There was one thing, one person, that Blaine hadn’t factored into any of what happened with the Warblers, with Santana, with Kurt.

Brittany.

He didn’t even realize anything was potentially wrong until he got to school the following Monday and she’d brushed past him without even so much as a hello. That was the thing with Brittany – she was very friendly and affectionate. The first time he ‘officially’ met her it had started with a hug, and that pretty much summed up how she was with him from then on. Except after the Warblers performance, after his evening spent with Kurt, she wasn’t like that anymore. She practically clung to Kurt, more so than usual, and she barely gave Blaine more than a glance.

She barely looked at Santana at all.

That wasn’t something Blaine would have noticed, normally, but Santana was more than aware of it. Her mood seemed worse than usual, considering that she tended to be looser around him, far less snippy than she was with most. But when Brittany was ignoring her, apparently that meant that all bets were off. By the time they got to lunchtime, she’d practically snarled at him in the halls twice and she was being downright mean.

“Not that I’m trying to make up excuses for you to stop biting my head off,” Blaine murmured in a low tone as she stood next to his locker, filing away at her nails like she was trying to get them of completely, a scowl twisting her lips, “but aren’t we supposed to be a happy couple? I mean, if I had a boyfriend who sang a song about how much he wanted me, in front of God and everyone that was out there, I don’t think I’d be a complete jerk to him later.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly get any over the weekend,” she muttered, taking a particularly violent swipe at her thumbnail with the file. “And I’m completely getting the cold shoulder. So forgive me if I’m not exactly feeling hospitable today.”

“I’m just saying, I doubt it’s helping other people believe,” he whispered back, shutting the locker door and slipping his arm around her waist. She leaned into his touch just a little, but enough for him to know that his words had made an impact. “I know you’re upset, but…”

“…don’t take it out on you?” she finished, glancing over at him. “Yeah, I got it. I’ll play nice or whatever.” She leaned in, placing a lingering kiss on his cheek. “How about we blame my crabbiness on lack of sleep from our sexcapades all weekend?”

“San.”

“What? You’re the one who said I could keep my toys in the drawer,” she teased quietly, and thank goodness for that because it meant that she was acting like her normal self. “And I love my toys, so maybe we got one or two out just for fun since I’m sure you’re more than capable of taking care of my needs and all.”

“Of course I am,” Blaine shot back, his voice still low. There was a light flush high on his cheeks, but he blamed it on the fact that he really hadn’t ever planned on picturing doing those types of things with his friend – his girlfriend – and she seemed more than comfortable giving him fodder for mental images. “Why else do you think you’re so worn out today?”

“Atta boy,” Santana said with a grin, bumping her hip against his. “Come on, I want to have lunch out.”

Once time for glee club rehearsal rolled around, it seemed as though any agreement Blaine and Santana had come to before lunch had disappeared. Brittany was sitting in the back row of the risers, looking annoyed about something, and as soon as Blaine walked through the doorway he was accosted. Santana hopped up out of her seat, practically stalked her way across the room, and kissed him full on the mouth.

Blaine’s hands flew up to grab her arms, mostly to keep himself from falling back out of shock. It wasn’t like Santana hadn’t kissed him before, but it had always been on the cheek, or maybe the corner of his mouth (which he always assumed happened because she was distracted and she’d actually just been aiming for his cheek in the first place), but never on the lips. Never with such a determined press and not letting up right away. He squeezed her arms gently and gave an imperceptible push back against them to get her to stop.

“San, what—”

“Everyone take your seats, let’s get started!” Mr. Schue called out, and Blaine didn’t get the chance to finish asking his question or even finish thinking of his question. He was far too startled for the words to form clearly. Santana took his hand and pulled him over toward their seats, and he spent most of the rehearsal in a confused daze. 

No one else in the room seemed to think something was amiss with what had happened, but then again the majority of them shouldn’t have. Blaine snuck a glance up to where Kurt and Brittany sat, but Kurt looked impassive – his normal expression at school – and Brittany looked miserable. There was definitely something up with the way Santana kept some form of contact with him the whole time – her arm around the back of his chair, their hands linked together, her head rested against his shoulder.

Thankfully, Rachel and Mercedes seemed content to duke it out over a solo for most of the rehearsal. He’d never heard so much bickering go on over a single song, and then the fact that Mr. Schue seemed content to let them? All Blaine could think of was Wes and his gavel, and how he could probably whip the New Directions into shape in one afternoon or less.

Brittany was out of her seat and halfway to the door when the bell rang, a furtive glance sent over her shoulder before she disappeared out into the hall. Blaine felt Santana shift next to him, like she wanted to go after her but stopped herself, so he got up to his feet and shook his hand free from hers. There was something wrong, obviously, and he hated to see someone like Brittany be upset. She was too sweet, and the way she’d been avoiding him made him feel like he was at least partially to blame.

Catching up to her wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. They were the same height but somehow her legs were infinitely longer than his and she’d been walking fast when she’d left. It was easy to track her, though, red skirt and blonde ponytail swishing back and forth as she booked it down the hall away from the choir room. He jogged a little to keep up and got to her right before she reached for the door to the gymnasium. “Brit!”

“Go away, Blaine,” she mumbled, her shoulders dropping forward a little as she grabbed the door handle.

“I…” Blaine paused, blinking a few times and watching her. “Hey, no, come on Brittany, I don’t even know what I did wrong. You’re upset about something and I just want to help. If it’s my fault, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to give me a little help in figuring out what I did. I just want you to smile again.”

That got her to stop, at least, and look over at him, and he instantly felt his heart crumbling to pieces. She just looked so hurt and he couldn’t stand it. This was the bubbliest person he’d ever known, and she looked broken beyond words. He reached over hesitantly, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted to, but she didn’t, and he took her hand.

“I just…” she began, but her gaze was flitting around the area, everywhere but on him. He glanced around, taking in the students milling around behind them, before turning his attention back to her.

“Want to go somewhere quiet to talk?” he asked, hoping that by quiet she knew he meant private. She wasn’t as blunt as Santana, who rarely said the words but always made it known that she wasn’t comfortable, or as shifty about it as Kurt, who was always clearly obvious when he couldn’t talk about something where they were. Either way, she gave a little nod and let go of his hand as they started walking.

Finding someplace private to talk in the school was practically impossible, between the practices that were getting ready to start and the faculty that was still there getting work done for the day. It only took a quick loop around the nearby hallways to realize that there was no way they were going to be able to talk there.

“Did you… we can go to my house? Or somewhere else that you want.”

“My house,” Brittany agreed after a long moment of silence. “You have to drive though.”

“Okay,” Blaine said with a nod, heading out to the parking lot with her. It was a quiet drive, with her giving directions when she needed, and it only took them a few minutes to get to her house. He didn’t know what to expect as they went inside, but she led him up to her room and shut the door behind them before sitting on the edge of her bed and looking up at him.

Blaine didn’t know what he should do, whether he should stay standing there or sit – and if so, where would he sit? – but he didn’t have to think about that too long before the biggest cat he’d ever seen in his life hopped up on the bed and slinked its way onto Brittany’s lap. He blinked, then stared, as she gathered it up in her arms and hugged it in close before looking up at him.

“I’m mad at you,” she said simply, tilting her head so her cheek was resting on top of the cat’s head.

“What did I do?” he asked, his eyes finally making their way back to her face from the cat.

“You slept with Santana.”

“What? No, no no no, Brittany, I most definitely didn’t sleep with Santana,” Blaine said quickly, shifting over to sit beside her, his eyes wide. “I absolutely did not.”

 “Yes you did,” Brittany said, her brow furrowing a little. “I was there – you… you sang that song to her and then today I heard you guys talking about how that was why she was all tired, because that’s what you guys had been doing all weekend.”

“Brit – that’s – I’m gay and Santana is too and –”

“That’s why I thought it was weird but, I mean, Santana’s slept with lots of guys before. So I thought maybe that was what pretend boyfriends and girlfriends did, even if they were gay? Except Kurt won’t have sex with me no matter how many times I ask.”

“Brittany,” Blaine said, thinking over his words carefully. His heart was still kind of racing from the initial accusation, because he never thought he’d hear those words put together and especially not coming from someone who believed them – someone who should know better than to believe them.

“I didn’t sleep with Santana, and I never will. That song…” he sighed, rubbing his face. “That was to Kurt. I couldn’t sing it to him because of everyone else, you know? I thought it might help everyone seem more… believable. So people wouldn’t question Santana. Or Kurt. Believe me, that song was for him, not her.  Today, what we said, we were teasing. She was in a bad mood because she thought you were ignoring her or something –”

“I was,” Brittany offered, still hugging her giant cat to her chest. To its credit, it seemed like it didn’t care the least bit. “You, too.”

“I don’t think Santana would ever do something like that,” Blaine continued cautiously, because he wasn’t comfortable putting words to someone else’s feelings, but he didn’t want to leave any doubt over what did or didn’t happen between him and Santana. “She really cares about you, enough to do all of this to try and protect… she wouldn’t go and throw it all away.”

“She loves me,” she whispered, her fingers idly stroking through the cat’s fur. “I love her.”

“See? You don’t have anything to worry about, especially not when it comes to me.”

“I wish it was easier.” Brittany looked over at him, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I hate having to hide. I wish… everything I do with Kurt, I wish I could do with her, all out in front of everyone.”

“You and me, I think we’re a lot alike,” Blaine said, leaning over and nudging her shoulder lightly. “Not wanting to hide, not feeling like we have to hide, but willing to do it to help someone else.”

“You love him.” He startled, eyes wide as they met hers. “I know you do.”

“I…”

“It’s okay,” she offered, shrugging her shoulders. “I could see it, how you look at him. It was there the first time I saw you, and even when you were mad at him for a while. You can’t really turn that kind of thing off. If it helps, I think he loves you too.”

Brittany had a way of saying things that made them seem so factual, so bare, like there was nothing but pure truth in her words. It was a strange talent of hers, considering that she usually seemed in a world of her own. No matter how much it usually seemed like she was daydreaming, she was observing more than anyone realized. Maybe it was because she looked at the world in a different way than anyone else he’d ever known, but she could see things – even something Blaine hadn’t even admitted fully to himself.

He left her house feeling a mixture of emotions – he felt better about everything regarding Brittany, but torn as far as Kurt was concerned. Because he did love Kurt, and he knew it. They’d had months of getting to know each other, even though they had completely skirted every negative issue until recent weeks, and it had happened so gradually that he hadn’t even noticed. He could only hope that Brittany wasn’t completely inventing the fact that Kurt felt the same.

Not wasting any time once he got home, he dialed Santana’s number as he walked up the steps to his room, hearing her familiar greeting as he crossed the threshold into his room. “Hey boyfriend.”

“Santana…”

“Yes?”

“Why did you kiss me?” He was fairly certain he knew, but he wanted to hear it from her.

“Because you’re my boyfriend and that’s what lovers do.”

“That’s complete bullshit. Try again.”

“Ooo, kitten’s got claws out today,” Santana said dryly, and he could practically feel her rolling her eyes. “Fine. I was tired of Brittany ignoring me.”

“So you did that to get her attention.”

“Yeah.”

“San…” Blaine rubbed his face, sighing. “Don’t… ever do that again. I don’t care if you kiss me, I just don’t want it to be because you’re trying to get back at her for something. I won’t be used as a weapon in your little war of who can push the other one the furthest.”

“Blaine, I –”

“She was ignoring you because she thought we slept together. That’s why she was acting all… like that.”

“She what?” Santana sounded startled. “Oh my God, are you serious?”

“No, Santana, I made that up,” Blaine said, rolling his eyes. “Of course I’m serious. She was really upset because she thought… after the song, and then she overheard us in the hall today, and I don’t think you helped matters when you kissed me.”

“Fuck.”

“I talked to her about it, I think everything’s cleared up, but… just don’t do that, okay? Don’t use me. I know that this whole ‘relationship’ is kind of just that, but you know what I mean.”

“I didn’t…” Santana paused and sighed. “I didn’t mean to use you like that.”

“It’s fine, it’s done, moving on.” He really didn’t want to harp on it any more than he had to. It had been such a strange afternoon. “You should go talk to her so she can hear it from you. Not that she didn’t believe me, she did, but still.”

“Yeah, I will. Oh! Speaking of talk, I heard an interesting little thing today.”

“And what would that be?”

“Apparently Kurt has a hickey on his hip.” Blaine froze. “Which I know didn’t come from Brittany.”

“She said she kept asking him to have sex with her, so maybe… he…” he started lamely, not even sure why he was trying to incriminate her. Maybe it was because he didn’t want Santana involved in his sex life, or because he felt like it was invading Kurt’s privacy, but either way he was in trouble.

“Nice try, Anderson.”

“How would you have seen it anyway? What were you doing?”

“I didn’t see it, I heard about it,” she replied, and it sounded like she was smirking. “Word travels fast at McKinley, haven’t you noticed? One of the guys on the team saw it when they were changing for practice, then it made it through the grapevine to the Cheerios, and I knew about your little sexy tryst not even half an hour into practice. Just friends my ass.”

“How do you know it was me? It could have been someone else.” He smacked his forehead, because really did he want to keep trying to incriminate everyone else? First Brittany, then Kurt going off with someone else - he really just needed to stop. “Forget I said that. Just… fine. Not just friends.”

“Knew it.”

“Nothing had happened since before school, not until this past weekend,” he hurried on, though he still wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to explain himself. To Santana, of all people. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“No shit,” she shot back, huffing out an annoyed sigh. “Who would I tell? Do the words mutually assured destruction mean anything to you?”

“Sorry, I just… ever since getting to your stupid school I’ve had to be so careful, and I know it doesn’t hurt anything for you to know about stuff but it just seemed neater for no one to know. I mean, not even back at Dalton – only my roommate knew about Kurt. Everyone else might have guessed, but Wes was the only one that knew. It helped that it was summer term so there weren’t as many people there as usual but still. I hate secrets, and this is why.”

“Blaine, it’s okay,” Santana said, a soothing tone to her voice that he wasn’t used to hearing. “I was just teasing; you know that’s how I work. It’s not like anyone thinks it was someone other than Brittany. Hell, if she’d been at practice she probably would have owned up to it without missing a beat.” She paused, almost like she wasn’t sure if she should say anything else. “I knew there was something between you guys.”

“Congratulations.”

“No, I don’t mean it like that, I just mean… you’re a good guy. You’re a really good guy, but I don’t think you would have agreed to do this – be this – for me unless you had an extra reason. That first day, I saw that look on your face. It wouldn’t have been there if you hadn’t already known Kurt. Really known him.”

“Can I ask you something?” Blaine asked after a long moment of silence passed between them. He knew he’d be forever grateful for Santana approaching him that first day, though he knew the way she’d gone about it had him convinced there was no way he would be, but he’d never expected her to have actually been so aware.

“Maybe.”

“Why do you do it? Hide, I mean.”

“Really, Blaine? You were there when that neanderthal called me a dyke and you can’t figure it out?”

“Well, I didn’t know if there was some other reason. I was just curious.”

“McKinley is like a breeding ground for ignorant jackasses. The last thing I need in my life is them having ammo against me. You’re welcome, by the way. Dating me is probably the one thing that’s kept you from getting dumpster tossed or slushied by now. New kids are easy targets.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Blaine said, almost under his breath.

“I’m not. Listen, I’ve got to go, my abuela is here for dinner. Catch you later.”

The silence on the other end of the line was deafening after she hung up, and he dropped the phone on his bed. Santana was right—they all had to be in it together or they were all done for. That was the problem, though, because he hadn’t realized just how deep they were all going to get. What was worse was that the entire reason it was happening was because the school had instilled such a fear – and that was what bothered him most.