A week later, things for our favorite couple took…a rather odd turn to say the least.

They were fighting.

A lot.

It began on a Saturday night, Kurt eagerly awaiting Blaine's imminent arrival and when his doorbell rings, he races to the front door quickly. He pulls it open to reveal Blaine standing there, twisting a single rose in his fingers, with one of those dazzling, heart wrenching, loving smiles.

"For you, my darling," Blaine says dramatically, holding out the rose.

Kurt clasps his hands together and brings them to his chest just as dramatically, giving a mock gasp. "For me?" he drawls in a bad southern accent. "You spoil me, dear!"

"The best for the best," Blaine returns.

Kurt graciously accepts the rose and brings it to his nose as Blaine moves inside, his overnight bag on his shoulder. Kurt closes the door behind him and they both move into the living room. Blaine's face changes and excitement vibrates through his frame as he catches sight of what Burt and Finn are watching on the television.

"Oh my god!" Blaine exclaims immediately. "Is that game on tonight? I totally forgot! Who's winning?"

"Buckeyes of course," Burt informs him. "Wouldn't expect anything less from our boys."

Blaine bites his lip and finally turns to Kurt. "Can I…would you mind if I sat and watched the game for a while?" he was practically begging.

Kurt's face falls and then a false smile appears on his lips, thought it doesn't quite reach his eyes, but Blaine doesn't seem to notice.

"Sure. Yeah, that's fine."

Blaine frames his face with his hands and presses a kiss to the tip of Kurt's nose. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just wanna watch for like, an hour! I'll be down soon, I promise!"

Blaine quickly throws himself onto the sofa near Finn and gets immediately engrossed in the game. Kurt stands behind the sofa, staring for a while at the back of Blaine's head before he storms off downstairs but Blaine didn't notice that either because his eyes are still glued to the TV.

True to his word, not even an hour later, Blaine makes his way down to Kurt's room, bag in hand, and he notices…hey the lights are off.

"Kurt?"

There's no response so Blaine has to feel his way around and drops his bag onto the sofa and moves over to where he's pretty sure the bed is.

"Kurt?" he asks again, kicking off his shoes and shrugging off his sweater before climbing into the bed. He feels around and notices Kurt has his back to him, still on top of the covers and fully clothed. "Are you asleep?"

"Not anymore," Kurt grumbles. "How am I supposed to sleep with you fumbling around like a blind platypus?"

"I'm sorry, it's dark."

"This I know. I was the one that turned the light off."

"Is there…something wrong?" Blaine asks.

"Of course not. Why would there be anything wrong? You only just abandoned me for my father and my brother of all people."

Blaine kind of freezes up because…what the hell?

"You…you said it was okay. I thought…I wasn't even gone for an hour. I didn't even stay to see the end of the game."

"It isn't the length of time, Blaine. It's the fact that you chose them over me."

"Kurt, I didn't…choose anyone over you. It was just a stupid football game."

"If it was so stupid, why'd you feel the need to watch it in the first place?"

Blaine just kind of sits there because he really doesn't know what to say and he sure as hell doesn't understand there this...attitude is coming from.

"You can't even defend yourself," Kurt snaps.

"I didn't know I needed to defend myself to you!"

"Well when you pick football over me, maybe you ought to have a good reason next time!"

Blaine snaps his jaw shut. Really? This is fucking ridiculous and he doesn't want to fight. He was hoping maybe Kurt would let him be the little spoon tonight but it didn't seem like they'd be doing any kind of cuddling in the near future. But…Blaine really hates going to bed angry and he kind of feels guilty. Because he did plan to spend time with Kurt, not Kurt's family. At the same time, though, Kurt was just being…rude and sort of…really hurtful.

But one of them has to apologize and Kurt doesn't seem to be in the mood to relent and Blaine really wants to feel his arms around him. So he leans over and rubs his hand along Kurt's arm and he feels Kurt's muscles tense.

"I'm sorry," he whispers sadly into his boyfriend's ear. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

Kurt relaxes almost instantly at Blaine's words. Blaine kisses his temple and turns over, shucking off his jeans and his t-shirt, crawling under the covers and he's sure to lay down with his back to Kurt. After a couple of strained seconds, he hears movement that kind of sounds like clothes being removed behind him and then feels the blankets lifting up and then he feels Kurt's smooth chest pressed against his back. Kurt slips an arm around Blaine's waist and grabs for his hand. He pressed a few soft, sweet kisses to Blaine's neck and suddenly they're okay.

Or so it seemed that way until a few days later when Kurt snapped at him for something equally as ridiculous.

And then it happened again a few days later. Kurt scolded Blaine for simply assuming he wanted a vanilla latte and what if he wanted something else instead and maybe Blaine should ask him next time.

Another time, Kurt pushed Blaine's arm off from around his shoulders, exclaiming that he should stop being so touchy feely all the time because, while Kurt loves him, they don't need bodily contact every second of every hour of every day.

Again and again this happened, Kurt arguing with Blaine over the tiniest things, making mountains out of molehills.

And every single time, it's Blaine apologizing. Blaine keeps telling Kurt 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' As soon as Blaine muttered those three little words, Kurt's smile returned and things were okay.

But two weeks into this bullshit, Blaine snapped.

It happened when Blaine was waiting at the kitchen table for Kurt one morning so they could drive to school. Kurt walked out of his bedroom and approached Blaine with a grin but when Blaine stood, Kurt's smile turned into a disapproving frown.

"Really?" Kurt asked, his hand on his hip.

"…What?"

"Your shoes and your belt don't match," Kurt said, rolling his eyes and heaving a deep, frustrated sigh.

"…They're both brown," Blaine said. He looked down at the items in question.

"They're not the same shade of brown."

Blaine's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Are you serious right now?"

"Do I not look serious enough for you?"

"You're upset because the shade of brown on my belt isn't the same shade of brown as my shoes," Blaine attempted to clarify because this made absolutely no sense to him.

"I believe that's exactly what I just said," Kurt retorted.

Blaine rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't act all put upon," Kurt decided to say. "I'm sure I have plenty of belts that will actually match those things on your feet."

"OKAY. That's it. I'm done with this!" Blaine exploded. "What the hell is with you?"

Kurt actually looked a little shocked, which confused Blaine to no end because he was of the firm belief that Kurt knew exactly what he was doing every time he nitpicked.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Kurt returned heatedly, "but there's no need for you to YELL at me."

"I have plenty to yell about! You've been like this for two weeks! Two fucking weeks! Everything I do seems to piss you off and I've had it!"

"I haven't been doing ANYTH-"

"Yes you have! I can't…I can't do anything right! You argue with me about coffee and football and say I should stop being so touchy and now you're pissed because my BELT doesn't match my SHOES because they aren't the same SHADE OF BROWN. What the hell do I have to do to make you happy? Because right now it seems like…like everything I do is wrong!"

"I don't-"

"And you look at me sometimes like I've just…like I broke EVERYTHING you've ever loved in one fell swoop and I don't understand, I don't…I don't get it!"

Blaine pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes because he's so fucking frustrated right now he wants to break something. Or cry. Or maybe both. He's fighting…he's fighting so hard for Kurt. He's fighting to make everything work and he's fighting to make Kurt stop looking at him like that.

"And it's always me who has to say sorry," Blaine continued when he finally let his hands drop from his face and he kind of hated himself in that moment because his eyes stung with unshed tears. "I always apologize, even if I didn't really do anything wrong. And I do it because I don't want to fight with you but I feel like I have to fight for everything lately and I'm…I'm so tired of it. I don't want to do this anymore but it keeps happening because you won't tell me what your problem is."

Kurt stood there in stunned silence, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wild. Blaine didn't know what to say anymore. He didn't even know if he had anything left to say. What he really wanted to do was just walk out and leave Kurt to drive himself to school and not talk to him the rest of the day. Sadly, that would be defeating the purpose, so instead he falls into the chair he only recently vacated, hanging his head in despair. Kurt cleared his throat loudly before finally speaking.

"Blaine, I…I didn't…I never meant to make you feel this bad. I didn't even know what I was doing, really…"

"But you know on some level," Blaine replied tiredly, "if you can say you didn't mean to make me feel bad. So just fucking tell me so I can fix whatever I broke."

Maybe it was the way Blaine looked so ungodly downtrodden, maybe it was the fact that Kurt finally realized why he was doing all this, but he's drawn to Blaine so he moved over to him. Paying no heed to whatever clean or unclean state the floor may be in, Kurt sat down on the kitchen floor right in front of Blaine. He took Blaine's hands and gave them a tight squeeze.

"I think…I needed…I don't know. Maybe subconsciously, for some stupid reason, I maybe have been…pushing you," Kurt admitted, trying to find the right words. He felt like he was diagnosing himself with some kind of clinical disease or something. "Because I needed to know that…that you'd still be there."

Blaine raised his head, his expression a pained one and he shook his head in confusion. "What are you talking about? You know I'm always here for you."

"I know but…" Kurt paused because he had to figure out how to say this properly. "I felt like I had to…make sure. Like, if I got angry enough and just…pressed all your buttons every way and any way I knew how, you'd get fed up and just…leave."

Now Blaine looked even more confused and hurt.

"You…want me to leave you?" Blaine asked in a strangled whisper.

"God no," Kurt said immediately. "No. I don't want you to leave. I never want you to leave. I think it was more because…I – I needed to know that you'd stay," he finished quietly, avoiding Blaine's gaze.

Blaine sat stock still, his eyes locked on the top of Kurt's head. That's what this was about? Kurt was making him angry on purpose because he wanted to know that, no matter how ridiculous or pissy or outrageous Kurt became…he wanted to know that Blaine would still be there.

"You're a fucking idiot," Blaine finally said, allowing a small smile to show on his lips.

Kurt's head snapped up. "I love you too, then."

Blaine gripped Kurt's head, not caring if he screwed up his boyfriend's precious hairstyle, and pulled his face towards his, crashing their lips together in a heated, clumsy kiss. Kurt whimpered into Blaine's mouth and crawled up on his knees so they were at a more similar height and quickly moved his hands to cup themselves around Blaine's neck and pull him even closer.

"I can't leave you, Kurt, I can't even…don't ever think that," Blaine whispered harshly between kisses. "Don't…just don't."

Kurt nodded and pressed his lips against Blaine's again, twining his hands into Blaine's outrageously curly hair and nipping at Blaine's bottom lip with his teeth.

Blaine stood quickly, pulling Kurt to his feet as well and they did that awkward, stumbling dance back down to Kurt's bedroom. They made a mutual, silent agreement to skip school together that day because spending it in bed sounded far more appealing. The belt and the shoes that had caused the argument were flung somewhere and clothes were damn near torn off and besides when they had to detach their mouths to pull off their shirts, their lips stayed glued together.

"Inside me," Kurt ground out as Blaine pushed him onto the bed. "I need it, please…"

"Yes," Blaine agreed, showering Kurt's flushed face with dozens of tiny kisses. "Anything."

Blaine was on top of him in a flash, their bodies already overheated and over stimulated and they were already sweating and whining, rocking against each other. Blaine's lips attached themselves to Kurt's neck, kissing and licking every bit of pale skin he could reach. He gave a particular harsh suck to the hollow at the base of Kurt's throat, causing Kurt to fist his hands into Blaine's hair and release a deep, grumbling moan that sounded like it came straight from his fucking soul.

"Now, Blaine, please," Kurt hissed between gritted teeth.

Blaine kept grinding his hips into Kurt's, even though he had to reach into Kurt's nightstand drawer to retrieve the (almost empty, hm, they'd have to fix that) bottle of lubricant. He was about to slick up his fingers whenever Kurt stopped him.

"No, I…please…"

"What?" Blaine questioned roughly, still nipping at Kurt's jaw line with his teeth. "What do you want? Tell me."

"I want you but…no prep," Kurt whispered.

Blaine pulled away just as he was about to suck Kurt's bottom lip into his mouth. "But it's…it'll hurt you, I don't want to-"

"I know," Kurt rushed to say. "I want it to…I need it to hurt. I want to still…be able to feel it. Tomorrow when I sit down, I need to be able to just…I need it," Kurt barely managed to say because oh god, what if Blaine thought he was some masochistic freak for wanting this?

But Blaine seemed to understand just fine. Kurt wanted to be able to feel it because he wanted to know that Blaine was still here and that he'd be here tomorrow and every day after that too. So instead of rubbing the lube over his fingers, he proceeded to slick up his cock instead. It would be pure torture for both of them if they did this with no lubrication at all.

"C'mere," Blaine grunted as he sat up on his knees, pulling Kurt up with him and urging him to straddle himself over Blaine's lap. He squeezed Kurt's hips firmly, angling them until his cock was aligned with Kurt's tight entrance. "This is going to hurt," he warned.

Kurt nodded quickly, worrying his kiss-swollen lower lip between his teeth and wrapping his arms loosely around Blaine's neck. Blaine guided Kurt's hips down and felt his cock push through the tight ring of muscle and holy shit when he said tight he meant fuckingtight.

Kurt muffled his cry by biting his lip hard, his hold around Blaine's neck going tense and shaky and every muscle in his body wrought with something like pain. Blaine had his arms around Kurt's pale waist and he pulled him closer so their bodies were nearly flush together.

"It's okay," Blaine said breathlessly. "No one's home, you can...you don't have to-"

But he didn't need to say anything more because Kurt was forcing himself down into Blaine's erection and he screamed so loudly that Blaine was about to shove Kurt off his lap because fuck, if Kurt felt this tight around him, he couldn't even imagine what Kurt must be feeling. But Kurt refused to be pushed away, leaning into Blaine's sweaty neck and biting down hard on the skin there and whining, crying until Blaine was buried completely inside him. Kurt's fingernails were clawing so fiercely at the skin on Blaine's back that Blaine was pretty sure he'd be bleeding by the time this was over.

"Fuck," Blaine murmured against Kurt's shoulder, pressing kisses there. "Are you okay?"

Kurt nuzzled at Blaine's ear. "It feels like I'm being split in half," he said through clenched teeth. "But holy shit it feels so good, too."

"We can stop if you-"

"No!" Kurt stopped him. "No, please." He rocked his hips forward experimentally and they both moaned, deep and guttural in their throats. "Oh god…"

Blaine thrust up gently and Kurt's arms tightened around him, their stomachs and chest rubbing together. Kurt was positive he'd have scratches on his chest from Blaine's bit of chest hair but dear lord, everything was so…so intense and it was like every sensation was multiplied; the pain was multiplied, the pleasure was multiplied, the soft feeling of Blaine's lips on his shoulder felt like the sweetest touch in the world.

"Kurt, holy fuck," Blaine ground out when Kurt raised and lowered himself onto Blaine's cock again. He was still so tight, vice-like tight. And when either of them moved, his muscles would clench even more and Blaine's cock was squeezed into this hot cavern that did not want to let him go. "You're so…are you sure this isn't…Jesus…"

"Perfect, it's perfect," Kurt replied in a ragged breath. He wanted this to last forever. He wanted the fierce ache, wanted the sting, welcomed this completely-full feeling. He whimpered when Blaine released his hold on his waist to lean back and brace himself on his elbows, straightening his legs out, so he could thrust. Hard. "OHmygod!" Kurt very nearly shouted because Jesus Fucking Christ, this was the perfect angle because Blaine's cock hit that spot inside him so harshly and so unexpectedly that it was almost torturous when he did it again and again. Kurt rode him, his thighs and his knees aching like hell but that didn't matter.

None of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was Blaine inside Kurt and Kurt's hands on Blaine's chest and their breathing and them moving. Kurt leaned down, gripping Blaine's forearms that were flat on the bed to keep himself somewhat upright. He crushed their lips together in an almost painful kiss and then he said, "I love you so fucking much, Blaine."

Blaine's eyes went wide and he felt Blaine tense below him and give a few more sharp thrusts that actually sent them both tumbling over the edge, with Kurt moaning loudly and Blaine hissing, "I love you," until they were both spent and both covered in come and until they collapsed. They were sticky and sweaty, chests heaving, and Kurt was kind of heavy but even that didn't matter because they were there together and Blaine was still inside Kurt. Kurt wanted him to stay there forever.

Of course that couldn't happen and Blaine eventually had to slip out and Kurt released a harsh gasp because it really did hurt and he was already sore. But he got what he wanted. He'd definitely be feeling this tomorrow.

"Did we just have actual make up sex?" Blaine asked, smoothing down Kurt's hair.

Kurt couldn't help but let a laugh escape and press his forehead to Blaine's chest before looking up so he could catch his eyes. "I think so," he replied with a smile. "Not half bad."

"You're going to hurt," Blaine said, sympathy easily readable on his face. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Kurt said swiftly. "You don't have to be sorry for anything anymore. I'm sorry I put you through all of that without even…consciously realizing it."

"I'm not leaving you," Blaine promised, brushing a bit of hair away from his lover's face, echoing his statement from earlier. "I don't know if there's a force strong enough in this world to keep me away from you."

Kurt's smile faded and he just looked…really sad. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."

Blaine traces his thumb over Kurt's lips.

"You loved me," he said simply.

And really, sometimes that's all it takes.

The next day, they were both correct. Kurt's ass was in some serious pain all day. On some deep, demented level, Kurt sort of felt like he deserved it. He put Blaine through pointless agony for two weeks. He'd nearly brought him to tears over a stupid belt and a pair of shoes so the least he could do was sit through the day with a constant ache from their activities from the day before.

And he just felt like an idiot for telling Blaine to stop being so lovey dovey. He'd really missed Blaine's arm around his waist when he walked him to class and he missed the sweet kisses Blaine pressed to his cheek whenever he felt it was appropriate.

"Hey Kurt!" Jared greeted with a bubbly pep in his step.

"H'lo, Jared," Kurt returned his greeting with a sideways smile as he opened his locker.

"You weren't at school yesterday," Jared noted. "Were you sick?"

"A bit, yes."

"I guess you're feeling better, then?"

"Much."

"That's good. 'Cause I was wondering if you wanted to catch an early movie tonight. You know, not too late. We still might get matinee prices if we go after school. I figured early would be best, in case you and Blaine had plans later or something."

Kurt decided not to point out the fact that Jared could always invite Blaine along with them, because the boy still seemed kind of nervous around Blaine and he would effectively be the third wheel if his boyfriend tagged along.

"What movie?" Kurt wondered, pulling out his government textbook.

"Oh, I don't even know what's out. I just figured we'd change it up from the coffee shop. It's up to you, really," Jared said, rocking back and forth on his heels.

Sometimes, Kurt really didn't know where he stood with Jared. Sure, they'd become friends and they'd gone for coffee a couple more times. It always seemed like Jared initiated their get-togethers though. Not that Kurt had an issue with asking Jared if he wanted to hang out, Jared was just always the first to get there. And because their newfound friendship was still a bit on rocky ground for some reason, Kurt just…had an odd feeling when it came to Jared.

"A movie sounds fine," Kurt finally said when he closed his locker. "Nothing scary. I don't like scary movies."

"Aw, I'd let you hold my hand if you got scared, Kurt," Jared assured him with a silly grin.

"How chivalrous," Kurt commented. "But seriously. No scary movies. I don't even watch them with Blaine, though he offers to cuddle me as well."

"I didn't mean like, actually cudd – oh. You're joking again. Or being sarcastic. One of the two."

"You're learning," Kurt said airily. Sometimes teasing Jared was far too easy. And somewhat gratifying.

"So we can just decide on the movie when we get there?"

"Sounds great."

"Okay! See you after your Glee rehearsal!" Jared bid farewell with a broad smile and awkward wave before darting down the hallway.

"Why do I always find you here, with Jared running away?" Blaine wondered, sliding up next to Kurt and taking his hand.

"I think I terrify him as much as a fascinate him. Odd combination and a very peculiar basis for a friendship," Kurt replied easily.

"So it seems," Blaine said, pressing a kiss to Kurt's fingers. "Class?"

Kurt sighed. "If we must."

"I think we must, considering we missed all of them yesterday."

"It was for a good cause," Kurt defended as they meandered down the hallway hand in hand.

"Still sore?" Blaine asked, scrunching up his nose a bit.

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"I'd kiss it better if you let me," Blaine tossed out.

Kurt stopped walking and turned his wide eyes toward his boyfriend because hello, they hadn't even talked about that little possibility.

"P-people actually do that?" Kurt stuttered. "I thought that was only done in bad porn movies."

"Oh no," Blaine said. "People do it. I've always wanted to try. Perhaps one day you'll let me experiment with you."

Kurt shivered at the thought. Before this point, the thought of Blaine's tongue…he hadn't even considered like…no. He just hadn't. But now he was having all these thoughts like, well Blaine's mouth on his cock felt freaking fantastic and Blaine's fingers brushing over his entrance felt like magic so…what could a tongue feel like down there?

"You need to talk about something else," Kurt said suddenly. "Because now I cannot get the thought out of my head."

"Oh really?" Blaine asked, waggling his eyebrows up and down in the most lewd manner.

"Jared asked me to go to the movies with him," Kurt decided to say. Yes. Best to change the subject because…yeah. "An early showing, he proposed, in case you and I had plans later."

"Thoughtful little thing, isn't he?"

"Mmm," Kurt breathed in agreement.

The movie-going experience with Jared went quite well, all things considered. As they sat in the theatre before the previews, they actually didn't talk all about Kurt's relationship with Blaine this time, instead broaching other topics such as music and their families. Yes, Kurt explained to the jittery boy, Kurt's father was open and accepting of him just as his step-mother was. Yes, his step-brother was occasionally weirded out by the fact that Kurt was having more sex than he was, but it didn't define their lives. Kurt found out that Jared, too, had had sex. With girls of course. But no, none of them were from McKinley. He couldn't really find many girls he was all that attracted to at their school, but that was okay, Jared assured him, because he wasn't going to fail again and he'd be in college next fall anyway.

"So you always knew you were gay?" Jared asked as they headed towards Kurt's car in the parking lot.

"I'm not sure if I always knew. It's just what I am. I probably only really realized it in about sixth or seventh grade, when I noticed people around me started going on little dates or going to dances. I just had to kind of sit on the sidelines during all of that because I was slowly realizing that I wasn't exactly…like all of them."

"I'm sorry," Jared felt the need to apologize. "That must have been really hard."

It was kind of nice, Kurt thought, to have someone straight who…felt…sympathy for him. Sure, Blaine totally understood where Kurt was coming from in terms of figuring out you were gay. But to hear someone like Jared say 'I feel for you, guy' meant something else.

"No need to be sorry," Kurt eventually said. "And yeah, it was hard at first. Especially when you have to realize it all on your own. And it that sense, I mean…I didn't have a girl or a boy to kiss to give me a clue as to what I might like. People just sort of avoided me."

"I can't imagine how shitty that must have been."

"No," Kurt agreed quietly, pressing the unlock button on his key ring. "You can't. That's okay though."

All in all, it had been a nice friendly afternoon. Sure, Jared was no Mercedes, but besides Blaine (who he was dating) and besides Finn (who he was quasi-related to now), Kurt didn't really have any close guy friends. Yes, he had the guys in New Directions, but they were really just…they didn't reach out to Kurt the way Jared had. He dropped Jared off at his house and that was that.

"I failed the test," Kurt admitted quietly to his friends during his off period. "I can't…I failed the test."

"What test? The government test?" Blaine was purely shocked.

"Yeah."

"You only just got the test back today?" Rachel inquired.

"It was all short answer questions so I guess it took him a while to grade them," Kurt explained dejectedly. "I don't – I don't get it. I studied for an entire week. I knew the material. I know that I knew the material. I was one of the first people to turn the test in. I…what am I going to do?"

Blaine was horrified. Kurt had never failed anything in his life. His father was going to be pissed; hell, Blaine was pissed.

"Let me see your test," Blaine demanded.

Kurt fished the test in question out of his bag without a word and handed it to his boyfriend. Blaine took it eagerly, shocked at the amount of red ink splattering the page. He perused all of the notes left behind by Kurt's teacher, scoffing outright at some of it.

"Did he warn you that he was taking points for grammar?" Blaine asked directly.

"No."

"He counted off for your verb tenses being different in each question. He counted off for use of a semicolon. He counted off for run-on sentences. And that's not even a run-on sentence! What the – the man counted off because you wrote your name in the upper left hand corner instead of the right one! It's…it's all like this. He didn't even say anything about your answers being wrong. He just…it says here it's incomplete. You wrote three whole paragraphs for one short answer and it's incomplete?"

Kurt just hung his head and let the tears come because this is what he was dreading. This is why he'd studied so hard. This is exactly what he was trying to avoid and now…there was nothing for it. He was going to have to confront his teacher.

"Do you know anyone in the class that received an A or B?" Blaine asked, his voice hard.

"I…I think the girl behind me got a B," Kurt recalled, sniffling a bit.

"You need to ask her if you can borrow her test. And maybe find someone who got an A. I want to compare the notes your teacher gave them to the notes he left on your test. But for right now…I'll be back," Blaine said with finality, standing and heading towards the door.

"Wait, wha – where are you going?"

"To my government teacher. I want to see what he has to say about your answers."

With that, Blaine stormed out of the choir room, leaving Kurt with Mercedes, Quinn, and Rachel.

"My dad's going to murder me. He's going to strangle me with my favorite Versace belt," Kurt was already bemoaning the loss of his life.

"Blaine will fix it," Mercedes assured him, gently rubbing her hand up and down his back. "Your boy always pulls through."

"Either way, I'm still going to have to talk to my teacher. I don't want to, I don't," Kurt said, completely depressed.

"You should make Mr. Schue go with you," Rachel suggested. "Or the other government teacher. Mr. Paige is really nice, but he's a harsh grader. If he sees your answers as sufficient, that's saying something."

"I don't want to involve anyone else," Kurt said quickly.

"Kurt, this is really serious," Quinn said. "If a teacher is failing you because he doesn't agree with your sexuality, that's a major foul. He could be fired."

"And what if it isn't even the fact that I'm gay?" Kurt said, having a small epiphany. "What if he doesn't like me for some other unwarranted, insane reason? What am I supposed to do then?"

"You figure out what the hell his problem is and you bring an adult in," Mercedes stated. "Either way, he's singling you out. You can't just fail someone for no reason at all. He took points off because you didn't put your name in the right corner. Somethin' ain't right with this mess."

They spent the next few minutes trying to keep Kurt from bursting into hysterics and they all sighed with relief when Blaine returned.

"Where's Mr. Schue?" Blaine asked first off.

"I don't know," Rachel said. "I'll check his office and if he's not in there, he's either in his Spanish classroom or the teacher's lounge."

"Please," Blaine said, urging Rachel to check his office.

"What did he say?" Kurt asked hopefully. "What did your teacher say?"

"Mr. Paige said your answers were overly-worthy of an A."

"Are you – are you serious?"

"I'm dead serious," Blaine said. "Is he not in there?" Blaine asked when Rachel returned.

"No. I'm better the teacher's lounge because this is his off period too."

"Come on Kurt," Blaine said, holding out his hand for Kurt to grasp.

Kurt stood on shaky knees and placed his hand in Blaine's warm, firm grip. Blaine led him out of the room and down the hall, briefly glancing into the Spanish room to make sure their Glee coach wasn't inside before moving on to the teacher's lounge.

"Mr. Schue?" Blaine inquired, poking his head around the doorway. He gave a relieved sigh when he saw the man they were looking for in conversation with the guidance counselor. No other teachers seemed to be present. "Can we come in?"

"Sure, Blaine, come have a seat."

Blaine gave a polite nod and dragged Kurt in behind him.

"Blaine, why are we – he doesn't have to be involved in this," Kurt protested immediately.

"I already spoke to Mr. Paige and he said he'd join us in a meeting if we'd like him to be there, but he also said that if you had another teacher with us as well, one who could give stellar recommendations as to your academic habits, that wouldn't hurt. I'm not taking any chances. Just as well that Miss Pillsbury is here too, she can be a moderator."

"Whoa, what's going on boys?" their slight guidance counselor asked as Blaine nearly shoved Kurt into a seat at the table before sitting next to him.

"We, meaning Kurt, Rachel, Mercedes, Quinn, and myself, are all of the firm belief that Kurt's government teacher is purposefully giving him bad grades due to the fact that he is uncomfortable with Kurt's sexuality," Blaine explained.

"Wha – how did you come to that conclusion?" Mr. Schue asked, looking appriately concerned.

"In the beginning of the school year, Kurt told us that he – what's his name?" Blaine wondered, turning to Kurt in askance.

"Mr. Price."

"Kurt has been on the receiving end of multiple withering glances given by the illustrious Mr. Price even before he'd ever opened his mouth in the class. He's looked on Kurt with disdain since day one. There was a previous incident with an essay in his class, wherein which Kurt received a C on a rough draft. After editing the essay, making sure to rewrite, reword, or re-research all points and notes made evident on said rough draft, he turned in the final copy. He received a B minus. Upon receiving the graded final draft of this paper, multiple other notes were penned, penalizing Kurt for not editing other points of the essay which had not previously been considered erroneous or ill-written during the grading of the initial draft. Today, Kurt received his graded copy of a short-answer test taken nearly two weeks ago. He studied for approximately the entirety of the week before the test. He received an F," Blaine finished, handing the test in question over to their Glee coach. "Do peruse the comments."

Sometimes Kurt forgot Blaine went to a private school for years. And then he tosses out speeches like that beautifully verbose gem and it all comes back to him.

The two students sat in silence as Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury looked over the essay, their faces lighting up with confusion and a bit of anger. When Mr. Schue raised his eyes to Blaine's once more, Blaine continued speaking.

"Mr. Paige, my government teacher, said that Kurt's answers were correct, valid, complete, and deserved an A. He even went so far as to say that he deserved extra credit for pointing out things that wouldn't have been covered in the lecture and that he obviously cross-referenced in another book because Mr. Paige knows some of those things aren't covered in the textbook this school provides."

His boyfriend, Kurt decided, was the best boyfriend in the entire fucking world.

There was a stunned silence and then Mr. Schue gave a nod as if to say 'challenge accepted'.

"Looks like I'll be joining in on this visit with one Mr. Price," the show choir teacher finally said.