Title: Halo
Author: an-alternate-world
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Kurt/Blaine
Word count: 1,306
Summary: Tumblr fic prompt. Kurt gets dragged into a game of Halo by the Glee boys. But is he any good at it?
Warnings/Spoilers: Maybe vaguely given that it's slightly set in the future and Sam has returned...
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Glee, FOX, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the Glee universe.

It had started out innocently enough. Sam had transferred back so Finn had declared a "boys day" of playing Halo or Call of Duty depending on what won. Halo was the ultimate winner, and Sam, Finn and Puck had split into one team with Blaine, Mike and Artie in the other. Kurt, rolling his eyes, had disappeared into his bedroom to flick through his latest Vogue, circling articles of clothing he liked and jotting down possible outfits he could create.

"Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurt!" Finn shouted from downstairs where a muffled boom reverberated through the house. Honestly, the neighbours were probably building an Anderson Shelter as he laid there.

He hopped off his bed and opened the door. "I'm not feeding you, Finn!"

"Don't need f- Dammit Artie!"

Kurt's fingers twitched to shut the door and flick the lock and never let anyone in ever again. Including Blaine.

"Kurt, we need you!" Finn called. "Come down here!"

Kurt sighed and replaced the magazine on his desk, checked his hair and left the sanctuary of his bedroom to go downstairs.

He leaned against the door frame to the living room where Puck was nearly breaking his controller with the degree of button-mashing. He glanced at the television screen which was split so many ways and with so many things flying and exploding he could barely focus on who was who.

"What do you want?" he said after a minute of standing and not being noticed.

"Kurt!" Finn exclaimed, putting a pause on the game. "Mike's about to leave because he has a dance lesson with his mom. Can you sub in?"

"Can I…" Kurt blinked and turned to where Blaine and Artie were watching him hopefully. "You know I've never played this game in my life, yeah?"

"All you need to do is press the pretty buttons," Puck explained. "If you press the triangle, you-"

"I don't really care what each button does, Noah," Kurt interrupted. Puck pouted and sank back down into the arm chair.

"Kurt, please?" Blaine asked softly. Kurt glanced at him and really, his heart just melted.

"Fine," he sighed, taking Mike's controller and snuggling into Blaine's side. Finn counted down from three as Mike farewelled and then Finn unpaused the game and the booms and yelling and swearing began again.

But soon the swearing began to be directed at one particular played: Kurt. Elizabeth. Hummel.

"Jesus, Kurt, I thought you said you'd-" Sam growled and flung a grenade back with a complicated series of button presses, "never played before."

"I haven't," Kurt shrugged, tapping out a combination of keys and twisting the joystick. He wasn't even quite sure what he had done until Puck threw his controller on the ground.

"Screw you, Hummel," Puck glowered, stalking into the kitchen.

"What did I do?" Kurt stared up at Blaine with wide eyes.

"You basically just annihilated them, love," Blaine laughed.

"Oh." Kurt's cheeks turned pink under Sam and Finn's glares. "Oops?"

"You're a really horrible person," Blaine muttered, slipping his arm around Kurt's shoulders and tucking him closer to his chest. "But I love you."

Kurt grinned shyly and nuzzled Blaine's neck. "I love you too."

"Oh God, stop it before I puke," Sam whined with a teasing smile. Kurt stuck his tongue out in a very mature display of emotion and then turned back to Blaine.

"Why do you have to be good at everything?" Puck complained as he returned with a glass of lemonade.

"I'm not good at everything!" Kurt protested.

"Oh yeah? Name something," Puck challenged.

Kurt looked around at the faces in the room. "Well, I…I can't rap," he said, staring at Artie.

"White boy preaches!" Artie said with a hand wave.

"And um…" Kurt bit his lip and avoided Blaine's gaze. "I can't act like a straight male for a musical lead."

"Kurt," Blaine scolded gently.

"It's true though," Kurt mumbled, peeking at Artie who looked uncomfortable. "They laughed at me."

"You what?" Sam said loudly, peering around Puck's body to stare at Artie. "You laughed?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Finn questioned.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Puck added.

Kurt shrugged and tried to burrow further into Blaine's side. He didn't want to answer. He thought they'd known. No one had questioned it when Blaine had been cast as Tony. He felt Blaine's hand stroking through his hair and he breathed shakily, the scent of cinnamon and Blaine's cologne soothing him. He was hardly even aware that the talking continued.

"I think you should explain it," Blaine said softly, cradling Kurt to his body protectively.

"It wasn't just me," Artie mumbled.

"It wasn't…who else laughed?" Puck glared.

"They all did," Blaine replied, fingers carding through his boyfriend's hair.

"Beiste and Pillsbury?" Finn said with a frown. "Really Artie? Really?"

"Kurt just…he wasn't right for the role," Artie explained nervously.

"Why? He's fantastic," Sam exclaimed.

"But not for Tony! We needed a strong male lead an-"

"And Kurt sounds like a girl?" Puck interrupted, hand clenched. "God, Artie. I thought you were my bro. I thought you'd look out for Kurt and respect that he sounds a little different."

"But I-"

"I'm so disappointed in you, dude," Finn said with a shake of his head. "I'm disappointed in all three of you. I can't believe I didn't know until now. I can't believe Rachel didn't tell me."

Sam rubbed his nose and sighed. "Look, man, you were out of line and I think you know it. You should get the directors together to apologise to Kurt because it's just not fair what you did to him."

"It's not like it was deliberate," Artie protested.

"That's probably what makes it worse," Blaine cut in. "Kurt thought you were his friends. He thought he had your support. And you broke down all that confidence and esteem he had." Blaine glanced at the other boys in the room and then looked down at where Kurt was still quivering against him. "He just wants to be accepted. Why don't any of you get that?"

Artie looked ashamed and Finn, Puck and Sam fell silent.

"I think we should call it a day," Puck said quietly. Sam nodded and Artie said an anxious goodbye, wheeling himself out the door. Sam, Puck and Finn bumped fists and left.

"Kurt?" Blaine said gently, shaking his boyfriend's shoulder. "Kurt? The others have gone."

Kurt clutched at Blaine's pullover and Blaine sighed, twisting to pull Kurt firmly into his lap.

"Is he okay?" Finn said nervously.

Blaine supported the back of Kurt's neck against his chest and shrugged at Finn, before beginning to hum softly.

It took a while, but slowly he felt the tension in Kurt's body ease as he relaxed into the vibration of Blaine's chest beneath his ear.

"Hey," Blaine whispered, stroking his fingers over Kurt's cheek. "You okay?"

Kurt's eyes were misty and slightly dazed. "Yeah. I guess. I dunno."

Finn chewed his lip and fidgeted in his chair.

"It's okay," Blaine assured, but wasn't really sure who he was actually talking to. He held Kurt close and pressed a kiss to his hair. "I still love you."

Kurt gave a shy, tired smile. "I love you too."

"Just to let you know Kurt," Finn cut into the romantic moment. "But like, you're never playing Halo with us again."

Kurt turned his head to gaze at Finn, eyebrow raised. "You just hate that I beat you."

"N- Yeah, okay. But you were good and we can't compete with that!"

Blaine snorted and slid his fingers over Kurt's spine.

"We'll see, Finn Hudson," Kurt murmured, cuddling back into Blaine and closing his eyes. "Maybe I can beat all of you single-handedly."

Finn gaped and Blaine grinned.

"That's my boy," Blaine chuckled. Kurt rolled his eyes and fingered the soft cashmere beneath his cheek. It felt like home.