The race is heating up folks and the politics are getting dirtier by the minute. Burt Hummel, of Hummel Tires and Lube, has made leaps and bounds during the campaign. All of the early polls show him taking the race in a clean sweep. His closest competitors are Sue Sylvester, coach of the McKinley High cheerleading squad (the Cheerios) and sometime on air personality for the local news, as well as Reggie “The Sauce” Salazar, proprietor of a chain of pizza shops.

Last night, Hummel, who’s run an immaculate campaign focusing on family, school reform and bullying/arts issues, had his son, Kurt, give an interview. It was heartbreaking and poignant and showed that there is a definite problem in our schools. It really highlighted the desperate need for school reform – it’s clear more needs to be done to protect our kids.

Moments after the interview aired, a new ad was released from Salazar. In it, a McKinley High Cheerio, Santana Lopez, was 'outed' as a lesbian. Sylvester was also called out in ad as being a lesbian, with the implication that because Sylvester allows both Hummel’s son Kurt as well as Santana on her squad, that she does not support “family values”.

It’s hard to tell exactly what Salazar hoped to gain from this slander, except for possibly destroying a young girl’s life – after all, Hummel’s son, who’s gay and out, hasn’t even been a topic of discussion for his opponents.

Imagine your parents turning on the TV and seeing that. Make sure you think twice before you cast your vote. Next time it could be your kid who was publicly humiliated.

*

Kurt, Santana, and Brittany were inseparable at school the day after the ad that outed Santana started airing. Kurt could tell Santana was barely holding it together and that one wrong word from someone would make her snap.

“I just don’t understand how he knew,” Santana muttered as they trudged down the hallway, avoiding the stares and the whispers. She and Brittany had linked pinkies, like always, and Santana’s other arm was linked through his. Kurt had to give it to her – she was holding her head up high.

“I hate to say it, Santana, but you and Britt are kind of the worst kept secret at this school. Everyone knew about you two,” Kurt told her. “My dad told me Salazar has a niece who goes here. He probably talked to her and then made an assumption which just happened to be correct.”

“What right does he have to drag me into this?” she ranted. “I don’t even have anything to do with the stupid election.”

“None, Santana,” Kurt told her. “What he did is deplorable and I hope my father rakes him over the coals for it.”

“Why would you rake coals?” Brittany asked, looking confused. They paused in front of Kurt’s locker so he could grab his books. “Are we having a barbeque?”

“How did your parents take it?” Kurt wanted to know.

“Fine, once the shock wore off,” Santana answered.

“That’s good,” Kurt said, putting his books in his bag and shutting his locker door.

“Yeah,” Santana agreed. “Now I just have to tell my abuela.”

“I’ll have my phone on. Call me if you need anything,” Kurt offered as they stepped into the choir room. Santana just nodded before taking a seat with Brittany.

Kurt sat down with a sigh and waited for Mr. Schue to start practice.

*

Kurt told me what happened. I’m so sorry, Santana.

Why are you texting me, Blainers? Don’t you have a show tune to go mangle or something?
Thx tho.

Anytime. I know what you’re going through, how hard it can be.

You’re one of those obnoxious do-gooders, ain’t you?

I like to help people, Santana.

It’s sweet. Sickeningly sweet. You still owe me that favor, btw. ;)

I know. When do you want to collect?

I’ll let you know.

*

“I wish I hadn’t left,” Blaine’s voice filled Kurt’s ears before he’d even gotten out his greeting.

“Good morning to you too,” Kurt teased. “Its okay, Blaine. You had to go.”

“I just wish I could do something. Santana helped me set up your rally on Friday, and I feel like what happened to her was payback or something.”

“Why would that be payback?” Kurt asked, not following Blaine’s thought process.

“Because your dad is his opponent,” Blaine explained.

“Blaine, sweetie, I know you feel bad for her, but I think that’s reaching.” Kurt hopped into the driver’s seat of the Navigator; he was glad school was over for the day. They were singing “Lady” songs this week (which had made most of them roll their eyes, Kurt included) in support of Santana – he understood the sentiment, but the song choice and the execution had left a little to be desired. His rendition of “Perfect,” by P!nk had been flawless however. Santana had denied it, but Kurt was pretty sure he’d seen her wiping away a tear or two. “I’m just glad the election is tomorrow. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

“I’ll be thinking about you,” Blaine murmured.

“I’ll call you as soon as I know anything,” Kurt promised.

“I’m going to hold you to that.” They hung up a moment later, and Kurt headed home.

Tomorrow was either going to change everything or change nothing at all.

*

Burt Hummel Wins Congressional Bid

That’s right Ohio, we have a new Congressman.

After a hard fought race, the votes were overwhelmingly in favor of Burt Hummel – despite Sue Sylvester insinuating he has a baboon heart. Rumor has it that Burt is not the only politician in the family these days, as his son Kurt also won his bid for Student Council President at McKinley High.

Watch out for these two to change the world.

*

“I won!” Kurt shrieked in Blaine’s ear. “I won and dad won!”

“That’s amazing!” Blaine crowed. “Congratulations, Kurt. You deserve it.”

“Thanks,” Kurt said, breathless. “I can’t believe after everything, all the bullying and the torment, that I still won anyway.”

“It’s because people recognized that you’re going to do good things for the school.”

“I gotta go!” Kurt exclaimed. “Our house is party central right now and my dad needs me.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow!” Blaine promised.

“Tomorrow,” Kurt agreed.

Blaine stared at the phone after they’d hung up, smiling. It was about time something went right for Kurt at that school.

*

The next week flew by. Between taking over as Class President, compiling his information needed for his NYADA application, and shopping for the perfect “we’ve known each other for a year” anniversary present for Blaine, Kurt was so busy he could barely breathe.

Being the Class President had put a cease to the bullying (that, and Coach Sylvester threatening the entire hockey team with suspension if she caught them with in a four foot radius of any of her Cheerios, not to mention the lawsuit against the one who’d slushied him and Blaine before the election). Kurt had already put forth a proposal to petition for a new bullying policy.

He’d also spent the last few days getting recommendations from teachers (Mr. Schue, Miss. Pillsbury and even Coach Sylvester) as well as writing essays and compiling his list of extracurricular activities. He’d spent hours on Skype with Blaine filling out the application and getting his opinion on everything.

Kurt had dropped the application in the mail that morning.

He was worried – not just about the application – but about Blaine’s reaction to it. He seemed reluctant to talk about next year, and how things would be once Kurt was in New York, though Kurt had brought it up multiple times now. He was trying to let Blaine work it out but Kurt could tell something was bothering him.

That’s why it seemed extra important to pick out their one year anniversary gift. True, as boyfriends they’d only been back together for about eight months, considering their break up in February, but they’d begun as friends and it was something worth commemorating. It had taken forever for Kurt to find something, but he finally had – an antique pocket watch with chain. He’d had it engraved with their initials and it was scheduled to be delivered the next day.

“Did you do it?” Rachel’s voice broke into his thoughts.

“Do what?” Kurt asked. It was hard to tell where Rachel was concerned. She was probably asking about his NYADA application, but she could also be asking if he had bombarded Blaine into putting in a good word with the NYADA reps for them (something she’d already asked twice and something he’d refused to do).

“Mail your application!” she exclaimed.

“Of course I did,” Kurt replied, walking down the hallway with her.

“Can’t you just picture it, Kurt?” she gushed. “You, me and Finn sharing an apartment on the Upper West Side…”

“With Blaine flying in the weekends,” Kurt added, and Rachel nodded.

“We’ll have New York at our fingertips and we’ll be on Broadway before you know it!” Rachel crowed. Kurt laughed cheerfully as they walked down the hall.

Maybe he really would get to have it all this time.

*

“I had a long talk with the higher ups this morning,” Julie said in lieu of a greeting when Blaine got home that night. He was itching to call Kurt and wish him a happy early anniversary and then to talk to Burt and Finn who were helping execute his plan for Kurt’s present.

Instead, he’d found Julie waiting for him. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“They’re talking about a spin-off.” Blaine gaped at her for a second. “Don’t look so shocked, Blaine. It’s not good for your complexion.” She patted his cheek and then sat down on the couch. “It shouldn’t be a surprise – James, Toby and a few others are graduating this year.”

“What do they want to do?”

“James and Toby do New York and each other?” Julie answered. “That’s kind of all I know at this point. It’ll still be a musical format.”

“Will it film in LA?” Blaine wanted to know.

Julie shook her head. “Nope. New York, baby.”

“Wow,” Blaine sank down onto the couch next to her.

“Think about it, okay?” Julie suggested. “They’ll be coming forward with a formal offer any day now. You’d have to fly to New York and shoot the pilot, and if it gets picked up, you’d probably have to be in New York by August of next year.”

Julie and he talked for a few more minutes, writing down questions he had for the higher ups. Julie left shortly after and Blaine found himself sitting there, smiling.

Maybe next year would work out after all. Maybe he could take this chance so that he and Kurt could be together next year.

His head was full of plans when he called Kurt that night. He let Kurt go on and on about his application worries, how his ‘no bullying’ proposal might be received, how Blaine had to be on the lookout for a ‘special package’ the next day.

Blaine nearly told Kurt about the spin-off a zillion times, but something was holding him back. He didn’t know what it was. He knew he shouldn’t keep secrets; that was how they’d gotten in trouble before. Blaine just… wanted to decide what he was going to do before he said anything.

So he teased Kurt until he smiled and forgot about all his worries, and decided he’d tell Kurt about the spin off another day.

*

Kurt could tell for sure that Blaine was hiding something. Every time the subject of NYADA or New York came up, Blaine changed the subject. His laughter seemed forced and his smiles tight.
He couldn’t imagine what it could be. It worried him, seeing Blaine like this. He knew his boyfriend could bury things down deep – he imagined that was a drawback of being a performer sometimes – there was always a show face in place. He let Blaine get away with it though, laughing convincingly at all of Blaine’s jokes and good-natured teasing.

He could only hope that Blaine would share what was bothering him before it was too late. He didn’t want to think that Blaine was going through something else, like he had with Sebastian last year, but the worry was there. Kurt told Blaine everything. He just wished that Blaine would do the same.

Blaine eventually did turn the topic to their anniversary and after they both coyly eluded questions about their respective gifts, they came up with a little plan sure to drive the fangirls crazy – he had to hand it to Blaine, always coming up with new ways to send his fanbase into a tizzy.

They said good night and Kurt fell asleep with troubled thoughts.