"You're a hypocrite, Sue."

"Excuse me?" She looked seriously insulted by his words, not just moderately amused and highly intimidating like she usually responded to insults.

"You're a hypocrite," Will repeated. "And you're a liar, too. You tell Kurt you want to help him, and that you don't think anyone deserves to be put down for being themselves, and then you make the Cheerios choose between you and Glee. And, you know, you haven't even mentioned Kurt since he left. You haven't done anything to make McKinley safe for him to come back, or safe for any of the other students to feel like they can be themselves without being run out of the school. Did you know Dave tried to go after Kurt again after the game?"

"You make a valid point, Chia Pet. But you're a little late on that first count. I only ever meant to make the choice between Cheerios and Glee temporary for the competition, and I can assure you the girls would have been allowed to return to Glee club after we won, had they decided to leave. As for neglecting to address bullying at this school, I have been watching out in the hallways like I said I would, which is more than I can say for you." She stood and walked around her desk, saying the rest right in Will's face. "But, if that's not enough for you, then I hope you don't mind leaving so I can take a field trip to the football team."

Will was left standing dumbfounded as Sue pushed past him into the crowded post-game hallway.

000

"Bieste!"

"What."

"Well that's not a very nice greeting, especially since I'm about to impart some threatening words of wisdom onto your boys."

"What kind of 'wisdom' is this?"

"Well, you may not have noticed, but one Sue Sylvester has recently decided to take a stand against bullying."

"You're a bully."

"I just happen to be intimidating enough to get things done." Sue turned and held up her famous Cheerios megaphone, turning it on with screeching feedback before addressing the sweaty occupants of the locker room. "Hey! Get over here!" When all the guys had crowded into the space in front of Sue and the girls were called in, she continued.

"So!" More feedback was followed by several of the guys in front groaning and clapping their hands over their ears. "Apparently some of you boys have been so occupied with winning that you haven't gotten the memo yet. Recently, a student was run out of this school by one of you boys terrorizing him. I'd just like to make perfectly clear that I will not tolerate any harassment. If I find out that you - or anyone else, pass it on - is bullying someone, be absolutely sure, I will have you suspended or expelled faster than you can say 'but I was just joking!' Don't you laugh at me, Karofsky! You're first on my list. And my list is not somewhere you want to be."

With one last deafening bout of megaphone feedback, Sue left as quickly as she had come.

Sam was first to speak. "You terrified enough yet, Karofsky?"

"Shut up," he snarled back. "Unless you want another black eye."

"Hey!" Coach Bieste finally left her state of shock."You are not fighting. What Coach Sylvester said goes for me too. I won't tolerate any of it, either. Now hurry up and hand in your uniforms."

000

The Glee meeting on Monday did, in fact, come with Brittany, Santana, and Quinn in their uniforms. Unfortunately - and Will remembered this every single time they met - Kurt still wasn't back. He didn't come back Tueday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, and on Friday Finn mentioned that Kurt had come back home Thursday night, but only on a long weekend break from Dalton, for Valentine's Day; he'd be going back Monday night. Rachel had responded that at least they would get some time together.

Will didn't miss the slight emphasis on "together", nor did he miss the way Finn tried and failed to look like he was ignoring her.

000

It was eating Finn from the inside.

"Finn!" Kurt ran up and hugged him tightly around the waist. "You won!"

"We won." Finn hugged him back, trying to make the way he had his face buried in Kurt's hair as inconspicuous as possible.

"We?" Kurt pulled away, confused.

"You were the one who taught us the dance last year."

Kurt laughed. "Yeah. I can't believe you actually got them to do it again."

"Wasn't easy. Azimio threatened to introduce me to the inside of the dumpster."

Blaine walked up, wearing the same too-dapper-to-be-real smile as always. He held out his hand to Finn. "Congratulations. And hello, I don't think we've met yet."

"Hey." Finn pulled away from Kurt to shake Blaine's hand.

He noticed how Blaine immediately put his arm around Kurt's waist after the handshake, and how Blaine didn't even look at Kurt, didn't tear his eyes away from Finn at all. Finn knew all too well what the gesture meant; he'd done it to Quinn and Rachel plenty of times. It was a decisive "Mine."

"You're not… dating him, are you?"

"Blaine? No, I'm not." Kurt sighed, fingers not faltering in the slightest on the piano. "But I wish I was. Singles Awareness Day is getting tiring."

"Oh." Finn picked up his phone and fiddled with it, checking his email just for something to look at besides the way Kurt's fingers were dancing across the keys. The old piano had recently been moved out of Kurt's mother's room and into the basement they shared as a bedroom, and Kurt played near-constantly whenever he visited.

"You sound upset. What's wrong?" Kurt stopped playing and turned to face Finn.

"Well… He bothers me. I don't trust him." Well, it wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie…

Kurt gripped the edge of the stool, leaning forward. "Why not? He's a wonderful-"

"He acts like he owns you." That came out harsher than intended.

"What?" Kurt sat up straight at that, shocked.

"Whenever you talk to me, he'll… pull you closer to him. Like he doesn't want you near me."

"You sound jealous." Finn had the odd feeling that he should be worried about that smirk.

"What? No! I just don't like how he treats you, it's like you're his property or something."

Kurt made that diva-is-ignoring-you noise that Finn could never name. "He's just protective of me. He doesn't want me getting hurt again."

"I would never-"

"But you have hurt me, Finn, plenty of times. Just because you have a habit of… overcompensating in your apologies doesn't negate the fact that you did something wrong."

"…Overcompensating?"

"Does the phrase 'red rubber dress' ring a bell?"

"Oh, that was nothing-" And he definitely didn't keep it hidden in a garment bag in the back of his closet. And that definitely wasn't a fitting and symbolic place to put it. Nope.

"And how about that dance at our parents' wedding?"

"That was totally justified!" And totally gay, his inner monologue told him. It sounded like Puck.

"And totally gay." Mind-reader. "That was a bit much, even for me. I mean, honestly, 'Furt'?"

Finn tried desperately to get away from the topic before his face started turning red. "I just don't like Blaine, okay?"

"Fine. You don't have to." Kurt turned back around. "He's my friend, not yours. I'm not going to force you to like him."

"You're usually more stubborn than this."

Kurt shrugged and started playing again. Yeah, there was definitely something wrong. Finn could tell he didn't want to talk about it, though, so he didn't ask. Besides, there was the more pressing matter that Finn realized Kurt was playing some sort of piano version of "Single Ladies" and he wondered how the hell he recognized that.

000

"Dad? Can I talk to you?" Kurt sat on one of the benches in the garage, next to the car he and Burt had been working on for the past hour. Helping with the shop was usually oddly therapeutic for Kurt, but this time the silence that accompanied it had just made him think about his conversation with Finn.

"Sure, son. What's on your mind? …Is it about a boy?"

"Yeah, dad, it is."

Burt sighed, then wiped off his hands and sat down. "All right then. Shoot."

"Well… it's about three boys, actually."

"Three?" He visibly jumped, eyes unnaturally wide.

"Oh, no, not like that! I'm not dating three guys. Just, three guys are causing some… issues… because they all want to date me."

Burt nodded slowly, calming somewhat.

"Thing is, one won't admit it to anyone but me, and another I don't think even realizes he's interested, and the third… I liked him, but he's going about it the wrong way and I just don't feel that way about him anymore."

"Okay."

"But, well, the first one, who won't admit anything, I'm not interested in him at all because he's been absolutely horrible to me in the past and I can't forgive him for it, at least not yet. The second is jealous of the third, but he refuses to even think he likes guys, and I used to like him and I thought I gave up on him but now I don't think I really have. And the third is being possessive and making me dislike him, even though I really liked him before, but I'm only noticing he's possessive because the second mentioned it." He hoped he had kept the numbers straight…

Burt thought about that for a minute. "Well, I don't know who the first guy is, but I'd say you need to talk to Finn and Blaine about this."

Kurt chuckled. "That obvious, huh?"

"Yeah. Finn's fallen asleep in your bed a couple times. I don't know what you think of that but I think it's plenty reason to guess something's up with him."

Kurt looked momentarily startled, then gave a little smile. "I'm not sure talking to Finn about this is a good idea. I doubt I'll get anything out of him."

"How about Puck?"

He considered this for a moment. "There's an idea. But, are you really okay with this? I mean, we are related now…"

"Just because I married Carole doesn't mean you're related. You're stepbrothers, and you've been friends longer than Carole and I have known each other."

"I wouldn't say friends, exactly-"

"Yeah, it's a little weird, but I want you to be happy, and as long as he's not your real brother… I can't exactly stop you, anyway, so I might as well accept it. You're a good kid, Kurt. I trust you to make the right decisions about this."

"Thanks, Dad."

000

"Hello?"

"Long time no see, Noah Puckerman."

"Hummel? When did you get my number?"

"Finn gave it to me. Listen, I need to talk to you." After a moment's hesitation, he added, "In person."

Silence. Then: "Is it about Finn?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I've kinda been waiting for you to call, man. The whole club's been taking bets on when he's finally gonna crack and talk to someone about his Big Gay Crisis last week. Or, Big Bi Crisis. Whatever. The pot's at, like, a hundred bucks, by the way."

"Oh…!" He cleared his throat, trying not to sound too surprised. "Well, can you meet me at my house tomorrow?"

"Yeah…" He hesitated. "Yeah, sure man."

"See you then."

000

The doorbell rang just as Burt walked by the front door. Kurt shot up the stairs from his room like a bullet, yelling "It's Puck! I got it!"

He pulled open the door, only to find Blaine, uniform and all, standing on the porch, shielding himself from the rain with his school bag.

He smiled at Kurt and stepped inside. "Hi, Kurt. Is Finn here? He called me."

"Finn has your phone number?" Kurt asked, incredulous. The it occurred to him: What could Finn possibly want with Blaine? …Aside from reprimanding him for excessive possessiveness.

"I assume he got it off your phone. Is he here?" he repeated.

"Yeah, in the basement…" Kurt looked confused. "Isn't the drive over about four hours?"

Puck came jogging up the driveway and interrupted them to squish his way in through the door. "Hey, Pretty-boy. 'Sup, Hummel?"

"Hey. I'll just get my coat." Kurt closed the door behind them and ran off.

Blaine nodded to Puck. "I have a feeling we're both here to talk about the same thing with different people."

"Probably. And I have a feeling they know it."

"Oh, definitely."

000

"Explain."

They're at the Starbucks at the mall, and Puck is looking more uncomfortable with every passing second.

"Listen, man, not that I'm not totally OK with you two being into each other, but did you have to make this… public?"

"Starbucks is hardly public. The only time anyone bothers to listen to you is if you're placing an order. Now talk to me."

Puck slouched down into the seat, ignoring Kurt's muttering about how he'll ruin his spine, and sighed in what he deemed a sufficiently loud and manly manner. "He won't stop talking to Mercedes, and, I mean, that's not a bad thing or anything, it's just he's never really been best friends with her, y'know? And he never stops asking about you. Like, he'll say hi, and then just jump right into, 'You heard from Kurt lately?' And when I came over last week for the game, I found him in the basement staring at that red dress like he was thinking about wearing it- I mean, damn, that thing's by far the gayest thing I've ever seen, and I know you. No, wait, maybe it's tied with the dance at the wedding…" He tapped his chin, looking uncharacteristically pensive for a moment before talking again. "Anyways, when I got his attention, he, like, shoved the thing behind his back as if that would hide it." He snorted. "Like you can hide something like that. Then he goes and hangs it up in… ah, whaddya call those things, the covers that you put over, like, nice clothes?"

"A garment bag?"

"Yeah, that. Stuck it all the way in the back of the closet. I bet it's still there."

For a moment, he cheered inwardly that maybe his efforts to get Finn to take better care of his clothes were finally paying off, but then he realized: "He's keeping a shower curtain in a garment bag?"

"I dunno either, dude. But anyways, Rachel totally got over Finn once she figured out that he wants in your pants. I think she might only be pretending to that you come back, though."

Kurt couldn't hold back the dark blush that exploded over his face. Puck just laughed at him.

000

He wanted to stop him. It happened too fast. Blaine had shown up and Mercedes had been shopping and some of the Dalton boys had, for some reason, decided to come to Lima with Blaine and they had all been singing Paul McCartney songs and running around the Gap and he had been flushed and happy and then he had turned around and Blaine was just there and before Kurt knew it he was right there and-

"You are nothing but a scared little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are!"

-he panicked.

He pushed Blaine away with more force than he even knew he had in him. Blaine stumbled and hit his back on the sharp corner of the doorframe, his face going from shock to pain. Kurt's hand flew to his lips; he could still feel the kiss, but whether or not it was Blaine's kiss, he couldn't tell.

He ran.

He heard Mercedes' quick, angry shouts at Blaine before she ran after Kurt, calling his name, getting more panicked with each repeat.

"Kurt! Kurt! KURT!"

He ignored her. He needed to get away, get away from everything. Thoughts ran through his head faster than he could grab onto them - I thought Blaine knew - I thought he talked to Finn - I thought he knew -

He rounded a corner and pushed into the men's room, not even lamenting the lack of unisex bathrooms anywhere in Ohio. The skirt-less stick figure on the door wouldn't keep Mercedes out, but hiding would at least distract her enough that she wouldn't find him right away.

He leaned heavily on the door, both hands flat against the wood.

"Hummel?"

Kurt tensed at the all-too-familiar voice, hand flying to the door's handle, too slow before large hands appeared above his head, heavy against the door. No…

He screamed, not caring how high-pitched it came out- they'd be more likely to help him if he sounded like a girl, anyways. The door moved slightly and he backed up into Karofsky before it burst open and a loud crack assured him that someone had just gotten a concussion.

Two security guards rushed in and pulled a slightly loopy Karofsky off of Kurt. They were followed by a very worried Mercedes ("I knew it was you! Rachel can't even yell like that!"). She put her arm around Kurt just as he looked about to fall over, and ushered him out after the guards dragged Karofsky away. Everyone in Lima knew about how Karofsky's bullying had run Kurt out; they could deal with him well enough on their own, she reasoned.

She sat Kurt down on a bench and held him until he stopped shaking. "Tell me what happened."

He drew a deep breath. "Blaine kissed me."

"I saw that. Why'd you run? I thought you liked him."

"I did- I do-" He shook his head.

"Kurt, please… Talk to me."

"Karofsky."

"What about him?"

"I didn't leave because he was bullying me. I could deal with that. I could have changed him if that was all he did. But he…" Kurt breathed in deeply. He didn't want to out someone, but Mercedes needed an answer. "He kissed me. He forced himself on me, and then he kept… terrifying me, reminding me of what he did… I can't even kiss a guy now without getting some kind of PTSD!"

"He… Kurt, was that all he did?"

Anger flared up inside him; even Mercedes wasn't taking him seriously? "What do you-"

"Because if he forced himself on you any more than that I'mma have to consider murder." She wasn't joking.

Oh. "No, no, he just kissed me. It's the bullying after that terrified me, because I was afraid he would… try for more." He ended the sentence almost silently. "He threatened to kill me if I told anyone what he did."

"And you still told me?"

"You won't let him know." He said it forcefully, challenging her to go against him. "I shouldn't have even told anyone, it's not fair to out him. I told Blaine too-"

"You told Blaine? And he still kissed you?"

"He probably thought it would help. I thought so, too."

She just nodded and helped him stand. "Let's get you home, alright?"

"Mercedes?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you. I know I haven't been the greatest friend lately, so I appreciate that you still care enough to help me."

"It's no problem. Just remember you don't need to distance yourself from us; you're still like family to me and the rest of the Glee club. We're here for you, always."

"Thanks. We should tell Blaine what happened…"

"Later. You need a break."

Kurt nodded, then remembered something. "Oh, Mercedes?"

"Yeah?"

"…Does Finn… like me?"

She ignored how out-of-the-blue it was, having expected him to ask eventually. "Well, yeah, it seems pretty obvious to me. Why? You still like him?"

"Maybe."

000

"What happened?" Burt demanded as soon as he opened the door. "You look terrified!" Carole looked over from the couch, covering her mouth with her hands in surprise at Kurt's disheveled hair and clothes, and stood up, moving towards him slightly when she noticed the red puffiness around his terrified eyes.

"Karofsky," Mercedes answered simply.

Burt turned from worried to angered. "I'll kill that boy-"

"No, dad, don't go after him. Please," Kurt said, somewhat weakly.

"He's harassing you-"

"And don't I know it. I'm not excusing what he did, just don't go after him."

The sound of heavy footsteps signaled Finn's entrance. "Kurt? I thought you were with Puck- What happened to you?"

He didn't remember crossing the room, but somehow Kurt found himself holding on to Finn for dear life and crying into his shirt.

"Whoa- Kurt, um…" He slowly put his arms around Kurt. "Um, I'm not very good at this 'comfort' thing…"

Kurt just shook his head and pulled Finn closer, mumbling unintelligibly into his chest.

"I think he'll be okay, Mercedes," Burt said, walking her out. He smiled reassuringly at her. "Thanks for bringing him home."

"No problem. Let him give me a call when he calms down, okay? And, Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't lie to him. If you hurt him, I will hurt you."

"Um, okay?"

000

Finn brought Kurt down to their shared bedroom, and Kurt's sobs eventually quieted. He lay, shaking but silent, in Finn's arms on his bed.

"Hey, Kurt?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"I wasn't gonna ask. It's 'bout Glee."

"Shoot."

"Remember last year, when we sang those ballads?"

"You made an ass of yourself in front of Quinn's parents and then we all sang to the two of you to make you feel better. I remember." He sniffled, almost laughing.

"Yeah, well, you know, you were supposed to sing to me, but you never did."

"If you remember correctly, I did sing to you."

"I remember you singing with everyone else and then flirting with me."

Kurt groaned. "Don't remind me."

"Hey, sit up, Drama Queen." He pushed Kurt away from him slightly. Kurt sat up, face red, looking down at his crossed legs. His hands were on his knees, pushing up his shoulders like he was trying to turn himself into a turtle, and he fidgeted slightly. Finn almost laughed. "What was that song you were gonna sing to me?"

Kurt froze. "Don't you try to turn this on me, Finn Hudson."

"Maybe I hang around here a little more than I should… We both know I got somewhere else to go…"

"Oh, God, Finn." His eyes started to burn.

"But I got something to tell you that I never thought I would… But I believe you really ought to know… I love you…I honestly love you…"

"No, you can't…" He'd been hoping for this for too long… He tried to swallow the sudden lump in his throat.

"You don't have to answer, I see it in your eyes… Maybe it was better left unsaid…"

"Finn… Stop it…" He didn't think he'd ever cried of happiness before outside of watching a musical, but if the warm wetness on his face was any indication, this marked a pleasant first.

"This is pure and simple, and you should realize that it's coming from my heart and not my head… Kurt?"

He looked up slightly. "I love you…I honestly love you…" He didn't even try to hide the happy tears streaming down his face, but his voice stayed strong and unbroken around his choked-up throat. "I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable…I'm not trying to make you anything at all, but this feeling doesn't come along every day…" He let out a choked laugh, and Finn picked up the next line, pulling him close.

"And you shouldn't blow the chance when you've got the chance to say… I love you…I honestly love you…"

Kurt reached up and covered Finn's mouth. "Don't." His voice finally cracked from crying. "Don't sing the rest."

"Why not?"

"I don't need 'another place or time' to want to kiss you." He leaned forward and replaced the hand with his lips, pushing himself up with his hands on Finn's knees.

Finn started to kiss him back, then pulled away. "What about Blaine?"

Kurt wiped off his eyes on the sleeves of his jacket, but didn't move away. "He kissed me today. Among other things, I realized he and I are better off as friends."

"So it did work." Finn stared vacantly, surprised.

"What worked?"

"Well, y'know how I invited him over a couple days ago? He said he was acting possessive to make me jealous, and he offered to kiss you to make you realize you still love me."

"That has got to be the dumbest plan in the world."

"It worked, didn't it?"

Kurt leaned in again. Finn didn't move away this time.

000

"Kurt?"

"Hey, Blaine."

"Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened. I talked to Mercedes- I didn't expect you to react that badly, and I didn't know Karofsky would be there-"

"It's fine. I'm over it. Besides, I heard about your plan, and, well…" Kurt leaned back against his boyfriend, Finn absently stroking his hair, "it worked, didn't it?"

Songs mentioned:

-Title/cut text from "Planetary (GO!)" by My Chemical Romance

-Piano: "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" by Beyonce

-At the Gap: "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney

-End: "I Honestly Love You" by Olivia Newton-John