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"LATTE?"
Charlotte and Kurt sat timidly in Dalton Academy's small coffee shop across from Blaine, Elliott, and two more Warblers. As he sat back down, Blaine slid two coffees across the table.
After Kurt and Charlotte's sneaky field trip to Dalton a few days prior, Elliott had let the truth slip out to Blaine, "out of courtesy for the Warblers", as he had put it. The Dalton Glee club had not only discovered that Kurt was not a new student at Dalton, but also the fact that he and Charlotte went to McKinley High and were in New Directions. By the time Elliott had called and told his sister that the Warblers had requested for their company once again, Charlotte and Kurt were both considerably on edge.
However, Charlotte was more so upset over the fact that Elliott still didn't have a solid answer for her regarding Blaine.
"This is Wes and David," Blaine said, gesturing to the two boys sitting on each side of him and Elliott. Although Blaine's face was welcoming and neither of the boys that he had introduced looked particularly threatening, Charlotte and Kurt were still considerably uncomfortable as they sat in front of their competition, Elliott staring them down all the while. Charlotte wrapped her hands around the warm cup of coffee and pulled it in towards her, glancing at Kurt to speak for the both of them.
"It's very civilized for you to invite us for coffee before you beat us up for spying," he noted. Charlotte peeked up from her coffee cup long enough to sneak a look at Blaine, who was giving her a small smile; her eyes immediately dropped back down, determined to hide her blushing face from him. Elliott, who had been watching his sister like a hawk, noticed this exchange and immediately clenched his jaw.
"We are not going to beat either of you up," Wes reassured the two kindly.
"You were such a terrible spy, we thought it was sort of... endearing," David got out, exchanging grins with Wes while Blaine sipped his coffee and Elliott's mouth twitched into a smile. He turned to Charlotte, whose eyes were on a flustered Kurt. "Although, we have to give Charlotte props. I don't think we ever would've figured out that you didn't go to Crawford Country Day if Elliott hadn't said something." A smile spread across Charlotte's face as she looked up into the boys' entertained faces and received an eye roll from Elliott. "But again, rather endearing of you."
"Which made me think that spying on us wasn't really the reason you both came." Blaine put his cup down and glanced between Charlotte and Kurt.
Unable to meet Blaine's eyes, Charlotte turned to Kurt and wordlessly gestured for him to respond, received by a small nod from her best friend as he turned back to face Blaine.
"Can I ask you guys a question?" Kurt's eyes moved hesitantly from Blaine's to Elliott's. Elliott, who had been watching Blaine speak, felt Kurt's eyes on him and immediately turned to see that he had the attention of all five. Although it was obvious that he was confused on what Kurt was going to ask, he nodded.
"Of course."
Kurt hesitated, evidence of a small smile on his face. "Are you guys all gay?"
The four boys sitting in front of Charlotte and Kurt chuckled at his question as Charlotte unintentionally sat up straighter.
"Uh, uh no," Blaine said with a smile once he finished laughing. "I mean, I'm bi, but these two have girlfriends."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Elliott's eyes shot to Blaine and then to Charlotte, who gave her brother a victorious look as his mouth tightened.
"This is not a gay school. We just have a zero-tolerance harassment policy," David nonchalantly told Kurt.
Wes shifted his focus from David to Kurt. "Everybody gets treated the same, no matter what they are. It's pretty simple," he said with a shrug.
"Wow." Charlotte let out an uncomfortable little laugh as she glanced between the boys before landing on Blaine. "Unless you're either a Cheerio or a football player, you don't get too much respect over at McKinley."
Blaine's eyes softened as he looked at the girl, but turned his focus towards a misty-eyed Kurt when he noticed Elliott watching him with concern.
Charlotte moved to wrap her small arm around her best friend's shoulders as Elliott looked to Blaine, silently waiting for him to do something.
Blaine turned to Wes and David. "Would you excuse us?" He spoke in a gracious tone to the two, nodding at Elliott to remain at the table.
"Yeah. Take it easy, Kurt," Wes said gently as he and David got up from their seats.
"It was so nice to meet you, Charlotte," David told Elliott's sister kindly, earning a smile out of her as he exited the room with Wes.
Kurt and Charlotte were left with Blaine and Elliott, who were watching Kurt with concern-filled faces from across the table. Charlotte's arm remained around Kurt as he adverted his tear-filled eyes from both of the boys.
"I take it you're having trouble at school," Elliott said gently, causing Charlotte to look up at her brother, meeting his eyes. His sentence came out more like a statement than a question for Kurt to answer.
Kurt took a moment to respond, eyeing Elliott's coffee cup while he spoke. "I'm the only person out of the closet at my school." He nodded as he slowly looked up to meet Elliott's eyes, which had softened considerably. Tears began to fall down Kurt's face as his spoke. "And I... I tried to stay strong about it, but... there's this Neanderthal who's made it his mission to make my life a living hell." He shook his head, casting his eyes down once again. "And nobody else seems to notice."
Charlotte leaned her head onto Kurt's shoulder after he finished. Once again, she couldn't understand how people like Karofsky could be so cruel to someone just because they were different. Kurt was one of the most true friends that she had at McKinley, and she hated the fact that so many people would never get a chance to see that because of their own prejudices against him when he had done absolutely nothing wrong. She would have loved to force Karofsky to stop and get it through his thick skull that he was wrong, wrong about every single thing he thought he knew about Kurt.
However, she knew deep down that no matter how much she stuck up for him, no matter the extremes that she would go to in order to protect him, none of it would ever be enough to change someone like Karofsky.
"I know how you feel," Blaine interjected, a distant look on his face as Charlotte peered up at him. "I got taunted at my old school, and it really..." Blaine clenched his jaw as he shook his head, as if to shake out the bad memories. "... pissed me off. I even complained about it to the faculty," he added, casting his attention back to Kurt. "And they were sympathetic and all, but you could just tell that..." Blaine trailed off as he searched for the right words, "nobody really cared. It was like, 'Hey, if you're gay or bi or anything in between, your life's just going to be miserable. Sorry. Nothing we can do about it.'"
Kurt turned to Charlotte and they exchanged glances. He mustered a smile for his best friend, and she gently retracted her arm, rubbing his shoulder before dropping her hand back into her lap.
"So I left," Blaine continued, sharing a look with Elliott before returning his attention to Kurt and Charlotte, "and I came here." He gestured up towards the grand ceiling, his hazel eyes flickering all around the room. "Simple as that."
"So," Elliott picked up, looking at Kurt with a small, understanding smile. "You have two options. I mean, we'd love to tell you to just come enroll here, but tuition at Dalton is sort of steep, and I know firsthand that that's not an option for everybody." Elliott's eyes slid to his sister, unable to beat Blaine's to the chase. "The only reason I'm not at McKinley right now with Charlotte is because of the scholarship that Dalton offered me. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I've been extremely lucky." Charlotte smiled back at her brother who offered one back to her before turning to Kurt once again. "Or," he said, "you can refuse to be the victim."
"Prejudice is just ignorance, Kurt, and you have a chance right now to teach him," Blaine included. "That's not something that anyone else, including Charlotte, can do."
Kurt looked from Charlotte to Blaine, a trace of confusion on his face. "How?" Kurt questioned softly.
"Confront him," Elliott stated, his eyes wide. "Call him out." He nodded at Kurt.
Blaine sighed. "I ran... Kurt," he reinstated, catching himself looking at Charlotte a second too long. She blushed as his eyes quickly moved off of hers. "I didn't stand up. I let bullies chase me away, and it is something that I really... really regret."
"Don't let him make you think that you're not strong, Kurt," Elliott pleaded, shaking his head. "You are the strong one for putting up with him day after day." He spread his hands. "When it comes down to it, all he is is a scared boy who can't cope with himself."
Charlotte nodded at her brother and Blaine before turning back to Kurt, placing a hand on his arm. As she did so, Blaine's eyes flickered to her hand and back up to her face when she wasn't looking. However, Elliott, who was keeping a close eye on all three, immediately noted his friend's expression as one that he had seen before.
As he thought it over, he recognized Blaine's expression as one that he had stolen right off of Kurt's face, the one that the boy had been wearing in the senior commons during the Warblers' performance.
✰ ✰ ✰ ✰
"The boys beat us the last time we competed against them. We've gotta bring the noise hard this time," Mercedes emphasized as she worked on her costume.
All of the girls were gathered in the choir room, sewing and bedazzling their costumes for the big Boys Versus Girls tournament later in the week. Rachel had triple checked to book the room the moment that the tournament had been announced by Mr. Schue, and Charlotte was positive that if any of the boys tried to come in, she would start chucking their shared sewing pins at them until they left.
"To be fair," Quinn mused, "they didn't officially beat us. We got busted for vitamin D possession before the vote," she said a little too cheerfully.
"That's not much better," Charlotte said, glancing up at Quinn from beside Rachel while they sewed. Quinn shrugged.
"Wait," Santana interrupted, wrapping spare thread back around a bobbin. "Something's definitely wrong." She nodded at the girls. "Why isn't Rachel talking?"
"Yeah, she should totally be bossing us around right now." Brittany spoke in a soft monotone as she worked to get herself untangled from a number of threads. Charlotte's brow scrunched up as she watched and wondered how anyone could manage to make such a mess. She shook her head and turned to Rachel when she spoke.
"The idea of the assignment was to do the opposite of what we normally do," she said, matter-of-factly as she worked to thread a needle. "I'm just trying to stick to the lesson plan, which is proving nearly impossible since you're gluing those sequins on backwards!" Rachel leaned forward in her chair towards where Brittany and Santana sat. Charlotte watched Rachel's head whip towards the door as her eyes widened, a single index finger pointing out accusingly.
"SPIES!"
Charlotte immediately looked up from her threading to see Puck pushing Artie through the choir room doorway. She lifted her chin in greeting to the two as Puck offered her a barely-there closed-mouth smile and Artie lifted his palm in her direction.
"Lighten up," Puck scoffed. "We're here to talk to Santana and Brittany."
As Puck murmured something to Artie, Charlotte made a face and crossed her leg. Sure, she knew that Artie and Brittany had previously had what they claimed was a relationship, and Puck and Santana had something along the lines of friends-with-benefits, but she had no idea what they were doing in the choir room.
Santana watched as the two approached her and Brittany, preening as she sized them up. "Hmm. So how does it feel to be a free man?"
Puck shifted his gaze proudly down to Artie as the boy began to speak.
"All I can say is that I don't want a long-term relationship with either of you," Artie stated directly. "Especially Brittany," he added, "since I'm not in love with her."
Charlotte rolled her eyes at Puck, as if to say "really?". Puck narrowed his eyes at her before concentrating back on Santana.
"Do you guys want to go out to dinner tonight?" Brittany smiled as Santana looked from her back to the two boys standing in front of them. Charlotte raised an eyebrow.
"Not really." Puck shrugged.
"Oh," Santana said, crestfallen.
After a moment, Puck broke the silence. "Tell you what," he started, pointing a finger between the two girls. "you two show up at Breadstix tomorrow night around 7. If we don't find hotter chicks to date tonight, we might show up," he said with a smirk. Charlotte watched as Artie gaped, looking from Santana and Brittany back up to Puck.
Santana sighed, and smirked back at Puck. "You are totally cool."
"Awesome." Brittany smiled.
While Tina, Mercedes, and Quinn looked down the line at Santana and Brittany with puzzled looks, Charlotte's confused expression was directed at Puck's back as he wheeled Artie out of the choir room. Rachel appeared to be the only one unaffected in the room, continuing to sew beside Charlotte without missing a beat.
"I'm going to go talk to them," Charlotte muttered, pushing herself off of her seat and hopping down from the raised platform.
"You go do that," Rachel said supportively to her friend, not bothering to look up from her sewing.
"What, Kennedy, jealous that you couldn't pull him?" Santana taunted as Charlotte walked by her seat.
She turned around, facing Santana as she slowly walked backwards towards the door. "What, so now I'm not allowed to have friends?" Charlotte scoffed. "And by the way, I could have him by saying the word, trust me on that one." As she turned back around, Santana began to get up to come after her, but Brittany managed to hold her down just as Charlotte began speaking again. "I wouldn't bother. We're stuck on the same tournament team." She flipped Santana off behind her back as she walked out the open choir room door into the hallway.
Her eyes scanned the almost-empty hallway and landed on Puck pushing Artie away. "Puckerman!" Charlotte hissed as she charged towards him.
Puck took his sweet time turning Artie around so that they were both facing in her direction. "What's good, Char?"
"Not whatever you just did in there, for one," Charlotte said, gesturing towards the choir room.
"What, I can't teach Artie how to get back his girl?"
"Yeah, why can't he?" Artie frowned, clasping his hands together in his lap. "I mean, it's not that I care that much, but still, why not?" He mumbled the first part to himself, but both Charlotte and Puck still heard every word, knowing that in reality he did, in fact, care very much.
Charlotte sighed, crossing her arms. "Because he's not teaching you how to get anyone back." She turned back to Puck. "All Santana and Brittany want is some entertainment... you know, something to do when they're not in Cheerio practice?"
Puck shrugged, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What's so bad about that?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you, you dumbass?" Charlotte let her palms fall against her legs. "Santana hates me. Absolutely despises me! As my best friend, do you really want to go out and hook up with her again?"
"I mean, unless you changed your mind..." Puck trailed off, letting his eyes drift back up to Charlotte's. Puck had tried several times before in the past to try and get Charlotte to go out with him, but he never could quite convince her, no matter what he did or promised. Not that he'd ever let her know, but that was the real reason why he distracted himself with all of the girls he chased after.
Charlotte groaned. "You know that there's a difference between rejection and common decency, right?"
Puck brushed off her comment. "I wouldn't sweat it too much, it's just one date. We'll go out with them, and then I'll have Santana at my beck and call for whatever I want." He leaned down to high-five Artie while Charlotte made a face.
"You guys are disgusting."
"Oh yeah? Why don't you go tell Finn about it?" Puck lightly joked as he turned Artie's wheel chair around and he started pushing him down the hall in the opposite direction.
"It's Tuesday, you know Finn's at football practice," Charlotte called down the hall after Puck, "which is where you'd be too if you hadn't gotten yourself sent to juvie!" She sighed. I really need to find some more girl friends, she thought to herself. How does one even wind up best friends with Finn and Puck?
"Yeah, well, if I find out that you told him where you and Kurt went yesterday before me, someone's getting beat up!"
"Hold your fire, it's not that big of a deal," Charlotte called as the two turned the corner. Right as the sentence came out of her mouth, the thought of Blaine popped back into her head, along with his nice eyes, divine voice, and attractive charm.
Is it that big of a deal?, she thought to herself, now standing alone in the open hallway. Squeezing her eyes shut and opening them back up again, she shook her head. Of course not.
Charlotte turned around on her heel and walked back into the choir room.