Blaine didn't even remember the drive home. One moment, he was tossing his satchel into the back seat of his run-down sedan, and the next he was unlocking his apartment door. He dropped everything, bag, keys, and jacket, onto the floor and collapsed on the nearby couch.

What the actual hell, Anderson?

Refusing to even think about the deep shit he'd just gotten himself into, Blaine stood up and fixed himself a drink—and then a second, and then a third. As he downed his fourth, he decided that he was sufficiently smashed enough to sit down and watch television like any normal man would. He wouldn't think about the fact that tomorrow was Friday, or that he actually had to teach in class the next day, or that less than an hour prior he was thrusting his dick into the ass of one of his students. Nope, he would just sit there and watch reruns of bad sitcoms all night.

Until he fell asleep.

And with sleep came dreams.

All sorts of dreams, each with a common theme: Kurt. More specifically, Kurt and sex. Fucking Kurt over his desk, Kurt fucking him over his desk, Kurt giving him road head on the way to school, Kurt tied up in his bed. Each dream melted into the next right before dream-Blaine could climax. By the time Blaine's phone woke him up for work, he was rock-hard.

So he jerked off in the shower. What else was a man supposed to do? It sure as hell wasn't going to go away on its own, and he obviously couldn't walk into a class full of teenage boys with morning wood. And yes, so he thought about Kurt as his hand moved faster and faster along his length. Masturbating was making him late, and he needed something to expedite the process. No one would ever have to know; after all, thinking wasn't illegal.

His first class passed by in a haze of group work that Blaine didn't have the energy to supervise. He just hoped that they had stayed on task the whole period. The haze evaporated when the bell rang and his second period filed in. In moments, a student, a kid he had sex with not eighteen hours earlier would walk through that door and sit right in front of him, and by God what was he going to do?

Apparently, he didn't need to do anything. Kurt waltzed into class, chattering with Nick about their theme charts and a possible Warblers audition, not sparing a single glance for his teacher. Blaine bit his lip nervously. Kurt settled into the seat assigned from him, face not betraying a single trace of discomfort or anguish. While waiting for the rest of his students to arrive, Blaine faked bending over and reading a paper on his desk to whisper, "Um, Kurt?"

He was completely ignored. Kurt continued to flip idly through his copy of The Scarlet Letter, not even flinching when Blaine spoke. Blaine tried again. "Kurt, can I—" The bell rung, cutting across Blaine's request for a meeting after class, and the teacher straightened up, greeting his class with a strained smile. He was about to instruct the students to break into their theme chart partner groups, but completely abandoned his lesson plan without thinking it through.

"So what do you guys think of Mr. Dimmesdale?"

The class seemed confused. "What do you mean, Mr. A?" Trent called from the back.

"What do you think of him? Is he a good guy? A scumbag? Funny? Boring? Someone to root for? The bad guy? Tell me what you think."

"I kinda feel bad for him," Jeff said quietly. Blaine grinned and gestured for Jeff to continue. "I mean, I know Hester's the one who's got it really bad: she has to wear the A, and no one talks to her, and she has to raise a kid by herself and all, but...Mr. Dimmesdale has to suffer in silence. He can't tell anyone about what he did, and he clearly still has feelings for Hester. He can't even get to know his own daughter. And all the guilt's eating away at him, and he's hurting himself because of it. I just feel bad for the guy."

Blaine nodded, impressed. "Very good assessment, Jeff. Anyone else?"

Wes raised his hand, and when Blaine motioned to him, he said, "I think he brought it on himself."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, in today's day and age, yeah, what he and Hester are going through would be kind of ridiculous. The church would be pissed, but honestly, the church has bigger things to worry about. But back then, he knew the culture. He was the one who slept with Hester, he was the one who knocked her up. I'm not saying she's any less culpable for the baby, but...none of this would have happened if he didn't just keep it in his pants." The class chuckled at Wes's choice of phrasing, and Blaine allowed them a few seconds of amusement before responding.

"So you think Jeff shouldn't feel sympathetic toward Mr. Dimmesdale's plight?"

"No more than we should toward Hester's. And the guy shouldn't be whipping himself, either. That's just stupid, and people are going to catch on."

"Excellent opinion, Wes." Blaine desperately wanted Kurt to say something, but it didn't seem like he was going to ever speak in Blaine's presence again.

Then Nick asked, "What do you think of him, Mr. Anderson?"

Blaine started, unprepared for the question. He thought about his opinion of Mr. Dimmesdale—okay, Blaine, let's get real, your opinion of yourself—for a long moment. "I think Mr. Dimmesdale's confused. I think he loves Hester, a lot more than even he knows, and I think that's confusing the hell out of him. I think he doesn't regret sleeping with Hester. I don't think he even regrets fathering Pearl. I think he regrets the situation that he put them both in, though. I think that more than anything, he wishes things could be different." A tiny seed of hope bloomed in Blaine's chest as he noticed Kurt still as he spoke, obviously listening. He pressed on, praying his point got across to the boy. "I think that, if Mr. Dimmesdale could change things, he would never be a pastor, and Hester would never have married Chillingworth, and they would be together forever. I think that the fact that this can never be reality is utterly destroying Mr. Dimmesdale inside.

"So yeah, I feel bad for the guy. I feel bad for Hester. I think the situation sucks. What Mr. Dimmesdale and Hester did was wrong, and maybe Dimmesdale should have taken more responsibility for his actions and their consequences, namely Pearl. But more than anything, I think Dimmesdale wishes things were different."

The room fell silent as the boys ruminated over this. Blaine's eyes traveled the room, but the flicked back to Kurt's face often. It seemed the young man was stewing over Blaine's masked plea for forgiveness, and judging by the small smile Kurt was clearly trying to fight, he was at least considering granting him that.

Blaine changed the subject by giving a quick summation of his originally planned lecture, and then the bell rang. As the boys filed out of the room, Kurt paused by Blaine's desk. The two shared a fraction of a glance, and then Kurt was gone.

But it was a start.