Santana decided to drive her car to Scandals. Blaine’s inability to hold his liquor was legendary and she didn’t want to risk having him get drunk and wrecking his car. Not that she was sure he would drink, but in the past if it was offered, Blaine would have one or six. The ride over to Scandals was a silent one. Santana kept glancing over at Blaine to make sure he was all right. Blaine was scared that if he started talking, he would lose it. Santana picked up on his anxiety and grabbed his hand. “It’s going to be fine, B. At least we know where he is, right?”

“Why Scandals, though?” Blaine asked. “Kurt has told me on several occasions that that place was a hive of scum and villainy.” Santana looked at him, surprised. “Yes, he quoted Star Wars.”

“Kurt the geek; I would never picture it,” Santana chuckled. “I thought geekiness was Sam’s job.”

“Yeah,” said Blaine, squeezing Santana’s hand.

The parking lot of the local gay bar, Scandals, was almost full, with more cars arriving by the minute. Something good was going on tonight! Santana lucked out and found a space in the first row.

Getting out, Santana pulled Blaine by the arm. “Any excuse to go to Scandals is good enough for me! Thanks for letting me tag along,” she said as they walked to the entrance.

Standing by the door was a familiar face. “Hey, Blaine,” said Sebastian, getting way too close to Blaine for comfort. When he saw Santana, he backed off. “And lookie here, you brought your pocket lesbian with you. Hey, Santana, ready for round two?”

Santana glared at her singing rival and said sarcastically, “As fun and incredibly hot as that sing-off was, I think I’m going to pass tonight.”

“Your loss,” Sebastian shrugged. “I should mention that your eye sex was intoxicating.”

Santana shuddered. “I’m not sure whether to be flattered or grossed out,” she retorted as she put her hands on his chest and gave him a good shove.

“I would suggest the first,” Sebastian said. He steadied himself and turned to Blaine. “Anyhow, I know you don’t want to talk to me but I felt it was my duty to inform you of present circumstances.”

“Pompous ass,” Blaine muttered under his breath as he flicked his wrist in a gesture as to say, “Get on with it!”

“Patience, hot stuff!” said Sebastian, laughing at him. “It’s not like he’s going anywhere. He seems quite comfy in there. I do have to say I approve of his makeover. It’s very yummy.”

Blaine and Santana looked at each other. “Makeover?” Blaine mouthed.

“As much as I’m enjoying this tear-filled reunion,” said Santana, pushing Sebastian out of the way, “Auntie Tana needs to get her booty inside.”

“Again, I plead patience!” said Sebastian, pointing to the large line forming at the entrance. “As you can see, there’s quite the substantial line. I informed management that the family of the performer is on their way and they’re letting you right in. Shall we proceed, Lady Lopez?” he added, offering his arm.

“Screw you, Smythe,” Santana spat and walked ahead, with Sebastian following.

Blaine just stood in place for a minute, mouth hanging open. Makeover? Performer? “Have I gone down the rabbit hole and reached Wonderland? Maybe the tornado took me to Oz. Caught the train to Hogwarts maybe?” he thought incredulously.

Blaine shook his head, bringing him out of his ponderings. The other two were almost at the entrance, so he ran after them. The doorman let them in after checking their fake IDs, and they entered the small and extremely crowded bar. Blaine looked around but didn’t see Kurt. He moved through the crowd dancing to some goth punk dude singing some random ‘80s glam song. He actually wasn’t half bad. In fact, he was really good! His voice was pure, but dark and gritty at the same time.

Blaine spotted Dave Karofsky at the far side of the room. He sent Dave a wave and worked his way over to him. A very shocked Dave was staring mouth open at the singer on the stage. Blaine and Dave had since mended their rocky relationship, and though they weren’t the best of friends, they were friendly acquaintances.

“Hey, Karofsky,” said Blaine, clapping his hand on Dave’s shoulder in greeting. Dave returned the greeting with a nod, his eyes never leaving the stage. “Have you seen Kurt? Sebastian said he was here but I don’t see him.”

Santana walked up to them. “Well, if it isn’t my ex-beard. How’s it going, David?” she asked.

Dave blinked as if waking up out of a dream and looked at the two standing with him. “Uh, hey guys. What’s up?” he asked, distracted.

Santana waved her hand in front of Dave’s face and called, “Hey! Earth to Karofsky! We’re looking for Kurt and I don’t see him anywhere. Have you seen him?”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Dave asked and gave her an incredulous look.

Sebastian danced up with four beers and passed them around. Santana took hers with thanks.  Blaine eagerly reached for his. 

“Hey, Hobbit! I’m watching you! You get one!” Santana yelled and pointed two fingers at her eyes and then at Blaine. 

“You’re the one driving!” Blaine countered. 

“I can hold my liquor. You can’t,” Santana informed him.

Blaine slammed the full bottle down on the table, spilling a little. “FINE!” he snapped. If someone didn’t tell him where Kurt was RIGHT now, someone was going to regret it. And that someone was going to be Sebastian.

“So our ugly duckling has turned into a beautiful swan. Well, at least a black swan,” said Sebastian, with an evil glint in his eyes.

Blaine had enough. “Okay. Guys, my patience has worn about this thin,” he said as he held his thumb and index finger about a half inch apart, “so I don’t care who does it, but somebody better goddamn tell me where…”

Santana finally took a good look at the singer on the stage and grabbed Blaine. “Oh… me… Gusta!!” she cried as she spun him around and pointed to the stage.

“Yes Santana, that singer is great, but that doesn’t explain…” Oh Me Gusta, indeed.

It only took a moment to realize that the goth punk dude was Kurt!

“Holy… shit!” Blaine whispered.

The man standing on the stage looked nothing like his Kurt. This dude was the polar opposite of his Kurt. Everything was changed from head to toe. Kurt’s hair, which was a gorgeous reddish brown and always impeccably styled, was now colored a jet black. It was shaped in short spikes completely different than Kurt’s current fashionable hair style. Kurt’s abnormally pale face had eyes that were lined with super black eyeliner, and his lips were coated with black lipstick.

The biggest change came with the clothes. Kurt’s stylish expensive designer clothes were gone. What remained was nothing short of shocking. Instead of a dress shirt, he wore a black ribbed tank top, showing off his deceptively toned arms. For pants he wore black khakis with huge pockets down the leg. And the most bizarre piece of clothing was on his feet. He wore a pair of black Crocs. Blaine remembered the countless hours of lecturing from Kurt about how Crocs were the bane of the fashion world. Anyone caught wearing them should be taken out and shot, at least according to his boyfriend. He also wore some black bracelets, and a black bandana circled his head under his hairline.

“Holy shit is right!” squealed Santana with glee. She pulled out her phone. “Everyone will kill me if I don’t get some pictures of this!” she said as she snapped a few pictures.

“Pretty hot, huh?” whispered Sebastian into Blaine’s ear.

“Yeah,” murmured Blaine, mesmerized. He then violently shook his head and pushed Sebastian away.  “Wait, no! Sebastian, you’re NOT allowed to call my boyfriend hot, especially after all the hell you put us through this year!”

Sebastian put his hands up in mock surrender and mockingly apologized, “Sorry, sorry! At least I called you and told you he was down here, you know.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” said Blaine sarcastically. He turned to Dave. “Karofsky, how long has he been here?”

Dave was still staring at Kurt like he had five heads but replied, “He arrived about a half hour ago. He walked into the bar and asked for the karaoke machine. You know how they haul it out on the weekend. He’s been singing ever since. The manager must think he’s good, ‘cause he didn’t ask him to stop.”

“Thanks, buddy,” said Blaine, trying to move closer to the stage. Dave grabbed his arm.

“Blaine, what happened to Kurt? I don’t think I like him this way,” Dave asked as he finally tore his eyes away from Kurt on the stage.

Blaine gave a sigh and tried to give his friend a smile. “Kurt’s had a really bad day. He got a rejection letter from NYADA, and he took off for a while and kinda made everyone worry.”

“Knee-who?” asked Dave, puzzled.

“NYADA. New York Academy of Dramatic Arts,” explained Blaine patiently. “I’m surprised he didn’t tell you about it in detail. It’s been kind of an obsession of his lately.”

“Oh man, that’s harsh,” replied Dave, looking back onto the stage. “Well, tell him to call me so I can kick his ass for worrying you.” His eyed widened. “Oh god, that was so the wrong choice of words. You know I’d never do that to Kurt again, right? He really helped me out a few months ago. I almost literally owe him my life.”

“Of course, Dave. When everything calms down, we’ll do coffee, okay?” assured Blaine as he tried to appease the flustered man.

Blaine grabbed Santana, and they fought their way to the stage. Kurt was finishing his song and they hoped to get his attention without causing a scene. As they were waiting, Blaine sent a text to Finn because it was plain to see they would need reinforcements to get Kurt out of there. After a quick moment he sent a follow up text:

Come alone.

There was no point in anyone else from New Directions seeing what a hot mess Kurt was right now. As the song ended, Kurt looked over in their direction. His eyes went wide, and he looked scared for a split second. The scared look was instantly replaced with an evil smirk. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen,” he said into the mic. “I know you wish to continue worshipping the ground I walk on, but this sexy beast needs to take a break.” That got a few wolf whistles from the crowd. He spoke with the DJ and started making his way over, grabbing a beer bottle on his way.

“This should be good,” said Santana as she crossed her arms and stood back to watch the show.

There was something weird going on with Kurt. New and admittedly very hot clothing aside, something wasn’t quite right.

“Hey, sexy lover,” Kurt said as he touched Blaine’s arm. “Santana,” he added with a smirk while backing away from Blaine. There it was. It was his voice. It was much lower than normal. Gone was his clear tenor voice. It was raspy, and raw, and oh god, no… Blaine didn’t want to admit it, but it was HOT.

“Lookin’ good, Hummel!” said Santana, appraising him. “Hey, B, can we keep him?”

Kurt chuckled. “And you’re looking smoking as usual, Lopez,” he said, flirting with her. Santana positively beamed. Blaine did a double take. What was Kurt doing flirting with girls?

“If you don’t want to keep him, I’ll take him!” the Latina said to Blaine. That statement earned a dirty look from the former Warbler.

“So what brings you fine specimens into this dive?” Kurt asked, motioning to the rest of the bar.

Blaine was two men at that moment. One half of him wanted to hug his boyfriend and then tell him off for freaking everyone out like that. The other… well… it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about around polite company. Unfortunately, the first man won the frantic internal conflict. Barely.

However, Blaine didn’t hug him. He was afraid that hugging him might lead to something else that involved hands everywhere and something that really shouldn’t be done in public. “Kurt, are you freakin’ serious?” he asked his gothified boyfriend.

Kurt crossed his arms against his tank top with one hip jutted and lifted his eyebrow, waiting for Blaine to continue.

“Oh god, why does he have to be so damn gorgeous? It’s making it REALLY hard to be mad at him,” Blaine thought. No! He was here to bring Kurt back. Time to focus! “First of all, you wreck your room beyond all recognition. What were you thinking?” His voice cracked. “Then you take off and don’t answer any calls or texts from me or anyone!” he added in a pained voice.

“I was busy,” Kurt answered carelessly, flipping his wrist up and gave Blaine his best “whatever bitch” look. Blaine looked hurt and Kurt instantly regretted it. He shifted gears. “I love you,” he whispered into Blaine’s ear and then gave him a quick kiss.

That chest! Those arms! “Stop thinking with your lower brain, Anderson!” Blaine admonished himself. Kurt took another swig from his beer bottle. “Not only that, but you got into a shouting match with Artie and dumped lemonade on his head?” Blaine asked, still shocked by that juicy piece of news… no pun intended.

“Yes, I did,” Kurt said, rather proudly. “Oh come off it, Blaine. It wasn’t a shouting match.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “Everything was quite calm.” He shrugged his shoulders and added, “Besides, he deserved every word I said. I admit the lemonade might’ve been a tad dramatic, but boy it felt goooood!”

“As soon as I get him home, we’re going straight to his room and...” Blaine’s mind strayed again. He shook his head, exorcising the distracting thoughts. “A tad dramatic… A tad dramatic? Kurt, the same can be said about your new look!”

“Okay!” said Santana, watching this conversation like a tennis game. “I’m going to leave you two lovers to your little spat.” She started moving towards the bar.

“I think we should go home, Kurt. We need to talk about this. I’m not mad, really,” Blaine pleaded, trying to assure Kurt that he was good with what was going on. He would do anything to get Kurt out of here without causing a scene.

“Santana, wait!” yelled Kurt then turned back to his boyfriend. “So you don’t like my makeover? I’m quite attached to it, myself,” he said as he gestured to his outfit.

 “I didn’t say that,” Blaine sputtered. His mind betrayed him as he thought, “Ooh my god! I’m so turned on right now.”

Santana walked back, pulled out her camera and took a few snaps. The looks on her pretty little ponies’ faces were priceless: the newly made over goth sex god with his angry and uncomfortably horny boyfriend.  

“Cat got your tongue, love? I’m still having fun here,” said Kurt, slowing getting closer to Blaine. Kurt carelessly put his beer bottle down and slunk up dangerously close to Blaine, his lips hovering just in front of his boyfriend’s. He could see Blaine shiver with expectancy. He then moved his lips close to Blaine’s ear and whispered, “Just a few more songs, lover, and then we can go home and I’ll make you call my name.” Kurt then grabbed Blaine’s ass.

Blaine let out a small gasp. “Yes, please!” his mind screamed. He looked over to see Santana lick her lips.

“Wanky,” she said and laughed, still taking those damn pictures.

Kurt chuckled low and sexy. As Blaine was about to grab him around the waist and shove his tongue down his throat, Kurt pulled away. “Tut, tut. Not yet, Anderson,” he said and turned towards Santana. “Lopez, care to join me in a little song?”

“Hells, yes! I gots ta get my singin’ on tonight!” said Santana excitedly and grabbed Kurt’s hand. Kurt took one last long drink from his bottle and gave a serious case of eye sex to a blatantly frustrated Blaine. They jumped onto the stage and spoke in hushed tones while the DJ set up the karaoke machine for a new song. Once the audience noticed that Kurt had returned to the stage, they all let out a big cheer with even more whistles.

Blaine had to sit down… NOW. Either that or have a breath of fresh air and a cold shower. A very cold shower. Luckily, Karofsky got a table with Sebastian close to the stage. He desperately wanted a beer. It wasn’t fair. Santana had effectively cut him off. 

“What did I tell you, Blaine?” inquired Sebastian mischievously. “Sex-on-a-stick or not? I saw what happened over there. H.A.W.T.”

“Shove it, Smythe.”

“You McKinley kids are all so rude! You have sunk so low from Dalton,” Sebastian said haughtily, the snob coming out. Blaine gave him a blistering dirty look.

“I still really don’t think I like this Kurt. I like the old Kurt,” said Dave single mindedly, still looking in horrified awe. He had grown protective of Kurt in the past few months, and it killed him to see the smaller man look and act so differently. Kurt’s rejection from theater school cut deep with Dave. His success with getting a full football scholarship to Rutgers in New Jersey seemed bittersweet with the new knowledge that Kurt had nothing in the way of college prospects. Dave couldn’t stop thinking about the unfairness of it all.

“Pipe down, David. The freak show is about to begin,” said Sebastian, sitting more alert in his chair.

Blaine crossed his legs. “Think unsexy thoughts… think unsexy thoughts… I’m mad at Kurt!” he desperately thought.

“Thanks for waiting, everyone!” said Kurt and everyone erupted in cheers and catcalls. “I thought I’d bring a friend up here to sing this song with me. Say hi to everyone, Santana!” She gave her biggest stage smile and waved. “Ladies, isn’t she most delicious thing you’ve ever seen?”

The few of the women in the audience loudly gave their approval.

“I agree,” Kurt said, and then he did something that Blaine would never imagine Kurt doing. He grabbed Santana by the waist, pulled her in close and gave her one of the most passionate kisses Blaine had ever seen. The audience went even wilder. When he pulled back, Santana had a shocked look on her face. Then she smiled.

“Nice,” she said. “I’m taking you home for me and Brittany,” she joked.

Blaine was shocked, but he wasn’t exactly angry. If anything, it turned him on even more. He groaned and sank down further into his chair. “KURT!” he groaned internally.

“So are we ready to party some more, guys??” That got more cheers from the crowd. “When you go home tonight make sure you let everyone you know that I was a bad influence on you.” He signaled for the DJ to start the music machine.

The music for Pink’s “Bad Influence” started. The lights went down on the floor and up on the stage. Kurt moved his body into a very sexy pose, and Santana, not to be outdone, made a suggestive one of her own. The crowd went wild. Sebastian let out a loud “WOOOOO!” which made Blaine jump. Kurt was gyrating on stage and looking very racy indeed. It seemed impossible, but he made those black khakis look even sexier than his gold audition pants!

“Cold showers! Busloads of Nuns! Mailmen!” Blaine’s mind screamed. He figured he would try the trick that Finn had told him about once. It didn’t help. And why in the hell was he supposed to think of mailmen? That’s just all kinds of wrong!

Kurt started singing in a low, guttural and disarmingly raunchy voice:

“Alright sir, sure, I'll have another one, it's early.
Three olives shake it up, I like it dirty.
Tequila for my friend, it makes her flirty.
Trust me, I'm the instigator of underwear.
Showing up here and there.Uh, oh (Oh, no) I'm always on a mission from the get go.So what if it's only one o'clock in the afternoon?It's never too soon to send out all the invitations,
To the last night of your life.”

As he sang, he moved down the stage to each man and woman standing there and grabbed their hands, staring right into their eyes. Sebastian had out his phone and was recording the entire performance. Blaine gave him another dirty look. Mr. Smythe was having way too much fun with this. But at whose expense?

“Lordy, Lordy, Lordy.I can't help it, I like to party.
It's genetic, it's electrifying.
Wind me up and watch me go.
Where she stops nobody knows.
A good excuse to be a bad influence on you and you.”

At the end of the first chorus, Kurt gestured to Santana to take the next verse while he sang backup. Once Santana took over, he jumped down off the stage and moved his way through the audience, dancing with random members. It was almost illegal how alluring he was.

“Alright, man, calm down. I know your son,
Said he was at my house.
He was the captain of the football team,
But I turned him out.
He wasn't the first and he won't be the last,
So tone it down, this happens all the time.
I'm the story, the tale, the alibi,
They wanna go home, I ask them, why? It's daylight, not night,
It might need a break from all the real life (Get a life).
Gets to be too much sometimes,
It's never too late to send out all the invitations to the last night of your life,”

By the middle of the second verse, he made his way over to the table where Blaine, Sebastian, and Dave sat. As Santana finished off her verse, Kurt sat in Blaine’s lap and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck. Blaine smirked and put his arms around Kurt’s waist. They came together in a kiss more passionate than the one between Kurt and Santana. As they pulled away and Kurt got up to finish the song, he wiggled a little bit in Blaine’s lap before he stood.

“Evil bastard!” growled Blaine as Kurt ran up to the stage to finish the song. The other two men laughed at him while Sebastian kept recording.

The two sang the last chorus together and ended with a flourish. The crowd roared. Santana and Kurt looked at each other, laughed and hugged each other tightly. Kurt informed the DJ that it was his last song and grabbed Santana’s hand. They returned to the table talking and laughing.

“Oh my god, Kurt! I never thought you had it in ya,” Santana exclaimed. “All I have to say is Me Gusta! Why weren’t you like this the entire three years I knew you? I would have tormented you way less. You can put on a show, that’s for sure!”

“I got it all right here,” said Sebastian, showing the table his phone. “The Warblers are going to lose their shit.”

Kurt finally noticed that Sebastian was at the table. “Oh, hello, Meerkat,” he said with a careless boredom he was perfecting.

“Hello, Gayface. Keep performing like that and we’ll be bosom buddies,” Sebastian said as he saved the video for later posting on Facebook.

“Hardly,” sneered Kurt and sat back on Blaine’s knee. “Hey, Sexy. Did you like that? I’m not a baby penguin anymore,” he said, nibbling on the corner of his boyfriend’s ear.

Blaine could tell that Kurt was drunk, and he didn’t want to take advantage of his drunkenness and lack of inhibitions. When Kurt started running his tongue along the top edge of his ear, Blaine let out a little squeak. “Kurt, I think I want to get some air,” he said, lifting Kurt off his lap.

“Just as well, I want to go have a smoke,” proclaimed Kurt and he headed for the door. On his way out, he was slapped on the back by passing audience members, and on the ass from a few more. Kurt grinned from ear to ear. He was on the top of the world.

Blaine and Dave looked each other. “What the hell? Kurt doesn’t smoke! I really hope it’s cigarettes that he’s talking about,” Blaine said in shock.

“I didn’t see Mr. Ryerson in the parking lot,” Santana chimed in helpfully.

“Who?”  Blaine asked.

“I’ll explain later,” Santana responded with a laugh. Blaine was truly naive. Then she remembered that Blaine had only started school at McKinley this past year and wouldn’t know who Sandy Ryerson was.

Blaine and Dave took off after Kurt. Sebastian and Santana followed, talking easily with each other. “I think I need to meet this Ryerson,” said Sebastian conversationally.

“Yeah. He’d be able to offer you a full service package,” laughed Santana knowingly.

After leaving the bar, they moved to the side of the building where the smokers hung out. Kurt pulled a pack out of one of his many pockets, took a cigarette out, and offered some to the others. “Smoke?” he asked like he did this all the time.

“Hahaha! Ohmygod!!! Kurt has turned into a Skank!” roared Santana.

“That’s one thing to call him,” quipped Sebastian. He wasn’t aware of the infamous girl gang at McKinley, so he thought Santana was merely insulting Kurt.

“Shut UP, Sebastian!” both Dave and Blaine yelled at the same time. Santana just started laughing harder, holding her sides.

“Oh, just wait till I tell Quinn! She’s going to love it!” She looked up to see Kurt giving her a dirty look. “Sorry, Hummel,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

As Kurt was lighting up his cigarette, he said, “I still don’t know what the big deal is,” and took a huge drag. All of a sudden he started choking. He bent over, trying to catch his breath. Blaine ran over to him, and started pounding Kurt’s back. Eventually he got enough air that he didn’t have to cough. That sent Santana and Sebastian into even more gales of laughter. Dave shook his head and tried not to crack up.

Kurt stood up. “Holy shit!” he exclaimed. “Who in their right mind would do that to themselves!?” he added, waving the cigarette around. Blaine and Santana’s eyes went wide. “What? You’ve never seen a gay man with a cigarette before?”

He spun around to see who they were looking at and came face to face with Finn. The poor lug looked like he was hit with a sledgehammer. Beside him was Rachel, looking scandalized and a little curious.

“Oh, hello Big Brother and Big Brother’s little woman. Seems we’re a little out of our comfort zone, aren’t we?” he asked with a sardonic smile and a raised eyebrow.

“Kurt…” said Finn.

“What, are you here to take me home? ‘Cause like I said to Blaine, I’m not ready…”

“No, but I am,” interrupted a voice behind Finn. Out stepped Will on one side and Emma on the other.

“You gotta be kidding me!” Kurt groaned and threw down the cigarette, stepping on the butt. Blaine looked horrified, Dave looked uncomfortable and started to excuse himself, Sebastian looked like he was going to start laughing again, and Santana stood there, looking completely unfazed.

“Boys, I suggest you go home,” said Will to Dave and Sebastian. “What you do here is none of my business.” He pointed at Santana, Blaine and Kurt. “These three, however, are my business. To the car. Now!” Will and Emma turned to go. Finn and Rachel followed, with Rachel looking back to stare at Kurt.

Blaine grabbed Kurt’s hand. “I’m here,” he said to his boyfriend. Kurt squeezed back. He knew was in so much shit.

As they walked away they heard Sebastian say in a sing-song voice, “Someone is getting in trouuublleee.”

“Shut the HELL UP, Sebastian!” yelled Kurt, Blaine, and Dave in unison.

******

On the way back to the car, Blaine said to a despondent Kurt, “I’ll be right back, love. I gotta talk to Finn,” and ran ahead to where Finn and Rachel were walking.

Finn looked nervous. “Hey, Blaine.”

“What part of ‘come alone’ didn’t you get? Why did you bring Mr. Schue?” hissed Blaine. “I said I needed your help getting Kurt home, not his!”

“Sorry, dude. This wasn’t my choice. I tried to sneak out, but when Schue found out he insisted on coming!” said Finn.

“It’s just as well, Blaine. What happened to Kurt? As much as I appreciate his attempt to inject some drama into his life, I don’t think this was the way to go,” informed Rachel condescendingly. Blaine gave his best “bitch please” look, but he would never beat out Kurt’s infamous dirty look. However, it did the trick and Rachel shut up.

“Well, I think Mr. Shue coming along just made things ten times worse. Finn, Kurt is drunk,” Blaine whispered so Will couldn’t hear.

Rachel gasped and looked back again to a lagging Kurt. He was looking down angrily with his hands in his pockets and kicking a stone in the parking lot. Santana was talking quietly to Kurt, trying to keep him calm.

Rachel looked back and held Finn’s hand tighter. Kurt never drank. He would never lose control of himself that way. He wouldn’t even drink at her party last year because he wanted to keep control and impress Blaine before they started dating. Was she about to lose her Best Gay forever? Tears came to her eyes. She wasn’t trying to be dramatic. She was really scared. She wanted to go back and hug him tightly, but figured it would make things worse between them. Kurt had given her some pretty nasty looks back at that disgusting smoking area. What was he doing with that terrible cancer stick, anyway? She thought he was proud of his healthy habits.

“Things are really delicate right now. You didn’t see him in there,” Blaine explained as he pointed back to the bar with his thumb. “There’s something fundamentally wrong, and I’m not sure how to fix it.”

“Sorry, man,” said Finn contritely.

“It’s fine,” said Blaine and shook his head. “Just so you know, things might be a little uncomfortable for a while.”

“Understood,” whispered Rachel, shaking her head and fighting the tears. She didn’t think she could cry any more than she already had today. “I told you he hates me,” she said to Finn.

Blaine sighed as he went back to join his boyfriend. “Are you okay?” he asked as he put his arm through Kurt’s.

Kurt shrugged. “No,” he said, his voice almost back to his old tenor pitch.

They walked the rest of the way to Will’s car in silence.

“I’ll take Kurt and Blaine back to the house. Finn, you drive Kurt’s car. Who’s going to take Santana home?” Will asked.

“I’ve got my own car so I’m good to go,” said Santana with a wave. She only had a sip or two of the beer Sebastian bought her, so she was fine to drive.

Before she got in her car, Santana walked over to where Kurt was standing, his normally pale cheeks a flushed dark pink, his ears bright red. His hands were still in his pockets. She pulled him in for an awkward hug. Kurt closed his eyes and pulled his hands out of his pockets to return the hug. He really needed one right now.

“Kurt, it was fun. Call me tomorrow. Maybe we can do some more shopping for some more of those sexified outfits?” she asked quietly. Kurt nodded against her shoulder.

“Well, guys and gals, time to go home. As usual, it was a pleasure! Until next time,” Santana called as she made her way to her own car.

The ride home in Will’s car was anything but comfortable. Emma kept glancing back and asking Kurt if he felt sick. Will’s eyes never left the road, but Kurt could see he was clutching the steering wheel tighter than necessary. Blaine stared at him, still shocked by his behavior and clothing.

Kurt kept rubbing his right temple. Not because he was in pain, but in response to all the stress around him. Kurt wished Will would at least put some music on because the silent disapproval was killing him; or that Blaine would stop looking at him; or that Emma would quit asking him if he was alright and ask what the hell was wrong with him instead. Kurt glanced around the car and then cast his eyes downward. Biting his lip, he asked if his parents knew where he had been.

“Not yet,” Emma answered. “You know, we are going to have to talk about that... that place, Kurt. It’s not the sort of place a nice young man like yourself should be seen in.”

Kurt snorted and was about to respond when Blaine put his hand on Kurt’s arm and placed a warning finger before his lips. Kurt shook Blaine’s hand off and gave him an evil look but decided it would probably be wise to remain silent. Blaine didn’t need to catch any grief for his previous visits to Scandals.

Blaine’s worried look just about killed Kurt, so he leaned over and patted Blaine’s knee. “I’m sorry, Blaine,” Kurt whispered to him and then shifted back over to the other side of the seat.  Blaine crossed his arms and went back to staring at his boyfriend. Kurt sighed in surrender and frustration.

The rest of car ride back to Kurt’s house was sheer agony.

Will pulled the car up to the front of the house, and Finn and Rachel parked behind him. 

“Kurt, come in the house now,” Rachel commanded, grabbing his arm and pulling him up the front steps. Kurt didn’t feel like arguing so he let her lead him.

The last place Kurt wanted to go was inside to face Will, Emma and Rachel. Finn, Sam and Blaine would also be there to witness his humiliation.

When they got into the house, Kurt moved to the sofa and sat upright with his arms crossed. Rachel was next to him wringing her hands. Emma sat in his father’s easy chair (although she didn’t look very easy doing it) and Will stood facing them all.

“We need to talk about what’s going on with you, Kurt. This is not like you. You destroyed your room, and it appears you were going to throw away all your lovely clothes,” Emma started.

So Emma was going to start the lecture. “Great,” Kurt thought. “She better not have one of those stupid pamphlets.” He sighed, turned his attention away from them all and walked to a picture of a waterfall on the wall that his father had picked out. Kurt thought that the picture looked hideous but his dad seemed to like it.

“Kurt, look at me,” Emma said, bringing him back to her. “This is a very serious matter.”

“It’s really none of your business, is it?” Kurt responded, his voice back to the same lower pitch and tone as it was at Scandals. “You’re not the boss of me, are you?” Kurt winced at his own words. “Way too childish,” he thought. “Think, Kurt! Get these people out of here.”

Rachel looked appalled at Kurt. “Kurt, what’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing getting YOU out of my life wouldn’t improve,” Kurt yelled, pointing in Rachel’s direction and stepping towards her with every sentence. “YOU with your free ticket to Broadway. YOU get your dream. YOU get into your school. YOU told me I wouldn’t need to worry about applying to anywhere else. ‘I was a shoe-in to NYADA. You’re so good, Kurt. They’ll take you!’” Kurt said in his best Rachel voice. “Well guess what, Rachel Berry? They didn’t take me! And now I have nowhere to go next year. Well, you won’t have to worry about me being your only competition now, will you? Are you happy now?” Kurt spit out the last words with a vengeance.

“Kurt, you would’ve gotten in…” Will started to say but realized something had slipped out that Carmen Thibideaux had told him in their conversation last week.

“What do you mean?” Kurt asked and got into Will’s face. “You know something. What is it?”

“Nothing, Kurt.” Will hemmed and hawed trying to find the right words. “What I was trying to say was that you would have gotten in but choices had to be made and Rachel’s performance at Nationals was stellar.”

Rachel smiled at being called a star; she WAS stellar. Kurt spun around and stared her down. Her smile quickly disappeared and she said, “Carmen was going to be there, Kurt. I had to make up for choking in front of her. You understand, don’t you? It was so important for me to shine at Nationals so she could see the real star I truly am. Kurt, please don’t be mad at me,” she begged as she walked up to him. “Kurt?”

Kurt became very calm, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In those new clothes and makeup, it was a very scary sight indeed. Blaine was sitting on the floor in the corner with Finn and Sam, trying to stay out of the discussion but being there for moral support if Kurt wanted it. The last thing his boyfriend needed was getting ganged up on.

Kurt opened his eyes, and they were the steely gray of before. It was a bit disconcerting how Kurt’s eye color changed with his mood. He walked away from Will and looked out the window. “Wow, this is amazing. All the effort I put in New Directions, and I just get tossed away. How did I not see it before?” he said with a bitter laugh.

“Kurt…” Will pleaded.

“I’m not finished!” Kurt yelled, and turned towards everyone. Taking another cleansing breath, he continued, “You’re no longer my teacher, and you’re in my home so you will listen to me.” He pointed to the door and added, “If you can’t do that, you can get the hell out!”

Finn and Sam looked at each other, their mouths agape. Blaine just sat with his arms wrapped around his knees and rocked back and forth, praying this wouldn’t get violent. “This was my safe place,” he thought to himself desperately. Finn noticed Blaine freaking out and squeezed his friend’s arm comfortingly.

Will was looking slightly uncomfortable. Seeing Kurt like this unsettled him. “I’m listening,” he said cautiously, crossing his arms.

“Thank you. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Kurt said, calming down. He started slowly pacing the room around Will. “Let me get all of this straight. Because of my successful audition, I was going to be offered a place in NYADA. Then you talked to Carmen, Rachel sang her obligatory two solos, and I was bumped? For her?” he cried, pointing at Rachel. “So she gets to screw up and still scores a place in the school, yet I had an almost perfect audition and it’s not good enough. Typical,” he snorted.

Rachel started crying. “That’s not how it went, Kurt! If you would only listen…”

Kurt dismissed her with a wave of his hand and turned back to Will. “That’s why she soloed on one song and had the girl’s solo on the other. I had, like two lines that I shared with Blaine. That was it. Nothing else for me so I would shine. Nothing to make me look like I was important.”

Kurt was on a roll now. All the old hurts and grievances started to surface. “You never gave me any solos for any of the competitions. Oh no, wait! I got to solo a couple of lines in ABC – A CHILDREN’S SONG!” Kurt was yelling again. “You gave Rachel the advantage at Nationals, but you ignored me,” he said and the fight in his voice evaporated.

Kurt fought back the tears. “How could you?” He broke down and started to cry.

Rachel moved to hug Kurt but he pushed her away. Blaine jumped up to comfort his boyfriend but was held back by Finn, who shook his head.

Kurt looked at the shocked faces of Will and Emma. He just had to get out of that room. He tried to speak quietly and with calm dignity, “Excuse me. I… I’m going to my room as I’m tired. Please leave. I’ll talk to my parents when they get back. Good night.” He completely ignored Rachel and the boys in the room. Kurt turned to walk out but started to run the minute he hit the doorway. He had to get away to his room before he lost it completely.

“Kurt, wait, your room. It’s…” Emma called after him. She went to follow him up the stairs. Kurt reached his room first, ran inside, and slammed the door behind him, locking the door to shut them all out. Then he slowly turned around. He was shocked. As he surveyed the remains of his room, he sunk down to floor and started sobbing, curling into the fetal position.

******

Emma returned downstairs to find Will sitting on the couch, Rachel in Finn’s arms, Sam trying to make himself invisible and Blaine in tears. She moved over to Will and said quietly, “We’ll need to talk to Burt and Carole about this. Kurt is a very disturbed boy right now.”

Blaine jumped up, angry and with tears streaming down his face. “Mr. Schue, Ms. P, with all due respect what in the hell are you talking about?” he asked angrily. Blaine always tried to be very polite with his elders, but right now he was hurting too badly for his boyfriend.

He was sure he would regret this later, but he continued, “First, Kurt was drunk. He’s not disturbed. And yes I know that drinking is evil and everything, but that’s not the point. Second, Kurt is hurting and feels betrayed, and frankly, I really don’t blame him,” he said, staring at Will and Rachel. “You know how he has struggled with acceptance since he joined the glee club. Finally, Kurt is a man, not a boy. He’s an adult, and I expect you to treat him as such. I wish everyone would just go away. I’ll take care of him.”

“Blaine, I realize you’re upset right now, but Kurt’s behavior will need to be dealt with sooner than later,” Will said, putting his hand on Blaine’s shoulder.

Blaine rubbed his face and responded, “And it will be. Just not tonight. I think everyone needs to have a good sleep. Burt and Carole will be home tomorrow, and we can all go out for coffee and discuss Kurt’s issues. How does that sound?”

Emma joined them standing in the middle of the living room and agreed, “Yes, I think that’s best. I trust that you’ll let Kurt’s parents know we wish to speak to them?” Blaine nodded. “Very well then. I know this is frowned upon in the school system, but I would like to give you a hug. Is that okay, Blaine?”

Will was shocked. Usually, Emma shied away from any physical contact from anyone but him. Her wanting to comfort this hurting boy was a huge step forward.

Blaine stepped into Emma’s waiting arms and hugged her tightly. He really did love both of them. He was just a little angry at Will at the moment.

“Go take care of Kurt,” said Will reassuringly. “I think he could use his boyfriend now. Finn can see us out.”

“Goodnight,” said Blaine to everyone in the room and ran upstairs. He knocked on the bedroom door and tried to open it, only to find it locked. He could hear Kurt sobbing on the other side and his heart broke.

“Kurt, sweetie, it’s Blaine. Please let me in?” he asked through the door.

“Go away, Blaine! I just want to be alone,” Kurt said with a shaky voice. His tough guy persona was all but gone. “Go sleep on the couch, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Blaine put his forehead against the locked door and begged, “Kurt, please? I’m not going anywhere, I’ll just camp out here if I have to.”

“Fine,” Kurt hiccupped. “There’s a sleeping bag in the hall closet.”

Blaine turned with his back against the door and slid to the floor. He was crying right along with his boyfriend, and he didn’t think the tears would stop anytime soon. “I just want you to know that I’m here for you. I love you so much,” he said and slowly slid his fingers under the door.

At first he thought that Kurt had fallen asleep, but then he felt fingers curl gently around his own.

“Stand away from the door, Blaine. I’m letting you in.”

Blaine stiffly got up and Kurt cracked the door open. Kurt, kneeling on the floor, looked up at him. His eyes were red and swollen. Black makeup ran down his cheeks.

“Hey,” said Blaine softly and let himself in. He locked the door behind him.

“Hey,” said Kurt, sniffing.

Blaine moved over to the bedside table and grabbed a box of tissues. He went over to Kurt and sat next to him against the door. He gently pulled Kurt over, grabbed some tissues and wiped the makeup off his face. He then kissed away the new tears falling down his cheeks.

“Blaine, I’m in so much trouble. I’m scared,” said Kurt in a small voice. He sounded like he was 10 years old again.

Blaine wrapped his arms around his exhausted and upset boyfriend. “Shh, shh, come here, my love,” he said as Kurt wrapped himself around Blaine and started sobbing anew, putting his head on Blaine’s chest.

Blaine sat, with his head against the door. The tears were still flowing as he stroked Kurt’s hair and slowly rocked his boyfriend while he sang a few words slowly and quietly:

“I hope you don't mind.
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words.
How wonderful life is while you're in the world.”

That is how they remained until they both fell asleep, exhausted. They were two people against the world, and Blaine was always going to be there to fight side by side with Kurt Hummel. Come what may.