Full Title: And I Don't Have to Tell You, But You're the Only One

Rating: T

Spoilers: Through "Rumors" (2x19), takes place during the events of that episode.

A/N: What has happened is this: while everyone else has started writing about the new season, I have interrupted my staring at my WIP list to write season 2 reaction fic. I know, I know… I suppose this comes under the same umbrella as the Post-prom Klaine/Samcedes conversation drabble I wrote in May, because the handling of Kurt and Mercedes in season two was something that bothered me. With thanks and eternal love to the wonderful Keitorin_Asthore, for reading this through and assuring me that I was not completely insane. Probably. Title from the Fleetwood Mac song 'You Make Loving Fun' (from the album Rumors).

Blaine's phone went to voicemail, as Kurt had known it probably would. Dalton's class schedule was, naturally, different to McKinley's, and while their 'no cellphones in class' policy was flouted quite regularly (and Kurt and Blaine had been regular flouters), picking up a call during class was pretty much impossible.

In a way, that's why he'd called. He just needed to hear Blaine's voice.

'Hello, you have reached the voicemail of Blaine Anderson. I'm unavailable to take your call, but please feel free to leave your name and message after the tone. Oh, and your phone number. In case I need to call you back. Yeah. Have a nice day.'

Kurt smiled and felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. A beep indicated he had just received a text. The tone sounded.

"Hey, it's me. I'm just... I'm having a kind of high-drama day - public school is as thrilling as ever - and I just wanted to say hi. Hear your voice on your voicemail, really, to get through the rest of it... God, I sound pathetic. But anyway, I'll talk to you later, after both of us get out of Glee. Step-touch extra well for me, okay? Bye."

Ending the call brought up the text message, which was, of course, from Blaine.

In History. :( Something wrong? Should I call?

He quickly tapped out a response.

No, I'm fine, just a little relationship drama here. Talk to you later! Miss you.

You sure? Miss you too. Can't wait. Be happy.

After French class he took out his phone to find he had a new voicemail from Blaine. It must have been left shortly after the last text had been sent. His voice was quiet and hurried.

"Hey, it's me. Obviously. I just had to see what was going on, so I'm in the third floor bathroom, which is why there's a weird echo-y thing going on. Your message was kinda non-specific as to what's wrong, but I want you to know that hearing your voice is the best part of my day, until I see you, at least, and whatever it is… you're so strong, and I - Kurt, you're so great. Whatever it is, I'm here if you need me. I'll pick up if you call, okay? Otherwise, I'll just keep texting you back until after rehearsal. Okay... bye."

He smiled into the phone. Their relationship was still so new in some ways, and little moments like that, like his boyfriend (boyfriend) showing so much concern, still filled his stomach with butterflies. He walked to Glee still smiling.

When he finally stalked into the Lima Bean at 4:07 the next afternoon Blaine was already sitting at their table, coffees in front of him, biscotti untouched. They'd ended up texting all last night, but by the time Kurt had gotten out of Glee Blaine had been having dinner with his family, and then Kurt had had dinner with his own, and with everything, including the logistics of distance, they just hadn't been able to do more than text. Blaine had tried to ask, without pushing, what was wrong, but Kurt hadn't wanted to sully what little contact they had, so he'd brushed it off as relationship drama, admitted he was upset, but insisted that they'd talk about it tomorrow, when they could actually see each other.

Kurt slid into his seat with a breathless 'Hey', letting the tension of the last few hours lessen a little as he saw his boyfriend's eyes on him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Blaine's hand reached forward, pushing Kurt's coffee closer as a pretense for tangling their fingers together briefly.

Kurt squeezed, but kept his gaze on the table.

"It's nothing..."

"Obviously it isn't. Are you okay? Is it Karofsky? Did he -"

"No, no, I told you it wasn't anything like that." He took a sip of his mocha. There was a long pause, and he looked up to find Blaine just looking at him. Just reading his expression, like he was trying to decipher meaning, but also like he just couldn't get enough.

"They think I'm cheating on you," he said quietly, his eyes lowering a little just at the idea.

Blaine blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Everyone thinks I'm cheating on you with Sam, and they all spent today and yesterday telling me what an awful person it makes me."

Blaine blinked again, still holding his hand tightly. "I'm sort of lost."

Kurt sighed, fortifying himself with a sip of his drink. "Apparently, Finn and Rachel fancy themselves detectives. I was seen leaving a motel room a few nights ago."

"Oh." Blaine looked unsure as to how he should be responding. "I -"

"I was seen leaving a cheap motel room, saying goodnight to Sam, and so naturally they assumed that I must be having sex, because what else does anyone in Glee Club ever think about?"

"It -"

"And, of course, even though I've finally found someone who - someone who gets me, and I'm happy, and I'm in a relationship more mature and functional than the rest of them combined - obviously I'd screw that up by having sex with the first guy who…whatever. Because it's not like sex is something that special to me - that my boyfriend is special to me. For Finn and Rachel, of all people, to try to -"

"Kurt." Blaine's hand was on his.

"I'm not a cheater," Kurt insisted, his voice less even than he would like. "I wouldn't do that."

"I know." When Kurt didn't move his gaze Blaine's voice became more urgent. "Kurt, I know."

"Why don't they?" He said quietly, visibly deflating. Blaine twined their fingers together and squeezed, giving him the time, the silence he wanted. "I never thought I'd find - I never thought I'd ever meet someone like you, let alone this soon, here. I never thought that there would be anyone who… anyone who liked me back." He blushed at using the word. Blaine opened his mouth with a smile, but let Kurt cut him off. "I never thought I'd have this, Blaine, what we have. I thought maybe when I got out of Lima it would be easier, but… but then…"

"I swept you off your feet with my boyish charm and well pressed blazer?" Blaine provided lightly.

This was met with an eye roll and a small smile. It didn't last long.

"Puck said what I was doing wasn't cool, because we both had boyfriends."

"Who? You and me?"

"Me and Quinn. The stupid paper printed about her, and then Rachel and Finn decided to play detective, and then she came up to me being all condescending, and then in Glee club Puck was talking about how wrong it was - "

"This is the same Puck who fathered a child with his best friend's girlfriend, and then made out with Rachel when she wanted to make Finn jealous, correct?"

Kurt appeared not to have heard him, and his grip was tightening.

"Mercedes agreed with him," he said quietly. "She agreed. I've only been back for less than two weeks," he said, "and I already feel like…"

Blaine let the silence lay there, let Kurt gather his thoughts. Kurt took a deep breath.

"It just… it bothers me. It bothers me that they'd think that of me. That she'd think that. I know that I wasn't there, that I was at Dalton, but…that they'd think that I was the kind of person who… what are you doing?"

Blaine had taken out his cellphone. "I'm calling Rachel."

Kurt snatched it out of his hand. "No, you aren't."

"Kurt, this is upsetting you. A lot. I'm not just going to sit here and pretend like I can just let that happen, let R -"

"Calling her will just lend it credibility," he said with certainty.

"Telling her that I know you wouldn't -"

"It wouldn't do any good. They've already decided."

Blaine let out a breath that was pure frustration and took a long sip of his coffee. "I don't like this."

Kurt let out a short, small laugh. "I'm not exactly a fan myself."

There were a thousand things that Blaine wanted to say - reassurances that Kurt's friends must really know how ridiculous it all was, reaffirmations that he knew how ridiculous it was…telling him that he looked beautiful when he smiled, and he just wanted to kiss every single worry line off of his face.

He wanted to tell him that it was okay, that they were better than okay, that he thought he might be well on his way to falling in love with his best friend, if he wasn't there already.

He wanted to whisper in his ear how happy Kurt made him, how he was one of the most trustworthy people in the world, and that he trusted him with everything he had, everything he was.

Instead what he said was "I don't care."

Kurt winced a little, and Blaine realized that he needed to clarify. Badly. "I don't care what they think. They should know better, and I think they probably do, but whatever their reasons, what they think of us doesn't matter. It doesn't touch us. It doesn't touch this." His eyes flicked down to their joined hands on the table.

Kurt just stared at him for a moment. He opened his mouth, then closed it. "I am so glad that I found you," he finally said, his voice quiet.

Blaine just tilted his head and smiled, his other hand playing with the lid of his cup. "You know that I miss you, right? I mean, we all do, the Warblers especially, but… I… I really miss you. But I get that you needed to go back, that it was what you wanted, and I know it kind of sucks sometimes…" he smiled at Kurt's raised eyebrow. "okay, a lot of the time…but you are so strong. And you are so…" he pulled his hand away to make a gesture that Kurt couldn't really translate into words, but it was clearly meant to demonstrate Kurt's positive qualities, and it was just so Blaine that he couldn't help but smile. "My point is," Blaine continued, "that your friends know you. They love you. They may forget sometimes how amazing you are… but that just means that I'll have to remind you more often than usual."

Kurt was beginning to think that there was something seriously wrong with his face, because his mouth seemed to be permanently etched in a grin. "Can I bottle you and take you to school with me tomorrow?"

Blaine laughed. "Could I bring the blazer?"

"God, no."

"You love it."

They descended into comfortable, well-worn banter, and then eventually the topic of conversation changed, the only physical reminder being the way Blaine pulled his chair a little closer, and rubbed his thumb soothingly over Kurt's hand whenever he sensed tension.

It was getting late, and just before Blaine had to leave Kurt walked him to his car (parked right next to his Navigator) and looked him in the eye. "You didn't ask why I was at the motel."

Blaine met his gaze steadily, leaning against his door. "No, I didn't."

"Why?"

He tilted his head again. "Because this isn't a cheap soap opera, because you, the person that you are, wouldn't cheat on me, because I trust you to tell me if something is ever wrong enough that we need to talk about… something like that. And because whatever your reason for being there, you'll tell me when you're ready."

Kurt took a deep breath, his gaze drifting. "It hurts to think that maybe they think that we're… that I'm just dating you because you're the first gay guy who came along."

Blaine shrugged. "I don't think that's true. Do you?"

Kurt blinked, frowning. "No. Of course not."

"Good. And, not that it should matter what they think, but do you know what the only way is to make anyone see that that isn't true?"

"What?"

Blaine glanced around quickly, before pressing a quick kiss to his boyfriend's cheek. "Make it work."

"It?"

"Us."

"Oh. Okay." Kurt smiled minutely.

Blaine smirked, pulling his keys out of his pocket. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah." Kurt looked around. He hated that he had to do it, that he, unlike Finn, Puck, or any of his other friends, couldn't just kiss his date outside a coffee shop without gauging the safety of the environment first. But he had to do it. They both did, and it was better to be safe than any of the alternatives. He gave his boyfriend a quick hug. "Thank you."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

Blaine shut his car door and waited until Kurt had his own driver's side door open before he rolled down the window to respond.

"For finding me."

And the memory of that smile, of fingers intertwined with his, was one of the things that helped Kurt stay quiet, stay focused on the things he knew to be true, as the rest of Glee club, some of the people he considered himself closest to, proved, over the next few days, that maybe they forgot that they knew anyone, even themselves, at all.