A/N: To start, I would like to say that this is entirely from an OC perspective. There is a tiny smidgen of Klaine fluff in the middle, but mostly the story just alludes to Kurt from a different point of view. This was written mostly to work out my feelings after the prom episode. I honestly don't know how people could be so cruel. Also, usually I'm good at titling things, but this title, so, so unoriginal. However, I really felt like it worked. My rambling aside, I hope that you get something from this, whatever that may be.

Thanks!

Warnings: Homophobia and one related bad word

Prom Queen

Okay, so he'll admit, he voted for Kurt Hummel for Prom Queen. Not one of his finer moments, maybe. But, hey. He thought it would be funny, and the way the guy dresses made him think he'd probably like being voted Prom Queen.

He realizes now that was hurtful and stupid. But, he was just a teenage boy who lived in Lima, Ohio. It's not exactly like he'd grown up around gay rights activists, or anyone who even talked about the fact that people were gay.

Kurt was the first gay guy he'd ever met. They had some classes together, and while he never hated people who were gay, the fact that Kurt was made him avoid Kurt most of the time. He can see now how that's maybe just as bad as calling him bad names or hitting him, but then again, before prom night he'd never thought about it much. He just saw Kurt as the gay kid who wore weird clothes and talked like a girl. Sometimes people made fun of him for it, and he'd never been okay with that, but he'd never done anything to stop it either. And that pretty much made him a bully, too.

Prom night came around, like it did every year, only this time he was old enough to go. He asked the girl in his science class who he didn't really like, but who was really pretty, and she said yes. They spent most of the night making awkward small-talk, dancing stupidly, and drinking punch that no one had even bothered to put alcohol in.

Not a great night, though he thought it was kinda cool the Glee Club performed (don't tell anyone that) and he thought the decorations were good, too. All in all though, just okay. So when some of his friends told him they were going to vote for Hummel as a joke, he knew subconsciously that it was really not okay, but he didn't think about it too much 'cause he also thought it'd be funny.

Then Kurt flew out of the room, and you could just tell he was going to cry. That sucked, but he also couldn't help thinking that he really did deserve that crown if he couldn't just take a joke.

He looked around at people's faces.

It was then he realized that maybe it wasn't a joke.

Maybe, they really meant it.

They'd just wanted to hurt him.

The looks and whispers that people were passing around were really starting to get to him, and so was the guilt.

"Who cares, anyway? He's just a fag," a guy called out loudly somewhere next to him. He heard indignant cries from Kurt's friends, but mostly no one cared. Or was shocked by what the guy said. It made him a little sick.

He pulled his date to a table in the corner so that they could get away from the people around them.

"He used to help me with my French," his date commented softly.

"What?"

"Kurt. We had French together and he used to help me. I really like him."

He looked at her soft eyes, and she genuinely looked upset. He found myself wishing there were more people in the world like her. He had no right to talk though, since he'd never done anything to make himself someone more like her.

When Kurt came back in, you could practically see his sadness, his anger, his down right exhaustion. It was rolling off him in waves. And yet, he got up on that stage, took the crown, and he owned it. Kurt said something that was probably witty, but it went right over his head.

He was one of the first people to start clapping, though.

Then Kurt got to have a slow dance with the boy he'd come with. They looked tense, but in love when they twirled around the dance floor, and he couldn't help but think that it was like a giant "screw you" to everyone who bullied Kurt. Told Kurt that he couldn't, because of who he was.

Later on, after he'd left the prom to drop off his date, he realized that he left his wallet on the table they were sitting at. He drove back to McKinley and prayed that no one had taken it.

Inside the school, he stopped in the middle of the hallway when he heard voices coming from the choir room. He was pretty sure he knew who it was.

"God, I don't get it. What have I ever done that was so terrible? I've never done anything to deserve it. But, I don't think that matters. I was so stupid. So stupid."

He moved closer to the room and peeked inside.

Kurt spoke softly, brokenly, into the material of who he assumed was his boyfriend's suit. He looked pale, eyes contrastingly red and weirdly empty. It didn't look right on him.

"No, you weren't stupid. You just wanted to have something that was normal, that made you happy. You should have been allowed to have that. And you weren't stupid for expecting it." Kurt's boyfriend pulled Kurt in tighter to his side, resting his head on Kurt's.

And it's weird. Because he'd never thought about two guys being together, and he really never planned to. But, like a lot of things he'd never thought of before, he thought about them that night.

Kurt and his boyfriend sat there together, so close, so warm, and he couldn't remember the last time anything had ever looked so right.

The love was so blatant, so evident, and it was wrapped up in compassion, support, and warmth. If that was ruining the sanctity of marriage or society, he really didn't want to know what people in other relationships were doing to the world. Because he'd never seen one that seemed so…functioning.

And real.

"Blaine, I just wanted to feel like a human being. I just wanted to be treated like a human being. Why is that so hard for the rest of the world to understand?"

Blaine (apparently) sighed and leaned into Kurt more.

"I love you." Blaine looked at Kurt earnestly. "I can't change people or their reactions to you. To us. I can't make the world more accepting and less apathetic or hateful. But, I can love you. And I can hold your hand through whatever people throw at us. Promise. Okay? I love you."

Kurt stared at Blaine with absolute stars in his eyes. Like he didn't believe he was real.

"Blaine. I-"

'Don't say anything. Just tell me you love me too and kiss me."

And suddenly feeling like he was now intruding on something really private, he left to go find his wallet.

And maybe re-evaluate his life.

The next Monday at school was normal. He was happy to see that Kurt, too, looked back to normal, wearing a look that said, "I am who I am and I make it look good."

He smiled at Kurt when he walked past his locker to get to science class. Kurt smiled back, almost defiantly, but still pleased.

In science class, he sat with the girl who he took to prom, who was actually really sweet. And who maybe he did kind of like. After all, she was one of those people that he wanted to be.

One of the jocks up at the front of the class started mouthing off when their teacher left to make copies of an assignment.

"Did you guys see Hummel's face at prom? Looked like he was about to crap himself. Don't know why he was so upset. He's a queen anyway." That earned the idiot some laughs from the guys at his table.

It only made him feel sick again

And that's what did it. Also the knowledge that it was the right thing to do and something that he should have been doing for a very long time.

"Hey, shut up. Kurt's a nice guy. We shouldn't have done that to him." He looked the jock right in the eyes.

"What are you, his boyfriend?" came the obvious reply.

"No, I just know that Kurt's a human being like me. And I should probably treat him like it."

The jocks scoffed, but turned back, and it was obvious they didn't care what he thought.

Then he looked down at his hand, because suddenly it was very warm.

There was another hand resting on his.

When he looked into soft eyes, he felt that maybe, just maybe, things could change. Or at least, that he had.