Author's Note: Based off a prompt from the Glee Angst Meme

Technical Difficulties

It wasn't until after Sectionals that Kurt really felt him ease into life at Dalton Academy. Sure, everything was not smooth sailing and he would be foolish to expect that. It didn't seem that he would be getting a solo anytime soon, but honestly listening to Blaine sing made mindless harmonizing worth it. He felt accepted by almost everyone at Dalton. At McKinley he only had select members of the Glee club.

He was no longer pushed into lockers, tossed into dumpsters, or called homophobic slurs. It seemed that Blaine was the only person who chose to spend time in his company above anyone else, but at least Kurt had friends at his old school to talk too. He thanked the appropriate people for inventing facebook and cellphones, as they made communication so much easier.

Kurt and Finn usually communicated by texting and facebook chatting. Kurt was sure Finn would catch slack if he posted "I miss you!" on his wall even if he called him his brother. That crush had evaporated a long time and felt like a childish memory. Kurt occasionally texted and talked to Quinn, Santana, and Brittany; maybe a couple of times a week. He made a priority to get in some type of contact with Mercedes every single day. She had been his best friend after all.

However, it seemed that the person who was most desperate to keep in contact with Kurt was Rachel. Kurt was happy when they finally became actual friends during Sectionals. Now that they had buried the old rusty hatchet, it was great to finally be able to talk to someone who shared the same love of broadway and stardom. He even had plans to take her shopping and dispose of those animal sweaters once and for all.

At first, Rachel's texts would make Kurt smile and he would automatically reply. The multiple wall posts a day didn't really faze him. He just assumed that since Rachel had a strong personality that she would cling to whatever she got. It also felt nice to be thought of.

However, after a couple of weeks of nonstop phone calls, facebook chats, and texts containing multiple exclamation points, Kurt grew weary of the constant contact. He had actually run out of Broadway shows to talk about. Sure, it was nice to gush about all the little things Blaine had done that day, but there was only so many times he could repeat the same story. In fact, he actually found himself complaining about his new friend one day while Blaine was visiting his room.

" I mean I honestly feel that I'm being technologically suffocated!" Kurt exclaimed, leaning back into his chair with a dramatic sigh. Kurt glared when Blaine chuckled softly to himself. "I don't think you understand how much Rachel calls me." Kurt told him. He reached for his iphone from his desk and went to recent received calls. He leaned over to hand the phone to Blaine who was sitting on his bed. Blaine took the phone and frowned softly. "She's called you six times today." Blaine stated, handing the phone back to Kurt.

"I think it's beginning to become a problem." Kurt said, placing the phone back on the desk. He turned to Blaine whose brow was furrowed. "It's a problem." Blaine said simply. "I don't know what to do though!" Kurt sighed. He leaned down to put his face in his hands. It had been getting to the point that every time Rachel's name popped up in his Facebook IM he would feel a massive headache coming on. In fact, he felt one pulsing in his temple just thinking about it.

Blaine was silent for a moment, clearly thinking of a way to solve the problem. Kurt had come to know that Blaine wanted to fix any and all problems and didn't always have the best solutions. "Can't you just talk to her?" Blaine asked after a moment. Kurt only wished it was that easy. Kurt shook his head. "I told you Rachel is a dramatic person. I don't want her to flip out on me. Trust me, I've seen her flip out many times." Blaine made a sound of comprehension and Kurt continued. "I mean I love being her friend, but I need time where we don't talk. Maybe we could take maybe one or two times a day. I just don't want this much."

Blaine stood up and rested his hand on Kurt's shoulder in a way that made his stomach flop around. "I think you should be subtle then. Maybe find a way to let her know how you feel without downright telling her. Then she might get the hint." Blaine said, shrugging his shoulders. Then, Kurt felt his hand slip from his shoulder as he walked towards the door. "I have homework to do, but I'll come by later if that's all right." Blaine told him. "What am I supposed to do though? How can I be subtle about this?" Kurt almost pleaded. Blaine turned around. "Forget to text her back?" Blaine suggested, before turning to leave.

Later that evening, Kurt worked tirelessly on the math problems he had been assigned. He felt his eyelids getting heavy and decided he needed a couple minutes of procrastination. He found himself on Facebook, ready to creep on a certain Blaine Anderson's pictures. He was looking at a picture of Blaine at a some pool party when he heard the faint sound of a IM.

Rachel: Kurt!

Kurt frowned. No, He wasn't in the mood to talk at the moment. His cursor moved to the reply box, but then he remembered the advice that Blaine had given him earlier. This is the nicest thing to do Kurt told himself as he closed the IM box.

Rachel: How are you?

Rachel: I'm getting a solo for regionals!

Rachel: I hope you get one soon, but you better not beat us.

Rachel: You there?

Rachel: I was just kidding about that!

Kurt sighed as he clicked appear offline. He really hoped that this wasn't going to upset the girl. He just needed space. He leaned over to finish his math problems so he would be ready to watch a movie when Blaine arrived.

It seemed that Blaine's suggestion had worked, because Rachel didn't contact Kurt at all the next day. When Kurt woke up that morning, he had no text messages. He usually received a 'GOOD MORNING!" from Rachel accompanied by some peppy music. There were no lunchtime phone calls or in-class texts. Kurt was having a Rachel-free day.

He told this to Blaine as they walked back to Kurt's room to watch television. "I think I've gotten to her." Kurt mused, "Nothing all day." Blaine smiled softly. "Good." he told him. "I'm not cutting her off completely." Kurt said as he opened his door. "I just need some space." Blaine nodded. "I understand."

Two hours and a bag of microwave popcorn later, Blaine bid Kurt goodbye to go work on a Science lab report. Kurt decided to check his facebook before he began his own work. He typed Mercedes a wall post about visiting her that weekend. He was about to get off when he got a message. He figured it was some mass message from a group he had joined at some point, but when he opened it he realized it was from Rachel.

Subject: Sorry

Hey Kurt. I've realized that I've been really clingy lately and I wanted to apologize. To be perfectly honest, I've never actually had a real friend before. I've been taking up a lot of your time, I know. Everyone at McKinley hates me and my only friend lives 2 hours away! Finn won't even look at me anymore, Kurt. I've tried, but he won't forgive me. Whenever I even open my mouth to say anything in Glee practice, people laugh at me or make comments. Mr. Schue seems to snap at me when I try to give ideas. Santana and Quinn are just awful to me all the time. Sometimes I don't even feel safe. I know it's not nearly as bad as it was with you and Karofsky, but it really really sucks.

Sorry for rambling. Would you be so kind and message me back with your address and room number? I want to make sure that the 'I'm Sorry' cookies I just baked reach you. Also, do you happen if Dalton has a sister school? I'm just curious.

Love,

Rachel

As Kurt read Rachel's words, his throat began to tighten and tears stung at his eyes. He had never meant to hurt her and never really knew how things were for her. Well, he knew but didn't ever really think about it. While he was in New Directions, mistreatment of Rachel was the norm. He never thought it to be the emotional equal to being tossed in a dumpster.

Kurt buried his face in his hands and sighed. He knew that he was going to have to fix the horrible thing he had done and also give Blaine a verbal berating for the terrible advice he had given. Tears fell into his hands. For a few minutes, he sat like that, feeling horribly guilty. Kurt knew that he needed to be a friend. His head rose and he wiped the tears from his face. He grabbed his phone and dialed.

"Hi?"

Rachel's voiced sounded a bit choked, like she had also been crying.

"Hi, Rachel."

Later, Blaine walked to Kurt's room to see if he was done with his homework. When he reached the door, he heard laughter spewing out. Blaine grinned and walked away. Mission accomplished.