Prologue: Life before Kurt

Blaine Anderson realized he was different at the ripe age of eleven. It was a pretty average day, when he walked into the boys bathroom to find a group of boys gathered together looking at a magazine.

"Anderson! Come look at this." One of them remarked absently, not turning away from the magazine

"Hey no, it's my turn Anthony!" Another demanded snatching the magazine out of the others hands.

Blaine came closer and wrinkled his nose as he saw the pictures in the magazine. "Why are you arguing over the JCPenney catalog?" Blaine asked in confusion. "Is there a sale there soon?"

The boys looked at Blaine in disbelief before they finally responded. "They've got pictures in here!"

"Girls in their swimsuits!" Another piped up in excitement, looking down gleefully at the magazine.

"Oh." Blaine said flatly. What was the big deal? He'd gone to plenty of pool parties last summer with Cooper and his parents. No one seemed particularly interested in anyone's swimsuits there. Except maybe Cooper, but it wasn't like Cooper acted any different than he always did.

The boys went back to their drooling over the girls in the magazine, making a space for Blaine to join and look.

Blaine bit his lip and took the spot, still not getting the appeal. He didn't want them to think he was weird. They might not let him play football with them at recess if he didn't act like he understood the appeal.

The memory of the magazine was long gone by the time Blaine decided it was time to come out. He had a crush on the spiky haired boy in his math class for over 2 months and he just knew that once he was out, they could live happily ever after forever and ever until they were really old, like 60!

His mom and brother had taken it fairly well. His mother cried and gathered him into a hug as she kissed his hair and promised that she'd love him no matter what. She even let him sit at her feet and watch his favorite Harry Potter movie while she read and ran her fingers softly through his hair until he fell asleep.

Cooper ruffled his hair and made a stupid joke about how he couldn't steal all his girlfriends anymore, no matter how cute they thought Blaine was. He offered to take him out to go strolling for boys, or in Cooper's case, girls. Blaine turned down the offer though. Cooper offered the same thing for his birthday last year, except with girls. It took forever for him to drag Cooper away from his conquest of the night.

In the end, Cooper managed to smuggle Instinct and Out under his pillow before he left to go back to LA, with a note that he'd bought Blaine a 2 year subscription to them both. He also left some magazines in Blaine's nightstand that made him sort of uncomfortable.

Blaine thought some of the men were attractive, but where were their clothes? He found some use for them scrapbooking and imagining his perfect guy. He didn't understand why Cooper gave him a knowing smirk when he told him he really liked the articles.

His father hadn't taken it as well, but at least he was paying attention to him. Even if he still asked all his friends who were girls if they were dating. And at least the car they were rebuilding would be his once he passed his drivers license test in a few years.

His coming out at school hadn't gone the way he hoped. It went absolutely terrible! His crush had turned into his biggest bully after he was caught staring dreamy eyed at him. And he'd lost count how many times people tried to trip him or push him into a locker every day.

The only plus of coming out was his new friend Jamie. They decided to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance together after Blaine's suggestion to show the school they weren't any different.

He cried when he woke up in the hospital.

He was a victim of a hate crime. Jamie and his family moved away to California before he even woke up. He never got to say goodbye to the person that made school less of a living hell. Not to mention his old crush was the mastermind of their attack.

He was stuck in a hospital bed with a broken rib, wrist and leg. His entire body was littered with dark bruises and his right eye was swollen shut.

The only relief to his time in the hospital was that his mother had already made plans to transfer him to a school called Dalton Academy that boasted its zero tolerance policy. He could be out and proud without fear of a repeat attack. And he could move onto campus as soon as he was healthy enough.

Unfortunately, he'd see his mother less, but he wouldn't have to put up with his father's pressure to meet a 'nice girl' as much. He'd been even working on how to stop feeling so ashamed when he disappointed his father. He respected him, but he knew he'd never quite have his father's approval. Being gay wasn't something he could change.

As soon as he was completely healed and up to dancing again, Blaine auditioned for the Warblers. Once he was in, it didn't take too long until he felt completely adored by the Warblers and Dalton students school wide. He was given the lead soloist position with only a month left in his Freshman year.

It wasn't until school started up again for his Sophomore year that things started to feel awkward. All his friends talked about their summer romances and how far they'd gone with their girlfriends or boyfriends.

They wanted to know about Blaine's, but he had nothing to tell. After weeks of gentle teasing and prodding, they finally decided that Blaine was clearly saving himself for someone and that they wouldn't get anything out of him.

Still he was confused. He completely understood having someone to cuddle with and even kissing. But all these bases? What did they even mean? And did people really do that?

He was completely disturbed after he googled some of the terms his friends were using. He even looked up how gay sex worked and somehow ended up on a porn site. His eyes widened in interest as one man praised another and kissed him gently. Then came what looked like a whip with the second man tied up on a bed.

Blaine watched in interest for a few minutes, but clicked it off fast when he heard his roommate unlocking their door. It was just as well, Blaine supposed. It got less interesting once the first man set down the whip-like thing.

That didn't stop him from looking up what the words in the title of the video meant later when his roommate was occupied.

A/N: This whole fic is finished. I'll try to post frequently (And I don't mind people reminding me as long as I didn't just update that day). Reviews make me extremely happy.