable sometimes.

"Why do you get so nervous around Blaine?" Kurt had to ask while he and Jared sat down at a table inside the Lima Bean.

Jared shrugged and settled into his chair. "I don't know, really."

"He's like, half your size," Kurt pointed out. "His nick name at his old school used to be 'the hobbit'."

"Just because he's short doesn't mean he can't kick my ass," Jared reminded him.

"Blaine doesn't have a reason to kick your ass," Kurt reasoned. "Unless you plan on kidnapping me and making me your bride or something."

"What?" Jared squawked. "I'm not even gay!"

"Then you definitely don't have a reason to be so scared of him," Kurt said calmly, dipping a biscotti into his coffee.

Jared sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I'm just afraid he's gonna think that's what I'm after if I keep hanging out with you."

"That makes no sense."

"Don't you get…uh…suspicious of him hanging around other guys?"

"No," Kurt said firmly. "He likes to hang out with a bunch of the guys from Glee and watch football games sometimes. And he goes back to Westerville every once in a while to visit his friends there. I don't ever get…suspicious."

"But are any of the guys he hangs with gay?" Jared wondered.

"Not that I know of. He may have a few gay friends that he still sees that are from his old school, I'm not sure. I haven't met all of his friends."

"That'd make me nervous," Jared admitted.

"I trust him," Kurt said simply. "And he trusts me. We don't have any problems there."

"You guys are so weird," Jared said, shaking his head and smiling.

"…How so?"

"You're just like…not like any high school couple I've ever seen. You act more adult-like than a lot of adults."

"I don't see how our maturity makes us weird."

"Yeah. Maybe weird isn't the right word. Just…uncommon."

"We're okay with being uncommon," Kurt said, a small creeping onto his face. "My turn to ask the questions."

"Oh…okay, yeah. Shoot."

"Why so many questions about my relationship?"

Jared's eyes went wide. "I don't…I don't know what you mean."

"You keep saying that you're not gay. And that this isn't a date."

"Uh…because I'm not. And it's not."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I just…" Jared sighed and dropped his head. "I've never had a gay friend, okay. It's just…kind of cool to hear like, how you guys…do things. Not those things!" he said quickly. "I've just always wondered what it's like on the other side of the fence."

"Sometimes the grass is definitely greener," Kurt said, thinking about all the sex he wouldn't be having if he'd turned out straight.

Jared laughed a bit and then brought his eyes back to Kurt's. "My parents just raised me to be…really…open-minded. But where I grew up, I didn't really get the chance."

"Ah," Kurt said, lifting his cup to his lips. "Taking advantage of the first gay guy you meet. I see how it is. Wanting all the dirty details and then you'll drop me."

"What? No! That's not-"

"Jared," Kurt said swiftly, his voice flat. "I'm joking."

"Oh. Ha. Right," Jared mumbled into his coffee cup lid, slightly embarrassed.

"I will gladly be your link into the gay world."

"When you put it like that, you make it sound like I'm some sort of creep."

"Perhaps it was intended," Kurt said with a smile.

Jared eyes him, and when he caught onto the fact that Kurt was joking, he finally allowed himself to laugh.

"He wants me to be his gay…mentor. Thing," Kurt was saying as he sat on the countertop in Blaine's kitchen.

Blaine was currently leaning against the kitchen island and devouring the danish Kurt had brought him from the coffee shop.

"So…he is gay then?" Blaine said around the pastry in his mouth. "God, why are their danishes so damn good?"

"No," Kurt replied, completely ignoring Blaine's remark about the danish. "He specifically stated that he wasn't. He basically said that he's never had the chance to learn anything about gay people in his hometown and he wants to change that fact."

"That's commendable," Blaine said, licking at his sticky fingers. "Wanting to become more knowledgeable rather than remain ignorant. I give him props."

"I suppose."

"You don't agree?" Blaine asked, moving over so he was standing in between Kurt's legs, which were hanging off the edge of the countertop. He held out one of his fingers and Kurt graciously accepted it into his mouth, licking at the sweet taste of the danish and the salty taste of Blaine's skin. Blaine looked on with a smile as Kurt worked his tongue and his lips around his finger.

"I've just never met anyone like that before," Kurt eventually said, hooking his hands under his boyfriend's suspenders to pull him even closer.

"He's never met anyone like you before either, it seems. Maybe you two could benefit from a friendship," Blaine commented.

"He's terrified of you," Kurt said quietly with a smile. "He said, and I quote, just because he's short doesn't mean he can't kick my ass."

"Boy speaks the truth," Blaine replied as Kurt pressed their foreheads together.

"My hero," Kurt said softly.

"Damn straight."