Will knew it was a terrible idea, making out with Finn in the choir room. But they had only been together for a few months, and like many new couples had trouble keeping their hands off each other. Will figured if they kept the door locked and avoided being in view of the door window, everything would be fine.

What Will hadn't been counting on was Sue installing a security camera, with permission from a blackmailed Figgins. He also hadn't counted on her insisting on monitoring it personally. It was this lack of insight which led to him sat in Figgins' office, eyes glassed over with tears next to a smug looking Sue and a stern, angry and disappointed principal.

"Why is she here?" Will croaked, his voice thick with fear. He didn't want Sue to see this; to witness more of his humiliation than she already had.

"Sue was the one who brought this issue to my attention, William." Figgins retorted, quietly seething. "The real question here is why you thought this behaviour would be acceptable from a teacher. Starting an inappropriate relationship with a student William? I expected better from you!"

To be honest, Will had expected better from himself before all this. In the few weeks between Finn admitting his attraction to him and the start of their relationship, Will had attempted to dissuade him multiple times; all the while struggling with his own attraction to the teenager. After persistent advances and pleading from Finn, Will had caved, and the two hadn't looked back. Until that moment, that is.

"-seems clear to me there's a pattern here." Sue's rant brought him back to the present. "Sexual deviants, posing as teachers, using the Glee club to take advantage of the sexually confused students such a program naturally attracts. I dread to think what would have happened to poor K had he not joined the Cheerios and strengthened under my guidance. I recommend that in addition to William's dismissal and arrest, that the club be cancelled and all the students given thorough counselling by a fully qualified professional – and not the redhead."

One word in particular jumped out at him, "Arrest?" he asked fearfully.

"Yes, arrest!" Figgins was openly furious now. "Mr Hudson may be seventeen, but you were still his teacher and so in a position of power here! What were you thinking?" Will found he was unable to find an answer, which Figgins didn't wait for. "You will, of course, be suspended without pay, effective immediately. We will be informing the police later today, and they will arrest you at your apartment I'd imagine, and then release you while they conduct their investigation. Based on the evidence Sue has shown me, I think we all know how that will go. Collect your belongings from your office – you won't be allowed on school premises after today."

Will nodded and left the office, heading towards his own. As he walked, he thought about everything he was surely about to lose: his job, his reputation, the respect of his peers, not to mention his students and their parents. Hell, his very freedom was at risk. Despite all that, he couldn't help but wonder if Finn was okay.

Walking into Ms Pillsbury's office, the first thing Finn noticed was how red her eyes were. She had been crying, quite heavily by the looks of her. His head immediately filled with dread, sure that he must be here to talk about him and Will. After a second of worrying he set those thoughts to rest, he wouldn't be talking to Ms Pillsbury if they had been caught out. Even Principal Figgins must be able to see how loved up Will and Emma used to be, it had been a major source of arguments early in his relationship with Will.

"So, Finn. I've called you here to talk about your, uh, your relationship with Wi-Mr Schuester."

Oh, fuck. Apparently Principal Figgins had been blind enough not to notice Ms Pillsbury's feelings for Will. We've been caught.

"Sue – I mean, Ms Sylvester obtained some... incriminating footage from the choir room's security camera which seem to suggest that your relationship has become, um, rather inappropriate."

Oh fuck, the choir room! Will hadn't really wanted to risk it, but Finn had been pretty insistent on making out there. This is entirely my fault. God, I am so stupid!

Looking up at Ms Pillsbury, he could see that she was close to tears. She was noticeably frazzled, and every time she said the word 'relationship' her voice cracked. He didn't blame her – she had just found out that the person she thought she loved was actually someone she barely knew. After what had happened with Quinn, he knew the feeling.

Will had told him that if this ever happened, he was to deny, deny, deny. He knew that wouldn't work here; Ms Pillsbury said that there was security footage, and he didn't doubt it – she wouldn't believe it was true if there wasn't. So instead he tried a different tactic.

"Listen, Ms Pillsbury, Will didn't- I mean, Mr Schue didn't want to start anything with me, I kissed him first! He tried not to, he really did, but I just kept going for it! Honestly!"

Okay, I'm clearly having a serious case of word vomit here. He bit his lip to keep himself from blurting anything else out and surveyed Ms Pillsbury's response.

Initially her eyes went wider than he'd ever seen them, but they soon settled into what he assumed was meant to be a sympathetic and understanding look. He could see in her eyes that she thought he was a fragile little boy, and that Will had taken advantage of him. He remembered Will saying things would go this way.

~ He had just asked Will if they could maybe tell someone, just one person who they knew would understand. The response had shocked him. "No one will understand, Finn. They'll think I'm a sexual predator, and that I'm taking advantage of you."

"Not if they know how much we love each other."

"Even if they know that Finn, they won't believe it. They'll think I'm a creep and that you're too naive to know any better."

Something about his tone made Finn glance at his face, where he saw an uncomfortable hesitancy at what he was saying. Slow as he was, Finn figured out why pretty fast, "That- that's what you think, isn't it!"

Will took Finn's hand in his own, averting his gaze and remaining silent for an agonizing moment before responding, "I used to think that, when I was first attracted to you; that I was a creep for liking you. But not anymore." Will turned to him and looked him in the eye. "How I feel about you Finn? It's the real deal. Circumstances be damned." ~

Finn snapped back to the present to see the same look on Ms Pillsbury's face, and he felt the sudden need to make it go away, "What's going to happen to Mr Schue?"

Ms Pillsbury looked down before replying, "Well, he's been suspended until the police finish their investigation. I'm not sure what will happen after that."

"Police!" He near shouted from his shock, causing Ms Pillsbury's eyes to widen yet again while she nodded. Finn hadn't thought about that; Will was in serious trouble and it was all his fault. He hoped that Will was okay.

Several hours, a police report and a secret phone call to Will later, Finn found himself sitting in his kitchen with his Mom and Burt. He hasn't been left alone since his meeting with Ms Pillsbury – he had to pretend to use the bathroom just to call Will. He can see the same mix of misguided sympathy and anger in his Mom's eyes, whereas Burt just looks furious.

"So Finn, I spoke to Principal Figgins earlier and he said you can have all the time off you need." His Mom kindly informs him. "And you know its fine with us if you want to move to a new school. I know you love your singing club, but my friend's son goes to Carmel and he says they have an excellent music program."

He doesn't even bother to tell his Mom what is wrong with that last statement, instead choosing to respond to the first, "No, it's fine. I really don't need any time off. Honestly, I'm fine." He isn't, but he really doesn't want his Mom worrying about him more than she already is.

His Mom and Burt exchange worried glances, before she turns back to Finn, "If you're sure sweetie. Um, Ms Pillsbury gave me the name of a therapist she went to college with, so I called up and made an appointment for you this Friday."

"... Why the hell would I need to see a therapist?" Finn pressed, taken aback at this disclosure.

"Finn... Your teacher took advantage of you. That's not something that just goes away."

"What the fuck!" Finn launches himself off the stool, knocking it onto the floor, before turning to his mother. She remained unmoved. "I was not taken advantage of! I went after him, okay? We love each other Mom."

His Mom ran and tried to hug him, but he pushed her away. She sighed, settling instead for placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I know it seems like he loves you, but... He took advantage of you! He's sick Finn!" She is unable to keep the fury out of her voice, which only enrages Finn more.

He steps closer to his mother, ignoring her slightly fearful expression, and whispers, "Don't you dare talk about him like that!"

With that, Finn heads down to his shared bedroom with Kurt and lies down on his bed. Although he feels like he could use some alone time, he's kind of hoping Kurt will get home sometime soon. He's grown much closer to his sort-of step-brother since he made amends for the whole 'faggy' thing, and he needs to talk to someone who he thinks might understand; Kurt's his age, so he won't be so condescending, and he gets what it's like to be into someone you shouldn't be – he's been told his whole high-school life that he's 'wrong' and 'sick' for being who he is.

The next day, Finn arrives at school in a terrible mood. His Mom and Burt kept sending him those little worried looks over the breakfast table, and were constantly asking him if he was sure he wanted to go to school today. On top of everything that's going on, he never got to talk to Kurt, who didn't come home last night. When he asked Burt where he was, he and his Mom exchanged a quick look before telling him he was at Mercedes' place for a sleepover. He took his backpack and a fair few of his clothes, so Finn assumed they were going to be talking about fashion and stuff.

Finn gets out of his car and starts walking towards school. On his way he's met by some guys from the hockey and football teams, minus Puck, Matt and Mike of course.

"Hey fag" Karofsky sneers.

Finn rolls his eyes, preparing himself for their obligatory Glee bashing so he can get on with his day.

"We heard about you and your butt-buddy Spanish teacher." Azimio spat.

Finn froze. Fuck. Who the hell told them?

"Listen, guys" Finn started "I don't know what you heard, but-"

Before he can comprehend what's going on, he's interrupted by a fist in his face. He falls to the floor, and as he tries to get up he's winded by a kick to the stomach.

"And to think, all this time we thought you were boning that weird Hummel kid. Turns out you were actually doing a teacher. It's sick." Karofsky punctuates the word 'sick' with a kick to the stomach. Before he knows it he's being kicked by a few of the jocks as he lies there on the floor, helpless.

Suddenly they stop, only to grab him by the head and feet and toss him in the dumpster. As the rest of them leave, Azimio looks over into the trashcan with an intimidating scowl forming on his face.

"Listen homo, you better quit the team before practice this afternoon. It's bad enough with Hummel around, no way am I having two perverts checking me out in the locker room."

Finn waits for Azimio to walk away before gently pulling himself out the dumpster, slowly making his way to the nurse's office while trying not to think about the fact that everyone knows what happened.

Will is awoken early that morning by a loud banging on his door. He rubs his eyes before getting out of bed and pulling some pants on. As he dresses, Will hears a booming voice shouting.

"Get out here NOW, Schuester!"

Oh crap... He'd recognize that voice anywhere. He very vividly remembers the terrified feeling in Figgins' office, when Burt Hummel was fighting for a solo for his son.

He curses to himself, before throwing a shirt on and jogging to the door. Upon opening it, he is met with the open palm of Carole Hudson slapping him in the face. He winces, not only at the pain but also at the furious, hurt look on her face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The venom laced voice of Burt makes him look up at the angry man. "Taking advantage of a kid? You're sick!"

"Mrs Hudson, Mr Hummel... I'm sorry, I really am, but it's not like that. Really, I l-"

"Don't even bother!" Carole shouts, tears on the brim of her eyes. "I don't buy it. Finn trusted you so much and you took advantage of his trust! You better stay away from him!" With tears freely flowing down her face, Carole runs out of Will's doorway and down the stairs.

"Listen up Schuester, and listen good." Will looks up at Burt, currently backing him against a wall. He feels his heartbeat increase as fear courses through his body. "If that was my kid they found you with? They'd never find your body. But, Carole just happens to be a little more restrained than me. But if you ever, and I mean EVER, come near Finn again I will make sure you pay, you got that?" Will nods, and Burt is satisfied enough to leave the building.

Will walks back into his apartment and slumps onto the couch. Not for the first time since Sue told Figgins, he reflects on his relationship with Finn. He knows that he loves Finn; they may have only been together a few months, but in that time he had gotten to know Finn better than he had ever known anybody, and he loved everything he found out. So he may love Finn, but is he taking advantage of him? Sure Finn may have pursued him, very persistently, but should he have continually knocked him back every time instead of relenting and giving into his feelings?

The main reason he thought their relationship wasn't wrong was because of Finn's maturity. Sure, he may be really dense sometimes, but he isn't stupid. He believes Finn when he says he loves him, and if he loves him he figured he can't be taking advantage. But is he giving too much credit to this seventeen year old, whose only experiences with love had left him betrayed and heartbroken?

Wracked with guilt and doubt, Will dragged himself up and began cleaning his apartment. After all, he literally had all the time in the world.

Brittany hugs Finn as he leaves the nurse's office after first period. His nose isn't broken and neither are any of his ribs, which is pretty damn lucky when he thinks about it, but he still has to hold back a slight wince when Brittany hugs him. He shoots Santana a confused look, and she explains, "She's been worried about you ever since Coach Sylvester 'accidentally' let it slip during Cheerios practice that you're boning Mr Schue."

"Sylvester did this!" Finn exclaims.

Bitch, he thinks, furious. He knew she was the one who turned Will in to Figgins, but this?

"There's no way that cow can even pretend she had good intentions anymore."

"She doesn't have to. She's pretty much untouchable." She's looking at the floor, talking with undisguised anger in her voice, and he's taken aback; he's not used to hearing her talk like that about Coach Sylvester. She sighs before looking up at him again. "We tried to stop it getting out, we really did – I promised to beat up anyone who told."

"And I offered to make out with anyone who didn't tell." As sweet as Brittany was, she didn't really get that making out wasn't always the solution to life's problems.

"Listen, thanks you guys, I really appreciate it." He returns their soft smiles before continuing down the corridor. He really needs to talk to someone. Kurt, Artie, hell, even Puck would do right now.

That is, if he doesn't hate my guts for being a fag. Finn thought bitterly.

Before he sees anyone, he feels himself being dragged into an empty classroom. He looks down to find none other than Rachel Berry.

Oh crap.

Usually, Rachel would be up there with Will, his Mom and Kurt on his list of people to confide in. But, talking to your ex-girlfriend about how you've just been caught banging your teacher? Not cool, even if she's the one who broke up with you. Because of this, he's incredibly surprised when Rachel wraps her arms round him and pulls him in for a hug.

After the initial shock, he wraps his arms round her and loses himself in the hug. He inhales deeply, swimming in the scent of the girl he once felt so much for. She's still his best friend, and he didn't know how much he needed this until he's sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder. He feels her argyle sweater grow wet with tears as she rubs his back and continually whispers promises of 'It's okay. It's okay. It's going to be okay.'

After he calms down, she releases him and he looks at her, only to find her smiling sweetly at him and offering him a tissue. After blowing his nose embarrassingly loudly, he asks, "Aren't you mad at me?"

"Finn I'm not mad. I know you can't change who you are. And although your choice of a boyfriend was rather... questionable," her smile wavers here as she looks at the floor, but she soon plasters her grin back on and makes eye contact again. "I am aware that you can't help who you love."

"Rach... You're amazing. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Rachel beams at him, before clearing her throat and looking at him seriously, "Now, talk to me. Tell me what you're worried about."

"Where do I start?" He laughs humourlessly. "I'm just worried about Will, more than anything. If he went to jail I just... I don't know what I'd do. Even if he doesn't, I don't know what this is going to do to our relationship."

She hugs him again, before smiling reassuringly at him. "I know it doesn't seem like it now, but things will work out. Trust me." He returns her smile, starting to feel hopeful for the first time in what feels like forever.

When Will hears someone knocking on his door on Thursday, he's afraid that it is Carole and Burt coming to give him another verbal lashing. After all, everyone else has been avoiding him like the plague since the 'incident', as he's been calling it, on Monday. So he's fairly surprised to find Finn dripping rainwater on the carpet.

He walks into his apartment, simply muttering a quick 'Hey' before heading to the bathroom to dry himself up. Will stops him halfway, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around, "What the hell are you doing here?" Finn looks both confused and hurt, and the combination just makes Will want to wrap him in his arms and take it back. But he knows he can't encourage this anymore; if he doesn't give Finn any encouragement, doesn't initiate any physical contact, he can at least slightly lessen the burden of blame he's been carrying around.

"I... I came to see you." Finn sounds more unsure of himself than Will has ever heard him. "I've missed you."

He hates that Finn thinks of himself as stupid, but sometimes he can't help but agree with him, "Do you have any idea how much trouble I'm in Finn? You are aware of the fact that I've been banned from seeing you, right?" Finn hesitantly nods, and he takes this as his cue to continue. "If they find you here, they'll arrest me tomorrow. Not to mention, your mother and Burt will literally kill me. So I'm forced to ask, what the hell are you doing here Finn?"

He's aware that he sounds kind of insane, and he half expects Finn to timidly apologize and leave. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that when Finn gets angry, he's far from the timid boy he is most of the time, "Screw you Will! You think you're the only one whose life is fucked up right now? Everyone in school knows now. I'm the school joke; I even got the crap beaten out of me on Tuesday!" Shit, now that he mentioned it he can see the bruises and marks branding Finn's skin, and he doesn't bruise easily. "Half my old friends won't even look at me, and you know what? I am so fucking sick of blaming myself for this. How the hell is this all my fault?"

He wants to shout back at Finn. He wants to scream, 'it's your fault for trying so goddamn hard. It's your fault for being so fucking perfect I pretty much had to fall in love with you. It's your fault for being seventeen.' But he knows that it's not true. He's in this just as much as Finn is. So instead he takes a deep breath, and responds, "It's not, I know. I'm sorry for being such a douche." He holds his arms out to Finn, who launches himself into them immediately. Will laughs and runs his hand down Finn's soaked back. "I've missed you too, Finn."

They spend the night watching Terminator movies and talking – they try to avoid whining about how bad their week has been, but it tends to happen anyway. It has been a pretty terrible week. They aren't pressed as close together as they can be like they usually are, but occasionally Will will put his hand in Finn's, and they'll turn and smile warmly and gently at each other.

At the end of the night, Finn asks the question that's been burning a hole in his head since Tuesday, "Are you going to end up going to jail?"

Will tenses next to him and untwines their fingers, "I don't know."

Finn is so unsatisfied with that answer it isn't even funny, "But I mean, what are the chances of-"

"I said I don't know, okay Finn?" He stands up and goes to the bathroom, returning with Finn's wet clothes from earlier in a bag. "It's probably time you headed home."

The end of the evening is much like the rest of it; uncomfortable and new. There was no cuddling on the couch, no making out during the movie, and definitely no telling Finn's Mom that he's staying at Puck's so that they can spend the night together. But what it did have, the stilted-at-times conversation, the hesitant looks, the hand holding, still felt pretty okay; for now, anyway.

"No, I'm sorry Finn he's... Um, he's at the library. Yeah, big History project due tomorrow."

"But... It's Friday."

"Damn... Well, you know Mr Garcia; he always keeps us on our toes!"

That's when Finn figures it out. It may have taken him an embarrassingly long time, but all of a sudden Kurt skipping pretty much all the classes he shares with Finn, as well as spending every night at Mercedes' house, and the god-awful excuses she's given as to why he's never around finally add up, "Kurt's... been avoiding me?"

Mercedes goes wide-eyed, although she had to have realized Finn would figure it out eventually, "What? No! What makes you think that?"

"Come on 'Cedes, I never see him in school anymore, he hasn't been home all week and... Hold on... Yup! I can see all nineteen pairs of his shoes on the floor over there, so that means he's here right now!"

"How the hell do you know how many pairs of shoes he has?"

"Share a room with a guy, you learn a few things. Anyway, why is he avoiding me?"

"That's none of your damn business!"

He really wants to argue that, well, it concerns him and his (sort-of) brother, so it kind of is his business. However, he's seen firsthand that it's a bad idea to cross Mercedes – especially when it comes to Kurt. He just really wants to talk to Kurt. Someone who can understand some of what he's going through – in particular the torment the jocks have been subjecting him to, the laughs and funny looks that follow him in the hallway, trying to get through to a parent who tries so hard to be okay with it, but just isn't there yet. Why the hell is Kurt avoiding him? He can't think of anything. Unless... "Is he like, grossed out by this whole thing? Because Will's our teacher and stuff?"

His voice is thick with hurt and tears are forming in his eyes. Mercedes must notice because she dons what he calls her 'mama bear' face, the one usually reserved only for Kurt and more recently Quinn, and pulls him in for a hug, "Baby, no, that's not it at all... It's just... This is his stuff, okay? He needs to deal with some things."

"But... I really need to talk to him."

Mercedes sighs in the deep, overly dramatic way she learnt from Kurt, before pointing upstairs, "Second room on the left. He asks, my little brother let you in, okay?" He thanks her before heading upstairs. He reaches the room Mercedes told him to go to – and Finn was pretty sure that unless Mercedes is housing two countertenors with a habit of belting out Lady Gaga at random times, he would have easily found it without her instructions. He knocks lightly on the door, entering when he hears a soft 'come in' from inside.

Kurt is spread out on Mercedes' queen sized bed, reading a magazine and facing away from the door. He begins to speak while standing up, "Hey 'Cedes, you'll never guess what Lindsay just- oh. Hey."

Finn waves awkwardly. "Hey little brother."

"You know I hate when you call me that." Kurt sounds put out, but a small smile forms briefly on his face from the nickname. "Besides, I'm two months older than you."

"Yeah, but you're small. Listen, I'm going to cut to the chase. Why have you, like, pretty much moved out and started avoiding me?"

"What are you ta-"

"Cut the bullshit Kurt."

"I- Yeah, okay. I'm sorry Finn, I've just been going through some stuff and I thought-"

"You've been going through stuff? Dude, my life is crap right now. Everyone thinks I'm a joke; our parents pity me, and my boyfriend's going to prison. I fucking needed you, okay?"

"Okay Finn, I know it was selfish, I just didn't want to stick around and say something that would make it worse!"

"Like what?"

"Like, 'how am I so fucking disgusting that you have to screw one of your teachers'?"

For a moment, Finn is surprised simply by Kurt's language – he only ever curses if the situation really calls for it. Then, the meaning and implications of what he said sink in, "Wait, what?"

Kurt sighs and sits down on the bed. Finn joins him, but remains a respectable distance away.

"Okay, it's no secret that I like you. Like a hell of a lot. Maybe even love, I don't know. But I've been moving past it, and the reason we've been able to get so close over this last year is because I finally accepted that you were straight. Then I find out you aren't straight. So now I start to wonder what's so wrong with me that even when I throw myself at you, you still say no and go after someone twice your age instead."

"Kurt... There's nothing wrong with you okay? You're awesome, and you're attractive and all, I just... I just don't think of you that way – you're like a brother to me. Are you really going to punish me for that?"

"No, Finn, I'm not punishing you, I know you've done nothing wrong, I just... I can't be around you right now. I know I'm being awful, I just can't do this. Please, go home Finn."

"... I guess, if that's what you want." Finn stands up and starts walking towards the door. Halfway there, he stops and turns. "No! Kurt, you're one of my best friends, I need you! How can I get you to change your mind?" Kurt walks up to him and gives him a weak smile. "Time, Finn. Just give me some time, and it'll be fine."

Two months later

Will and Finn are cuddling on Will's bed. Will's fingers are running through Finn's hair, while his other hand holds Finn tight against his body. Finn pulls away from Will, looking at him with fearful eyes, "Are you scared?"

Will raises an eyebrow and fakes nonchalance, "What, about the hearing tomorrow? Nah, I got this one in the bag." When Finn gives Will his 'bitch, please' look, Will sighs and caved under the pressure. "Yeah, I'm terrified. How about you?"

Finn places his head on Will's chest, trying to find his heartbeat, "I don't know what I'd do if you went away."

Will places a gentle kiss on Finn's head, moving his hand back up to play with his hair, "Me neither."

"If you do go to jail... I'll wait for you, baby."

Will cracks up, the shaking in his chest moving Finn's head up and down, "You'd better!"

The two continue laughing before falling quiet. They remain like this for a few minutes, basking in the comfortable silence surrounding the moment. Things may not be perfect, but after the hellish two months they just faced, and the hell that was going to be Will's hearing tomorrow, things were about as good as they could get.