"Hi, I'm Kurt."

Blaine was crying. It made sense; he was only nine years old after all. Oh, and he just found his mother lying unresponsive on the floor about a week ago.

He was put in several foster care waiting places, but when they realized he really didn't have any family, he was to be put in a semi-permanent group home.

Blaine had been a tough kid. His mother was a junkie and his father, well, as far as Blaine knew his father could have been anyone. Blaine's dad didn't even know he had a son. So Blaine was the man of the house since he had been born, and his mom told him so! At least she told him so when she was sober; otherwise she was pretty verbally abusive. Sometimes she threw things at him or hit him when she didn't know what else to do. She was only fifteen when she had Blaine.

A lot of people thought Blaine's mom was a prostitute, being a junkie and beautiful at the same time, seemed to give off that impression. But she was actually just a teenage runaway with a minimum wage paying job at the grocery store. She kept food on the table but she was very depressed and very angry. Blaine learned from a very young age that if his mom was passed out, he would have to open up the wonderland that was the refrigerator and eat what he could reach. He also learned from a very young age how to dodge shoes being thrown at him by his high mother.

But right now he was in the William McKinley Group Home. He'd been here for just under a day. Most people left him alone, as he went straight to his bunk in the corner of the room, and laid there alternating between sleeping, staring at the wall, and crying. He'd seen a few boys go by with a basketball, but otherwise he'd been alone in the room.

So when a smaller boy in a sweater vest and neatly combed hair introduced himself, he was to say the least, a little caught off guard.

Blaine didn't respond to Kurt's greeting, he just buried himself further into his blanket and tried to quiet his sobbing.

"Hey, did you hear me?" Kurt asked with a perplexed face, "I'm Kurt!" He tried again a little louder, hoping to get a reaction, when he didn't he continued, "I saw you were crying, I brought you some tissues. They're a generic brand, so they're not all too soft…but they'll get the job done!"

Blaine peeked an eye out at Kurt and Kurt responded with little hopeful smile waving a tissue box at him happily. Kurt was really nice looking. He had a bright face, a tidy bow-tie, and a small frame. His face held a cute little button nose and a warm smile. They stared at each other for a good thirty seconds before Kurt gave a little sigh.

"You don't have to talk to me, I'll just put the tissues here on our nightstand, okay?"

Blaine pulled the covers down more to free his hand and took a tissue out, wiping his eyes a little. Kurt was sitting cross leg on the bottom bunk from him, humming a happy tune. He looked like he was coloring, but then he stopped to look at Blaine.

Kurt bit his lip, "But, if you want to talk to me, you can. I…no one really talks to me, so I understand, if you don't want to."

Blaine sat up in his bunk and spoke in a gravely voice, "Why don't people talk to you?"

Kurt smiled upon hearing Blaine speak but then frowned at the question, "Well, girls talk to me a little. But I don't know, I just don't fit in with the boys here, I suppose. And I'm not very good at fighting, so…"

"Fighting?"

Kurt worried his lip for a few seconds before responding, "Yeah, all the other boys here like to fight me; I'm not very good at it. I get hurt a lot. I'm kind of smaller than all of them."

"Do-do you think they'll want me to fight too?"

Kurt ticked his head from shoulder to shoulder, like he was weighing his thoughts, and then snorted, "Probably. Boys always want to fight. Especially here."

Blaine looked shocked and Kurt's eyes shot open wider, "Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you-"

"I'm not scared!" Blaine shot back quickly, wiping his eyes and getting out of his bunk, "I can defend myself just fine!"

Kurt paused and then chuckled a little, "It's okay if you can't, I have hiding places I can show you. We can hide together."

Blaine furrowed his little angular eyebrows, "I don't need to hide! I can fight; I'm not going to hide."

"Sometimes it's smarter to hide then to get hurt."

Just then the door of their bedroom opened and Blaine quickly hopped back on his bed. Two taller boys came in with a basket ball. One was a really tall boy for his age, with a gassy dopey smile on his face in a pair of track shorts and a jersey. The other was slightly shorter then the first with fisted hands and a short Mohawk.

"Rachel totally freaked out when we tried to give her that water bottle with the dead bug in it, hilarious!"

Finn cocked his head to the side, looking deep in thought, "I don't know, Puck. I don't think she liked it very much."

Puck grinned as they made their way toward their bunks, "Well of course she didn't like it! She's a girl. Girls are lame. Except Santana, she could beat me up. She's awesome."

Finn nodded as if Puck had just brought him all the enlightenment he'd ever need.

As Finn passed Kurt, Kurt looked at the floor then back up and him and spoke with a shy smile and a flourished wave, "Hi Finn."

Finn looked confused, "Oh, uh, hey."

Kurt blushed and sat back in his bottom bunk to resume his coloring.

"Hey! There's a new guy. Hey, new guy, I'm Puck," Puck extended a hand for him to shake.

Blaine reluctantly took it, "Hi."

"This is Finnocence," Puck grinned nodding toward Finn.

"It's Finn, actually. And I told you guys to stop calling me that!"

Puck rolled his eyes still grinning, "Whatever man, Santana's a genius for that one. Anyways, new guy! Don't think I caught your name."

"It's Blaine."

"Cool, well we were about to go down to dinner. Want to sit with us?"

"Sure, why not," Blaine shrugged.

"Awesome! Let's go!"

Blaine got up starting to follow them, but when he realized Kurt wasn't following them he turned, "Aren't you coming?"

Kurt looked up shocked at the invitation, "You-you want me to come sit with you?"

Blaine nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kurt closed his book and put his colors away following Blaine out the door happy as a clam at high tide.

But, of course, Puck pushed Kurt back through the doorway, "Woah! Hummel, what do you think you're doing?"

Blaine turned to see a slightly timid looking Kurt, but he hadn't lost his perfect tall posture or sharply raised eyebrow, "I was coming to dinner with Blaine. Do you have a problem with that?"

"I do actually. You don't belong with the dudes. Go sit with the girls or something, princess."

"Stop calling me princess. I'm not a girl or a princess! I'm a boy too!"

"Well your tiara collection says otherwise. You can't sit with us."

Kurt huffed and started marching forward but Puck harshly pushed him back through the doorway where he fell with a hard thump, and closed the door. Puck turned to Blaine pushing him along the hall to walk towards the dining hall.

"Listen Blaine, if you want to sit with us, you can't invite Hummel along. He's too girly; the guys don't want to have to be around that."

"He's really nice though, what's the harm in him coming along for one crummy little meal?"

Puck smiled devilishly, "Yeah, he's really nice alright. He's extra nice to Finn. Isn't that right Finnocence?"

"Shut up, Puckerman."

Puck spoke again, "Whatever. Blaine, you can decide for yourself, but you can't sit with Hummel and us. We don't want him crushing on us or spreading his little girl-power."

Blaine had to ask, "Crushing on you?"

"Yeah, he likes boys, like that, it's just weird. Anyway, come on!"

Blaine looked back down the hall at the door to his room beginning to open and emerge a red-eyed Kurt, he looked at the small boy for a moment but followed Puck and Finn anyway.