Title: Blink (and you'll miss it)
Author: gemmi999
Fandom: Glee/So Damn Skippy Crossover (see Author's Note for explanation about So Damn Skippy)
Word Count: 11,400ish
Pairing: GEN/ Mike Carden/Kevin Jonas PRESLASH (barely)
Rating: PG-13 for language
Warning: occasional insults towards religious individuals (in the context of the story, not personal opinion)

Summary: Quinn Fabray is 7 months pregnant, which makes climbing in and out of cars almost a challenge and definitely something she will not be taking for granted again. She’s wearing maternity clothes, including jeans that have elastic around the waist, and she has stretch marks and, okay, pimples. On her ass. Which is something she will never admit to, not even on pain of torture by Sue Sylvester herself, because seriously. Pimples on her ass. She has to pee all the damn time too, but that she can deal with. Its not like McKinley High doesn’t have a zillion bathrooms all over the place, and it’s a good excuse to get out of class. But all in all, Quinn Fabray is 7 months pregnant, and her cousin Kevin is standing in front of her with a look of shock and mild confusion, and this is not how Quinn wanted her extended family to find out.

Thank You's: First off, to my incredible beta soft2smooth2000. I couldn't have done this without soft2smooth2000's help! Secondly, thank you to my two incredible fan mixers! I love both mixes (have been listening to them non stop, almost, for the past two weeks!). Mix One by rinkinkirs, complete with INCREDIBLE artwork for my story! GO CHECK IT OUT! Second Mix!!!Thank you to quintenttsy for making it! It's glorious! And Amazing! BOTH OF THEM ARE, so go listen! And Look! AND ADMIRE.


Author's Note: Written as part of the sodamnskippy little bang. So Damn Skippy is a CRACK *real person slash* pairing of Mike Carden (from The Academy Is...) and Kevin Jonas (from, well, Disney? And pop culture?). For more information, feel free to click here and it will take you to a primer, of sorts, on these two rascals. Basically all you need to know for this fic is that Mike Carden is in a band, he looks like a serial killer, and is basically an asshole to everyone (including his best friends). Kevin Jonas is from a religious family, he has brothers, and his hair makes him look like a poodle.




Quinn Fabray is 7 months pregnant, which makes climbing in and out of cars almost a challenge and definitely something she will not be taking for granted again. She’s wearing maternity clothes, including jeans that have elastic around the waist, and she has stretch marks and, okay, pimples. On her ass. Which is something she will never admit to, not even on pain of torture by Sue Sylvester herself, because seriously. Pimples on her ass. She has to pee all the damn time too, but that she can deal with. Its not like McKinley High doesn’t have a zillion bathrooms all over the place, and it’s a good excuse to get out of class. But all in all, Quinn Fabray is 7 months pregnant, and her cousin Kevin is standing in front of her with a look of shock and mild confusion, and this is not how Quinn wanted her extended family to find out.

“Quinn?” Kevin says, looking at her face and then her stomach and then her face again.

“Hey Kevin.” Quinn looks at her cousin and smiles. “Um, surprise?”

“I’d ask what’s new, but--”

“Yeah.” Quinn shrugs. “So what brings you to Lima?” And suddenly Quinn is thankful for all of those years of Cotillion lessons her parents force on her because the art of polite small talk is suddenly actually helpful. Who would have thought?

Kevin doesn’t say anything for a second, just looks at her, almost evaluating. “Look, can we go somewhere a bit more private?” Is what he finally says and Quinn nods.

“The choir room should be empty now.” Quinn says. She silently leads her cousin through the bustling halls and for once Quinn is actually thankful that Mercedes gets to school early enough that the majority of the jocks aren’t there yet. Quinn doesn’t even want to imagine how her cousin would react seeing her take a big gulp full of red slushy to the face.

And then they’re there, outside the choir room and the lights are off, so Quinn was right. It’s empty. She opens the door and is about to flick on the lights when Kevin says: “No, um--can you leave them off?”

So Quinn shrugs and walks into the darkened room. It’s not pitch black, there’s more then enough light to see, and it’s kind of nice. Quinn would almost say more intimate, but it’s her cousin and that’s just wrong on so many levels.

“So...” Quinn says a few minutes later. She’s sitting in one of the chairs and Kevin is standing in front of the piano and he looks awkward, nervous, neither of which are attributes Quinn would have ever used to describe him. Especially around music--Kevin’s entire family took to music like ducks to water, but now Kevin is looking out of his element.

“I’m staying with your parents for a little while.” Kevin says. “Maybe just the rest of this school year, but um, it depends.”

Quinn nods because she knew it had to be something like that because it wasn’t like Kevin knew a lot of people in Lima, Ohio. And it stings a little, that he gets to stay with her parents while she’s been relegated to Finn’s then Puck’s and now Mercedes’ homes, but he’s family and he probably hadn’t gotten pregnant after sleeping with someone, so--it’s all-relative.

“Okay.” Is what she ends up saying, because she can’t yell at him for something he has no control over. “Can I ask why?”

Kevin looks at her and nods, slightly. “I can tell you the official reason, if you want.”

“And if I want the truth?” Quinn asks gently.

Kevin squirms. “Um. It’s pretty personal.” Quinn takes a deep breath and then calmly lets it out. Just because her pretty personal is evident to basically anyone with eyes doesn’t mean she has any right to pry into Kevin’s.

“No, it’s okay. I understand. So what’s the official reason you’re here in the great city of Lima, Ohio?” Quinn smiles, hoping to put Kevin at ease.

“Nick’s busy recording his album and I wanted a regular junior year, without having to deal with concerts and media and stuff.” Kevin says. Quinn frowns because—album? But then she remembers he mom going on about how Nick was recording music for Church and how he was apparently cute and so, yeah, she supposes it all makes sense.

“I can totally understand that.” Quinn looks at her watch and her face pales. “Come on, we need to leave now if I’m going to show you to Ms. Pillsbury’s office before first period.”

The two leave the choir room just as silently as they entered, Quinn leading her cousin through the increasingly busy halls to the guidance counselor’s office. When they’re finally there Quinn turns to him and smiles. “If you have space in your schedule for an elective, you should take Glee. It’s pretty fun.”

“Glee?” Kevin asks.

“It’s like, singing and dancing show choir. I’m in it, and the rest of the group is pretty awesome too.”

“Well if my favorite cousin is asking me, how can I say no?” Kevin says gallantly. The bell rings and Quinn frowns.

“I gotta go. Mr. Shue doesn’t like it when we’re late to Spanish.”

“Go.”

Quinn walks away without looking back.

##

It’s lunch time by the time Quinn runs into Kevin again, standing in front of the cafeteria with a lost look in his eyes.

“Come sit over here,” Quinn says, walking towards the back corner where Glee normally sits. “You can meet everyone in Glee.”

Kevin nods. “It’ll be nice to meet my future classmates.”

“Oh, so you signed up for Glee?” Quinn asks. She sits down at the table and pulls out her bag lunch. “What else did you get?”

“The usual.” Kevin shrugs. He doesn’t pull out a bag lunch, just looks at the food line as if debating if it was worth it. Eventually he shrugs, reaching out towards Quinn’s lunch and steals half of her sandwich. Quinn slaps at his hand but doesn’t protest when he lifts the sandwich to his mouth. “So tell me how you ended up in Glee. It doesn’t necessarily seem like--”

“Something I’d do?” Quinn shakes her head. “I totally understand. It’s just kind of embarrassing.”

“Really?” Kevin’s eyes perked up and he leaned forward. “Spill, Quinn.”

“Yo, who’s the poodle?” A voice interrupts before Quinn can say anything.

“Puck.” Quinn rolls her eyes. “The poodle is my cousin Kevin.”

“Cousin?” Puck looked him up and down. “I can see it. You as big of a prude as Quinn?” The mohawked teen sits down next to Kevin, reaching forwards towards Quinn’s lunch. Quinn slaps the hand away.

“PUCK!”

“What, you know it’s true.” Puck rolls his eyes. “Even with a bun in the oven she’s like, the president of the celibacy club.”

Quinn sighs. “Ignore the idiot. He’s just mad because Santana probably didn’t put out earlier today.”

“Um--” Kevin looks back and forth between the two teenagers.

“At least I’m getting some on a regular basis. What’ve you got?” Puck asks.

“What’s the expression? Quality over quantity?” Quinn muses. “Well, it’s not like I’ve had either, so.” She shrugs.

“Hey, the Puckasaurus is damn good in bed. Don’t lie.”

“The ‘Puckasaurus’?” Kevin raises a brow, looking at Quinn. “Please don’t tell me this is the baby daddy.”

Quinn smiles apologetically. “I was drunk.”

“And I’m a stud.” Puck adds. “Pregnant on the first try! My swimmers really are the best.”

“Again, not sure that’s something you want to brag about.” Quinn rolls her eyes. “Kevin, meet Noah Puckerman, aka Puck, aka the baby daddy.”

“Nice to meet you?” Kevin asks warily, instinctively holding his hand out.

“Um, no.” Puck shakes his head. “Dude. You’re gonna be eaten alive if you do that. Just say ‘sup, okay?”

Kevin looks at Puck and then at Quinn. She shrugs. “Okay, ‘sup?” Kevin finally says.

“Better my man, better. Now what’s with the poodle? He bothering you Quinn?” Puck asks.

“Who’s bothering Quinn?” “Do I need to kick some ass?” Two voices chime in at once. Quinn smiles.

“Guys, chill. Poodle’s my cousin.”

“Poodle? Interesting name.” A snarky voice cuts in. “Although if he’s related to you, Fabray, that’s probably as interesting as he gets. He a Jesus freak too?” A Latina girl asks, sitting down next to Quinn.

“Where’s Brittany? She normally keeps you on a leash.” Quinn replies.

“She’ll be here. She was helping Man-hands clean slushy out of her hair.”

“Oh no, Rachel got slushied?” Someone says before getting up and running away from the now crowded table.

“Um, slushied?” Kevin asks. “Like, with a slushy?”

“Who’s the poodle?” Santana asks. “He new? And he’s already hanging out with you mamacita? Man he’s got balls.”

“The poodle,” Quinn grits her teeth. “Is my cousin Kevin. He just transferred here.”

“He staying with your folks?” Santana asks. “Because I can kick his ass if you want me to.”

“What?!” Kevin almost jumps up. “No one needs to kick my ass! I’m just trying to eat lunch.”

“Calm down, Santana.” Quinn places a hand on the Latina’s girls arm. “He’s my favorite cousin and I’d be pretty sad if he got his ass kicked. And that probably wouldn’t be good for the baby.”

Puck perks up at this. “Yeah, Santana. No hurting the baby.”

“As if.” Santana grumbles. She turns to look at Kevin. “So, you as big a prude as Quinn here? Or should we maybe go somewhere and get a little bit better acquainted?”

Kevin idly looks at his hand and almost wishes he’d kept his purity ring. “Um, prude?” He offers up, shyly.

“Damn it, all the good ones are either taken or gay or Jesus freaks.”

“Sorry.” Kevin offers. “Just--”

“Yeah, yeah. But if Brittany offers? You’d better at least make out with her. My girl loves having a perfect score. She even got with Hummel.”

“Um--okay?” Kevin looks at Quinn, confused.

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll meet everyone in Glee.”

##

Kevin isn’t quite sure what he signed himself up for when he took Quinn’s advice about Glee. Lunch had been pretty chaotic, filled with petty bickering and more drama then he’d ever seen in one place at one time, but he’d had fun. And it’s been a little while since he laughed that hard.

So he walks into the choir room a little nervous, but not nearly as much as he thought he’d be. It’s not like he’s a stranger to performing, and he loves music, so he’s actually kind of excited. He’s performed with Nick a few times, and he and Joe used to put on magic shows in their backyard for their church youth group. Somehow he doesn’t think either of these is enough preparation for New Directions, though.

“Hey, are you Kevin?” A voice interrupts his musings and Kevin looks up to see a man with more gel in his hair then Kevin could have ever imagined.

“Um, yes?” He says, a little intimidated.

“I’m Mr. Schuester, but the club calls me Mr. Schue. Welcome to McKinley!” Mr. Shue says, smiling brightly. “What brings you to our little club?”

Kevin shrugs. “Quinn asked me to.”

Mr. Shue nods. “I take it you knew Quinn before today?”

“Yeah.” Kevin smiles. “She’s my cousin. I’m staying with her folks while I’m here.”

“Well, great!” Mr. Shue beams at him and Kevin’s momentarily distracted because he never thought teachers were this peppy, this happy-go-lucky, and it feels a little morbid but he (kind of) wants to quash Mr. Shue’s happiness, just a little.

Kevin turns and walks towards the row of seats that line the back of the classroom. He wants to be able to watch everything and know he isn’t being watched, know that people aren’t looking at him and making fun of his hair or his religion… and he seriously, seriously, wishes he still had his purity ring on if only so it would stop some of the questions he’s going to be getting. But he left that with his parents, he didn’t really want a reminder of his failings staring back at him everyday.

“Hey.” A voice says and Kevin startles for a second before looking up and he sees maybe one of the most flamboyant people he’s ever seen in his life, dressed to the nines in something that’s probably designer because it looks like something his mom would wear, and she only wears name brand stuff now, but it suits him.

A little bit of time passes and it occurs to Kevin that he hasn’t actually said anything, so he offers a shrug and a “hey” back. The other guy is looking like it isn’t enough, that Kevin has some how insulted him, and Kevin isn’t really in the mood to try and figure out even more drama on top of his already drama filled day, but he hates making people hurt even more.

“Sorry, I was kind of thinking about my family.” He offers.

“Just moved here with your family?” The boy asks, smiling.

“Um--” Kevin shakes his head. “Just moved in with my cousin’s family.”

“Oh. I’m Kurt, by the way.”

“Kevin.” Kevin holds out his hand before remembering Puck’s advice and he’s about to withdraw it when Kurt reaches forward and shakes it, tentatively, like he can’t believe someone is offering to shake his hand, and yeah, Kevin really needs to figure out what teenagers in Lima do to say hi if it isn’t hand shaking. He hopes there aren’t any fist bumps involved.

“Hey Kurt. Move over, I wanna sit next to my cousin.” Quinn says and Kurt looks at Kevin and then at Quinn, back and forth like a tennis match and Kevin has to fight the urge to say something ridiculous like 15 Love, 30 Love, 45 Love, game/set/match.

Kurt moves over a second later and Kevin shrugs an apology, as if to say “family, what can you do about it, huh?” to Kurt’s smiling face.

“Alright, so we have a new student with us today that needs to audition.”

Kevin hopes for half-a-second that there’s another new student because Quinn didn’t say a word about having to actually sing in front of people. He’d been hoping to maybe sit in the background and sway, dance a bit. But now Mr. Schue is looking at him and Quinn is smiling and putting her hand behind his back, trying to force him up and Kurt is grinning and shoots him a “thumbs up” so Kevin sighs and stands.

“I wasn’t actually told I’d have to sing,” he says when he’s finally standing in front of the classroom. “So I don’t have anything prepared. But um--I know a couple songs by heart, if you guys promise not to laugh.”

Quinn laughs at that. “Sorry Cuz,” she calls out. “I’ll try to hold it in.”

“Thanks, Quinn.” Kevin shakes his head before walking over to Mr. Schue and whispering in his ear.

Mr. Schue tells the guy sitting behind the piano and then the room is filled with music and Kevin’s standing there, waiting for his cue. And suddenly he’s singing “With Arms Wide Open” and the glee club is looking at him as if he’s grown a second head. Quinn isn’t laughing, but her eyes are dancing and Kevin thinks that if she’d been alone she would have been possibly rolling on the floor.

Finally the song ends and he’s able to stop singing. Mr. Schue gives him a round of applause and the rest of the club clap politely. It’s only after everything dies down that Kevin’s able to speak: “Sorry ‘bout that. My parents only listen to Christian music and well, I figured you guys would probably at least know that one.”

“And indeed we do.” Kurt says from the back row.

“Welcome to Glee Club, Kevin!” A short brunette says before anyone else can comment. “You have a strong voice and I think I speak for everyone when I say how lucky we are to get you just a few months before Regional’s. It’s always better to have more then the minimum number of participants in case someone has to drop out.” The girl glares at Quinn before turning and sitting down.

“Um, thanks?” Kevin says, a little confused, but either way it looks like he’s in so he goes back to his seat and sits down next to Quinn. He spend the next forty minutes ignoring whatever the rest of the club is talking about, instead settling back and trying to take everything in.

Quinn gets up and performs once, and Kurt slides over to take her seat without commenting. He just sits there and then leans forward. “So, you’re staying with her parents after they kicked her out?”

And Kevin blanches because, okay, he knew Quinn wasn’t staying there but he never put that together with her pregnancy, never thought in a million years that his aunt would kick her own daughter out. His uncle, yeah, that guy wasn’t exactly a nice one.

“They really kicked her out?” He asks. “I just figured she was living with her boyfriend or whatever.”

“Quinn was living with Puck’s family, but um--” Kurt pauses, as if trying to figure out the right way of saying whatever it is he’s about to say. “That situation didn’t work out for the best. She’s staying with my girl Mercedes.”

“Oh, Mercedes is your girlfriend?” Kevin asks.

Kurt chokes a little bit, laughs, and shakes his head. “Hell no. Not that she isn’t a wonderful girl, but I’m sort of gay.” He leans back as he says this, as if he’s afraid of whatever Kevin’s reaction would be.

Kevin doesn’t say anything for a second before turning to Kurt and saying: “Oh, that’s cool. Is one of these guys your boyfriend?” And he gestures towards the Glee club.

“Um, no.” Kurt shakes his head. “I’m the only out kid in this entire school, so no boyfriend for me.” He looks a little sad as he says this.

Kevin reaches out and pats Kurt’s hand gently. “I’m sure you’ll meet somebody wonderful, who’ll sweep you off your feet.”

Kurt smiles. “It might not be ‘til college, but yeah, I’ll meet somebody wonderful.”

The two are quiet for the rest of Quinn’s performance.

##

Kevin’s been in Lima for nearly two weeks the first time he’s alone with Kurt. They’re practicing in the auditorium for Glee and it’s after school and Kevin really, really doesn’t want to hurry home to his aunt’s house because he’s beginning to see exactly why Quinn had been a little happy to be kicked out.

Kurt’s practicing on the piano and Kevin’s sitting on the floor, looking out over the empty room and trying to imagine it filled with people. Trying to imagine what it would be like for Nick to be here, performing, making everyone in the audience eat of his hand because that’s what Nick does, he’s good at it. Kevin hasn’t talked to Nick since he left, though. He hasn’t called Joe or Frankie or his parents, they’re just there, existing somewhere while he exists here in Lima, and it’s a weird feeling.

“How are you liking it, so far?” Kurt asks, idly plucking different keys on the piano, nearly forming a melody but not quite. It’s disjointed and distracting and Kevin thinks he’s almost doing it on purpose.

“It’s--” he hesitates, because it’s not different, it’s too much the same, just like home. Filled with small people and small opinions. “It’s not home,” Kevin finally says. “I mean, it’s nice enough, and I like Glee, but--”

“You miss your family.” Kurt fills in.

Kevin looks up at him. “I miss my family. And I--” Kevin pauses, debates with himself before he plunges forward. “I need to get used to missing them.”

“It’s only for the semester, right?” Kurt asks, and Kevin knows exactly what he isn’t saying. Why do you need to get used to missing them, it’s only for the semester? And he doesn’t know how to answer it. Doesn’t know if he should tell the truth or just hide it like he’s been doing. But something in him says that Kurt, of all people, will understand.

“It’s until I’m willing to follow their plan.” Kevin replies. “And I don’t think I can, so--its kind of forever.”

Kurt stops playing. He looks down at Kevin and there’s sympathy in his eyes, but no pity. Kevin’s glad because he doesn’t think he can deal with pity right now.

“What’s their plan?” Kurt asks. He doesn’t move from the piano bench and Kevin’s glad of the distance. He can almost pretend he’s alone, that he isn’t about to spill everything to somebody he’s only known for two weeks. But he also knows that if anybody were to understand, it’d be Kurt.

“You know— meet a nice girl, get married and have babies…be in a band with my brothers. The usual.” Kevin says, a little bitterly.

“Do you not want to be in a band with your brothers?” Kurt raises an eyebrow. “Because I know that whole Partridge Family thing didn’t work out but I’m pretty sure Hanson’s still going strong.”

Kevin laughs. “Yeah, well. I actually wouldn’t mind that, I don’t think. I’d be in the back and that’d be good.”

“Oh.” Kurt whispers this and Kevin smiles bitterly because Kurt knows now, he understands and Kevin knows that if anybody were to understand it’d be Kurt but it’s still a little raw, and he really hasn’t known Kurt for that long.

“Yeah. What can I say.” Kevin shrugs. “They want it to be a phase and well, I know it’s not.”

“Does Quinn know?”

Kevin shakes his head. “You’re kind the first person, outside of my parents.”

Kurt looks like he’s going to say something, maybe stand up, but Kevin makes some kind of face and Kurt stops. “We need to practice,” is all Kurt says a minute or two later.

“We really, really do.” Kevin agrees.

##

Kevin’s wardrobe consists of basically jeans, shirts, sweatshirts and the occasional sweater. It’s nothing fancy, but it all fits well and the colors compliment his skin tone. He likes simplicity, being able to pull almost anything from his closet and have it match. Nick likes button up shirts and khakis and Joe prefers stylish clothing, clothing with labels and designer names attached. Kevin likes that his style is different from his brothers, and it helps him blend in at McKinley.

Now, though, he’s staring at his closet and he’s not sure what to wear. Kurt’s going to be there any minute and it’s not a date, it’s just two friends hanging out, going to a concert together. But he still wants to look nice.

His aunt thinks he’s going out with kids from the glee club, a deception Kevin is particularly proud of because he hadn’t had to lie once. He just had Mercedes mention the concert in front of her and Kurt ask if he was interested in going and if his aunt assumed the rest of the club would be there? She didn’t say a word (she didn’t say much of anything to him, actually, ever since he mentioned Quinn looking well and she’d had tears in her eyes).

Eventually he decides he’ll just pull on his trusty jeans and a shirt, no need to over think it. If the shirt had a collar and was just a *little* tighter then usual, well, he didn’t think Kurt would complain.

He’s outside, waiting at the curb, when Kurt pulls up. The younger teen doesn’t bother honking the horn, just waits for Kevin to climb in before giving him a once over and smiling approvingly. “Nice,” is all Kurt says though.

Kevin looks at Kurt’s decidedly more complicated outfit and smiles back. “You look good, too.” He offers and it’s feeling more and more like a date, with the smile that lights up Kurt’s entire face, but Kevin kills the thought. He isn’t actually *attracted* to Kurt, and he’s pretty sure Kurt isn’t attracted to him, either. He’s caught Kurt looking at Finn Hudson more then a few times--Kurt apparently goes for the athletic types. Kevin can’t really blame him--Finn is nice to look at.

“So tell me about this band we’re seeing?” Kevin says once Kurt’s pulled away from the curb.

Kurt smiles. “They’re local--kind of pop/punk. Mercedes is in love with the lead singer.”

“Any good?”

“Better then what you’d expect from a local band.” Kurt allows. “I think they’re going to try and get on Warped this summer, if they can.”

Kevin nods. “How’d you get into them? I didn’t think this was quite your scene.”

“You’d be surprised.” Kurt doesn’t say anything else, just reaches over and turns the volume up on his radio.

The two ride the rest of the way to the venue in silence. Kurt finds parking with little difficulty and then the two of them are wandering around, looking for Mercedes. She was meeting them after dinner with her family, and, Kurt confided in him, she liked being up close during the shows so she’d probably gotten there earlier and was somewhere in the crowd.

There are a lot of teens hanging around, quite a few of which Kevin recognizes from McKinley, but even stranger is the large number of guys. He’d always assumed shows like this were filled with teenage girls wearing little to no clothing, but the number of all-male groups is defies his expectations. A few of them even seem to be wearing ties and jackets.

“What’s this group called again?” Kevin asks.

“The Academy Is...”

“And they’re local?”

“Yeah. Most of them are like in college but I think a couple of them are still in high school.” Kurt shrugs. “Mercedes knows a lot more if you want like, details.”

“Nah, I’m fine. Just--lots of guys here, with ties.” Kevin shrugs. “And somehow I don’t think it’s a fashion thing. Even if it is, they can’t pull it off as well as you.”

Kurt blushes a little. “Thanks. But um, I think they’re from some private school over in Westerville.”

“Makes sense.” Kevin looks around, finally spotting Mercedes over by the bar. “Hey, there’s Mercedes.”

Kurt grins, grabs Kevin’s hand and pulls him over. “‘Cedes!” He calls out but she doesn’t appear to hear him. She’s caught up talking to a thin guy with slightly wild hair. Kevin wants to rub his eyes because it looks like the guy has a bandanna wrapped around his thigh (and whoa, but he’s really skinny) and that’s something he hasn’t seen before.

“Hey Mercedes!” Kurt says once he’s guided the pair of them over to her. “Almost didn’t find you in the crowd.”

“Kurt!” She’s happy, smiling, eyes dancing. Kevin likes it when she’s happy, her entire face shines and it’s almost intoxicating. “Poodle!” She says next, reaching out to tug at one of Kevin’s curls. He’s gotten used to the treatment since starting at McKinley but it’s still slightly weird.

“And who is this nice young man you’re talking to?” Kurt asks, standing half in front of Mercedes, prepared to defend her from whoever this was.

Mercedes rolls her eyes and pushes Kurt a little. “This is Bill. He’s the lead singer for The Academy Is…” Mercedes smiles. “And Bill, this is Kurt and Kevin. They’re good friends.” And that startles Kevin a little bit because he wasn’t even sure he’d describe Mercedes as a friend yet, he’s so new.

“Nice to meet you.” Bill smiles at both of them. “Glad you could come out for the show.”

“We had to,” Kurt smiles a little evilly. “Mercedes is kind of in love with your band and if I didn’t show? I’d never hear the end of it.”

Bill laughs at this. “Glad to hear. We can use all the fans we can get.”

“Bill was just about to introduce me to the other people in the band,” Mercedes says, a little flirty. Bill shifts a little, and if Kevin didn’t know better he’d say Bill was uncomfortable but he pushes the thought out of his mind.

“Sounds great.” Kurt says, grabbing Kevin’s hand and smiling up at Bill.

“Um, sure.” Kevin throws in. It’s not like he has anything better to do, and Mercedes is kind of cute with her crush and Kurt is seriously into playing defensive friend. Mercedes was lucky to have him as a BFF.

“Great.” Bill says, reaching towards the bar and picking up a beer. “Let me finish my drink and we’ll be good to go.”

Kevin shrugs and looks around. The room is almost packed now, definitely more crowded then when they entered, and he figures he might as well go to the bathroom now before it gets even more crowded. He gestures towards the bathrooms and Kurt drops his hand. “See you in a minute!” Kurt shouts to be heard over the crowd.

Kevin nods and turns to fight his way through the crowd.

##

Kevin’s washing his hands when his phone buzzes against his thigh. He wipes his hands on his jeans before grabbing it and staring at the screen in shock. It’s a text message from Nick.

Miss you, bro.

And okay, it’s not exactly an invitation back home but its something, an olive branch, and Kevin’s in shock. He’d almost expected never to hear from his family again. His parents had made it really clear that they didn’t approve and Nick always did what his parents said. Always.

Carefully, Kevin begins to type out a response. Miss you too. Love you. before he puts his phone back in his pocket. His smile is shining across his entire face and he’s happy and bouncy and suddenly he thinks everything is going to get better. He leaves the bathroom and makes his way out into the crowded room.

The music hasn’t started yet, but Bill’s on the stage which means it’s probably about to start. Kevin looks around, trying to spot Kurt or Mercedes. He finally finds them up against the front of the stage and he’s happy, so he pushes his way through the crowd to get to them. He comes up behind Kurt and just can’t help himself. He leans forward and rests his head on Kurt’s shoulder so he can whisper in Kurt’s ear:

“My brother texted me!”

Kurt knows exactly how big this is and he’s turning around, happy and grinning and Kevin can’t really help it. He leans forward and suddenly he’s kissing Kurt. It’s only a second or two, but it’s enough. Mercedes looks at him with wide eyes and fuck, Kevin isn’t exactly out yet and a good portion of McKinley is here, watching the show.

He pulls back and then shrugs. Whatever, his brother texted him! Everything else doesn’t matter because it’s his family and family always, always, always comes first.

##

The ride back to Kevin’s aunt’s house is silent. The concert had been fun—Mercedes was right, The Academy Is… was pretty good, especially for a local band, and the trio had had a blast dancing along. Now that it’s just him and Kurt, though, the silence is deafening.

Kevin knows he has to say something, say something about the kiss and about coming out because people know now. He doesn’t know who knows, nobody said anything, but he’s pretty sure come Monday people at school people are going to be talking.

“Sorry ‘bout that, earlier.” He finally offers up into the silence. “I was just so happy…”

Kurt smiles at him but the smile isn’t as bright as earlier. “I don’t mind, really, it’s just--“ Kurt looks at him. “Um, you’re a really nice guy Kevin, and I’m really happy for you about your family, but…”

“No, no, don’t worry man.” Kevin interjects. “I know, you’re totally crazy about Finn.”

Kurt nods. “It’s not that you’re not a good guy,” he offers and Kevin smiles.

“Kurt, really. You’re a great guy, but I don’t like you like you. I mean, you’re a really good friend…”

The two of them look at each other and suddenly Kevin starts laughing. Kurt joins in a few seconds later and the two boys laugh for nearly a minute.

“Friends?” Kurt offers up.

“Good friends.” Kevin replies.

The car is silent again but this time the silence isn’t as awkward.

“I’m really glad that your brother texted you.” Kurt says. “I know how important family is.”

Kevin nods. “I know.” He’s quiet for a second, picking at an imaginary piece of lint on his pants. “Do you think it’s going to be all over school? Or did nobody notice?”

Kurt thinks for a second before shrugging. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, Bill definitely noticed, and Mercedes, but…” He falls silent.

“Yeah.” Kevin agrees. “I think I’m going to tell Quinn, though, before the whole school tells her.”

Kurt laughs a little at this. “Kevin, don’t take this the wrong way, okay?” And Kevin nods, unsure about what Kurt is about to say. “Quinn is living with Mercedes family. Mercedes who saw us kiss tonight. There’s no way she doesn’t already know.”

Kevin blinks at this because yes, he knew Mercedes was quite the gossip, but he hadn’t thought beyond that. Hadn’t really put together what it meant that Quinn was living with her.

“Oh.” He smiles. “At least I won’t need to tell her!”

Kurt laughs a little at this. “And you know she’ll be okay with it, right?” He asks. “She’s been pretty supportive of me, and she doesn’t say anything but I can tell she likes Brittany and Santana together.”

Kevin stares at Kurt in shock. “Brittany and Santana?!”

Kurt doesn’t take his eyes off the road in front of him, but he shrugs a little. “They say it’s just to turn guys on, but I’m pretty sure they’re the ones that are real, you know?”

Kevin doesn’t respond to this, just thinks back to the different conversations he’s had with Brittany, with Santana, and yes, he can actually see it. Santana took care of Brittany, always defended her, and Brittany saw the best in Santana. He could definitely see it.

He turns the radio on a second later, and the rest of the ride home is filled with music and laughter. Kevin pull’s his phone out of his pocket and debates sending Nick another text before saying fuck it and typing in: I had my first kiss tonight.

He isn’t sure Nick will respond, but it seems like something you’re supposed to tell your brother, your family, and Kevin wants that. He wants his family back.

A second later the phone buzzes and Kevin’s kind of scared to see what Nick’s response is, but he forces himself to look: details! Do you have a boyfriend now?.

He replies quickly with a no, good friend and tucks his phone away. His smile lasts the rest of the ride home.


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