Blaine spent most of the morning in his dorm room going over the events of the previous two days and figuring out what his next move would be.

Blaine had kept quiet and remained in the background during the majority of his time at the Hudmel home. On the surface it seemed he kept quiet out of respect for the family but in reality Blaine's silence had been for his own benefit. One of the first lessons Jasper had ever taught him was that it was far easier to make observations as a spectator than it was to do as a participant. Blaine had learned early on the value in keeping his mouth closed and his ears open.

As he'd listened to everyone lay out their concerns and air a bit of their dirty laundry Blaine had been forced to concede that Burt and Carole, despite some of their missteps, had Kurt's best interests at heart. Their reaction to getting a few, but thankfully not all, of the details regarding the bullying their sons endured at school confirmed Blaine's initial impression of their good intentions but he'd been wholly unimpressed with how they planned to confront the issue.

At first glance it seemed like a good idea but Blaine doubted gathering a group of largely uninformed and apparently uninvolved parents would merit out the kind of results they were hoping for.

For one thing Kurt and Finn had inadvertently weakened their own parents' position. Blaine had noticed that the boys had left out important details-such as the existence of Jacob Ben Israel's blog or the fact that Kurt had actually been physically assaulted by both Karofsky and Azimio. Whether it was due to misguided protective instincts such as in Kurt's case or a desire to save face such as in Finn's, Blaine suspected that all of Kurt's friends would opt for a similar method of blending confession with discretion when confronted by their parents. He doubted that any of the adults, Burt and Carole included, would be given a complete picture of what was actually happening to their children and since knowledge is power, their lack of it would automatically put them at a disadvantage and allow Figgins to downplay the severity of the situation since they'd all be none the wiser.

The second, and far higher hurdle in Blaine's estimation, was that fighting the system was never quick and seldom easy. Blaine suspected that neither Burt nor Carole had ever played the type of politics required to bring about substantial changes in school policies. Talking to a teacher one on one and coming with a plan of action about your specific child was one thing; attempting to institute a change that would impact every single member of the student body-some in initially negative ways-was quite another.

During the course of the conversation Blaine got the distinct impression that Burt and Carole imagined they could storm the castle with their group of angry villagers, hand over their list of demands and negotiate the terms of Figgins' symbolic surrender. Blaine knew from his experience at Anderson International that changing the culture of an institution-any institution-required a combination of time, influence and most important of all-leverage. In order for the kind of changes in policies and procedures that would need to take place for Kurt and his friends to enjoy harassment free school days, their parents would have to play the long game and Figgins would merely be the first of many obstacles that would need to be overcome. Given that Figgins only had so many disciplinary options available to him that couldn't be overturned if a student appealed to the school board, Blaine was relatively sure that any solution the man would have to offer would be akin to putting a band aid on a bullet wound.

And all of this was just fine by Blaine.

It wasn't that Blaine didn't want Kurt to have a safe learning environment; it was simply that he wanted Dalton to be the school providing it.

The way that Blaine saw it Kurt attending Dalton was best for everyone. Kurt would no longer be in physical danger so Burt would no longer have to worry about his son's safety and in turn Kurt would worry less about his father's stress levels. Kurt's absence would benefit Finn because for most bullies out of sight was out of mind. Without Kurt's presence as a visual reminder the second hand harassment Finn got over Kurt's sexuality would most likely decrease dramatically, resulting in a much happier Finn and thus a much happier Carole.

As for Kurt, Dalton would be better for him for a variety of reasons. Kurt's future would be more secure because a Dalton education was an impressive feather to have in one's cap when it came time to apply to colleges. Dalton had influential and active alumni at almost every major university in the country as well as some in the UK and Europe. Kurt's social life wouldn't suffer as a result of a transfer. While he might miss his friends at first, Kurt had already forged bonds with David, Wes, and Jeff and he was sure that the rest of his friends would take to Kurt just as quickly, plus Kurt's peer group would be upgraded from future fast food workers and latchkey kids to the sons of some of the most powerful men not just in Ohio, but in the country and that could only bode well for future endeavors. And there was always the weekend if Kurt absolutely had to maintain contact with his friends from New Directions. As far as future endeavors went, Kurt could nurture his interests in both fashion and performance as Dalton had both top rated drama and art departments.

There was also the fact that Kurt at Dalton was far better for their relationship than Kurt at McKinley. They would finally have time, proximity and privacy- three things that were sorely lacking at the moment and desperately needed for the two of them to move in the direction that Blaine wanted them to go.

And last but not least, it would be better for Kurt if he were as far from the fall out as possible when Blaine released the hounds.

Blaine had begun sowing the seeds of revenge when he had instructed Evan to dig up any information Blaine could use against Kurt's bullies and hired Cass to look into whether or not the school district could face legal repercussions for failing to take any measures to put a stop to the bullying. Evan had uncovered many a dirty little secret that gave Blaine a tremendous amount power over several of Kurt's tormentors. In some cases Blaine could destroy their futures, in others he could tear apart their families and for others he had the ability to even take away their freedom if he chose to make certain information public knowledge. Azimio, Lewis, Karofsky and several of the bullies were firmly in his crosshairs and he couldn't wait until it was time to start taking headshots.

As far as the school went, Cass had concluded that actually winning a lawsuit wasn't a guarantee but they certainly had the grounds to file one. Thanks to Jacob's blog and McKinley's very own school sponsored newspaper there was written, photographic and videotaped proof that a culture of verbal, physical and emotional intimidation was allowed to run rampant on campus and that the offending students had very little, if any, fear of being disciplined or punished for their actions.

The fact that the lawsuit wasn't a slam dunk wasn't an issue. Blaine hadn't really been concerned with whether or not a lawsuit was winnable, only that it was viable. Truth be told, Blaine had no intention of encouraging Kurt to file suit; in fact he had no intention of Kurt ever finding out that he'd even looked into the possibility of filing a suit. Going to court meant dealing with the school board and their attorneys and neither the school board or the taxpayers had the power to give Blaine what he wanted. No, the only one who could do that was Principal Figgins.

While it was true that in the grand scheme of things Figgins was the low man on the totem pole he was the one that Blaine needed to deal with for his plan to work. As the Principal, Figgins was the school's first line of defense against angry parents, disgruntled faculty and anything that might damage the school's reputation or negatively impact its bottom line. He was also the scapegoat and sacrificial lamb should the school receive any bad publicity or be found to be failing in any way. It was precisely because of this that Blaine was betting that Figgins would do just about anything to keep the contents of Jacob's blog from becoming Plaintiff's exhibit A or the feature story on the ten o'clock news. Figgins had to balance his sense of self preservation with his obligation to protect the school's reputation and that was a weakness that Blaine intended to exploit for all it was worth.

He was betting it worth enough to get Kurt out of McKinley and into Dalton.

Being allowed to sit in on the Hudmel family meeting had not only given Blaine the opportunity to know firsthand what Burt did and more importantly didn't know about Kurt's school life, but it had also given Blaine a unique opportunity to bond-sort of-with the elder Hummel afterwards.

"You cannot be serious," Kurt moaned as Burt placed a stack of pamphlets down on the coffee table in front of the two boys.

"I'm as serious as my heart attack. Now, these are some pamphlets I picked up at the free clinic. I was planning on having this talk with you one on one and thought it might help the process along because this is something we need to discuss," Burt responded.

Kurt shook his head rapidly. "Oh no it's not."

"Safer Sex Can Be Fun," Blaine read aloud. "Um, Mr. Hummel I don't really think I need to be here for this so-"

"Look, I know I'm not your father but judging by that hickey on the side of Kurt's neck and that bite mark on your collarbone, I kind of think you do," Burt snapped.

Kurt blushed and Blaine fiddled with the collar of his shirt. "Dad, we really do not have to do this."

"Oh yes we do," Burt disagreed. "You told me to educate myself and-"

Kurt stuck his fingers in his ears and began singing loudly and shaking his head. Blaine shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, torn between the urge to laugh and the instinct to do the same.

"Hey no," Burt said leaning over and gently removing Kurt's fingers from his ears. "You think this is easy for me? It's not, believe me. I want to do this even less than you do."

"I really don't think that's possible," Blaine muttered.

"Look this is gonna suck for all three of us," Burt announced. "But we're all gonna get through it and we'll all be better men because of it."

"My s-sex life is none of your business," Kurt said boldly. "Not that I have a sex life," he added quickly. "But if I did it wouldn't be any of your business."

"That's where you're wrong," Burt said. "I mean, you're right in that your body is your own and you get to choose who you share it with and I don't get to say anything about that-as long as you're both able to give consent and nobody's being taken advantage of. But it is my job as your father to make sure that you have all the information you need to keep yourself safe physically and emotionally if you're gonna be…," Burt faltered for a moment but pushed on, "If you're gonna be having sex."

"Okay," Kurt said, nodding rapidly. "This was a good talk. Thanks for the pamphlets," he said as he rose to his feet and pulled Blaine up with him.

"Sit down," Burt said, pointing to the sofa.

Both boys' shoulders slumped forward and they took their seats again.

"First of all," Burt began, looking from Kurt to Blaine, "Most of the uh, mechanics of what you're gonna be doing is covered in the pamphlets-"

"Mr. Hummel, I really don't need this talk," Blaine interrupted.

"Is that your way of telling me you're not a virgin?" Burt asked.

"Is that a problem?" Blaine fired back, defensive. "Am I unworthy now? Used goods, and all. You want to know how many people I've been with, maybe you want a list?"

"What I want is for you shove the attitude and dial it down a few notches," Burt said. "I don't know what you think I'm gonna say here Blaine but virginity, or the lack there of, doesn't determine your worth." At Blaine's surprised look, Burt continued. "Whether you've slept with one person or one hundred the only thing that I care about is that you kept yourself safe."

"I don't have unprotected sex," Blaine mumbled.

"I didn't just mean physically," Burt answered. "Kurt-"

"Total virgin," Kurt blurted out. "Thanks for the pamphlets, I think I'm gonna just go read this-"

"You're not going anywhere son," Burt sighed.

"Dad, Blaine and I aren't having sex and we're not planning on having sex anytime soon," Kurt stated.

"That's up to you and Blaine," Burt grit out, clearly not happy with the possibility. "But listen, both of you. I realize you may think I came into the world a fully formed adult but the truth is I was your age once. I know what it's like to be a teenage boy and be in a new relationship with somebody that you really like and I know how easy it is for emotions and hormones to get the better of you and end up doing things that you didn't plan on doing and maybe weren't ready for."

"Things like sex," Kurt said.

"Yeah," Burt nodded. "Things like sex. For most guys sex is just, it's this thing we always wanna do. Its fun, it feels great, but we're not really thinking too much about how it makes us feel on the inside or, you know, how the other person feels about it," he said looking briefly at Blaine.

"And women are different?" Kurt asked.

"Only because they're taught that sex is supposed to be about something more than the physical. See, girls get told that they're supposed to wait, that it's supposed to be special, that they're supposed to hold out for someone who loves them, respects them, and makes them feel valued. They get taught that sex and love should be one in the same and that creates a whole different set of problems but the point is guys don't get that. We get taught that it's okay to do it as often as we can, with whoever will let us and that there's something wrong with us if we don't want it or we're not ready. Girls get taught they should say no and guys get taught they should say yes and the truth is it's more complicated than that," Burt explained.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"When you're intimate with somebody in that way you're exposing yourself," Burt revealed. "You're never gonna be more vulnerable and that scares the hell out of a lot of guys. Believe me, I can't tell you how many buddies I've got who have gotten in way too deep with a girl who said she was cool just hooking up, when she really wasn't."

Blaine winced because yeah, been there.

"But that's not gonna happen to me Dad," Kurt said softly.

"No," Burt agreed. "It's gonna be worse. Because it's two guys, now most of the time you got two people who think that sex is just sex. It's gonna be easier to come by and once you start doing this stuff you're not gonna wanna stop. You gotta know, both of you, that sex means something. It's doing something, to you, to your heart, to your self-esteem. Even though it feels like you're just having fun."

"What if you are just having fun?" Kurt asked, surprising both Blaine and Burt.

"I'd rather you didn't," Burt said bluntly. "But if you're choosing to have sex for purely physical reasons then be sure that everyone's on the same page. Sex feels good and there's no shame in wanting it but if that's all you want then be upfront about that. Be honorable about that. Be a man about that. Don't manipulate someone else into it or take advantage of someone's feelings for you to get it. And if someone tells you all they want is sex, believe them. Don't sleep with them hoping they'll change their mind or believing that you can make them fall for you. Don't put yourself in a position to be hurt or to hurt somebody. Be honest with yourself and be honest with others."

"I can do that," Kurt said.

"You okay over there? You still with us, Blaine?" Burt asked.

"I um, I didn't expect…I thought this was gonna be you bringing out your shot gun and telling me to keep my filthy paws off your baby boy," Blaine admitted.

"Yeah well, if it was up to me Kurt wouldn't have sex until he was thirty," Burt confessed. "But it's not up to me. And even though I don't feel like either one of you should be… it's not my choice to make."

"So if I choose to have sex with Blaine-"

"You'll be putting me in an early grave," Burt quipped.

"Dad!"

Burt laughed. "Look kid, I can't…I can't give you the all clear here because I'm your father and part of me is having a real hard time admitting that you're even old enough for this conversation. What I can do is respect you enough to trust your judgment. From what I can see, Blaine's a good kid. You could do a hell of a lot worse than him. And if, at some point in the far distant future, you feel like you're ready I want you to be able to do… everything. But when you're ready, I want you to use it as a way to connect to the person that you're with. I don't want you, either of you, to throw yourselves around like you don't matter. 'Cause you matter, both of you matter and I don't want either of you to lose sight of that."

Blaine felt unexpected warmth spread through his body at the sincerity in the older man's voice. For the first time since they'd met he felt like he and Burt had actually connected.

Burt cleared his throat. "Unless you boys have anything you wanna talk about that's pretty much it."

"I think…I think we're good," Blaine answered.

"We're good," Kurt confirmed. "Thanks Dad."

"You're welcome," Burt said, as he stood up. He motioned to Kurt and the boy rolled his eyes but stood up and gave his father a hug. They broke apart after a few moments. "I'm gonna go see if Carole needs any help with those calls," Burt said.

"Okay Dad."

Burt nodded and started to walk out of the living room. On his way past Blaine he stopped and gave the other boy an affectionate squeeze on his shoulder. "Thank you for being there for Kurt and taking care of him when I couldn't. I ah, I look forward to getting to know you."

"You don't have to thank me," Blaine answered. "I look forward to getting to know you too."

Burt nodded and then left the room.

"Twenty years from now when my therapist asks me where my issues with intimacy began I'm going to tell him it was the day my father sat my boyfriend and I down, talked to us about gay sex and gave us illustrated pamphlets," Kurt declared, sinking into the seat next to Blaine.

"Don't leave out the packets of lube and the day glo green condoms," Blaine joked.

"Oh my God," Kurt moaned as he buried his head in Blaine's shoulder and laughed.

A knock on his door took Blaine out of the memory. "Open up and let me in," Jeff hollered.

"Keep your pants on," Blaine yelled back as he got up from his desk.

"Keep my pants on? Why don't you ask me to spin straw into gold while you're at it," Jeff complained.

"You are truly terrible," Blaine announced as he swung open the door. "What do you want hooker?"

"Rude," Jeff replied, shoving Blaine aside and barreling his way in. "You ditched all your morning classes. I wanted to make sure you hadn't OD'd or something," Jeff said.

"Nope still alive and kicking," Blaine replied, flopping down next to Jeff on the bed. "Just had a lot on my mind."

"And by a lot you mean Kurt?"

"Yeah, mostly."

"Look at you, having emotions like a real boy," Jeff joked.

"Shut up," Blaine groused. "I miss him."

"Then let's go," Jeff said hopping up.

"Go where?"

"Lima," Jeff said rolling his eyes.

"In case you haven't noticed it's a school day," Blaine said dryly.

"You've already skipped your morning classes and you aren't in uniform so you weren't planning on going today anyway. If we stop for lunch by the time we get there Kurt will be getting out," Jeff reasoned.

"Okay," Blaine said slowly. "I know why I would go to Lima, but why would you?"

"I'm bored," Jeff replied. "It's either tag along with you or see if the Lockhart twins wanna make another movie."

"You realize the fact that you're all under eighteen doesn't make it any less illegal and that someday one of your sex tapes is gonna end up all over TMZ," Blaine cautioned his friend.

"Then maybe Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton will teach me the secret handshake," Jeff grinned.

"Shut up and sit quietly while I grab a shower and change."

"And then?"

"And then," Blaine said patiently, "If you've managed not create any chaos we'll hop in the jag and head down to Lima. But we're not stopping for lunch; I want to see if I can get Kurt to skip his last class for me."

"You're a horrible influence on that boy," Jeff said mockingly. "Luckily I think those are the best kind. So, old buddy old pal my bff bro 5eva…can I drive?"

Blaine gave Jeff a look that could have melted the flesh from his bones. "Do you want to lose testicles left and right?"

Jeff gave Blaine a dazzling smile. "I call shotgun."

The next morning everyone in the Hudmel home was slightly on edge. There had been so many witnesses to his meltdown in Breadstix that Finn knew the story had spread and the second he walked through the doors Jacob Ben Israel would be on him like polyester on a leisure suit and that everyone would be watching to see how he'd react. He also knew if the phone conversations they'd had were any indication, he was going to be facing the collective wrath of the members of New Directions.

In addition to all of that, he was worried about what the outcome of the parents meeting with Principal Figgins would be and whether or not it would have a positive effect on the bullying everyone endured or just make everything worse. Puck had once told him that high school operated by street gang rules, the most important one being "snitches get stitches." While Finn wasn't prepared to go quite that far, he did concede that there was an unspoken agreement among the student body to leave their parents out of the loop whenever possible that went a little beyond the normal teenage code of silence. Kids got tossed in dumpsters, pelted with slushies, tagged with 'kick me' signs, shoved into lockers and rolled in the port-a-potty's and everyone, including most of the faculty, just accepted it as the natural order of things at William McKinley High School. With very few exceptions no one really bothered to complain because that's just the way things were and complainers only got a bigger bullseye placed on their backs.

Even he and Kurt hadn't entirely come clean with their parents and he doubted anyone else had either. After comparing notes with both Kurt and Puck the night before he knew that none of his friends had said a word about Jacob's blog and they'd all left out some of the more embarrassing things that had been done to them.

None of them were so na�ve that they didn't understand that the blog could back up everything they were saying but they would all rather protect their parents-and themselves-from seeing the worst of what they'd gone through-or in some cases put people through-in pixel perfect 1080 HD. Part of Finn knew that withholding information was defeating the whole purpose of complaining but the idea of his mom or Burt being able to go online and see him being trapped up against a locker helpless to stop Karofsky and Azimio from ripping his letterman jacket in half or watching him try to scrub his face clean after he'd been held down and drawn on by the duo just filled him with an overwhelming sense of shame that he just couldn't deal with on top of everything else and he suspected that everyone pretty much felt the same. He knew Quinn still hadn't opened up to her mother about just how viciously her peers had turned on her during her pregnancy. He knew that Puck's mom was aware that he used to bully other kids but knowing it and seeing it were two different things and Finn understood that Puck didn't want to give her any more reasons to be disappointed in him. He knew that Rachel had told her dads that Jacob had a crush but not that he basically sexually harassed her and had a segment of his blog titled "Berry's Booty" that he dedicated to nothing but pictures of her from behind. And he knew that despite Burt's insistence that he was the parent and his job to be the protector, Kurt would do anything to keep from worrying his father-including keeping him in the dark about just how bad things for him really were. He knew Kurt hadn't told Burt about being attacked at school by Azimio and had purposely left out a lot of the details about what he'd been through and continued to go through.

A gentle knocking on his door frame startled him out of his thoughts. "Carole sent me to get you," Kurt explained standing in Finn's doorway looking as cool and collected as ever but the slight shake in his voice betraying his nerves. "She made-"

"Pancakes," Finn interrupted with a smile. "It's her good luck breakfast. Whenever something major is happening that might not go well, like a test or a big game she makes pancakes."

Kurt smiled. "It could go well," he said.

"Yeah, it could," Finn agreed half heartedly.

"But it probably won't," Kurt sighed.

"Not even a little bit," Finn nodded.

"Finn," Kurt said stepping into the room. "You and I have a lot of work ahead of us before we're anywhere close to okay but today is going to be hard on both of us. There's gonna be a lot of gossip and a lot of anger and maybe even retaliation depending on just how badly things go. It would be nice if we were able to at least have each other's back."

"Yeah it would," Finn agreed. "That would be really awesome."

Kurt gave Finn a tight smile. "Well, then I guess we should go eat what could metaphorically speaking be our last meal."

"C'mon man it'll be rough but nobody's gonna murder us," Finn laughed, slipping a flannel shirt on over his graphic tee.

"It must be nice to be able to be so sure," Kurt murmured as he turned to leave.

"Hey," Finn said reaching out to grab Kurt's shoulder to stop him. "Dude. Seriously? Is that something you seriously worry about?"

Kurt gave Finn an unreadable look. "Our pancakes are getting cold," he said sidestepping Finn's question. "Come on, I need to make sure dad doesn't drown his in butter and syrup."

Finn quietly followed Kurt down the stairs, hoping that the day wouldn't go as badly as he thought it would and afraid that it might, in fact, be worse.

"They've been in there an awfully long time," Tina said, leaning her head on Mike's shoulder and peering through the window into Figgins' office where the parents of the members of New Directions, Mr. Schuester, Coach Sylvester and Ms. Pillsbury were all engaged in what looked like to be a heated discussion.

When they'd arrived at school, instead of going to class Finn and Kurt had followed Burt and Carole into the office to await the arrival of the rest of the parents. Once everyone had arrived there had been a few moments of controlled chaos where every single parent threatened to withdraw their child if they didn't get a meeting with Figgins that very moment. Ms. Pillsbury was called in to try to keep everyone on an even emotional keel, Mr. Schuester's presence was demanded because every child in question was a member of his glee club and Sue bullied her way in when she realized that she was facing not only the loss of her head Cheerio, but her second and third in command as well.

The students had been left outside, their parents refusing to allow them to be sent to class until some type of resolution had been reached. It had been two hours so far and the meeting didn't seem to be winding down in the slightest.

"They have been going at it all morning and they don't look like they're leaving anytime soon," Mercedes noted.

"I hope not," Puck smirked. "I'm kinda hoping this lasts long enough to keep me out of chem class. I've already missed homeroom and history; I say we go for the hat trick."

"Noah," Rachel admonished sharply. "This isn't about getting out of class. Our parents have banded together to confront Principal Figgins and demand that he provide us with a safe and harassment free environment and I for one-"

"Could not be any more annoying," Santana interrupted with an eye roll.

"Hush Chandler Bing," Mercedes told Santana. "For once Rachel's right. This is serious. My dad was supremely pissed when he got off the phone with Burt last night."

"My mom was so mad she said some words that I didn't even think she knew," Mike winced. "I've never seen her so angry."

"I had to talk my dad out of transferring me," Artie added. "He's usually the first one to tell me how my chair can only limit me if I let it but when he found out what was going on, he went into protective overdrive."

"Can't blame the dude," Puck shrugged. "I know firsthand how rough some of the guys get with you."

"That's 'cause you used to be the ringleader," Santana mumbled.

"If that ain't the pot calling the kettle black," Mercedes sniffed.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"You know what-"

"Mercedes is right," Quinn interrupted. "Our parents are all in there demanding that Figgins do something about the bullying but the fact is that not too long ago Puck, Finn, Santana and I were some of the worst offenders."

"But you guys changed," Tina argued.

"Some more than others," Rachel added primly, glaring at Santana.

"I'm a work in progress," Santana said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Same here," Finn said.

"Oh nuh uh Poppin Fresh, don't agree with me. You're still on my list," Santana snapped.

"Mine too," Tina added.

"So much same," Sam agreed.

"Never left mine," Mercedes mumbled.

"I don't have a list," Brittany shared.

"Neither do they," Kurt sighed. "I was hoping that we could do this later, in the choir room but now's as good a time as any I suppose."

"Nope," Mercedes cut him off holding up her hand. "I know you, Kurt. You're about to tell us to back off of Finn and I'm sorry but after what he did to you I just can't."

"Yeah," Sam chimed in. "What he did was majorly uncool and I'm sorry man but I'm just not okay with it."

Kurt gave his friends a small smile. "I'm not asking you guys to be okay with it. But Finn and I talked things out with our parents and we're gonna try to work through things like a family. I appreciate the support-more than you know-but it would be easier on me if you guys backed off and let us work this out ourselves."

"Unbelievable," Santana huffed. "Do you have an invisible Teflon suit?" She asked Finn.

"Um, no," Finn responded with a confused look on his face.

"You must," Santana sneered. "It's the only possible explanation for all of the crap you pull to just keep sliding right off of you."

"Seriously Kurt you can't expect us to just let it go," Tina said.

"Actually he can," Rachel said quietly. "This happened to Kurt. He gets to decide how to deal with it and if he wants us to back off then-"

"Of course you're all for everybody backing off your boyfriend," Mercedes huffed.

"It's not about me," Rachel said earning several sideways glances. "Well it's not," she insisted. "It's about Kurt."

"But Finn hurt him," Brittany argued.

"Finn's not the only one," Quinn pointed out. "A lot of us have hurt Kurt."

"I haven't," Sam said defiantly.

"Not like that," Mercedes denied as she shook her head.

"Maybe not," Quinn conceded, "But I seem to remember someone throwing a rock through the windshield of his car last year."

"And I seem to remember you orchestrating that entire episode," Mercedes fired back.

Quinn flushed. "Yeah, we did," she said, indicating herself, Brittany and Santana. "And it was wrong and it was hurtful, not just to Kurt but to you too."

"I was awful to him-to most of you," Puck spoke up. "I'm the one who started the dumpster tosses, the Monday Morning Swirlie and the slushie facials."

"You really were a special kind of vile," Tina muttered.

"And I'm sorry for it, for all of it. I know I don't say that much but it's true. You guys gave me, Quinn, and Santana a second chance,"

"Don't put me in this," Santana interrupted. "I know that I-"

"Have aimed your share of offensive, homophobic insults at Kurt too," Rachel finished. "Because you have. You take every available opportunity to make his sexuality something he should be ashamed of. Just because you can't deal with the fact that you're-"

"Shut up Berry," Santana hissed. "Look, I say some foul stuff, okay? You guys should know by now that's just how I am and half the stuff I say isn't meant to be taken seriously. I don't think there's anything wrong with Kurt being gay." Santana turned and looked at the brunette. "I don't have a problem with you being gay," she repeated.

"Then stop saying hurtful things about it," Kurt said quietly. "You were mocking me before I even came out, Santana-not that you were the only one- but you were and continue to be one of the worst offenders."

"You really don't have any room to judge Finn," Artie added. "You're just as bad if not worse. The stuff you say about Kurt being gay, about me being in my chair, fat shaming people…you living large up in your glass house and if you keep throwing those stones you gone be homeless, girl."

"Thanks Artie," Finn began.

"Hold 'em up," Artie said as he shook his head. "That wasn't me defending you. That was me calling a spade a spade. Finn, you're an okay guy a lot of the time. Most of the time really. But I can't count of the number of times the football team would slushie me or shove me around or give me crap about my chair and you'd be right there. Even if you didn't say anything to me you didn't say anything to them either. That makes you just as guilty, yo."

"C'mon Wheels-,"

"And I'm sorry Puck but you can't ask us to compare you and Finn either. Yeah, a lot of the time you were right there, egging everybody on, making it ten times worse than it had to be," Artie admitted. "But you know the difference between you two? You own your crap. You've apologized, not just in word but in deed. You've picked us, every single time there's been a choice to make between us and football or us and popularity, you've picked us. Finn talks the talk but he never walks the walk. Every single time he picks the easy road and we're not easy so we end up in the dust."

"I'm sorry," Finn said.

"You've said that," Artie told him. "But then you keep doing the same things."

"This isn't just about what you did to Kurt," Tina added. "It's about the fact that we can't trust you to have our backs. Every single one of these guys stood up for Kurt and you, the guy who's supposed to be our leader, were nowhere to be found."

"I know and I regret that," Finn said. "I regret a lot of the choices I've made and I know that I need to do better."

"Then do better," Sam said. "Look man, I don't know you as well as the others do but I'm gonna be blunt: I don't like a lot of what I've seen. It's like you're two different people sometimes and I never know which one I'm gonna get. Kurt's my best friend and if I have to pick between you two I'm picking him all day, every day. I don't have to question his loyalty but I find myself constantly wondering about yours."

"Finn's loyal," Puck broke in. "You're new Sam so you missed the clusterfuck last year was but when Finn has your back man he has your back, even when you mess up so badly that he shouldn't."

"I can only go off of what I've seen," Sam shrugged.

Kurt smiled gently at Sam. "Thanks Sam," he said softly. "You're my best friend too."

"Excuse me," Mercedes and Tina yelped in unison.

Kurt flushed then shrugged. "My best guy friend," he amended.

Finn leaned forward. "Look guys, I know that I have a lot of work to do to earn back not just Kurt's trust but yours too and I'm willing to do it. I just need a chance."

"You guys gave me a chance when it would have made more sense to form an angry mob and beat me with sticks," Puck added. "Give Finn the same shot."

"I don't want to do this feelings crap," Santana grumbled, "But it's not about second chances or whatever. We've all screwed each other over at some point. From Kurt giving Rachel her hooker Barbie makeover to me climbing over Quinn's still warm corpse to claim head cheerleader to Girl Chang letting Mike sample her pupu platter while she was still rolling with Wheels, we've all done each other dirty at least once. But me taking shots at Berry's enormous beak in the choir room is different from Finn breaking Kurt so badly that he's afraid to go home. That's a whole 'nother level of not okay right there."

"I'm not any more okay with what happened than you are," Mike spoke up, causing everyone to look at him. "But it happened to Kurt. And if he's the one asking us to back off then we should back off. We say all the time that New Directions is a family but guys, Kurt and Finn are gonna be family for real. And this is between them to work out and we shouldn't do anything to make that harder."

"Finn fell down," Quinn said softly. "Are we really gonna kick him while he's lying on the ground."

"Yes," Mercedes mumbled.

"No," Sam smiled, gently nudging his girlfriend with his shoulder. "But we aren't going to just say no harm, no foul either."

"I don't expect you to," Finn replied. "I know I have a lot of stuff to make up for. I have a lot of changes I need to make and I just need for my friends not to hate me while I'm doing it."

"I'm not asking you guys to pretend nothing happened," Kurt added. "Clearly some of you have your own issues with Finn. I'm just asking you guys not to shun him, to give him a chance to prove himself. If you can," he said looking at Puck, Quinn and Rachel, "give him your support and if you can't," he said glancing at the other members of the New Directions, "just give him a chance to try and do better."

"I can do that," Tina sighed. "I won't pretend nothing happened and I won't pretend we're okay but I won't demand a pound of flesh either."

"You're on probation," Mercedes told Finn. "If Kurt so much as sneezes and you don't say 'bless you' I'm gonna be on you like white on rice."

"And she won't be alone," Sam added.

"Fair enough," Finn nodded.

"You already know where I stand," Mike stated. "We've been friends since we were seven and I know what an amazing person you can be. I'm gonna choose to believe that you're gonna be that person all the time now, even when it's hard and even when it costs you. Don't disappoint me again, man."

"I'm gonna do my best."

"You've done your best," Mike told him. "Now you need to do better."

"You know I got your back bro," Puck said. "From the sandbox to the cemetery, it's you and me."

"I don't have anything to forgive you for," Brittany said. "But don't make my friends sad again," she looked at Finn and gave him a small smile. "Don't make yourself sad again either."

"You have a rough road ahead of you," Quinn told Finn softly. "I'm not gonna bail but don't expect me to carry you either. I meant what I said. You want this second chance, you prove you deserve it and you fight for it."

"I'm not gonna make things harder on you than they need to be," Artie started, "But I'm rolling out the red carpet either. You want my trust back? You earn it."

"I'm gonna work really hard to earn your trust back," Finn promised.

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

"What you said was narrow minded, hateful and hurtful," Rachel stated. "And there is a part of me that keeps imagining one of my dads' in Kurt's place and that part of me is really angry and disappointed and wants to write you off," she said tearfully.

"Rach please-"

"And then there's the other part of me," Rachel continued. "That loves you so much it feels like my soul opens up when you smile. And that part of me is convinced that you can come back from this. It won't be easy for either one of us but I think if we try really hard we can make it through this together."

Rachel slowly slid her hand off her lap and into the space between their seats. Her fingers brushed over Finn's cautiously and then loosely entwined with them. When Finn met her eyes she gave him a small smile and tightened her grip.

"Santana, it's your turn," Brittany said.

"To do what?"

"To tell Finn how you feel."

"I don't remember agreeing to sit in the circle of feelings and share," Santana sniped.

"Don't," Brittany said softly. "Don't act like you don't care when you do. This is important."

Santana and Brittany shared a long look and then the brunette sighed heavily. "Look Man Boobs McGee, I don't care that Kurt has decided to impersonate Gandhi and encourage us all to be forgiving and hand out redemption like Halloween candy-"

"Santana," Brittany said sharply.

Santana rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm a bitch, okay? But I don't pretend that I'm not. You guys know that I'm gonna insult you and you know that I'm gonna enjoy it. But it's not like before," Santana blinked back the sudden wetness in her eyes, "Things are different now. Yeah, I'm still awful to you a solid ninety percent of the time but the thing is now that I know you all, I wouldn't let anyone else treat you like that. I wouldn't just stand silently by while someone else gave you guys crap. Last year, yeah but not now. And I get how messed up that sounds but it is what it is. You're losers but you're my losers."

"Gee thanks," Mercedes said drily.

"Shut it Tots I'm not done yet," Santana snapped. She leaned forward and pinned Finn with a cold, steely-eyed glare. "You hurt my losers again and I will make it my mission to end you. I will leave no stone unturned. From vengeful Cheerios and angry jocks to disenfranchised band geeks and Jacob Ben Israel, I will pull from the cream of the crop and scrape from the bottom of the barrel gather an army, whip them into a Finn Hudson feeding frenzy and send them after you. Hurt my losers again and not even Britts will be able to save your sorry ass, got it?"

"Got it," Finn nodded.

"Well that was sufficiently terrifying," Kurt said.

"I try," Santana sniffed inspecting her nails.

"Guys," Tina said, looking towards the door. "Burt's coming out."

"And he does not look happy," added Mike.

"Dad?"

"You kids can come in now. Your parents and I have talked to Principal Figgins and he knows where we stand. He has some things he needs to say to you all."

Finn and Kurt hung near the back of the group and shuffled in quietly behind their friends.

"Why do I have a feeling this didn't go so well," Finn whispered.

"Because it didn't," Kurt whispered back. "I know my dad and if things had gone the way we wanted them to he would be all smiles right now instead of looking like-"

"He's five seconds away from whipping out his flame thrower and burning the entire place to the ground?" Finn finished for him.

"With Figgins inside," Kurt confirmed as he stepped inside and Burt closed the door behind him.

"Children," Principal Figgins began, "your parents have brought it to my attention that you all feel you have been-"

"My daughter doesn't feel like she's been harassed," Evie Jones cut in sharply. "She has been harassed."

"And Tina didn't imagine being shoved into a locker by a boy twice her size," Karen Chang added furiously.

"Of course not," Figgins said placating. "I merely meant that your parents have explained that your experience here at William McKinley High School is not altogether positive-,"

"I got one kid who gets thrown into dumpsters on a regular basis and another who's getting frozen drinks thrown in his face in the middle of the hallway," Burt interrupted. "You bet your ass they're not having an altogether positive experience."

"Sam got a black eye defending his friend because neither you or your incompetent staff saw fit to rein in the letterman jacket wearing terrorists you call student athletes around here," Dwight Evans thundered. "What the hell is there to be positive about?"

"I understand that are issues," Figgins tried again. "And you have all made your positions crystal clear-,"

"Did we?" Carole asked bitterly. "Because the way you started off your apology to our children makes me wonder if you need things explained to you again. Perhaps with smaller words and brightly colored illustrations."

"The more you talk the more I'm convinced that you didn't hear a word we said and the better looking Brittany's transfer papers get," Marilyn Pierce snapped.

"I assure you my comprehension is impeachable," Figgins stated, earning an incredulous look from all. "I truly understand and sympathize with what the children have been going through."

"Do you?" Mike Chang Sr. demanded. "Because I meant what I said. I will pull Michael out of here so fast your head will spin. If I can't trust that he's at the very least being kept safe, then I can't trust that he's getting anything he needs-including a quality education."

"We'll all pull our kids out of here," Leroy Berry threatened.

"You think this is a game," Maribel Lopez hissed. "You don't wanna play with me when it comes to my kid. I married a doctor but I grew up in the hood and I'm not so bougie that I've forgotten how handle my business."

"Don't make me take off my earrings," Evie Jones added.

"Quinn has been put through enough. Now, Misery is one of my favorite movies and I will hobble you if I have to," Judy Fabray added.

"Ladies, while I understand your frustration I think we should explore options that allow us to um, 'handle our business' while leaving Principal Figgins unhobbled and our earrings on our ears," Emma piped up.

Principal Figgins cleared his throat. "Thank you Emma. As I was saying, I realize that things have not been satisfactory and it is my sincere desire to provide every student here at William McKinley High School a safe and happy learning environment."

"And that means what exactly," Kurt asked. "Because I remember being in here with Mr. Schue not too long ago and you telling me how your hands were tied."

"To some extent they still are," Principal Figgins conceded. "But at the next school board meeting your parents will bring their concerns before the board and then-"

"That's a week away," Rachel interrupted.

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Mercedes demanded.

"And in the meantime," Principal Figgins continued, "Mr. Schuester, Ms. Pillsbury and…Coach Sylvester have agreed to reach out to members of the staff and encourage them to take a more active role in maintaining order and security in the classrooms and hallways."

"I'm gonna do my best to be out there in the hall between every class change," Will promised. "If I see or hear anything, I'll intervene. I'm sure I can get Coach Bieste and some of the other staff members to do the same."

"I'm going to be out there too," Emma added. "And my door is always open to any of you if you need to talk or if you just need a safe place to be during the school day. You can come to me, all of you, and I will do everything in my power to help you."

Sue pushed herself off the wall. "I normally make it a habit not to concern myself with my student's well being because it's a colossal waste of my time," she began. "Unfortunately for me in this situation I have no choice. Earth, Wind and Fire over there are threatening to remove my Cheerios so your collective failure at clawing your way far enough up the social ladder so that your peers don't find pleasure in your pain has now become my problem-"

"Sue, that's victim blaming," Emma interrupted quietly.

"No Barbara Gordon, that's what my good friend Al Gore and I like to call an inconvenient truth," Sue corrected. "Since your inadequacy is now my problem, I'm going to take care of it. Each of you will be given a taser and a baton by the end of the school day. I expect to see you all in the gym bright and early at four in the morning for training-,"

"Sue we aren't going to arm them," Will objected.

"Fine William, if you're just going shoot down my ideas there's no reason for me to be here," Sue sniffed and stalked towards the door. "But know this: If I lose Q, Lady Ta-Ta and Tweedle Dumb because you chose to MLK when we should have Malcolm X'd, I will destroy you and all the tiny little woodland creatures who nest in your ridiculous hair," she announced as she swept from the room.

"Okay," Emma said brightly, "Now that it's a little calmer-"

"You mean now that everyone left in here is mentally stable," Tina muttered.

"We can finish explaining to you kids what's going to happen," Emma continued.

"Nothing's going to happen," Kurt shook his head. "With all due respect Ms. Pillsbury we already know we can go to you. The reason we don't is because we know you can't really do anything. And Mr. Schuester, you've already been out in the halls a lot more lately and nothing's changed."

"We may be kids but we're not stupid," Artie said. "You're stalling," he accused Figgins. "You tell our parents you can't do anything but you'll bring it up to the school board at the next meeting, hoping that in a few days they won't be so angry and in the meantime the teachers that already do what they can to help us keep on doing what they're doing and the rest of you keep pretending that you don't see corn syrup all over the floors in the hallway or hear bodies being thrown into lockers between classes."

"I assure you that we take bullying very seriously. Any student seen participating in the physical or verbal harassment of a classmate shall be dealt with most severely," Principal Figgins insisted.

Puck laughed. "Most severely?" he scoffed. "I've been in this office so many times my name should be on the door. And most of those times were for bullying and you know what you did to me? Nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero. Maybe a detention every once in awhile and that was after you were kind enough to let me know which kid ratted me out so I could go back and get revenge."

"Oh Noah," Dana Puckerman sighed.

"Ma, it's the truth," Puck shrugged. "I'm not bullying anybody now but this time last year I would have had almost all of these guys running for cover and I wouldn't have cared if I'd gotten caught because I knew nothing would happen to me."

"Doesn't sound like much has changed," Sam said.

"That's because it hasn't," Santana told him. "This is all lip service. You'll all be wearing the frozen ice and Eau du Humiliation by the end of the day per the usual."

"Dad, Carole thanks for trying," Kurt said as he adjusted his messenger bag over his shoulder.

"Hey buddy, we're not done here," Burt said.

"Actually Burt, I think we kinda are," Finn said. "We're not gonna get any real help, at least not today. Maybe next week you guys can get the school board to do something but for now it's just business as usual."

"No it's not," Will protested. "I promise you guys that things will get better."

"You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep," Brittany said quietly.

"Its lunch time," Quinn sighed. "Can we go?"

"Quinnie-"

"Don't worry mom," Quinn said then smiled thinly at Principal Figgins. "I'm in my Cheerios uniform. Nobody is going to slushie me. Funny how that works."

"Coach makes us wear our uniforms every day. Is that why I've never been slushied?" Brittany asked.

"Yes," Mercedes and Tina answered.

"Guys," Mr. Schuester said helplessly.

"It's alright Mr. Schue," Rachel said. "We know you care and we know you're trying."

"You kids are talking like this is over," Burt said.

"It is for today, Dad," Kurt said. "We heard what Principal Figgins had to say loud and clear and I think we're all just kind of ready to go to lunch now."

"We will be at that school board meeting," Mike Chang Sr. promised.

"I know you will Dad," Mike said softly. "It's just that meeting isn't until next week so for now I'm just gonna go to lunch."

"Tina-"

"Mom its okay," Tina said, leaning into Mike. "We're not giving up we're just accepting that nothing more is gonna happen here today."

"Sam honey-"

"Mom its fine," Sam said.

"No it isn't, son," Dwight said. "But I promise you that it will be."

Sam nodded and he and Mercedes laced their fingers together.

"Why don't you guys head on out," Mr. Schuester sighed. "Your parents and I will stay here and iron out some of the finer details."

The students filed out silently, resignation written across every one of their faces and their shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Our kids deserve better," Burt said, turning to Principal Figgins. "And I'm not going anywhere until you convince me that they're gonna get it."

"That goes for all of us," Hiram Berry announced, coming to stand beside Burt. "So Principal Figgins, one more time, from the top. Our children have subjected to organized, prolonged, systematic harassment and…"

Dave's day had started out badly and gotten progressively worse. He'd overslept and been forced to catch a ride to school with his mother, a situation he usually tried to avoid at all costs.

It wasn't that Dave didn't love his mother. She was his mother; of course he loved her. It was just that even though she didn't know she was doing it, she had a habit of reminding him of everything about him that was broken and wrong, ferreting out his insecurities and poking at them with a stick.

They'd been sitting at a red light, listening to morning radio when talk had turned to a student from Columbus whose mother had led the charge to allow her daughter to attend a school dance with her girlfriend.

"Disgraceful," Marjorie Karofsky sneered.

"I don't know," Dave said hesitantly. "I think it's kinda awesome that her mom was willing to fight for her like that. I mean, you'd fight for me, right?"

"Not if you were doing something as immoral as choosing to live as a homosexual," Marjorie answered. "I'd pray for your soul and try to find you some help, maybe send you to one of those conversion camps to help you rid yourself of the sickness but I certainly wouldn't encourage you flaunting that you were an abomination in the eyes of our Lord."

Dave felt as every one of his mother's words cut into him as if she wielding a knife and carving away the flesh from his bones. "But you'd still love me, right?"

"Of course," Marjorie said promptly. "I just wouldn't be able to be a part of your life until you realized the horrible mistake you were making and got back on the path of righteousness."

"You'd…you'd disown me?" Dave asked.

"David, I wouldn't have a choice. I could not, in good conscience, support you indulging in that type of lifestyle. It would be detrimental to your salvation and my own."

"What if…what if I chose to live with someone outside of marriage? Or got a girl pregnant and had a baby out of wedlock? Those are sins too. Why-"

"David, those are different," his mother sighed. "Yes those are things are sins and I'd be disappointed and pray for your soul but they are not unnatural acts of deviant sexual behavior. Do you understand what I'm saying honey?"

"Yeah mom," Dave said pushed through the lump in his throat to answer. "I understand."

"Good. Now I ran into Susan Lattimore at the craft store yesterday and she told me that her Jaime isn't dating that Ellis boy anymore. She's a very pretty girl, don't you think David?"

Dave swallowed harshly. "Um, yeah, Jamie's pretty," he agreed.

"And she's a cheerleader too, right son?"

Dave felt trapped and wanted nothing more than to pull up to the front door of the school so he could escape. "Jaime is a Cheerio," Dave confirmed.

"You should ask her out," Marjorie continued.

"Mom-"

"Honey, I know that at your age girls can be intimidating but you've got to put yourself out there. Some boys just have to try a little harder than others is all."

"Thanks mom," Dave said bitterly.

"Hush David, you know what I meant," Marjorie chided. "Now I told Susan to tell Jamie that you had something to talk to her about."

Dave felt as if he'd been dropped off a cliff. "You did what?"

"I know you probably think it's embarrassing," Marjorie rolled her eyes, "But Jamie is a good Christian girl and you could do a whole lot worse. I know you're a bit of a late bloomer David but a boy your age should be dating. Now I'm not saying you have to marry the girl but I do expect you to at least ask her to dinner and a movie."

"Sure mom," Dave said tightly as they pulled up to the school. He hurried to free himself from his seat belt so he could exit the vehicle.

"David," Marjorie said, placing a hand on his arm. "I only want the best for you. Good luck with Jamie and you have a good day. Love you honey."

"Love you too mom," Dave said dully, climbing out of the car.

He hadn't even taken two steps when Jaime appeared in front of him. "Listen Dave," the pretty brunette began without preamble. "My mom is as transparent as glass so I know she's trying to set me up with you. Let me save you some trouble: You are not my type. I like my guys with a little less rage, a whole lot less body fat and enough game that they don't need mommy to troll the aisles of Hobby Lobby to find them a date. So thanks but no thanks. You should aim a little lower. I hear Lauren Zizes is single." Jaime flounced away, her ponytail bouncing behind her before Dave could even formulate a reply.

Jamie's rejection, cruel and absolute, coupled with his mother's unknowing condemnation filled Dave with a combination of shame and rage that had him physically shaking and on the verge of tears.

"Dave Karofsky," Jacob Ben Israel materialized out of nowhere, thrusting his microphone into Dave's face. "Rumor has it that Finn Hudson and Kurt Hummel returned to school this morning, with both their parents in tow. Could this have anything to do with the Battle at Breadstix that took place between you and hey, hey, hey, put me down!" Jacob squeaked.

Normally, Dave could ignore Jacob but the reminder of what had happened at Breadstix, along with the mention of Burt Hummel had Dave hoisting the boy up over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and heading towards the dumpster. He didn't think twice about throwing Jacob in, before punching the side and walking away.

It wasn't fair. Kurt's father didn't care that he was gay. He loved and accepted him anyway, even though that meant they both got crap for it. And if that wasn't enough, he was apparently getting a stepmother who was prepared to do the same. He didn't have to worry about being kicked out or disowned or forced to ask out a girl he didn't even like to save face.

Then there were Kurt's friends. They didn't care either. Every single of them knew that Kurt was gay, even the guys, and they were still his friends. So much so they were willing to literally fight his battles for him. Dave was sure that if Az ever found out about him that their friendship would be over. Az wouldn't be the only one. None of Dave's friends would stand by him. The only guys on the team that apparently didn't care about whether or not a guy liked other guys were Evans, Hudson, Puckerman, Chang and Abrams and each and every single one of them hated him.

Kurt probably didn't have to worry about his future either. All Dave had ever wanted, ever since he was little, was to play pro football. And according to all the recruiters he had a decent shot at it. But that would all go up in smoke if the truth came out. There was exactly one pro football player Dave knew of that was gay and he hadn't come out until after he'd already retired. Kurt didn't have to worry about any of that. He was probably gonna be some fashion designer or Broadway star and they're all a bunch of homo's anyway so nobody would even care about Kurt.

The bitterest pill to swallow was that Kurt had apparently found someone. In the middle of bumfuck, nowhere Ohio he'd managed to find himself a boyfriend. And not just any boyfriend, a guy with enough money to go to that fancy prep school and cared enough about him to serenade him in front of everyone.

It wasn't right. Kurt got everything. Kurt got to be out. Kurt got to have family that wouldn't send him to some camp to get fixed or banish him from their lives. Kurt got to have friends that wouldn't turn on him. Kurt got to have a chance at his dream career. Kurt even got to have a fucking boyfriend. Kurt got everything and the only thing that Dave got was to live a lie. It wasn't fair and all it did was make Dave's inside's twist up so much that he didn't know if what he felt towards Kurt was anger, envy, desire or some strange combination of all three.

All he knew for sure was that he was too close to edge and it would be best for everybody that he and Hummel not cross paths today.

"So that got us a big ball of nothing," Mercedes complained, poking at her lunch.

"Not nothing," Quinn argued. "At the very least Figgins knows he's being watched now and Coach Sylvester is on our side, sort of."

"Yeah no offense to Coach Cray Cray but nothing's going to change until at least next week," Tina pointed out.

"That may actually work in our favor," Mike said slowly.

"How do you figure?" Santana asked.

"Look, around you," Mike said. "We're not the only ones who get bullied. The more people that show up at that meeting and complain-"

"The more likely there will be change," Rachel finished. "Mike that's brilliant. If we start reaching out now-"

"No not we," Kurt cut her off quickly. "They're not going to listen to students. Our parents have to take the lead on this."

"But how they are supposed to know whose being bullied?" Sam asked.

"We tell them," Finn said. "We keep our eyes open, see who else is getting made miserable and then let our parents call their parents."

"Oh my God," Santana said slowly. "You guys just came up with a plan that doesn't reek of inevitable failure."

Artie bit his lip. "You guys think it'll work?"

"It's better than sitting around waiting and doing nothing," Rachel insisted.

"Yeah, I mean, it can't hurt," Finn added.

"Unless the bullies find out what we're up to," Brittany said.

"It won't matter," Puck said. "Once parents get involved the rules change. I know these guys, okay. I used to be these guys. Once it starts spreading among the parents that McKinley has a bullying problem, no kid is going to want to admit to their parental units that they're the reason why. They'll back off out of sheer self preservation."

"Or just get sneakier," Kurt sighed. "Still though, I think the risk/reward ratio balances out in our favor."

"Still though we should be careful," Artie cautioned. "Keep things on the down low as much as possible."

"Agreed," Kurt said. "After all, no enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution."

"What's that you said?" Mercedes asked.

"You don't recognize it?" Kurt asked Mercedes.

"He said that you're more likely to win if your opponent never sees you coming," Brittany remarked before Mercedes could answer.

Everyone looked at her. "How did-," Mike began.

"Coach Sylvester," Quinn cut him off. "She makes every Cheerio read The Art of War and The Prince."

"Its part of the war games," Brittany added.

"It was required reading when we joined," Kurt said to Mercedes.

"Boy I didn't read those books. I was going to be Cheerio, not becoming a soldier," Mercedes said.

"Cheerios are soldiers," Kurt, Santana, Brittany and Quinn responded in unison.

"Well that wasn't creepy at all," Puck said.

"Not cool, yo. Ya'll can't be going all Children of the Corn up in this piece," Artie said.

"Shut up," Kurt said, throwing a grape at Artie. "Old habits die hard, is all." Before he could say anything else, Kurt's phone buzzed.

-I miss you-B

Kurt smiled and fired off a reply.

-I miss you more-K

"From the goofy grin on your face that can only be Blaine," Mercedes said.

"It is," Kurt confirmed before turning his attention back to his phone.

-Somehow I doubt that-B

-Oh ye of little faith-K

"How are things between the two of you?" Tina asked

"They're good," Kurt said. "Really good."

-Said the atheist to the lapsed Catholic-B

-Look who's got jokes-K

"You tapping that yet?" Santana asked

"Santana!" Kurt cried.

"Or are you getting tapped," she continued undeterred.

"None of your business," Kurt huffed as his phone buzzed again.

-I've got a lot more than jokes for u baby-B

-Is that right-K

"Fine, don't dish," Santana said.

-Yep. Got a surprise for u-B

-What is it-K

-Ask me nicely-B

-Pls Blaine-K

-Nicer than that-B

-Pretty pls w/sugar on top xoxo-K

-I do so like it when u beg-B

-Blaine! (�Ծr48;Ծ� )-K

-Aww baby, fine I'll tell. I'm on my way to Lima to see u as we *speak*-(a377;◕r55;◕a377;)- B

-It's the middle of the afternoon! What about school?-And no texting while driving!-K

-Jeff's driving. He wanted 2C Santana. And don't worry. Got school covered.-B

-And what about my school-K

-Ditch-B

-Have you forgotten about my father? Large fellow, has a gun and several traumatizing pamphlets at his disposal-K

-Ugh the pamphlets are like fight club. We don't talk about the pamphlets-B

Kurt laughed happily and the bell rang, causing everyone in the group to groan.

"C'mon ya'll time to get back on the grind," Artie said.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm going to the nurse to take a nap," Puck replied.

"You're going to take a nap? Dude, you were out of class all morning," Finn sputtered.

"Yeah but I just ate," Puck explained.

"And Jesse St. James called me lazy," Mercedes grumbled as they all made their way to their respective classes.

Kurt's phone rang just as he walked out of the cafeteria.

"Unlike you I am a responsible student on my way to class," Kurt said in lieu of a greeting.

"You're right," Blaine drawled. "I'm being a bad, bad boy and deserve to be punished."

"Blaine," Kurt hissed, scandalized. "I'm at school."

Blaine laughed. "Fine, but you owe me a lifetime of letting me embarrass you for not bolting as soon as the first packet of lube hit the coffee table."

"Don't remind me," Kurt moaned. "We agreed it's like fight club and-"

"We don't talk about fight club," Blaine finished. "So how did things go with Figgins this morning?"

"About as well as could be expected," Kurt sighed. "Our parents are going to talk to the school board next week."

"And in the meantime?"

"We endure as best we can," Kurt shrugged.

"I'm sorry things didn't go your way," Blaine said.

"It's might not be all bad," Kurt admitted. "I mean, we're going to try to get more parents to join in the complaint. We figured there's strength in numbers."

"That's a good plan," Blaine said quietly.

"We think so," Kurt said. "It's just the time between now and then that's going to be difficult."

"And how things with Finn?"

"Awkward," Kurt sighed. "But I guess given all the alternatives awkward isn't so bad. Class is about to start. I'll see you when you get here." Kurt said as he slid into his seat.

"Take care, talk to you soon," Blaine said as he hung up.

Kurt's phone buzzed in his pocket and he smiled as a text from Blaine came through.

-Had to feed Jeff. ETA 90 Mins-B

One minute Kurt was smiling at the prospect of getting to see Blaine before the weekend and the next his phone was on the floor and he was bouncing off of a locker.

He wasn't sure what possessed him to take off down the hall after Karofsky. Maybe it was Blaine's words echoing in his head about refusing to be a victim and having courage or maybe was remembering the look of utter frustration and defeat on his father's face after the parents meeting with Figgins or maybe Kurt was just sick and tired of being sick and tired, but this time instead of just pretending nothing had happened Kurt decided that he wasn't going to let one more incident of abuse go without letting the bully know exactly what he thought of him.

"I am talking to you," Kurt yelled bursting through the locker room door.

"Girl's locker room is next door," Dave replied automatically, hoping the barb would be enough to send Kurt on his way. When he sensed that Kurt hadn't moved Dave felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck, and he swallowed hard, cursing that today of all days was the day Kurt decided to force the issue.

After the morning he'd had and the things his mom had said Dave could not deal with Kurt, not on top of everything else. Dave's control was too shaky, and for the first time he was actually worried about what could happen if Kurt kept pushing him. He needed Kurt to leave him alone, to just stop yelling and go away because he couldn't deal with the kid bringing to life all the anger and pain that Dave had tried to smother and to keep buried down deep where it couldn't hurt him. His hands shook as he pulled his shoes out of his locker and he refused to even turn around to look at Kurt because Dave knew the minute he saw him the tenuous hold he had on his self control would snap.

"What is your problem?" Kurt demanded, walking right up to Dave and putting himself in his path.

"Excuse me," Dave asked, silently willing the other boy to drop it and just go away because the last time he had been alone with Kurt had ended in a disaster that had threatened to give all of his secrets away.

"What are you so scared of," Kurt asked, unaware of Dave's internal struggle and challenging the bigger boy to answer him, refusing to back down or cower before his biggest tormentor.

"Besides you sneaking in here to peak at my junk," Dave snarled, turning quickly away from Kurt and continuing to empty his locker, hoping that if he ignored the other boy he would go away.

"Oh yeah," Kurt scoffed, "It's every straight guy's nightmare that all gays are secretly out to molest or hurt you. Well guess what ham hock, I've said it before and I'll say it again: You're not my type."

Dave felt the same anger and hurt wash over him that had assaulted him back in the men's room at the Cineplex when Kurt had insisted he'd have sex with an animal before he ever considered Dave. Dave looked at Kurt and his lip curled back in a sneer, remembering all the times Kurt had followed Hudson around like a lovesick puppy and how Kurt had been all snuggled up with the curly haired leader of that group of prep school kids from the other day. "That right," he questioned, pushing into Kurt's personal space.

"Yeah," Kurt confirmed returning Dave's dirty look with one of his own. "I don't dig on chubby boys who sweat too much and are going to be bald by the time they're thirty," he sneered.

The barb found its mark and Dave felt resentment and humiliation at being rejected so completely by the one person who should have understood what he was going through and he raised his fist menacingly and took a step towards the smaller boy. "Do not push me, Hummel," he growled through clenched teeth.

Kurt glanced down at Dave's fist and then back up, looking Dave square in the eyes. "You gonna hit me?" He taunted the jock. "Go ahead," Kurt dared him.

"Don't push me," Dave snapped, slamming his locker shut and trying desperately to rein himself in. Stop letting him get in your head man. Keep it together, don't lose it. C'mon Dave, can't let him know, don't let him see, for the love of all that's holy Hummel, go the fuck away," he chanted silently in his head.

"Hit me 'cause it's not gonna change who I am," Kurt declared. "You can't punch the gay out of me anymore than I can punch the ignoramus out of you!"

"Get out of my face!" Dave screamed, feeling raw and exposed, stripped of all his control and unable to contain himself any longer.

Kurt didn't flee. Instead he fixed Dave with a look of pure revulsion and shook his head slightly. "You are nothing but a scared little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are," Kurt yelled.

It was one rejection too many. The look of loathing on Kurt's face, coupled with the singer's assessment that there was nothing about Dave that he found desirable or attractive, the confirmation that there was no place for him, that he was unwanted and unwelcome even to those that he should have been accepted by broke Dave's restraint. Dave was tired of being reminded of how disgusting and distasteful he was to those to around him. His own mother didn't want him, Jaime didn't want him, Azimio was close to dropping him and now Kurt…Kurt had made it clear he would never want him.

Dave couldn't take it anymore. He had been forced to swallow down his anger and pain at his mom's words. He had no choice but to smile and nod when Jamie had turned him down. He had to stand there and take it when Az had laid into him about the fight at Breadstix and he was done. He was done being dismissed and disregarded. Hummel didn't get to do that to him. Not when everything that was happening to Dave was all his fault. It was all on Hummel. Dave had been fine until he'd noticed the kid last year. Hummel and his beautiful blue eyes and smooth skin and tight pants that made Dave's thoughts go to uncomfortable places. Hummel didn't get to do that to him and then just tell Dave he wasn't good enough. Hummel didn't get to just walk away, not this time, not until he knew what he'd done to Dave, what he'd turned Dave into and how he'd made Dave feel about him.

Before he could think clearly he was grabbing Kurt and kissing him.

Kurt wasn't religious but everyone knew the story of David and Goliath, the epic tale of the underdog emerging victorious from battle in the face of impossible odds. It's a good story and Kurt had to admit that he'd hoped for a similar outcome when he'd confronted Dave.

The only problem with that was that unlike David, Kurt was no giant killer and outside of Disney movies and fairy tales the underdog usually loses.

Badly.

Kurt's dreams of following Dave into the belly of the beast and emerging victorious-or with enough broken bones to force someone to do something-quickly turned into a nightmare of epic proportions when Dave grabbed Kurt's face and kissed him.

It was nothing like when Blaine kissed him.

It wasn't even like when Brittany had kissed him.

It was angry.

It was rough.

It was hard.

It was painful.

It was terrifying.

Kurt stood frozen. The only thing that snapped him back to reality was Karofsky leaning in to steal another kiss. Kurt pushed the jock away, but still couldn't find it in him to make a sound.

"Why couldn't you just go when I told you to?" Dave screeched, pounding on the locker in front of him. "This is your fault, Hummel. You just…you wouldn't…I told you….you made me."

"This isn't my fault," Kurt denied hoarsely as he shook his head. "I didn't make you do anything. You kissed me."

"That's not…you better not tell anybody," Dave bit out through clenched teeth, looming over Kurt and leaning into his personal space.

"If I do," Kurt whispered.

"I'm gonna kill you," Dave growled, shoving Kurt back into the wall of lockers before grabbing his things off of the bench and all but running out of the locker room.

Kurt slid to the floor, afraid to move, terrified that if he even breathed too loudly Karofsky would come back and make good on his threat. Eventually he pulled himself up, wincing at the bright sparks of pain that shot down his right side and cautiously made his way out into the hall.

To Kurt's surprise the halls were empty and a quick glance at the wall clock revealed that school was almost over and Kurt had somehow lost over an hour's worth of time. He caught sight of himself in the reflective glass of the trophy case and gasped. His eyes were red rimmed, his face was pale and his cheeks were streaked with tears. He didn't remember when he'd started crying or when he'd stopped. He couldn't remember much of anything, except for the crushing weight of Karofsky's hands clamped down hard on the sides of his face holding him still and the bruising pressure of Karofsky's lips as the bigger boy smashed his mouth against Kurt's.

Kurt got lost in the memory and when he felt someone's arms slip around his waist and begin to pull him backwards the only thing he could think of was that Karofsky had come back to make good on his threat.

"Get off me, get off, get off, get off, get off," Kurt chanted, whirling around and blindly throwing punches.

Blaine's head rocked back when one of Kurt's wild jabs connected. "Ow, Jesus Kurt! What the fuck?!" Blaine yelled, as he ducked another blow. Blaine quickly slipped around behind Kurt and wrapped his arms around him, pinning Kurt's arms down by his side.

"No, no, no, no stop, please I won't tell, I won't tell, let me go," Kurt whimpered.

"Jesus," Jeff whispered.

Blaine knew he had to get Kurt out of the middle of the hallway before someone saw them. He took a quick look around and spied a girl's bathroom. "Jeff," he barked. "I'm gonna take Kurt in there, stand by the door and don't let anyone in."

Jeff nodded and he helped Blaine herd Kurt into the bathroom and before stepping back out to stand guard.

"Kurt," Blaine said, settling them on the floor with Kurt pulled into his lap. "It's me, it's Blaine. You're safe, I promise you're safe and nobody's gonna hurt you."

Kurt cried quietly for a few minutes before the tears subsided and he finally raised his head to look at the other boy. "Blaine?" he questioned shakily.

"Yeah it's me," Blaine confirmed. "Gotta say that was one hell of a right hook you greeted me with."

Kurt reached out and gently traced the shadow of a bruise on Blaine's chin. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"I've had worse," Blaine said brushing a small kiss on Kurt's forehead. "You feel up to telling me what happened out there?"

"I think it's fairly obvious I had a complete and total meltdown," Kurt said bitterly. "At this rate I'm going to have my very own padded cell by Christmas."

"You're not crazy," Blaine said immediately. "But you were pretty out of it when I got here and I'd like to know why."

Kurt stiffened instantly and shook his head. "I can't, please no, just forget it, okay? It's fine. I'm fine. I'm sorry I hit you and I'm sorry that-"

"Baby," Blaine broke in gently. "Stop. You're obviously not fine. Talk to me, let me help."

"You can't. Nobody can. My dad was here just this morning and then…nobody can help."

"Let me try," Blaine begged. "At least trust me enough to tell me what's going on."

Kurt was quiet for a long moment and then he nodded. "Karofsky," he whispered.

At the mere mention of the other boy's name Blaine felt a spark of anger but held himself in check. "He hurt you again?"

Kurt nodded. "He…I was walking down the hall and he came out of nowhere and he just…he shoved me into a locker," Kurt began slowly. "And I was just…it made me so angry," Kurt explained. "My dad, Carol, Morris and Evie and just…all of our parents took the morning off of work and came down here to demand that Figgins stop the bullying and basically got told they wasted their time and they needed to take it up with the school board at the next meeting."

Blaine smirked just a bit at the news that things with Figgins had gone pretty much as he'd suspected they would but any pleasure he may have gotten at that turn of events was quickly overshadowed by the misery in Kurt's voice.

"I'm sorry you were disappointed baby," he said, tightening his hold on Kurt.

"I was just tired of making it easy for him," Kurt said. "I mean, we're always told when we're little that bullies are cowards and if you stand up to them most of the time they'll back down. And I kept thinking about how you told me I could refuse to be a victim and I couldn't get how disappointed my dad looked out of my head and I was just tired, so after he pushed me instead of brushing it off like normal I followed him."

"He hit you?" Blaine demanded harshly, remember the last time Kurt had ended up in a room alone with Karofsky.

"I wish he had," Kurt said, squeezing his eyes shut. "I thought he was going to at first. I mean, I practically dared him to."

"So what happened?"

"He," Kurt's throat closed up and he began to tremble in Blaine's arms.

"Hey," Blaine said, immediately pulling Kurt even tighter against him. "Kurt if he hurt you-"

"He kissed me," Kurt blurted out. "He grabbed my face and held me still and just…kissed me."

Blaine stilled. Of all the things he had expected Kurt to tell him Karofsky had done, that had never even been on his radar. "He kissed you?"

"It was awful," Kurt shuddered. "I didn't know he…I didn't want him to," Kurt insisted.

"I know baby, I know," Blaine soothed.

"He said I made him," Kurt admitted, the words tumbling out now that the damn had burst. "He said it was my fault for not leaving when he told me to and that I made him and that I better not tell anyone or he'd-." Kurt stopped suddenly.

"He'd what?" Blaine growled.

"It's not important," Kurt deflected.

"The hell it's not," Blaine snapped. "You were in the middle of some kind of panic attack when I got here, Kurt. I want to know what that asshole did to you that got you to that point."

"Blaine, I can't."

"Trust me," Blaine begged. "You trusted me enough to tell me what you were going through the first day we met. You trusted me enough to tell me about Mason and share your treehouse with me. You trusted me enough to let me hold you all night when you too scared to go home. You trusted me enough to let me sit in on a family meeting and you trust me enough to let me touch you in ways that no one else ever has. Trust me now."

Kurt took a deep breath. "Telling you this," Kurt said softly, "Is literally trusting you with my life, Blaine."

"Okay."

"He said if I told anyone he'd kissed me that he would…he said he'd k-kill me," Kurt confessed shakily.

White hot rage washed over Blaine and left everything covered in an angry red haze.

"He threatened to kill you," Blaine asked lowly.

Kurt nodded.

"Get up," Blaine ground out tersely.

"Blaine?" Kurt questioned

"Get. Up." Blaine repeated angrily.

Kurt scrambled up and Blaine quickly followed him. He took Kurt's hand and practically dragged him out of the bathroom.

"Whoa," Jeff said as soon as Blaine opened the door and he got a look at his friend's face. "Who released the Kraken?"

"Now is not the time," Blaine said tightly.

"Blaine?"

"I'm not angry with you baby," Blaine quickly assured Kurt. "But I want you to go out to the car with Jeff. As soon as I'm done we'll take you home, tuck you into bed and put this whole day behind us, okay?"

Kurt's eyes widened in fear and he dug his fingers into Blaine's arm. "Done with what? Please tell me aren't going to try to fight Karofsky," he begged.

"As much as I want to rip his head right off his body, I swear to you that I'm not going to try to fight Karofsky," Blaine promised Kurt.

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Whatever's necessary to make sure that you're safe," Blaine answered. "Now go with Jeff, I shouldn't be long."

Kurt was too tired to argue so he simply nodded and allowed Jeff to lead him down the hallway.

As soon as Kurt disappeared down the hall, Blaine forced his anger aside and followed the signs until he found the front office.

"Can I help you?" The school secretary asked pleasantly.

"You certainly can," Blaine said, giving her his most charming smile. "My name's Blaine Anderson and I really need to talk to Principal Figgins about making a possible donation to the school," he lied.

"A donation?" She repeated, sitting up a bit straighter and smiling back at Blaine. "Why don't you take a seat and I'll let Principal Figgins know that you're out here."

"Thank you," Blaine said, but he didn't sit. He doubted that he'd even have time to get comfortable before Figgins would be calling him into his office and he was right. The secretary wasn't even gone a full minute before the door was opened and Blaine was being waved inside.

"Mr. Anderson, Donna tells me you wish to speak to me about a possible donation to the school?" Figgins said with smile.

"Yeah, that was a lie," Blaine said bluntly, settling back into his seat. "I'm actually here to tell you what you're going to do in order to keep your job and keep this school from being named in a class action lawsuit."

"Pardon me?"

"My apologies, I'll try to speak slower and use smaller words."

"Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Blaine Anderson, and let me save you the Google search," Blaine answered, his smile sharp and almost feral in nature. "Currently I'm the CEO and majority stock holder of Anderson International. Due to our factories, manufacturing plants, call centers, research facilities and various other enterprises we are the sixth largest employer in the state of Ohio. Last month I had dinner with Governor Stevens and Senator Sterling's son Jeffrey is one of my very best friends. I have a team of very expensive, morally deficient and incredibly effective attorney's at my disposal and Nancy Grace is number six on my speed dial. Tell me, do you think she'd prefer to run the story about how William McKinley allowed bullying and harassment to become so commonplace that students actually line up in the mornings to get thrown into the dumpsters before or after Kurt and his friends file their lawsuit?"

"Kurt who? Now wait just a moment-"

"I can see it now," Blaine continued, steepling his fingers and leaning forward. "Nancy in all her self-righteous glory, nostrils flaring, angry eyes fully engaged voice steadily rising in volume as she details for the entire country how students at McKinley are subjected to routine physical assaults and emotional battery, sometimes in full view of the faculty-,"

"You are worse than Tina Cohen-Chang and her vampire coven," Figgins cried, holding up his hands.

"I'm not even gonna pretend that made any sense," Blaine said slowly. "But can you imagine the outcry from the LGBTQ community when it comes out that you ignored repeated acts of violence and harassment aimed at your only openly gay student-even dismissed the attempts of one of his teachers to advocate on his behalf?" Blaine continued

"Now listen here young man there is no need to unleash Nancy Grace!"

"You're right," Blaine agreed. "It would result in nothing but negative consequences for you, the school, even the city. There's absolutely no need for any of that to happen…which is why you're going to give me exactly what it is I want."

"Oh my God, this is a shakedown. I will not negotiate with terrorists!" Figgins squawked.

"Again I apologize," Blaine smirked. "I somehow gave you the impression that this was a negotiation. It's not. The projected aim of negotiation is compromise, Principal Figgins and as I have absolutely no intention of compromising with you, well…I'd just be negotiating in bad faith and that would just sully my good name. I can't have that so let me clear things up for you: This is blackmail, pure and simple. You do what I say, exactly as I say, or all of William McKinley's dirty laundry makes headline news and every single one of those angry parents that was in your office this morning gets a phone call from the law offices of Wilhelm and Crane offering them a piece of the class action lawsuit pie. How long do you think it would take word to get around? Start with the parents of the Glee club, spread to the parents of the band kids, hey, got any mathletes? Their parents might want in on this too," Blaine said with a grin.

"What do you want?" Figgins asked.

"I want for Kurt to be able to come to school without being abused and receiving death threats," Blaine said viciously. "But since that ship has already sailed, right now I'll settle for expulsion of David Karofsky."

"I can't just expel a student with no proof of wrongdoing," Figgins argued.

"I'm sure you can find a way," Blaine said. "And for a little motivation, if I may," Blaine said, taking Figgins' laptop and tapping in the address to Jacob's blog.

As a video compilation of several students being shoved into lockers by various members of the football and hockey teams set to the tune of "Bodies" by Drowning Pool began to play Principal Figgins groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Dave Karofsky appears on this blog committing eighty seven separate acts of bullying against his fellow students," Blaine said, his voice cold enough to lower the temperature in the room. "He's on video doing everything from tossing them in dumpsters to throwing frozen drinks in their faces to shoving them into lockers. Forty six of those incidents involve Kurt. Today was forty seven. He doesn't get to make it to forty eight."

"And what guarantee do I have that you will back off if I expel Mr. Karofsky?"

Blaine shrugged. "Absolutely none," he said smugly. "But what you do have is a guarantee of what will happen if you don't."

"You don't realize what you're asking. is one of the most important members of our school's football team. We have an excellent chance of getting to the Championship this year and without his contribution the Titans may not make it," Figgins explained to Blaine.

"Not my problem," Blaine replied. "How long do you think you'll hold on to your job once that video makes the national news and the lawsuits come rolling in?" Blaine asked

Figgins sighed. "You win," he said finally. "Mr. Karofsky will be expelled first thing tomorrow-"

"There are twenty minutes left in the school day. No time like the present."

Principal Figgins glared at Blaine as he pressed the button on his intercom. "David Karofsky report to the Principal's office please. David Karofsky, you are needed in the Principal's office post haste."

Figgins ran a hand tiredly down his face and Blaine stood up. "Now see that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"About Mr. Ben Israel's blog-"

"Oh no need to worry about that," Blaine said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Should Jewfro suddenly see the light and decide to stop exploiting the pain and humiliation of his peers, turn over a shiny new leaf and delete his blog my attorneys have already backed up and catalogued every entry."

"You are the son of the devil," Figgins hissed.

Blaine smiled, a predator's smile all teeth and deadly intent without a hint of warmth. "She likes to be called Mom," Blaine replied. "Pleasure doing business with you, Principal Figgins," Blaine tossed over his shoulder as he left, passing Karofsky on his way out.

"Do you think we should go back in there? I think we should go back in there," Kurt said nervously.

"Chillax," Jeff said changing the presets on the radio. "Look, if there's one thing Blaine's good at its crisis management. I can't tell you how many times he's pulled my ass out of the fire."

"But if he confronts Karofsky he could end up hurt!"

Jeff laughed and then stopped when he caught sight of Kurt's face. "Oh shit, you're serious. No, look Kurt, Blaine can take care of himself. Trust me on that. He's had plenty of practice."

"How?"

"Totally against the rules for me to tell you," Jeff said with an apologetic wince, "But I swear Blaine can handle himself."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means you should stop worrying about Blaine and try to relax," Jeff ordered. "You were kind of a wreck back there."

Kurt cringed. "I'm sorry."

"Hey no, you don't have anything to be sorry about" Jeff hurried to reassure Kurt, "I've been there. I'm just glad that you're okay. You are okay, right?"

Kurt nodded then shook his head. "I don't know," he answered honestly.

"Do you wanna talk about-"

"No," Kurt cut Jeff off quickly. "I don't."

"Okay," Jeff soothed. "We don't have to talk about it. How about I tell you one of Blaine's most embarrassing deep, dark secrets?"

"Make it a good one."

"He's terrified of squirrels," Jeff chirped gleefully.

"Squirrels?"

"Squirrels," Jeff confirmed.

"Small, furry, bushy tailed adorable squirrels?"

"Make him scream like a horror movie bitch," Jeff cackled.

"Why?"

"All he'll say is he had a bad experience."

"How do you have a bad experience with a squirrel?" Kurt laughed.

"Ask your boyfriend," Jeff replied.

Kurt sobered quickly. "I don't…we haven't exactly…I'm not sure Blaine's my boyfriend."

Jeff gave Kurt a dubious look. "He's your boyfriend," the blonde declared. "You two may not be Facebook official, but Blaine's in this. He's in this deeper than I've ever seen him be with anyone else."

Kurt felt a burst of pride and warmth flood through him followed quickly by a bout of nerves. "I've never had a boyfriend."

"First time for everything," Jeff winked.

Before Kurt could answer Blaine opened the door and slid into the driver's seat.

"Jesus man," Jeff yelped. "I swear I'm gonna put a bell on you."

"I'm going to chop off your fingers if you touch my radio again," Blaine threatened, switching back the presets. "Are you okay baby?"

"Kind of hungry because someone wouldn't let me finish my lunch, but other than that I'm good snookums," Jeff smiled.

"Wasn't talking to you," Blaine said dryly.

"I'm fine," Kurt answered. "What were you-"

"I'll tell you once I get you to your house, okay?" Blaine assured Kurt as he started the car and pulled away from the curb.

"So Figgins agreed to expel Karofsky just like that?" Kurt asked skeptically.

"Figgins can be a reasonable man when properly motivated," Blaine shrugged.

"I'm sorry but nothing about this makes sense," Kurt argued. "Our parents were in there with him for hours this morning and all they got was a bunch of excuses and a suggestion to take it up with the school board."

"Maybe that's why he finally stepped up," Jeff said as he exchanged a quick look with Blaine. "It's just politics. Everybody talks about the problem but nobody ever actually does anything until they know they're being watched. He knows he's being watched now."

"He just took your word for it, just like that?"

"I can be very convincing," Blaine answered.

"That's one way of putting it," Jeff mumbled.

Blaine shot Jeff a dark look and then gave Kurt a sunny smile. "The point is David Karofsky isn't going to be a problem for you anymore."

"Thank you," Kurt replied. "I don't know how you did it and I don't even care. Just…really Blaine, thank you."

"I keep telling you that you don't have to thank me."

"Yeah, because that's what boyfriends do, isn't Blaine?" Jeff broke in, nudging Blaine not so subtly with his shoulder.

Blaine glared at Jeff and then rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling out of his depth. "I ah, I –I I guess it is, what boyfriends do…if they're boyfriends?" He said uncertainty turning his statement into a question.

Kurt's cheeks blazed and he stared at a spot on the floor. "I um, I suppose if people were boyfriends that's what they'd do."

"Oh my God," Jeff moaned. "Having a real life OTP should not be this hard. Look you," he said pointing to Blaine. "Do you want to be Kurt's boyfriend?"

Blaine was torn between smothering Jeff with a pillow and wishing the ground would swallow him whole. It wasn't a secret that he had feelings for Kurt and it wasn't a secret that things between them were intensifying but neither of them had pushed to put a label on things. He started to snap at the meddlesome Warbler but one look at Kurt's pinched and worried face completely overrode his anger.

Kurt had shifted so that he was no longer pressed against Blaine. The countertenor had drawn his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms protectively around them and had his head bowed.

He's afraid I'm going to say no, Blaine realized.

With any other boy in any other situation it wouldn't even have been a question. Blaine would have said no and been out the door so fast there he would have left scorch marks on the carpet. Commitment was something that Blaine had never wanted and he'd taken great pains to never let any of his entanglements progress to the point where things like labels such as boyfriend or behavior such as monogamy could be reasonably expected from him.

But this wasn't any other boy, this was Kurt. Kurt with his quick wit, soft smiles and intoxicating blend of strength and fragility who had so completely captivated Blaine that running for the door was the last thing Blaine wanted to do.

He ducked his head down so that he could look Kurt in his eyes. "I've never been anyone's boyfriend before," he confessed quietly. "I may not be very good at it, but I'd be honored if you gave me the opportunity to try."

The smile that broke out over Kurt's face was enough to erase any lingering doubts Blaine had that a relationship with Kurt, complete with labels and expectations, was exactly what he wanted.

"I've never been anyone's boyfriend either so for once we're on even ground," Kurt said, uncoiling his body and scooting closer to Blaine on the couch. He reached out and tangled their fingers together. "I look forward to learning with you, Blaine Warbler."

"Yay my OTP is canon. Now kiss," Jeff demanded, clapping his hands together.

"You are a moment ruiner. I'm going to have Nick put Net Nanny on your computer and block Tumblr," Blaine muttered.

"Hey man, I'm just trying to captain my ship," Jeff smiled unperturbed by the threat.

Kurt shook his head. "You two are insane."

"And now you're stuck with me," Blaine sighed happily, pulling Kurt towards him.

Just then the front door crashed open and Finn barreled through it, followed by Burt.

"Kurt! Dude what happened to you? Tina said you were in Trig and then you just disappeared. You weren't in Glee and I waited by the Nav after school and you never showed. I thought something bad had happened to you," Finn cried.

Kurt scrambled up off the couch and took a step forward. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you stranded, Finn. I-"

"Finn called the shop in a panic," Burt picked up the story, advancing on Kurt until he was standing in front of him. "I go to the school and find your SUV in the parking lot and you nowhere to be found and then Mohawk-"

"Puck," Finn corrected.

"Says he saw you cutting out early with these two!" Burt thundered. "What the hell were you thinking? Skipping out early, leaving your car, stranding Finn? You are in so much trouble that they haven't invented the word to describe the amount of trouble you're in and hey, hey whoa Kurt!"

Burt's anger switched to concern when he noticed that Kurt was trembling, almost violently, and the look in his eyes was wild, as if he were a trapped animal who had been backed into a corner. "Kurt?" He questioned in a much softer voice, as he reached towards his son.

"Don't touch me!" Kurt screamed, stepping back and tripping over his own feet. He stumbled backwards, and only missed cracking his head on the coffee table because Blaine caught him.

Blaine's arms tightened around him and Kurt struggled to break free. "No, no, no, let me go, get off, let me go!" He screamed.

Blaine half carried, half dragged Kurt the few steps over to the sofa and sat him down before letting him go and backing up. Kurt instantly curled up into a protective ball and began sobbing.

"What the hell is going on here?" Burt demanded as he moved towards Kurt.

"Mr. Hummel, don't." Blaine ordered stepping in front of Burt and cutting off his access to Kurt.

"Why is he…what happened?" Finn asked softly.

"Jeff, stay with him. Don't touch him, don't yell, don't-"

"Blaine," Jeff cut his friend off, "You really gonna tell me how to handle PTSD?"

Blaine swore quietly. "I didn't-"

"Its cool man," Jeff waved him off. "We'll be fine. You go explain things to Kurt's peeps. We'll be good here."

Burt followed Blaine into the kitchen, keeping Kurt in his line of sight and Finn trailing behind them.

"What happened to my boy?" Burt demanded. "And how are you involved in it?"

Blaine decided the best way to break the news to Burt and get the reaction he wanted was to give Burt every dirty detail while seeming reluctant to do so.

"I missed Kurt," he told Burt honestly. "Jeff-that's Jeff in the living room-he kind of talked me into ditching afternoon classes and bringing him with me to see Kurt."

"You have to know nothing about that is okay with me," Burt interrupted.

Blaine nodded. "I know it was irresponsible but," he ducked his head hoping he was pulling off the shy, abashed look he was going for. "I missed him," he said again softly.

"Okay," Burt said, as he dragged a hand over his face. "We'll talk about how irresponsible that was of you later. So you cut out of school to see Kurt. Then what happened?"

"Jeff and I got to McKinley and Kurt was just…standing in the middle of one of the hallways, staring at his reflection. He was…" Blaine's voice trailed off and he looked up at Burt, letting every bit of the anger and fear he'd felt when he'd first seen Kurt show on his face. "He was a wreck. He was pale, he'd been crying, he completely lost it when I touched him."

"Like just now?" Finn asked.

"Worse," Blaine bit out, still not entirely over his anger at the bigger boy. "He was worse. I took him into a bathroom and he told me…Mr. Hummel, I don't know if I should…Kurt tries really hard not to worry you and he'll be really upset with me if- "

"I told Kurt and now I'm telling you, I'm the parent here. It's my job to protect Kurt, not the other way around. Now you tell me what happened and don't even think about leaving anything out," Burt barked.

Blaine bit the inside of his cheek to keep his smile at bay. "David Karofsky went after Kurt again. He…he shoved Kurt into a locker-"

"He does that all the time and Kurt's never reacted like this," Finn interrupted.

"Or maybe Kurt's just never let you see him react like this," Blaine fired back.

"So this is because Kurt got hurt again?" Burt asked stopping the argument before it could start.

"Yes, but not because of the locker shove," Blaine said. "Kurt felt really bad that your meeting with the principal didn't go as well as you'd hoped and he was just…I think he was just tired of being a target. So he, um, he followed Karofsky and confronted him."

Burt felt the blood in his veins turn to ice as all the worse case scenarios played in his head.

"They fought?" Finn asked.

"Not this time," Blaine said in a calculated move. He was knew that Kurt hadn't told his father about the fight at the movie theater and he knew that dropping that extra nugget of information would put today's incident in the worst possible light.

"This time?" Burt jumped on the phrase just as Blaine had hoped he would.

"Yes sir," Blaine said, ducking his head again. "A little while ago Kurt was out with friends, um, Sam and Mercedes and Karofsky attacked him in the bathroom at the Cineplex. But Kurt totally kicked ass," Blaine added quickly.

"Karofsky jumped him too?" Finn wondered.

"What do you mean, too?" Burt whirled around and faced Finn.

Thanks for the assist Finn, Blaine smiled internally.

"Um," Finn said, staring down at his feet. "I sort of…kind of…got caught up with Rachel and left Kurt at school once and uh…um, Azimio Adams, you know from the football team? He kinda jumped Kurt in the hall."

"And when the hell was this?"

"Little while ago?" Finn croaked.

"And not one of you saw fit to tell me?"

"Kurt doesn't like to worry you-"

"I figured if Kurt was keeping quiet for a reason-"

"He trusted me and I couldn't break his confidence-"

"Everybody's been trying real hard to make sure he's not left alone since-"

"I'm sorry," Finn and Blaine said in unison.

"Sorry isn't quite gonna cut the mustard here boys," Burt stated. "We'll be having a nice, long talk about secrets you keep and secrets you tell in a little bit, right now I want to know what happened today."

"They were in the locker room alone and they had words," Blaine said vaguely.

"Cut the crap kid," Burt ordered. "Stop pussyfootin' around and tell me what that animal did to my son."

"He kissed him," Blaine blurted out. "Kurt said he held his head so he couldn't move and just…kissed him."

"Whoa," Finn breathed.

Burt felt sick. He had always assumed that because Kurt was a boy there were certain things he just wouldn't have to worry about as much as he would have if Kurt had been a girl. Even when Kurt came out, Burt had been more concerned with Kurt being pressured to go further than he was ready for or taken advantage of by someone older or with more experience than he had been with any sort of sexual contact being forced on Kurt without his consent.

Apparently he had worried about the former too much and about the latter not enough.

"Is that all he did?" Burt forced out past the lump in his throat. He hated that he was actually praying the only thing that had happened to his son was a forced kiss.

"Physically yes," Blaine nodded. "But after…after he kissed him Karofsky freaked out. I guess he's struggling with some stuff but he really, really freaked out."

"Karofsky's gay? That doesn't even make any sense! He's always giving Kurt crap for being gay! He goes out of his way to make Kurt miserable. He's always pushing him, or insulting him and in Breadstix he just seemed so mad when he thought Kurt and I were on a date and oh-" Finn said, his eyes widening in comprehension.

"Yeah oh," Blaine rolled his eyes at Finn. "Sometimes the biggest homophobes are just…so deep in the closet they can't deal."

"What else did he do to my boy?" Burt interrupted.

"He threatened to kill Kurt if he told anyone about the kiss," Blaine announced.

Burt's reaction couldn't have been better if Blaine had scripted it himself. His face went white and then turned red and his hands clenched into fists. "I'm gonna kill that little bastard," Burt growled as he turned to stride out of the kitchen.

Blaine quickly positioned himself in front of Burt and placed a gentle hand on the man's forearm. Kurt's father ending up with a murder charge was not part of Blaine's plan. "Mr. Hummel please," he begged. "Kurt needs you to be here for him more than you need to go snap Karofsky's neck."

"He threatened to kill him," Burt hissed. "How am I supposed to let my kid walk back into that school knowing that thug could be waiting for him around any corner?"

I'm so glad you feel that way, Blaine thought. "He won't be," Blaine rushed to reassure Burt. "I took care of it. He was expelled."

"You took care of it," Burt repeated. "How?"

Blaine took a deep breath. "I'm an Anderson," he said softly. "There's a certain amount of…privilege that comes along with that. I don't like to…I hate trading on my name," he lied, "But sometimes it's a necessary evil. Kurt needs to be safe and that won't happen as long as Karofsky's around."

Burt dropped into a nearby chair, the fight suddenly drained out of him. "I don't care what you did," he shook his head. "I should but I don't. I just care that my boy is safe."

"He means a lot to me," Blaine admitted. "I'd do anything I had to keep him safe."

"So…what do we do now?" Finn asked.

"Keep quiet," Blaine advised. "Kurt's not…he's not in a good place. He needs time to process and time to figure out what he wants to do about what happened to him. I think it's a good idea to give it to him."

"I think it's a good idea to call the cops," Burt muttered.

"That might be a mistake," Blaine cautioned, determined not to let the situation get out of his control. "Kurt's feeling pretty wrecked right now. He could barely tell me what happened. I don't know if he's capable of making a statement or handling the type of scrutiny that pursuing your legal options could bring. Plus…there were no witnesses. It's Kurt's word against Karofsky's and in this town…"

Blaine didn't say it but the implication that in Lima nobody was going to take the gay kid's word over the football player's was understood.

"He'd just turn it around on Kurt and say Kurt kissed him and-"

"Everybody would believe him," Finn admitted. "The guys are always saying stuff about Kurt being out to spread the gay. Nobody even suspects that Karofsky…they'd blame Kurt."

Bless you Finn. You keep this up and you might just get yourself off my list, Blaine thought.

"I find out the kid making Kurt's life a living hell has upped the ante and I'm supposed to just let it go?" Burt fumed.

"No," Blaine said soothingly. "No one's saying to let it go, we're just saying to hold off on doing anything major until Kurt's in a better place. Karofsky's out of McKinley so that's one less thing to worry about. Maybe for right now we just focus on making sure Kurt's okay."

"We huh," Burt questioned. "You think you get a say?"

"I know that I don't," Blaine acknowledged, "I just want what's best for Kurt. And I know that you're the one who gets to decide that, I just…I just want him to be okay."

Burt nodded. "I believe that," he said. "And thank you for taking care of him. You seem to be making a habit of that."

"It's not one I plan on breaking anytime soon," Blaine stated.

"So…what are we gonna do about Karofsky?" Finn asked.

"When he's a little less shaky we're gonna sit down with Kurt and talk this out but for right now…for right now making sure that he's okay is gonna be the top priority. Everything else can wait," Burt decided.

"So Karofsky just gets away with it? We should just tell-"

"No Finn," Kurt's voice came from the doorway. "I don't believe in outing. We don't know why Karofsky's struggling so much and we don't know what the consequences might be for him if he comes out. No one deserves to be forced to come out before they're ready, not even someone as hateful as Karofsky."

"You okay son?"

"No," Kurt said truthfully. "I keep feeling like I'm right back in that locker room with his hands on my face and I just…I'm not okay."

"You don't have to be," Blaine said quickly, moving to Kurt's side. "No one expects you to be."

"Blaine's right," Finn added. "Stuff's been rough for you man. You've taken a lot of hard hits lately and it's okay if you can't just walk 'em off anymore."

"Thank you Finn," Kurt whispered.

"I know I should have told you what was going on," Kurt addressed his father.

"Yeah, you should have," Burt agreed. "And when Carole gets home we're gonna talk about why you didn't and where we go from here."

Blaine knew an opening when he saw one so he grabbed the opportunity to take his leave. "I hate leaving you but it sounds like some heavy duty family stuff is about to go down, plus Jeff and I gotta get on the road so we can make it back before anyone notices we're gone."

Kurt nodded. "I'll see you guys out."

"Bye Mr. Hummel, Finn." Blaine said his goodbye's as Jeff waved awkwardly and Kurt walked them out to Blaine's car.

"I'm sorry your visit was such a bust," Kurt said.

"Hey none of that," Blaine shushed him. "I value any time I get to spend with you. Besides," he knocked his hip into Kurt's, "I got myself a boyfriend today. I'd say that makes for a pretty successful visit."

Kurt grinned back. "There is that."

"Can I kiss my boyfriend?" Blaine whispered running his thumb over Kurt's cheekbone.

Kurt swallowed hard and nodded. Part of him was afraid that kissing Blaine would trigger another panic reaction but another part of him was determined not to let what had happened with Karofsky touch any part of his relationship with Blaine.

The feather light brush of Blaine's lips against Kurt's was as far removed from the bruising kiss Karofsky had forced on him as one could get but Kurt still felt a flare of momentary panic bubble up inside of him. Before Kurt could fall into the abyss, Blaine stepped back, not pushing Kurt any further than he was capable of going. It wasn't their best kiss, but Kurt thought it was probably their most important.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"Thank you," Blaine returned. "I know that wasn't easy for you."

"You're not Karofsky."

"No I'm not," Blaine agreed. "So remember that you can always tell me no."

Kurt gave Blaine a small peck on the cheek. "I knew that," he said softly. "I think I needed to hear it."

"I'll always do my best to give you what you need," Blaine promised.

"Get out of here you big sap," Kurt laughed as he stepped back. "Text me when you get in so I know you made it back safe."

"As you wish," Blaine grinned, sliding into the driver's seat. "Bye baby," he said starting the car.

"Bye," Kurt said waving to the duo as Blaine started driving. He waited until he saw the taillights disappear down the block before he turned and went back inside.

"So," Jeff drawled. "Back to Dalton we go?"

"Not quite yet," Blaine answered. "I have to make a stop first."

"Uh oh," Jeff groaned. "That's your plotting face. What are you up to now?"

"Plausible deniability Jeffrey," Blaine answered as he plugged an address into his GPS. "You'll want it for this one."

Jeff nodded. "Fine then. But if I'm gonna be stuck in the car while you do your Machiavelli impersonation, I get to control the radio."

Blaine sighed. "I swear to Christ if you turn on Radio Disney-"

"And I was like baby, baby baby oh-"

"The side of the road, Jeff. The side of the road."

"And I was like baby, baby, baby no-"

"I hate you and everything you stand for."

"Thought you'd always be mine,"

"I was very, very bad in a former life," Blaine muttered as he pulled up outside a nondescript ranch style house.

"You're very, very bad in this life," Jeff returned. "And where are we?"

"Plausible-"

"Deniability. Got it," Jeff nodded, settling down into his seat.

Blaine stepped out of the car, walked up to the front door and rang the bell.

Dave's day had gone from bad to worse. He knew he should have just left Hummel alone. He'd been too keyed up and emotional from the disaster of a conversation he'd had with his mother and Jamie's rejection to be able to keep himself in check and he'd let himself get too caught up in the moment and now he was completely fucked because of it.

He kept replaying the moment that he'd kissed Kurt over and over and he couldn't get the horrified expression that had been on Kurt's face when he'd pushed him away out of his head. He wanted to curl into a ball and cry when he recalled how broken Kurt had sounded and the look of utter terror on the boy's face when Dave had threatened to kill him. It made him sick to think that Kurt had believed him, that the other boy thought that Dave was capable of actually killing him. Dave wasn't. He knew he wasn't. Yeah, he may have crossed the line with Kurt and taken things way too far but Dave didn't have it in him to actually make good on a threat like that and it bothered him that there was someone out there who thought that he was so dangerous and out of control that he could.

Dave had thought the worst part of his day was going to be leaving Kurt in the locker room with that shattered look on his face but he'd been wrong. Having Figgins kick him out of school had been worse. He was off the team and out of school and he'd have to tell his parents that he'd been expelled for bullying. Dave had no idea what he was going to do. He'd been all but guaranteed a football scholarship to Ohio State after graduation and now his entire future was in jeopardy all because he couldn't deal and he couldn't keep his hands off Kurt Hummel.

Dave had always known that he was pushing his luck with behavior around Kurt and sooner or later his fixation on the other boy would come back to haunt him. He'd always assumed that disaster would strike in the form of Azimio realizing how often he talked about the other boy, or Lewis catching him staring or Strando figuring out that the only reason he would shove Kurt or suggest tossing him in the dumpster was so he'd have an excuse to touch him. He'd never dreamed that he'd be the one to send his own world spinning off of its axis.

Dave groaned and banged his head against his headboard, wishing he could just erase the entire day from existence but he knew it was futile hope. No matter how much he wished he could take it back or get a do over he knew that wasn't going to happen. He had finally crossed the line into the land of no return and now someone else knew his secret. To make matters worse it was the one person who would be completely justified in taking revenge on Dave and the only hope he had of keeping Kurt quiet was if Kurt believed he could actually be a murderer.

Dave stared at the clock. His mother was at her book club and his father was still at work but they'd both be home within the next couple of hours and Dave had no idea how he was going to explain his expulsion to either of them without the truth of what he'd been doing to Kurt and why coming out.

The door bell jarred him out of his thoughts. He made his way down the stairs, fully intending to tell whichever one of the guys it was that he didn't feel up to hanging out and then go back brooding but when he opened the door all of those plans evaporated.

"What the fuck do you want?"

"What nice manners you have. Your parents must be so proud," Blaine mocked.

"Get out of here before I-"

"Kill me? Or maybe you wanna kiss me too?" Blaine taunted venom and derision dripping from his words in equal measure.

"I-w-who-I don't know what you're talking about. Now get off my property you perv," Dave stammered.

"Your property?" Blaine questioned, rocking slightly on the balls of his feet. "Funny you bring that up. This isn't actually your property."

"Fine, my parents, whatever just get out of here."

"Wrong again," Blaine smiled. "It's not exactly your parents property either…at least not for much longer."

"What?" Dave asked confused.

"Home ownership 101: Most people who purchase a home can't pay for it in full at the time of the closing so they take out a mortgage which is a loan to finance the purchase of the house. With me so far?"

"What the fuck does this-"

"The home is collateral for the loan, which FYI is a legal contract that states the home owner will with interests and other various costs over a standard time period of fifteen to thirty years," Blaine continued. "Now here's where things get interesting. If the homeowner fails to pay the debt, the lender has the right to take back the property and sell it to cover the amount owed, it's a nifty little process known as foreclosure."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Guess whose daddy fell behind on his payments and is currently a hop, skip and jump away from eating all his meals at the midnight mission?"

Dave felt as if he were going to pass out. "We're losing our home?"

"That's what happens when daddy gambles away the house payment four months in a row," Blaine shrugged.

Dave felt tears burn in the back of his eyes. He knew that his dad had a gambling addiction but it had been years since Paul Karofsky's last relapse and Dave thought his dad had his problem under control. Finding out from Blaine of all people that not only had his father relapsed, but they were going to lose their home because of it was a crushing blow.

"Come to gloat?" He asked dully.

"Just a little bit yeah," Blaine grinned. "But mainly I came to give you an opportunity to save yourself and your family."

"Me save…how?"

"Wow, you just keep living up to the stereotype don't you?" Blaine mused. "Dumb jock," he clarified at Dave's bewildered look. "Body big, brain little."

"Fuck you," Dave swore.

"Yeah not my type," Blaine declined. "I prefer my guys to look little less like the before picture of a Jenny Craig client. But hey, don't let that get you down. There are a lot of chubby chasers out there in the world who would love nothing more than to jiggle your belly roll. But if feeders make you a little uncomfy I'm sure you can find someone willing to put a bag over your head and hit it from the back."

Dave raised his fist and took a step towards Blaine but the younger boy didn't even flinch.

"Did you not meet your gay bashing quota for the day?"

"I don't…I didn't…I didn't gay bash," Dave said, dropping his fist and stepping back quickly.

"Except for the part where you did," Blaine growled. "Now I understand you're having some trouble accepting the fact that you like cock-"

"I don't-"

"And I get it," Blaine continued undeterred. "I have a little experience dealing psychologically unbalanced closet cases and given your particular situation I can't really blame you for wanting to hang out with the White Witch and eat Turkish delight-"

"I'm not a closet case-," Dave whispered furiously, looking around to make sure none of his neighbors were listening.

"Let's face it, you start singing I'm Coming Out and your world goes to hell in a hand basket before you even make it to the chorus. Your dad might be able to deal but your mom?" Blaine whistled lowly. "I don't think she'd take it too well, do you?"

Dave blanched when he remembered his mom's earlier contention that she would disown him before she accepted that her son was a homosexual.

"And then there's OSU and your dreams of playing in the NFL," Blaine continued. "Hey question: how many openly gay professional football players are there?"

Dave squeezed his eyes shut, willing the tears that were threatening to go away. He didn't want to give Blaine the satisfaction of crying in front of him.

"The answer is none," Blaine supplied happily. "In fact the only pro baller that's ever come out of the closet didn't do it until he retired. Wonder why that is?"

"You damn well know why," Dave grit out.

"Indeed I do," Blaine chuckled. "And so do you. So let's recap where we are, shall we? Your family's about to be out on their ass and you're one ugly truth away from a lifetime of mental and emotional scars caused by the well meaning folks at the conversion camp of your mother's choice. That's assuming daddy doesn't gamble away your entrance fee. Plus we haven't even talked about how your friends and teammates are going to react to knowing you're as gay as a rainbow colored unicorn. But you might be spared the brunt of their reaction since you've been expelled, but oh wait… no school means no football and no football means no scholarship, and since you're as dumb as a box of rocks, no scholarship means no college. Wow Dave, you are thoroughly and completely fucked."

"Tell me something I don't know," Dave hissed.

"Okay," Blaine answered. "How about this: I can make it all go away."

Dave stared at Blaine in shock. "Why would you help me?"

"I'm not helping you," Blaine glowered. "This isn't about you. This is about Kurt and giving him the life he deserves."

"How does-"

"Kurt needs to be as far away from McKinley and this backwater town as possible. I can't take him to New York or Los Angeles, but I can damn sure get him to Westerville and into Dalton."

"How does helping me get Kurt into Dalton?"

"C'mon Dave, think," Blaine jeered. "You threatened to kill him. Do you think Kurt's gonna wanna walk the halls knowing that you can pop out at any moment? You think his dad-who knows what you did by the way-is gonna let Kurt stay at a school that refuses to protect him when he has Dalton and their shiny zero tolerance policy against bullying as a viable alternative?"

"But I got expelled," Dave argued.

"Funny thing about expulsion," Blaine began. "You have the right to appeal. It's your word against Kurt's and thanks to Figgins being a complete and total fail as an administrator, none of your prior bad acts against Kurt or any of the other kids that you torture is on your official record. Tell your parents it was a case of boys being boys and Kurt overreacted. They'll appeal, due to the circumstances the board will overturn Figgins' decision, and you'll be back in school in a week tops."

"So I go back to McKinley and what? Kurt runs to away to Dalton and everybody's happy?"

"It's not quite that simple," Blaine explained. "Kurt's a lot of things but a coward isn't one of them. No, you're going to back to McKinley and you're going to make sure that every single one of your friends knows it was the Glee club's fault that you got expelled. You guys are going to make them miserable and you're going to make Kurt feel so unsafe and so afraid that he's not gonna wanna fight the transfer to Dalton."

"You want me to keep hurting him? That doesn't make any sense!"

"No," Blaine said lowly. "You touch him ever again and I will destroy you and everything you hold dear," Blaine promised.

"Then how am I supposed to-"

"Find a way," Blaine cut Dave off. "You do this, you get back in school, you get back on the team, you get your shot at OSU and your friends and your family remains in the dark about your little secret."

"And if I don't?"

"Then all your skeletons come sashaying out of the closet."

Dave felt a tear slip down his face and angrily wiped it away. He couldn't believe that he was being blackmailed by Kurt's boyfriend into bullying Kurt out of McKinley. He didn't really know Kurt that well but he was reasonably sure the other boy was a good enough person that if Dave had just been able to talk to him he could have convinced Kurt to keep his secret.

He was also pretty sure that Blaine would blow his life apart just for shits and giggles. Dave bowed his head and nodded his assent.

"And just in case you need a little more motivation," Blaine added quietly, "You do what I tell you to and keep your mouth shut and I'll make sure your family doesn't end up sleeping in a van down by the river."

Dave's head snapped up. "You'll give my dad money?"

"You really are a special kind of stupid," Blaine sighed. "No, I will not give your father money. The Karofsky family will be the beneficiaries of an anonymous good Samaritan who will submit enough funds directly to the bank to bring your house payment current."

"So I do this, you keep my secret and we don't lose our house?"

"You keep your mouth shut, do what I say and we all get what we want."

"Fine," Dave grunted. "Fucking fine, you win."

"I always do," Blaine said as he turned to leave.

"You don't deserve him," Dave flung at Blaine's back.

Blaine turned around and marched back up the driveway. "No I don't," he admitted, poking Dave hard in the chest. "But neither do you. And of the two of us, I'm the one he wants, I'm the one he picked and I'm the one he's with. He'll never want you. He'll never choose you. He'll never be with you and you have no one to blame for that but yourself."

Blaine walked away without another word, getting into his car and driving off. David walked back inside his house and closed the door. He made it back up the stairs and into his bedroom before curling up into a ball and finally letting the tears fall.

A/N~ *Peeks out from behind wall of body guards* Put down your torches and pitchforks. You were warned. I told you way back in that super long A/N at the beginning that Blaine was gonna do some things that you would not approve of and that not even Kurt would be exempt from his manipulations and that there would be some dark and twisty coming up. I kept telling you guys that Dark!Blaine was coming. Now, I know you're probably upset that he's basically turned the jocks loose on Kurt and the Gleeks, especially after witnessing first hand how close Kurt is to completely breaking down but...keep in mind that Blaine doesn't really care about New Directions and his goal right now is getting Kurt out of McKinley and into Dalton-by any means necessary. Is he wrong? Absolutely. Are things going to go the way he planned?

You'll find out next chapter *runs from angry mob of readers*

As for the switch from Karofsky to Dave, that's intentional. My intent for this chapter was make my Dave a little more human, give him layers and perhaps give you guys some understanding and insight into why he's been acting out the way he has and in doing so take him from just being "Karofsky" the guy terrorizing Kurt and into being Dave, a kid who starts looking a whole lot less like pure evil once you get a glimpse at why he's making so many poor choices (not that that excuses him AT ALL he is still responsible for his actions and he is still wrong as wrong can be). It's my sincere hope to give everyone in the story-even the "villains" some humanity, some depth and color them with some shades of grey.

And finally...*incoming personal information* I realize some of you may feel Kurt's reaction is extreme or unrealistic. Before you make a criticism just please know that I'm basing a lot of his reactions off of myself in terms of my experience with PTSD and panic attacks and my own journey as a survivor of sexual assault. If anyone has any concerns or issues with how I'm portraying things, please keep in mind that there's no such thing as a "right" way to react to being violated, that everyone is different and I'm borrowing heavily from my own history for this part. If you'd like to discuss this aspect of the story, I'm more than willing to do so, I just ask that you please PM me so the conversation can remain private :)