Kurt and I arrived at school and were standing at our lockers packing up and talking when we saw Mercedes making her way over to us.

“How's my favorite couple doing?” She giggled.

“Hey ‘Cedes, we’re good.” Kurt smiled holding my hand.

“Hi Mercedes” I waved with the hand not laced between Kurt's fingers.

“Favorite couple?” Kurt laughed.

“Yeah totally.” She smiled. “Other than Tina and Mike, you guys are the only one I like.” She giggled.

“What you’re not a ‘Finchel’ fan?” I teased.

“God no.” She said coldly.

“They’re gross.” Kurt laughed. “And loud.” He added.

“Nah that’s just Rachel.” Mercedes laughed.

“Love Rachel to death, but I have no idea how Finn puts up with her. She can be rather annoying.” Kurt laughed fondly.

“You got that right!” Mercedes smiled.

“The others are never together long enough to even count as couples. We should make a chart of who’s with whom so I can be in the know.” Kurt laughed.

“I miss our little gossip sessions, we need to get together more often.” Mercedes smiled softly.

“Sure thing, we’ll grab coffee later if that’s cool.” Kurt suggested.

“It’s a date.” She smiled. “Awwh now I can’t say that anymore because you have a boyfriend and get to go on real dates.” She sighed.

Kurt laughed light heartedly. “Awwh ‘Cedes you’ll still be my number one hag.” Kurt joked.

The light hearted conversation carried on for about ten more minutes before grabbed my hand and started to lead me away.

“So Kurt if you don’t mind I’m going to need to borrow your man for a minute.” She smiled before grabbing me and pulling me away.

“That’s cool.” Kurt laughed sarcastically.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch; I only need him for a minute.” She laughed and kissed his cheek.

“Panties? Really?” Kurt laughed. “Fine. Go ahead. I’ll catch up with you guys in first period.” Kurt smiled and turned back to his locker as Mercedes dragged me down the hall.

“So to what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked with what I considered to be my most charming smile.

“You’re such a goofball.” She laughed. “So I just wanted to talk about things.” She said searching my face for a response.

“Things?” I asked.

“Yes things.” She giggled. “I’m sure you’ve noticed the bullying Kurt has to deal with. If you want I can tell the glee club not to mention anything about you being gay or that you’re dating Kurt. He’d totally understand if you’re not ready to come out. You’re new here, and people are awful. You seem to have been making friends, but that doesn’t mean they won’t treat you differently once they know. You wouldn’t want to have to go through what Kurt does every day. So if you want we could keep it hush hush.” She said cautiously staring at me to gage any sign of a reaction.

“I’ll admit I’m a little scared.” I sighed. “But I love Kurt. If anything I want to protect him, rather than let him take the fall. I know that he’s been going through this forever. I know what it’s like to be bullied. I was chased out of my old schools by bullies; I thought I had gotten away at Dalton. There I could completely be myself and be safe. I know that McKinley is nothing like Dalton, but I want to be myself. I’m done hiding. And I want the world to know that I love Kurt and nothing anyone can do will change that. As long as I have Kurt I know that I’ll never have to go it alone. Our love will get us through. We’re stronger than that.” I explained.

“Do you really think you’re stronger than that?” Mercedes asked. Not rudely, she was genuinely questioning me.

“Yeah I do. Why?” I asked as the concerned look on her face turned to sadness.

“Just be careful. Don’t be too showy of your relationship just yet.” She warned.

“Why?” I asked, not getting upset just confused.

“People are mean, Blaine. They can say and do really hurtful things. I’m not just worried about you because you’re new. But I’m worried about Kurt. He’s wearing himself thin, and I don’t want him to completely break if people treat him worse. I’m not saying he’s fragile. But he has a past with depression and I’m not sure he’d be able to handle it if the bullying escalated any further. Just look out for him. Okay?” She said sadly.

I hadn’t really thought about that. I was really caught up in how others might treat me. But Kurt. They already hated him for being gay. What would they do to him if he were to act on that, or if they were to know he had a boyfriend?

“I’ll always look out for him. I have his best intentions in heart and I would never to anything that could lead to more pain for him. I love him.” I said truthfully.

“I know you do. I love him too, we all do. And I know that what he goes through causes him to break each and every day. Just try to be there for him.” She told me softly.

“I will. I really want to help him.” I sighed.

“I know, we all do.” She pulled me into a hug and patted my back. “We all do.” She repeated again.

This kind of confused me. If they all wanted to help him, why hadn’t then done anything for him?

If anyone ever tried to help him he’d probably be better by now.

But he wasn’t.

But I’ll help him. I’ll be here for him.

After our chat Mercedes walked with me to Chemistry and we sat down in our usual seats.

The only thing missing was Kurt.