"And there's this one boy, Kurt Hummel."

Blaine stopped in the middle of the hall as he was passing the teacher's lounge, confused at the sound of his best friend's name.

"He's such a fag, always wearing these little bow ties and fixing his hair. I can't believe I have to teach that thing."

The curly-haired boy recognized his teacher's voice. He didn't understand what the word fag meant, but it didn't sound good. And calling Kurt a thing certainly wasn't good; he knew that much. Happy mood deflated, Blaine continued to the classroom, where he was greeted excitedly by Kurt. The shorter boy distractedly put away his homework folder as Kurt chatted at him.

"Blaine? Blaaine?" a hand waved in front of his face.

"Hmm?" Blaine turned to look at Kurt.

"Are you okay? Did you not sleep or something?"

Hazel eyes watched blue for a while, contemplating sharing what he'd heard.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"You're my best friend, right?"

"Of course. Why?"

The dark haired boy's eyes flickered around the room and he leaned in a little closer.

"Do... do you know what a fag is?" Blaine whispered nervously, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Kurt shook his head.

"What is it?" he asked confusedly.

"I don't know," Blaine admitted. "I was walking to class and heard Mr. Warnes in the teacher's lounge. He was talking about you and he called you a fag and a thing," he said slowly, gauging his friends reaction.

"Oh," Kurt said, not sure what to think. "Are you sure?" Blaine nodded.

Kurt chewed on the inside of his cheek. He didn't know what that word meant, but he had noticed the way Mr. Warnes never smiled at him the way he did the other kids. This was further proven when the man in question walked into the room with a 'good morning!' and smile that disappeared as he laid eyes on Kurt.

Kurt looked away immediately and swallowed. Blaine caught his eye and smiled sadly.

XOXOX

"Hey, Dad?" Kurt called nervously as he approached his father, who was sitting on the living room couch and watching a football game.

"Yeah, kiddo?" Burt's head turned towards his son, but his eyes didn't leave the screen. Kurt sat gingerly and licked his lips.

"What does fag mean?" he asked, just audible over the sporting event. Burt stiffened and looked at his son slowly.

"Where'd you hear that?" he asked. Kurt grew more nervous, and hesitantly told his father what Blaine had said.

When Kurt went to bed that night, he was just as confused as he had been before.

So now he knew what that word meant, but he didn't understand why people thought it was bad to be gay. He can sort of see it from their point of view if he squints, but he still doesn't know why it even could be wrong. His dad had said something about the bible, too, but they had never really been a religious family.

Teeth brushed and pajamas on, Kurt pulled a walkie-talkie out of his desk drawer. Blaine had moved into a house over in the next neighborhood, and they'd bought the devices so they could talk whenever they pleased without tying up the phone.

Kurt pressed the 'call' button, which would make Blaine's ring. A few moments later, his best friends voice crackled through the speaker.

"Hey, Kurt."

"Hi Blaine."

"What's up?"

"Nothing, really. I was just wondering, uhm. If you'd..." Kurt was unsure how to finish his sentence.

"Asked what that word meant?" Blaine asked. Kurt always marveled at how Blaine knew just what he was thinking.

"Yeah," he laughed a little.

"Yeah, I did. Did you?"

Kurt nodded, then realizing his friend couldn't see, quickly pressed the button and said, "Yeah."

A few moments of silence passed, and Kurt had begun to wonder if Blaine had disappeared when the speaker crackled again.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think... you know, you might be? Gay, I mean?"

Did he? Kurt had been thinking about that a little earlier. He didn't really know how he felt. Another minute passed before Kurt spoke again.

"I... I don't really know. I mean... I never really thought about it, you know?" he finally said.

"Y-yeah," Blaine replied.

"What about you?" Kurt asked.

"I dunno either."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

XOXOX

Come Monday, Both Kurt and Blaine's parents had spoken with the principal of the boys' school, and Mr. Warnes was no longer a part of their fifth grade picture. They now had a very nice, little old lady as a substitute until a permanent replacement was found. Unlike their previous teacher, this one took an immediate liking to Kurt as soon as he walked in, bow tie tied and cuffs linked. The substitutes first words were, "Well now, aren't you just precious?"

At the end of the day, Kurt climbed into his dad's truck as usual, and stored his bag at his feet.

"Hey, kiddo, how was school?" his father asked routinely.

"Good. Really good," Kurt smiled.

"Yeah? How's your new teacher?"

"Well, we've only got a substitute right now, but she's really nice. Class actually started late because she started talking to me about shoes," the boy's eyes were full of laughter, as was his voice. Burt chuckled.

"That's nice, kid. So you're all good?"

"Yeah, Dad," Kurt said, still smiling. "I'm fine."