Caught up in both his irritation with Santana and a general sense of panic, he had completely forgotten about his boyfriend and said boyfriends potential reaction. More than anything Kurt felt ashamed that he allowed himself to get so intoxicated that he fell in to one of Santanas deviant schemes. Coupled with this was the fact that things like piercings simply werent Kurt. Hed never once entertained the idea of getting one and rarely found them aesthetically pleasing on other people. As a general rule, body manipulations simply did not fit in to his idea of style and he was almost certain that Blaine felt the same.

Armed with the information in his hand and the full awareness that, one way or another, Blaine would find out about this, Kurt weighed his options.

First, and most practically, he could remove the ring right now and continue cleaning the wound until the hole closed up. The benefit of this choice was that it would be gone and, once healed, he wouldnt have to deal with it ever again. Plus, hed be back into his tight, high-waist jeans all that much faster. The downsides were dealing with an ugly scar and explaining said scar to Blaine. Of course even if he decided to keep it in for awhile, someday itd have to go, inevitably leaving him with a scar (and oh, was Santana going to pay for that fact). Should he choose to retain and care for the piercing, there would still be the matter of explaining his rash decision to his preppy boyfriend.

Kurt groaned, realizing that he couldnt win either way. Ultimately he settled on leaving the ring for the requisite month long healing process. He decided that he would rather let the scar tissue build up before removing it, instead of walking around with a vulnerable, oozing open wound. Now the only questions remaining were when and how to tell Blaine about his rebellious evening.

Sighing, he figured that sooner would likely be easier than later. He knew that Blaine was sequestered away at the moment, nose planted firmly against the grindstone, and normally Kurt wouldnt interrupt that. However, these were not normal circumstances, and he believed that Blaine would forgive him this once.

Kurt nervously dialed Blaine, unsure of exactly what to say but convinced that the phone call needed to happen.

Blaine picked up on the second ring.

"Hey stranger, I didnt expect to hear from you this weekend."

For a split second Kurt considered hanging up, to later pretend that he accidentally hit the number for Blaines speed dial. Unfortunately he hesitated a beat too long and Blaines voice wavered in concern from the other end of the line.

"Kurt, honey? Hello?"

"Hi," Kurt managed to croak, "sorry, I know I agreed to leave you alone this weekend, theres just something I need to tell you about."

Panic dripped from Blaines response,

"Oh my god, is everything ok? Whats wrong?"

Kurt mentally slapped himself for not coming up with a script before making the call.

"No, no, everything is fine. I just... well last night was incredibly bizarre and I wanted to tell you about it."

There was silence over the line for a few seconds.

"Kurt, I know you wouldnt be calling me right now if whatever happened isnt really bothering you. Please just tell me whats going on, because Im freaking out over here."

Again Kurt berated himself. This was not going well.

"Its just," he began, struggling to find the correct words, "Rachel, Santana and I got really drunk last night, and then we went out and..." Kurt lost his normally impressive vocabulary at this point.

"And..." Blaine interjected during the pause.

"And, well," Kurt continued, "I did something really stupid."

Another moment of silence followed before Blaine spoke again, his voice cracking.

"Kurt, did you... you didnt... was it another guy?"

Even though Blaine couldnt see him, Kurt shook his head vehemently.

"Oh, god, no, Blaine, nothing like that!" he exclaimed, hating himself for allowing that idea to float into his boyfriends head. He really should have gotten that coffee before trying to have this conversation. "No, definitely not. Its just, you know how Santana is, especially when she drinks. She gets ideas and has a way of talking people in to going along with them."

He heard Blaine release a breath, half in relief and half in exasperation.

"Kurt, youre really winding me up right now. Can you please give me a straight answer?"

Kurt pinched the bride of his nose.

"Sorry, Im not explaining this well at all. I think itd be easier to just show you. But I dont want you to walk away from your work, so do you think you can come over after school tomorrow?"

Blaine huffed out a short laugh.

"Ha! As if Im going to be able to focus the rest of the day after this cryptic phone call. I am almost done with this paper and really want to finish it, though. Can I be there at 2:00?"

Looking at the clock on the bathroom wall, Kurt noted that it was almost 11am. That gave him plenty of time to hunt down food and caffeine after making himself presentable. As an added bonus, his roommates would be at work by then and not set to come home until at least 7pm.

"Its really not that big of a deal. I know Im making it sound worse than it is. But if you really want to then, yes, 2:00 sounds good."

"Great. Now go take a walk or something and calm down a little. And get some coffee. And some food. I dont want to find you panicked AND cranky."

Kurt smiled. Sometimes it was scary how well Blaine knew him, but always comforting to know that he cared.

"Alright, I promise Ill go do all of those things soon. See you in a few hours."

"Youd better. I love you."

"I love you, too," Kurt replied before ending the call.

He set his phone down on the counter and began to strip off his clothes, all of which smelled disgusting. Kurt didnt bother doing anything other than toss them on the floor in a tangled heap. After all, hed already slept on the floor in them and they needed a deep cleaning before going anywhere near his closet again.

Kurt turned on the shower but didnt step under the spray right away. Instead he stood naked before the mirror, examining his body and considering how the new accessory fit in with the rest of his form. Even in the dim light of the bathroom the little silver barbell glimmered at his navel. It drew focus directly to his abdomen and he had to admit that this didnt necessarily bother him. A few years ago the idea of showcasing that part of his body would have horrified him. Now after enough dance classes, regular yoga sessions and other miscellaneous workout routines he took pride in his toned muscles and slim waist. The idea of someone elses eyes being pulled to that area actually made him preen a little. He took a final glance and stepped into the tub, prepared to add one more cleaning step to his showering routine for the next month.