Blaine didn't see Kurt again until lunchtime on Monday. As he walked into the cafeteria, he spotted Kurt sitting at their usual table with Tina, Mercedes, Rachel, Santana, Brittany, and Artie, and he stopped short. He studied Kurt from afar for a few minutes, trying to see if there was anything non-Kurt-like about his posture or expression, but for all intents and purposes, Kurt seemed to be himself. He was laughing at something that Artie had said, and appeared completely normal. But Blaine couldn't shake the nervousness in his throat and stomach, nor could he get rid of the image of Kurt slouching and scowling in the cold. He took a deep breath and took a seat at an empty table in the opposite corner.

For nearly ten minutes Blaine toyed with his food before he was startled by Finn plopping down across from him.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

Blaine blinked. "Um… eating?"

"Well, that's not true," Finn said, arching his eyebrows at Blaine's untouched lunch tray. "I meant, why aren't you sitting over there with them?" He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards where Kurt, Artie, and the girls were sitting.

Blaine shook his head. "How the hell am I supposed to treat Kurt like always? I don't know who he is!"

"You do know who he is," Finn countered. "When he switches, it's pretty obvious, dude."

"That's not what I meant."

Finn huffed. "Okay, well, you keep acting freaked out and Kurt's going to figure out you know, which is going to stress him out. Good luck." He stood up and returned to his table with Puck and Mike.

Blaine sighed and finally accepted that he wasn't going to eat anything, grabbing his tray and tossing its contents into the trash as he headed back out of the cafeteria. Maybe he could get some of his history reading done before class, if he could manage to concentrate.

"Blaine, wait up!"

…Well, so much for concentration.

Blaine steeled himself and turned to face Kurt, who was jogging to catch up. "Hey," he said tightly.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked, genuinely concerned.

"N-nothing," Blaine said quickly. He couldn't say why, but it was more unnerving seeing Kurt as himself now that he'd seen a piece of who else was beneath.

Kurt arched an eyebrow. "Why are you avoiding me?" He gave a grin and said, "Is it because I overslept on Saturday and didn't wake up in time to make you your favorite crepes?"

"What? No."

Kurt sighed. "Seriously, what's going on?"

Blaine pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to lessen the odd stretching he was feeling in his brain. "I know, Kurt, okay?"

Kurt paused for several seconds, his eyes darkening (or maybe Blaine was imagining that). "Know what?"

Blaine finally forced himself to meet his boyfriend's eye. "You didn't oversleep. Or maybe you did. But Robbie sure as hell didn't."

The color drained from Kurt's face in less than a second. Blaine crossed his arms, waiting for a response. Kurt let out a shaky breath, a glassy film over his eyes, and he glanced around the hallway to make sure there was no one there before saying, "In here," and ducking into the nearest empty classroom.

Kurt hugged his chest, sinking into one of the student chairs and staring at his feet. "Who told you?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Blaine sighed. "Finn."

A small, sad smile passed over Kurt's face. "I should've known. He can't keep a secret to save his life."

Blaine suddenly felt rage boil in his chest. "What, that's it? No apologies or explanations or… or anything? You're just going to sit there and pretend that this is normal?"

"What good would an apology really do?"

"I don't know! Jesus, Kurt, did you seriously think that you were just going to keep this hidden forever?"

Kurt shook his head, running an agitated hand through his hair. "No. Well… I wanted to. I didn't know how to tell you without scaring you off."

"Well, great job, because I'm sufficiently freaked out now," Blaine snapped, turning to pace the floor a few times.

"Go ahead," Kurt said, making Blaine frown at him in confusion.

"Go ahead what?"

Kurt wrung his hands. "Aren't you going to break up with me? You can, you know. I'm not going to ask you to stay."

Blaine leaned back against the unoccupied teacher's desk. "I'm not breaking up with you, Kurt. I mean, not yet, at least. I just… I need time to process this."

Kurt nodded. "I understand."

There was a long silence between them as Blaine stared at the floor and Kurt stared at the wall. Finally, Blaine managed to muster up the courage to ask, "Kurt… what happened to you? To – to make you like this?"

Kurt's shoulders stiffened, his expression becoming pinched. "I… I don't…" He shook his head as if he was trying to rid himself of an uncomfortable chill.

Then, Blaine remembered what Finn had said on Saturday night about Kurt's alternate personalities emerging whenever he was stressed, and he quickly said, "Kurt, it's okay, you don't have to—"

Kurt's eyes suddenly seemed to turn off, the eyelids sliding down halfway like he was falling asleep.

"…Kurt?" Blaine said, stepping towards him and waving a hand in front of his face. "Kurt, wake up." He was about to begin panicking when Kurt's eyes snapped open again, and he yelped when he saw Blaine so close up.

Blaine jumped back. "Sorry, I— Are you okay?"

Kurt squinted at him. "I'm fine, creeper."

Blaine's eyes widened and his heart skipped a few beats. Kurt's speech had changed to a strangely high register that somehow sounded younger than Kurt's normal voice. He was also slumping in his chair rather than sitting backboard-straight like he usually did, and he had a sour expression as he chewed on his thumbnail.

"…Kurt?"

"I'm not Kurt," he spat.

Blaine flinched. "Wh-where did he go?"

"He's asleep, dumbass." Kurt's lips pursed in annoyance.

"Why?"

He scoffed, glaring at Blaine. "Because," he drawled, "you freaked him out. You're kind of an asshole."

Blaine felt dizzy. "So… who are you?"

"Eleanor," Kurt snapped, his lip curling. "I take over for Kurt when douchebags like you scare him."

"I didn't mean to scare you."

"You still don't get it. You didn't scare me. You scared him." Kurt pulled at the hair behind his ear, twirling it around his finger as he leaned his elbow on the tiny desk.

"Can I talk to Kurt now?" Blaine asked shakily.

"Depends. Are you going to be an asshole?"

"N-no."

"Fine."

Kurt's eyes seemed to shut off again, making Blaine feel sick. A few seconds later, Kurt blinked and looked around, sensing that there had been a lapse in time.

"Kurt? Is that you?"

Kurt swallowed and nodded. "Oh, god, who—?" he started, his voice returned to its usual pitch and tone.

"Eleanor."

"She didn't… do anything, did she?"

Blaine shook his head.

"I'm so sorry, Blaine, I was trying to keep them—"

"It's okay, Kurt. You don't need to say anything." Blaine grabbed his bag from where he'd dropped it on the floor, walking out of the classroom and leaving Kurt by himself.