Kurt found Steve and Mike in Mike’s room. The door was open, and Steve was pacing the floor. Mike was sitting dejectedly on the bed, and Kurt glanced at him as he entered. Mike met his eyes, and swallowed. Kurt was serious now; the urge to laugh had passed. Now, he was just concerned about his friend. He knew how hard this whole process had been on Steve already, and Gregg Mcarthy had gone and made it ten times harder.

Steve was still pacing the floor, and had not seen Kurt come in, but now as his friend turned and caught sight of him, Kurt broke eye-contact with Mike, and met the furious eyes of the president instead. “What’s going on, Man?” he inquired softly.

“Close the door!” Steve commanded, and without hesitation, Kurt did so. “You want to tell me how Sean and Jesse found out about this?”

“Sean was with Ryan when he checked his mail,” Kurt replied quietly. Steve stopped pacing, and looked at him in surprise.

“Why would Ryan put himself in that situation? He knew damn well the slips would be there.”

Kurt shrugged, “I don’t know,” he returned in the same soft tone. “I’m assuming that Sean unintentionally backed him into a corner, ran into him in the mail room or something. Maybe Sean encountered him on the way, and offered to go with him. You know how close those two are. Maybe Ryan decided it just wouldn’t matter that much. After all, he had to know Sean was going to find out some time. Having him see the slips was as painless a way as any.” Steve looked doubtful. “I really don’t know,” Kurt repeated, “you’ll have to ask your brother.” Steve brought his hand to his eyes, and Mike and Kurt exchanged glances once more.

“How do you think Mcarthy found out?” Steve finally looked at them again.

“I don’t know,” Mike replied quietly.

“I know you don’t know!” Steve snapped. “I’m asking what you think! How do you THINK he found out?”

“Come on, Man!” Kurt responded a little impatiently now. “How are we supposed to know? That’s anybody’s guess.”

“You don’t think Jesse and Sean would have told him, do you?” Kurt and Mike looked incredulously at him.

“Come on, Steve,” Mike reasoned, “I know you’re upset, and I know you want to figure this out, but let’s be rational here!”

“I am being rational!” Steve returned defensively. “That rat bastard found out somehow! I’m just trying to consider all the possibilities!”

“Well, you’re way off the mark!” Mike’s temper flared. “Danny and Ryan couldn’t have more loyal friends than those two are, and you know it!”

“Yeah,” Kurt interjected sarcastically, “I mean, am I mistaken, or weren’t you there this afternoon when Matt came in? Didn’t you hear what your brother said? He said that Jesse was about two seconds away from putting Mcarthy through the wall. Does that sound like they tipped him off? Be reasonable, Steve!”

“I am being reasonable, God damn it! This is the hardest thing I ever had to do! I have to go in there and punish my brothers for doing something every single one of us has thought about doing, something we all wish we had the guts to really do! I went out of my way to make this as painless as possible for Danny and Ryan, and now, someone out there, either through some thoughtless slip of the tongue or some malicious desire to hurt them, has turned the whole thing into this horrible fiasco! Obviously, Mcarthy is the principal scumbag involved, but I would sure as hell like to know who tipped him off to begin with! So, excuse me,” Steve’s voice cracked, and caught in his throat, “if I’m not exercising the precise amount of objectivity you think I should be, and I’m sorry if I’m not thinking quite as clearly as you are! I do have a few things on my mind!” The room filled with awkward silence as Steve’s outburst came to an end, and Steve pressed his fingers to his eyes, turning away from his friends. “Sorry,” he choked.

“Hey, Man, don’t worry about us,” Kurt returned softly.

“Or about Mcarthy,” Mike added in the same quiet tone and Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. When Kurt next spoke he chose his words carefully. Steve so rarely lost his temper, and as much as his two friends knew he really did want blood from Mcarthy, they also knew that was not the genuine source of his stress at the moment.

“All we can do right now,” Kurt started softly, “is control the damage.” He paused as Steve swiped desperately at the tears now leaking their way down his cheeks. “The only way to do that now, Man,” Kurt finally continued, “is to get this over with and let people begin to forget about it.”

“I don’t want to do this, Kurt!” Steve cried. “I don’t want to fucking do this!”

“I know,” Kurt acknowledged softly.

“I never asked to be the fucking president, anyway!” Steve seethed. Mike and Kurt were quiet. They knew their friend was coming to grips with this the best way he could; there was nothing they could say. Finally, Steve turned to them. “You go down there and tell that no good son of a bitch that if he thinks I’m sending my brothers down to apologize to him in front of a house full of people he can just kiss my ass! There will be no apology! Then you give him this!” Steve grabbed a pad of paper from Mike’s desk and, picking up the pen that had been lying next to it, began scrawling on it. A minute later he tore the paper off and handed it to Kurt. “Since Brad isn’t here, he can choose someone else if he wants (Brad was Gregg’s Big Brother. He had graduated the previous year). Matt will act as a witness. Tell him sorry it’s not pink!” Steve directed sarcastically, “but that it is for damn sure genuine. You tell him we can do this above board or I can have Matt and Jason hunt him down. It’s his choice!” (Jason had been president two years ago.)

Kurt hesitated as he looked into his friend’s miserable eyes. He had never seen such an expression on Steve’s face before; his friend was normally so good at masking his feelings. Never had Kurt seen such evident anguish, such rage and bitterness. He swallowed hard and couldn’t help looking again at Mike. Mike bit his lip and looked quickly away.

“Is there a problem?” Steve demanded.

“No,” Kurt began uncertainly, looking back at the president. “I mean, not really . . . it’s just that . . . .”

“That what?” Steve prompted impatiently.

“Well . . . I mean . . . you want me to give him this now?” Kurt demanded incredulously.

“You’re damn fucking straight I want you to give it to him now!” Steve returned heatedly. “I can’t think of any better time!” Kurt and Mike shifted uncomfortably, doing their best to avoid one another’s eyes. “What??” Steve fumed. “You have another suggestion?”

“No, I mean . . . it’s just . . . well . . . it’s just . . . .”

“It’s just WHAT??” Steve pressed exasperatedly.

“Well, don’t you want to be a little more official about this, Man? Do it completely above board like you said . . .”

“It is above board!” Steve exploded. “It is totally fucking above board!” Mike and Kurt traded uneasy glances once more. “It may not be as formal as the process we usually go through and it may not be strictly routine but why the fuck should I care about that?” he demanded heatedly. “You think I should go by the book? Do what I can to preserve Mcarthy’s dignity? Did he give a fuck about any of that when he purposely set Danny and Ryan up? It’s a fucking god damn circus down there, thanks to Mcarthy!” Steve fumed. “Why should I give a rat’s ass about his dignity?”

“Because,” Kurt replied softly. “You are the president, and Gregg is a senior. It is highly irregular to summon a senior in the first place. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it,” he added quickly as Steve glared at him, “but you want to be careful . . . .”

“No, Kurt! NO!” Steve interjected. “Fuck that! All semester long I’ve been doing the right fucking thing! Trying to be fair and not play favorites. But it’s over! He has pushed me too far. I might be the president, but I am also Danny and Ryan’s big brother and right now, they come first!” Kurt and Mike just stared at him and Steve did his best to collect himself. When he next spoke his voice was more controlled, but it carried a menacing tone, the likes of which his friends had never before heard from anyone. “He’s going to pay this time, Kurt!” he lowered. “One way or another, this time, that sorry, no good mother fucker is going to pay! Do you hear me? He’s going to pay! Tell him that for me!” With that Steve opened the door and stepped into the hallway, shutting it hard again behind him and leaving his two best friends in a rare shell-shocked silence.