Chapter 1

2008

"Blaine, I'm your big sister, and I will love you no matter who you are! No matter what Mom and Dad think I will love you for who you are." The small black eyes of a vulnerable 12 year-old boy. The boy looked so familiar. He looked so scared, so weak, so so….

"BLAINE! BLAINE!"

Blaine woke up, sweating, and screaming bloody murder.

"Dude, you ok?" Wes looked over at his roommate. "Are you ok?"

Silence.

"Blaine! I'm talking to you! Dude you don't look so good!"

Blaine sat up and ran his hand through his black hair. "I don't feel so good."

I'm going to go get the nurse… oh and David!"

About 25 minutes later Wes showed back at the dorm with a concerned looking nurse, and a no so concerned, tired looking David.

"Looks like he has mono." The nurse shook her head. "When will you boys learn."

"Learn what?", David asked. He actually seemed curious about the topic of mono.

"Mono is a very contagious disease. It is widely known as the kissing disease." She pulled a pamphlet from her bag and handed it to David. "Making out, and a little bit of tongue spread it quickly, also things like shared coffee, soda, and water fountains make mono spread like wildfire. Mr. Anderson here obviously contracted a pretty severe case that normally comes from a late night make-out session. The girl he hooked up with is probably a carrier if she wasn't sick."

A small fever whisper came from the bed. "I haven't made out with anyone."

The nurse looked doubtful. "I can't help you if you won't tell the truth. You need to tell me who you made out with so that I can stop her from spreading mono through water fountains and such."

"I didn't make out with anyone…" Blaine sentence trialed off but he knew he had to tell the truth even if Wes and David were standing right there. "I'm… I'm… gay." His voice was no more than a whisper. " I didn't make out with anyone."

The nurse looked slightly annoyed. "Well then have you shared coffee, lunch, soft drinks, or utensils with anyone lately?"

"Nope."

"If you don't tell me all of the contact you could have had with the mono virus I can't really help you with how you got it. You're sue you didn't make out with anyone? There isn't a…" the nurse paused. "a boy?"

"No ma'am."

The nurse looked defeated but gave Blaine some antibiotics, told him to take it easy, and left.

Wes sat across the room on his own bed, and David sat down at the foot of Blaine's bed.

"Dude?" David put a hand on Blaine's knee. "Are you serious?"

Blaine cocked his head, "About what?"

"Ya know. Are you really…"

"Capital G Gay." Said Wes.

Blaine sank back under his covers. "Can we talk later?"

"No!" David and Wes yelped in unison.

"Fine. Why do you think I transferred to Dalton mid-year? I told most people I was bullied. Truth is I was bullied by a homophobic freak, after I came out. I got scared, and I came here."

David and Wes both looked at Blaine with an odd mix of confusion, pity, and curiousness.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Wes looked hard into Blaine's eyes. "We're your friends."

David tackled Blaine. "We are here for you, no matter who you are."

Blaine smiled for the first time in weeks. He knew then that coming out at Dalton wouldn't be that hard.

Chapter 2

2010

"It was amazing. He was as honest, as proud, and as scarred as me."

Mercedes held up a hand. "So you went to Dalton to spy for us? You met this dude named Blaine, him and his friends invited you for coffee, and he told you he was gay too? That's firkin awesome!"

Rachel reached over and hugged Kurt. "I wonder if he feels the same way about you?"

"Don't even go there," Mercedes warned. "he breaks my boy I break him."

Kurt smiled for the first time in weeks.

2009

"I know Kurt."

"You do?" Kurt sat across from his mom. "You knew all along?"

"Yup. Your grandmother, and Uncle kept calling you a… well that doesn't matter. I told them they weren't to use that word about my son. I told them I didn't care if you were gay, I would always love you."

Kurt smiled, and looked into his mom's hazel eyes. "You won't tell dad will you?"

"No little boy. I won't tell your father. You need to tell him yourself, but you need to tell him when you're ready…"

"So that's what happened?" Mercedes was looking deeply into Kurt's eyes. "That was the last time you ever talked to her?"

Kurt swallowed. "Yeah. I saw her drive to the grocery store 15 minutes later. I wanted to go with her, but she wouldn't let me. She told me I needed to be strong, and talk to my dad then. I was going too. I really was, but we got a call from the doctors, and she never came home. And now here I sit out to you, and the glee club, out at school, and to complete strangers, but hiding myself from my dad. This is Lima Mercedes, things get around fast."

Mercedes hugged him, and her eyes teared up. "Don't be afraid Kurt. Please tell him. It will be for the best."

"I've heard of out- of- the closet kids getting thrown out." Said Kurt, "I don't want that to be me."

"You are strong, brave, and courageous, and if your dad kicks you out, you always have me."

Chapter 3

2008

"Mom, Dad. I know that you think I'm getting an amazing education at school, but I'm not. Bullies haunt me, they terrorize me, and I feel helpless."

"Sweetie," Mrs. Anderson sat across from her son. "Why?"

"I can't tell you, but I can tell you that found a school I could go to."

Mr. Anderson sighed. "Blaine, what do they have at this school? Is it a boarding school? Do we have to pay?"

"It's an all-boys private school, called Dalton Academy. IT's a boarding school, but staying there is optional. Also you do have to pay, but it would be worth it. I can also take tests for scholarships, and I would really like to go. I mean David across the street goes there. He's also on their glee club, named the Warblers. Oh, and they have an anti-bullying harassment policy. The only one within a 20 minute radius."

Blaine must have looked like a lost puppy. "We're not keen on sending you to an all-boys school, Blaine" Mrs. Anderson said calmly. "You've never had a girlfriend and we are worried, that you will become confused. We are afraid that you might turn to homosexuality. No need to add confusion to the long list of things in a teenagers mind."

Blaine felt tears rise to his eyes. "Where's Lauren?", and he took off down to the basement.

"Lauren! Lauren?"

"Right here, stop yelling gosh!" Lauren Anderson was tall and lanky with bottle blonde hair. She also cared very much for her brother, and when she saw him was concerned immediately. "Blaine? Are you ok?" She ran to him, and let him sob into her. "It's going to be ok."

When Blaine had settled down Lauren looked him in the eyes. "Did you tell them?"

"No. I just told them I was getting bullied at school. I want to transfer to Dalton. I mean David goes there, and it seems like fun. It's an all-boys boarding school, but it's the only school around here that has a zero harassment tolerance policy. They don't want me to turn gay."

"Blaine," Lauren looked her brother square in the face. "You need to get out of the closet. Tell mom and dad, then they may let you go to Dalton. If they try to lay a hand on you, then you will come to live with me and Chris. Got that?"

Blaine nodded and then went to tell his parents the hardest thing he would ever have to tell them.

Chapter 5

2010

"Dad I'm gay."

Kurt could still hear the words ringing in his own ears. He couldn't believe he finally had told his Father. The person who should have known the day his mom died. He had finally done what his mother had wanted him to do, and Burt Hummel was fine with it. The football, bust the windows of your car guy was cool with Kurt being gay.

"I guess I'm not totally in love with the idea, but I will love you just as much"

Kurt smiled, and then his smile fell. Everything was going to be different. Kurt wasn't sure he'd be able to have any normal friends without his dad sticking his nose in everything the two were doing, but it was worth it to make his mom proud.

"Blaine wake up. I can't believe they did that! After all you've ever done for them! How could they just throw you out!" Lauren was screaming like a maniac, but Blaine was barely paying attention. All he knew was they were ripping down the highway. Blaine's head hurt from where his dad had thrown a Bible at him, his ears still burned from all the yelling, and his eyes stung with salty tears that were still pouring down his cheeks.

"I'm fine Lauren", but it wasn't true. Blaine sat there like an emotional mess. It was almost the idle of his freshman year, and his parents had kicked him out. How was he supposed to face the kids at school now. "What about school? What am I going to do?" Blaine huddled to the side of his seat, and rested his head on his knee.

"You're transferring. Chris and I have enough good credit to borrow some money and send you to Dalton."

"You don't think I want to go to Dalton just because I'm…" but the sentence drifted off. "Never mind, but will I room there?"

Lauren nodded. You can stay with me and Chris until you can start."

For the first time Blaine didn't feel like crying. He wanted to go to Dalton, he wanted to escape, most of all he wanted to know who he was, and be himself.

"I let bullies chase me away, Kurt, and it is something I really regret." And it was true. Blaine actually missed his old school. He didn't miss getting bullied, but he missed the freedom. He realized that he had missed an opportunity to stand up, and tell the truth. He was determined not to let Kurt make the same mistake.

By now Blaine had patched things up with his parents. All was forgiven, but it wasn't all forgotten. His parents still asked lots of questions when he brought friends home from Dalton (ei- Are you straight?). He had started the tradition of making his friends invite their girlfriends to everything, just so his parents wouldn't worry, but it would be different if he wanted to help Kurt. Kurt was gay. There wasn't a girl to invite to help his parents. There weren't barriers put up, and he knew that he couldn't tell his parents he was helping Kurt, for fear of getting another Bible thrown at his head.

Kurt sat there just looking at Blaine. He was nice, and he wanted to help. Kurt thought long and hard about whether he would call Blaine for help, or just try to help himself. At least he knew he had options if things got from bad to worse over at McKinley.

"So it's like when Harry met Sally… but I get to play Meg Ryan."

Blaine smiled. It was kind of like when Harry met Sally minus the booze and sex, but was he complaining? Nope. Blaine really did care about Kurt. He was the only person that really got it. Although Blaine hadn't had it as bad over at his school, he knew what it was like to be bullied teased and hurt for your sexuality. He was still mad that Kurt had transferred to Dalton. He had hoped that Kurt would stay at McKinley, but it didn't work out that way.

Kurt just stared. Did he really just compare his weird friendship with Blaine as a movie? Yup, and Blaine was fine with it. In some ways Kurt knew that Blaine was the only one that understood. Although Kurt didn't think he had it as bad as Blaine. Yeah Karofsky had stolen his first kiss, but he could just cover that up. Blaine couldn't cover up what happened with his parents, it wouldn't work.

"I don't know… maybe I'm Bi…"

Bi, that would explain the fireworks with Rachel, but he was smashed, and wasn't thinking clearly. Blaine shook all the negative thoughts, Kurt didn't like who he was. Was that worth it? Blaine knew he liked Kurt, but as he walked away from that coffee shop he also knew that Rachel could be in the equation. If he brought home a girl, his parents would die of shock, and he smiled at the thought.

Bi? About Rachel no less. The diva of the new Directions, the star of the show. Kurt knew that Rachel just liked ruining everything. It was the way that girl was. Kurt really hated her for it, especially now. He knew that she liked him, but he had more feelings for Blaine… he knew he did.

"Kurt is the most moral amazing person I know."

Blaine saw Mr. Hummel look curiously at him. Blaine wanted to hug the big man and confess everything he felt for Kurt. He wanted to admit to imagining himself and Kurt pressing their lips against one another, French homework forgotten. He wanted to say that the useless fling with Rachel was nothing, and that even though he was smashed his intentions with Kurt the night he was drunk were anything but innocent. He wanted to tell Mr. Hummel that he would never leave Kurt alone, and that he would always take care of the sweet porcelain boy. But all he did was nod and continue to tell Mr. Hummel he needed to do.

"I'm sorry if I'm overstepping…"

"You are…"

Blaine nodded saying nothing that he wanted to. He slowly turned and walked out of the tire shop.

"You move me Kurt…. And this duet. It would just be an excuse to spend more time with you."

Blaine wanted Kurt to hear and soak up every word. Then he did it. He leaned in, but pulled back for a second. Was it right to do this? If Kurt didn't want him then he would be just as terrible as Karofsky had been. Blaine saw the slight frown on Kurt's face, and it helped him. Blaine leaned in again and considered going for a hug, but it was too late. He smashed his lips to Kurt's and grabbed the boy's face. Kurt felt tense, and was probably stunned. Blaine wanted to stop, he didn't want to do this if Kurt didn't want it. Just as he was about to pull away, Kurt seemed to find his strength. He put his hand on Blaine's face and depend the kiss. It was wonderful and everything Blaine had ever wanted. It could have been his all along, and he couldn't believe that he was realizing that now.

Kurt's brain didn't have time to process what was happening. They were just talking. He had expected Blaine to say they were friends, and that the duet was just to ease Kurt's jealousy of the older boy… but no. He didn't have time to move, even time to breath as the older boy smashed his lips to Kurt's. Kurt had been so surprised, and he didn't know what to do. After a few seconds he felt Blaine pulling away, but he didn't want that to happen. Kurt wanted the taste on his tongue. The taste that was a mix of coffee, and mint. The taste that was so uniquely Blaine. He put his hand on the side of the older boys face, and deepened the kiss. He felt the fireworks, the magic, and the sparks. This was nothing like the careless kiss with Brittany, or the forced kiss with Karofsky. This was a kiss that took him to his own little world.

"We should… we should practice."

"I thought we were."

The boys starred at each other before smashing their lips together for a second time. They loved each other, and everyone could see it. Wes, David, and Thad peaked in the room through a crack in the door.

"I knew it!" Wes smiled. "You own me ten bucks, Thad."