FIC: The Orchid and the Weed, 5/13
Title: The Orchid and The Weed; or Been Black and Blue Before 5/13
Warnings: Homophobia, violence, sexual harassment
Includes: angst
Rating: NC-17 overall
Word Count: ~102k
Summary: Due to family monetary struggles, Kurt is forced to go back to McKinley… not that he wants anyone to know the reason. For Kurt and Blaine, though, the biggest hardship is separation. Worried about how his boyfriend is coping, Blaine convinces his mother to let him transfer.
Notes: Post Original Song AU. For aelora for help_japan. Will update once daily until finished.
Parts of this will be easier to imagine with the soundtrack. I mean, you can’t do Glee without having songs. I’ll upload one afterward with the rundown for each song, so you can enjoy without knowing which ones are in the fic or not and in what context.
Part One ♥ Part Two ♥ Part Three ♥ Part Four
Part Five
Blaine was still shuffling his books into his bag when a big guy in a letterman’s jacket shoved him into the wall.
“Well, if it isn’t the Queen Freak’s king!” he laughed deeply and closed in on Blaine.
“You think they’re already married, Johnson?” the other guy, chunky and blond, said.
“Oh, definitely, Strando. Can you imagine the fancy-ass wedding dress on Hummel?”
“Look, I understand that shoving other guys around fulfills some need in you because you don’t feel very good about yourselves,” Blaine told them, holding up his hands.
(It was hard to swallow it when these guys were making fun of Kurt, but there was no rational dialogue to be had from validating their ignorance. There was also no way Kurt would wear a traditional wedding dress. With all the fashion options available to them? Not a chance.)
“But I think you’re hurting yourselves as much as you are me,” he continued. “There have been studies done that show how poorly bullies do once out in the real world.”
The one called Johnson shook his head. “Excuse me?”
“Got a real egghead here.” Strando forward to grab his head.
Blaine dropped down and slipped between their legs. Johnson lunged toward him, but then, out of nowhere, Karofsky body-checked the guy right into the wall. Strando stared at Karofsky for about two seconds before running the other way.
Standing there dumbly, Blaine looked up at Karofsky, who was crossing his arms and scowling at Johnson.
“You got a problem, Johnson?!” he demanded.
“No, dude. Day-umn.”
The other boy drifted away, and Karofsky followed him, not even meeting Blaine’s eye.
“Oh-kay.” Blaine said to himself. “Weird.”
***
When Blaine reached Kurt’s locker, he wasn’t aware that he’d been followed. He wasn’t aware that someone was watching him take Kurt’s hand, tease Kurt as he tried to fix his hair in the mirror of his door, point up to the pictures of them together that Kurt had taped up along with the word “Courage.” He touched Kurt’s side affectionately and waited for him to get his books together.
For a moment, as Kurt looked down at him, their faces growing close, he thought that Kurt might kiss him, right here in the hallways. But as romantic as that was, Blaine was satisfied by being able to be near Kurt, and before their boyfriend embargo had ended, too.
Yeah, it made him feel good that Kurt couldn’t stand to be separated from him either. He knew it already, but a bit of confirmation never hurt anyone. So he squeezed Kurt’s hand and walked with him to his next class. He could hear some whispering around them, but he ignored it, and Kurt for once didn’t seem to notice them at all. He was too busy looking over at Blaine and giving him coy little smiles.
They parted, and Blaine headed into his math class and sat down by himself. Then a hand touched his shoulder. He looked back to see Finn towering over him.
“Hey! I didn’t expect to see you here,” Blaine said.
“Dude.” Finn crouched down, looked around at the other students, who weren’t even paying attention to them, and then back to Blaine.
Blaine patted Finn’s arm and gave him an inviting smile. “What is it?”
“Okay, look, dude, I like you and everything, but you’ve got to go easy on the PDA.”
“I- What?” Blaine blinked and leaned forward as though he’d misheard.
“With Kurt,” Finn clarified, as though there might be someone else Blaine was PDAing with. “Man, if you keep that up, someone’s going to kill him out there.”
Blaine’s heart jerked at Finn’s words. He almost clutched his chest like a flustered church lady.
“It’s bad enough the way he acts, and with what he wears, but with you there, people are gonna flip out.”
“We were just holding hands,” Blaine protested, a little breathlessly. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”
Finn held his hands up. “I know that! You don’t have to tell me! I’m his brother. I know it’s not wrong or anything. You just can’t do that stuff at school. The guys already give Kurt Hell.”
“I know that. It’s why I’m here,” Blaine pointed out.
“Yeah, and you’re making it worse.” Finn stood up and shook his head. “If you care about him at all, you’ll cool it down a little.”
Blaine’s insides went cold. He stared at his book, and Finn left the classroom without saying anything else. After a moment, Mike came by to sit at the table with him, and then poked his shoulder a few times to get him to respond. Blaine forced a smile and got out his homework to pass it up.
“You okay?” Mike asked. “You don’t look good. You can go to the nurse, y’know, and she’ll let you lie down.”
“I’m fine.” Blaine rubbed his finger along his pencil. “Do you think I’m being too affectionate with Kurt in public?”
Mike’s forehead crinkled in confusion. Then Blaine realized that maybe it wasn’t appropriate to ask that of Mike. He didn’t know if Mike actually liked him, or how the guy felt about him being gay at all. He’d never talked about it and hadn’t spoken up during the fight between them and Puck.
“You guys are a lot more discreet than most of the couples in school,” Mike said finally. “I’ve never seen you kissing on each other. Half the school is swapping spit against their lockers. Even Tina and I get our slobber on. Santana says you two act like a couple of baby pandas. Is that what you’re asking? I dunno. Or do you mean in practice, because... it’s Glee club. If you can’t act gay there, then I don’t know where you can?”
That response won Mike a laugh.
“And it doesn’t matter if you sing songs to Kurt either,” Mike added, “because we all do that with our girlfriends, and boyfriends, and the girls do singing duel-duets. Kurt and Finn even sing to each other. Maybe it’s the handsy-ness that people don’t like as much?”
“With Kurt?”
“With other people. ‘Cause you like to touch people.”
“Do I?” Blaine tried to remember the last time he’d touched someone. It wasn’t something he thought of much. He’d put his hand on Finn just now when they were talking. He’d guided Sam by the shoulders during their rehearsals. He touched Artie’s shoulder when they were discussing how to navigate Mr. Schuester’s moods that morning.
Did that bother people?
Mike grinned. “Yeah, you do. But I don’t think it’s bad, the touching thing, it just is. Some guys don’t like that, is all.”
He shrugged. “Mostly ‘cause you’re gay, and they get weirded out about that. But I see how into your boyfriend you are, so I’m not worried.”
Blaine drew a breath in and out as he thought about that. “Mr. Schuester touches you. On your arms and on your shoulders.”
“Well, you can’t make him stop. We just sort of put up with it, because he doesn’t mean anything by it. Not like the last Glee teacher who was... really a freak.” Mike paused and looked at Blaine for a moment. “Don’t worry about it or anything. Forget I brought it up.”
“But I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, or to get in their personal space.”
“Look, I’ll let you know if anyone actually says anything, okay? Until then, forget about it. Maybe it won’t be a problem.”
“This school is like a minefield. I don’t understand anything.”
“Yeah, it’s just weird. The kids are weird. The teachers are weird.”
“You’d think with me being weird, I’d fit right in,” Blaine muttered.
Mike slapped his back and shook his head. “Nope. When you’re in Glee, you’re just another misfit toy.”
Blaine looked up at him unhappily, while Mike rubbed his shoulders.
“Touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me. Is this weird?” Mike asked.
“What?” Blaine glanced at Mike’s hand. “I really don’t notice it.”
“Touch-a touch-a,” Mike sang off-key. He removed his hand and opened up his book.
***
“Don’t touch me,” Kurt said sharply as he stopped in a few feet from his English class.
Karofsky, who had been following him, stopped as well, almost running into him. Kurt turned and took a step back.
“I don’t want you near me. Go away,” he said in the deepest, most firm voice he could muster. His day had been a rollercoaster, going up when he had the chance to see Blaine and hold his hand, and crashing downward whenever they parted. His eyes did a quick sweep of the hallway, but Finn was nowhere to be seen.
Karofsky said nothing, just glared down at Kurt with narrow, intense hazel eyes. Kurt fixed his eyes on the little flecks of green, as proof that this lumbering oaf in front of him was actually human and not in fact some bizarre irrational creature from a horror movie, and he took another step backward.
“Cut it out!” Karofsky ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“What? What do you want?” Kurt demanded.
“Look, you need to steer clear of Johnson.”
“No. Really.”
“Don’t you be a smart ass with me, Hummel!” Karofsky smacked his palm into the wall beside Kurt’s head, and Kurt skittered backward until he ran into someone. She squeaked, and Kurt recognized Tina’s voice.
“You aren’t supposed to be around him!” she shouted.
“Relax!” Karofsky shot back.
“No!” She grabbed Kurt’s arm and pulled him into the classroom. “God, that scared me. He got so close to you.”
“He still scares me a little, too. I can’t fathom what he wants with me.”
“My guess is that he wants in your pants.”
Kurt dropped into his seat and pulled his back close to him uncomfortably. “No,” he whispered. “He... no.”
“I’m kidding. Kind of.” Tina rolled her eyes and touched Kurt’s shoulder lightly. He stiffened and turned to face the front. She tilted her head far to the side, letting her silky blue-black (and bright blue) hair pool over the desk. “Are you okay? Did he touch you?”
“No. He was just following me.” Kurt ran his fingers over his lips. “He probably saw Blaine and I together just now.”
“Jealous,” Tina surmised.
“I know you’re just joking, but I’m not at all comfortable with you suggesting that he’s interested in me,” Kurt said. His voice was too tight and too high, and he felt his cheeks flushing from the admission. His eyes closed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”
“No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t be making jokes like that. He’s a total creeper.”
Kurt shook his shoulders, trying to get them to loosen up. To no avail. His stomach was coiled spring, and he crossed his arms over himself tightly, staring ahead with singular intensity.
Tina worried her lower lip between her teeth. “What do you want to do? About Karofsky?”
“Just ignore him.” Kurt lifted his head and pushed it out of his mind so he could focus on class. “Finn usually gets out of Spanish late. Mike can make it here before Glee, right?”
“I can text him and ask him to meet us after class.”
“Blaine too. They’re together this period. We’ll go as a group.”
Tina sighed audibly and nodded.
***
Kurt had been quiet since Blaine, Mike, and Artie had come to join him and Tina on the way to Glee. He didn’t seem angry, just distant, and tried to smile when the others joked. (And his fake smiles were always a little unnerving.) As they sat down, Blaine took Kurt’s hand and held it in his lap. This caused Kurt to get all grinny and fluttery and cute, which was about half of why Blaine did it.
“Guys, today I thought we’d start off with something a little different.” Mr. Schuester put his hands on his hips and looked around at the club. “Finn and I had a talk this morning, and he made a lot of good points. So I’m going to pull out a couple of team leaders, and we’re going to have several smaller groups so you can really concentrate on learning from each other.”
Kurt and Blaine both tilted their heads to the right at the same time, then looked at one another.
“That’s sounds like a brill idea, Mr. Schue,” Santana said, her voice dripping in irony. “I don’t know how you came up with it.”
Brittany frowned. “Isn’t that what Bla-”
Santana clamped her hand over Brittany’s mouth. “Brill, Mr. Schue. Totes.”
“I think it’s a great idea, as long as I’m with someone who matches my incredible level of talent,” Rachel said. She looked to Blaine. “I think we should sing together.”
“I will kill you,” Kurt told her sweetly.
“Well, you only get to choose if you’re a team leader.” Mr. Schuester set out a hat filled with slips of pink and blue paper. “Luck of the draw.”
Kurt leaned over to Blaine and whispered very quietly, “You know we’re not in there because there are no purple slips.”
In an effort not to be expelled from the classroom for more unseemly disruptions, Blaine withheld his laugh and just looked at Kurt with a barely-controlled smile.
“So... for the girls, we have...” Mr. Schuester pulled out a slip. “Lauren.”
Puck made woofing noises.
“And... Quinn.”
“Mr. Schue, I protest. Shouldn’t we vote on our leaders?” Rachel asked.
“So is this still split up by gender, or can I be a boy?” Brittany asked.
“Still boys and girls,” Mr. Schuester said. It was almost impressive how little he paid attention to things Brittany said. “Okay, and for the boys we have... Puck. And Mike.”
“What joy is mine,” Kurt murmured into Blaine’s ear.
“This’ll probably be better,” he replied just as quietly. “Puck won’t pick you, so you’ll be on a better team.”
“Mike’s not going to pick me either, though.”
Blaine looked over to the boys, who were clustered together already in anticipation of their previous arrangement. Mike was leaning over to Sam and whispering something, and Sam just nodded seriously.
“Lauren, Quinn, up here to pick your teams,” Schuester said.
Quinn rose and headed to the front of the room, her steps light and measured. Lauren was the opposite. Quinn refused to take up room, and Lauren demanded it.
“Who goes first?” Quinn asked.
“Arm wrestle,” Lauren suggested. She laughed at the horrified look on Quinn’s face, the grabbed her around the shoulders. “I’m messin’ with you, Fabray!”
“You wouldn’t just win. You’d break me in half!” she said, shaking her head.
“I was just gonna flip a coin,” Schuester said.
After Lauren had one the coin toss, the two girls looked at one another, narrowed their eyes, and studied the girls.
“Quinn’s just going to pick her Cheerio friends,” Rachel muttered.
Lauren started, picking Brittany. Without hesitation, Quinn took Mercedes first. Then Lauren took Rachel, and Quinn took Santana.
“Ohhh, ya’ll are screeeewed,” Santana teased, bouncing up to give Mercedes a high five.
“I just hope I don’t hold you two back. Belt it, girlfriends.” Quinn crossed her arms and grinned in a fierce, competitive expression that he’d never seen on her before.
Santana pointed to Quinn. “We gonna rock it out, Q. Roight?”
“You got it, S.” Her lips quirked. “And M.”
“Oh, Lordy, you two.” Mercedes rubbed her forehead.
Santana jumped in place, her eyes bulging as though she’d just had an epiphany, and then she grabbed Mercedes and Quinn’s hands and pulled them over to the side of the room.
“What about me?” Tina asked with a pout.
“Bring it in, Spooky,” Lauren ordered, motioning for Tina to come their way. “We gots some plannin’ to do.”
Schuester motioned for Mike and Puck to come up to the front, and Sam gave Mike a little thumbs up. Blaine guessed that Sam was going to be Mike’s first pick. He wasn’t sure how they were supposed to learn from just picking their friends and leaving others feeling left out, but he was still willing to give Mr. Schuester the benefit of the doubt as an educator, even if he failed in other respects.
When the two boys got up there, Mike kept eyeing Puck. He licked his lips and bounced on his toes. Mike had a plan, obviously. Puck was relaxed, and when he won the coin toss, he shrugged his shoulders, and pointed to Finn.
Mike bounced again. “Blaine.”
Blaine blinked up at Mike in surprise for a moment before he rose, gave Kurt a touch on the head and went to stand with his team leader.
“Artie, my boy!” Puck waved him forward.
“Partie-inn!” Artie cheered.
The rest of the club laughed. Mike, on the other hand, did a few dance moves before exploding, “Yes!”
“What’s your deal?” Puck asked.
“Kurt! Come on up here, little guy!” Mike said.
Kurt lifted his head and looked up at Mike with an expression of near perfect perplexity. “Me?”
Blaine almost overflowed with the adorableness when Kurt took a moment to look back at Sam before coming up to Mike and Blaine.
“Geez, stop gloating. Enjoy your gay team of gays,” Puck said.
Schuester started to rise, but before he could say anything, Mike punched a fist forward and down, positioning his feet like he was about to start Krumping.
“Good luck, sucka Pucka,” he taunted. “Who’s gonna choreograph for ya now, huh? Who’s gonna help ya dance now? Who’s gonna sew your costumes? I gots alllll the gay boys!”
He pulled Kurt and Blaine to him in a big hug. “Team MiKlaine!”
“Ohhh.” Finn looked up at the ceiling, then over at Artie. “Well.”
Artie just laughed.
“Well, you guys seem to have forgotten that you get me as last pick. And I got some mad dance moves.” Sam came up to them and then started to dance from side to side. Slowly.
“Oh, fine, you got us, Mike,” Artie said.
“I’m a little weirded out that the guys put more strategy into picking than we did,” Quinn said, narrowing her eyes at them. “I just didn’t want to be on the same team as Rachel.”
“Hey!” Rachel complained.
“Oh, stop squawking, loudness,” Lauren said. “I knew Quinn wasn’t gonna pick you, first, second, or last.”
“Enough, guys. Let’s get to work. By Wednesday, I want to see four teams busting out their best singing and yes, dance moves. And-” Schuester held a finger up. “-I want to hear everyone’s voice.”
“Sucks to be you, Mike,” Puck said smugly.
“Whatevs. I don’t even have to be a good singer with these two.” Mike snapped his fingers.
Puck raised the back of his hand. “You keep talkin’!”
Mike balled his hands into fists and danced around like he was going to have an old-timey boxing match.
“You guys are... really something,” Blaine said, rubbing the back of his neck.
For some reason, the rest of the group seemed to think that was hilarious.
“Blaine-burn,” Kurt teased as they went with Mike to a corner of the room to plan.
“That wasn’t a burn,” Blaine protested. He looked at Mike. “You told Sam what you were going to do, didn’t you?”
“I told ‘im I’d get him if I got to pick first, but he’ll still get a part in their group, probably.” Mike shrugged. “Okay, I’m all dance moves, so I’m counting on you guys to bring your encyclopedic musical knowledge to find us a number that’s gonna kick their asses. I don’t care what we wear.”
“As long as we can dance in it.” Kurt smirked and pulled a notepad out of his backpack to brainstorm.
***
Kurt skipped up behind Blaine and set a salad down in front of him.
“Come on. Do you think I’m fat?” Blaine complained.
Then he set down a plate of tacos and tater tots and kissed the back of Blaine’s head. “The salad’s mine.”
“Sup!” Sam dropped down into the seat next to Blaine. “You’re gonna eat more than salad, right?”
Blaine switched out the trays and pulled on Kurt’s arm. “Yes, I am. Sit.”
“Whoo, taco daaay!” Mike pulled out a chair and gestured for Tina to sit down.
“I didn’t have a chance to say before, but that sweater is amazing on you.” Tina touched a drawstring hanging over Kurt’s chest from the thigh length green and purple striped sweater.
Kurt shimmied his shoulders. “Well, it’s good that you like it. Since it’s yours.”
“That’s yours?” Mike cocked his head and looked at Tina. “That’s a little... uh...”
“Choose your words carefully, Other Asian.” She pointed at him with her fork. “Actually, my aunt got it for me. She loves her some Juicy Couture. And for some reason she thinks I’m a girl.”
“I was gonna say colorful.” Mike scratched the back of his head. “I don’t really know what to say to that. You looked like a girl when we were in my bedroom Saturday. Are you a shapeshifter?”
“No, I’m a vampire.” Tina stuck her teeth out and hissed at them all.
Blaine set his taco down and looked at her with wide, curious eyes. “What?”
“It’s a long story. Our principal thinks Tina is a vampire,” Kurt explained.
Blaine narrowed his eyes skeptically.
“It’s totally true, man.” Mike shook his head. “And Asian vampires are the scariest ones.”
“What?”
“I told you this school was weird. Maybe we can convince Figgins you’re a werewolf.”
“A puppy,” Kurt teased, reaching over to fluff his curls.
“Where’s Mercedes?” Tina straightened up and scanned the lunch room.
“With Rachel over there.” Sam pointed.
“I didn’t know she and Mercedes were close,” Blaine said. “I thought they were fighting.”
“They’ve gotten tight since Kurt left us,” Tina said. She waved over at them with both arms. “And they made peace again, I think. Too bad, because after their last fight we got another diva-off.”
“Diva-bonding,” Kurt said. “Belting it for a better tomorrow.”
“Are you okay with her coming over here?” Tina asked, turning to Kurt.
“Rachel’s my friend, too.” He tried to spear a tiny grape tomato with his plastic fork. “She’s just been feeling competitive since I got back. Awk-waaard.”
“Well, maybe you guys should just sit and talk it out,” Blaine suggested.
The others at the table chuckled, causing Blaine to pout. Kurt reached over to pinch his lower lip.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kurt said. “If it gets bad, we’ll do a duet.”
“Hm.” Blaine’s eyes followed Mercedes as she came towards their table with Rachel following. “I had an idea that I wanted to run by some of you. You wouldn’t necessarily have to participate, but of course, you’re all invited to do so.”
“Oo. How mysterious,” Kurt said. His eyes flitted to the side then, and his smile faded.
“What’s mysterious?” Mercedes sat down next to Sam. “Hey there.”
“Hiya. We’re havin’ a meeting of the rebellion.” He turned his head to Blaine and grinned. “Right?”
“Actually... kind of.” Blaine nodded to Rachel as she sat down. “I was thinking that this school has a real problem with bullying.”
Mercedes raised a brow. “Really.”
“Well, not just against me and Kurt. Against everyone.”
“It’s true,” Rachel said. “The Cheerios still hassle me, despite their queen bees defecting to our side. Even Santana is getting hit pretty hard lately.”
“Everyone’s always messed with the Glee kids,” Mercedes said. “What do you think you’re going to do about it?”
“I was thinking of starting a GSA. Gay-Straight Alliance. Or QSA, if you feel that’s more inclusive,” Blaine continued. “GSA clubs have been shown to reduce bullying overall. It could be really good for this school.”
Mercedes looked around at the others. “I’d be down with that. Will they let us start one, though? Would we need a faculty adviser?”
“Mr. Schue could do it,” Rachel suggested.
“I’m not comfortable with his ability to be an ally,” Blaine said.
He turned to Kurt to see what he thought of the idea, but Kurt didn’t seem to be with them. His head was slightly lowered, and he was looking to the side surreptitiously with no small amount of anxiety.
“What’s wrong?” Blaine put his hand on Kurt’s back.
“Nothing,” he whispered.
Tina turned around. “Oh, geez. What’s his damage today?”
Blaine looked up to see David Karofsky staring at them from across the room.
“Freakin’ stalker,” Sam muttered. He stood and started around the table, and Mike jumped up as well.
“Whoa.” Blaine held up a hand, and the boys stopped.
The entire group was staring at Karofsky now, and he abruptly rose and left the lunch room.
“Peer pressure works,” Kurt peeped. He fixed his gaze on the table in front of him.
Rachel pursed her lips. “I don’t understand why that homophobe still gets to walk around at this school!”
“It’s because we haven’t stood up to him-” Blaine started.
Kurt whipped his head around. “I have stood up to him!”
“But- No, Kurt. Babe.” Blaine took Kurt’s hand into his lap and squeezed it under the table, which seemed to calm him a little. It stung to see that wounded expression on Kurt’s face, and know that he’d caused it, however inadvertently. “I mean, the bullies don’t have the message that this isn’t acceptable. It’s not a matter of one kid telling them to knock it off. It’s a matter of the entire culture saying that it is okay to bully and harass anyone who is different. The teachers don’t even try to stop it. Some of them are bullies, too.”
And just like that, Kurt’s shoulders relaxed. “I can’t say how many times my dad has been in that office with Figgins.”
“And they don’t care,” Blaine replied. “The administration, the school board... They just want to keep everything smooth and running, but they don’t really care. Hell, they think Kurt and I deserve what we get, for acting like we do.”
“You guys aren’t that bad,” Sam said. “There was a kid at my last school who made Kurt look like a cowboy.”
“Brokeback,” Kurt scoffed.
“It shouldn’t matter how you act, or what you are,” Blaine told them, looking to each in turn. “We all have the same right to get our education here free of harassment.”
“I suggested we start a Gaylesball last year and Kurt wasn’t even interested,” Rachel said.
Blaine creased his brown, thought about that, then asked, “What’s a Gaylesball?”
“See, he hasn’t even heard of it,” Kurt said. “She just wanted to be the president of something so she could get her picture in the yearbook again.”
Rachel dropped her jaw. “That’s not- Well, okay, that’s true. But would you have been interested otherwise?”
“You and me in a club together with no one else? No thanks.” He twirled his fork around in his fingers, then looked up at Blaine. “There are only three out kids at this school that I know of. But that’s two more than when Rachel suggested it.”
“Build it, and they will come,” Blaine said.
“I don’t know what that means.” Kurt set the fork down. “But I’m all for shaking things up a little, if it means making this school a more tolerable place. There isn’t a person at this table who hasn’t been slushied or shoved around.”
“It sucks,” Mike said. “The thing is, guys are so uptight about the gay thing that it affects all the guys, not just the gay ones. All of the guys in Glee get crap for liking singing or dancing, and you start to feel like you have to police other guys, or you’re gonna be on the receiving end. I wouldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to come out at this school, or for transferring somewhere less stupid about all this. I’d join, just to make McKinley a better place to be.”
“I’m sure Brittany would, too. She’s bi.” Tina said. “And... well. I might be bi.”
Mike, who didn’t seem surprised at all, took a big bite of his taco.
“But you have a boyfriend,” Mercedes said in shock.
“That just means I’m with a guy right now,” Tina replied, her voice growing quieter. “I don’t know.”
“It’s not like it bothers me,” Mike said, wiping his mouth. “She’s still my girl.”
“That’s okay,” Blaine said. “Questioning is totally okay. Right, Kurt?”
Kurt was looking at her with raised brows. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “Totally. Welcome to the rainbow!”
“You’ll need to get some paperwork put through the office if you’re going to do this,” Rachel said. “I don’t know all of it because I’ve never been able to get enough people together to start a club. You need at least five starting members willing to sign up on the books.”
“Well, for everyone who’s said yes, plus Brittany, we have that, right?” Blaine smiled at them.
“You have me, too, of course. My dads would never forgive me if I didn’t at least tag along on this.” Rachel beamed suddenly and clapped her hands. “Yes! Finally! Gay Club and Glee Club at McKinley!!”
“So are we going to call it a GSA? Or... What’s a QSA?” Tina asked.
“Queer-Straight Alliance,” Blaine told her.
Sam scowled and brushed hair out of his eyes. “Isn’t queer kind of offensive?”
“Depends on who you ask. It’s kind of grown on me. It works as a nice umbrella term, and it’s really in your fucking face,” Kurt said. He raised a brow. “But we could make up our own name. The Glitter Bombers.”
Blaine laughed. “The Pansy Division.”
“Blaine and the Pips,” Kurt joked back.
“The Damn Dandies.”
“Skittlicious,” Mike offered.
“The Fairy Court,” Tina suggested with a bounce in her seat. “We could wear wings.”
Kurt leaned over and laughed hard.
Rachel held up a finger. “Pink Triangle Brigade!”
“Too bad New Directions is already taken,” Mercedes said.
“Oh, my God. Mercedes, you know I have always thought our name sounded like a gay bar,” Kurt said, holding up his hands.
“How about The Rainbow Alliance?” Sam said.
“Man, can you imagine what our t-shirts would look like?” Mike grinned. “Rainbows all over the place.”
“I’d die of all the color. Can I wear my rainbow on black?” Tina asked.
Kurt nodded. “Y’know, of all the symbols we’ve stolen, I think I’m most proud of gay people hijacking the rainbow.”
“I’m so glad you guys are into this. I’ll go to the office today and see what we need to get started. There are a lot of resources we could tap into to make this school a better place,” Blaine told them.
Kurt sighed, rested his head on Blaine’s shoulder, and closed his eyes. Blaine was concerned, a little, that Finn might be upset with him for letting Kurt drape himself on him, but given how stressed they both were at different points during the day, he couldn’t say no to the small amount of touching they did in the hallways. Finn was wrong. He just had to be.
“Anything we can do to help,” Mercedes said. “I can’t stand how bad this school is, sometimes. Kurt said it, but it’s true. Without Glee club, there’d be nothing worth sticking around McKinley for.”
“We’ll try to make sure that everyone gets something out of the club,” Blaine promised. “And when people start to see how much better things can be, they’ll be convinced, and things really can change.”
“I love how optimistic you are,” Kurt murmured. “Changing the world with a positive attitude and a song in your heart.”
“S’why I’m in Glee.”
***
“No, no. You’re doing it right. It’ll absorb all the liquid; you just need to keep stirring it.” Kurt tucked his cell between his ear and his shoulder so he could cut up the mangos. He turned to check the frying prawns in the pan, then stirred the rice. “We’re just having plain, old rice. Anything else would overpower the sauce.”
“We can’t have that, can we?” Blaine sounded downright cheerful.
Which just made Kurt more upbeat, and he danced around as he turned back to the mango walnut salad he was making. The past week had been tough for the both of them, but even though they weren’t together tonight, hearing Blaine sound okay when he was spending the evening with his mom was just fabulous.
“How do you know if mushrooms are done?”
“Um... Are they turning black?”
“Well, no. They’ve soaked up most of the oil, though.”
“Take them off and set them aside until you’re ready to put them in the risotto.” Kurt looked up, waved to his father as he stepped into the kitchen and turned to the stove again.
“The boy coming over?” Burt asked as he walked over to the cabinet to get a glass.
“He’s having a family dinner with his mom. And he’s making it!” Kurt said proudly. Blaine chuckled in his ear.
“He cooks?” Burt filled up the glass with water.
“Not as often, but he has been in a boarding school for almost three years. It’s not like he could smuggle a hotplate into his dorm room.”
“That would have been something. I bet Nick would do that. We could have made blueberry pancakes,” Blaine said. “Okay, can three of the broth is in. I think I’m gonna make it.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need any other pointers. Risotto isn’t that hard. It’s all about watching it.”
“Thank you, darling.”
Kurt made a squeaking noise and bit his lip. “Okay. Seriously. I have prawns here. I’ll call you later.”
“Take care of the prawns!”
Kurt pocketed his cellphone and started to add ingredients for the sauce in with the prawns. After a moment of silence, he looked to his dad and raised a brow.
“You seem like you’re in a good mood,” Burt commented, leaning back on the counter.
“Last week it seemed like Blaine’s mother was really depressed. And all this week it’s felt like Blaine was having a hard time fitting in at McKinley.”
“Guess it’s a lot different from what he’s used to.”
Kurt flipped a few prawns and turned the heat down. “Weeell... Yeah. I bet. But his mom is feeling a little better, and I’m sure that makes a world of difference. Plus, he’s won over some of the Glee club. I knew he’d bond with them faster than I did the Warblers. It’s in his nature. How can anyone not like him? Anyone but Puck and the football douches anyway.”
He lifted his head. “No offense.”
“None taken.” Burt laughed. “I wasn’t a cheerleader for gay rights when I was in high school, y’know. I know how those guys can be. They are douches.”
“I just want him to feel like he belongs. Even though... I know I don’t really belong, either. It’s hard to explain. Glee is like a tiny little space in the middle of the school that makes it survivable, but I don’t feel like Blaine has that yet.” Kurt took the rice off the burner.
“Did you after one week?”
“Nooo.” Kurt ran a hand through his hair and poked at the prawns with a wooden spoon. “I just want the best for him. He came here to give me backup. It just happens that getting out of their house was good for his mom, too. I don’t want him to feel out of place, or just miserable.”
“It was his decision.” Burt patted Kurt’s shoulder. “I can’t say I’m unhappy for you to have a little more backup.”
“There might be more still.” He stepped back and looked to his father. “Blaine’s looking into starting a gay-straight alliance.”
Burt’s brows shot up. “Is that an option?”
“I didn’t think so before, but before I left, Brittany and Tina weren’t out, and Blaine wasn’t there. Our numbers are kinda growing.” Kurt shrugged. “It’s hard to fight a war alone, but several of my friends are willing to join on the straight side, too.”
“Keep me updated on that. It’s good to hear your friends are pulling together on this, finally.” Burt ruffled Kurt’s hair. “What are you makin’ there?”
“Creamy garlic prawns, with rice, and a mango walnut salad. It has spinach. It’s almost done. I’m just waiting for the sauce to reduce.”
Burt nodded a few times. “I’ll fetch the rest of the clan.”
“Dad?” Kurt looked over his shoulder.
Burt stopped and turned back. “Yeah?”
“Thanks. For talking to me about this.” Kurt sucked in his lips and smiled. “We’ve... come a long way.”
“It’s a Hell of a lot better than when we didn’t talk about almost anything. Hmph.” Burt rubbed his mouth. “If the boy needs to talk, bring him on over. I’ll talk to him, too.”
Kurt dipped his head and beamed. Even if his dad was joking, he liked to think of him being there for Blaine.
Especially if Blaine’s father didn’t come back.
Onto Part Six
Warnings: Homophobia, violence, sexual harassment
Includes: angst
Rating: NC-17 overall
Word Count: ~102k
Summary: Due to family monetary struggles, Kurt is forced to go back to McKinley… not that he wants anyone to know the reason. For Kurt and Blaine, though, the biggest hardship is separation. Worried about how his boyfriend is coping, Blaine convinces his mother to let him transfer.
Notes: Post Original Song AU. For aelora for help_japan. Will update once daily until finished.
Parts of this will be easier to imagine with the soundtrack. I mean, you can’t do Glee without having songs. I’ll upload one afterward with the rundown for each song, so you can enjoy without knowing which ones are in the fic or not and in what context.
Part One ♥ Part Two ♥ Part Three ♥ Part Four
Part Five
Blaine was still shuffling his books into his bag when a big guy in a letterman’s jacket shoved him into the wall.
“Well, if it isn’t the Queen Freak’s king!” he laughed deeply and closed in on Blaine.
“You think they’re already married, Johnson?” the other guy, chunky and blond, said.
“Oh, definitely, Strando. Can you imagine the fancy-ass wedding dress on Hummel?”
“Look, I understand that shoving other guys around fulfills some need in you because you don’t feel very good about yourselves,” Blaine told them, holding up his hands.
(It was hard to swallow it when these guys were making fun of Kurt, but there was no rational dialogue to be had from validating their ignorance. There was also no way Kurt would wear a traditional wedding dress. With all the fashion options available to them? Not a chance.)
“But I think you’re hurting yourselves as much as you are me,” he continued. “There have been studies done that show how poorly bullies do once out in the real world.”
The one called Johnson shook his head. “Excuse me?”
“Got a real egghead here.” Strando forward to grab his head.
Blaine dropped down and slipped between their legs. Johnson lunged toward him, but then, out of nowhere, Karofsky body-checked the guy right into the wall. Strando stared at Karofsky for about two seconds before running the other way.
Standing there dumbly, Blaine looked up at Karofsky, who was crossing his arms and scowling at Johnson.
“You got a problem, Johnson?!” he demanded.
“No, dude. Day-umn.”
The other boy drifted away, and Karofsky followed him, not even meeting Blaine’s eye.
“Oh-kay.” Blaine said to himself. “Weird.”
***
When Blaine reached Kurt’s locker, he wasn’t aware that he’d been followed. He wasn’t aware that someone was watching him take Kurt’s hand, tease Kurt as he tried to fix his hair in the mirror of his door, point up to the pictures of them together that Kurt had taped up along with the word “Courage.” He touched Kurt’s side affectionately and waited for him to get his books together.
For a moment, as Kurt looked down at him, their faces growing close, he thought that Kurt might kiss him, right here in the hallways. But as romantic as that was, Blaine was satisfied by being able to be near Kurt, and before their boyfriend embargo had ended, too.
Yeah, it made him feel good that Kurt couldn’t stand to be separated from him either. He knew it already, but a bit of confirmation never hurt anyone. So he squeezed Kurt’s hand and walked with him to his next class. He could hear some whispering around them, but he ignored it, and Kurt for once didn’t seem to notice them at all. He was too busy looking over at Blaine and giving him coy little smiles.
They parted, and Blaine headed into his math class and sat down by himself. Then a hand touched his shoulder. He looked back to see Finn towering over him.
“Hey! I didn’t expect to see you here,” Blaine said.
“Dude.” Finn crouched down, looked around at the other students, who weren’t even paying attention to them, and then back to Blaine.
Blaine patted Finn’s arm and gave him an inviting smile. “What is it?”
“Okay, look, dude, I like you and everything, but you’ve got to go easy on the PDA.”
“I- What?” Blaine blinked and leaned forward as though he’d misheard.
“With Kurt,” Finn clarified, as though there might be someone else Blaine was PDAing with. “Man, if you keep that up, someone’s going to kill him out there.”
Blaine’s heart jerked at Finn’s words. He almost clutched his chest like a flustered church lady.
“It’s bad enough the way he acts, and with what he wears, but with you there, people are gonna flip out.”
“We were just holding hands,” Blaine protested, a little breathlessly. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”
Finn held his hands up. “I know that! You don’t have to tell me! I’m his brother. I know it’s not wrong or anything. You just can’t do that stuff at school. The guys already give Kurt Hell.”
“I know that. It’s why I’m here,” Blaine pointed out.
“Yeah, and you’re making it worse.” Finn stood up and shook his head. “If you care about him at all, you’ll cool it down a little.”
Blaine’s insides went cold. He stared at his book, and Finn left the classroom without saying anything else. After a moment, Mike came by to sit at the table with him, and then poked his shoulder a few times to get him to respond. Blaine forced a smile and got out his homework to pass it up.
“You okay?” Mike asked. “You don’t look good. You can go to the nurse, y’know, and she’ll let you lie down.”
“I’m fine.” Blaine rubbed his finger along his pencil. “Do you think I’m being too affectionate with Kurt in public?”
Mike’s forehead crinkled in confusion. Then Blaine realized that maybe it wasn’t appropriate to ask that of Mike. He didn’t know if Mike actually liked him, or how the guy felt about him being gay at all. He’d never talked about it and hadn’t spoken up during the fight between them and Puck.
“You guys are a lot more discreet than most of the couples in school,” Mike said finally. “I’ve never seen you kissing on each other. Half the school is swapping spit against their lockers. Even Tina and I get our slobber on. Santana says you two act like a couple of baby pandas. Is that what you’re asking? I dunno. Or do you mean in practice, because... it’s Glee club. If you can’t act gay there, then I don’t know where you can?”
That response won Mike a laugh.
“And it doesn’t matter if you sing songs to Kurt either,” Mike added, “because we all do that with our girlfriends, and boyfriends, and the girls do singing duel-duets. Kurt and Finn even sing to each other. Maybe it’s the handsy-ness that people don’t like as much?”
“With Kurt?”
“With other people. ‘Cause you like to touch people.”
“Do I?” Blaine tried to remember the last time he’d touched someone. It wasn’t something he thought of much. He’d put his hand on Finn just now when they were talking. He’d guided Sam by the shoulders during their rehearsals. He touched Artie’s shoulder when they were discussing how to navigate Mr. Schuester’s moods that morning.
Did that bother people?
Mike grinned. “Yeah, you do. But I don’t think it’s bad, the touching thing, it just is. Some guys don’t like that, is all.”
He shrugged. “Mostly ‘cause you’re gay, and they get weirded out about that. But I see how into your boyfriend you are, so I’m not worried.”
Blaine drew a breath in and out as he thought about that. “Mr. Schuester touches you. On your arms and on your shoulders.”
“Well, you can’t make him stop. We just sort of put up with it, because he doesn’t mean anything by it. Not like the last Glee teacher who was... really a freak.” Mike paused and looked at Blaine for a moment. “Don’t worry about it or anything. Forget I brought it up.”
“But I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, or to get in their personal space.”
“Look, I’ll let you know if anyone actually says anything, okay? Until then, forget about it. Maybe it won’t be a problem.”
“This school is like a minefield. I don’t understand anything.”
“Yeah, it’s just weird. The kids are weird. The teachers are weird.”
“You’d think with me being weird, I’d fit right in,” Blaine muttered.
Mike slapped his back and shook his head. “Nope. When you’re in Glee, you’re just another misfit toy.”
Blaine looked up at him unhappily, while Mike rubbed his shoulders.
“Touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me. Is this weird?” Mike asked.
“What?” Blaine glanced at Mike’s hand. “I really don’t notice it.”
“Touch-a touch-a,” Mike sang off-key. He removed his hand and opened up his book.
***
“Don’t touch me,” Kurt said sharply as he stopped in a few feet from his English class.
Karofsky, who had been following him, stopped as well, almost running into him. Kurt turned and took a step back.
“I don’t want you near me. Go away,” he said in the deepest, most firm voice he could muster. His day had been a rollercoaster, going up when he had the chance to see Blaine and hold his hand, and crashing downward whenever they parted. His eyes did a quick sweep of the hallway, but Finn was nowhere to be seen.
Karofsky said nothing, just glared down at Kurt with narrow, intense hazel eyes. Kurt fixed his eyes on the little flecks of green, as proof that this lumbering oaf in front of him was actually human and not in fact some bizarre irrational creature from a horror movie, and he took another step backward.
“Cut it out!” Karofsky ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“What? What do you want?” Kurt demanded.
“Look, you need to steer clear of Johnson.”
“No. Really.”
“Don’t you be a smart ass with me, Hummel!” Karofsky smacked his palm into the wall beside Kurt’s head, and Kurt skittered backward until he ran into someone. She squeaked, and Kurt recognized Tina’s voice.
“You aren’t supposed to be around him!” she shouted.
“Relax!” Karofsky shot back.
“No!” She grabbed Kurt’s arm and pulled him into the classroom. “God, that scared me. He got so close to you.”
“He still scares me a little, too. I can’t fathom what he wants with me.”
“My guess is that he wants in your pants.”
Kurt dropped into his seat and pulled his back close to him uncomfortably. “No,” he whispered. “He... no.”
“I’m kidding. Kind of.” Tina rolled her eyes and touched Kurt’s shoulder lightly. He stiffened and turned to face the front. She tilted her head far to the side, letting her silky blue-black (and bright blue) hair pool over the desk. “Are you okay? Did he touch you?”
“No. He was just following me.” Kurt ran his fingers over his lips. “He probably saw Blaine and I together just now.”
“Jealous,” Tina surmised.
“I know you’re just joking, but I’m not at all comfortable with you suggesting that he’s interested in me,” Kurt said. His voice was too tight and too high, and he felt his cheeks flushing from the admission. His eyes closed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”
“No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t be making jokes like that. He’s a total creeper.”
Kurt shook his shoulders, trying to get them to loosen up. To no avail. His stomach was coiled spring, and he crossed his arms over himself tightly, staring ahead with singular intensity.
Tina worried her lower lip between her teeth. “What do you want to do? About Karofsky?”
“Just ignore him.” Kurt lifted his head and pushed it out of his mind so he could focus on class. “Finn usually gets out of Spanish late. Mike can make it here before Glee, right?”
“I can text him and ask him to meet us after class.”
“Blaine too. They’re together this period. We’ll go as a group.”
Tina sighed audibly and nodded.
***
Kurt had been quiet since Blaine, Mike, and Artie had come to join him and Tina on the way to Glee. He didn’t seem angry, just distant, and tried to smile when the others joked. (And his fake smiles were always a little unnerving.) As they sat down, Blaine took Kurt’s hand and held it in his lap. This caused Kurt to get all grinny and fluttery and cute, which was about half of why Blaine did it.
“Guys, today I thought we’d start off with something a little different.” Mr. Schuester put his hands on his hips and looked around at the club. “Finn and I had a talk this morning, and he made a lot of good points. So I’m going to pull out a couple of team leaders, and we’re going to have several smaller groups so you can really concentrate on learning from each other.”
Kurt and Blaine both tilted their heads to the right at the same time, then looked at one another.
“That’s sounds like a brill idea, Mr. Schue,” Santana said, her voice dripping in irony. “I don’t know how you came up with it.”
Brittany frowned. “Isn’t that what Bla-”
Santana clamped her hand over Brittany’s mouth. “Brill, Mr. Schue. Totes.”
“I think it’s a great idea, as long as I’m with someone who matches my incredible level of talent,” Rachel said. She looked to Blaine. “I think we should sing together.”
“I will kill you,” Kurt told her sweetly.
“Well, you only get to choose if you’re a team leader.” Mr. Schuester set out a hat filled with slips of pink and blue paper. “Luck of the draw.”
Kurt leaned over to Blaine and whispered very quietly, “You know we’re not in there because there are no purple slips.”
In an effort not to be expelled from the classroom for more unseemly disruptions, Blaine withheld his laugh and just looked at Kurt with a barely-controlled smile.
“So... for the girls, we have...” Mr. Schuester pulled out a slip. “Lauren.”
Puck made woofing noises.
“And... Quinn.”
“Mr. Schue, I protest. Shouldn’t we vote on our leaders?” Rachel asked.
“So is this still split up by gender, or can I be a boy?” Brittany asked.
“Still boys and girls,” Mr. Schuester said. It was almost impressive how little he paid attention to things Brittany said. “Okay, and for the boys we have... Puck. And Mike.”
“What joy is mine,” Kurt murmured into Blaine’s ear.
“This’ll probably be better,” he replied just as quietly. “Puck won’t pick you, so you’ll be on a better team.”
“Mike’s not going to pick me either, though.”
Blaine looked over to the boys, who were clustered together already in anticipation of their previous arrangement. Mike was leaning over to Sam and whispering something, and Sam just nodded seriously.
“Lauren, Quinn, up here to pick your teams,” Schuester said.
Quinn rose and headed to the front of the room, her steps light and measured. Lauren was the opposite. Quinn refused to take up room, and Lauren demanded it.
“Who goes first?” Quinn asked.
“Arm wrestle,” Lauren suggested. She laughed at the horrified look on Quinn’s face, the grabbed her around the shoulders. “I’m messin’ with you, Fabray!”
“You wouldn’t just win. You’d break me in half!” she said, shaking her head.
“I was just gonna flip a coin,” Schuester said.
After Lauren had one the coin toss, the two girls looked at one another, narrowed their eyes, and studied the girls.
“Quinn’s just going to pick her Cheerio friends,” Rachel muttered.
Lauren started, picking Brittany. Without hesitation, Quinn took Mercedes first. Then Lauren took Rachel, and Quinn took Santana.
“Ohhh, ya’ll are screeeewed,” Santana teased, bouncing up to give Mercedes a high five.
“I just hope I don’t hold you two back. Belt it, girlfriends.” Quinn crossed her arms and grinned in a fierce, competitive expression that he’d never seen on her before.
Santana pointed to Quinn. “We gonna rock it out, Q. Roight?”
“You got it, S.” Her lips quirked. “And M.”
“Oh, Lordy, you two.” Mercedes rubbed her forehead.
Santana jumped in place, her eyes bulging as though she’d just had an epiphany, and then she grabbed Mercedes and Quinn’s hands and pulled them over to the side of the room.
“What about me?” Tina asked with a pout.
“Bring it in, Spooky,” Lauren ordered, motioning for Tina to come their way. “We gots some plannin’ to do.”
Schuester motioned for Mike and Puck to come up to the front, and Sam gave Mike a little thumbs up. Blaine guessed that Sam was going to be Mike’s first pick. He wasn’t sure how they were supposed to learn from just picking their friends and leaving others feeling left out, but he was still willing to give Mr. Schuester the benefit of the doubt as an educator, even if he failed in other respects.
When the two boys got up there, Mike kept eyeing Puck. He licked his lips and bounced on his toes. Mike had a plan, obviously. Puck was relaxed, and when he won the coin toss, he shrugged his shoulders, and pointed to Finn.
Mike bounced again. “Blaine.”
Blaine blinked up at Mike in surprise for a moment before he rose, gave Kurt a touch on the head and went to stand with his team leader.
“Artie, my boy!” Puck waved him forward.
“Partie-inn!” Artie cheered.
The rest of the club laughed. Mike, on the other hand, did a few dance moves before exploding, “Yes!”
“What’s your deal?” Puck asked.
“Kurt! Come on up here, little guy!” Mike said.
Kurt lifted his head and looked up at Mike with an expression of near perfect perplexity. “Me?”
Blaine almost overflowed with the adorableness when Kurt took a moment to look back at Sam before coming up to Mike and Blaine.
“Geez, stop gloating. Enjoy your gay team of gays,” Puck said.
Schuester started to rise, but before he could say anything, Mike punched a fist forward and down, positioning his feet like he was about to start Krumping.
“Good luck, sucka Pucka,” he taunted. “Who’s gonna choreograph for ya now, huh? Who’s gonna help ya dance now? Who’s gonna sew your costumes? I gots alllll the gay boys!”
He pulled Kurt and Blaine to him in a big hug. “Team MiKlaine!”
“Ohhh.” Finn looked up at the ceiling, then over at Artie. “Well.”
Artie just laughed.
“Well, you guys seem to have forgotten that you get me as last pick. And I got some mad dance moves.” Sam came up to them and then started to dance from side to side. Slowly.
“Oh, fine, you got us, Mike,” Artie said.
“I’m a little weirded out that the guys put more strategy into picking than we did,” Quinn said, narrowing her eyes at them. “I just didn’t want to be on the same team as Rachel.”
“Hey!” Rachel complained.
“Oh, stop squawking, loudness,” Lauren said. “I knew Quinn wasn’t gonna pick you, first, second, or last.”
“Enough, guys. Let’s get to work. By Wednesday, I want to see four teams busting out their best singing and yes, dance moves. And-” Schuester held a finger up. “-I want to hear everyone’s voice.”
“Sucks to be you, Mike,” Puck said smugly.
“Whatevs. I don’t even have to be a good singer with these two.” Mike snapped his fingers.
Puck raised the back of his hand. “You keep talkin’!”
Mike balled his hands into fists and danced around like he was going to have an old-timey boxing match.
“You guys are... really something,” Blaine said, rubbing the back of his neck.
For some reason, the rest of the group seemed to think that was hilarious.
“Blaine-burn,” Kurt teased as they went with Mike to a corner of the room to plan.
“That wasn’t a burn,” Blaine protested. He looked at Mike. “You told Sam what you were going to do, didn’t you?”
“I told ‘im I’d get him if I got to pick first, but he’ll still get a part in their group, probably.” Mike shrugged. “Okay, I’m all dance moves, so I’m counting on you guys to bring your encyclopedic musical knowledge to find us a number that’s gonna kick their asses. I don’t care what we wear.”
“As long as we can dance in it.” Kurt smirked and pulled a notepad out of his backpack to brainstorm.
***
Kurt skipped up behind Blaine and set a salad down in front of him.
“Come on. Do you think I’m fat?” Blaine complained.
Then he set down a plate of tacos and tater tots and kissed the back of Blaine’s head. “The salad’s mine.”
“Sup!” Sam dropped down into the seat next to Blaine. “You’re gonna eat more than salad, right?”
Blaine switched out the trays and pulled on Kurt’s arm. “Yes, I am. Sit.”
“Whoo, taco daaay!” Mike pulled out a chair and gestured for Tina to sit down.
“I didn’t have a chance to say before, but that sweater is amazing on you.” Tina touched a drawstring hanging over Kurt’s chest from the thigh length green and purple striped sweater.
Kurt shimmied his shoulders. “Well, it’s good that you like it. Since it’s yours.”
“That’s yours?” Mike cocked his head and looked at Tina. “That’s a little... uh...”
“Choose your words carefully, Other Asian.” She pointed at him with her fork. “Actually, my aunt got it for me. She loves her some Juicy Couture. And for some reason she thinks I’m a girl.”
“I was gonna say colorful.” Mike scratched the back of his head. “I don’t really know what to say to that. You looked like a girl when we were in my bedroom Saturday. Are you a shapeshifter?”
“No, I’m a vampire.” Tina stuck her teeth out and hissed at them all.
Blaine set his taco down and looked at her with wide, curious eyes. “What?”
“It’s a long story. Our principal thinks Tina is a vampire,” Kurt explained.
Blaine narrowed his eyes skeptically.
“It’s totally true, man.” Mike shook his head. “And Asian vampires are the scariest ones.”
“What?”
“I told you this school was weird. Maybe we can convince Figgins you’re a werewolf.”
“A puppy,” Kurt teased, reaching over to fluff his curls.
“Where’s Mercedes?” Tina straightened up and scanned the lunch room.
“With Rachel over there.” Sam pointed.
“I didn’t know she and Mercedes were close,” Blaine said. “I thought they were fighting.”
“They’ve gotten tight since Kurt left us,” Tina said. She waved over at them with both arms. “And they made peace again, I think. Too bad, because after their last fight we got another diva-off.”
“Diva-bonding,” Kurt said. “Belting it for a better tomorrow.”
“Are you okay with her coming over here?” Tina asked, turning to Kurt.
“Rachel’s my friend, too.” He tried to spear a tiny grape tomato with his plastic fork. “She’s just been feeling competitive since I got back. Awk-waaard.”
“Well, maybe you guys should just sit and talk it out,” Blaine suggested.
The others at the table chuckled, causing Blaine to pout. Kurt reached over to pinch his lower lip.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kurt said. “If it gets bad, we’ll do a duet.”
“Hm.” Blaine’s eyes followed Mercedes as she came towards their table with Rachel following. “I had an idea that I wanted to run by some of you. You wouldn’t necessarily have to participate, but of course, you’re all invited to do so.”
“Oo. How mysterious,” Kurt said. His eyes flitted to the side then, and his smile faded.
“What’s mysterious?” Mercedes sat down next to Sam. “Hey there.”
“Hiya. We’re havin’ a meeting of the rebellion.” He turned his head to Blaine and grinned. “Right?”
“Actually... kind of.” Blaine nodded to Rachel as she sat down. “I was thinking that this school has a real problem with bullying.”
Mercedes raised a brow. “Really.”
“Well, not just against me and Kurt. Against everyone.”
“It’s true,” Rachel said. “The Cheerios still hassle me, despite their queen bees defecting to our side. Even Santana is getting hit pretty hard lately.”
“Everyone’s always messed with the Glee kids,” Mercedes said. “What do you think you’re going to do about it?”
“I was thinking of starting a GSA. Gay-Straight Alliance. Or QSA, if you feel that’s more inclusive,” Blaine continued. “GSA clubs have been shown to reduce bullying overall. It could be really good for this school.”
Mercedes looked around at the others. “I’d be down with that. Will they let us start one, though? Would we need a faculty adviser?”
“Mr. Schue could do it,” Rachel suggested.
“I’m not comfortable with his ability to be an ally,” Blaine said.
He turned to Kurt to see what he thought of the idea, but Kurt didn’t seem to be with them. His head was slightly lowered, and he was looking to the side surreptitiously with no small amount of anxiety.
“What’s wrong?” Blaine put his hand on Kurt’s back.
“Nothing,” he whispered.
Tina turned around. “Oh, geez. What’s his damage today?”
Blaine looked up to see David Karofsky staring at them from across the room.
“Freakin’ stalker,” Sam muttered. He stood and started around the table, and Mike jumped up as well.
“Whoa.” Blaine held up a hand, and the boys stopped.
The entire group was staring at Karofsky now, and he abruptly rose and left the lunch room.
“Peer pressure works,” Kurt peeped. He fixed his gaze on the table in front of him.
Rachel pursed her lips. “I don’t understand why that homophobe still gets to walk around at this school!”
“It’s because we haven’t stood up to him-” Blaine started.
Kurt whipped his head around. “I have stood up to him!”
“But- No, Kurt. Babe.” Blaine took Kurt’s hand into his lap and squeezed it under the table, which seemed to calm him a little. It stung to see that wounded expression on Kurt’s face, and know that he’d caused it, however inadvertently. “I mean, the bullies don’t have the message that this isn’t acceptable. It’s not a matter of one kid telling them to knock it off. It’s a matter of the entire culture saying that it is okay to bully and harass anyone who is different. The teachers don’t even try to stop it. Some of them are bullies, too.”
And just like that, Kurt’s shoulders relaxed. “I can’t say how many times my dad has been in that office with Figgins.”
“And they don’t care,” Blaine replied. “The administration, the school board... They just want to keep everything smooth and running, but they don’t really care. Hell, they think Kurt and I deserve what we get, for acting like we do.”
“You guys aren’t that bad,” Sam said. “There was a kid at my last school who made Kurt look like a cowboy.”
“Brokeback,” Kurt scoffed.
“It shouldn’t matter how you act, or what you are,” Blaine told them, looking to each in turn. “We all have the same right to get our education here free of harassment.”
“I suggested we start a Gaylesball last year and Kurt wasn’t even interested,” Rachel said.
Blaine creased his brown, thought about that, then asked, “What’s a Gaylesball?”
“See, he hasn’t even heard of it,” Kurt said. “She just wanted to be the president of something so she could get her picture in the yearbook again.”
Rachel dropped her jaw. “That’s not- Well, okay, that’s true. But would you have been interested otherwise?”
“You and me in a club together with no one else? No thanks.” He twirled his fork around in his fingers, then looked up at Blaine. “There are only three out kids at this school that I know of. But that’s two more than when Rachel suggested it.”
“Build it, and they will come,” Blaine said.
“I don’t know what that means.” Kurt set the fork down. “But I’m all for shaking things up a little, if it means making this school a more tolerable place. There isn’t a person at this table who hasn’t been slushied or shoved around.”
“It sucks,” Mike said. “The thing is, guys are so uptight about the gay thing that it affects all the guys, not just the gay ones. All of the guys in Glee get crap for liking singing or dancing, and you start to feel like you have to police other guys, or you’re gonna be on the receiving end. I wouldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to come out at this school, or for transferring somewhere less stupid about all this. I’d join, just to make McKinley a better place to be.”
“I’m sure Brittany would, too. She’s bi.” Tina said. “And... well. I might be bi.”
Mike, who didn’t seem surprised at all, took a big bite of his taco.
“But you have a boyfriend,” Mercedes said in shock.
“That just means I’m with a guy right now,” Tina replied, her voice growing quieter. “I don’t know.”
“It’s not like it bothers me,” Mike said, wiping his mouth. “She’s still my girl.”
“That’s okay,” Blaine said. “Questioning is totally okay. Right, Kurt?”
Kurt was looking at her with raised brows. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “Totally. Welcome to the rainbow!”
“You’ll need to get some paperwork put through the office if you’re going to do this,” Rachel said. “I don’t know all of it because I’ve never been able to get enough people together to start a club. You need at least five starting members willing to sign up on the books.”
“Well, for everyone who’s said yes, plus Brittany, we have that, right?” Blaine smiled at them.
“You have me, too, of course. My dads would never forgive me if I didn’t at least tag along on this.” Rachel beamed suddenly and clapped her hands. “Yes! Finally! Gay Club and Glee Club at McKinley!!”
“So are we going to call it a GSA? Or... What’s a QSA?” Tina asked.
“Queer-Straight Alliance,” Blaine told her.
Sam scowled and brushed hair out of his eyes. “Isn’t queer kind of offensive?”
“Depends on who you ask. It’s kind of grown on me. It works as a nice umbrella term, and it’s really in your fucking face,” Kurt said. He raised a brow. “But we could make up our own name. The Glitter Bombers.”
Blaine laughed. “The Pansy Division.”
“Blaine and the Pips,” Kurt joked back.
“The Damn Dandies.”
“Skittlicious,” Mike offered.
“The Fairy Court,” Tina suggested with a bounce in her seat. “We could wear wings.”
Kurt leaned over and laughed hard.
Rachel held up a finger. “Pink Triangle Brigade!”
“Too bad New Directions is already taken,” Mercedes said.
“Oh, my God. Mercedes, you know I have always thought our name sounded like a gay bar,” Kurt said, holding up his hands.
“How about The Rainbow Alliance?” Sam said.
“Man, can you imagine what our t-shirts would look like?” Mike grinned. “Rainbows all over the place.”
“I’d die of all the color. Can I wear my rainbow on black?” Tina asked.
Kurt nodded. “Y’know, of all the symbols we’ve stolen, I think I’m most proud of gay people hijacking the rainbow.”
“I’m so glad you guys are into this. I’ll go to the office today and see what we need to get started. There are a lot of resources we could tap into to make this school a better place,” Blaine told them.
Kurt sighed, rested his head on Blaine’s shoulder, and closed his eyes. Blaine was concerned, a little, that Finn might be upset with him for letting Kurt drape himself on him, but given how stressed they both were at different points during the day, he couldn’t say no to the small amount of touching they did in the hallways. Finn was wrong. He just had to be.
“Anything we can do to help,” Mercedes said. “I can’t stand how bad this school is, sometimes. Kurt said it, but it’s true. Without Glee club, there’d be nothing worth sticking around McKinley for.”
“We’ll try to make sure that everyone gets something out of the club,” Blaine promised. “And when people start to see how much better things can be, they’ll be convinced, and things really can change.”
“I love how optimistic you are,” Kurt murmured. “Changing the world with a positive attitude and a song in your heart.”
“S’why I’m in Glee.”
***
“No, no. You’re doing it right. It’ll absorb all the liquid; you just need to keep stirring it.” Kurt tucked his cell between his ear and his shoulder so he could cut up the mangos. He turned to check the frying prawns in the pan, then stirred the rice. “We’re just having plain, old rice. Anything else would overpower the sauce.”
“We can’t have that, can we?” Blaine sounded downright cheerful.
Which just made Kurt more upbeat, and he danced around as he turned back to the mango walnut salad he was making. The past week had been tough for the both of them, but even though they weren’t together tonight, hearing Blaine sound okay when he was spending the evening with his mom was just fabulous.
“How do you know if mushrooms are done?”
“Um... Are they turning black?”
“Well, no. They’ve soaked up most of the oil, though.”
“Take them off and set them aside until you’re ready to put them in the risotto.” Kurt looked up, waved to his father as he stepped into the kitchen and turned to the stove again.
“The boy coming over?” Burt asked as he walked over to the cabinet to get a glass.
“He’s having a family dinner with his mom. And he’s making it!” Kurt said proudly. Blaine chuckled in his ear.
“He cooks?” Burt filled up the glass with water.
“Not as often, but he has been in a boarding school for almost three years. It’s not like he could smuggle a hotplate into his dorm room.”
“That would have been something. I bet Nick would do that. We could have made blueberry pancakes,” Blaine said. “Okay, can three of the broth is in. I think I’m gonna make it.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need any other pointers. Risotto isn’t that hard. It’s all about watching it.”
“Thank you, darling.”
Kurt made a squeaking noise and bit his lip. “Okay. Seriously. I have prawns here. I’ll call you later.”
“Take care of the prawns!”
Kurt pocketed his cellphone and started to add ingredients for the sauce in with the prawns. After a moment of silence, he looked to his dad and raised a brow.
“You seem like you’re in a good mood,” Burt commented, leaning back on the counter.
“Last week it seemed like Blaine’s mother was really depressed. And all this week it’s felt like Blaine was having a hard time fitting in at McKinley.”
“Guess it’s a lot different from what he’s used to.”
Kurt flipped a few prawns and turned the heat down. “Weeell... Yeah. I bet. But his mom is feeling a little better, and I’m sure that makes a world of difference. Plus, he’s won over some of the Glee club. I knew he’d bond with them faster than I did the Warblers. It’s in his nature. How can anyone not like him? Anyone but Puck and the football douches anyway.”
He lifted his head. “No offense.”
“None taken.” Burt laughed. “I wasn’t a cheerleader for gay rights when I was in high school, y’know. I know how those guys can be. They are douches.”
“I just want him to feel like he belongs. Even though... I know I don’t really belong, either. It’s hard to explain. Glee is like a tiny little space in the middle of the school that makes it survivable, but I don’t feel like Blaine has that yet.” Kurt took the rice off the burner.
“Did you after one week?”
“Nooo.” Kurt ran a hand through his hair and poked at the prawns with a wooden spoon. “I just want the best for him. He came here to give me backup. It just happens that getting out of their house was good for his mom, too. I don’t want him to feel out of place, or just miserable.”
“It was his decision.” Burt patted Kurt’s shoulder. “I can’t say I’m unhappy for you to have a little more backup.”
“There might be more still.” He stepped back and looked to his father. “Blaine’s looking into starting a gay-straight alliance.”
Burt’s brows shot up. “Is that an option?”
“I didn’t think so before, but before I left, Brittany and Tina weren’t out, and Blaine wasn’t there. Our numbers are kinda growing.” Kurt shrugged. “It’s hard to fight a war alone, but several of my friends are willing to join on the straight side, too.”
“Keep me updated on that. It’s good to hear your friends are pulling together on this, finally.” Burt ruffled Kurt’s hair. “What are you makin’ there?”
“Creamy garlic prawns, with rice, and a mango walnut salad. It has spinach. It’s almost done. I’m just waiting for the sauce to reduce.”
Burt nodded a few times. “I’ll fetch the rest of the clan.”
“Dad?” Kurt looked over his shoulder.
Burt stopped and turned back. “Yeah?”
“Thanks. For talking to me about this.” Kurt sucked in his lips and smiled. “We’ve... come a long way.”
“It’s a Hell of a lot better than when we didn’t talk about almost anything. Hmph.” Burt rubbed his mouth. “If the boy needs to talk, bring him on over. I’ll talk to him, too.”
Kurt dipped his head and beamed. Even if his dad was joking, he liked to think of him being there for Blaine.
Especially if Blaine’s father didn’t come back.
Onto Part Six