By the time Kurt and Blaine got back to Kurt’s house, the rain had pretty much stopped and the sun was starting to come out again. Blaine drove into the driveway and turned off the gas. He turned to Kurt and asked, “Are you sure you want to do this right now?”

“No, not really. I don’t even know what to say to her. ‘Hey, Bitch, you stole my spot to NYADA?’ I don’t even know what I’m feeling right now, but I feel if I don’t get it out, I’m going to end up taking off again. I just can’t seem to deal with my emotions lately!” Kurt said frantically.

Blaine grabbed Kurt’s hand and said, “Babe, sometimes the only thing you can do is get it out. It is very cathartic, you know.”

“Cathartic?” Kurt asked.

“You know… like purging,” Blaine explained.

“Like throwing up?”

“Kurt, you know what I mean,” Blaine said, exasperated. “As much as you’re mad at Rachel right now, you’ll both work this out. I can see how much she loves you, and the thought of going to New York without you is probably killing her.”

“Yeah, well, she should’ve thought of that before stalking Madame Thibideaux,” Kurt snapped at Blaine. At his boyfriend’s hurt look, he said, “I’m sorry, Blaine. This isn’t your fault at all. I know I’ve said this about a bajillion times today, but I’m sorry. I have to deal with this and the wrath of my dad later today. All I want to do is stay in bed and cuddle while eating that Ben & Jerry’s you promised me yesterday.”

“And we will, Kurt, as soon as you talk to Rachel,” said Blaine as he squeezed his boyfriend’s hand reassuringly. “Look, I’ll take Finn and we’ll go up to his room to play video games so you can be alone, alright?”

Kurt gave Blaine a look of panic. “You aren’t going to stay with me?”

Blaine shook his head. “This is something you need to do on your own, Kurt. Besides, Rachel isn’t that crazy,” he said.

“But what if I am?” Kurt asked softly and started picking at his perfectly manicured nails. “I need to paint these black,” he thought to himself.

“You’re not crazy, Kurt.” Blaine’s comment brought Kurt out of his fog.

Kurt disagreed, “I can’t seem to control my emotions lately. Yeah, I’m pissed at her way more than I thought I’d ever be. I don’t want to hurt her physically, but look at what I did to my room!”

Blaine gently grabbed Kurt by the arms and said vehemently, “Kurt, I know you. You would never hurt a living thing. If things feel like they’re going out of control, we’ll be upstairs. Finn knows that you need to work this out on your own. I have faith in you, babe.”

“I’m glad that you do,” said Kurt as he got out of the car. “’Cause I don’t.” The streets were steaming from the sun hitting the wet pavement, and it was promising to be a hot summer day. Blaine walked around the car and grabbed Kurt’s hand.

They walked up the stairs to the front door and let themselves in. They would get their shopping bags later. After taking off their wet shoes in the foyer, they found themselves face to face with Rachel and Finn, who were waiting in the living room.

“Hey, little bro. Blaine,” greeted Finn, waving awkwardly.

“I’m three months older than you, Finn,” said Kurt, putting his hand on his hip. “Why must you always insist on calling me little bro?”

“Well, you’re little, and you are my brother, and you called me Big Brother last night. So why not?” Finn retorted and shrugged.

Kurt rolled his eyes. Sometimes Finn could be so irritating!

Rachel looked at their soaked-to-the-skin forms. “We need to get you out of those wet clothes right away! Were you caught in the storm?” she asked with genuine concern.

“Something like that,” Kurt mumbled, looking at his wet socks.

“Well, let me get you some towels, and we’ll get you both cleaned up,” said Rachel as she rushed to the linen closet.

While Rachel was retrieving the towels to dry off, Finn said, “Mom just called. It looks like Burt is going to be stuck in DC for a few more days. Emergency meetings and stuff. She’s coming home though, but she doesn’t sound angry, just worried for you. She should be here late this evening.”

Kurt let out a sigh of relief and felt a small weight lift off of him. He knew his dad was going to kick his ass, but at least now he had a little more time to figure himself out.

Rachel returned, gave Blaine a towel and was about to start drying Kurt off when he raised his hand to stop her. “Please, Rachel. I just need a few minutes,” he said, interrupting her fussing over him. He gently took the towel from her and went upstairs to his room, drying his hair on the way. Rachel was just left looking up the stairs, and she started to cry.

Blaine had dried himself off the best he could, so he took Rachel in his arms. He felt so bad for her, but he could see Kurt’s side of things as well. They really needed to talk this out.

Finn just stood as if he wasn’t sure what to do. “Dude, she’s been like this all morning. And anything I say to her just makes her worse!” he exclaimed.

“He doesn’t understand, Blaine,” she said as he stroked her hair. “He doesn’t understand that I have a broken heart. Why can’t Kurt understand that I did what I did for us!”

“A broken heart? But it’s only Kurt,” said Finn, trying to make her feel better. That just started her crying harder. “See? I can’t say anything right!” he said, exasperated, as he stomped off to the living room and turned on the TV.

Blaine gently pulled Rachel away and looked down at her. It was so sad to see this small girl in so much pain. It appeared that everyone around him was hurting right now. “He’s willing to talk, Rach. You need to tell him exactly what you told me. He feels pretty betrayed,” he said.

“But I told you I…” she said but was interrupted in her explanation.

“Tina accidentally told him about your trip to see Madame Thibideaux,” he admitted quietly. “You really should have told him, Rachel.”

“I didn’t see a need if we both got in!” cried Rachel. “Oh, now I KNOW he hates me.”

Blaine looked up the stairs and saw that the door was still shut. “I’m going to see if he’s okay.” He then called into the living room to Finn, “Hey Finn, wanna go to your room to play some X-Box?”

“Sure!” said Finn happily. Now that was something he COULD do. Blaine was always a good opponent to play against. Well, win against. What Blaine lacked in skill he made up for in enthusiasm, and he never complained when Finn whipped his butt. Right now Finn needed to burn off some frustration. He loved Rachel for the world, but she was SO high maintenance! Did she realize he had a lot of things on his mind as well?

Blaine kissed Rachel on the forehead and said to Finn, “Cool. I’ll meet you up there in a few minutes. Kurt is coming back down to talk to Rachel.” Rachel let out a little whine. “It’ll be fine,” Blaine said to her comfortingly. “We’re right upstairs if you need us.”

Blaine made his way upstairs, knocked on Kurt’s bedroom door, and tried the knob. The door was unlocked so he let himself in. Kurt had changed into another jeans and t-shirt combo, and his hair was back in his now signature spikes. This time, however, he decided to forgo the makeup. He was sitting at the end of the bed holding the shattered frame of the New Directions photo. The glass had since been taken away, but the scratched picture remained.

Kurt looked up at Blaine with tears in his eyes, and he pointed to the frame.

“I need to get into some dry clothes, Kurt. I’ll be right with you, okay?” he said as he grabbed some dry clothes from the dresser. He changed his mind and grabbed one of Kurt’s new t-shirts. “Mind if I borrow this?” he asked and Kurt nodded.

After quickly changing into the t-shirt and jeans and hanging the wet clothes in the bathroom, Blaine sat down beside Kurt and put his arm around his upset boyfriend. He looked at what Kurt was pointing at. In the picture Kurt stood behind Rachel with his arms around her waist and his head on her shoulder. Blaine was on one side and Finn on the other. The entire group had huge smiles as Will held up the Nationals trophy. However, Kurt and Rachel’s faces were scratched out from the glass damage.

“Oh, Kurt,” he said as he took the picture frame from Kurt’s shaking hands and put it on the bed.

“It’s a sign. I can’t do this,” Kurt said in a voice as shaky as his hands.

Blaine understood his boyfriend’s reluctance. He saw Rachel when she was in a strop. He also understood that Kurt was very volatile right now, but he was getting frustrated by the circling the two were doing with each other.

Blaine stood up and faced Kurt. “Okay, I’m risking you hating me for all eternity, but I need to say this. You need to stop what you’re doing.” After Kurt’s head snapped up and he gestured to his clothes, Blaine added, “No not what you’re wearing. I don’t even care about this new image. Well, I do, but I don’t dislike it. You’re finding yourself. I did the same thing when I first came out. I’m talking about you and Rachel. The entire family is feeling like we have to walk on eggshells for both of you! That includes the New Directions family.” He then realized that he said that he was part of the family and turned away, flustered. “I mean your family. Your family is walking on eggshells.”

Kurt got up, circled his arms around Blaine’s waist from behind, and rested his head on Blaine’s back. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, sweetie,” he apologized softly.

“There’s only so much of this I can take, Kurt!” said Blaine. He was looking at a hole on the wall, on the verge of tears.

“I know. I’ll go down and talk to her now. Then you and I will talk, I promise.” Kurt slowly turned Blaine so he was facing him. A few tears were coming down Blaine’s face. “You’ve been so strong for me, and I haven’t even said thank you.”

“Watching you self-destruct like this is ripping my heart in two,” said Blaine, wiping at his eyes. “We need to fix this. I said I would fight with you, come what may, right?”

“Come what may,” Kurt said, kissing the tears on Blaine’s cheek. “By the way, that’s a very good use of that line from Moulin Rouge.” He gave a small smile.

“You are so gay,” laughed Blaine through his tears and hugged Kurt tightly.

“Hey, I’m not the one quoting Moulin Rouge!” said Kurt, pulling away. He looked Blaine in the eyes. “You are, you know.”

Blaine looked at him, confused. “Gay? Well I kinda knew that!” he said.

“No, family. Everyone here is crazy about you. Dad and Carole are asking about you constantly. Even Finn thinks you’re totally awesome! You play sports and video games and I think that kinda gives him an identity crisis. He thought all that gay people do is decorate and sing show tunes.”

Blaine felt an overwhelming love for everyone in the Hudson-Hummel family. He had always prayed that he would find a real family like this one. What he had at his house with his family was far from it. “Well, I do that, too. But I know what you mean,” he said, playing with a spike in Kurt’s hair. He then pointed to his own hair. “I gotta get this mop fixed, then go have some quality hetero time with Finn. If you need us, just yell.” He then put his hand behind Kurt’s head and pulled him in for a slow kiss.

“I love you, Blaine. I can’t believe the bullshit I put you through,” he murmured as they pulled away.

“I love you, too, Kurt. Now go, talk, love, learn, live,” Blaine said and playfully smacked Kurt on the ass. Blaine grabbed his curl controller to fix his hair before the rain and dampness would turn him into Broccoli-Head, his superhero alter ego. They both left the room and Blaine turned to Finn’s bedroom while Kurt went downstairs with his showdown with Rachel.

******

Rachel was having a terrible day. And she thought, “Terrible anytimes could produce frowns, which could produce frown lines, which I am far too young to have to worry about. I need everyone to understand this. My unlined appearance will be the key to my success. As a young ingénue, I realize that my face is as important as my voice. I have a regime I must adhere to daily to keep myself looking fresh and young. Crying non-stop these last 24 hours could wipe out years of hard work. Look at Barbra. She may not have been a classic beauty, but she was fresh and young looking for a very long time. While being on the stage means most of my audience would never see my face up close, my picture will be on the front cover of the Playbill, and I’ll sign autographs after every performance. And yes, even in the coldest weather, I’ll be out there for my public.”

Rachel could see them standing in the snow, shivering with cold, icicles hanging from their noses just for her. Rachel wore sleeveless dresses in the middle of winter so she could build up her tolerance for standing outside in the cold and signing those autographs without shivering. She had also learned to smile without chattering her teeth so she would appear at her very best during those signings. “Yes, I have planned it out to the smallest detail and it’s in my pink planner. All this crying is playing havoc with my lifelong plans and it needs to come to an end.” 

Ever since she got that damned NYADA letter, it appeared that her life was being turned upside down. Getting accepted was supposed to be one of the happiest, most joyous times of her whole life, with the exception of her upcoming wedding, of course. But she was being denied, yes denied, the right to enjoy it. After great reflection, she realized that both Kurt and Finn could go to New York with her. At first she was going to defer admission for a whole year to help them with their auditions, but she soon realized the foolishness of waiting.

After all, she wasn’t going to get any younger, and she needed to be at the top of her game if she wanted to succeed. In reality, Kurt’s future audition required very little work. Maybe his audition pants could be taken in just a smidgen more but not much else was necessary. Finn might need additional help, but she was sure with the right motivation and hours of hard work, she could bring him up to standard. There was no reason to take a whole year off from attending NYADA. She would work with both of them after her school day was over. There was plenty of time!

But first, Kurt was having some massive identity crisis, and he would need to snap out of it. She was going to have to help him regain control of his life. This was probably just some phase of teenage rebellion he felt he needed to go through. Rachel was sure with the right attitude, Kurt would return to normal soon.

Rachel had to make Finn see that Kurt’s darker attitude was just a temporary distraction! There was a big argument after bringing Kurt home from that weird bar. Finn had yelled at her. “Leave Kurt alone,” he grumbled.

Well, she needed Kurt, and she needed him to be her old Kurt. Finn didn’t understand all the stress she was under right now! Yes, she got accepted into school and they didn’t, but there was always next year. And Finn didn’t get it; she needed both of them to be there for her. That was the plan. It was also in her pink planner book, and that book allowed for no deviation!

Rachel sat on the couch and grabbed a tissue from the table beside her. She thought back to a discussion with Finn she’d had earlier in the day. Rachel had brought up NYADA and Finn had snapped at her.

“Rachel, all you ever talk about is that damn school! Your best friend, and my brother by the way, is having some major issues right now! For once, please think of someone other than yourself!” he had said heatedly.

“Finn, I...” said Rachel in a small voice.

Finn put up his hand to stop her. “No offense, Rachel, but I really don’t want to hear about it right now. I have stuff I’m dealing with, too. Did you even think to ask me if I was okay? No! It’s NYADA this and NYADA that and New York. Always New York!  Rachel, please try to deal what’s in front of you now before leaving everyone to follow your dreams.” He said the word “dreams” with air quotes.

Rachel brought herself back to the present. The days after graduation weren’t supposed to happen like this! With a new resolve, she was determined to set things straight with Kurt and put everything back on the correct path to her sparkling future! How dare Kurt mess with her predestined stardom! She was a winner and whatever it took, she was going to do it. She would win Kurt back and he would help her on her climb to the top. After all, that was what a best gay was for, and Kurt was the man for the job. “No more messing around, Kurt. I have plans for us!” Rachel thought with a single-mindedness reserved for only the most entitled of stars.

******

Finn desperately needed down time from Rachel. He was getting so frustrated with her. She was pulling him one way, and he finally realized he needed to go another. Kurt wasn’t much better, insisting he find a college in New York. Even Puck had tried to push him into joining him in L.A. Finn had some ideas of his own for the future. He just needed to figure out how to get there without upsetting everyone else’s plans for him.

He looked in his room and saw Blaine sitting on the bed looking at the back cover of his Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III game. “Do you want to play this?” Blaine asked, holding the case up.

Well, at least Blaine never asked anything out of him that he couldn’t handle. 

“Sure, you can follow my lead,” Finn said and set up the game, handing Blaine a controller. He started to explain the basics of the FPS.

“What’s an FPS?” asked Blaine.

“First-person shooter game,” Finn responded.

“Oh, okay, I got this,” Blaine said, but he really didn’t. He was more a Mario Kart or Madden NFL player.

“Dude, you just blew yourself up with your own grenade!” Finn yelled. 

Blaine looked at his controller and asked Finn seriously, “Has this been calibrated lately?”

Finn smiled at him and shook his head in disbelief. “No,” he said, got up, turned off the game and turned to Blaine. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, anything,” Blaine said. He automatically went into therapy mode. It always made him happy to help people. 

“Do you think I could make it in the army?”

“Are you thinking about going in the army? I mean, yes you could, but why?” Blaine asked. He was completely caught off guard. He thought this would be about New York and Rachel. Everything was always about New York and Rachel.  

“With Rachel going to New York and all, I won’t have anything to do out there and since we’ll be married, I have to get health insurance for us and other stuff. I was thinking the army would take care of all that. My dad was in the army so it’s kinda… a family thing.”

Blaine nodded his head in agreement and asked, “Is it what you want?”

“Yeah, it is. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” Finn responded.

Rachel would probably kill him for this, but Blaine said, “Then it’s something you should do for yourself.”

Finn nodded. Getting up, he went over to Blaine and explained, “Here, dude, let me explain how the controller works with this game.”

******

Rachel heard Kurt coming down the stairs. She was so mad at him now. “How dare he treat me like this!” she fumed.

She jumped up from the sofa and walked over to him. She got right up in his face and said passionately, “Why couldn't you have stayed calm for once, instead of flying off the handle?”

Kurt’s eyes grew wide. No, this was not how he had planned to talk to her. Rachel started:

“I hope you're happy!
I hope you're happy now.
I hope you're happy how you,
Hurt your cause forever,
I hope you think you're clever!”

Two could play this game. Kurt circled around her, singing:

“I hope you're happy.
I hope you're happy, too.
I hope you're proud how you,
Would grovel in submission,
To feed your own ambition.”

Frustrated, they both turned and walk away from each other with their hands in the air. Rachel wasn’t going to let Kurt get the better of her. No, sir! And Kurt wasn’t going to let Rachel have her way. Not this time! Both sang at each other:

“So though I can't imagine how!
I hope you're happy right now.”

Kurt turned around to ignore Rachel. She walked back over to him. She had him! He couldn’t resist Wicked. She said, “Kurt, listen to me. We can get you to New York.”

Kurt turned around and stared at Rachel, curious. She continued:

“You can still be at NYADA.
What you've worked and waited for.
You can have all you ever wanted.”

Kurt began to feel all his past grievances with her resurface. Rachel had always tried to have the upper hand. He told her:

“I know. But I don't want it. No! I CAN'T want it,
Anymore.”

His mind went back to one of his earliest confrontations with Rachel. “I’ll show her. I can always do it. Always!” he thought angrily. He sang in a much lower register than the last time and it seemed to disarm Rachel:

“Something has changed within me. Something is not the same.
I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game.
Too late for second-guessing, too late to go back to sleep.
It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap!”

“It's time to try defying gravity.
I think I'll try defying gravity.
And you can't pull me down!”

Rachel grabbed his arms and gently shook him while she said, “Kurt, listen to me!”

“Can't I make you understand you're having delusions of grandeur?”

Kurt jabbed his finger at Rachel and continued on:

“I'm through accepting limits ‘cause someone says they're so.
Some things I cannot change, but till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost.
Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost!”

Kurt glared at Rachel and hissed, “Game on, bitch! You aren’t the only one who can turn your life into a song!”

Rachel stamped her foot at him in frustration. “No, No, NO! Don’t let him win!” she screamed silently to herself. “Think, Rachel, think! What would a great star do to win her co-star over on the stage? Cry, of course!” 

Rachel rushed over to him. “Kurt...”

At the same time he said, “Rachel...”

“No, you go first,” said Rachel, playing the melodramatic ingénue while clutching her tissue.

“Ladies first,” Kurt responded quietly, trying hard not to make eye contact.

“I’m so sorry,” Rachel said with a shake of her head, a single tear slowing rolling down her cheek.

“You are?” asked Kurt, surprised.

“Yes of course! I’m sorry that you’re not going to NYADA with me so we can realize our dream together!” she said seriously.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he said slowly. He was trying so hard to keep his temper in check, but it was becoming very challenging. He stepped back from Rachel and sat in the armchair. “Rachel, I need to say something and for the love of god do NOT interrupt me... please,” he said desperately.

Rachel nodded her assent as she sat back on the couch, and Kurt took a deep breath and continued, “Did you or did you not call Madame Thibideaux several times and stalk her while she was auditioning prospective students?”

“Kurt, I did call her several times. I wouldn’t call it stalking, though. I had to keep trying. She wasn’t answering her phone, and I didn’t know what her schedule was so I called several different times during the day hoping to reach her,” answered a confident Rachel. She could win him back with reason.

“God, Rachel! Can’t you just answer the question? I don’t need a full account of your stalking,” interrupted Kurt calmly, at least on the outside. Inside he felt that scary rage starting to build.

“Well, what you might call stalking, I call taking initiative,” said Rachel haughtily. “I just felt like I had to take fate into my own hands.” Kurt just stared at her, so she continued, “Kurt, your audition was flawless, and then I messed up my signature song so badly! I was convinced you got in and I didn’t. I just figured if I could make Madame Thibideaux realize that I’m just as big a star as you, we could both go!”

“Fine, I can accept that,” Kurt said, crossing his arms. “So did you or did you not realize that in showing this so called… initiative, you might have bumped me from the running since my audition was, as you say, flawless?” He waited for Rachel’s response. What she said next would help him decide what to do and say to her.

“Well, yes I did. But I panicked, Kurt! I couldn’t lose my dream before I had it in my grasp!” she said loudly.

Kurt slowly stood up and said, “That’s what I needed to know. Well, Miss Berry, I think this conversation is over. If you’ll excuse me, I ask that you stay away from me until you leave for New York. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours.” He turned to walk away, an image of calm. Inside he wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to hit something but he couldn’t hurt Rachel.

Rachel looked at him, shocked. She WAS losing her Kurt! As he walked out of the living room, she yelled angrily, “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me, Kurt Hummel!”

That did it. Kurt spun around and walked up very close to Rachel. Very close but not touching. “What I am doing to YOU? Do you realize that everything you have done this year has destroyed my life! You’re also destroying Finn’s life! Do the Hudson-Hummel family a favor and get the hell out of our lives!” he screamed.

Finn and Blaine must have heard because they both yelled from upstairs, “Are you guys alright?”

“We’re fine!” Rachel and Kurt yelled back.

Kurt backed up because Rachel looked livid. “Good, she should be,” he thought to himself.

Rachel was very close to slapping the shit out of Kurt. How dare he? No one was going to come in between her and her Finn. Not Quinn, Not Santana, and certainly NOT Kurt!

Kurt looked at her and was torn between leaving the room and staying around for round two. She looked rather scary right now.

Rachel stepped forward, raised her hand, and pointed a finger at Kurt’s nose. “This is between you and me. Leave Finn out of it!” she said forcefully.

Kurt took a step back and attempted to collect his thoughts. “Finn is MY brother. I can include him if I want to.”

“You still have feelings for him!” Rachel declared.

Kurt turned bright red. “I do NOT! I am SO beyond that! Eew!! He’s my BROTHER! That’s disgusting, Rachel Berry!” he exclaimed.

“I knew it! That’s why you want me to leave. You’re jealous of me because he’s mine. Well, HUMMEL, Finn is going to be my husband and there isn’t anything you can do about it. You’re not invited to the wedding anymore!” Rachel said and threw her hands on her hips, giving him her best evil eye. 

Kurt was speechless. He needed to collect his thoughts. “Do not let Rachel get the upper hand here. This isn’t about Finn. This is about us. Get back on track,” he admonished himself.

“Okay, Rachel,” Kurt said, putting his hands up to stop the conversation. He paused and looked at the ceiling as if the answer to what he was trying to say was printed up there. “You have done everything possible this year to make my life a failure. I can’t take it anymore. I can’t take this one sided relationship. It seems like the only reason I’m even in your world is to be your prop, your best gay. Unfortunately, it has brought me nothing but heartache and pain. Rachel, I’m sorry if this upsets you. That’s not my intention. I just need to make you understand. We can’t be friends anymore.”

That took some of the fight out of her. “Kurt, you are breaking up with me?” asked Rachel in a small voice.

Kurt rolled his eyes. He wanted to laugh at the absurd thing Rachel had just said, but he didn’t. He just let out a sigh. “Rachel, we aren’t dating,” he said. “This isn’t a breakup. You were never my boyfriend. It’s just a parting of ways. I’m tired of you messing up my life.”

It was Rachel’s turn to look panicked. “What did I do? This is NOT happening! I looked out for you all year! How could you say that, Kurt?” she asked. She was genuinely confused.

Kurt was starting to get frustrated and angry so he started pacing again. He put on his tough guy voice and said, “Okay, let me break it down for you, Berry.”

“Kurt, this is not you. Please stop with this,” Rachel pleaded.

“This IS me now,” he said and pointed to himself, “and the sooner people accept it, the better off we’ll all be. As I was saying. First, the election. You pushed me into running. You came up with the idea.” When Rachel tried to interrupt, he talked over her. “Yes, you did. Don’t deny it!” Rachel was shaking her head. That was not the way she remembered it.

“I would’ve never run for school president, but you built it up for me. I thought that maybe I could actually do it. But to make it worse, you decided to run against me. What kind of friend would do that? Then you messed with me again and dropped out. Then you stuffed the ballot boxes, effectively disqualifying me from the race and letting Brittany win by default. May I also add that Brittany did shit the entire year in her tenure as president, bless her little unicorn heart! I could have won but now we’ll never know,” he said angrily and shrugged.

“I was only trying to help you!” Rachel yelled back. She wasn’t going to sit down and allow Kurt to bully her.

Kurt snorted. “Some help, Berry. You screwed me over one of many opportunities to beef up my resume. Next, let’s talk about my audition for West Side Story. I could take the directors laughing at me. I understand that my old image may make people uncomfortable. It was your laughter that just about killed me. You were supposed to be a professional. How could you do that to me?”

Rachel was really mad now. “Kurt, what in the hell are you talking about!” she yelled. She put her hand over her mouth, realizing she had just stooped to cursing. “People screw up in auditions all the time. We could have just worked through it if you didn’t run away!”

“That’s a load of bullshit and you know it, Berry. You laughed at me when I went to kiss you. A gay man can’t kiss a girl? You didn’t have a problem kissing Blaine,” he sneered.

“Blaine is different,” Rachel countered.

“Oh, I see. You still have feelings for him.” Turnabout was fair play, and Kurt was quite pleased with himself.

“I do NOT!” Rachel shouted.

“Is everything alright down there?” Finn and Blaine asked again.

“YES!” Rachel and Kurt yelled back up in unison.

“You think you can change Blaine from being gay to straight. It’s the straight girl’s greatest fantasy. Well, it’s not going to happen, Berry!” Kurt said triumphantly. He got her back, and good!

Rachel stood there with an irate look on her face, her hands at fists at her sides. “Are you quite finished, Hummel?” she asked, playing Kurt’s game.

Kurt smiled bitterly. “Ah, I see you’ve decided to play with the big boys now, Rachel Berry. No, I’m afraid I have just begun. Now let’s talk about my audition for NYADA. Yes, we both admit that my audition was ‘exemplary’ as Carmen said, but I bet you wish that I screwed up just like you did!”

“Okay, now YOU are talking a load of bull... poop,” she said hesitantly, refusing to use crude language.

“Little Rachel Berry, can’t even swear? You’re screwed in New York, darling,” Kurt said, spitting out the last word like it was poison.

“Then please tell me how I personally messed up your audition?” Rachel demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kurt mirrored Rachel and crossed his arms over his own chest. “Well, let’s see. I was going to do one of my old standbys. It would be impossible to mess up, right? I think we both saw that’s not the case,” he said, knowing that he hit a nerve. He chuckled meanly and continued, “I, of course, decided to take a little risk and do something that I was working on, but I wasn’t sure would work. You, little Miss Thing,” that got a gasp of anger from Rachel, “tried to psych me out. You tried to make me question my talents. You hoped that I would screw up so there was less competition for those 20 spots. Well, it didn’t work. I kicked the shit out of that song and got great feedback.”

“Go on,” was all that Rachel could say.  She was finished with this. Kurt could go to hell as far as she was concerned.

“So I was confident that I placed quite well for NYADA until that damned letter came yesterday. I didn’t get in, yet you did. I will admit that I questioned my talent as you messed up and I didn’t. Then I come to find out what you did to get Carmen to see you. Tina was a REAL friend to tell me,” he said, knowing that would hurt Rachel the most.

Rachel was done talking. She just stared hard at Kurt until he talked again. “The absolute nerve of this man!” she thought.

Kurt held up his hands as if he was praising some invisible god. “So here we are at this moment. We’re “breaking up,” as you call it. So before we part, let me say this. You are one of the most spoiled, selfish, self-centered bitches I have ever had the displeasure to meet, and our lives will all be richer when you’re gone. When you go to New York, I really hope you learn some hard lessons about life, ‘cause the gravy train will eventually stop. And with that, I bid you a screw you.”

He turned to leave, had to leave, because the rage was getting borderline uncontrollable.

“Yeah?” yelled Rachel after him, refusing to let Kurt have the last word in the matter. “Well, you are a complete asshole! I don’t care if I have to swear. You… are… an… ASSHOLE!” She screamed the last part.

As he walked away, he gave the middle finger and said, “Get used to it sweetheart, because I’m here to stay.”

Rachel reached down, grabbed her shoe, took aim, and WACK! The shoe hit Kurt solidly in the back of the head. What a satisfying sound that had made. Got him good! Damn, that felt great. Rachel was back on top! She wanted to jump and cheer.

Kurt yelped. “Damn that hurt. What was that?” Kurt thought as he touched the back of his head. OUCH! He glanced down and around and spotted Rachel’s left shoe. So that’s what that was. And then it registered with him. “Rachel threw her goddamn shoe at me!” He started to turn around to give her what for, but he couldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing him tear up. He let out a small scream of frustration, went to the front door and slammed it open. He left the house and went down to the driveway near Blaine’s car. He was shaking with rage. He sat on the ground by the car and punched the ground several times, scraping up his knuckles. He then started crying, emotionally spent.

He pulled out his phone and sent Blaine a message so he wouldn’t worry.

I’m outside, I want to go. Now please.

 A few minutes later Blaine came out the front door and stood on the porch, looking for Kurt. “Kurt, are you out here? I don’t see you!” he said frantically.

“I’m here,” called Kurt from the other side of the car. He didn’t have the energy to get up. His hands hurt and his heart was shattered.

Blaine rushed over to the other side of his car and found Kurt sitting on the ground against the wheel, cradling his bleeding hands. He crouched down and tenderly grabbed Kurt’s fingers. “Baby, what did you do to your knuckles?” he asked.

“Blaine, can we go...please?” was all Kurt could say.

“Of course. Let’s go, babe,” he said, gently lifting Kurt off the ground. What just happened down there? He could hear yelling, but Kurt and Rachel had assured him that everything was okay. He just thought they were yelling it out. They were both drama queens, after all. “We need to get your hands fixed up. Let’s stop at the pharmacy so I can get some bandages and then we can go somewhere nice, okay?”

Kurt nodded and allowed Blaine to help him in the car. His hands were pretty useless, so he allowed his boyfriend to buckle him in.

Blaine was so scared for Kurt. They had to talk about this. Right away.