"Don't ask," Kurt said, picking his phone up off the counter where he'd left it earlier.

"That bad, huh?" Finn raised his eyebrows.

"Worse," Blaine said, sinking into one of the chairs with a sigh.

"So what do you want to eat, Blaine?" Carole asked, opening the fridge and peering in.

"I don't..."

"Don't even think about it, Blaine." Burt cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "You're having something to eat."

"I was going to say I don't mind," Blaine responded.

"Oh..." Burt said. "Well, good then. How about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?"

"I love peanut butter and jelly," Kurt said, noticing Blaine's eyes light up slightly at the thought. His dad was good… offering most people's childhood favorite was a genius move.

"Okay, then," Carole said grabbing some ingredients out of the fridge.

"Holy crap," Kurt said, looking at his phone.

"What is it?" Burt asked, taking a seat next to him and picking up the paper from where Finn had left it on the counter.

"I have thirty- seven missed calls from Mercedes on my phone."

"Well then, I suggest you call her. Now." Burt chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll go do that," Kurt said. "Do you mind?" he asked Blaine before he left the kitchen.

"Of course not," Blaine replied.

Kurt walked out into the hallway before calling Mercedes. He was actually a little nervous, which was just ridiculous when he stopped to think about it.

Mercedes answered on the first ring. "About time, I've been worried sick," she sounded angry.

"I'm sorry. It's just been kind of hard..." Kurt started to explain himself, surprised at how weary his voice sounded. Clearly Mercedes heard it as well, because her next words were a lot gentler.

"How are you, Kurt?"

"I don't know," Kurt admitted, leaning his head against the wall as he spoke into his cell phone.

"Talk to me," Mercedes offered and Kurt suddenly realized how much he needed to hear that.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finn watched as Blaine took small bites out of his sandwich, and glancing around, he could see his mom and Burt doing exactly the same thing. Blaine looked up and they all looked away in the most suspicious way possible.

"So, how is Rachel?" Carole asked, trying to draw attention away from their spying.

"Okay," Finn was non-committal in his reply and his mom raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know Rachel," he said by way of explanation and his mom smiled in acknowledgment.

"She sends her love by the way, Blaine. This whole thing has really shaken her up, I think. She said to tell you that if you need anything, you have her number."

Finn continued to tuck into his sandwich, completely oblivious to the fact that Blaine had stopped eating his and was staring at him intently.

"Why would she do that?" Finn did, however, notice the anger in Blaine's voice. He looked up and over at the other boy then and realized his mistake. "What exactly does she know?" Blaine had yet to raise his voice but everyone was now looking at him with concern at the way he was speaking.

"Um, well... I thought you knew...I thought Kurt told you...," Finn saw the hurt flash in Blaine's eyes at Kurt's name.

"Kurt didn't tell me anything... so why don't you?" Finn had never seen this side of Blaine before and he found him a little scary in his intensity.

Finn looked around at both his mom and Burt, but from the looks on their faces he knew there was no going back now. Unfortunately for everyone, Kurt chose that particular moment to come back into the room.

"I hope no one minds, but I told Mercedes she could come over this afternoon. Well maybe not so much told her but just accepted the fact that she's coming anyway," Kurt spoke, unaware of the tension in the room.

"Does she know, too?" Blaine stood up now and Kurt's eyes widened in shock at the angry words.

"What...?"

"Does she know what happened? Is that why she's coming over, to find out all the juicy details?"

"Mercedes isn't like that!" Kurt tried to defend his friend.

"But she knows, right?" Finn could see that Blaine was trembling slightly and Kurt looked like someone had punched him in the stomach, all the wind had been knocked from him. He felt bad because this was all his fault. He needed to learn to keep his damn mouth shut.

"They all know," Finn said quietly.

"What?" Blaine's voice went almost as high as Kurt's did when he was upset.

"At the meeting yesterday a few things were said and I ended up having to explain everything," Finn admitted guiltily.

"So you all just sat around having a good old gossip session about me- is that what you're saying, talking about me behind my back?"

Finn realized that this was the most he'd heard Blaine say in days, and he just wished it wasn't happening like this. That the thing that finally prompted Blaine to open up wasn't something that he'd caused. He cursed himself again.

"I'm sure it wasn't like that, Blaine," Burt tried to calm the situation down. "They're your friends, they're worried about you."

"They aren't my friends," Blaine responded coldly.

"Of course they are," Kurt said.

"No, Kurt, they're your friends. They barely even know me. They don't care about me."

Finn could tell that Kurt didn't know how to respond to that, because Blaine was kind of right, not about them not caring but about them not really knowing him.

"Blaine, you're right. Most of them don't know you, but you're wrong about them not caring. I saw them yesterday, they were really upset," Finn tried to explain.

Blaine just stood there shaking his head in denial. Then he seemed to remember something else because he turned on Kurt again.

"You knew they knew?" he asked his boyfriend, the hurt evident in his voice. Kurt just nodded, tears clearly evident in his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm so sorry, Blaine. I was going to though, I promise. It's just after this morning, I didn't want to upset you anymore. Look, I'll call Mercedes back, tell her not come if you want," Kurt offered.

Blaine shook his head. "No, don't do that. It's fine. I won't be here anyway."

"Don't be like that, Blaine," Kurt pleaded. "I'm so sorry. Don't leave because you're angry with me."

"I'm not angry at you," Blaine walked over to where Kurt was standing. "I'm just angry...and really tired." He raised a hand and wiped the tear that had escaped Kurt's eye and was making its way down his cheek. "I think it would be best if I went home for a while. Got some sleep, in my own bed. Maybe I'll rest better there."

"But I want you to stay," Kurt sounded a little bit like a petulant child now, but Finn knew how much he needed Blaine, how much they both needed each other. He knew Blaine knew that too, deep down.

"I know you do," Blaine was saying. "But I really don't want to have to deal with Mercedes right now, and I don't think I can face her, knowing she knows."

"I already said I would call her and tell her not to come over," Kurt tried to argue.

"No. It'll be good for you to have someone to talk to, you need that."

"What about you Blaine, don't you need that, too?" Kurt asked sadly.

Blaine just shrugged and gave him a small smile.

"Please don't leave, Blaine," Kurt tried one more time to plead with his boyfriend.

"I have to, Kurt. Please don't make me feel bad about this. I'll call you later." He leaned in to give Kurt a kiss on the cheek and with one sad wave at the rest of them, he was gone.

"Blaine...," Kurt started to follow him.

"No, Kurt, let him go," Burt stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.

"But I'm worried about him, especially after this morning. I don't think he should be on his own." Kurt tried to make them all see where he was coming from.

"I know, but maybe that's exactly what Blaine needs right now. We keep telling him he needs to take care of himself. At some point, we've got to trust him to do that."

Kurt just looked at him blankly before sinking down into one of the seats with a sigh.

"Well, I hope you're right, Dad," he said. Finn saw the look that passed between his mom and Burt, and was glad that Kurt didn't. Seeing the doubt in their eyes wasn't going to help him at all. Finn pushed his own half-eaten sandwich away. Guilt had taken away his appetite.