Kurt Hummel walked up the concrete staircase in front of William McKinley High School, thinking about how great it was to finally be back from summer break. He smiled as he spotted Mercedes and Sam near the doors, happy to see that they were still together. He saw them holding hands at the Lima Bean the day after they got back from Nationals, but for a few weeks, he and Blaine were the only ones who knew. Finally, during the last days of the school year, the two went public. Needless to say, the glee club was ecstatic for them.
Kurt ran over to the couple. "Mercedes! Sam!" As soon as Mercedes saw him, she gave him a hug. She was Kurt's best friend at school. He and Sam simply exchanged smiles. Glancing between the two, he asked, "How are you guys?"
"Great," Sam replied.
"Fabulous," Mercedes said to him. "This year is going to kick ass. Ready for our first Glee club meeting as seniors?"
"Yes!" Kurt said, clapping his hands together. He had so many new ideas – including a solo or two - for this year that he couldn't wait to share with Mr. Schue and the others.
The three of them walked inside together, down the hallways and into the choir room. Even though they were fifteen minutes early, they were the last to arrive. Kurt dropped his bag on the ground and rushed to meet his friends. Rachel was already walking towards him. Near the piano, he saw Brittany, Santana, and Quinn talking, and in a corner were the rest of the club: Puck, Sam, Finn, Tina, Lauren, Mike, and Artie. He saw Mr. Schue hand Brad a few pages of sheet music.
This room was like his home away from home. He always felt safe here when he couldn't in the hallways. When he was being bullied by Karofsky, he would often come here and play the piano, sing, or just sit and read or think, just to get away from it all. He felt the same sense of security now, surrounded by his closest friends, the people who have helped him through so much. Kurt didn't want to accept the fact that they only had a year left together.
"Hey Kurt!" Rachel grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the center of the room, where the entire club had now gathered. He was instantly greeted with hugs, "hey"s, and pats on the shoulder.
Kurt said hello to the group. Even though they had seen a lot of each other over the summer, it seemed like they were closer when they were here.
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. A new text from Blaine. Good morning. How's your first day of senior year going?
Kurt smiled down at his phone. I'm in glee club now. It's great to be back. You? Coincidentally, today was the first day of school at Dalton, too.
Blaine replied within a few seconds. Okay. Wish you were here, though. I miss you. How does coffee after school sound?
Of course, Kurt typed. See you later. I love you.
His phone vibrated one last time before he turned back to his friends. I love you, too.
His friends chatted about their summers for a few minutes before Mr. Schuester told them to sit down, cueing the beginning of the meeting.
"Welcome back, everybody!" The glee club erupted into cheers. "I hope you all had a great summ-"
"Mr. Schue, if I may?" Rachel's voice interrupted him and she stepped in front of the piano before the teacher could say a word. "We have to work hard this year. Nationals are in Chicago and if we want to win first place, we need to start practicing as soon as possible." The brunette pulled a piece of notebook paper from her sweater's pocket. "Over the summer, I made a list of the songs I would like to have the club perform this year. Of course, most of the solos and duets are mine and Finn's, but I also made room for a couple of other performances to showcase other talent. At Sectionals, I was hoping we could open with-"
Mr. Schue let out a sigh. "Guys, it's only the first day of school. Don't worry about anything right now. We can talk Sectionals and everything tomorrow." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the meeting before it had technically even started. The New Directions pulled their chairs closer to each other and talked about vacations, concerts, and, for Puck, hook-ups. Rachel tried to get the team back into discussing setlists, but ended up storming out of the room.
Kurt took one more look around his locker, making sure he didn't forget anything when he redecorated it. He had just finished putting his books inside when he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Excuse me?"
He turned around and gasped in surprise. There was Blaine, standing in front of him, dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans. In his hand was a class schedule, and a dark red messenger bag was draped over his shoulder.
"Can I ask you a question? I'm new here." Blaine said, smirking.
"Blaine!" Kurt threw his arms around his boyfriend. "What are you doing here?" He was happy to see Blaine, but he should really be at his own school. Unless...
Oh.
"I transferred," he said, as if he couldn't believe it himself. "Here. To McKinley."
"But... Why?" They had talked about Blaine transferring to McKinley before, but Kurt had no idea that he was actually considering it.
The look on Blaine's face told him that the answer to his question was obvious. "What about the Warblers? And your parents?"
"Kurt, Dalton is a long drive away. You and I both know how much we both hated seeing each other less last year. So I asked my parents if I could come here, and they said yes. It didn't take much to convince them, considering how much cheaper it is to go here compared to Dalton. I told them about you and Karofsky, and what everyone in Glee club did for you. I think that's what convinced them that I'd still be safe here. My aunt lives just outside of Lima, and she told me I can stay at her place for a while." Blaine said, beaming. "As for the Warblers, of course I'll miss them, but they understood."
Kurt nodded. "So...does this mean you're joining New Directions?"
"How can I not?" Blaine answered. Kurt took his hands, grinning from ear to ear. "You're going to love it. There's a meeting after school." As the first bell rang, he asked, "What's your first class?"
Blaine unfolded his schedule. Surprised, he said, "Spanish with Mr. Schue."
Kurt let out a squeal. "Mine too! I can't wait for you to meet Mr. Schue. Come on." They walked towards the South end of the school together. As they turned the corner, Kurt saw Azimio stare at them as he walked by. "Hey, fag," he shouted to Kurt. The larger boy shoved him, not very hard but hard enough to push him into Blaine, who stumbled but quickly regained his balance. Pointing to Blaine, Azimio added, "Who's that, your new boyfriend?"
Kurt stood in front of Blaine protectively. Linking his and Blaine's fingers together, Kurt said, "Yep. He is. And if you have a problem with that, you can come to me about it. But I swear to God, Azimio, if you lay as much as a finger on him, I will make sure you never step foot in this school again." He turned away, not loosening his grip on Blaine's hand.
Azimio was silent for a few seconds. But as he turned the corner, he heard "Have fun singing your show tunes together!" Kurt ignored it. You would think that after two years of harassing the glee club, he would come up with some better insults. Blaine stared at his boyfriend in shock.
They stopped outside of the classroom. "I'm sorry about that," Kurt said.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it, okay?" Blaine replied, holding both of Kurt's hands now. "It doesn't bother me anymore. You don't have to threaten to get people expelled just to protect me. I'll be okay."
"But it's your first day here, and-"
Blaine interrupted him, his voice down to a whisper. He pressed his forehead to Kurt's. There weren't many classrooms in this hallway, so they were alone except for a few students grabbing books from their lockers or running to class. "Hey. I came here knowing that I would have to deal with this kind of stuff. After Dalton, it'll take a while to get used to, but I'll be fine. I won't let them get to me. To us."
Kurt felt tears stinging his eyes, but held them back. They were a minute or two early to class, so Kurt walked to Mr. Schue's desk first.
"Mr. Schue?" His teacher looked up from his paperwork. "I'd like to introduce you to Blaine. He just transferred here from Dalton. Blaine, Mr. Schue." He looked back and forth from the two of them.
Mr. Schue held out his hand, and Blaine shook it. "Nice to meet you," his teacher said, and Blaine smiled and nodded in return. "Will you be joining glee club?"
"I would love to, if it's not too much trouble," Blaine said.
"Of course not. We're always welcome to new members. Just stop by the choir room after school." Blaine thanked him and was assigned the empty seat next to Kurt.
Kurt had always found Spanish easy. Somehow, the words just rolled off his tongue after repeating them only once or twice. Blaine, who had taken French at Dalton, was having trouble. Throughout the class, he had jotted down notes, written down vocabulary words (and their pronunciations and definitions), and quietly tried to say each word or sentence correctly. By the end of the class, he had already scribbled over five pages of notes. Kurt's notebook, on the other hand, was empty except for a page of doodles he had absentmindedly drawn. He looked down at the heart-covered paper and closed it, embarrassed, before Blaine could see it. Luckily, when he looked next to him, his boyfriend was still writing.
The rest of the day passed by fairly quickly. Although Spanish was the only class Kurt and Blaine had together besides lunch, they often passed by each other in the hallways, sharing smiles and brushing hands. At lunch, they sat with Mike and Tina. While Kurt informed Tina of the latest fashion trends, Blaine and Mike bonded over talking about sports, mainly football.
When the final bell rang at three o' clock, Kurt and Blaine met outside the choir room and walked inside together. "Don't be nervous," Kurt whispered to him as they entered. "They'll love you."
By now, everyone knew about Blaine's transfer, and he already felt welcome here. At the beginning of the meeting, he raised his hand. "Mr. Schue? I've prepared a number, if you want me to audition..." he said.
A few chairs away from him, Finn said, "Dude, we've all heard you sing before. You don't really have to audition." Quickly, he added, "Not that you can't, because you totally can if you want to but you don't have to and if you just wanna..." he caught himself rambling and sat back in his chair awkwardly.
"If you have something, Blaine, feel free to sing it." Mr. Schue told him, walking to the side of the room. Blaine got out of his chair. "I'd like to use the piano, if that's alright?" Brad glared at him but stood up from his bench. Blaine tried to give him an apologetic smile, but the piano player still looked displeased.
"I'd like to dedicate this song to Kurt," he said, looking at his boyfriend before beginning to play the song. Kurt recognized the melody and smiled as Blaine started to sing softly.
You think I'm pretty
Without any makeup on
You think I'm funny
When I tell the punchline wrong
I know you get me
So I let my walls come down, down
Kurt had to admit, this slower, more emotional cover was better than the original and even the Warblers' version. Or maybe he was just thinking that because it's Blaine, his boyfriend who was perfect and dedicated this song to him and who he loved more than anything in the world.
...Yeah, maybe he was a little biased.
Before you met me
I was all right, but things were kinda heavy
You brought me to life
Now every February, you'll be my valentine, valentine
His voice became a little louder as he reached the song's bridge. The piano's mellow tune echoed throughout the otherwise quiet room as Blaine closed his eyes.
Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I,
We'll be young forever
Kurt was grinning from ear to ear now. He couldn't help it. This was the song that Blaine sang when they met. Kurt only went to Dalton to spy on the Warblers, but he ended up walking away with so much more than details about the competition. He met Blaine on that staircase, and it was love at first sight. There was something about him that Kurt still couldn't understand, but it made him fall in love with Blaine instantly. He looked out for him when he was being bullied, even though they had only known each other for a few days. Blaine had been looking out for Kurt from the beginning in a way that no one else has ever done before, because Blaine understood. He knew what Kurt was going through. He was there for Kurt since day one, and Kurt was there for him. And when Kurt transferred to Dalton, where he was finally safe, Blaine continued to help him. He helped him fit in. He helped him with his audition for a solo at Sectionals, and when he didn't get it, Blaine comforted and encouraged him.
And then, when Blaine proposed to the Warblers for Kurt to sing a duet with him at Regionals, when Blaine found him alone, decorating Pavarotti's casket, when Blaine took a seat next to him and told him what Kurt had been waiting to hear for so long, when finally, finally they kissed...
That was when Kurt knew.
That was when Kurt knew that he loved Blaine, and Blaine loved him back. That was when he knew that nothing could ever tear them apart. That was when he knew that Blaine was perfect for him. That was when he knew that he had been waiting for this, this moment, when Blaine's lips were locked to his and nothing had ever felt so right in all his life. That was when he knew they were meant to be.
Blaine had helped him in ways no one else has, and Kurt had no idea how he could ever repay him.
You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream
The way you turn me on
I can't sleep
Let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look back
Kurt never took his eyes off of Blaine as he sang, not even when Mercedes elbowed him jokingly at the "turn me on" line.
My heart stops when you look at me
Just one touch, now baby, I believe
This is real
So take a chance and don't ever look back, don't ever look back
Blaine opened his eyes. He glanced down at the piano for a moment, and then looked back up at Kurt sitting across the room. A tiny smile formed on his lips. He continued playing the piano. Whether it was for a minute or an hour, Kurt couldn't tell. But eventually the music ended, and for only a few seconds was everything quiet before the room burst into applause. Blaine stood and Kurt, speechless, hopped out of his chair and tried not to sprint over to his boyfriend, failing miserably. He planted a sweet, chaste kiss on Blaine's lips.
"That was amazing," Kurt told him, taking his hand. "Thank you."
Mr. Schue walked over to them with a smile on his face. "Well, Blaine, I think it's unanimous," he said. "Welcome to glee club."
