Which was why it irritated him more than a little when Karofsky stumbled in very late that particular Monday morning, still in street clothes, and collapsed on the bleachers, causing Coach Lebrun to halt the basketball game with two sharp blows of his whistle in order to see what was up. Finn grabbed a spare ball from the sidelines and dribbled randomly, trying to keep his zone from fading out too much, but then he heard Kurt’s name and dropped the ball with a sigh. He’d promised Burt that he would watch out for Kurt and Karofsky talking about him could only be bad news.

“What’s up with Kurt?” he asked as he shuffled over to the bleachers. Karofsky looked up at him and Finn couldn’t figure out whether he looked guilty or upset. Or maybe both. “Dude, did you do something to him?”

“No,” Karofsky protested, but his voice was quiet and almost resigned. “He’s fine. He’s in the office with that teacher. Anderson.”

“Why is he in the office?”

“Why don’t you let me deal with this Hudson,” Coach Lebrun said.

Finn ignored him. Coach was a dom, like most gym teachers, but his orders had nothing on orders from Burt Hummel. “Dude, why is he in the office?”

“I saw them together,” Karofsky was looking at him like there was something important he should understand and Finn really hated that. People should just say what they meant, but they never seemed to, and the more important whatever they had to say was, the less likely they seemed to be to spit it out. “I saw them, Finn, like me and Dr. Fletcher. But then Kurt told me to get out and . . . I did it. I just left. Why did I do that?”

But Finn wasn’t listening to Karofsky anymore. He was already halfway across the gym, ignoring Coach’s voice ordering him back. Karofsky involved in something that resulted in Kurt in the principal’s office with a teacher had to mean big trouble for someone. He was at a full run by the time he hit the double doors, slamming one open and taking off toward the main corridors.

His mind and body were both racing, not really paying any attention to what they were doing by the time he rounded the corner to the corridor that held all the Junior class lockers and collided headlong with the exact two people he was looking for, sending them both crashing to the floor and sliding like bowling pins in opposite directions.

“What the hell, Finn?!” Kurt exclaimed as he coasted to a stop and pushed himself up from the floor, rubbing one elbow and glaring daggers at his brother.

Finn rushed over to offer a hand up. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I was coming to rescue you.”

“This would be your idea of a rescue.” Kurt ignored Finn’s hand and half-crawled, half scooted over to where Mr. Anderson was sitting on the floor with his hands sort of grabbing at his knees. He seemed to be breathing pretty hard for someone who’d only been knocked down. Kurt, to Finn’s surprise, took one of Mr. Anderson’s hands gently in his own and gave the teacher a little smile. “My brother,” he said softly.

“I gathered,” Mr. Anderson said giving Kurt his own shaky smile in return. Finn watched, just a little bewildered, as Kurt stood up and pulled Mr. Anderson up with him. Something was going on, for sure, there was something about the way the teacher was looking at his brother, Finn could see that much, and he was sure he’d get it in a second but Kurt didn’t really give him time to figure it out.

“What exactly did you think you were rescuing me from?” Kurt asked, kind of over his shoulder because he was still standing with his back to Finn, watching Mr. Anderson instead, still gripping his hand.

“I was in gym and Karofsky came in looking like he was about to cry, which is weird enough but then he said something about you and Mr. Anderson in the office and I just . . . I didn’t know . . .” He trailed off as it all started to come together, finally, in his head. Kurt. Mr. Anderson. Holding hands. Kurt holding Mr. Anderson’s right hand which was securely and obviously wrapped in a black, claimed cuff. And Rachel had specifically told him the teacher wasn’t claimed.

Kurt had turned around by now, and he watched kind of nervously as Finn figured it out.

“Wait,” Finn finally said, “he’s your soulmate?”

Kurt’s eyes went wide and he nodded, looking almost shocked that Finn had gotten it right, which made no sense because it was obvious, really, with the cuff and the hand-holding. Finn was sure anyone else would have figured it out right away.

“Dude, that’s awesome! You found your soulmate!” He pulled Kurt into a tight hug, and Kurt returned it one-armed, as the other hand was still attached to his history teacher.

Finn was never quite sure what reaction he’d get from hugging Kurt. Sometimes it seemed to make him happy; sometimes he looked touched; sometimes Kurt shoved him away in either mock or real irritation. But Finn never bothered to over think things so he usually just hugged when he was feeling it and let the chips fall where they may. This time it must have been the right thing to do because when he pulled back Kurt was grinning and his eyes were sparkling with genuine happiness.

“So . . . this is Blaine,” Kurt said, pulling the teacher forward a bit from where he stood behind Kurt, looking like he was trying to hide. “Or, I guess Mr. Anderson when we’re at school.”

And, okay, that was weird. Finn liked to keep things simple and usually it worked for him. He accepted people for who they were, or who they presented themselves as, and didn’t think much further than that. But what was he supposed to do with this? Rachel’s history teacher was Kurt’s boyfriend? It was one thing to be happy that Kurt had found his soulmate, which Finn totally was because Kurt, of all people, wasn’t the type to fool around casually or let himself fall for someone who wasn’t his destined mate, like Finn had. If Kurt hadn’t met his soulmate young he would have been miserable for a long time, Finn knew, and he was really, truly glad that wasn’t going to happen. But for his brother’s soulmate to be a teacher and, even worse, a grown up? How was he supposed to deal with that? This was the person who Kurt would be with forever, and probably marry some day, if gay marriage was legal in Ohio which Finn could never quite remember because the rules seemed to change every week, but legal or not he’d probably be Finn’s brother-in-law some day and he was supposed to call him Mr. Anderson at school and what – Blaine? – at home and try to forget, if he ever saw in him the hallways or had him supervise a study hall, that he submitted to Kurt and did the same things for his brother that Finn did for Rachel? And really, it was even worse than him and Rachel because they were both dudes and probably doing all kinds of things that Rachel wouldn’t even consider yet. And before that train of thought could get any further out of the station Finn thrust out his hand for Mr. Anderson to shake.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, sounding completely stupid, he knew, because what kid talked like that? Mr. Anderson took his hand for the briefest of moments (but not too brief for Finn to be able to feel it shaking) and then pulled back. Duty done, Finn turned back to Kurt. It was so much easier to deal with the idea of Kurt as someone’s dom than the idea of Mr. Anderson as his brother’s sub. “So what was up with you in the office? Karofsky was pretty freaked out.”

“David saw Blaine and me together and he thought Blaine was messing with me the way Dr. Fletcher messed with him.”

“But that’s crazy. You’re a dom.”

“Well I’m glad somebody noticed,” Kurt said sharply, but he smiled at Finn like he’d just said something wonderful.

“I noticed,” Mr. Anderson said in a quiet voice, looking up at Kurt in a way that made Finn even more uncomfortable. Kurt, though, turned his high-wattage smile from Finn back to Mr. Anderson, and they almost seemed to forget he was there as they gazed in each other’s eyes.

This was just Finn’s luck. He’d finally managed to somehow stumble into saying all the right things, making Kurt smile the way he almost never did, certainly never at Finn, and of course it was all wrapped up in Mr. Anderson looking at his brother in a way that made him feel like Burt would want him to hit the guy. “So you’re okay, right?” Finn asked. He was getting more and more anxious to just get back to the gym and work his way back into the basketball zone, where things were simple.

“Perfect,” Kurt said, still looking at Mr. Anderson. “No rescuing required. But thank you for the thought.” He looked at Finn then, and Finn could tell that he really meant it.

Finn began to back up in the direction he’d come from. “Okay then, well, congratulations. I guess I’ll see you later. Nice to meet you . . .” Oh God. Saying “Mr. Anderson” seemed ridiculous when it was Kurt’s soulmate he was talking to, but saying “Blaine” felt all kinds of wrong too. Great. He really, truly was happy for Kurt but man he was dreading Friday night dinners with Mr. Anderson in attendance. He settled for just nodding in the teacher’s direction.

Mr. Anderson seemed to understand. He nodded back and said “You too, Finn,” without a hint of irritation or embarrassment. Finn turned and forced himself to walk until he turned the first corner and then he ran as fast as he could back to the safety of the gym.

Kurt stayed still until Finn turned the corner then he moved swiftly to push Blaine up against the bank of lockers on the wall, leaning into him with his whole body until he could feel Blaine’s racing heart against his own chest. Blaine made a tiny sound in the back of his throat; his eyes closed and Kurt could feel him begin to relax back into the metal behind him so he pressed even harder, stretching himself up onto his tiptoes to accentuate their height difference, and gradually Blaine’s heartbeat began to slow down to something resembling normal and the gentle tremble in his body stopped.

Blaine took a couple of deep, slow breaths then opened his eyes. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

Kurt backed off a bit, but kept their bodies touching. “Are you sure? We can do this as long as you need it.”

“Didn’t Figgins say no displays of dominance?”

“I’m pretty sure he said no unnecessary displays. At least that’s how I’m choosing to remember it. But helping my sub when he’s freaking out is necessary.”

Blaine smiled up at Kurt. “Thank you. I really am okay. I just was all geared up for the classroom and I didn’t expect Finn.”

“No one ever does,” Kurt sighed, shaking his head. “That went better than I thought it would, but I don’t think he quite knows what to make of you yet.”

“But he’s happy for you. That’s all that really matters.”

Kurt reached to take Blaine’s hand in his again. “That’s the thing about Finn. Just when you’ve decided you’re going to have to murder him in his sleep, he does something perfect. It’s actually kind of annoying.” He started to walk, pulling Blaine along behind him. “So I think maybe we’ve had enough outing for one day. How about we not say anything in class today?”

Blaine stopped walking and pulled Kurt to a halt as well. “Are you really okay with that?”

“Well, we’re not keeping it a secret. I mean, between Finn and Principal Figgins everyone will know by the end of the day anyhow. Might as well just let them finish their tests in peace.” He could see the last of the tension leave Blaine’s shoulders at this. “I’m okay with baby steps.”

“Okay. No big announcement.” Blaine’s smile widened and seemed more genuine than it had since they’d been run into by Finn. By the time they reached the classroom door he was leading the way, as anyone would expect a teacher to do.

There was only the slightest notice of their entrance. A few people looked up but most were too busy with their tests to bother. Puckerman was one who did, though, watching them with a frown and clearly trying to piece together what was going on. Kurt tried to look normal and unconcerned as he made his way to his desk and Blaine went to murmur a thank you to Mr. Schuester.

Rachel looked up with a fleeting smile as he seated himself and then focused her attention back on her paper. He didn’t look in Puck’s direction but he could practically smell the sizzle as his brain worked. Well, let him wonder. They’d all know soon enough and they could accept it or not.

Kurt wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now. He didn’t have enough time to finish the test and he didn’t need to, really, because starting tomorrow he wasn’t even in this class any more. He was staring at the paper wondering if it would be too much of a risk to write something sexy and stick it in the middle of the pile for Blaine to stumble on while he was correcting them, when something hit him hard on the arm. A neon yellow, cone-shaped eraser rebounded onto the floor.

He looked up to see Puck brandishing an eraser-less pencil and looking at Kurt like he suspected something that he couldn’t quite believe. Puck always said he had a sixth sense when people were having sex and it seemed to be working because Kurt could see comprehension dawning on his face.

“Dude!” Puck mouthed soundlessly, rolling his eyes toward Blaine, and Kurt couldn’t resist smiling just a little and lifting one shoulder in a coy kind of shrug. Puck’s mouth fell open and his eyes went comically wide; he was trying to look scandalized, but under the goofy expression he actually looked . . . impressed?

“Noah, Kurt, keep your eyes on your papers, please.” Blaine’s voice barely shook at all, which made Kurt smile even more as he turned back to his paper and began to write things that had absolutely nothing to do with the test questions. He was trying to decide exactly how far he could take his game when he noticed a tiny movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over to see Puck’s hand, fingers curled into a fist, making its way surreptitiously across Jenn’s empty seat. It stopped halfway there and waited, and Kurt turned his eyes back to his paper and swallowed a giggle as he stretched out his arm and bumped his own fist gently against Puck’s.

Rachel, Finn, and now Puck. Three down. The entire population of McKinley to go.