Cruel Summer Chapter 3 - Bad Influence

Author's Note: Great Googly Moogly! Thanks for all the support guys! We never expected in our wildest dreams to have so many readers already! I know that people are wary about WIP’s, so we are honored that you are willing to come with us on this adventure. I promise you won’t regret it. We write this stuff for you guys after all! Just to let you know, our posting will be slower now because we are still editing 4. I have up to 7 finished but it takes lots of time, editing and adding, and we work around our schedule with real life, vacation, meeting Chris Colfer, etc…

Disclaimers: Neither AlignedStars nor KurtsieKalanai own Glee. If we did, Chris Colfer would be our best friend. J Second, we don’t own the songs in the fic. We do use songs like the show but they fit into the story. Songs will be linked at the end of chapter. Third, this is AU so things do not work EXACTLY like canon. We try to stick to canon the best we can, however. Characters may be OOC, but there are reasons why. Also, there may be some adult themes in this chapter…just wanted to give everyone a heads up! Nothing above a PG-13 though.

Thanks: Again, thanks for Wayne Kotke and Gleekast for their support. Most of all, thanks to all our new readers for reading!!  Please, spread the word, and feedback, feedback everywhere, but not a review to read. :P (Just kidding, love the reviews so far!)

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Santana decided to drive her car to Scandals. Blaine’s inability to hold his liquor was legendary and she didn’t want to risk having him get drunk and wrecking his car. Not that she was sure he would drink, but in the past if it was offered, Blaine would have one or six. The ride over to Scandals was one done in silence. Santana kept glancing over at Blaine to make sure he was all right. Blaine was scared that if he started talking, he was going to lose it. Santana picked up on his anxiety and grabbed his hand. “It’s going to be fine, B. At least we know where he is, right?”

“Why Scandals, though?” Blaine asked. “Kurt has told me on several occasions that that place was a hive of scum and villainy.” Santana looked at him, surprised. “Yes, he quoted Star Wars.”

“Kurt the geek; never pictured it,” Santana chuckled. “Thought that was Sam’s job.”

“Yeah,” said Blaine, squeezing Santana’s hand.

The parking lot of the local gay bar, Scandals, was almost full, with more cars arriving. Something good was going on tonight! Santana lucked out and found a space in the first row.

Getting out, Santana pulled Blaine by the arm. “Any excuse to go to Scandals is good enough for me! Thanks for letting me tag along,” she said as they walked to the entrance.

Standing by the door was a familiar face. “Hey Blaine,” said Sebastian, getting way too close to Blaine for comfort. When he saw Santana, he backed off.  “And lookie here, you brought your pocket lesbian with you. Hey, Santana, ready for round two?”

Santana glared at her singing rival and said sarcastically, “As fun and incredibly hot as that sing-off was, I think I’m going to pass.”

“Your loss,” Sebastian shrugged. “I should mention that your eye sex was intoxicating.”

Santana shuddered. “I am not sure whether to be flattered or grossed out,” she retorted as she put her hands on his chest and gave him a good shove.

“I would suggest the first.” Sebastian steadied himself and turned to Blaine and said, “Anyhow, I know you don’t want to talk to me but I felt it was my duty to inform you of present circumstances.”

“Pompous ass,” Blaine muttered under his breath as he flicked his wrist in a gesture as to say, “Get on with it!”

“Patience, hot stuff!” said Sebastian, laughing at him. “It’s not like he is going anywhere. He seems quite comfy in there. I do have to say I do approve of his makeover. It’s very yummy.”

Blaine and Santana looked at each other. “Makeover?” Blaine mouthed.

“As much as I’m enjoying this tear-filled reunion,” said Santana, pushing Sebastian out of the way, “Auntie Tana needs to get her booty inside.”

“Again, I plead patience!” said Sebastian, pointing to the large line forming at the entrance. “As you can see, there is quite the substantial line. I informed management that the family of the performer is on their way and they are letting you skip it. Shall we proceed, Lady Lopez?” he added, offering his arm.

“Screw you, Smythe,” Santana spat and walked ahead, with Sebastian following.

Blaine just stood in place for a minute, mouth hanging open. Makeover? Performer? “Have I gone down the rabbit hole and reached Wonderland? Maybe the tornado took me to Oz. Caught the train to Hogwarts maybe?” he thought.

Blaine shook his head, bringing him out of his ponderings. The other two were almost at the entrance, so he ran after them. The doorman let them in after checking their fake IDs, and they entered the small and extremely crowded bar. Blaine looked around but didn’t see Kurt. He moved through the crowd dancing to some goth punk dude singing some ‘80s glam song. He actually wasn’t half bad. His voice was pure, but dark and gritty at the same time.

Blaine spotted Dave Karofsky at the far side of the room. He sent Dave a wave and worked his way over to him. A very shocked Dave was staring mouth open at the singer on the stage. Blaine and Dave had since mended their rocky relationship, and though they weren’t best friends, they were friendly acquaintances.

“Hey, Karofsky,” said Blaine, clapping his hand on Dave’s shoulder in greeting. Dave returned the greeting with a nod, his eyes never leaving the stage. “Have you seen Kurt? Sebastian said he was here but I don’t see him.”

Santana walked up to them. “Well, if it isn’t my ex-beard. How’s it going, David?” she asked.

Dave blinked as if waking up out of a dream and looked at the two standing with him. “Uh, hey guys. What’s up?” he asked, distracted.

Santana waved her hand in front of Dave’s face and called, “Hey, earth to Karofsky! We’re looking for Kurt and I don’t see him anywhere. Have you seen him?”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Dave said and gave her an incredulous look.

Sebastian danced up with four beers and passed them around. Santana took hers with thanks.  Blaine eagerly reached for his. 

“Hobbit! I’m watching you! You get one!” Santana yelled and pointed two fingers at her eyes and then at Blaine. 

“You’re the one driving!” Blaine countered. 

“I can hold my liquor. You can’t,” Santana informed him.

Blaine slammed the full bottle down on the table, spilling a little. “FINE!” he snapped.  If someone didn’t tell him where Kurt was RIGHT now, someone was going to regret it.

“So our ugly duckling has turned to a beautiful swan. Well, at least a black swan,” said Sebastian, with an evil glint in his eyes.

Blaine had enough. “Okay.  Guys, my patience has worn about this thin,” he said as he held his thumb and index finger about a half inch apart, “so I don’t care who does it, but somebody better goddamn tell me where…”

Santana finally took a good look at the singer on the stage and grabbed Blaine. “Oh…me…Gusta!!” she cried as she spun him around and pointed to the stage.

“Yes Santana, that singer is great, but that doesn’t explain…” Oh Me Gusta indeed.

It only took a moment to realize that the goth punk dude was Kurt!

“Holy shit!” Blaine whispered.

The man standing on the stage looked nothing like his Kurt. This dude was the polar opposite of his Kurt. Everything was changed from head to toe. Kurt’s hair, which was a gorgeous reddish brown and always impeccably styled, was now colored a jet black. It was shaped in short spikes completely different than Kurt’s current fashionable hair style. Kurt’s abnormally pale face had eyes that were lined with super black eyeliner, and his lips were coated with black lipstick.

The biggest change came with the clothes. Kurt’s stylish expensive designer clothes were gone. What remained was nothing short of shocking. Instead of a shirt, he wore a black ribbed tank top, showing off his deceptively toned arms. For pants he wore black khakis with huge pockets down the leg. And the most bizarre piece of clothing was on his feet. He wore a pair of black Crocs. Blaine remembered the countless hours of lecturing from Kurt about how Crocs were the bane of the fashion world. Anyone caught wearing them should be taken out and shot. He also wore some black bracelets, and a black bandana circled his head under his hairline.

“Holy shit is right!” squealed Santana with glee. She pulled out her phone. “Everyone will kill me if I don’t get some pictures of this!” she said as she snapped a few pictures.

“Pretty hot, huh?” whispered Sebastian into Blaine’s ear.

“Yeah,” murmured Blaine, mesmerized. He then violently shook his head and pushed Sebastian away. “Wait, no! Sebastian, you’re NOT allowed to call my boyfriend hot, especially after all the hell you put us through this year!”

Sebastian put his hands up in mock surrender and mockingly apologized, “Sorry, sorry! At least I called you and told you he was down here, you know.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” said Blaine sarcastically. He turned to Dave. “Karofsky, how long has he been here?”

Dave was still staring at Kurt like he had five heads but replied, “About a half hour ago. He walked into the bar and asked for the karaoke machine. You know how they haul it out on the weekend. He’s been singing ever since. The manager must think he’s good, ‘cause he didn’t ask him to stop.”

“Thanks, buddy,” said Blaine, trying to move closer to the stage. Dave grabbed his arm.

“Blaine, what happened to Kurt? I don’t think I like him this way,” Dave said as he finally tore his eyes away from Kurt on the stage.

Blaine gave a sigh and tried to give his friend a smile. “Kurt’s had a really bad day. He got rejected from NYADA, and he took off for a while and kinda made everyone worry.”

“Knee-who?” asked Dave, puzzled.

“NYADA. New York Academy of Dramatic Arts,” explained Blaine patiently.

“Oh man, that’s harsh,” replied Dave, looking back onto the stage. “Well, tell him to call me so I can kick his ass for worrying you.” His eyed widened. “Oh god, that was so the wrong choice of words. You know I would never do that to Kurt again, right? He helped me out a few months ago. I almost literally owe him my life.”

“Of course, Dave. When everything calms down, we’ll all go out for coffee, okay?” assured Blaine as he tried to appease the flustered man.

Blaine grabbed Santana, and they fought their way to the stage. Kurt was finishing his song and they hoped to get his attention without causing a scene. As they were waiting, Blaine sent a text to Finn because it was plain to see they may need reinforcements to get Kurt out of there. After a quick moment he sent a follow up text:

Come alone. 

No point in anyone else from New Directions seeing what a hot mess Kurt was right now. As the song ended, Kurt looked over in their direction. His eyes went wide, and he looked scared for a split second. The scared look was instantly replaced with an evil smirk. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen,” he said into the mic. “I know you wish to continue worshipping the ground I walk on, but this sexy beast needs to take a break.” That got a few wolf whistles from the crowd. He spoke with the DJ and started making his way over, grabbing a beer bottle on his way.

“This should be good,” said Santana as she crossed her arms and stood back to watch the show.

There was something weird with Kurt. New and admittedly very hot clothing aside, something wasn’t quite right.

“Hey, sexy lover.” Kurt said as he touched Blaine’s arm. “Santana,” he added with a smirk while backing away from Blaine. There it was. It was his voice. It was much lower than normal. Gone was his clear tenor voice. It was raspy, and raw, and oh god, no, Blaine doesn’t want to admit it, HOT.

“Lookin’ good, Hummel!” said Santana, appraising him. “Blaine, can we keep him?”

Kurt chuckled. “And you’re looking smoking as usual, Lopez,” he said, flirting with her. Santana positively beamed. Blaine gave a double take. What was Kurt doing flirting with girls?

“If you don’t want to keep him, I’ll take him!” the Latina said to Blaine. That statement earned a dirty look from the former Warbler.

“So what brings you fine specimens into this dive?” Kurt asked, motioning to the rest of the bar.

Blaine was two men at that moment. One half of him wanted to hug his boyfriend and then tell him off for freaking everyone out like that. The other…well…it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about around polite company. Unfortunately, the first man won the frantic internal conflict. Barely.

However, Blaine didn’t hug him. He was afraid that hugging him might lead to something else that involved hands everywhere. “Kurt, are you freakin’ serious?” he asked his gothified boyfriend.

Kurt crossed his arms against his tank top with one hip jutted and lifted his eyebrow, waiting for Blaine to continue.

“Oh god, why does he have to be so damn gorgeous?” Blaine thought. No! He was here to bring Kurt back. “First of all, you wreck your room beyond all recognition.  What were you thinking?” His voice cracked. “Then you take off and don’t answer any calls or texts from me or anyone!” he added in a pained voice.

“I was busy.” Kurt answered carelessly, flipping his wrist up and gave Blaine his best “whatever bitch” look. Blaine looked hurt and Kurt instantly regretted it. He shifted gears. “I love you,” he whispered into Blaine’s ear and then gave him a quick kiss.

That chest! Those arms! “Stop thinking with your lower brain, Anderson!” Blaine admonished himself. Kurt took another swig from his beer bottle. “Not only that, but you got into a shouting match with Artie and dumped lemonade on his head?” Blaine asked, still shocked by that piece of news.

“Yes, I did,” Kurt said rather proudly. “Oh come off it, Blaine. It wasn’t a shouting match.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “Everything was quite calm.” He shrugged his shoulders and added, “Besides, he deserves every word I said. I admit the lemonade might have been a tad dramatic, but boy it felt goooood!”

“As soon as I get him home, we are going straight to his room and...” Blaine’s mind strayed again. He shook his head. “A tad dramatic…the same can be said about your new look.”

“Okay!” said Santana, watching this conversation like a tennis game. “I’m going to leave you two lovers to your little spat,” as she moved towards the bar.

“I think we should go home, Kurt. We need to talk about this. I’m not mad, really,” Blaine pleaded trying to assure Kurt that he was good with all of this. Anything to get Kurt out of here without causing a scene.

“Santana, wait!” yelled Kurt then turned back to his boyfriend. “So you don’t like my makeover? I’m quite attached to it, myself,” he said as he gestured to his outfit.

 “I didn’t say that,” Blaine sputtered. His mind betrayed him as he thought, “Ooh my god, I’m so turned on right now.”

Santana walked back, pulled out her camera and took a few snaps. The looks on her pretty little ponies were priceless: the newly made over goth sex god with his angry and uncomfortably horny boyfriend.  

“Cat got your tongue, love? I’m still having fun here,” said Kurt, slowing getting closer to Blaine. Kurt carelessly put his beer bottle down and slunk up dangerously close to Blaine, his lips hovering just in front of his boyfriend’s. He could see Blaine shiver with expectancy. He then moved his lips close to Blaine’s ear and whispered, “Just a few more songs, lover, and then we can go home and I’ll make you call my name.” Kurt then grabbed Blaine’s ass.

Blaine let out a small gasp. “Yes, please!” his mind was screaming. He looked over to see Santana lick her lips.

“Wanky,” she said and laughed, still taking those damn pictures.

Kurt chuckled low and sexy. As Blaine was about to grab him around the waist and shove his tongue down his throat, Kurt pulled away. “Tut, tut. Not yet, Anderson,” he said and turned towards Santana. “Lopez, care to join me in a little song?”

“Hells yes! I gots ta get my singin’ on tonight!” said Santana excitedly and grabbed Kurt’s hand. Kurt took one last long drink from his bottle and gave a serious case of eye sex to a blatantly frustrated Blaine. They jumped onto the stage and spoke in hushed tones while the DJ set back up the karaoke machine. Once the audience noticed that Kurt had returned to the stage, they all let out a big cheer with even more whistles.

Blaine had to sit down…NOW. Either that or have a breath of fresh air and a cold shower. Luckily, Karofsky got a table with Sebastian close to the stage. He desperately wanted a beer. It wasn’t fair.

Santana had effectively cut him off.  

“What did I tell you, Blaine?” inquired Sebastian mischievously. “Sex-on-a-stick or not? I saw what happened over there. H.A.W.T.”

“Shove it Smythe.”

“You McKinley kids are all so rude! You have sunk so low from Dalton,” Sebastian said haughtily, the snob coming out. Blaine gave him a blistering dirty look.

“I still really don’t think I like this Kurt. I like the old Kurt,” said Dave, still looking in horrified awe. He had grown protective of Kurt in the past few months, and it killed him to see the smaller man look and act so different.  Kurt’s rejection from theater school cut deep with Dave. His success with getting a full football scholarship to Rutgers in New Jersey seemed bittersweet with the new knowledge that Kurt got nothing. Dave couldn’t stop thinking about the unfairness of it all.

“Pipe down, David. The freak show is about to begin,” said Sebastian, sitting more alert in his chair.

Blaine crossed his legs. “Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts, I’m mad at Kurt!” he desperately thought.

“Thanks for waiting, everyone!” said Kurt and everyone erupted in cheers and catcalls. “I thought I would bring a friend up here to sing this song with me. Say hi to everyone, Santana!” She gave her biggest stage smile and waved. “Ladies, isn’t she most delicious thing you have ever seen?”

The few women in the audience loudly gave their approval.

“I agree,” Kurt said, and he did something that Blaine would never imagine Kurt doing. He grabbed Santana by the waist, pulled her in close and gave her one of the most passionate kisses Blaine had ever seen. The audience went even wilder. When he pulled back, Santana had a shocked look on her face. Then she smiled.

“Nice,” she said. “I’m taking you home for me and Brittany,” she joked.

Blaine was shocked, but he wasn’t exactly angry. If anything, it turned him on even more. He groaned and sank down further into his chair. “KURT!”

“So are we ready to party some more, everyone??” That got more cheers from the crowd. “When you go home tonight make sure you let everyone you know I was a Bad Influence on you.” He signaled for the DJ to start the music machine.

The music for Pink’s “Bad Influence” started. The lights went down on the floor and up on the stage.  Kurt moved his body into a very sexy pose, and Santana not to be outdone made a suggestive one of her own. The crowd went wild. Sebastian let out a loud “WOOOOO!” which made Blaine jump. Kurt was gyrating on stage and looking very racy indeed. It seemed impossible, but he made those black khakis look even sexier than those gold audition pants!

“Cold showers! Busloads of Nuns! Mailmen!” Blaine’s mind screamed. He figured he would try the trick that Finn told him once. It didn’t help. And why the hell was he supposed to think of mailmen? Kurt started singing in a low, guttural and disarmingly raunchy voice.

“Alright sir, sure, I'll have another one, it's early
Three olives shake it up, I like it dirty
Tequila for my friend, it makes her flirty
Trust me, I'm the instigator of underwear
Showing up here and there,
Uh, oh (Oh, no) I'm always on a mission from the get go
So what if it's only one o'clock in the afternoon?
It's never too soon to send out all the invitations
To the last night of your life”

As he sang, he moved down the stage to each man and woman standing there and grabbed their hands, staring right into their eyes. Sebastian had out his phone and was recording the performance. Blaine gave him another dirty look. Mr. Smythe was having way too much fun with this.

“Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
I can't help it, I like to party
It's genetic, it's electrifying
Wind me up and watch me go
Where she stops nobody knows
A good excuse to be a bad influence on you and you”

At the end of the first chorus, Kurt gestured to Santana to take the next verse while he sang backup. Once Santana took over, he jumped down off the stage and moved his way through the audience, dancing with random members. It was almost illegal how alluring he was.

“Alright, man, calm down. I know your son,
Said he was at my house. He was the captain of the football team
But I turned him out. He wasn't the first and he won't be the last
So tone it down, this happens all the time. I'm the story, the tale, the alibi
They wanna go home, I ask them, why? It's daylight, not night
It might need a break from all the real life (Get a life)
Gets to be too much sometimes
It's never too late to send out all the invitations to the last night of your life “

By the middle of the second verse, he made his way over to the table where Blaine, Sebastian, and Dave sat.  As Santana finished off the verse, Kurt sat in Blaine’s lap and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck. Blaine smirked and put his arms around Kurt’s waist. They came together in a kiss more passionate than the one between Kurt and Santana. As they pulled away and Kurt got up to finish the song, he wiggled a little bit in Blaine’s lap before he stood.

“Evil bastard!” growled Blaine as Kurt ran up to the stage to finish the song. The other two men laughed at him while Sebastian kept recording.

The two sang the last chorus together and ended with a flourish. The crowd roared. Santana and Kurt looked at each other, laughed and hugged each other tightly. Kurt informed the DJ that was his last song and grabbed Santana’s hand. They returned to the table talking and laughing.

“Oh my god, Kurt! I never thought you had it in ya.” Santana exclaimed. “All I have to say is Me Gusta! Why weren’t you like this the entire three years I knew you? I would have tormented you way less. You can put on a show, that’s for sure!”

“I got it all right here,” said Sebastian, showing the table his phone. “The Warblers are going to lose their shit."

Kurt noticed Sebastian was at the table. “Oh, hello, Meerkat,” he said with a careless boredom he was perfecting.

“Hello, Gayface. Keep performing like that and we’ll be bosom buddies,” Sebastian said as he saved the video for later posting on Facebook.

“Hardly,” sneered Kurt and sat back on Blaine’s knee. “Hey, Sexy. Did you like that? I’m not a baby penguin anymore,” he said, nibbling on the corner of his boyfriend’s ear.

Blaine could tell that Kurt was drunk, and he didn’t want to take advantage of his drunkenness and lack of inhibitions. When Kurt started running his tongue on the top edge of his ear, Blaine let out a little squeak. “Kurt, I think I want to get some air,” he said, lifting Kurt off his lap.

“Just as well, I want to go have a smoke,” proclaimed Kurt and he headed for the door. On his way out, he was slapped on the back by passing audience members, and on the ass from a few more. Kurt grinned from ear to ear. He was on the top of the world.

Blaine and Dave looked each other. “What the hell? Kurt doesn’t smoke. Hope it’s cigarettes,” Blaine said in shock.

“I didn’t see Mr. Ryerson in the parking lot,” Santana chimed in helpfully.

“Who?”  Blaine asked.

“I’ll explain later,” Santana responded with a laugh. Blaine was truly naive.

Blaine and Dave took off after his boyfriend. Sebastian and Santana followed, talking easily with each other. “I think I need to meet this Ryerson,” said Sebastian.

“Yeah. He’d be able to offer you a full service package,” laughed Santana knowingly.

After leaving the bar, they moved to the side of the building where the smokers hung out. Kurt pulled a pack out of one of his many pockets, took a cigarette out, and offered some to the others. “Smoke?” he asked like he did this all the time.

“Hahaha! Kurt has turned into a Skank!” roared Santana.

“That’s one thing to call him,” quipped Sebastian. He wasn’t aware of the infamous girl gang at McKinley, so he thought Santana was merely insulting Kurt.

“Shut UP, Sebastian!” both Dave and Blaine yelled at the same time. Santana just started laughing harder, holding her sides.

“Oh, just wait till I tell Quinn! She’s going to love it!” She looked up to see Kurt giving her a dirty look. “Sorry, Hummel,” she said trying to catch her breath.

As Kurt was lighting up his cigarette, he said, “I still don’t know what the big deal is,” and took a huge drag. All of a sudden he started choking. He bent over, trying to get his breath. Blaine ran over to him, and started pounding Kurt on his back. Eventually he got enough air that he didn’t have to cough. That sent Santana and Sebastian into even more gales of laughter. Dave shook his head and tried not to crack up.

Kurt stood up. “Holy shit!” he exclaimed. “Who in their right mind would do that to themselves!?” he added, waving the cigarette around. Blaine and Santana’s eyes went wide. “What? You’ve never seen a gay man with a cigarette before?”

He spun around to see who they were looking at and came face to face with Finn. The poor lug looked like he was hit with a sledgehammer. Beside him was Rachel, looking scandalized, and a little curious.

“Oh, hello Big Brother and Big Brother’s little woman. Seems we are a little out of our comfort zone, aren’t we?” he said with a sardonic smile and a raised eyebrow.

“Kurt…” said Finn.

“What, are you here to take me home? Cause like I said to Blaine, I’m not ready…”

“No, but I am,” interrupted a voice behind Finn. Out stepped Will on one side and Emma on the other.

Kurt groaned and threw down the cigarette. Blaine looked horrified, Dave looked uncomfortable and started to excuse himself, Sebastian looked like he was going to start laughing again, and Santana stood there, looking completely unfazed.

“Boys, I suggest you go home,” said Will to Dave and Sebastian. “What you do here is none of my business.” He pointed at Santana, Blaine and Kurt. “These three, however, are my business. To the car.” Will and Emma turned to go. Finn and Rachel followed, with Rachel looking back to stare at Kurt.

Blaine grabbed Kurt’s hand. “I’m here,” he said to his boyfriend. Kurt squeezed back. He was in so much shit.

As they walked away they heard Sebastian say in a sing-song voice, “Someone is getting in trouuublleee.”

“Shut the HELL UP, Sebastian!” yelled Kurt, Blaine, and Dave in unison.

****

On the way back to the car, Blaine said to a despondent Kurt, “I’ll be right back, love. I gotta talk to Finn,” and ran ahead to where Finn and Rachel were walking.

Finn looked nervous. “Hey, Blaine.”

“What part of ‘come alone’ don’t you get? Why did you bring Mr. Schue?” hissed Blaine. “I said I needed your help, not his!”

“Sorry, dude. That wasn’t my choice. I tried to sneak out, but when Schue found out he insisted on coming!” said Finn.

“It’s just as well, Blaine. What happened to Kurt? As much as I appreciate his attempt to inject some drama into his life, I don’t think this was the way to go,” informed Rachel condescendingly. Blaine gave his best “bitch please” look, but he would never beat out Kurt’s famous dirty look. It did the trick and Rachel shut up.

“Well, I think that just made things ten times worse. Finn, Kurt is drunk,” Blaine whispered so Will couldn’t hear.

Rachel gasped and looked back again to a lagging Kurt. He was looking down angrily with his hands in his pockets and kicking a stone in the parking lot. Santana was talking quietly to Kurt trying to keep him calm.

Rachel looked back and held Finn’s hand tighter. Kurt never drank. He would never lose control of himself that way. Was she about to lose her Best Gay forever? Tears came to her eyes. She wasn’t trying to be dramatic. She was really scared. She wanted to go back and hug him tightly, but figured it could make things worse between them. Kurt had given her some pretty nasty looks back at that disgusting smoking area. What was he doing with that terrible cancer stick, anyway? She thought he was proud of his healthy habits.

“Things are really delicate right now. You didn’t see him in there,” Blaine explained as he pointed back to the bar with his thumb. “There is something fundamentally wrong, and I’m not sure how to fix it.”

“Sorry, man,” said Finn contritely.

“It’s fine,” said Blaine and shook his head. “Just so you know, things might be a little uncomfortable for a while.”

“Understood,” whispered Rachel, shaking her head and fighting the tears. She didn’t think she could cry any more than she already did today. “I told you he hates me,” she said to Finn.

Blaine sighed as he went back to join his boyfriend. “Are you okay?” he asked as he put his arm through Kurt’s.

Kurt shrugged. “No,” he said, his voice almost back to his old tenor pitch.

They walked the rest of the way to Will’s car in silence.

“I’ll take Kurt and Blaine back to the house. Finn, you drive Kurt’s car. Who’s going to take Santana home?” Will asked.

“I’ve got my own car so I’m good to go,” said Santana with a wave. She only had a sip or two of the beer Sebastian bought her, so she was fine to drive.

Before she got in her car, Santana walked over to where Kurt was standing, his normally pale cheeks a flushed dark pink, his ears bright red. His hands were still in his pockets. She pulled him in for an awkward hug. Kurt closed his eyes and pulled his hands out of his pocket to return the hug. He really needed one right now.

“Kurt, it was fun. Call me tomorrow. Maybe we can do some more shopping for some more of those sexified outfits?” she asked quietly. Kurt nodded against her shoulder.

“Well, guys and gals, time to go home. As usual, it was a pleasure! Until next time,” Santana said as she made her way to her own car.

The ride home in Will’s car was anything but comfortable. Emma kept glancing back and asking Kurt if he felt sick. Will’s eyes never left the road, but Kurt could see he was clutching the steering wheel tighter than necessary. Blaine stared at him, still shocked by his behavior and clothing.

Kurt kept rubbing his right temple. Not because he was in pain, but in response to all the stress around him. Kurt wished Will would at least put some music on because the silent disapproval was killing him; or Blaine would stop looking at him; or Emma would quit asking him if he was alright and ask what the hell was wrong with him instead.  Kurt glanced around the car and then cast his eyes downward. Biting his lip, he asked if his parents knew where he had been.

“Not yet,” Emma answered. “You know, we are going to have to talk about that...that place, Kurt. It’s not the sort of place a nice young man like yourself should be seen in.”

Kurt snorted and was about to respond when Blaine put his hand on Kurt’s arm and placed a warning finger before his lips. Kurt shook Blaine’s hand off and gave him an evil look but decided it would probably be wise to remain silent. Blaine didn’t need to catch any grief for his previous visits to Scandals.

Blaine’s worried look just about killed Kurt so he leaned over and patted Blaine’s knee. “I’m sorry, Blaine,” Kurt whispered to him and then shifted back over to the other side of the seat.  Blaine crossed his arms and went back to staring at Kurt. Kurt sighed in surrender and frustration.

The rest of car ride back to Kurt’s home was sheer agony.

Will pulled the car up to the front of the house, and Finn and Rachel parked behind him.

“Kurt, come in the house now,” Rachel commanded, grabbing his arm and pulling him up the front steps. Kurt didn’t feel like arguing so he let her lead him.

The last place Kurt wanted to go was inside to face Will, Emma and Rachel. Finn, Sam and Blaine would also be there to witness his humiliation.

When they got into the house, Kurt moved to the sofa and sat upright with his arms crossed. Rachel was next to him wringing her hands. Emma sat in his father’s easy chair (although she didn’t look very easy doing it) and Will stood facing them all.

“We need to talk about what is going on with you, Kurt. This is not like you. You destroyed your room and it appears you were going to throw away all your lovely clothes,” Emma started.

So Emma was going to start the lecture. “Great,” Kurt thought. He sighed and turned his attention away from them all and walked to a picture of a waterfall on the wall that his father had picked out. Kurt thought the picture was hideous but his dad seemed to like it.

“Kurt, look at me,” Emma said, bringing him back to her. “This is a very serious matter.”

“It’s really none of your business, is it?” Kurt responded, his voice back to the lower pitch and tone as it was at Scandals. “You’re not the boss of me, are you?” Kurt winced at his own words. “Way too childish,” he thought. “Think, Kurt! Get these people out of here.”

Rachel looked appalled at Kurt. “Kurt, what is the matter with you?”

“Nothing getting YOU out of my life wouldn’t improve,” he yelled at her, pointing in her direction and stepping towards her with every sentence. “YOU with your free ticket to Broadway. YOU get your dream. YOU get into your school. YOU told me I wouldn’t need to worry about applying to anywhere else. I was a shoe-in to NYADA. You’re so good, Kurt. They’ll take you!” Kurt said in his best Rachel voice. “Well guess what, Rachel Berry? They didn’t take me! And now I have nowhere to go next year. Well, you won’t have to worry about me being your only competition now, will you? Are you happy now?” Kurt spit out the last words with a vengeance.

“Kurt, you would have gotten in…” Will started to say but realized something had slipped out that Carmen Thibideaux had said to him in their conversation last week.

“What do you mean?” Kurt said and got into Will’s face. “You know something. What is it?”

“Nothing, Kurt.” Will hemmed and hawed trying to find the right words. “What I was trying to say was you would have gotten in but choices had to be made and Rachel’s performance at Nationals was stellar.”

Rachel smiled at being called a star; she WAS stellar. Kurt spun around and stared her down. Her smile quickly disappeared and she said, “Carmen was going to be there, Kurt. I had to make up for choking in front of her. You understand, don’t you? It was so important for me to shine at Nationals so she could see the real star I truly am. Kurt, please don’t be mad at me,” she begged as she walked up to him. “Kurt?”

Kurt became very calm, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In those new clothes and makeup, it was a very scary sight indeed. Blaine was sitting on the floor in the corner with Finn and Sam, trying to stay out of the discussion but being there for moral support if Kurt wanted it. The last thing his boyfriend needed was getting ganged up on.

Kurt opened his eyes, and they were the steely gray of before. It was a bit disconcerting how Kurt’s eye color changed with his mood. He walked away from Will and looked out the window. “Wow, this is amazing. All the effort I put in New Directions, and I just get tossed away. How did I not see it before?” he said with a bitter laugh.

“Kurt…” Will pleaded.

“I am not finished!” Kurt yelled, and turned towards everyone. Taking another cleansing breath, he continued, “You are no longer my teacher, and you are in my home so you will listen to me. If you can’t do that, you can get the hell out,” he said, pointing to the door.

Finn and Sam looked at each other, mouths agape. Blaine just sat with his arms wrapped around his knees and rocking back and forth, praying this wouldn’t get violent. “This was my safe place,” he thought to himself desperately. Finn squeezed his arm comfortingly.

Will was looking slightly uncomfortable. Seeing Kurt like this unsettled him. “I am listening,” he said, crossing his arms.

“Thank you. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Kurt said, calming down. He started slowly pacing the room around Will. “Let me get all this straight. Because of my successful audition, I was going to be offered a place in NYADA. Then you talked to Carmen, Rachel sang her obligatory 2 solos, and I was bumped? For her?” he cried, pointing at Rachel. “So she gets to screw up and still get in, yet I had an almost perfect audition and it’s not good enough. Typical,” he snorted.

Rachel started crying. “That’s not how it went, Kurt! If you would only listen…”

Kurt dismissed her with a wave of his hand and turned back to Will. “That’s why she soloed on one song and had the girl’s solo on the other. I had, like 2 lines I shared with Blaine. That was it. Nothing else for me so I would shine. Nothing to make me look like I was important.”

Kurt was on a roll now. All the old hurts and grievances started to surface. “You never gave me any solos for any of the competitions. Oh no wait! I got to solo a couple of lines in ABC – A CHILDREN’S SONG!” Kurt was yelling again. “You gave Rachel the advantage at Nationals, but you ignored me,” he said and the fight in his voice disappeared.

Kurt fought back the tears. “How could you?” he broke down and started to cry.

Rachel moved to hug Kurt but he pushed her away. Blaine jumped up to comfort his boyfriend but was held back by Finn, who shook his head.

Kurt looked at the shocked faces of Will and Emma. He just had to get out of there. He tried to speak quietly with calm dignity, “Excuse me. I..I’m going to my room as I am tired. Please leave. I’ll talk to my parents when they get back. Good night.” He completely ignored Rachel and the boys in the room. Kurt turned to walk out of the room but started to run the minute he hit the doorway. He had to get away to his room before he lost it.

“Kurt, wait, your room. It’s…,” Emma called after him. She went to follow him up the stairs. Kurt reached his room first, ran inside, and slammed the door behind him, locking the door to shut them all out. Then he slowly turned around. He was shocked. As he surveyed the remains of his room, he sunk down to floor and started sobbing, curling into the fetal position.

*****

Emma returned downstairs to find Will sitting on the couch, Rachel in Finn’s arms, Sam trying to make himself invisible and Blaine in tears. She moved over to Will and said quietly, “We’ll need to talk to Burt and Carole about this. Kurt is a very disturbed boy right now.”

Blaine jumped up, angry and with tears streaming down his face. “Mr. Schue, Ms. P, with all due respect what in the hell are you talking about?” he asked angrily. Blaine always tried to be very polite with his elders, but right now he was hurting to badly for his boyfriend. He was sure he would regret this later, but he continued.

“First, Kurt was drunk. He’s not disturbed. And yes I know that drinking is evil and everything, but that’s not the point. Also, Kurt is hurting and feels betrayed, and frankly, I really don’t blame him,” he said, staring at Will and Rachel. “You know how he has struggled with acceptance since he joined the glee club. Finally, Kurt is a man, not a boy. He’s an adult, and I expect you to treat him as such. I wish everyone would just go away. I’ll take care of him.”

“Blaine, I realize you are upset right now, but Kurt’s behavior will need to be dealt with sooner than later,” Will said, putting his hand on Blaine’s shoulder.

Blaine rubbed his face and responded, “And it will be. Just not tonight. I think everyone needs to have a good sleep. Burt and Carole will be home tomorrow, and we can all go out for coffee. How does that sound?”

Emma joined them standing in the middle of the living room and agreed, “Yes, I think that is best. I trust that you will let Kurt’s parents know we wish to speak to them?” Blaine nodded. “Very well then. I know this is frowned upon in the school system, but I would like to give you a hug. Is that ok, Blaine?”

Will was shocked. Usually, Emma shied away from any physical contact from anyone but him. Her wanting to comfort this hurting boy was a huge step forward.

Blaine stepped into Emma’s waiting arms and hugged her tightly. He really did love these two. He was just a little angry at Will at the moment.

“Go take care of Kurt,” said Will reassuringly. “I think he could use his boyfriend now. Finn can see us out.”

“Goodnight,” said Blaine to everyone in the room and ran upstairs. He knocked on the bedroom door and tried to open it only to find it locked. He could hear Kurt sobbing on the other side, and his heart broke.

“Kurt, sweetie, it’s Blaine. Please let me in?” he said through the door.

“Go away, Blaine! I just want to be alone,” Kurt said with a shaky voice. His tough guy persona was all but gone. “Go sleep on the couch, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Blaine put his forehead against the locked door and begged, “Kurt, please? I’m not going anywhere, I’ll just camp out here if I have to.”

“Fine,” Kurt hiccupped.

Blaine turned with his back against the door and slid to the floor. Tears were still falling, and he didn’t think they would stop anytime soon. “I just want you to know that I’m here for you. I love you so much,” he said and slowly slid his fingers under the door.

At first he thought Kurt fell asleep, but then he felt fingers curl gently around his own.

“Stand away from the door Blaine, I’m letting you in.”

Blaine stiffly got up and Kurt cracked the door open. Kurt, kneeling on the floor, looked up at him. His eyes were red and swollen; black makeup ran down his cheeks.

“Hey,” said Blaine softly and let himself in. He locked the door behind him.

“Hey,” said Kurt, sniffing.

Blaine moved over to the bedside table and grabbed a box of tissues. He went over to Kurt and sat next to him against the door. He gently pulled Kurt over, grabbed some tissues and wiped the makeup off his face. He then kissed the new tears falling down his cheeks.

“Blaine, I’m in so much trouble. I’m scared,” said Kurt in a small voice. He sounded like he was 10 years old again.

Blaine wrapped his arms around his exhausted and upset boyfriend. “Shh, shh, come here, my love,” he said as Kurt wrapped himself around Blaine and started sobbing anew, putting his head on Blaine’s chest.

Blaine sat, with his head against the door. The tears were still flowing as he stroked Kurt’s hair and slowly rocked his boyfriend while he sang a few words slowly and quietly:

“I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world.”

That is how they remained until they both fell asleep, exhausted. They were two people against the world, and Blaine was always going to be there to fight side by side with Kurt Hummel, come what may.

***********

A/N: Poor Kurt! He’s not having a good day, is he? Thank goodness for Blaine. The song in this fic is a lesser known Pink song, called “Bad Influence”. As you probably have noticed, the chapter title is the name of the song in the story. We were originally going to do several songs a chapter, but we found that was a little too much.

Love you guys! Looking forward to your feedback!

Cruel Summer Chapter 2 - Everybody Hurts

Word Count: 7721/189,000

Rating: PG-13

Summary After Kurt was rejected from NYADA, we were dying to find out what happened next. We couldn't wait for the September premiere. Here is our take of what happened from the letter opening and beyond.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading guys! We got some great feedback already and the thing has only been out a day! We do have up to chapter 3 edited and ready to go so I am going to post chapter 2 today and 3 tomorrow. I am up to writing Chapter 7 with no end to this book in sight. Things just keep coming up with our boys! I (KurtsieKalanai or KK is fine) am going to meet the one and only Mr. Chris Colfer on Sunday so I am just a bit excited. 

Disclaimers: Neither AlignedStars nor KurtsieKalanai own Glee. If we did, we would break into song anywhere, even the bank. J Second, we don’t own the songs in the fic. We do use songs like the show but they fit into the story. Songs will be linked at the end of chapter. Third, this is AU so things do not work EXACTLY like canon. We try to stick to canon the best we can, however. Characters may be OOC, but there are reasons why. We get to meet an Original Character in this chapter!

So please, feedback, feedback! Our kingdom for some feedback!

Thanks: Yet again a hearty thanks to Wayne Kotke and the gang at Gleekast! Your feedback when we were developing this was invaluable! Love you guys!

---

As Kurt sped off to the mall, Blaine and Finn arrived at the Hudson-Hummel house. If they had been 30 seconds earlier, they might have been able to stop Kurt from his shopping excursion. It was interesting how such a simple thing could change the direction of what happened afterwards.

Blaine wanted to yell at Finn for his lack of concern over Kurt but figured he was probably dealing with Rachel’s getting in to NYADA and his rejection from Pace. Still, he was happy the tall boy was with him. Kurt would need all the support he could get.  He was a little concerned when he didn’t see Kurt’s SUV in the driveway but hoped it might be in the garage.

Finn was thinking the same thing and ran to the front door as soon as he left his car. Blaine joined him in the front foyer. “Kurt? Are you there?” yelled Finn as he took off his shoes. There was no answer.

“Dammit. I have a bad feeling here,” Finn said with dread. Finn, always the leader, took charge. 

“Blaine, can you check down here and the garage, and I’ll run upstairs. He might have his headphones on and not be able to hear us.”

Blaine was starting to panic. Kurt would have at least texted him to let him know he was going somewhere. He rushed through the lower floor and looked in the garage. The only car there was Burt’s old work truck. Burt and Carole Hudson-Hummel had flown out to D.C. on business that morning.

Blaine was about to go to the backyard to see if Kurt was lying on the hammock when he heard Finn yell, “Blaine? Dude, get the hell up here now!”

Blaine’s mind snapped to a worst case scenario. Kurt’s entire life for the past year was spent trying to get into NYADA. Blaine was scared what his boyfriend might do without direction. When Blaine was younger and had suffered a violent gay bashing at the Sadie Hawkins Dance, his mind went to some very dark places.  Almost three years later, he was still seeing a therapist. Kurt wasn’t getting anywhere near the help Blaine was receiving. He honestly didn’t know if Kurt could cope with all the disappointments.  Kurt was a strong person, but there were only so many times one’s resolve could be tested before it snapped.

Blaine ran up the stairs to Kurt’s room only to have Finn stop him at the door. “Don’t go in, there is glass everywhere,” Finn said protectively. “Can you grab my shoes and the broom? I’m going to call Mom and Burt.”

Blaine panicked and exclaimed, “Finn, his car is gone. Shit, where is he?” He went downstairs in a haze, grabbing Finn’s large sneakers and the broom and dustpan. He grabbed some garden gloves from the garage for good measure. There was no need for an emergency room situation.

Blaine sent Kurt another text:

Babe, where the hell are you? Call me please, I’m freaking out here!! 

Frustrated with no response, he headed back upstairs.

“Blaine,” Finn called. “That was Mom. Burt is in a meeting but they’ll get home as soon as they can,” he said as he took the broom and sneakers from Blaine. Finn looked in the trashed room and let out a low whistle. “What the HELL got into him?”

“I don’t know, but I gotta go look for him. I’m seriously wigging out here!” said Blaine, getting ready to head downstairs and out the door.

Finn’s phone vibrated. “Blaine, wait,” he commanded. He checked his messages and sighed. It was Mr. Schue, and he was on his way over with Ms. Pillsbury. That was all he needed right now.

“Is that Kurt?” asked Blaine, stopping halfway down the stairs.

“It’s Mr. Schue. He’s coming over. Mom must have called him,” said Finn, rubbing his face in frustration. He thought to himself, “I could have handled this. How could things go to shit so quickly? The day started so normal!”

“Well, I’m heading out to look for him,” Blaine said as he got to the bottom of the steps. “Call me if you hear anything.”

“Blaine!” Finn yelled. Blaine stopped at the door and looked back, exasperated. Why did Finn always think he was in charge? Blaine was going to dismiss him but Finn continued “It might be a good idea to wait here for a bit. Schue is coming over and I’m going to call everyone to keep an eye for Kurt. Besides, we really should clean this mess.”

Blaine let out a heavy sigh but slowly started heading back up the stairs. From what he saw from the bedroom door, they had a pretty big job ahead of them. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a very good view of the whole room from the door. It was far worse than he had imagined. When the boys entered the room, tears sprang up in Blaine’s eyes.

Almost everything Kurt considered precious was destroyed. All the special things he kept on his shelves were violently thrown into boxes.  His Junior Prom crown and scepter were snapped in half. His Thunderclap was ripped to shreds and thrown in the corner. His certificates and pictures were ripped in half. His creams and moisturizers were thrown in his garbage can. His carefully-marked Vogue collection was dumped in the middle of the floor. His walk-in closet, the most sacred of sacred spaces, was almost empty. Most of his clothes were stuffed unceremoniously in garbage bags, and wooden hangers were tossed about the floor. The only things left intact were 2 picture frames. One was a picture of Kurt’s family, the other a picture of the two of them from the Senior Prom.

Blaine stepped over a pile of the broken glass, taking care not to step on the shards and grind them into the carpet. Kurt had picked out this carpet; he was so proud of his color choice and how it coordinated with the curtains and paint.  Looking around the walls, he noticed Kurt had pulled down the curtains. “Oh, Kurt!” Blaine gasped. He suddenly felt overwhelmed and let out a small sob at what he saw next. Shattered on the ground was the framed picture of the New Directions after winning their National Championship. The frame had ‘Best Friends’ emblazoned on the top. The shattered glass severely scratched the picture, destroying it.

“GODDAMN IT!” Blaine thundered, punching the wall. Thankfully it didn’t damage the already trashed room. He left the room and sat on the top step. Something in him broke and he started sobbing in earnest.

Finn, who was also taking stock of the damage, followed him to the stairs and sat down beside him. He put his arm around the man he had come to love like a brother. Hell, someday he might even become his brother-in-law, depending on the state laws of Ohio. “Blaine, buddy, c’mon. I’m sure he is ok. Once everyone gets here we will go looking for him, alright?” Finn said, trying to sooth his dapper friend.

Blaine suddenly wrapped his arms around Finn awkwardly and was wracked with sobs. “Finn, I should have b-been here. I just left him alone just li-like everyone else in his life. This is all my f-fault.”

Finn wrapped his arms around his friend and scolded, “Don’t be stupid, bro. I am sure none of us ever imagined he would do this. C’mon…its fine.” He let Blaine cry for a while, until there was a knock on the front door.

“Come in!” Finn yelled from the top of the stairs.

Will entered, followed by Emma Pillsbury. Finn waved them upstairs. Will came up and at Finn’s urging, took a look in Kurt’s room. Emma followed and gave a small gasp at the mess.

“Our Kurt did this!?” Emma exclaimed, shocked.

“Yeah, kinda crazy, huh?” said Finn, still holding a crying Blaine. At least his sobs were quiet, not the wracking sobs of before. Even Finn was fighting the tears brimming in his eyes.

“Let me take Blaine downstairs,” offered Emma. She gently helped Blaine stand up and go down the stairs to the living room. She sat Blaine on the couch and held him. Blaine let out all the emotions tormenting him. Emma was proud of herself for dealing with all of Blaine’s tears. “So what if they got on my blouse? I’m going to cope. Yes, I’m growing stronger every day. Maybe I could handle children, after all. Yay, crying teens! I can do this!” she thought gleefully.

Back upstairs, Finn was quietly breaking down. His Mom and Burt were away, and they depended on their boys to take care of their house. Not only was one room practically written off, Kurt was missing, his boyfriend was having a nervous breakdown downstairs, and there was Rachel and her decision to skip NYADA for a year. It was all too much.

“Mr. Schue, I don’t know what to do,” he said in a small, desperate voice.

Will pulled him up and informed, “First of all, we’ll leave this mess till later. Then we’ll contact the gang and call an emergency meeting.”  

“We can plan a search grid,” Finn offered. He was back in his element.

Will continued, “Until the others arrive, you are going to rest. You need to build up your strength.”

Finn nodded in agreement. This was a great plan!

“Come downstairs. I’m sure Blaine would appreciate your company,” Will said. It was the best way to get things back under control.

Finn followed Will down the stairs and entered the living room. Blaine was lying down with a blanket, his eyes closed, and he was barely awake. He was emotionally and mentally exhausted. Emma was in the kitchen, making tea for everyone. Will sat Finn in the armchair, encouraged him to relax and turned on the sports channel.

Will joined Emma in the kitchen. “They are both resting.” He walked up and hugged his fiancée from behind. “Emma, this is bad.”

Emma turned to her intended, the tea abandoned. “I know. This is not like Kurt at all,” she said in her quiet voice as she nervously played with a button on his shirt.

“All I know is we have to find him and soon. Can you help me contact everyone?” he asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “These guys are only kids…they shouldn’t have to deal with all of this.” Will waved his arms around almost tossing the phone by accident. He never pictured in his wildest dreams that Kurt would snap like that. Frankly, it terrified him. Of all the New Directions, Kurt seemed to be one of the more sane members.

Emma grabbed Will arms and placed them calmly back down. “Of course, sweetie,” she whispered.

They had to find Kurt today. They just had to.

*****

Kurt went shopping. He did so much shopping that his credit card was smokin’ by the time he was done. Luckily, he got a generous graduation gift from his grandparents, so that should cover the bill before his Dad killed him.

The sad part was out of all the clothes and accessories he bought, it didn’t even come close in price to one of his old outfits. What a waste his old life had been. From now on, he was buying only affordable and simple clothing. Form over fashion. Practicality was the word of the day.

He decided to take a break in shopping and check out the hair salon in the mall. It looked passable for his needs. The wall paper was terrible and the trim didn’t match. Kurt snapped out of his thoughts. “This is a new world you are in, Kurt Hummel. Stop being so gay!” he reprimanded himself.

His stylist was going to kill him but…

“Oh screw it, and screw her,” he mumbled as he entered the shop with his bags. Luckily it wasn’t very busy so they were able to fit him in right away.

As soon as he sat in the salon chair he said, “Cut it all off. No wait! Leave an inch…and I want it black.”

The stylist looked at him like he was going nuts. This severely stylish boy, who she was sure went to a salon that cost at least three times what they charged, was sitting in the chair asking to have his gorgeous hair cut off and colored black. What the hell was he thinking?

“Are you sure?” she said, hesitantly. “Black is a pretty severe col…”

“I said black!” Kurt snapped then a little less stern, requested, “Please.”

After a moment’s reflection, Kurt introduced himself. After all, this was the woman who might be touching up his roots in the future.

The rest of the time in the chair went quietly. Kurt was not disagreeable when the stylist asked him questions, but he kept his answers short. He also avoided talking about his old life. That was gone now. He wasn’t rude, Kurt was just…well, curt.

 “Kurt, would you mind if I styled it a bit? I have an idea that would look great,” asked the stylist.

“Sure, why not?” Kurt said, shrugging.

When she was finished, she spun around the chair and let Kurt check out his new look. His brown hair was gone. The waves, gone. The result shocked Kurt, but not in an entirely bad way. His hair was jet black and about an inch long. She had used lots of product so the small amount of hair he had left stood in spikes.

“Wow, thanks!” said Kurt, turning his head and looking at it from every angle. Yes, that would do just fine.

The stylist wrote a name down on a business card.  “If you change your mind, and you will eventually, here is the name of a product that will strip that black right off. Or you could come here. I would be happy to help. Truth be told Kurt, it just about killed me to cut that hair, but it is what you wanted, right?” she asked. Getting rid of that black was a huge pain in the ass, but it could be done. And the hair would grow back.

“Exactly. Thanks…I’m sorry, I didn’t even catch your name. That was rude of me, wasn’t it?” said Kurt, handing over his credit card.

“No prob. It’s Carla,” she said, swiping his card and giving him the receipt. He gave her a large tip. He liked her and she did a good job on his hair.

“Well, Carla, till next time,” Kurt said and gave her a smart salute. “Sorry about earlier, I’m just a bit stressed right now.”

“Gotcha. Well if you need anything else, my number is on the card,” she said, pointing out the phone number on the business card.

“Later,” said Kurt, leaving the salon with his new look. He paused by a mall mirror wall and studied his new look.  It was a bit weird and a shocking contrast, with his new black spiky hair and his haute couture clothing. He would take care of the clothing soon enough.

 

*****

Artie Abrams was a man on a mission. He was shopping for a new pair of gloves to use with his chair. He had misplaced the left glove yesterday and needed to find a new set, pronto! He had asked Brittany along as she could be so handy. She could drive surprisingly well, lift him in and out of the car and into his chair, and pull down things that were out of reach. The fact she was great arm candy was a plus.  “That girl is amazing!” Artie thought, still pining away for her. “She was my first. Well, my only, but that could change. Actually, a lot was going to change. Next year I’ll be on top! I’ll run the New Directions, direct the school musical and take the lead role in it, and maybe conduct the Jazz band too! Senior year, I will rule!” 

Artie was knocked out of his daydream by the sight of Kurt. “What the hell?” he exclaimed. “What did you do with your hair?”

“Who is that new boy?” Brittany whispered into his ear.

“It’s Kurt, Brittany. Honestly, can’t you tell?” Artie snapped back trying not to use the stupid word with her. Sometimes it was so hard to hold back.

“Hi Brittany. It’s me, your unicorn, except now I’m your Evil Dark Overlord!” Kurt chimed in sarcastically spreading his arms dramatically, and he could tell she was even more confused than normal. 

Poor Brittany. It was too much for her, and she looked like she might start crying.

“Oh Kurt, did you get attacked by Vampires?” she asked, taking note of his black hair.

Kurt couldn’t help himself and said in a low, scary voice, “Yes, Brittany, and I may need to feed again.”

Brittany cringed in fear. “I’m both terrified and a little turned on right now, Vampire Kurt,” she said in a deadpan voice.

Kurt chuckled, amused at Brittany’s naïve thinking. “Oh, don’t worry. Vampires only drink coffee during the day. Could you go get me a mocha?” he asked, handed Brittany a ten dollar bill and watched her as she scurried off to get him a coffee.

“Kurt, that was mean. Do have any idea how long it will take Brittany to figure out you’re not really a vampire? It could take years! Why did you do that?” Artie exclaimed. This was not like Kurt at all. He could be sarcastic, but never mean!

“Oh, she’ll get over it,” Kurt said, laughing. “She has the memory of a goldfish. I doubt I’ll get a mocha. She’ll probably bring me back a muffin, and that is why she’ll be a five year senior.” It WAS a little mean to Brittany, but he didn’t feel like being nice to anyone right now.

“Well, that was uncalled for,” Artie scolded, “You’ll have to apologize to her when she gets back.”

Kurt stiffened up, anger coursing throughout his face. He crossed his arms. “I WILL, after you apologize to me.”

“Why? What for?”

Kurt leaned over so he was right in Artie’s face. Kurt growled, “Why did you give me the only non-singing role in West Side Story? Why did you laugh at me when Rachel and I performed Romeo and Juliet? You didn’t even let me read for Tony. And why did you roll over my foot when Blaine danced with me while he sang Last Friday Night? Don’t you dare think I didn’t find out that you had planned for me to wear an apron during the PBS special or that I wasn’t going to sing in it either; Blaine told me. Didn’t you think he would? He also told me about the whole ‘have you had sex yet’ debacle you asked him and Rachel. Are you really that STUPID?” 

Kurt stood up and took a deep breath. He felt power surge through his veins. Yes, he was back in charge.  He lifted his head up and gave Artie his best “I’m superior to you” look.

Artie looked back at him in surprise. He adjusted his glasses and tried to stare Kurt down. Tried being the operative word here.

Artie knew he was going to have to say something to save face. It was awn!! He began by lecturing, “First, you don’t sing. You screech. Your high notes sound like fingernails scratching on a chalkboard.” Kurt just squinted at him, so he continued, “Second, you can’t act because if you think what you are doing is acting then all your characters are gay. Tony isn’t gay by the way. Third, booty camp had no effect on your dancing. You still dance gay. I am in a wheelchair and I can dance better than you!” Artie figured he might as well tell all, he had nothing to lose after all. It’s not like Kurt was coming back in September, right? He would be in New York. “And finally, you wear girl clothes all the time so why would wearing an apron bother you?  We all know you are the girl in your relationship with Blaine,” he finished smugly.

Kurt’s eye grew wide with anger. “I am NOT the girl. I am not A girl! You don’t know anything about us, and it’s none of your business anyway.” Kurt had to fight the urge to keep from dumping Artie out of his wheel chair and stomping on him.

Artie just gave him a “don’t mess with me” look. It was a brave front, as he was a little scared of this new Kurt.

“So, Wheels, do me a favor and take your boy-band singing, hip hop loving, gangsta speaking posterior away from my face, cause I’m going to pull a Tana and go all Lima Heights on your ass!” said Kurt, stepping forward threateningly.

Good thing Brittany came back carrying lemonade and a pretzel before there was an actual altercation. Kurt grabbed the lemonade and dumped it on Artie. 

He turned to Brittany and said, “You can keep the pretzel, Brittany.” Her eyes widened. He turned back to Artie. “I’m going to take you down,” he almost purred with pleasure, and then marched off towards the fountain where Tina had her accident.

Artie wiped the lemonade out of his eyes. Goddamn it, that stung! Before he rolled off to the bathroom to clean up the mess, he received a text on his phone.

Has anyone seen Kurt? He is missing. Emergency meeting at Finn’s House. 

Artie quickly sent a text back:

Yes. Was at the mall. Don’t know where he went. With Brit. Will be there in a few.  

“Let’s go, Brit, there’s something crazy going on here,” he said as he rolled away. Britney followed, confused, wondering why her unicorn turned into Lord Voldemort.

*****

This day was just getting worse and worse, but Kurt really didn’t care anymore. That argument with Artie was a long time coming, and he really didn’t give a shit whether they would talk again. The less he needed to see that puffed up, egotistical Vanilla Ice wannabe the better.

His time at the mall had come to an end. So far, so good! There were a few things left to get and he would find them at the drug store. He rested in a massage chair by the fountain. Blaine loved these things. His love bordered on obsession, actually. Every time the couple went to the mall, Blaine spent at least a half hour on the things. It couldn’t be good for the back!  Kurt checked the time and tried to figure out what to do next when his phone vibrated with a message.

Either he wasn’t paying attention, or the vibration function on his phone wasn’t working, or maybe he just didn’t care, because he noticed about 10 messages pending, all from members of the New Directions.

Dude, what the hell happened? – Finn

Kurt, please call me. I am so worried. – Rachel

Boo, get your ass back here and talk to us. – Mercedes

Give me a call as soon as you can. Hope you are OK. – Will

Quit Screwing arond. Where R u? Im gonna beat your ass. OK I wont but I shood- Puck

I’m not driving or walking. Where are you, Kurt? Don’t answer if you are driving. - Quinn

Kurt deleted every one without answering. He would go home when he damn well felt like it, and now was not the time. However, when he reached the frantic messages from Blaine, he almost responded. He knew he wasn’t being fair to his boyfriend, and Blaine was the only person he didn’t want to go to hell. He pushed those guilty feeling aside. He was his own person and not accountable to anyone. Blaine would just need to get over it.

There was one more message, from Carole.

Kurt, please contact your brother. We are on our way home.

“Seriously? Might as well crawl under a rock and die,” Kurt thought as he rolled his eyes. He was trying to imagine how much shit he was going to catch from his Dad.

“Well, if I don’t go home, I don’t get in trouble right?” he murmured to himself as he put his phone in his pocket. He grabbed his bags and went to his SUV to figure out where to go next.

 As he got in the car and turned the key, the radio began playing ABC’s “Poisoned Arrow”.  It was fate! He knew exactly where he needed to go next.

 *****

Once people started arriving, Blaine was startled awake from his nap. He instantly checked his phone for messages. Nothing. Not a thing. Why was Kurt doing this to him? Looking around he realized he was alone. Finn had moved from the armchair. Hearing quiet voices in the kitchen, he went out to join them. Rachel was in Finn’s arms, and Mercedes, Quinn, and Sam were there as well.

“Sorry if we woke you, Boo,” said Mercedes, going over to Blaine to give him a hug. “Have you heard from him?”

“You didn’t wake me and no, I haven’t received any messages. Frankly, I’m really worried. Someone should have seen him by now. It’s not as if Lima is that large of a city,” said Blaine with a shaky voice. He was constantly on the verge of tears and had to breathe deep to keep calm.

“I saw Kurt’s bedroom. What in the hell happened up there?” asked Sam. Blaine shrugged because he was as baffled as everyone else.

“I did send him a text. I wasn’t driving or walking when I did it,” Quinn volunteered.

“Mom and Burt couldn’t get a flight until the morning, but they are on their way,” said Finn stoically. Rachel was sobbing against his chest.

“I suppose I should go upstairs and start cleaning up,” said Blaine numbly as he made his way to the stairs.

“You don’t have to. Ms. Pillsbury and Schue are up there right now. They want us to wait for everyone to arrive so we can spread out and look for Kurt,” said Finn. He was trying to get Rachel to sit down and have some coffee, but she was having none of it.

“I’ll go anyhow, they need to know where to put everything,” he said sadly. “At least everything that wasn’t shattered into a million pieces.”

Blaine trudged up the stairs to find Will and Emma clearing the glass and other messes from the floor. Well, Will was cleaning up the messes.  Emma was supervising him from one area to another. She hadn’t brought enough gloves to help with the entire mess. In fact, she had run out minutes after starting the job. Twelve pairs were simply not enough!

Blaine couldn’t believe what awesome human beings these two people were. He’d never had an authority figure in his life show any sort of compassion to kids under their charge.

Will had welcomed Blaine into the school as one of their own, given him solos, listened to his suggestions and visited him at the hospital after his surgery.  He never became cross at Blaine even when he leaked their set list to the Warblers by mistake. Blaine thought for sure they would kick him out of New Directions, especially after Kurt had told him about Jesse St. James and the betrayal that followed. He was genuinely surprised and touched by Will’s acceptance.

He liked Emma, too. She was always friendly to him, but he wasn’t too sure about her qualifications. Still, Kurt liked her a lot so Blaine was good with going to see her once in a while.    

He knocked on the door frame. “Hey, Ms. P and Mr. Schue. I came to help. I can find places for everything. I know how Kurt kept his things.”

“Wonderful, Blaine,” said Will, picking up the shredded yearbook. “Thanks. If you find a spot for his clothes that would be great.” Will moved over to where Emma was standing and showed her the destroyed book and asked, “Can we get another one of these?” Emma nodded. She would get a replacement yearbook for Kurt right away.

Blaine moved over to the closet. About 80 percent of Kurt’s wardrobe was ripped from the hangers and was either lying on the floor or shoved unceremoniously into large black garbage bags. This was one area that even Blaine was barely allowed to enter. Kurt treated his clothes like children! What made him do this?

“Mr. Schue?” he called from the closet. “It looks like he was getting ready to throw out his clothes. The family has a spare room in the basement. I’ll put the clothes down there. They’re way too valuable to throw away.”

“That’s a good idea. I’m not sure what happened, but we really need to talk to him about this. He would never do this to his clothes,” said Will as he turned to a teary Blaine. “You know what? Don’t worry about helping. Emma and I have it. Can you order some pizzas for when everyone comes? Here’s my credit card. This might be a long night so order plenty, and send Finn up for the rest of the bags.”

“If I can get Rachel detached from him, sure,” said Blaine with a small smile. He grabbed a couple of the fuller bags and brought them to the basement spare room. On his way down, he asked Finn to go up and help get the rest of the clothes to the basement. Rachel didn’t want to let him go, but Finn insisted.

While Finn was upstairs, a few more New Directions members arrived. Santana and Puck, along with Sugar and Rory turned up at the same time. Tina and Mike sent a text that they were on their way, but they wanted to sweep their neighborhood first for Kurt’s Navigator.  Joe couldn’t make it as he was on the planning committee for his church’s Vacation Bible School, but he was praying for Kurt and his safe return. They were all very sympathetic to Blaine and were sincerely worried for Kurt.

After dropping off the clothes, Blaine ushered everyone into the living room for an update, although there wasn’t much to tell, and to find out who wanted what for pizza. After listening to everyone squabble over what type of pizza to order, Blaine gave up and called in an order of half pepperoni and half cheese pizzas, with one vegetarian for Rachel. There was no pleasing anyone, especially this gang. He was amazed that New Directions could even get through a musical number without arguing. The Warblers were so much more agreeable. He sat at the kitchen table more irritated than anything else. “What was the matter with these people? More worried about their stomachs than Kurt,” he thought angrily.

Blaine didn’t think it was the NYADA letter that made Kurt do this. There was something else; something else he was not letting on. He let out a shaky sigh and rubbed his face. He sent his mother a text letting her know that he was going to be home late and might stay the night at Rachel’s. He never let on that his sleepovers were more than likely at Kurt’s. Rachel and her Dads were cool about covering for him. It didn’t really matter anyhow. His Dad was out of town as usual, and his Mom didn’t really care where he was. It made things easier, he supposed.

“Hey Broccoli-head, have you heard from Kurt?” said Santana as she entered the kitchen, peering in the fridge for a soda. “I know Artie and Brit are at the mall, so they’ll keep their eyes peeled.”

“No, and I think I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown,” said Blaine. The old anxiety he had before meeting Kurt was creeping back.

Santana sat at the table and grabbed Blaine’s hand. “Hey, B, chill. Kurt is a strong dude. He’ll be ok. We’ll find him. Why don’t you give the Dalton guys a call, and they can join in the search, too. Besides, as soon as I find him I am going to give him a good sound ass-kicking.”

“Charming, Santana. You are ever the lady,” said Blaine with a small smile and a subtle bow. “I shall hold Kurt down for you so you may administer that ass-kicking to its fullest potential. Seriously, I’m really worried about him.”

“I am, too,” said Santana, patting his hand and getting up. “Come on, short stuff. We are all gathering in the living room to figure out a plan of attack. We’re just waiting for my girlfriend and her wheelchaired sidekick.” She gave him a giant smile and walked out of the kitchen.

Blaine was about to follow when he felt his phone vibrate. “Kurt!” he thought as he checked. It was from Artie. Speak of the devil.

 Yes. Was at the mall. Don’t know where he went. With Brit. Will be there in a few.  

Followed by a second text.

Need to change my clothes. Something whack is going on. Will explain when we get there.

Brittany’s text was slightly more confusing.

Do you have Garlic?

Blaine wanted to cry out in relief. Kurt was okay. He was at the mall. It still didn’t explain why he wasn’t answering his phone or texts. They would still go out and search, but knowing Kurt was okay brought down Blaine’s anxiety about a million degrees. He wasn’t sure why Artie wanted to change, but hey, whatever he wanted, right? And maybe Brittany liked garlic on her pizza. Wait, how would she know about the pizza? Blaine brushed that last thought from his mind.

He ran into the living room excitedly. Everyone was making small talk. “Artie just texted me. He saw Kurt at the mall. He’s okay!”

The looks of relief on his friend’s faces were comforting. So maybe everyone was as worried about Kurt’s crazy disappearance as Blaine was. “Unfortunately, the mall is now closed, so I have no idea where he went next. Artie is on his way with Brittany and will explain everything.” Finn bolted upstairs to let Will and Emma know the good news.

“Well, it looks like I lost my title as resident crazy,” Quinn said offhandedly. Everyone in the room shot daggers at her. “What? No one can take a joke?” she said, shrugging.

“Not the time, Quinn,” warned Santana. Blaine was surprised at the compassion Santana was showing Kurt lately.

There were no chairs available, so Blaine practically collapsed on the floor. Rachel, who was once again Finn-less, moved over to where he was sprawled on the floor. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder. Kurt was her best friend and she knew him a lot longer than Blaine did. “Worst…day…ever,” she murmured into his shoulder.

“You said it, Rach,” answered Blaine resting his head on top of hers.

Puck sat in the corner, fiddling with his hands. “My boy Kurt is out there dammit! All we are doing is sitting here wasting time!” he thought. “Guys, can we please get this started? I’m going crazy here,” he said to the other New Directions in the room.

Finn came back down the stairs and hearing Puck asserted himself. “I know dude, but we need to make sure we have the energy to do this. I promise as soon as the pizza comes we will head out.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” said Puck in a huff. He looked over to Sam, who was playing around with his old guitar. “Sam, mind if I tune it? Sounds a little flat.”

Sam shrugged and passed over the guitar. It was a gift from Finn and Rachel when his parents lost their jobs. He had to sell it off to pay rent, and his two friends bought it back. That thing was one of the most precious things he owned. He passed it over, stood up and started pacing. He was really worried about this uncharacteristic act of Kurt. Kurt was there for him when Sam needed people the most. Granted, the clothes he gave Sam were a little out there, but the thought was very touching.

Puck started plucking the strings, refining the notes even further than Sam had. “That dude’s good!” thought Sam to himself. He thought the guitar was perfectly tuned, but Puck made it sound even purer.

Blaine was sitting on the floor, cuddling with Rachel, talking softly to her. Puck felt he had to do SOMETHING before he went nuts. Flashing through Puck’s mind were the few weeks he spent at Juvie, picking up trash on the side of the road. Inspiration hit and he started singing to Blaine.

“When your day is long and the night
And the night is yours alone
When you’re sure you’ve had enough of this life
Hang on
Don’t let yourself go
Everybody cries and everybody hurts
Sometimes”

Puck looked at Sam and Finn, encouraging them to join in with singing. While they were singing, they were thinking of the pains of their respective lives. Sam thought about sitting in a hotel room, wishing for his guitar and watching his little brother and sister while his parents went looking for jobs. Finn’s mind went back to the beginning of the school year, where he watched Shane being recruited for the college scholarship. Finn sang the background while he looked sadly at everyone.

“Sometimes everything is wrong
And now it’s time to sing along
When you day is night alone (hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go (hold on)
When you think you’ve had too much of this life , well hang on
Everybody hurts
Take comfort in your friends. Everybody Hurts”

Puck moved over to Santana and Mercedes, who were holding hands. The boys stopped singing while the ladies took over. Santana sang, pouring out her pain that was still very real. She thought of her abuela, who had yet to talk to her after she threw Santana out of her house.

“Don’t throw your hand. Oh,no
Don’t throw you hand
If you feel like you’re alone”

Mercedes waved her hand signaling that she got this. Her mind thought back to the time she was forced to diet to remain on the Cheerios. Yes, she was a proud black woman, but she was always self conscious about her weight. And as nice as Sue Sylvester had become, back then she took advantage of Mercedes’ insecurities.

“No, no, no, you are not alone”

Quinn took over with her clear, thin voice. She thought back to the time her father kicked her out when she told her parents she was pregnant. Her parents had since divorced, and her relationship with her mother was somewhat repaired, but the hurt was all too real.

“If you’re on your own in this life
The days and nights are long”

Puck slowly walked over to Quinn and joined in, giving silent support with his body language. He was the reason she went through the hell she did 2 years ago. Because of this, they would always have a bond.

“When you think you’ve had too much of this life to hang on
Well, everybody hurts sometimes”

Finally, Puck slowly walked over to Blaine and Rachel, who were still holding each other, tears streaming down their faces. They both stood up and took over for Quinn and Puck, holding hands. Rachel was thinking about being alone in New York. It wasn’t supposed to be like this! Blaine thought about Kurt, out in Lima alone, doing goodness knows what.

“Everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes”

The rest of the New Directions joined in, thinking about their own personal pains. Rory was thinking about his family back in Ireland, and also about missing this family he made in the US. Sugar thought about the Troubletones and how they lost Regionals. She made so many friends in this group, though, and looked forward to ruling the group next year. Mike thought about the incident earlier in the year when his dad essentially disowned him. That was the most pain he had ever felt, that he had failed in his father’s eyes. Since then, they had reconciled and his father had become his biggest fan. Lastly, Tina felt the pain of constantly having to live under Rachel’s shadow, and the freak accident in the fountain.

The entire group came together in the last emotional chorus. As they sang, Will and Emma came down the stairs, looking proudly at their charges. Emma had a tear in her eye and Will put his arm around her. This was his family, and he couldn’t be prouder of the support everyone was giving Blaine.

“So hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
(Hold on, hold on)”

Puck took the last two lines, singing directly to Blaine.

“Everybody hurts
You are not alone”

As he finished the song, Puck passed the guitar back to Sam and stood in front of Blaine. Blaine’s face was wet with tears, and he was overcome with love for these people. No one had EVER been there for him like the New Directions were. He brought Puck into a bone crushing hug and whispered, “Thank you Puck. For everything.”

Puck answered, fighting tears, “You are family, dude, get used to it.”

After the boys finished their hug, Blaine turned to the rest of the group. “Thank you. This means a lot to me. Sometimes it’s hard to realize that other people are hurting too. I love you all,” he said as he started to gather everyone for a group hug. They all came together in love and worry for one of their best friends. Will and Emma joined the outside of the large knot of friends and added to the group hug.

They all sat, quietly talking until the pizza arrived. “It feels like I am at a funeral,” Blaine thought bitterly. Mercifully, before he could dwell on it any longer, the doorbell rang signaling the arrival of the pizza. Artie and Brittany hadn’t arrived yet, but the pizza smelled so good and the kids were all so hungry, they dug in.

While they were eating, they split themselves into pairs and assigned each other areas to look. Since Finn was going to hold down the fort, Rachel volunteered to go with Blaine to talk to the Warblers at Dalton. It was the end of the school year, but their classes didn’t let out until next week, so they would all be there.

“Artie and Brit are here,” Quinn called out. She had taken up watch at the front window. 

The boys ran outside to help Artie with his chair and carry him in to the house.

“Tell us what happened,” Blaine demanded.

“Let me catch my breath,” Artie commanded. He loved being the center of attention.

Blaine was ready to kill him!

“My Unicorn turned into He-who-must-not-be-named,” said Brittany to no one in particular. In her arms was Lord Tubbington, her morbidly obese gray tiger cat. “LT is a master tracker. Give me something of Kurtsie’s to sniff and he will follow him till he’s found!” she said with joy.

Blaine looked at her with confusion. He loved her very much, but why the hell was she talking about Unicorns and Voldemort? Sometimes he needed a translator to figure her out. He shook his head and looked at Artie. “You said you saw Kurt? What took you so long?”

“I had to change and clean up my lemonade facial…”

“Which is like a slushie facial but tartier,” interrupted Brittany.

“Tartier just like you, Brit?” quipped Puck. That got a hard smack in the arm by Santana. “Ow! Dammit, Santana, I was just kidding!”

Artie wheeled into the living room and spotted the pizza. The gang had made sure to save some for their late friends. “Sweet, thanks for the ‘za, guys!” he said, grabbing a couple pieces.

“Artie…Kurt?” said Blaine impatiently.

“Oh shit, sorry, Blaine,” he said with a mouth full of pizza. He swallowed and continued, “Yeah, I saw him at the mall coming out of a shop with a bunch of bags. He and I had some strong words. They were pretty hurtful on both ends. I might regret some of it, but there are some things that I stand behind. His dancing really IS bad. Every dance move is a shimmy. I probably should have been more tactful in my approach. He got pissed off and dumped a large lemonade on my head. Then he stomped off in a huff.”

“What the hell…” said Blaine looking around the room. Everyone had some pretty shocked looks on their faces.

Brittany walked over to Santana and hugged her as she asked, “Tana, is Kurt going to get into a fight with werewolves?”

Santana wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and kissed her forehead. “Don’t be silly Brit; no he won’t,” she said gently. Blaine was amazed at the relationship those two women had. It was almost magical the way the fiery Latina understood the flighty blonde.

Realizing he was no longer the center of attention, Artie began waving his arms and said, “Blaine, there is something I need to tell you. It’s just that Kurt….”

Artie was interrupted by Blaine’s phone ringing. On the caller ID was S. Smythe. “Excuse me guys,” he said, leaving the room for quiet. “Sebastian, this really isn’t a good time. What in the hell do you want? I thought I told you I don’t want you to call anymore.”

“Well if it isn’t Sex-on-a-stick!” drawled the voice on the other end. “Did you miss me?”

“NO,” Blaine snapped. “Again, what do you want? If you won’t tell me, this call is over,” he added. He was tempted to hit the end call button anyhow. This dude had some balls, that’s for sure.

“Testy, aren’t we? Well I would suggest you get your tight ass down to our favorite friendly neighborhood gay bar, because there is something down here that belongs to you.”

“Please tell me, what in the hell would I want at Scandals. I have Kurt,” said Blaine sarcastically. He really disliked this slimeball.

“Well, I spy with my exceptionally gorgeous blue eyes someone by the name of Gayface,” Sebastian retorted.

Kurt.

“Keep him there! I’m on my way!” he said, rushing into the living room.

“Looking forward to it, sweet cheeks,” Sebastian said and chuckled. “Karofsky is here too. If I were you, I would hurry. Kurt might be snatched up before you get here. You might find him laid out on the bar like a smorgasbord feast for all the patrons to enjoy. Our little boy has all grown up. I think you are about to lose your sex-on-a-stick title to your boyfriend, big boy.”

Blaine ended the call and saw that his friends were waiting expectantly. “Kurt… Scandals... Sebastian… gotta go…” he said breathlessly.

“What?” Mr. Shue asked and looked puzzled at Emma. Emma shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea what Blaine was talking about.

Santana left Brittany talking to Mercedes about the Troubletones and joined Blaine. “I’m coming, too. I have a fake ID. They love me down there!” she exclaimed.

“Down where?” asked Will, completely confused. Everyone laughed because they knew what Blaine was talking about. Poor Will and Emma! They had no clue about some of Lima’s more seedy night life attractions.

“We’ll be back with Kurt soon, guys,” said Blaine, grabbing Santana’s arm and pulling her out the door. “Finn, start an X-Box tournament or something.”

“Sweet!” Finn said, jumping up from the couch and running upstairs to get his game system.

Rachel had a sour look on her face. Those dumb video games were a waste of time. He should be working on his voice and dancing so he could audition next year. But at least her best friend was coming back home.

***************

YouTube Link for Everybody Hurts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijZRCIrTgQc