Chapter 1

Will looked over at all five students seated in front of him that now consisted of the Glee club. There was Artie, a boy with glasses on a wheel chair, Tina, an Asian Goth girl, Mercedes, A chubby black girl, Rachel, Loud and self-centered, but really, the only real talent in the group, and of course, Finn Hudson, the school quarterback with a surprisingly nice voice, who Will had to practically blackmail to agree to join the club.

Will sighed, they really were a bunch of misfits.

"Alright, everyone. As much as I loved that rendition of Don't stop Believin', We are still going to need more members in the club if we want to compete in Show Choir." Everybody looked around for a minute before Mercedes raised her hand,

"Exactly how many people are we talking about here?"

Will grimaced. Knowing he was pretty much asking for a miracle, "Every Show Choir requires at least 12 people to be able to compete in sectionals, so we are at least going to need 7 more people." Artie screwed up his face in silent resignation, whilst Rachel's melancholy sigh echoed throughout the choir room,

"Well," Tina started hesitantly, "I can ask Kurt Hummel. He sings really well."

"You mean that guy who dresses like a girl?" Finn asked with a scrunched nose, Tina rolled her eyes at him, though Mercedes protested, her cheeks heating slightly,

"I happen to think he dresses really well." She protested, before turning to Tina in slight irritation, "How do you even know him, he's a bit of an… well, an Ice Queen, isn't he?"

"True." Tina conceded, "But, He and I have been helping out with Drama Club's costume designing and stage set ups since Freshmen year, and I don't really know him all that well, but we do talk to each other sometimes."

"Well then, How do you even know if he is any good?" Rachel said petulantly, seeing as she was no longer the subject of the glee club's conversation. Tina looked at her like she was crazy, and then looked at all the other members for support, but everyone else looked just as confused,

"Do you guys live under a rock or something? He has a YouTube account. With like, a ton of subscribers, and true, a majority of them aren't really from Ohio, but are you really telling me none of you have heard of him?"

All of them shook their heads at the same time and Tina huffed, Seriously, In Ohio, it was sometimes like they were living in 1950's instead of 2012. She pulled out her laptop from her school bag and turned it on, silently, Will joined the group of students that had huddled over to where Tina was sitting. Tina quickly logged on to her YouTube account and pulled up one of her favourite videos of Kurt singing ever, it was only from a few months ago, and he was presumably sitting in his bedroom, a loose black graphic tee with a waist over ripped skin tight white washed jeans, he looked as put together as always, with not a hair misplaced. She heard Mercedes beside her take in a sharp breath as Kurt started strumming an acoustic guitar, and Tina smiled smugly, she had been the one to teach him the cords back when she first learned he could sing like an angel and he learned that she could play five different instruments in her sleep.

"So, usually people post themselves singing the top 40s on this site." Kurt spoke in a soft voice, fingers still strumming a light melody, "But, I've always been a bit more into show tunes than pop, not to say that I hate it. Lady Gaga, and Beyonce and Madonna give the world a reason to keep going on, but my heart will always be with Broadway." Kurt smiled into the camera a little bit, a light little smirk playing on his lips, making him look almost regal. Mercedes didn't think she had ever seen him smile at school, the sight made her heart pump faster,

"So, instead of my usual pop songs, I'm going to change things up a bit and sing one of my favourite Broadway songs. It's called Le Jazz Hot! , and it's from the musical Victor/Victoria."

"Wait, isn't that a girl's song?" Rachel asked, confused.

Tina smirked, feeling smug and slightly proud even though there really wasn't any reason for her to be any of those things. "Exactly." She said, just as Kurt pressed play on the music on his laptop, his guitar synchronizing perfectly,

"About 20 years ago, in New Orleans…"

The members of the New Directions watched, slightly wide-eyed as Kurt continued to sing smoothly, his voice rising and falling and hitting every note with a rare surety only ever seen in people with both talent and experience. Will had his jaw slightly hanging, There was a counter tenor in Lima, in their school. A sophomore who was quite widely known if the number of views and subscribers were anything to go on, yet no body in the room had even heard of him.

The room was silent as the video ended, and silently, knowing everybody was thinking about it, Tina scrolled down to the comments section:

Lucy.09lk

OMG! He's so cute I wanna squish him! :DD

hearthummelBB

He voice is so beautiful, I've been replaying the same video for an hour now!

Rickyrocksxx

Such a fag god hes like a girl

Jackiekkrum

Seriously, just fuck off man, we don't need ignorant hate on here.

Johnnygugham

People are just jealous. That guy is probably getting laid 10x you.

Destielisrel

I love him. I think I'm actually in love with him. HELPPP

Rachel blinked. Oh.

"Oh." Will vocalised her thoughts, he turned to Tina with an almost manic gleam in his eyes, "Could you talk to him into joining, Tina?" Tina smiled, pleased and was about to reply when Rachel cut her off,

"Do we really want someone who wouldn't even bother showing up for auditions? I mean, he clearly thinks that he is better than us. I don't think that we need that kind of negative energy in our club."

Right. Artie thought silently, Because of course you don't think the same thing about the rest of us.

"Rachel, we need as many members as we can right now. And Kurt is clearly very good." Will, said, and turned to Tina, "Please convince him to at least attend a meeting. With this video, he wouldn't even need to audition."

"Of course, I'll talk to him." Tina agreed, and right on cue (because god forbid if there ever was even a tiny bit of awkward silence) the bell rang, dismissing all the students.

Tina was just walking out of the class when Mercedes caught up to her,

"Hey Tina, mind if I come with you to talk to Kurt?" Tina gave her a weird glance but shrugged, "Sure, I don't mind. Kurt might look all hard and unapproachable, but he's actually really nice."

Mercedes smiled, she had always known Kurt would be a sweetheart under that cold exterior. It had been a bit of a fantasy of hers. One day accidentally bumping into the school's Ice Bitch, and she would fall on the floor, papers going everywhere, and when she would look up, Kurt's expression would be as blank as always, except for his eyes, which would be full of admiration and slight awe directed towards Mercedes. She was excited to meet him for the first time, was excited to be his friend and slowly, gradually becoming something more.

"Come on, he's probably at the auditorium, he likes to play the grand piano they have there after school."

Mercedes followed Tina to the auditorium, excitement bubbling, and when they entered the auditorium, she could hear the slight notes from the piano, and she saw the boy playing it, and her breath caught in her throat.

Kurt Hummel was beautiful. Different, maybe even strange in his beauty, but he was the kind of exotic you could never find in the middle of Ohio. He was pale, but not in an unhealthy way, and his bone structure could rival diamonds. His long neck was on full display when he bent his head slightly as he played the keys of the piano, long fingers stroking more than pressing, creating such a gentle melody, it made Mercedes want to swoon.

Kurt also dressed really nicely. His clothes looked like something one would wear to a fancy restaurant in London rather than a public school in Lima, and he strutted in them with more confidence in his steps than the principal. He was mesmerizing to watch, and sure he got bullied, maybe worse than anybody else in school, but then again, everybody who was even remotely different got slushied once or twice a week. Kurt took it all in stride though, never once letting his face fall, or losing a step in his walk, no matter how many times jocks slushied him, or shoved him into the lockers. Mercedes really admired that, especially since her very first slushie had nearly made her cry.

Kurt stopped when he noticed there where people other than him on the stage, and turned around, giving Tina a brief smile,

"Ms.Tina Cohen-Chang! It's been a while, how I can help you?" Tina grinned back at him,

"Kurt, Let me introduce you to Mercedes Jones. We wanted to talk to you."

Their eyes met, and Mercedes nearly lost the function of her knees. He nodded at her in acknowledgement and she waved back, feeling slightly intimidated.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked and motioned them to sit on the stools that were near the orchestra,

"The glee club." Tina announced.

"There is a glee club?"

"Well, as of now there is. But, we're severely lacking members, and we were hoping you could join." Tina said.

"You have a really beautiful voice." Mercedes gushed, and reddened slightly when the word came out slightly breathless. Kurt smiled a bit wider at her then, still nowhere near how he was smiling when he sang Le Jazz Hot! , but it still gave her butterflies.

"Who else is in this glee club?"

"Well, Mr.Schue, the Spanish teacher put up the audition list yesterday, and till now we have Artie Abrams," Kurt nodded, everybody knew the kid in the wheel chair that acted like a black rapper, "Mercedes and me of course, Finn Hudson," Kurt raised an eyebrow at that, he had no idea that Finn could sing, or dance, "And Rachel Berry."

"Rachel Berry?" Kurt scoffed, and Tina gave him a pleading expression,

"Of come on, Kurt! Rachel may not be a very good person, but she is talented. And I really want to be a part of something before I graduate. Please?!"

Kurt looked at them both with a blank expression for a moment or two more before he sighed, Tina cheered and Mercedes' heart soared,

"Fine. Where do I sign up?"