“Hey, Blaine, wait up!” I hear behind me as I pass by the piano on my way out the door after glee club rehearsal. I turn around and see Rory walking towards me. 

“Hey,” I say, leaning against the piano. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kurt trying to get my attention. I look at him, and he points at himself and then at the door. I nod, and he leaves the room to wait for me in the hall. I turn my attention back to Rory. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to thank you for encouraging me to do the solo,” he says. “You know, the one Finn suggested I do.”

“Oh…no problem.” I smile, patting him once on the arm. “You deserve it.”

“Thanks,” he smiles back. “But I thought he was going give the solo to you at first.”

“Honestly so did I,” I say. “But that’s okay. You can have it.”

“You sure? You’re okay with it?”

“Of course. I may still be the new kid, but you’re the newer new kid,” I chuckle.

Rory laughs. “True. Thanks, Blaine.”

“Sure.”

Rory nods and waves as he heads into the hallway. I stand there for a moment, letting my smile fall as I sigh and look around the empty choir room. I run a hand over my face and then shake my head. Finn sure seems to dislike me all of a sudden. We were cool before the school year started, but ever since my transfer to McKinley, he’s made it his mission to shoot me down every chance he gets. And I don’t know why. It’s not like I’ve given him a reason to hate me…have I? I rack my brain and think of all the past interaction we’ve had. No, I’ve been nothing but nice to the guy since day one. So what’s his problem?

“A penny for your thoughts?” 

I jump at the sudden noise, hitting my elbow against the piano. I curse under my breath, rubbing my arm, and then turn to see Kurt frowning at me.

“Sorry,” he says quickly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay.”

“So…my place or yours?” Kurt asks with a grin. He is talking about doing our homework together, but he always phrases that question as if he is asking for sex. The first time he said that - the first week of my transfer to McKinley - it caught me off guard and I thought he really did want to sleep with me. That got awkward quickly. I had turned bright red, and Kurt demanded why I was avoiding his gaze. I finally told him the innuendo behind his words…or should I say, I told the floor. Kurt squeaked loudly and clapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide in horror. “That’s not what I meant! I was asking whose house we should go to, to do our homework!” he’d said, his voice muffled. We eventually started laughing about it, one of those deep belly laughs that’s difficult to stop. From that point on, it became an inside joke. Now, we say it to each other almost every day after school ends, and it never gets old (by the way, we actually did sleep together for the first time a couple weeks ago… and it was the best moment of my life, sharing such an intimate moment with the guy of my dreams).

Today, however, after Finn just cut me down for the umpteenth time, I am not in the mood for jokes. 

“Blaine?” Kurt says, concerned. “You usually laugh at our joke. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I shrug. “I guess the joke isn’t so funny anymore.” I sling my bag over my shoulder and walk out of the classroom. 

Just as I expect, Kurt follows. “Honey, you know that I can read you like a book, right? It’s those eyes of yours. They’re very expressive.” He puts a hand on my upper arm, effectively stopping me from walking any further. “Please tell me what’s wrong. I hate seeing you like this.”

I sigh and turn my head towards him. As upset as I am, I still can’t help but notice how especially gorgeous his big blue eyes are when they’re filled with concern. Concern for me. “It’s just….” I pause. Kurt nods slightly, silently urging me on. “It’s your brother.”

“Finn?”

I clench my teeth together to stop myself from sarcastically biting out, “no, your other brother”. I take a deep breath, mentally punching myself for almost talking back to my boyfriend. I’m not usually snarky, but I guess Finn’s attitude toward me has been getting under my skin deeper than it should. I sit down against some random locker. The hallway is deserted except for the two of us; all the other students have gone home. Kurt sits next to me and puts his hand on my knee. I look at his hand and then slide my gaze up to his face. He is still looking at me with those beautiful glasz eyes of his. “Yeah, Finn,” I say. “Haven’t you noticed how rude he has been acting toward me lately?”

“Yeah,” Kurt nods. “I’ve tried to talk about it with him a couple times but he always either outright denies it or ignores me. I can’t get through to him. I’ve tried yelling at him, but that doesn’t work either.” He moves his hand from my knee and slips it in my own. “Blaine, look at me.” I do. “Finn is going through a rough patch. He feels like he has no future after high school. He told me that he didn’t get recruited for football, he’s not a good enough singer to get into NYADA or any equivalent, his grades aren’t that great to get into a reputable liberal arts university…he said he feels like his best bet is staying at home, working in my dad’s auto shop, and maybe going to community college. I’m not trying to make excuses for him or anything, though. He’s been acting like a jerk to you; that hasn’t escaped my notice. But he’s stressed.”

“I guess,” is all I can manage.

“Look, I will try to talk to him again. He needs to know that he can’t treat you that way. But if I can’t get through to him, you should confront him yourself.”

“Yeah. Thanks,” I say. Kurt smiles and puts his hand around my neck. I smile back as he pulls my head toward his, capturing my lips in a soft kiss. “Thanks for that, too,” I say against his lips. 

Kurt wraps both arms around my neck and hugs me tight. “You’re welcome. You’ve had enough bad experiences in the past with homophobic bullies. You don’t need to go through any more suffering, even if this isn’t the physical kind. I won’t allow anyone to treat the love of my life badly. Especially not my idiot stepbrother.”

At the end of his speech, Kurt swallows visibly and brushes a finger against my face. I am just about to ask what he’s doing, when he suddenly pulls his hand away and wipes it on his gloriously tight pants. Blinking, I lift a hand to my own face, surprised when I feel cold tears on my fingers. I hadn’t even realized I was crying. 

“It’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with crying. Believe me, I’m a veteran at that,” Kurt jokes. “In all seriousness though, better out than in. Go ahead.” He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls my body against his. I can hear his heart beating in his chest. It’s comforting. No more tears come, though. I feel silly. I’ve never actually outright cried in front of Kurt before.

“I don’t really feel like crying, Kurt…” I say quietly. I scoot closer to him, slipping my own arms around his waist, which in turn causes Kurt to tighten his arm around my shoulders. “But can you….can you just hold me for a while…?”

“Of course,” Kurt says, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “I’d hold you forever if you asked.”