New Directions wins their Regionals.

Kurt spends the day teaching Blaine how to bake cookies and Blaine somehow convinces Kurt to put pink highlights in his hair. He looks so excited when he shows up waving around the bottle of hair dye (and it was one of the expensive ones; Blaine knows Kurt isn't going to permanently damage his hair with the cheap generic brands at Party City), that Kurt doesn't the heart to say no.

Later, Kurt decides he does look pretty hot with the bright pink standing out from the brown. And Blaine can't keep his hands off it; continually running his fingers through Kurt's hair, which feels nice. Kurt puts his foot down about the nose piercing though.

His dad just rolls his eyes and Finn stares in shock, but Mercedes and Tina think it's hilarious and Blaine takes pleasure in their awe. He walks around the school behind Kurt with a big, self-satisfied smirk, laughing at every double-take in the hallway. Predictably, Rachel nearly has a heart attack, but Kurt only needs to ask her about the competition to get her to calm down.

Still, though, Kurt hasn't been to Glee in two weeks.

And he hasn't talked to Sam or Quinn in just as long, even after Quinn got caught cheating on Sam again, with Finn of all people and Sam broke up with her. Santana muttered a half-hearted apology a few days ago, but only because Brittany made her. He appreciated it, though, because she seemed pretty sincere. And she told off some sophomore for gossiping about him the next day by threatening to eviscerate one of their cojones if they ever implied Kurt was a lying slut again.

It was the thought that counted.

In any case, Kurt is definitely not expecting to close his locker one day in March to see a very guilty-looking Sam leaning on the doors with a sad puppy face that rivals Blaine's.

Kurt's chest tightens and he can't breathe, suddenly thrown back into the choir room and feelings of worthless and broken wash over him again. Luckily, his mouth still works.

"I am not nearly drunk enough to handle you at the moment, Evans, spit it out." Kurt snaps.

Sam raises his eyebrows. "Dude, your hair. Blaine is like, way rubbing off on you," he says, almost wonderingly.

There's an innuendo in there (and wow, Sam was right, he was spending entirely too much time with his boyfriend), but Kurt ignores it in favor of staring Sam down with a death glare. "I like my hair." Kurt says imperiously. "You have about three minutes before Blaine gets here and he still wants to kick your ass, so make this quick." Kurt shuts his locker and turns to face Sam.

Sam sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. There's no way it's actually that blonde; Kurt can see the brown roots. I knew it, he thinks, but then Sam is talking.

"I'm sorry." Sam says.

"For?"

"For being an asshole." Sam looks at the floor. "I was using you to help myself and I shouldn't have." Kurt doesn't answer, so Sam continues. "Look, it was a stupid thing to do. And I'm really sorry." Sam looks up with tired eyes, and the expression is…familiar.

It's how Blaine used to look before Kurt found out about his father. Overwhelmed and exhausted.

"What's really going on, Sam?" Kurt whispers. He waits while Sam flinches then sighs. "It's ok. I won't tell anyone. King of secrets over here, remember?" Kurt smiles faintly when Sam reluctantly nods. "It's gonna be alright." He says, reaching out his hand and rubbing Sam's arm comfortingly before he can stop himself. He drops it quickly when he remembers that he's still in the very public hallway in McKinley, but the contact seems to have helped Sam, who gives Kurt a watery smile.

"My dad and my mom lost their jobs. We just—we lost our house last month and I know it's not an excuse but we moved into a motel like the day you came back to Glee and I was so scared of Quinn finding out and…yeah." Sam cuts himself off with a wet sniff. "Crap. I'm sorry, I know it's not fair, but there's five of us on two beds and the floor and I keep cancelling on Artie and Finn and Puck cause there's no one else to watch my little brother and sister and I just…" He waves his arm vaguely. "I don't know."

Sam was poor. If it were Blaine or Rachel or Tina, Kurt hug them because Sam is so clearly not okay, but it's Sam, so Kurt keeps his distance.

He can still help though.

"Want some company tonight?" He says hesitantly. "I just…you look exhausted. I can bring over some of my old clothes, they should fit you—the less crazy ones, I promise—and I can help watch your siblings. Little kids are sweet." Kurt tries to catch Sam's eye and smiles when Sam breaks into a shy grin.

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not. I can paint fantastic fingernails after all." Kurt winks. He sobers up slightly when a thought occurs to him. "I know you probably don't want to tell anyone, but…I don't want to keep things from Blaine." He sighs when Sam's face pales. "Sam, please, I can't lie to him and he's going to want to know where I am because I was supposed to hang out with him tonight."

"I don't want you guys to fight 'cause of me. 'Specially since he hates me." Sam groans. "Um. Tell him you're helping me babysit my brother and sister. I'll tell him tomorrow why."

Over Sam's shoulder, Kurt sees Blaine step around the corner and frown at the sight of Sam talking to Kurt. "Shit," Kurt mutters as Blaine starts walking towards them. "Yeah, ok. I can do that. I'd move, though, Blaine's coming."

Sam's eyes widen. "And I'm gone. See ya, Kurt. And thanks." With a quick smile, Sam brushes past Kurt and disappears into the crowd.

"What'd he want?" Blaine says without any preamble, scowling after Sam's retreating back. His arm automatically curls around Kurt's waist possessively and Kurt fights the urge to roll his eyes. He leans back into the embrace, though.

"To apologize. And ask for a favor." Kurt glares at Blaine. "Stop that. He's a good person, he means the apology. And I'm allowed to forgive him."

"I didn't say anything," Blaine grumbles and leans his head in. "Mmm, you smell good." Blaine's voice goes lower and a sharp thrill goes through Kurt's body. "Can't wait for tonight baby," Blaine grins against the skin on the back of Kurt's neck.

Of all the days, seriously…

"Blaine. Blaine, stop, hang on." Kurt almost groans when Blaine presses his lips to Kurt's, but holds it in. "We can't tonight. That favor Sam asked. I told him I'd help him babysit his little brother and sister."

Blaine raises an eyebrow. "O…kay…" he draws out, still looking at Kurt like he's insane. "What time does he want us over?"

"Just me." Kurt says quickly. A hurt look flashes over Blaine's flash and guilt twists his stomach. Oh, he has to be so careful here. "Blaine, it's not because of you. It's not, it's just…" Kurt sighs. "We're together all the time. I need some time to be me, you know?"

"You're not 'you' when you're with me?" Blaine's voice lowers petulantly and Kurt bites back a growl of frustration.

"Stop it. You know that's not true." Kurt says firmly. He waits until Blaine reluctantly nods. "I just think we should be allowed to hang out with other people too. You can't just be with me all the time; you have friends you haven't seen outside of school in weeks. Mike's been asking about you, by the way. I told him you're just bad with actually answering your phone."

Blaine's face perks up. "He said he got that new Resident Evil game in Calc." Blaine muses, digging in his pocket for his phone. There're about ten unread messages from what Kurt could see, and Kurt just sighs internally. Blaine.

"Good, text him and go have a boys' night." Kurt grins. "I'm going to be painting little girls' nails and playing with Power Rangers."

Blaine laughs, already typing out a message. "Dork." He teases. "Can we go to your house for a little bit though?"

Kurt dangles his keys in front of Blaine's face. "Come on, my little zombie hunter," he sing-songs, walking towards the doors in the now empty hallway. "I need to remind you who you're fighting for."

"Damn right!"

The motel on the outskirts of town is small and dingy and there's only three other cars in the parking lot when Kurt pulls up. His shiny Navigator looks out of place among the twenty-year-old Toyotas and Chevys. Kurt double checks the number on the text Sam sent him and drives slowly towards a room in the back. 053, the faded numbers on the red door says. Kurt parks in front and takes a second to breathe.

Poor Sam.

Sighing, Kurt got out of his car and walks around to the trunk, pulling out a huge bag of clothes for Sam (Blaine helped him clean part of his closet, though he though Kurt was donating them to Goodwill or something), and some old games he used to play as a kid. Maybe the Evanses would like them.

From his back pocket, his phone vibrates and Kurt fumbles with the bags in his hand until he can get it out and unlocked.

From: Blaine
Zombie kill count: 23. Do I get a reward tomorrow? Have fun with Beiber puck says he was supposed to come tonight

Despite himself, Kurt grins and texts back one handed as he walks up the steps, trying to ignore the stab of guilt from lying to Blaine. Even though he didn't really lie, just…stretch the truth. That sounds better. Kurt jams his phone in his back pocket and is about to knock on the door when it's pulled open by a little blond girl with a huge grin.

"Are you Kurt? Sammy said you were coming tonight and that you'd paint my nails and do my hair and play dolls with me, 'cause Stevie won't and Sammy just messes everything up. You have pink hair." She delivers her speech in one breath and then looks at Kurt expectantly.

"Um—"

"Stacey, give Kurt time to breathe before you attack him." Sam comes up behind her and nudges her towards the inside of the room. She pouts but turns and disappears behind Sam. "Sorry about that. They're just getting a little bored being stuck in the room with only a TV, you know?" Sam tries to smile but it falls flat. He opens the door wider and steps aside so Kurt could come in. "What's with the bags?" He asks curiously.

"Clothes for you; some things I thought they'd enjoy," Kurt says absently, looking around the room. It's small, with two queen beds, a table, a chair, a TV set, and a set of drawers. And the worst color scheme ever. Some gross green and light yellow. Stacey is laying on one of the beds with another little boy, also blonde. Probably Stevie. They ignore the cartoons on the TV in favor of watching Kurt with huge eyes as he puts down the stuffed trash bags.

"Are we getting toys?" Stacey asks, eyes huge.

"Stacey," Sam says sternly. She sticks her tongue out at him, but still looks longingly at the bags. Stevie turns back to the TV.

Kurt hands the heavier one to Sam. "Those are yours. Keep them; sell them; it doesn't really matter." He grins at Sam's face when he looks inside and inspects a tan trench coat. "They aren't too worn; you should get a decent price for them. And for you two," Kurt winks at the kids. "I brought some of my old games. Anyone up for CandyLand?"

Stevie's eyes perk up at the sight of the brightly colored box and Stacey launches herself off the bed with an excited shriek.

"I CALL BLUE!" she shouts, practically climbing on Kurt to get to the box. Sam peels her off so Kurt can sit down and the game up on the floor. Shyly, Stevie sits next to Kurt and helps unfold the gameboard.

"You wanna shuffle the cards for me?" Kurt asks gently. Stevie nods enthusiastically and grabs the deck, though they promptly spill across the floor. He seems to have fun shuffling them like that though; just spreading them out and gathering them back up. Stacey plops down on Kurt's other side and winds an arm around his.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asks loudly, and Sam groans. "Cause Sammy used to, but she doesn't come play with us anymore."

"I liked her when she wasn't talking about being a cheerleader," Stevie mumbles.

"Um…" Kurt looks at Sam helplessly. Would the kids be okay with him if they knew he was gay? Thankfully, Sam intervened.

"Kurt's got a boyfriend. He's off-limits to you, Stacey." He winks at Kurt as Stacey scrunches her face up in confusion.

"But you're a boy." She tells Kurt.

"Well, yes, but I like boys, just like you do. I'm gay." Kurt waits for an explosion, for a million questions, but Stacey just shrugs and picks out the blue game piece. Stevie looks interested though.

"Can we see a picture of him? Your boyfriend?" he asks so quietly Kurt almost didn't hear him. However, Kurt really can't resist showing Blaine off, so he takes out his phone and quickly finds his favorite picture of himself and Blaine. It was from soon after they were official, still happy and blissful. Blaine had Kurt pulled into his lap with his arms wrapped around Kurt's waist and his chin hooked over Kurt's shoulder. Both were grinning into the camera. Kurt smiled softly before turning his phone around to show the Evanses.

"That's Blaine," he says.

Stacey coos and Stevie immediately questions Kurt about earrings, and Kurt almost wants to cry from the simple acceptance from children. How is it that two kids barely into double digits are better people than a full-grown woman who thinks it's acceptable to scream at a gay teenager her son attacked?

Some things in life just don't make sense.

In school the next day, Kurt finds out just how true that is.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?" Kurt doesn't even look up from his phone when Rachel Berry plants herself in front of him. Blaine had just texted to ask if he wanted biscotti this morning and Kurt finds his boyfriend a hell of a lot more interesting and bearable than Rachel before his morning coffee.

"Look, I know Sam's cute and all, but he's not worth it!" Rachel says, her eyes wide and pleading. Kurt looks up at that. A girl walking past them shoots Kurt a quick look before burying her head in her paper, and seriously, what the fuck. Kurt refocuses on Rachel.

Maybe simple words would help. "Excuse me?"

Rachel actually gets more frantic. "I saw Sam wearing your jacket! And I know what that's like, Finn coming over, leaving his jacket, me wearing it to school the next day…"

It clicks in Kurt's head.

"You think I'm cheating on Blaine. With Sam." Kurt says icily. Jesus fuck how was this spinning out of control this quickly? The rumor mill in this godforsaken town is disgusting. He slowly counts to ten in his head. Nope. Still mad.

"Well what else are we supposed to think after you two were spotted at a motel last night? Together?" Rachel leans in and lowers her voice. "Kurt, Blaine really loves you. You have to stop."

Shit, shit, shit. "I'm not cheating on Blaine." He says automatically. "Wait, how do you know where I was last night?" He thought he was done with reporters and paparazzi after Karofsky got sentenced, but…

Rachel fumbles in her bag and produceas a folded newspaper.

"The Muckraker?" Kurt reads with a raised eyebrow. "Wasn't this shut down last year when the editor used it to bully people?"

"Who cares! Just read it!" Rachel points at the article below the title of the paper, anxious.

Kurt eyes her strangely but keeps reading. McKinley's Gay Love Triangle was the headline and seriously? Kurt checks the author. Jacob Ben Israel, go figure. Snorting indelicately, Kurt scanned the article, reading aloud. "'Sources report that a Mr. Kurt Hummel was spotted in a secret rendezvous with none other than McKinley's resident blonde hottie Trouty-Mouth at the Motel 6. Hummel, famously attacked by a David Karofsky and dating the ever-present bad-ass Blaine Anderson, have been a controversial subject these last couple months, but is he really adding 'cheater' to the latest list of scandals? Has Kurt Hummel moved on to bigger and better abs? Stay tuned to find out!'" Kurt's hands are shaking with rage by the end of the column. "What the fuck is this pile of crap? People actually believe this?" This rag isn't good enough to wipe the bottom of his shoe. Kurt shoves it back at Rachel with a scathing look.

"Is-is it not true?" Rachel watches him with a gleam in her eye that was actually kind of terrifying. Kurt swallowed nervously.

"Well, technically, but—"

"Hey, Kurt!" Blaine appears behind him, holding a bag from The Lima Bean and a cup of steaming mocha latte that Kurt practically grabs. "Woah, bad mood?"

"The worst," Kurt mutters darkly before draining half the cup in one gulp. "Walk me to class." Kurt grabs Blaine's arm and marches away from Rachel, though he shoots her a warning look behind Blaine's back. She rolls her eyes, but mercifully stays quiet.

"Why is everyone staring at us?" Blaine whispers to Kurt. "This is worse than when we dyed your hair."

Guilt stabs his stomach, but Kurt keeps his voice light. "They're just jealous. Don't pay attention to them." Blaine doesn't look entirely convinced, but he does glare at some unsuspecting freshmen and grins when the poor boy almost walks into a locker.

Kurt's mind flew. Seriously, what the fuck was he going to do when Blaine sees the school's new papers? Blaine has issues with abandonment; thanks to his fucking father, how the hell would he take rumors of Kurt's "midnight tryst" with another boy at a skanky motel. He forces a smile when Blaine eyes him weirdly, clutching Blaine's arm a little tighter.

Fuck, this was not going to end well.

Hopefully Sam will talk to Blaine before he finds out about The Muckraker.