For Maple Fabby

Jesse St. James was one crazy bitch of a guy, but I had to admit that the man had style.

After he graduated from Carmel, he came and apologized to Rachel, telling her the breakup and the egging was all peer pressure from his team, and that he really did love her. She snubbed him, which was predictable, but when he later came to me to chat, I was pretty surprised.

I was in my room, lecturing Finn about the amount of junk food he was funneling into his body, when my dad yelled down the stairs, "KURT! YOU HAVE A VISITOR!"

I wouldn't have predicted it was Jesse for any amount of money, but there he was, standing in my garage, looking cute as a button in a pair of black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black jean jacket. It wouldn't have been my first choice, but the guy knew what looked good on him.

"What a surprise!" I said, genuinely meaning it. "I'm fairly sure you have never spoken a word to me, yet you are visiting me in my home. If you have eggs behind your back, I will cut you."

He laughed. I would later remember this as the first time I realized just how attractive he was. "No eggs. Forgot them at home."

"Why are you here?"

He sat on my dad's work bench. "I tried to talk to Rachel about what happened…she didn't listen to me…I just wanted you to know that I'm sincerely sorry about what I did to your group. It was wrong of me, and I'm sorry."

"Admirable. Are you making house calls to everybody? Because Finn's downstairs."

"Oh…" he looked mildly confused. "Are you and Finn together now?"

I laughed. A couple of months ago, that would have been a dream come true. Now, it would have been slightly incestuous and very gross. "HELL no. He's my stepbrother."

"I didn't know that."

"Yeah, our parents got married two weeks ago."

"Oh, congrats."

"Thanks…" I was still confused. "So…do you want me to get him so that you can tell him sorry or whatever?"

Jesse stood. "No, I just came to tell you."

"Um…why me?"

Jesse blushed. "Because you're cute and I always thought you were really talented…I don't know, I guess I didn't wanna burn bridges with you."

Oh, wow. "You're gay?"

"Bisexual with a strong male preference."

"Ah." I was becoming a little jittery and my stomach was flip-flopping uncontrollably.

"So…what are you doing this weekend?"

"Excuse me, are you asking me out right now?"

The first time Jesse St. James had ever been less than 100% confident flashed in front of my very eyes. "Yeah. Would you have a problem with that?"

"Um, I think Finn would kill me."

"I'm not your competition anymore, cutie-pie." He tugged on my earlobe. It was strangely sexy. "And think about it…how pissed Rachel would be when she finds out that you're dating one of her exes and living with the other."

"Oh my, you sure do know how to charm a girl," I said, rolling my eyes. He had a point though. The sensation would be nothing short of delicious.

"Come on, Kurt…I didn't talk to you at school, because while I really did care for Rachel…I didn't want to befriend you and then betray your trust. You are talented, Kurt. And smart. And funny. And the cutest little bubble ass I've ever seen, I just wanna dive into it."

I could feel my cheeks getting hot. "Okay. Pick me up Saturday." I winked at him. "Surprise me."

I definitely should not have told him to surprise me.

We pulled up to the circus and I flipped out a little.

"What's wrong? The circus is fun!" He said, grabbing my hand and kissing it.

"I'm terrified of clowns. And I have good reason to believe there will be some here."

Jesse laughed. "You are so cute."

"I'm serious!"

"It's okay," he kissed me sweetly. "I won't let those scary ol' clowns get you."

"That's just patronizing." I said, only pretending to be mad.

We walked up and down the midway, ooohing and aaaahing at all the interesting things…the bearded lady looked like my Aunt Mildred, though. Everything was going pretty well, I had to say. We held hands as we walked. Jesse bought me cotton candy and we both ate off of it. And of course, because we live in rural Ohio, we got some interesting looks, but for the most part, nobody gave us trouble. It was very romantic. Finally, it was time for the big show to start.

We got settled into our seats. I had never been to a circus before, and it was amazing. I could feel Jesse's eyes on me, watching me as I took in the scene before me. I gasped as the trapeze artists flew across the tent, I shrieked as the lions jumped through the fiery hoops. I was mesmerized.

At the end of the performance, we stood up, and Jesse took my hand, to lead me back to the car, but I very quickly wanted to talk to one of the acrobats about how she washed her sequined leotard, since I'd been having problems washing my own. I lost Jesse in the crowd, but I remembered where the car was, so I wasn't particularly worried.

The acrobat girl was very friendly. She only spoke French, which was exciting for me, as I could show off my French-speaking skills. We chatted for a while, and then I felt a tap on my back. I spun around, ready to see Jesse, looking adorable as always.

I could scarcely breathe, I was so terrified.

I was face to face with a clown, who said, "What's your favorite animal, little boy?"

I let out a bloodcurdling scream. His white face, his green wig, his big red smile plastered across his face, not to mention the terrible outfit he was wearing. I mean really, a poly-wool blend? It was summer!

I continued to scream, while he tried to pacify me by making me a balloon Chihuahua. It really only made it worse, as Chihuahuas are the most ferocious of the purse dogs.

Jesse, hearing my screams, barreled through the crowd to get to me. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" He screamed at the monster.

"I-I just asked him what his favorite animal was!" The clown stuttered. "I didn't mean to scare your little boy!"

"Kurt." He grabbed me and held me tight against him, shushing me. I was crying. "It's okay, Kurt, it's alright, I'm here."

"I was so scared, Jesse. I was so, so scared."

"Well, I'm here now, baby. You're okay." He kissed me passionately.

"Oh. So that's how it is in your family…" the clown said, obviously uncomfortable.

Jesse turned to the clown. "Oh yeah, and I bet your parents are simply thrilled that you're a circus clown!"

"Hey, man," the clown said, becoming angry, "You got no room to talk, you're a child molestor."

Jesse looked back at me and then at the clown. "He's my boyfriend…he's 16, I'm 18."

"Oh. So you're a fag."

"Yeah. Now watch my big faggy fist BEAT YOUR ASS!"

Jesse punched the clown square in the jaw, and then grabbed my hand. We ran far, far away from the circus. Anyone who asked what happened, we told that we just hung out at Jesse's for a while.

Like I said earlier, Jesse St. James was one crazy bitch of a guy, but you gotta admit, the man's got style.