Chapter Two: The Root of All Evil

"You are going straight to the second circle of hell, Blaine."

Blaine grinned at his friend from the doorway as he made his way into Wes and David's dorm room. "Coming from someone headed to the fourth, I take that as a compliment," Blaine replied easily flopping onto David's bed.

"Greed is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit," Wes recited.

"Thank you Gordon Gecko," Blaine deadpanned, leaning over and rambling though David's mini fridge for a drink.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing for money," Wes quipped, turning his attention back to his Government homework.

David rolled his eyes at his friends and before turning to Wes. "Wes, I sincerely hope that you are reincarnated as a hippie. I pray that in your next life you are a hemp wearing, tree hugging, capitalism protesting, Michael Moore loving, Green Party supporting, Republican loathing hippie," he said.

Wes narrowed his eyes and gave David a one finger salute in response.

Blaine's laughter quickly turned into a scowl when David turned on him. "And you, Don Juan, I hope you come back as a eunuch."

Blaine paled and Wes roared with laughter.

"Why are you putting a pox on both our houses?" Wes inquired.

David sighed. "I'm not. Not really. It's just that sometimes when the two of you get going the combination of sex and cynicism makes me cranky."

"That's because you don't have enough of either," Blaine replied.

"I'd rather not be cynical and I get enough sex, thank you very much."

"No such thing." Wes and Blaine cried out in unison.

"Why do I even hang out with you people?" David groaned.

"Because you loooove us," Wes teased.

"We're the Three Amigos. You're the peanut butter to our bread and jelly, the sugar to our Kool-Aid and water, the duck, duck to our goose," Blaine said solemnly.

"You need medication," David laughed.

"What are you offering? I hope it's not Viagra," Blaine joked. "Cause I tried that when I was screwing around with Christophe and it really didn't-"

"TMI! TMI!" Wes broke in furiously. "What did we agree upon Blaine?"

"But Wes-"

"No, Blaine. That boy is still calling me at all hours of the night crying over you. I get enough intimate details of the two of you from him," Wes said crossly.

Blaine shrugged. "Christophe always was a bit melodramatic. When I suggested we role play he got upset and asked if it was my way of saying I wanted to fuck other people. Then he burst into tears when I informed him I had never stopped fucking other people." Blaine was silent for a beat. "In retrospect I suppose I should have made it clear from the onset that sex isn't dating."

David groaned and Wes shook his head. "I reiterate…the second circle Blaine. The second circle."

"Why are we talking about Christophe anyway?" Blaine said, crawling to the end of David's bed and bouncing up and down a bit. "I came in here to ask what you two thought about Kurt."

"He's…not your usual. I mean, the kid goes to public school. He goes to public school in Lima, for crying out loud." Wes shuddered.

"You are such a snob sometimes Wes," David said reproachfully. "Kurt seems like a nice guy, but Blaine…no," David frowned at his friend.

Blaine glared. "What do you mean no?"

"Blaine, Kurt has 'vulnerable' written on his forehead. Do you really want to be the guy that takes advantage of that?" David asked.

"Yeah dude, you love and leave that one and it would be like punching a baby or something," Wes put in.

Blaine grimaced at the unpleasant visual of punching an actual baby and then thought about Kurt's glasz eyes and how he'd like to see them darkened with lust.

"Yeah…I'm pretty sure I want to be that guy," Blaine answered David.

"You kinda already are," Wes observed.

"Whose side are you on?" David rounded on Wes.

"I'm Switzerland dude. You made a good point, I acknowledged it. Blaine however, also has a good point," Wes shrugged.

"You can't be neutral on this one Wes. Taking advantage of Kurt would be wrong and you know it," David declared.

"Hey, I'm not the one who wants to get his hands in his skintight jeans," Wes defended. "Besides, I can so be neutral. I didn't get sucked into your ridiculous disagreement about pirates versus ninja's and I won't get sucked into this one."

"It was not ridiculous! Blaine insisting that ninja's could somehow kung fu their way around a cannonball was ridiculous but this-"

"Mommy, Daddy, it makes me sad when you fight," Blaine piped up from his spot on David's bed.

Both boys glared at him.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Nothing," Wes grumbled. "So about Kurt, I concede that he is somewhat your type, even if he is you know, poor. So what's your plan?" Wes asked.

"I hardly think he's destitute Wes. The guy was wearing Neil Barrett and drives a Navigator. And as far as my plan goes, I plan to fuck him," Blaine explained.

"Well, there's a brilliant strategy. Napoleon would be proud," Wes deadpanned.

Blaine opened his mouth to retort but David cut him off. "Blaine, you hit and run with that kid and he will make Christophe look like a good break up. I don't know what Kurt's deal is, but he's obviously going through something heavy right now. Do you really wanna add more stress to his life?"

"And that concludes the lecture portion of the evening," Blaine grumped. "I don't plan on stressing him out. Look, this is a win/win. I get to have sex and Kurt gets to gain some experience. He told me he was the only out kid at his school…he's probably never even had a date. I am totally doing him a solid here. It's like a making a contribution to the gay community."

"Sexual favors are not tax deductible and therefore are not charitable contributions," Wes stated.

David shook his head. "Somehow I doubt this is what Chancellor Taylor meant when he encouraged to the student body to get involved in local charities."

"Charity does begin at home," Blaine smiled.

"I reiterate, anything worth doing is worth doing for money," Wes said.

"Wes, sometimes I think you sold your soul to the devil," David snarked.

"The negotiations fell through. Bastard tried to lowball me," Wes stated matter of factly.

As his two friend descended into another round of good natured teasing, Blaine took out his phone and sent a quick text to Kurt.

Kurt was floating on a cloud when he received Blaine's text. The handsome young man had quickly been granted a starring role in Kurt's fantasies. Kurt was bound and determined not to repeat his past mistakes with Blaine so he tried not to read into the other boy's actions.

At least Blaine was gay. After his disastrous crushes on Finn and Sam, Blaine was a move in the right direction if nothing else.

Kurt's good mood quickly vanished once he walked into Glee club. Kurt texted Blaine back while he was supposed to be watching the girls' performance and the two struck up a conversation that lasted until Mr. Schue separated the two groups again. The boys all clustered together, talking animatedly about their mash up and Kurt suddenly realized he didn't even know what songs they were doing.

"Gentlemen, would any of you care to enlighten me as to what musical number we are going to be performing?" He asked stiffly.

There was silence, and Artie and Mike exchanged guilty glances. Finn cleared his throat. "Uh, well, Kurt after you disappeared yesterday we figured you'd talked Mr. Schue into letting you join in with the girls. I mean, I know you're not really a girl, but you know, you act like one a lot and we're doing an AC/DC and Jimi Hendrix mash up and none of that is girly so…" Finn trailed off, looking at Kurt silently begging him not to make a scene.

Kurt simply took his bag off his seat and left. It wasn't a Rachel Berry diva storm out, but he didn't trust himself to speak or do anything other than leave. He was afraid if he opened his mouth he would release the sob that was trapped in his throat and the last thing he wanted was to cry in front of Finn after being verbally castrated.

Kurt furiously blinked back tears as he made his way down the hall. The buzzing in his pocket alerted him to the fact that he had an incoming text from Blaine.

Courage.

Kurt couldn't help but smile at the thought that Blaine was thinking of him and had cared enough to send him some encouragement for the day. Kurt was about to respond when he found himself viciously slammed into the wall of lockers by a laughing Dave Karofsky.

Kurt looked around and saw a few students staring in wide eyed terror, but no one made a move to help him, including Finn who was standing at the end of the hall. Kurt gathered his things, fired off a quick goodbye text to Mercedes and made his way home.

Kurt locked himself in his room, put in his Project Runway-The Complete Sixth Season DVD and tried to relax. When his phone rang Kurt was going to ignore it but when he saw the word "Blaine" lit up on the display Kurt's quickly changed his mind and snatched up the phone.

"B-Blaine? Hi…is..how are…hi," Kurt stammered out in greeting.

Blaine had intended to let Kurt make the first phone call but after his conversation with David and Wes he was feeling a little on edge. The tone of Kurt's voice was completely off and Blaine felt a flood of concern rush through his veins.

"Kurt? Is everything alright?" Blaine asked quietly.

Kurt closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. The last thing he wanted was for Blaine to think he was some perpetual damsel in distress. He'd already broken down once in front of the other boy and had no desire for a repeat performance.

"Yes, everything is fine." Kurt replied a little too quickly and far too brightly to be believable. "I was watching old Project Runway reruns and wondering who in the Land of Oz thought it was a good idea to move the show to LA? I don't know why I'm subjecting myself to season six in all its shark jumping glory."

Blaine knew diversion and avoidance when he heard it. Kurt shutting him was simply unacceptable so Blaine decided to push his boundaries and see how far Kurt would let him go. "Anytime you want to tell me what's really bothering you Kurt, I'm ready to listen," Blaine interrupted quietly.

"What, watching so-called designers translate avant garde into Frederick's of Hollywood on steroid's isn't enough to make you weep?" Kurt joked.

"No, but Emilio turning his model into the bastard child of Malibu Barbie and a hot tranny mess during the hardware challenge in Season seven was," Blaine fired back, realizing the direct approach wouldn't bear any fruit.

Kurt nearly dropped the phone. "OH. MY. GOSH. That garment, and I use the term loosely, is one of my top ten Project Runway crimes against fashion," He babbled excitedly.

"I'm hoping you have the hate crime that was Blayne's "Girlicious" ensemble constructed of cupboard linings, jump rope and featuring an open diaper on the model's front on that list as well," Blaine teased.

"Of course I do," Kurt sniffed. "That design gave me nightmares, actual nightmares," he moaned.

Blaine laughed. "I was far too busy being horrified by Stella's fixation on her 'leatha' to be haunted by Blayne's trashtastic design aesthetic."

Kurt giggled. "But Blaine, every woman out there wants to be girlicious."

Blaine laughed. "The guy was a hack. I'm actually ashamed we share the same name. I swear, just when I had lived down the douchebaggery of Blane McDonough in Pretty in Pink, that guy showed up! I went by my middle name for six months because of him."

Kurt stretched out on his bed. "Hey at least people don't spontaneously break into My Favorite Things around you."

Blaine laughed then began to sing, "Raindrops on roses-"

"I will cut you," Kurt declared.

Blaine snickered. "Ok, ok. So who's your favorite Project Runway designer of all time?"

"Whose yours?"

"I asked first," Blaine reminded Kurt.

"Mine is the original keeper of the flame of fierceness-"

"Christian Siriano!" Blaine interrupted excitedly. "He's mine too. I mean, the guy was a total bitch and threw a high school kid under the bus on the runway but his fashion was-"

"Orgasmic," Kurt finished. "His fashion was orgasmic. And he interned for Alexander McQueen who is my fashion idol and that red dress in his winter/fall 2010 line? I want to have babies with it," Kurt declared.

Blaine laughed. "I don't think I've ever been jealous of a dress before. But it's nice to hear you sounding so upbeat. So…you want to tell me what was wrong before?" Blaine asked, hoping he'd relaxed Kurt enough to get him to open up.

Kurt paused. Part of him wanted to push the entire day into the darkest corner of his mind and pretend it didn't happen, but another part of him was desperate for someone to talk to.

"Kurt," Blaine cut in, "you can tell me anything and I promise not to judge you or break your confidence."

Kurt swallowed. "It was just a really bad day. It started in glee and just went downhill from there-"

Blaine half listened to Kurt telling him about some jackass named Ben who was apparently under the impression that Kurt was girl. Blaine idly flipped through his copy of Import Tuner, wondering if it would be worth the fight with Jasper to track down a Mazda RX-7. Kurt's next words however stopped him cold.

"-…slammed me into the locker so hard my bruises have bruises but no one even bothered to try to help me or even ask if I was okay and Finn was there and he just watched-"

"Wait, you're like, actually physically injured?" Blaine interrupted. White hot anger flashed through Blaine at the idea of Kurt's pale, creamy skin being turned black and blue.

"Blaine, have you seen me? I'm so pale my nickname was Powder in Jr. High," Kurt scoffed. "And Karofsky is huge and metal lockers don't move even if they see you coming. Of course, I have bruises," Kurt replied. "I always have bruises," he added softly.

Blaine bit his bottom lip. David's words crashed back over him. "I don't know what Kurt's deal is, but he's obviously going through something heavy right now. Do you really wanna add more stress to his life?"

Blaine exhaled. Kurt clearly needed an advocate of some sort and Blaine saw no reason why that couldn't be him. He'd just have to use a little more discretion and tread a bit more carefully with Kurt than he had with Christophe.

He'd definitely have to take more care than he had with Joaquin.

He wouldn't repeat the fiasco that Brian turned into.

He doubted that Kurt would gather everything Blaine had ever left at his house and set fire to it on his front lawn like Spencer had, but Blaine didn't want to chance it.

He would be better with Kurt. David was right, Kurt wasn't hit and run material…but he might make an excellent new friend.

Kurt could be the kind of friend that came with benefits.

It was, as Blaine said earlier, a win/win. Kurt got someone with the ability to make his life a little brighter in his corner and he got to have sex with Kurt.

"Kurt, have you thought about telling your father? From what you've said about him I'm sure he'd step in and-"

"I know he would," Kurt interrupted. "My dad would walk through fire for me. But I can't…he's not…he tries Blaine but it's hard for him. And he's sick and it just, I can't put him in the middle. He's my dad and…I would do anything to protect him. You get that, right?"

Blaine didn't, not really, but he knew better than to tell Kurt that. "Have you tried the faculty? Do you have any other relatives? Kurt, you need an adult to intervene on your behalf."

"There isn't anyone!" Kurt exploded. "Half the teachers think I deserve what I get for being gay, even if they won't say it out loud and the other half, like Mr. Schue, are so permissive that they just pretend it's not happening. I don't have any real family other than my dad. I-I'm alone Blaine. I'm alone and its awful and sometimes I think I can't take one more day of this black hole that's become my existence. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I just did myself and everyone around me a favor and-"

"And what?" Blaine interrupted, a mix of anger and terror giving his voice a raw edge. "Kurt, there is nothing, NOTHING, wrong with you, with us. If the close minded assholes in Lima don't get that, it's THEIR problem. Just…just don't do anything stupid, okay? I know it sucks. I know it's hard, but you don't give in and you don't let them win. Fuck…have you thought about… why don't you transfer?"

"Where would I go Blaine? This is the only high school in the area and besides, the harassment isn't limited to school hours. I get my gas at an Exxon five miles from my house because the guy at the Texaco that's right down the street said he didn't want business from my kind. In my head, I know I just have to hold on until graduation and then I'm out of here but sometimes that just seems so fucking far away that I don't think I'll make it," Kurt said softly.

"You'll make it Kurt," Blaine declared. "I…I'll make sure of it." Where the fuck did that come from, Blaine wondered.

Kurt gave a strangled laugh. "I-I've never even told half of this stuff to Mercedes." Kurt ran a hand through his hair. "Thank you Blaine. Thanks for being there and for listening and for caring. Not too many people do."

"Kurt, just…don't thank me. I, ah, I'm just doing what I think is right."

"It's more than anyone's done for me in a long time," Kurt quietly confessed.

"Maybe you just haven't been hanging around the right people."

"Was that an offer?" Kurt asked coyly.

"Absolutely. What do you say to a movie on Friday?"

Kurt was floored. He literally vibrated with excitement as he answered a little breathlessly, "I say yes."

"Then I'll see you then. I'll text you the details and call you tomorrow?" Blaine replied.

"S-sure. Yeah, uh…yeah. Tomorrow's fine. Tomorrow's great." Kurt agreed.

"Til tomorrow then. Goodnight Kurt."

"Goodnight, Blaine."

Both boys hung up, Kurt feeling better than he had all day and Blaine slightly unsettled that he was becoming far more invested in Kurt than originally intended.