October 2011

Kurt stormed out of the classroom, poster board in hand and Puck's offensive comment running through his head. Why don't you make yourself useful and visit the Garglers...You can wear all the feathers you want. You'll fit right in.

It must be shit on Kurt week, he thought. If he had to hear one more homophobic comment or be pushed into one more locker today, Kurt swore he would scream.

His eyes were smarting, but he refused to cry. He refused to let Noah Puckerman of all people get to him. He pulled out his phone and checked the time quickly before angrily bursting through the back door to the parking lot.

Normally, Kurt would just let Puck's comment roll of him, but it had hit a little close to a thought that had already been going through his mind since Mr. Shue announced their competition the day before. There had been talk that Dalton was a "gay" school which Kurt had to roll his eyes at, but...maybe there was at least one out kid there, someone he could talk to...

If he hurried, he would have just enough time to stop at home, change clothes, and make it to Westerville before the school day let out. He was mentally flipping through his wardrobe for something that would fit in at a private school when he heard the door slam open behind him.

He turned to see Finn running across the parking lot. "Kurt, wait up!" he yelled.

Kurt took a deep breath and released it slowly out of his nose so he wouldn't snap at Finn. It wasn't his fault the other football players were assholes, and it had been almost a year since Finn had bullied Kurt himself.

"What, Finn?" he said when Finn stopped in front of him.

"Where are you going?" he asked, trying to catch his breath.

"To Dalton. I'm going to spy on the 'Garglers,' see if they're a threat." Kurt glances over Finn's shoulder, trying to avoid eye-contact. Finn was usually pretty oblivious, but he had rare moments of incite that made Kurt wary to look at him for too long.

"Kurt, look, man. Puck's an idiot. He didn't mean that," Finn said awkwardly.

"Of course he did," Kurt snapped. "Everyone here means all the homophobic, hateful things they say to me."

"C'mon, Kurt. It's just Puck being Puck. Come back inside. We really need you on this one. I know the guys were giving you a hard time, but they were just messing around."

Kurt clenched his jaw. "I can't take anymore 'messing around' right now, Finn. I just can't." Kurt's voice broke. He was still looking over Finn's shoulder, closely inspecting the bricks on the school wall.

"I know. I told them to cool it. Just come back inside, okay?"

Kurt sighed. "Fine," he said after a pause. "But if I hear one more offensive comment out of anyone, I'm out."

"Perfectly understandable," Finn said, smiling. He clapped Kurt on the back, and together they headed back into the building to discuss the boys versus girls competition they would have later that week.