Kurt had trudged back across the oval in a daze, wondering if he had just imagined what had happened. He arrived back inside the school building in time for his afternoon class, soaking wet from the pouring rain. Officer Beiste insisted that he be taken to the sick bay upon viewing his zombie-like state. He was able to convince her that all he needed was a warm shower, and he was grateful when she granted his request.

Kurt quickly undressed in the empty bathroom and hopped under the warm spray of the showerhead, knowing that it would only last for seconds at most before cold water replaced it. He closed his eyes and flinched as he felt the cooler water cascade over his slightly bruised thighs, his aching cock.

Blaine hadn't just given him a blow job; he had given him one that would make him feel the effects of it for a week. But the physical soreness paled in comparison to what he now knew about the other boy that made him want to cry with happiness inside.

Blaine liked boys. And he also liked Kurt. Kurt had almost sobbed at the fact that a boy that he thought wouldn't have feelings for him had admitted that he thought Kurt was beautiful. That night, and the next few nights after, Kurt had pleasured himself in his cell, not caring who heard him cry out with delirium. In fact, he would go as far as to say he rivaled Finn in the name-moaning stakes.

He had felt a change in him since that temperamental afternoon. He could sense that the other boys had felt it, too. His sexuality, once used as a form of hatred towards others who scorned it, now became a source of his own self-nourishment. It made him feel empowered that it was his, and his alone. He owned it, and he felt proud of the fact.

He knew that Blaine had finals week and was busy with exams, but he couldn't help feeling a little miffed that he had not returned even to say a brief hello. For the past two afternoons he had waited around in the exercise yard, looking over to the outside sidewalk in the faint hope that he might catch a glimpse of a Dalton blazer that belonged to a boy with warm hazel eyes.

It was Tuesday morning, and he wondered how much longer he could hold out. He pushed away the powdered coffee he had made himself in the kitchenette of the student common room and picked up an old issue of Time magazine. It served an added purpose as a deflector of ping pong balls that were hit towards him by the boys playing on the table in the recreation corner.

Distracted by his own thoughts rather than the magazine article in his lap, he failed to notice that Noah Puckerman was speaking to him.

'He's deaf. Shit Hummel, did you even hear what I said?'

Kurt snapped his head up

'Did you just say something?'

Noah sighed audibly. 'Me and the guys are…' He paused as he sneaked a glance over at the guards talking by the kitchenette. 'Going for a little stroll this afternoon.'

Kurt knew that it was code-speak for leaving without permission.

'And this might interest me because…?'

'We're off to faggot academy. Thought you might want to pay your little boyfriend a conjugal visit.'

Boyfriend. Kurt knew Noah used the word as an insult, but he felt his chest swell at the idea.

'Evans found an opening in the exercise yard. Hudson and Chang are in. We aren't waiting around for visiting time, if you know what I mean.' The three boys in question were hovering near the barred window, the topic of their discussion kept to low whispers.

'And the purpose of this visit would be…?'

'Fuck, I don't know. Give them a scare by being on their turf. It's gonna be anarchy.' Judging by the look on Kurt's face, he snapped: 'Too bad – I didn't think you'd be such a pussy about it.' He began to wander away. Kurt knew of the risk involved. It could undo all the good that he had shown over the past few weeks. But if there was even the slightest chance that he might see Blaine…

'I'm in,' Kurt said.

…

They were walking quickly down the sidewalk in their uniforms, and Kurt thought they couldn't get any more obvious. As they approached Dalton, Kurt eyed the front gates, but Noah led them down a side street next to the school, partially flanked by leafy green oaks. With a feeling of dread, he counted the number of lenses pointing out from various parts in the precinct; the school has more security cameras than McKinley, and Kurt knew it was only a matter of time before they would get caught.

'I…uh…I think we should leave.'

'Relax, Hummel. We're just gonna walk in, walk out, that's it. Maybe piss on a statue or something.'

'One does not simply walk into Dalton,' replied Sam, guiding them over to a brick wall. He and Noah began to climb it.

'Do they have, like, their own cars?' Finn said, hoisting himself up easily to the top as he was the tallest of the boys. 'I mean, it's a private school, so they would have nice wheels, right?'

'No Finn, we're not going examine their vehicles,' Kurt replied, letting his eyes roll as he scrambled over to the top. He watched as Mike jumped up and vaulted himself over, and cursed himself for not taking dancing lessons when he was younger.

Kurt followed them as they made haste across a large expanse of lush green lawn to the largest building. He noticed that the other boys were looking around and speeding up their pace, as if they were waiting to see if anyone at the school had noticed that they were trespassing.

'So Hummel,' Noah said, slowing down deliberately so that Kurt caught up with him. 'Did you let him fuck you last Saturday? Because you've been walking around in a trance like you've been hypnotized or something.'

Kurt groaned in annoyance; was there anything else but sex on this boy's mind?

'So something did go down? Oh ho, don't spare any details.'

'It's none of your business.'

'Actually, it is. Because I just happened to see him last Saturday with your uniform on, wearing it like some sort of trophy.'

Kurt knew that Noah wouldn't leave him alone until he said something.

'He sucked me down by the maintenance shed on the oval,' he replied with a deadpan expression.

Noah snorted. 'Yeah. Right. Because I saw him leaving pretty quickly, and when he passed me at reception he smelt like se-.'

Noah stopped abruptly, and Kurt was glad he remained silent for the remainder of their walk until they stepped into the foyer of the building.

'Well…fuck me,' he heard Noah mutter beside him.

'Holy shit,' Mike exclaimed as he entered, and Kurt couldn't help but agree with the both of them. Chandeliers adorned the ceiling and plush leather chairs sat underneath it, with lamps on either side. Wood-paneled walls painted with scenery stretched down the hallway as far as their eyes could see.

Sam whistled. 'Pretty fancy,' he said. Finn had his mouth open in amazement.

They heard faint chatter from further down the hallway and they began to make their way towards the source of it. Kurt slowed down, marveling at the details in one of the painted scenes.

'Hurry up, Hummel,' Noah called back to him, but froze as a janitor walked in his path, wheeling a mop and bucket, muttering to himself.

'Kids these days, always throwing paper around…' He stopped as he noticed the group of boys, and his eyes shot to the clothes they were wearing. 'Hey! You boys aren't mean to be here!'

'Leg it!' Noah yelled, and soon they were running down the hallway, their sneakers squeaking and sliding across the polished floor. Kurt looked back; the man was speaking into a handheld transceiver. As they turned into another hallway, they found themselves face to face with Dalton students, staring at them from tables laden with books and coffee cups.

'McKinley rules, Dalton fags!' Noah shouted as they raced through the hallway. Kurt accidently knocked into a boy as he ran, and his books dropped from his hands.

'Sorry – I'm so sorry!' Kurt cried, but he couldn't stop to help him; his group was way in front of him and he had to catch up.

They burst out through the door leading to outside and found themselves again at the back of the school. They cut across the lawn towards the brick wall but Kurt, in his haste and effort to keep up, tripped and fell face first into the damp grass. Pain shot through his ankle, and as he heard the wail of sirens close by, he knew he wouldn't make it.

'Hummel, come on, we have to go!'

Kurt sat up, and saw that Finn, and a short distance away Puck, had noticed his fall. Sam and Mike had already started climbing, but they too looked back.

'You guys go on without me,' he called, as he made a move to lift himself up. The two boys hesitated.

'Go!' he shouted.

Finn and Puck took off, and at same time, a van with sirens drove around from the front of the school, into their line of sight. Kurt winced as he stood up and faced the school building a short distance away, where a small contingent had formed. Students had spilled out onto the lawn to see what the noise was all about and Kurt could see them staring and whispering to one another. His uniform, covered in grass stains, did nothing to help the situation or make him feel less embarrassed.

And that's when he saw him; a boy with dark, gelled hair edging through the crowd of taller boys before pushing his way to the front. His body froze and his mouth opened in shock as he surveyed the scene in front of him.

Kurt felt his heart flutter in his chest. He took a step forward, wincing again at the sharp pain shooting through his leg. An idea came to him; it was genius, but it would require a certain degree of insanity. But then again, he had already felt as though he had started to go insane over the past few days. He ignored the other students and directed his attention to a gorgeous pair of hazel eyes that were staring back at him with worry.

He'd be damned if he left without the other boy knowing how he made him feel.

…

Blaine was exhausted – mentally, but also emotionally – after working his way through five exams in two days, along with induction classes for his senior year. He had a row with his father earlier that morning after learning that his earlier plans for summer had changed. Or rather, that his father had changed them without consulting him first.

He felt slightly ashamed at leaving Kurt alone on Saturday when it had started to rain, and taking his sweatshirt without asking. He felt even more ashamed that he wasn't able to visit him due to the timing of his exams. He missed Kurt, and the knowledge that they would not be able to see each other for a while had made him dread his father's decision even more. He prayed that he hadn't left Kurt with a bitter taste after his last visit; he wanted to leave knowing that Kurt felt satisfied, not with the feeling that he had used him.

His attention snapped back to the room of the Warblers' council meeting on hearing the announcement of his name.

'…if not for the talent of Warbler Blaine Anderson, we would not have progressed to Regionals this year.'

'Thank-you, Thad,' Blaine replied, as his fellow Warblers applauded politely, including the two senior members of the council seated next to Thad.

'We've had an outstanding year,' Wes added, sitting back in his elevated seat proudly. 'Despite losing at Regionals we seemed to have progressed further than…'

His voice trailed off as shouts rang loud from the hallway outside. David arose from his seat quickly and flung open the door to the room.

'Watts!' he said, calling out to a boy running past in the hallway. 'What's going on?'

The boy with the surname of Watts was holding a hand to his chest, breathing shallowly.

'We just saw…here in the hallway…boys from McKinley...in their uniforms and all.'

'McKinley students? At Dalton?' one Warbler said.

Gasps of surprise and mutterings of outrage filled the room. Blaine felt his heartbeat slow to a steady thump as it drowned out the noise around him.

'But…at least one had the decency to…apologize to Smith after bumping into him.'

Kurt.

'That is of no concern to us,' Wes continued, looking indignantly at Watts. 'We have our final council in ses- Blaine Anderson!'

But Blaine was already out the door before he could finish, pushing past a startled Watts and tearing down the hallway at high speed.

He ran up to a shell-shocked student whose eyes were unblinking.

'Where'd they go?' The boy pointed a shaky finger behind him.

Blaine tore through the double doors leading to the lawns outside. A crowd had formed at the base of the building and he pushed through until he was standing at the very front of the student group.

Two boys in McKinley uniform were scrambling to get over the brick wall as another two boys hurtled towards it. But Blaine only had eyes for the one standing in the center of the grassy field.

Kurt had seen him, and was standing still a few feet away while the other boys vanished over the wall into the street. Behind Kurt, a large van bearing the words William McKinley Correctional in faded letters had arrived from the driveway from the front of the school, sirens blaring. He noticed Kurt had looked around to the other boys but he did not follow them. Blaine frowned in concern – surely Kurt would have heard the sirens by now? Then Blaine understood what Kurt was trying to do; he was stalling them.

Then Kurt linked his hands together in front of him and took a step forward, his leg hobbling slightly, letting his eyes remain at Blaine's. Blaine faintly heard the voices of the Warblers behind him, hearing Thad calling excuse me, let us pass! as the other students protested. And he sensed that Wes standing next to him. But nothing could have prepared him for what Kurt was about to do. Kurt began to sing, his voice drifting over to the crowd of students and resonating into the depths of Blaine's soul.

There he was, standing alone with his hair in a mess and t-shirt stained and crumbled, pouring his heart out in song. His voice spoke of hope, and longing. Blaine didn't have much time to appreciate his gesture, as he noticed two burly male officers running across the lawn to reach him.

'KURT!' Blaine yelled, but Kurt continued singing, even when the two officers grabbed his arms from behind and cuffed him, shoving him around roughly in the direction of the van. Blaine wanted to run over and shout at them, wanted to tell them to stop hurting Kurt, but he couldn't. Instead, he held back and watched helplessly as Kurt was led away. Somehow Kurt didn't seem perturbed as they marched him over to the van.

'…a thrill that I have never known...' Kurt sang as he was pushed into the back of the van by the guards who locked the rear doors behind him. A silence had fallen over the crowd, broken only by Wes muttering a countertenor…incredible.

Then he felt the other boy's eyes direct themselves towards him.

'I take it that you know him?'

'Yes,' Blaine murmured. He could have laughed at the absurdity of Wes's question.

I think I love him.