Chapter Twelve: Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

"So that looked like it went well," David whispered to Nick as they drove home.

"It did seem like Blaine's latest conquest appreciated it," Nick remarked dryly.

David shot Nick a sidelong glance. "Technically, Kurt isn't a conquest yet."

Nick shrugged. "It's Blaine. It's just a matter of time before he does his usual toot it and boot it routine."

David shook his head. "I think Kurt might be different."

"Come on, David. It's Blaine. Look at how he acted at Jeff's party. Every time I passed through the den he was playing Suck and Blow or Spin the Bottle, or something," Nick scoffed.

"Exactly man, look at how he acted at the party. Dude, when was the last time Blaine just played party games? He was way off his usual routine at that party," David argued.

"Yeah Nick. Maybe he cut loose a little," Jeff conceded from the backseat, "But he didn't hook up with anyone that night. I know for a fact Alexander McCullough was throwing it at him and Blaine shut him down."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "He turned Alex down? He never turns Alex down."

"He did though. Blaine didn't even let him blow him," Jeff reported.

"I gotta admit Blaine keeping it PG-13 is pretty tame," Nick mused.

"Yeah, Blaine's definitely a triple xxx kind of guy," Jeff said. "Plus he's never used us for one of his stunts. It's usually pour on the charm, open up the wallet and they open up their-."

"Thank you, Jeff!" David cut in loudly. "We get it."

"What are you getting all uptight about? Aren't you all homoflexible and what not?" Jeff asked.

"Homo…Jeff, you should seriously thank God that you're pretty," David sighed.

"What? What did I say? You aren't completely straight, but you aren't completely gay or totally bi either. Hence, homoflexible," Jeff explained.

"How is the son of a politician so politically incorrect?" Nick wondered.

"It's a talent. I have a gift." Jeff explained.'

David laughed. "Yes you do Jeff, yes you do."

"So you think Blaine is serious about this Kurt kid?" Nick asked.

"For Kurt's sake I hope so," David said. "He's a good guy and he's going through some stuff. The last thing he needs is a broken heart on top of all the other crap."

"Well, thank you for your overwhelming support," Blaine responded dryly.

"I mean it Blaine," Wes snapped. "I'm not fielding any three a.m. phone calls or decoding any mysterious Facebook statuses. I'm not handholding another of your distraught cast offs through their post break up breakdowns. I'm still cleaning up the mess you made with Christophe. I am officially retiring as your cleanup crew. I never should have let you talk me into dragging the Warblers into all this. Did you see what was going on? Jeff's already making plans to hook up with that brunette, Nick and that delinquent with the mohawk are talking about organizing a Gears of War Midnight Madness tournament with the guys from New Directions and some of the Warblers and Thad was macking on the hot blonde. And that Berry girl…I wanted to strangle her." Wes thought for a moment. "While the koala bear sweater was vaguely frightening, the shortness of her skirt did sort of make up for it."

Blaine cocked an eyebrow at Wes. "You've performed admirably in your duties as maintenance man, Wesley. Feel free to retire; I don't anticipate needing your services when it comes to Kurt. I'll get you a gold watch and everything," Blaine said dryly.

Wes nodded. "I expect an Audemars Piguet and not some cheap ass Timex. Jules Audemars, extra thin, self winding, black dial, black strap. I've earned it."

"That's a twenty thousand dollar watch Wesley."

"I've earned it," Wes repeated.

"You are a materialistic bastard, Wes. Just for that all your future birthday and Christmas presents will be contributions made in your name to local charities."

Wes nearly ran over the curb. "Oh fuck you," he snapped.

Blaine smiled. "In fact, I think I may sponsor some of those Feed the Children kids in your name."

"Blaine," Wes whined. "You know how I feel about charity."

Blaine laughed. "If you hate charity so much why are you thinking about banging Rachel Berry? It doesn't get much more charitable than that."

"I didn't say I wanted to bang her," Wes huffed. "But she's got good legs and a nice ass. I could work with that, personality aside."

"Unless you're secretly a giant killer, you might want to put Rachel on the Look, Lust but Do Not Touch list."

"Finn's not that tall," Wes protested. "Besides, I've been taking Tai Chi since I was three."

"Oh, well in that case wax on, Daniel-san. From the knees down he's all yours buddy."

"Again I say fuck you," Wes laughed. "Just let me remind you that Andre the Giant is practically related to Kurt and from the way he was glaring at you after your unleashing the verbal beast I don't think he'd mind going all WWE on you if you if things sour between you two."

"Finn and Kurt aren't particularly close," Blaine pointed out. "Kurt had a crush on him for awhile and though I don't have all the embarrassing details, I gather it got uncomfortable for everyone involved, even more so now that their parents are planning on Brady Bunching it."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Wes asked.

"What?"

"That Kurt had a crush on tall, dark and disapproving?"

"Not particularly, no." Blaine said slowly. "I have a feeling that it was just that-a crush. You know, kind of like you and your obsession with An-Li Kweag in eighth grade."

"Hey!" Wes protested, "I was going to marry that girl."

"And yet the second Callie Marques transferred in, you were all An-Li who?"

Wes frowned. "Callie possessed certain qualities that An-Li lacked-"

"You mean Callie had a huge rack and made out with you if you did her history homework for her whereas An-Li had barely developed and wouldn't let you get past hand holding."

"An-Li was clearly a starter girlfriend. Like a first house or a first wife," Wes said with conviction.

"Way to keep it classy, Wes."

"And fuck you for a third time. But come on Blaine, in all, where can this thing between you and Kurt even go?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're Blaine Anderson and he's the son of a mechanic. I don't know Kurt very well but he doesn't strike me as the type of guy that, you know, flings. And you know as well as I do that someone like Kurt can't be anything else for someone like you."

"Someone like Kurt?" Blaine asked quietly.

Wes sighed. "I know you think I'm a snob and maybe I am but I'm just being honest here, Blaine. I like him. Kurt seems like an okay guy. You want to fuck him? Fine, hit it like a vending machine with a stuck bag of chips, but anything more than casual and it gets complicated. Do you really want to subject Kurt to sitting at a table full of Thad's, all making passive aggressive remarks about his father being a "small business man" and his "blue collar" upbringing? Do you think he'd be comfortable at the club knowing everyone's gossiping about him, which you know will happen if you start seeing him in more public places than the Lima Bean? People are already talking, Blaine and after this public display of…affection or intent or whatever this was, it's only going to get the gossip machine going full throttle. Does Kurt even know who you are? Do you honestly think your father will approve-"

"My father and his approval are none of my concern," Blaine interrupted coldly. "Kurt and I aren't picking out china patterns, Wes. There's no reason to sound the alarm just yet."

Wes noticed that Blaine had completely avoided answering his questions. "So you haven't told him about being a mini mogul yet?"

"He knows I have money Wes," Blaine snapped. "To his credit he's never asked. He assumes its family money and he's not wrong."

"So you're deliberately misleading him, again?"

"What would you have me do, Wes? Take him on the company tour? Let him sit in on a board meeting? Gift him with some fucking stock?"

"Look, I get it. Kurt's the first person I've met in forever who didn't get the glint of recognition in their eye when I introduced myself. He treated David and I like regular guys. I understand that as much as it sucks for me to have to wonder about people's motivations for being decent to me, it's ten times harder for you. I get the keys to the kingdom someday, but you're lord of the manor right now. And given your parents situation…I get the appeal of someone like Kurt. Kurt likes Blaine, just Blaine. You can relax and just be with him and not have to worry that he's suddenly going to "remember" his father's got a wonderful business opportunity or drop a million hints about why your families would merge perfectly together. I understand where you're coming from man but the reality of the situation is that, as much as you enjoy Kurt treating you like you're a regular guy, you aren't. You're Blaine Anderson and anyone who gets involved with you on more than a casual level needs to know what that means."

"If we reach a point where he needs to know, I'll tell him," Blaine stated.

"If his friends get close to your friends, you might not get the chance," Wes pointed out.

Blaine's face blanked out and Wes knew that meant the conversation was over. Wes sighed and gave Blaine one last look. "Just tread carefully, Blaine. There are other people getting involved. If this blows up, there's potential for some collateral damage and I'm hanging up my broom and dust pan."

Blaine shifted uncomfortably in his seat before he leaned over and turned the radio up. "I appreciate the advice Wesley," he said settling back into his seat and closing his eyes.

Kurt walked into glee practice floating on a cloud. Blaine's surprise serenade had put Kurt in an incredible mood and he'd finished his school day in a state of bliss that not even a pop quiz in physics or a particularly hard locker check from Karofsky could penetrate.

He took his usual seat and settled in. Soon enough, Mercedes and Sam strolled in, followed by the Cheerios trio, with Artie, Tina and Mike at their heels, Rachel and Finn trailed behind them. Kurt had been explaining to Sam why he should expand his wardrobe past his usual stock of hoodies, t-shirts and jeans when suddenly Finn was there, looming over him.

"Yes?" Kurt asked, looking up at Finn.

"I think that Blaine guy is playing you," Finn said without preamble.

"Excuse me?" Kurt said, shocked at the bluntness and that the accusation was coming from Finn of all people.

"He's totally a shorter Jesse St. James," Finn declared.

"Boy, what the hell is your major malfunction?" Mercedes snapped. "Blaine's been nothing but good to Kurt."

"He had his club drive over an hour to sing to Kurt, knowing they were going into hostile territory. That's pretty major," Tina said

"Jesse St. James changed schools-"

"He also joined our glee club. I don't see any fine prep school boys in here, do you?" Santana asked sarcastically.

"Finn…despite the fact that you two got off to an unpleasant start, I can only assume you're raising these doubts about Blaine out of concern and I appreciate it-"

"Of course I'm concerned! We lost last year because of Jesse St. Stupid playing with Rachel's head and this year here you are doing the same thing!"

"It's completely different!" Kurt yelled. "Jesse sought out Rachel, he planned every step of the way to use her, to hurt her and destroy us. Blaine's done none of that. We met because I was the one spying on him-"

"Yeah, and you don't find it funny that none of those guys seem to care about that?" Finn asked.

"Finn does have a point," Rachel said quietly. "And I couldn't help but notice that today several of Blaine's friends forged connections with members of our group."

"That's what I'm saying," Finn nodded. "That one guy was totally trying to get with Quinn, Puck and that one kid kept talking about hooking up on the PS3 for game tournaments and that blonde guy asked out Santana and Brittney invited that guy she was talking to on Fondue for Two. It's like an invasion."

"Trent's a human bird," Brittney said absently.

"No one is invading anything," Quinn said rolling her eyes. "Thad and I didn't even discuss the competition or our respective clubs. Some of us have lives that don't revolve around show choir," she added, looking pointedly at Rachel.

"Be that as it may," Rachel said primly, "perhaps an appropriate compromise would be to table our new associations until after sectionals and then-"

"No." Kurt said firmly. "I like Blaine, he likes me, and I'm going to see him as often as I like, when I like, and I don't really care who has a problem with it."

"Thad is taking me to dinner Saturday night and I plan on having a fabulous time," Quinn added.

Santana shrugged. "Blondie's cute and it's a free meal. I'm not about to settle for a Lima loser when I can upgrade."

"Dude, where's your loyalty?" Finn asked, as he narrowed his eyes at Kurt. "See, we're already fighting about them? How can you not see what's going on?" Finn yelled in frustration.

"The only thing I see, Finn Hudson is you being completely unreasonable and unsupportive!" Kurt yelled back.

"Kurt, Finn isn't being unsupportive, he's simply being-"

"He's being a giant sized cockblock," Santana said.

"Finn's being cautious," Rachel finished undaunted.

"Finn's being an ass," Quinn snapped.

"Agreed," Mercedes said, crossing her arms.

"Dude, the only person making a big deal out of this is you," Sam said to Finn. "There wouldn't be any fighting right now if you hadn't tried to tell Quinn, Kurt and Santana who they can and can't date."

"No offense String Bean, but Puck, Mike, Tina and I have already made plans to beat the pants off some Warblers this weekend on the PS3," Artie said.

"You see, Finn. No one else has a problem with this. As long as we don't talk about glee there's no conflict of interest." Kurt said.

"I don't care! It's a bad idea and we're gonna end up just like we were last year all because you're so lonely you hook up with the first guy that pays any attention to you!" Finn yelled.

Kurt sucked in a breath and narrowed his eyes at Finn. "My loneliness has led me to make some highly regrettable decisions," he said curtly. "The lowlight of which was convincing myself that I had feelings for you, based on nothing more than the fact that you didn't bully me as much as the rest of your friends. Blaine is a completely different situation and I don't have to justify him or us to you, and I won't. You don't have to like it Finn Hudson, but you damn well better learn to live with it."

"Look Kurt-"

"No, you look. You don't call the shots in my personal life and you don't call the shots in glee, contrary to what you seem to think. Go find someone else to be your bitch Finn, I'm not interested in the position."

"Kurt! That was uncalled for," Rachel said, seemingly scandalized.

"Oh shut up, Berry. It was plenty called for," Santana said.

"Only someone with as little class as you would think so," Rachel retorted.

"Me cago en tu puta madre," Santana spat, getting up from her seat. "Vete a coger por las guaretas!"

"Santana!" Mr. Schue yelled from the door. He had gone white as a ghost and dropped the handful of sheet music he'd brought into the room. "That's enough!"

Everyone turned to the teacher and started talking at once. Sam and Mike were holding Santana back from Rachel, who was simultaneously denying any responsibility for the drama playing out in the choir room and attempting to assign blame to anyone but herself and everyone else was taking sides and shouting to be heard over the fray.

"Quiet!" Mr. Schue yelled. "First, Santana, that language is…just don't say anything like that again. Not in class, not outside of class, just…don't," he finished weakly.

"Secondly, we are supposed to be a team. We have a competition coming up in a few weeks and you're attacking each other like a pack of wild dogs. We need to get back in the spirit of team work. Now, to that end we're going to be doing duets."

The students grumbled and began moving into groups of two when Mr. Schue banged loudly on top of the piano. "No. I want you to work with someone other than your usual partner."

"But Mr. Schue, Finn and I-"

"You and Finn will find other partners to work with, as will Tina and Mike, Brittney and Santana and Sam and Mercedes, and no that doesn't mean I want to see Kurt and Mercedes perform together either. We're a unit guys, we need to all be able to function with one another in any configuration."

Kurt bit his lip. Mike and Brittney had paired up, as had Artie and Santana and Quinn and Mercedes. He was about to open his mouth to ask Tina to duet with him when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"You owe me a song," Sam said with a smile. "What you say we do this thing?"

Kurt shot Sam a grateful smile while Tina snagged Finn. Rachel looked around and then marched up to Mr. Schue. "I am going to be forced to work with Puck-"

"Puck won't be here," Mr. Schue cut her off. "He got sent home after lunch. His mother just contacted the office and apparently he has got a bad case of tonsillitis. So it looks like you're going to be on your own." Mr. Schue began writing down the pairings and Rachel stomped back to her seat. "How am I supposed to do a duet alone?" She moaned.

"Kurt managed to do it," Mercedes said rolling her eyes as she spoke.

"And he was amazing," Quinn added smiling at Kurt.

"Look at it as an opportunity to be creative-like Kurt did," Mr. Schue said.

Rachel elbowed Finn who turned to Tina. "Rachel could take my-"

"To quote Mercedes, hell to the no." Tina said crossing her arms and pursing her lips.

Finn looked at Rachel, defeated and she got up and stormed out, Finn following behind.

"Oh yeah Mr. Schue, we're just one big, happy family," Tina quipped.

"We ought to change our name from New Directions to Dysfunctions Junction," Artie muttered.