The walk to their door room occurs in this sort of stiff, prolonged silence. Other students, stragglers who weren’t present in the corridor, are all checking their phones. When Kurt, Blaine, Burt, and Finn pass, they stare openly as if someone had just texted them to tell them of the showdown in the hallway. Kurt ignores them, squeezing Blaine’s hand to find the strength to do so.

Kurt almost feels like he should be wearing a giant A on his shirt.

Once they finally reach their dorm room door, Blaine shoves his key in the lock while Kurt turns back to his family.

“Can we just – can you give us a few minutes alone?” Kurt asks. “Please?”

Burt eyes him suspiciously and glances around, making sure the hallway is empty.

“Five minutes. And the door stays open,” Burt adds. “Because I don’t really know who I’m supposed to trust in this damn place.”

Kurt nods, thankful for even that much, and follows Blaine into the room. They leave the door partially opened and as soon as Blaine turns back to him, Kurt rushes into his arms and bursts into tears.

“I’m sorry,” he cries in a broken voice. “I’m so fucking sorry, oh god. I can’t believe that just – but I didn’t want – oh god, I’m so sorry!”

“Kurt, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Blaine says, rubbing soothing circles on Kurt’s back. “It’ll be okay.”

“Everyone knows,” Kurt laments, stomach tight with fear.

“I just – what happened?” Blaine asks. “Before I got there?”

Kurt presses his face into Blaine’s neck, ashamed to admit how quickly he panicked and how easily he spilled their entire secret.

“It’s alright, Kurt, I’m here,” Blaine whispers. “I’m here.”

“He – Brandon, he ran up to me in the hallway,” Kurt begins to explain. “He started talking about how he was going away and he didn’t know when he’d see me next and he – oh god, he told me he loved me and I freaked out! I didn’t know what to do, I don’t know what happened, it just came out! I didn’t mean to say it, I swear I didn’t!”

“Shh, shh,” Blaine says calmly. “I get it, it’s okay.”

“No it’s not,” Kurt moans miserably. “It’s over, we can’t-”

“We can’t what?” Blaine wonders, voice soft and sad.

“I – we-”

“You think we can’t be together now?”

Kurt sniffles, wiping his wet cheeks on Blaine’s shoulder. “You’d – after all that-”

“I still want you,” Blaine says with conviction, taking hold of Kurt’s shoulders and pushing him away just enough to be able to look into his eyes. “I will always want you. And I love you. That?” Blaine says, gesturing to the door. “That has nothing to do with us. We’re still here. The yelling and the talks and stares? It – it won’t matter so much by next year.”

“But your…what about your dad?” Kurt asks. “He’ll find out, you know he will. There were so many teachers. He’ll find out somehow.”

“I don’t give a fuck what my dad thinks anymore,” Blaine spits, though his eyes still look a little worried. “You are what matters, Kurt. I just don’t care anymore. This has become some sort of freak show and it’s ridiculous! We’re teenagers! And teenagers fuck up all the time, no matter if we’re at Dalton or anywhere else. This shouldn’t be that big of a deal, it just shouldn’t. No one else has any say in this. How we feel or what we do is our business.”

“Actually, I kind of think it might be a bit of mine, too,” Burt Hummel adds, pushing the door open and signaling that their time alone has come to an end.

Blaine steps away from Kurt, but slips his fingers into Kurt’s hand. They’re all silent, staring at each other while Kurt rubs at his wet eyes. Finn purses his lips and raises his hand.

“So…can someone just tell me what’s going on? ‘Cause all I know is that I wanna punch that Brandon dude’s teeth out,” Finn says.

“What I got from all this,” Burt says, “is that you two were apparently cheating on those other two boys back there. With each other. That right?”

“Yeah,” Kurt whispers, eyes on the floor.

“Why’d you cheat on ‘em?” Burt asks simply.

“W-what?” Kurt replies.

“Pretty easy question to answer, kiddo. Why’d you cheat?”

“Because we – because we just-”

It is an easy question. Or at least, it should be. But for some reason, Kurt can’t put his reasoning into words. All he can do is stare at Blaine and focus on his pretty eyes and the way he bites his lip while deep in thought. And then he starts thinking about how the hand that’s in his always feels on his skin and the way Blaine’s lips look when he smiles or the way he kisses him with so much behind it and –

And nothing.

There was nothing to say because no one else would ever be able to understand how Blaine’s gaze still gives him butterflies. No one else can understand how perfect Blaine’s arms feel around him.

He can’t answer. Blaine doesn’t speak up either.

Burt looks back and forth between them, brows furrowing consideration.

“Okay…can you say why you didn’t break up with those other boys before you two got together?” Burt asks instead.

“We didn’t want to hurt them,” Kurt admits. “And when it started, we didn’t really – we didn’t know that we’d feel like this about each other. It just started with se –I mean…uh…”

With raised eyebrows, Burt looks slightly pissed.

At Blaine.

“You sleep with my son?” he asks directly.

Blaine looks between Kurt and his dad, unable to speak and maybe almost ready to piss himself with fear.

“Simple question, kid,” Burt adds.

“Yes, dad,” Kurt finally states. “We had sex. Yes, it was consensual. For both of us. Nobody forced anybody. Yes, we used protection.”

Burt just blinks and stands there because Kurt kind of covered all the bases but then Finn seems to have a question.

“Wait,” Finn interjects. “Did you – uh – did you have sex with that Brandon guy, too?”

“…Yes,” Kurt admits.

“Okay, what the hell kind of school is this?” Burt finally roars. “I paid good money to get you in here and it seems like all you kids do is have sex and apparently drink.”

“Well they are roommates,” Finn points out. “Makes things easier.”

“Oh, thanks Finn,” Kurt says with a roll of his eyes.

“Don’t they have rules here? Aren’t teachers or something supposed to check on you kids at night?” Burt asks in a rage.

“Well,” Blaine finally speaks up, “they’re supposed to. But they, uh, they don’t. And to be perfectly clear, we only ever drank once. Uh, this semester.”

“You really just weren’t born with that filter, were you?” Kurt asks.

“Hey, you’re the one that told Brandon you were cheating on him,” Blaine returns.

“Good god,” Burt groans in frustration. “The hell goes on in this place?”

“I think it sounds like fun,” Finn states.

“You would,” Kurt says.

“Stop it!” Burt interrupts before a sibling argument can ensue. He points to Blaine. “You. You love my son?”

“Yes, sir,” Blaine responds immediately, squeezing tightly on Kurt’s hand.

Burt nods once and points to Kurt. “You love this boy?”

“Yeah,” Kurt says softly. He takes a step closer to Blaine. “I do, dad.”

Adjusting his baseball cap, Burt looks around the room and settles his hands on his hips.

“Then I guess it’s time to pack,” he concludes.

Blinking rapidly as if he can’t believe his father just said what he did, Kurt pauses before speaking. “What?”

“That’s what we came here for, isn’t it? I dragged Finn along ‘cause I know you got a lot of stuff and I don’t feel like being the only one who carries the heavy stuff to the car,” Burt says.

“You’re not – you’re not going to-”

“What am I supposed to do?” Burt shrugs. “Teenagers get into all kinds of crap. I can’t stop you from screwing up and I can’t really punish you when it comes to things like this.”

Kurt sighs in relief, as does Blaine.

“However,” Burt says pointedly. “I got serious issues with you staying here tonight, even if it’s the last night, after I know how they run this place and all the…things you boys get up to. And I’ve got an unbelievable problem with this school. But I’ll talk to you about that when you get home tomorrow. And,” he stares down at Blaine, “I want your word that you won’t have sex with my son tonight while you two are alone. I missed out on this – this parental control thing, it seems, but you kids are already in enough crap as it is and if you touch him inappropriately,” he glares, “I’ll know. And I’ll shoot you.”

“Dad!”

“No arguments. You’re lucky I don’t drag your ass back to Lima tonight.”

“You have my word, sir,” Blaine says quickly. “I promise.”

Blaine seems absolutely desperate to have Burt’s approval considering they obviously didn’t start off on the best foot. Kurt sighs heavily and nods. Burt’s gone quiet, giving Blaine the once over.

“So…packing?” Finn speaks loudly. “Packing is fun!”

Proud of himself for having hidden his condoms and lube deep in the bottom of a suitcase pocket last night, Kurt, Blaine, and Kurt’s family begin packing.

“So you’ll be home by noon tomorrow?” Burt asks one last time as they all stand outside of his truck in the parking lot.

The bed of the truck is filled with bags, suitcases and boxes from Kurt’s dorm room. The only things that remain in their little sanctuary are a change of clothes, a pair of pajamas, his bedding, and Kurt’s bathroom products, all of which he’ll be bringing home with him tomorrow. It had taken three trips from the dorm room to the truck before most of Kurt’s stuff was finally in Burt’s truck and they had already received a mountain of stares from boys lingering in the halls.

“Yes, dad. I’ll leave no later than ten in the morning.”

“Good,” Burt says gruffly.

“See ya tomorrow,” Finn says with a thump to Kurt’s back before climbing in the truck.

“Oh,” Burt says, about to climb into the driver’s seat. “Tell that Brandon kid that he got off easy. If I ever see him again, I’ll set him on fire after what he said about you.”

Kurt turns red. “I will.”

“The only reason I didn’t hit him earlier was ‘cause we were on school property and I didn’t need a lawsuit.”

“I know, dad.”

“If he-”

“I get it, dad,” Kurt says, urging his father to get into the truck. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You tell Blaine to remember his promise.”

“I will, dad.”

“Good.”

Nodding awkwardly, Burt climbs inside and starts the engine. Kurt begins the trek back to his dormitory room where he knows Blaine is packing up his own things. He’ll be so very glad to sit in silence for a while. Actually, he really just wants to sleep and pretend that this entire day had been a dream.

Sadly, when he gets back to his dorm room, Brandon is standing outside the door while he sees Blaine inside, trying to shut the door in Brandon’s face.

“He isn’t here!” Blaine shouts.

“Oh, I’m so sure,” Brandon snaps.

“He is right here, actually,” Kurt says, walking down the hall.

Brandon snaps his head in Kurt’s direction. There’s something hot and vicious in his eyes as they meet Kurt’s. People begin to peek their heads out of their doors to see what the commotion is.

“Can we do this inside?” Kurt asks tiredly.

Storming past Blaine, Brandon shoves into the room and Kurt follows with a gentle touch to Blaine’s shoulder. When the door shuts, Brandon whirls around to face the couple.

“I think you owe me a fucking explanation,” Brandon states forcefully.

“I don’t know what the hell else you expect me to say. I fucked up, I’m the one who ruined everything and now you hate me. What else do you want to know?”

“All this time, you – every single time you said you were tired or you just wanted to stay in or – you were always with him! Every time! You were letting him touch you and fuck you and – god damnit, Kurt!”

“I’m sorry!” Kurt shouts, seeing Blaine flinch out of the corner of his eye. He stands in the corner by the door, purposefully staying out of the line of fire. “I don’t know what else you want me to say!”

“Say you were wrong!” Brandon yells back. “Say you were wrong and come back to me! Leave him and stay with me! I had you first!”

Jaw dropping, Kurt stares at Brandon in horror. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not,” Brandon says firmly. “You were mine first.”

“That has nothing to do with anything,” Kurt says fiercely. “This isn’t a game of who had who first. The fact is that I love Blaine and I’m going to be with him, not you.”

“He doesn’t deserve you!” Brandon shouts, pointing to Blaine in the corner. “He lured you away from me!”

Blaine pipes up from his corner. “I never-”

“Shut up, you fucking tramp!” Brandon yells, looking as if he’s gone mad.

“Don’t you dare speak to him like that!” Kurt intervenes. “Don’t you dare!”

“I can say whatever I want!”

“Not to him, you can’t. You can call me every single name in the book and you can yell all you want about how much you hate me or how much I betrayed you but don’t you ever, ever speak to him like that again! And if you ever lay a hand on him again, the way you did earlier, you’ll be dead before he hits the ground,” Kurt says, venom thick in his voice.

Brandon’s fists clench at his sides, as if he’d love nothing better than to beat them both senseless.

“So that’s how it’s going to be then,” he concludes, anger still coursing through his blood. “You were with me for so long, I gave you everything and you – you choose him.”

“This has nothing to do with you,” Kurt spits. “It never had anything to do with you. It has everything to do with me. And Blaine.”

“It obviously has something to do with me. I did something to push you away otherwise you wouldn’t have turned to him.”

Kurt sighs in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose when he feels a headache coming on.

“No. That isn’t the issue. The fact is that I’ve had feelings for Blaine in some way, shape, or form since the day I met him. I squashed them down when I realized he had a boyfriend. That’s when you found me. And that’s when we started dating.”

Looking as if he had just been slapped in the face, Brandon’s entire stature crumbles. His shoulders slump in defeat as the realization hits him.

“So I – I was the second choice? This entire time…he was – you wanted him?” he asks.

“It isn’t about first or second or third choices, Brandon. It isn’t about choices anymore at all. If I could choose, if I had the power to - to stay away from him, I would choose you,” Kurt explains, desperate for Brandon to understand. “But it isn’t about choices. Because if I did pick you, I’d be staying out of some – some misguided moral sense because it was the right thing, the fair thing. I’d be with you but I’d want him. Every day. And I can’t do that to you. Or to myself. I won’t. And personally…I think it’s extremely selfish of you to ask me to stay when you know damn well I’d be unhappy.”

“Why is it selfish of me to ask you to stay? Isn’t it selfish of you to leave me?” Brandon wonders. “You run off to your knight in shining armor and I’m left alone. How is that any more fair?”

“Because you’re strong enough to move on and find someone else. You’ll be starting a new life at college, surrounded by thousands of new people. And you have the chance to find someone else, someone who can love you in a way I never could. Maybe it isn’t – it isn’t fair, maybe fair isn’t the right word,” Kurt says, hating how horrible he’s probably making Brandon feel but there’s nothing for it. He can’t do anything to make this better.

Brandon shrugs helplessly, as if he has nothing else to do, and leans back against the edge of Blaine’s bed.

“Why can’t you just love me instead?” Brandon asks.

Glancing toward Blaine, Kurt sees him gesture to the door. Kurt nods and Blaine slips outside, leaving them alone in the room to finish the discussion.

“I tried,” Kurt admits, sitting next to Brandon on the bed. “That’s why I – that’s why I never broke up with you. I couldn’t figure it out. You were so good to me, so sweet and sometimes you looked at me like I was the only person in the world that mattered. You were amazing and I didn’t understand why I wanted Blaine so much when you gave me all you had.”

“It wasn’t enough, was it?”

Brandon’s looking at the floor, shoulders heavy as if his entire world had just crashed down around him and the pieces were too large to pick up and move. Kurt timidly takes hold of one of his hands.

“It just wasn’t what I thought I needed,” Kurt says.

“But he is? He’s everything you need?”

“…Yeah,” Kurt says softly. “And maybe more.”

Nodding for a few seconds, as if resolving something in his own mind, Brandon turns to Kurt with tear filled eyes.

“Will you kiss me?” he asks, just a whisper, just a breath. “One last time?”

At those words, Kurt is torn because it really is the least he can do after all the damage he’s caused, but at the same time he doesn’t want to fall into this habit of kissing other people when he’s with someone else. It’s funny, how easily he let himself think of Blaine and miss Blaine and want Blaine when he was with Brandon and how difficult it is for him to acquiesce to this one simple request.

“I’m not – I don’t want it because I want you to hurt Blaine,” Brandon says. “I just want you to tell me how it feels to you.”

After what seems like an eternity of internal deliberation, Kurt nods his head and Brandon leans in. Kurt’s eyes fall shut instinctively because this is familiar territory. Brandon’s lips are wet from tears and his kiss is gentle, barely moving his lips over Kurt’s. He doesn’t hold on to Kurt anywhere else besides the hands clasped between their thighs and eventually Brandon is the one to pull away.

Kurt eyes remain closed and he presses his lips together, still damp from Brandon’s salty tears.

“And so?” Brandon asks quietly, a little too hopeful.

Kurt exhales. “Bittersweet,” he whispers. “Like something that could have been.”

Brandon slowly extricates his fingers from Kurt’s and stands as Kurt opens his eyes. Brandon looks resigned, as if he’s finally coming to terms with the fact that he can’t win this or that maybe there was never anything to win in the first place.

“You really love him,” Brandon states.

“I do,” Kurt says sadly because it’s true and he can’t change how he feels.

“Okay,” Brandon says with finality. “I hope – I hope he makes you happy, Kurt.”

Kurt stands so quickly that he almost trips over his own two feet as he throws himself in Brandon’s arms. This was something he never expected; he never, in a million years, thought that they could part like this yet here they are. Brandon hugs him back, though his arms are limp and Kurt knows he’ll never be one hundred percent okay with the situation.

But it’s a start.

“I’m sorry for calling you a whore to your dad,” Brandon apologizes as they part.

“You’re lucky he didn’t kill you.”

“I figured as much. And I’m sorry I hit Blaine. And called him a tramp. I just wasn’t – wasn’t thinking straight.”

“I know. Though you might consider apologizing to him as well,” Kurt says, leading Brandon to the door.

“I don’t know if I’m there yet.”

“Maybe one day,” Kurt tosses out, opening the door.

As soon as they step into the hall, the image that greets them is nothing like what they were expecting.

“Fuck you, Blaine Anderson!”

With those words, in the middle of the hallway, Thomas slaps Blaine as hard as he can across the face before he immediately turns and walks away. It doesn’t look like he hit very hard though, considering Blaine is still standing. Blaine clutches his cheek with both hands and stumbles into the wall. Turning to face Kurt and Brandon with disbelieving eyes, he speaks.

“Why in the god damn hell does everyone feel the need to hit me?”