Kurt arrives early to his English class the next day. He puts down his bag on a desk in the front, because lately, it hasn't been that bad sitting in front of the teacher like it usually is. At least when it comes to all the other teachers at this school. But Kurt actually quite enjoys sitting in the front now, glancing up at Mr Anderson now and then, looking at his teacher's usually focused, serious face as he reads something in his papers. Kurt smiles a little to himself thinking about his new teacher, and the smile doesn't disappear as a familiar, short body walks through the door, cheerfully whistling on some old song.

”Good morning, Kurt!”, Mr Anderson almost sings out the words, tossing his brown leather bag on his desk.

”You seem awfully cheerful for a high school teacher at eight o' clock.”, Kurt states in a sarcastic voice, smiling wider.

”What can i say? Drank a lot of coffee on my way here i guess.”, Mr Anderson gestures to show his cup of coffee and smiles.

”You really have a thing for coffee do you? I mean, since you obviously likes walking around spilling coffee over peoples new clothes and all.”, Kurt jokes, daring to be just a tiny bit more teasing and witty than before. Is this the way you should talk to your teacher though?

”Well like you said, i am a high school teacher, coffee is the only thing making the job easier.”, Mr Anderson chuckles before continuing, ”And also witty students like you of course!”.

Kurt smiles at his teacher's words. Mr Anderson does actually appreciate him and his humor. Maybe he actually enjoys their little conversations as much as Kurt does. Kurt hopes he does.

”I'm glad to hear that.”, is all Kurt can think of responding.

Is this what flirting feels like? Not that Kurt has any experience of it, but this- this sure feels like flirting. Witty comments, winking, Mr Anderson telling Kurt he appreciates witty students like Kurt. Stop it Kurt Hummel, Kurt thinks to himself, Your teacher is most certainly not flirting with you. But the thought creeps on him every now and then, and Kurt can't help but hoping that it is flirting. That he is not just making it all up in his head. The familiar sound of the bell rings and other students arrives to the classroom. Mr Anderson nods a little towards them as they walk inside, but somewhere in between the other people in that classroom, Mr Anderson's gaze meet Kurt's and the younger boy can feel his chest aching for some unknown reason.

Later that afternoon, Kurt seats himself in his car with his dad, driving him to the hospital for the regular routine visit that Burt has to go to every other month after his heart attack a year ago. 

”Promise to listen carefully to what they say and then tell me.”, Kurt anxiously says to his father on their drive to the hospital.

”I thought I was the parent here.”, Burt jokes, causing Kurt to roll his eyes.

”Just promise me?”

”I promise, kiddo. You've got nothing to worry about.”, his father assures him but Kurt doesn't really feel better. Because these repeated drives to the hospital, always makes him nervous. Because he can not forget what happened. He can not forget that he almost lost another parent. 

Kurt, like always, brings the latest issue of Vogue with him to read while he waits for his father. Vogue never failed cheering the boy up. It was just something about getting totally caught up in an article about the next seasons fashion or reading your horoscope that relaxed Kurt instantly. And that's exactly what he needs in a situation like this, because otherwise he would be sitting here, probably panicking because he would only be able to think about his father's condition and what could have happened that time last year. And Kurt certainly does not enjoy overthinking and worrying, so Vogue is always the perfect distraction to him. And it always have been, ever since his mother died, he would beg his father to read him the magazine as a little boy. And that stuck with him.

After about fifteen minutes in the waiting area a familiar voice reaches the boys ears, ”Kurt?”.

He quickly looks up just to see Mr Anderson in front of him. And god, he is wearing grey sweatpants and a hoodie and Kurt for some damn reason has to hold in a gasp at the sight. 

”Mr Anderson? Hi!”, Kurt closes his magazine, watching Mr Anderson as he settles down next to him on the uncomfortable couch.

”Everything okay? Or what are you doing in the hospital?”, Mr Anderson asks, just out of curiosity, Kurt supposes but the boy can also hear something like concern in the mans voice.

”Yeah i'm fine. Just waiting for my dad.”, Kurt explains.

”Does he work here?”, the hazel eyed teacher continues with raised eyebrows.

”No he is here for uhm, a routine visit.”, Kurt shrugs, smiling a bit, hoping for no further questions about why his father is here.

”Oh i see.”

”What about you?”

”Well my brother, Cooper, called me like fifteen minutes ago in panic because apparently he heard his ankle snap while he was working out.”, Mr Anderson laughs a little at the story and Kurt raises an eyebrow.

”Poor your brother, if only he knew that you are sitting here laughing at him.”, Kurt says ironically with a smile.

”He is just such a drama queen.”, the man defends himself, ”Although his ankle did look kind of blue”.

”You sound like horrible support.”, Kurt teases, causing his teacher to laugh once again in the quiet room.

”That might be true but you should have heard him being all dramatic about it, saying something about having to amputate his whole leg.”, Mr Anderson tells him with a huge grin.

”Okay well that does sound like a typical drama queen.”, Kurt states, laughing along with his teacher.

”You ready to go home, kiddo?”, the voice of his father interrupts them, eyes on Mr Anderson with a suspicious look in them.

”Yeah, sure.”, Kurt answers quickly, standing up as Burt walks towards them.

”Is this your friend here?”, he asks.

”No, uhm, this is my new English teacher, Mr Anderson.”, Kurt responds, mentally slapping himself for blushing for some reason.

”Hi, Mr Hummel, I'm Mr Anderson.”, his teacher formally introduces himself, reaching out a hand to shake Burt's.

”Sorry, thought you looked a bit to young to be a teacher.”, Burt admits.

”Dad!”, Kurt snaps, shooting a warning look towards his father.

”No it's okay.”, Mr Anderson laughs, ”I guess looks can be a bit deceiving.”

Burt simply nods and Kurt smiles a little.

”Well, nice to meet you, Mr Anderson.”, Burt says with a tired voice, and the teacher smiles.

”I'll see you in school, Kurt.”, he says.

”Bye Mr Anderson.”, Kurt smiles before walking arm in arm with his father out from the hospital and towards the car. 

And while he really does listen to his father talking about what the doctor said, his mind seems to wander a bit. To hazel eyes and white, perfect teeth. Kurt shakes his head. Why is he thinking about his teacher again? This needs to stop, he decides.

The second week of school is over and during the weekend, Kurt's mind is busy. Busy with homework, busy with thoughts on college, but most of all busy with the thought of a bowtie wearing, coffee drinking, short man who seems to appear every now and then in the boys brain. And sure he tries to keep himself busy and to distract himself by cooking, hanging out with Rachel and arguing with Finn about what movie they should watch. But somehow, the thought of that cheer laugh and those bright hazel eyes are stuck in Kurt's brain and the boy really does not know why. Okay so Mr Anderson is cute. Or adorable. Or freaking gorgeous. But Kurt can keep those thoughts to himself, it isn't that unusual that students thinks their young teachers are hot, right? Because it is harmless, it is. Kurt remember having a crush on his teacher in kinder garden too, and there wasn't anything wrong with that either, so this should be the same, right? Kurt is trying to convince himself, but every time he tries to push those thoughts of his very handsome teacher away, they seem to become more clear and more eager. Kurt sighs. Why does he always have to crush on people who can never crush on him back? He's been there numerous time now. Will he ever be loved? Kurt thinks to himself. Why can't he just accept that he needs to wait for someone, why is he so eager for love, why can't he wait? He groans into his pillow that Sunday night, tossing and turning in his bed. He just wants that hazel eyed man out of his dreams and out of his mind, because this is just a crush. A harmless crush that will never be anything more. 

Monday arrives and this is the first time that Kurt has felt nervous to go to Mr Anderson's class. And the boy can't figure out why, but it sure does bother him. Is it because of this stupid crush? God, this really needs to stop right now. Because Kurt will not accept his stupid crush making it hard to focus in classes and making him screw up school. He will not allow that to happen. Kurt gets dragged out of his thoughts as another person arrives to the classroom with a huge pile of books in his arms.

”That does not look too stable.”, Kurt laughs a bit at the sight of Mr Anderson struggling to carry the big pile, almost stumbling on every step.

”Kurt! Thank god! Would you help me with these?”, Mr Anderson says, chasing his breath.

”Well yes, if you aren't going to drop them all over me, like your coffee.”, Kurt teases before grabbing the five first books at the top.

”You're never gonna let go of that coffee incident aren't you?”, Mr Anderson laughs, placing the now smaller pile of books on his desk.

”Never.”, Kurt answers with a smirk.

”Where does all of that wittiness come from? I am amazed.”, Mr Anderson once again laughs, crossing his arms as his hazel eyes turns to Kurt.

”I guess it's like my own little shield or something.”, Kurt shrugs, not seeming to be able to stop smiling towards his teacher.

”Well it's a very good shield i might say.”, the man says with a smile before turning towards his desk.

”By the way, i've got something for you.”, he continues, causing Kurt to raise his eyebrows a little.

”You do?”

”You forgot this at the hospital.”, Mr Anderson hands him the Vogue magazine Kurt had brought with him to the hospital.

”Oh i didn't even realize i forgot it, thank you! I mean, I didn't even get to read my horoscope when i read it before.”, Kurt says, quickly starting to flip the pages.

”Really? Well you can't miss out on what the stars have to say about your life this month, can you?”, Mr Anderson teases. He literally teases Kurt, with the tone in his voice and his eyes and his gestures and everything.

”Actually, something about the position of Jupiter is apparently making something in my career happen this month. Something good, it says.”, Kurt quickly answers with as much sarcasm in his voice as his teacher, flipping the pages in the magazine.

”Go jupiter!”, Blaine says with a laugh, ”What does mine say?”

”What sign are you?”, Kurt asks, glancing towards Mr Anderson as the man walks a bit closer to see the magazine.

”Aries.”, he says.

”Well so it says-”, Kurt begins, ”that because of some random star collapsing, you will have one event changing your whole life.”, Kurt's eyes meet those hazel ones again.

”Really?”, Mr Anderson says, with a smile and a voice so calm it makes Kurt shiver.

Kurt does not break the eye contact, and their gazes holds for a little too long without anyone saying anything before the door slams open and the other students walks in. Some of them saying hi to Mr Anderson, and some of them giving Kurt funny looks. Kurt rolls his eyes because he is used to it, one thing that he is not used to though is this tingling feeling and that weird form of shiver that just took over his body seconds earlier. And never in his life has Kurt Hummel had a hard time focusing on a lesson before, today though, he seems oh so distracted by the shine from a pair of hazel eyes meeting his every once in a while.

The rest of the school week goes by quickly. Kurt makes himself busy with intense studying and all of his focus and energy on Glee club. He is happy to be back actually, and while he tries to convince himself that this sudden happiness comes from being back in glee with his friends, there's something else too. But Kurt does not let himself think any further about what that might be. On Friday afternoon while Kurt is on his way to glee club, he feels something hard against his shoulder. Pushing him into the lockers, causing Kurt to both hit his head and fall to the ground. Kurt looks up. Azimio and Karofsky.

”Good to be back in school, right Lady boy?”, Azimio laughs, giving his friend a high five.

”What the hell is your problem?”, Kurt stands up, brushing some dust off his pants, looking Azimio dead in the eyes.

”I wouldn't talk back like that if i were you little fairy boy.”, Karofsky answers with an ugly grin on his face.

”Just because your lives are both miserable and pathetic, you do not have to ruin mine.”, Kurt snaps between clenched teeth and the two larger boys walks towards him.

”What was that?”, Karofsky warns.

”You're both nothing and you know it, you're pathetic.”, Kurt spits out, not knowing where this sudden braveness is coming from.

”You don't know anything!”, Karofsky spits back, eyes dark as begins to push Kurt up the lockers.

”Hey! What are you doing!?”, a familiar voice gets both Kurt and Karofsky's attention and they both turn their gazes to the man walking towards them.

”What are you doing? Let him go, now!”, Mr Anderson speaks loudly and Kurt can feel his heart stutter a bit at the worried tone in his voice.

”Do not ever talk back to me like that again, Hummel.”, Karofsky hisses, letting go of Kurt before he quickly walks away with Azimio.

”Kurt, are you okay?”, Mr Anderson immediately asks, looking at Kurt with wide, concerned eyes.

”Yeah, I'm fine.”, Kurt sighs, brushing some dust from the floor off his clothes yet again.

”What was that all about?”, Mr Anderson continues, looking even more confused.

”It's, ugh, It's a long story i guess.”, Kurt tells him, tossing his bag over his shoulder, reaching a hand against the back of his head. 

”Ouch.”, he hisses at the touch and Mr Anderson's eyes gets even wider.

”Come with me.”, the teacher simply says, nodding towards an empty classroom.

”So, what is the story?”, Mr Anderson asks as Kurt has settled himself down at a desk.

”I mean i guess we don't really like each other. Or more like, we hate each other. That's it.”, Kurt shrugs.

”Why?”, Mr Anderson says confused, crossing his arms in front of Kurt.

”I mean, he has been harassing me for quiet a long time now.”, Kurt bites his lip.

”How long?”

”About three years i would say.”

”Are you serious? Why haven't the teachers done something about it?”, Mr Anderson's voice is more upset rather than confused now.

”I don't know, they all let homophobia slide away too easily.”, Kurt sighs, leaning his forehead against his palm.

”What do you mean?”, Mr Anderson asks.

”I mean that I am gay and that is why he is harassing me.”, Kurt tells him, voice a little louder and a little more annoyed than before. Because Kurt does not like talking about this.

”You're kidding me?”, Mr Anderson asks again with a voice that sounds both confused, weak and- sad?

Kurt raises his eyebrow because, hello, he just told his teacher that he is gay and he would expect some sort of disgusted reaction, but Mr Anderson doesnt react at all. Maybe he really is a genuinely good and caring person, and maybe he does not care about the fact that Kurt is gay. Maybe it doesnt bother him like it seems to do to everyone else?

"Nope.”, Kurt shrugs.

”Listen, Kurt. I won't let that happen again, okay? Just tell me if he says or does anything like that to you again, and i'll take care of it. Or do you want me to go and tell the principal right now?”, his teacher with the hazel eyes tells him and the boy almost flinches at the words because when have anyone been acting so genuinely nice to him? And a teacher? A teacher that actually cares about the fact that this whole school is homophobic?

”No, uhm, you don't have to tell Figgins, it's alright. But i appreciate what you said. It feels nice to hear that someone actually cares about the issue.”, Kurt answers after a few seconds in silence.

”Of course i care about the issue. I care about my students. I care about you, okay? And i don't get it why the teachers haven't done anything about this yet.”, Mr Anderson shakes his head, and Kurt barely hears those last words because Mr Anderson just told him that he cares about Kurt. And Kurt would normally roll his eyes, thinking that it is just empty words, but the sincerity and seriousness in Mr Anderson's voice makes Kurt believe him.

”Thank you.”, Kurt manages to say, suddenly feeling a little light headed about the whole situation, ”I think i will just go home now. Can't bother to deal with Karofsky or Azimio anymore today.”

”I understand you. And i will keep an eye on those two for you, okay?”

”Okay.”

”Now have a good weekend, Kurt. Take it easy.”, Mr Anderson smiles.

”You too, Mr Anderson.”, Kurt smiles back, ”You know, maybe you can pour some coffee over both of them, i would love to see that.”, Kurt jokes just as he reaches the door, feeling the wittiness coming back to him.

”Ah! The coffee incident. I will think of it. But i don't think i wanna waste my precious coffee on people like them.”, Mr Anderson laughs with a wink.

Kurt simply smiles before he walks out the door and out of the school. Kurt continues to smile to himself all the way to his car, like he achieved something. But it suddenly hits him, this is not some new good friend, and this is not flirting. This is his teacher, he reminds himself. But it is such a genuinely nice and caring person that just happens to be taking place in the body of an English teacher. Kurt sighs. Sure, Mr Anderson is nice. And rather cute. And so maybe Kurt has a tiny crush, and so what? He surely can't be the only one to think that McKinley highs new English teacher is gorgeous. He can't be. Kurt shrugs a little. This is normal, it is, he thinks to himself, pushing away the thoughts of that smiling, caring, hazel eyed man. Yeah, this is definitely not good.