A/N: A few things you need to know. First off, this is completely AU. Practically the only things canon I keep are the characters. Secondly, Blaine and Kurt are seniors. They haven't met yet, and won't for a few chapters, because I want to give some Blaine backstory. But that will come; I promise! And if it isn't obvious, this starts off with a flashback. Enjoy!

Oh, and I don't own Blaine or Kurt or Glee or anything else that rightly belongs to FOX and RIB.

Blaine resisted the urge to cry out as he once again felt a fist slam into his stomach. He tried to resist, but his father was too strong, pinning him against the wall of the living room with one arm while hitting him senseless with the other.

"How dare you! Why don't you fight back? I can see those tears, Blaine! Are you really that much of a girl?" his father screamed at him.

Blaine broke. He had tried holding it in, but this was too much. How could his father treat him like that? Why couldn't his father accept him? Why couldn't he treat him like any other father would treat his straight son? Blaine moaned and felt his knees give out as he sank to the floor. His father, sensing his weakness, jumped on top of Blaine as he lay on the ground, knee on his son's chest, and hand at his throat.

"Take it back, Blaine! Take it back! I don't want a piece of dirt for my son! What have I done to deserve this? Take it back, Blaine. Say that you're not gay. That you're not a queer. That you are actually worth something in this world. Because now, you're not behaving like it."

Blaine was choking. He could feel the blood slowly moving down his face from the first punch his father had thrown at him. He didn't know if he could even respond. Luckily, his mother noticed this at the same time.

"Stop it! You're obviously hurting him. Get up, get up." She pulled her husband to his feet. "Let him recover a little. I'm sure he'll change his mind once he thinks this through. Our son is not a fag. He's probably just going through a rebellious phase; 15-year-olds do that all the time. There's no way anybody in our family could be so messed up."

If only Blaine's parents knew how much they had hurt him. It wasn't even the pain that was coursing through his body. What they were saying – that's what was hurting him the most. He watched as they left the room, leaving him on the floor, not even caring if he was really injured. He never imagined that coming out to his parents would be this hard.

Blaine jumped as a finger jabbed his side. Jerking his head up, he looked to his left to see his best friend, Amanda, staring at him.

"You alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, just thinking about two years ago…wait, did I fall asleep?"

"Uh-huh. I was going to just let you keep sleeping, but you started mumbling some things, and since we really do need to get this homework done, I decided to wake you up," she responded.

"Thanks. Sorry I fell asleep on you."

"It's alright, really. You want to talk?" Blaine stared at her. "Blaine, you were moaning and mumbling, and I just…well, if you need to talk, I'm here for you. You know that I've been through some tough times myself, so if you need someone to listen to, I'm here. I mean, you were there for me…" Amanda trailed off and didn't finish her sentence.

"I know. It's just, it's nothing you haven't heard about before. I was thinking about when I came out to my parents, and how awful that was, and how it still hasn't stopped." He finished with a sigh, ducking his head into his hands. Amanda reached out, rubbing his back gently, moving her fingers in what she hoped were calming circles. She waited, knowing he had more he needed to say.

He raised his head up and continued. "You know, I haven't talked to them about this since that night. We just don't talk about it at all really. My dad keeps trying to set me up with girls, and I've gone on a few…well, I wouldn't call them dates. Just to keep up appearances, you know. But it's not really fair to them. Because they don't even know that I'm not interested in them in that way, and it's just, it's so hard."

"Have your parents been pressuring you lately?" Amanda asked gently.

"Yeah, they want me to have a girl that I can take to prom. The school year's barely even started! I get that it's my senior year and all, but honestly, if I can't go with my boyfriend, I don't want to go at all. But my parents won't have that. My dad keeps trying to give me a time limit, and I don't even want to think about what he'll do when I don't have a girlfriend when that time comes," Blaine explained, looking over at Amanda.

"Well, what about if you had a fake girlfriend. Like, you're parents would think you were dating, but you're really not, but only you and your, um, girlfriend would know about it." She mimed quotes as she said "girlfriend," because obviously, they wouldn't really be dating.

"Oh, I don't know," he replied. "I don't really want to do that. Where would I find someone willing to do that? And what if she started actually liking me? That wouldn't work out at all. Gosh, I don't know what I'm going to do." He sunk his head into his hands again. "Sorry to be dumping all this on you. And at a coffee shop, no less."

"It's really no problem," Amanda said, interrupting him. "And besides, what are best friends for?"

"Thanks." Blaine turned to her and smiled.

"Not to make this conversation turn awkward or anything, and you can definitely say no if this would make you uncomfortable…" Amanda paused, blushing slightly. "But I'm not having the best time at home right now, either. My parents are wanting me to get together with a guy, but I'm not ready for that yet. Not after last year. So, umm, maybe we could fake date each other for a while. Give each other some cover from our parents. If you're okay with that." She ended, looking a little uncomfortable. Blaine was staring at her. "Blaine?" she asked.

"Yes, oh gosh, yes. I mean, if you're sure that's okay with you. That would be perfect. And we could go out…" he mimed quotations again, "and actually have fun with each other with no pressure to be anything other than what we already are."

"So it's a plan?"

"It's a plan. What did I do to have such a brilliant girlfriend?" Blaine teased.

Amanda smirked back at him. "I don't know, but I guess since you'll be having to deal with me for a while, you might as well get used to it."