A/N: God, this is scary.

This is my very first fanfic! I am so thankful already, if you've read the summary and thought positive of it. As already mentioned, I am a new writer of fanfiction, and I'd love to get better - so please, after reading, consider leaving a review :) The song of this chapter is called 'Beautiful things' by Gungor, and I can highly recommend listening to it. Now I won't make one of those super long author notes for the first chapter, so just go on and read!

Chapter one: Beautiful things

December 31.

Blaine

"Anyone got any New Year's resolutions?" Jeff inquired softly from his seat in front of the TV. He was leaning against Wes' knee, just barely keeping his eyes open. A count down on the screen told the little gathering consisting of Jeff, Wes, David, Jon and Blaine that midnight was only twenty minutes away. They were all simply in their Dalton hoodies and various colors of sweat pants. After a long discussion about how they should celebrate new year's, starting just after Christmas, they'd all agreed on a simple get together with take out, popcorn and sparkling cider in one of Dalton's common rooms.

They all took a minute to think before answering. Blaine especially was going through his options. He had a lot of resolutions, but none he felt like he could tell the guys about. No, he wouldn't confess to his plans of rereading the twilight saga before the next movie's release date. He absolutely wouldn't tell them of the promise he'd made to actually help his older brother out the next time he needed a partner for an audition. And he wasn't going to tell them about his resolution involving finishing the letter he'd once started for Katy Perry about how enchanting he found her music. He hated being seen as stereotypical gay, and though he knew, his friends wouldn't mock him – or at least they only would as a joke – he just couldn't reveal those.

Luckily David seemed to have already made an official set of resolutions to share with his friends.

"I'll try paying more attention in class, actually do my homework earlier than the night before, and Rose keeps dropping me these hints about what good boyfriends are supposed to do, so I guess I'll try to please her too, if that's possible," David said with a smile.

"So you basically plan on living a couple of extra hours a day?" Nick laughed.

"No, I just plan on being less lazy," David said. He sat up and started refilling their cups to have them ready for when the ball dropped, while Jon explained his plans for the new year.

"I plan on taking up running. I played tennis before my transfer, but since I started rooming here, I haven't really felt like playing, so I thought I'd start running instead," Jon told them.

"Would you like some company? I'm dealing with a little bit of holiday fat and I'd really like for it to be gone by regionals," Blaine asked from his seat on the couch, where he was toying with one of his slippers.

"Sure! That way we can hold each other to it, too." Next in line was Wes.

"I don't really have a resolution just a goal. I want to take the Warblers to nationals," he said followed by cheers from all boys. They were all in Dalton's glee club, the Warblers, and were just as determined to be best in the country.

"And we'll make it this year. How can we not? We've never been vocally stronger thanks to Blaine's transfer and Luke's high notes and last year at regionals our weak links were the one thing pulling us down in the judges eyes. I have a good feeling about this year," Nick announced and the others agreed by making a toast.

Blaine hadn't been drinking much that night, still scarred from the last time he'd let himself drink and had woken up in a bathtub with a girl, whose name he'd forgotten. None of the others were drunk either, but had all had more than him for sure.

"My resolution involves less girls. Seriously, I've been on dates with so many different girls this year I wouldn't be able to make you a list," Nick revealed with a sigh. Suddenly Jeff and Jon were looking at each other and started listing girls' names.

"There was Tanya, that blonde one Olivia, Madeline and what was the girl with black lipstick's name? Lulu? Lola?"

"Luna," Nick said without looking at his friends.

"Luna! Of course how could I forget," Jeff laughed and continued by listing even more names.

"All right, all right I think people get the point. I should flirt less and start focusing on relationships that actually have a future," Nick said and suddenly all eyes were on Blaine, who hadn't really been involved in the whole name listing game. He looked up and found all his friends looking at him expectantly.

"What?" he asked looking confused.

"What's your New Year's resolution, Blaine?" Nick asked him.

"We haven't heard Jeff's either."

"Don't try and change the subject," David laughed. Blaine's cheeks turned pinkish.

"What is it that you can't share with us? Is it about boys, because we can listen to you drooling over guys just as well as when we drool over girls," Wes assured him with a smile. Blaine's heart was warmed by that, but he still couldn't find a resolution to tell them about.

"And for that I'm really grateful, but it's not about a guy. I don't know. I don't have something I wanna change in the new year, I guess," Blaine said, shrugging. His friends shared a couple of glances before David nodded and moved, as if to let Blaine in on some big secret.

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but we sort of already made you a resolution," he started. "You see, the guys and I feel like people are taking advantage of you way too often, Blaine."

"What?" Blaine chuckled, but all around the room his friends were looking at him, serious expressions on their faces.

"Yeah, like before the holidays, you and I were walking down the hall, and some dude from your history class came up to us and basically asked you to write his report for him," Wes argued.

"He just wanted to borrow my notes, Wes," Blaine patiently explained accompanied with an eye roll. Jeff then moved a little closer.

"All right, how do you explain how you ended up washing cars all afternoon for a car wash helping the Crawford girls raise money for their annual trip to Boston?" he asked.

"I wanted to help them out! They're our sister school – it's not like they're total strangers. And half of them never even showed up, so they really needed a hand," Blaine told his friends, who were all just shaking their heads.

"Right, and what was it that kept them from showing up?" Jon asked.

"Some sale at the mall, I think. It's been months, guys, I don't remember," Blaine sighed still not getting the point.

"There was no sale, Blaine. They all heard you'd show up and do all the work, like you always do," Nick spoke, desperately trying to get to his friend.

"People are using you, Blaine," David said, serious expression on his face.

"You're making me feel like a virgin in need of protection here. I'm just being friendly, guys. I really don't need this whole intervention-thing," Blaine said, sending all of his friends smiles. Of course he knew, it wasn't normal for people to ask each other as many favors, as he was asked, but he always just blamed it on him being easy to talk to. He didn't mind borrowing that guy his notes, and it had been his own idea, he'd get Blaine's last report on the subject too. The guy had only intended on using it as inspiration – that was all right, right? And the girls that had showed up at Crawford Country Day had been so grateful, they'd taken him out for lunch afterwords. Sure, he'd ended up paying for some of them, since they'd forgotten their wallets, but it wasn't like he couldn't afford it.

"Fine, I was hoping to avoid this one, but what do you call what Jake was doing to you?" Jon asked, not showing any emotion as Blaine winced at the name of his former crush's name.

"I don't know. But he wasn't taking advantage of me!" Blaine defended, but his friend just shook his head with an overbearing expression on his face.

"How many times did you go out? I mean both coffee dates, those trips to the movies and everything else."

"Uh, maybe five times? I don't really remember." Blaine remembered the number all right, but he had a feeling the higher it was, the stronger Jon's argument would be, so he kept his knowledge to himself.

"And how many times did you pay for the both of you?" Jon asked.

"Lialtme," Blaine mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Jon asked, putting a hand behind his ear, smiling triumphantly.

"Like all the time. He never paid," Blaine sighed. "Okay, fine, maybe I'm too nice, but the world needs nice people!"

"You're not simply being too nice, you're being pushed around, Blaine. You're a push over!" David said, and though his words hurt a bit, Blaine finally seemed to get the point.

"Fine. This year I'll try to say no to people. I promise not to let myself be used for favors," he sighed. "Now, can we please just count the seconds till midnight and all dwell, on how we have no one to kiss?"

"You want someone to kiss? You could have just asked!" Jeff grinned, and suddenly he was pinning Blaine to the floor, making kissing noises at his friend.

"Jeff, get off me!" Blaine laughed, but he felt good. He had thought of it being exhausting to always agree with people, and kind of looked forward to actually saying no. He was walking into the new year with a solid promise that he intended on keeping.

March 9.

Kurt

Kurt was biting his nails. Never before had he lowered himself to that. Even as a kid, he always managed to keep them out of his mouth. He couldn't count for when he was a baby, but he couldn't remember a point in his life, where he'd felt the need to bite and keep biting.

Many things had changed for him in the last week or so. His skin was suffering from him never leaving the hospital for anything other than new sets of clothes, which Carole often brought him anyway. He could now navigate through the many halls without even looking at the signs, and that alone was enough to freak him out a little.

One day he'd been on a lower floor, looking for a particular nurse, when he'd walked by the pediatrics ward. He'd never been in the hospital as a kid, so he hadn't seen the ward either. A girl in a wheel chair had been looking at him, and he'd felt dizzy. Quickly he'd walked passed it, leaving the girl behind. That night he'd had a nightmare involving huge lady bugs trying to tie him to a bed with wheels on it.

"Hey, Kurt," Finn's soft voice greeted, as his awkward teenage form settled down beside Kurt in a chair matching the one, he was sitting in himself. He just nodded to let Finn know, he knew, he was there. "Any news?" Finn asked after a while.

"No, they're still operating," Kurt whispered, for the first time noticing, how little he actually spoke those days. His voice was sore and unused. He was annoyed that Finn simply couldn't ask his mother, but when he looked to the chair Carole sat in, he saw why he hadn't. She looked dead in the chair, and had it not been for the steady rhythm of her chest rising and lowering itself, he would have been seriously concerned.

"It's going to be all right," Finn soothed, and an awkward hand petted Kurt's shoulder. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the gesture, but he had no extra energy to praise Finn for his attempts of comfort. Sometimes having befriended the teenager beside him, was more like having a dog; praise it, and it will do anything to receive same treatment; feed it, and it will forever respect you; and when you're sad, it will automatically get sad too.

"Mr. Hummel? Ms. Hudson?" Kurt looked up to see a middle aged doctor with a very sympathetic look on his face. Kurt's heart already knew, what that meant, and he found he had a really hard time listening to the doctor, but was confirmed in his theory, as Carole let out an involuntary sob and grabbed for his arm. Tears started to run down his cheeks. People were trying to tell him things, but everything was silent to Kurt. Silence was the absolute worst thing about hospitals.

edited 12.28.12