There had once been a time in Kurt Hummel's life when he had looked forward to going to school, that Sunday nights had been spent buzzing in anticipation for the Monday the next day, excited to dressing in a unique outfit, and hanging out with the girls at recess.

Those days had long since passed.

Now Kurt was barely pulling himself through the days, hardly managing to bring himself to care. Even glee club, a club that had once been a bright shining ray of light in his day, had failed to make him happy anymore.

Slamming his locker shut, he automatically flinched, as his theory was proven to be correct, and Dave Karofsky loomed around the corner, shoving him into the cold steel of the metal locker, sending Kurt's books flying, and the smaller teenager sliding to the ground. He winced painfully, as his back exploded with pain. The locker slams had been getting worse over the past few months, and Kurt had begun to fear that his back would be permanently stained black and blue.

However, something was different about this time. This time, someone bothered to help him. Kurt watched in shock as a pair of hands reached down to help him, and two more sets began gathering his books.

Kurt looked up at the person, blinking rather stupidly, his blue eyes meeting a pair of hazel ones, with beautiful golden flecks surrounding the irises. For a moment, Kurt was enraptured by the beauty of the eyes staring soulfully down at him, but then his gaze traveled down to the hand outstretched. He stared at it blankly for a minute, before pushing himself off the ground, not paying the hand any more heed.

Now that he was on eye level with the other three boys, he saw that the boy clearly of Oriental descent, and the boy with the mocha colored skin had picked up his books for him. He took them from the helpful, yet naïve boys gingerly, making sure not to brush his skin against theirs. His actions were very deliberate, and while he knew they must come across as cold and bitchy, Kurt knew they were necessary. These seemed like nice people, though they were clearly uneducated of the ways of public school. He wouldn't make things harder for them. He had learned his lesson with Sam after all. At least he had been a muscular football player. The three boys in front of him hardly looked like much, but then again, Artie was on the team and he was in a wheelchair.

The boy who had attempted to help him up was slightly shorter than Kurt, by just a few inches or so. For some reason, that fact sent a little thrill down Kurt's spine. He always liked boys who were taller than him-Finn and Sam for example-but he secretly yearned to be the taller one in a relationship.

Kurt quickly shook those unbidden thoughts away. He had known this boy for about two seconds. He knew he fell far too quickly, and far too hard to save himself from any pain, but this-even for him-would be absolutely ridiculous.

The boy had deep hazel eyes, and Kurt couldn't figure out for the life of him whether they were brown, gold, or green. It was a rich color, and it absolutely took Kurt's breath away. It was one of his favorite colors, because it often reminded him of his mother, who had adored hazel eyes, who had always told Kurt she married his father because of those hazel eyes. Kurt hadn't been lucky enough to inherit his father's hazel eyes, rather his mother's pretty blue ones. But when his mother had passed away, he had become grateful for his eyes, grateful to have some part of her imbedded in his body forever.

But more than his eyes, even just his hair fascinated Kurt. It was a beautiful chocolate brown, and so curly. It was goddamned gorgeous. The teenager's hair was curly, and Kurt had the urge to just reach out and touch, to see if it was as fluffy, as bouncy as it looked. Kurt always had appreciated good hair, and the boy had messy hair that he managed to look sophisticated and sexy.

The beautiful boy with the hazel eyes reached out a hand again, though Kurt saw something guarded in his eyes. Kurt's stomach lurched painfully. He knew that look. Kurt wasn't sure how this mystery boy had pegged him as gay so quickly, but he had. Kurt glanced downwards quickly, appraising his outfit. He was still clad in the black leather from the performance with the boys, and he had shed the scarf. All in all, it was a very generic outfit, he wasn't wearing anything that truly labeled him as gay. But somehow this boy knew, and it scared him, just like every other boy. Yet his hand did not waver, and he introduced himself, giving Kurt a name to think about.

"Hey there, I'm Blaine. This is Wes and David." He gestured to the boys slightly behind him, who waved at Blaine's introduction. "Do you need some help there?" The guarded look melted slightly, into kindness and compassion.

Kurt groaned inwardly. Just his luck. An amazingly hot, nice, kind person wanted to help him. And if Kurt had any compassion himself, he couldn't let this Blaine person ruin any chance of normalcy at high school by associating himself with the resident gay kid. Maybe he didn't know of Kurt's reputation yet, but he would soon figure it out.

Staring at the outstretched hand, Kurt shifted the bag on his shoulder, and turned to his ice bitch façade. "No." He said coldly. "I'm fine. And for future reference, you'd do well not to talk to me, or be seen around me."

Without saying thank you, or acknowledging the boys further, Kurt spun on his heel and walked away, ignoring the pain in his heart at being so rude, and turning down the one bit of kindness anyone outside of his close friends had shown him in a very long time.

XOX

Kurt sat in his car, staring at the windshield blankly, looking, but not really seeing. He didn't want to go home. He couldn't. He now had a black eye, to show for his smart mouth. The rest of the world might not care, but his father was one of the only ones who would. Kurt would have to figure out a way to sneak by his father to put on concealer, and how to conceal the fact that he was wearing make-up from Mercedes tomorrow.

He was surprised however, to hear a tap on the car door. Kurt instantly froze and stiffened, fearing the worst. No one could deny that Karofsky's bullying had gotten worse as of lately, now psychological, as well as physical. He did not need to be manhandled out of his car and beaten to a pulp in the school parking lot.

However, he turned and was faced with the large, kind, doe eyes of the ginger headed guidance counselor. Kurt sighed inwardly. Aside from the drunken 'Bambi' incident, he had never really talked to Emma Pillsbury, but he didn't really like her. She never really seemed to help anyone, only mess with Mr. Schue's emotions.

However, he cranked down his window, and poked his head out, interested in what she had to say to him. If she told him to stay strong and push through it, he might accidentally run over her perfectly clean car.

"Hello Kurt. I just wanted to say, I've noticed that some people at school have been harassing you, and I thought you might be interested in this." Oh god, she handed him a pamphlet. Just the other day Mercedes had been complaining about getting one labeled 'I Am Loud and Bold Because I'm Secretly Being Abused'. However when Kurt glanced down, he was surprised to find that it was an ordinary brochure about the Ohio teen gay straight alliance.

"I've called and said you were coming this Saturday." Ms. Pillsbury said in her kind quiet tone. "I thought it might help, knowing there are other people going through the same thing. If you don't want to go though, you don't have to."

And with that, she walked away, leaving Kurt to reconsider his feelings about the observant guidance counselor.

XOX

To say that Blaine was shocked would be an understatement. He had read the note that the McKinley High guidance counselor had given him, but it had just been a name. Kurt Hummel would be coming to the meetings from now on. Blaine hadn't known who that was. But now he had a face to place to the name. A homophobic teen who had declined his offer of help, specifically avoided touching him, because he presumably did not want to 'catch the gay'.

Blaine swallowed. There would be the occasional homophobe every now and then, but none that Blaine had ever known personally. Thankfully, Wes and David seemed to be picking up on his feelings. "Why don't we approach him together?" Wes suggested, always the rational voice among the three.

"We can confront him about his feelings, tell him that homophobic behavior is not tolerated, nor accepted here." David added, placing a comforting hand on Blaine's shoulder, a sign of friendship that Blaine so desperately needed.

As much as Blaine wanted to just shake his head and run away, he nodded. "Okay." He said, straightening his shoulders, ignoring the knot of dread that was forming in the pit of his stomach. "After all, it's been years since a homophobe got me down."

Although this one was admittedly the hottest one Blaine had seen in a long time. But he couldn't think like that.

As Blaine, Wes, and David approached, Blaine noted that his attire was very different from Wednesday, when he had been clad in a black leather jacket. He was now wearing even tighter skinny jeans-holy hell how had he fit into them?-and a loose graphic t-shirt.

Taking a deep breath, Blaine opened his mouth and started speaking. "You must be Kurt. We met briefly on Wednesday. I'm Blaine remember?" The blue eyed boy simply stared at him, his mouth open in something akin to shock. This may be harder than he had thought.

"Listen, we just wanted to let you know that homophobia is something we can help you work through. Being gay is not a crime, it's not disgusting. You may hold a different belief, but here, everyone is equal, gay or straight. While we accept that you're straight, that's your lifestyle. Myself and the other gay people here won't take kindly to homophobia."

Kurt simply dropped his jaw wider, and then a short brunette girl behind him decided to pipe up with her input, shocking Blaine, David, and Wes.

"Hummel? Straight? Oh please, he's gayer than a rainbow colored unicorn." She said, snapping her gum unattractively. Kurt simply rolled his blue eyes, but turned back to the three boys who stared at him in shock. "What she said, though I tend to be a little more verbose than Ms. Lopez over here. Speaking of which, you're hardly one to talk." He turned to her.

"I'm bisexual." She snapped at Kurt, her hackles obviously raised defensively. Blaine arched an eyebrow. And he was a little girl wearing a tutu. "You mean you're Brittany-sexual." Kurt said, his tone light and teasing. Blaine and his friends watched their interaction with interest, until Wes finally voiced a question he had been thinking.

"So, you're not out of the closet then?"

Kurt snorted. "Puh-leez. I've been told before that I'm so far out, I make Ellen DeGeneres look like she's in Narnia." This only sufficed to confuse the three further. It was David who voiced the obvious question. "Then why were you so cold to us on Wednesday? You didn't want to touch us, or accept our help or anything."

Kurt shrugged again, and Blaine noted how skinny and sharp his shoulder blades were. They were quite attractive. "I'm the school's resident gay kid. If you're seen around me, you get a slushy to the face. If you talk to me in a tone that's not harsh and derogatory, you get slammed into a locker and labeled 'homo'. McKinley is bad enough for new kids, I won't make your lives even more miserable. I can't have that on my conscience."

The brunette then quickly excused himself, and drifted over to where his Latina friend was hitting on someone-gay, as Blaine knew-leaving three shocked boys behind him. Turning to Blaine, Wes said, "Blaine, I think he's even more messed up, in a worse place than even you were."

Blaine nodded somberly. That was not necessarily a good thing.

XOX

Kurt sighed, and waited as Santana continued to flirt around the room. She had been his ride here, and now he was forced to wait for her to finish. It wasn't like this was Lima when he could just walk home. This was Westerville, and Kurt really did not fancy walking for several hours.

He heard soft footsteps behind him, and he turned to see Blaine's kind hazel eyes looking at him. Kurt had been shocked to see Blaine here. He had never expected that the three boys who had showed a speck of kindness to him, without knowing him, were a part of the gay straight alliance. This was doing nothing to help Kurt with crushing any feelings before they started. Was he doomed to crush on any attractive guy who showed him kindness? Hell, Finn's kindness had been allowing him to remove his jacket before he was tossed in a dumpster. Sam had been accepting of him. Not only was Blaine accepting, he seemed to get it. He was a part of a freaking gay straight alliance.

But Kurt couldn't even dare to bring himself to hope that Blaine was gay. He couldn't put his heart through that again. But he could let it hope. There was nothing wrong with hoping. It was healthy, encouraged even. At least, he tried to convince himself of that.

"So what did you think?" Blaine shoved his hands into his pockets, and Kurt observed the stretch of the tight muscles, the whitened knuckles of Blaine's hand. Kurt wondered what it would feel like, having that hand wrapped around his own. Kurt noticed that his hand was only slightly smaller than Blaine's. It probably felt nice.

"It was nice. Different." Kurt didn't really know how to put his feelings into words. It had been…relieving, and exhilarating, and shocking, all at the same time. Some people were going through the same things that he was. They were experiencing the same things. He was not alone.

"You know, we should hang out." Blaine said abruptly, and Kurt jerked his head upwards. "At school I mean. After all, we need to show support, the only two kids who are out at McKinley."

Kurt's jaw dropped again. "Y-you're gay?" He asked, his voice shaky. It seemed too good to be true. It probably was, and Blaine would probably snap that he was straight, and to stop hitting on him.

Blaine nodded. "Yeah. That's why we thought you were homophobic. Sorry about that by the way. But we thought that you just didn't want to touch me. I'm pretty used to that, but I guess you are too."

Kurt nodded. "People have no problem touching me to shove me into lockers, but other than that, you would think being gay was contagious. I'm sorry I didn't touch you, but I expected you to react the same way. You'll understand why I didn't want to."

Blaine nodded, and Kurt cocked his head, looking at him curiously. "Can I ask you a question?" He asked, hoping that Blaine would say yes. He didn't know the curly headed boy too well, but he wanted to, and for more reasons than just a crush influencing his choices and desires. Blaine seemed like a genuinely kind, and interesting person to be around. Besides, Kurt would not be opposed to having a friend who truly understood what he was going through, at least to some degree.

"Sure, go ahead." Blaine said flippantly. "If you ever need any advice, don't hesitate to come to me, seriously. Wes and David are pretty good at the advice thing too, but they don't fully get everything, you know?"

Kurt nodded. He did indeed know. Mercedes was fabulous, but she didn't fully understand his new, warped friendship with Santana. Neither did Kurt really, but he knew that it had become like crack to him. They had been exchanging texts for only a week, but now she joined him constantly. Mercedes would always be his best girl, but Santana was his girl in a different way, a way that he needed.

"Why are you, Wes, and David at McKinley?" Kurt asked honestly. "I was talking to Thomas, and he said you guys used to go to Dalton. I know that place has a zero tolerance policy, so why did you come here? It seems like you took at least five steps back."

Blaine sighed, and ran a hand through his thick head of curls, an act that Kurt found insanely attractive. He was sorely tempted to run his own hand through it, but he managed to show a surprising amount of self control. He patted himself on the back mentally.

"That's actually a pretty long story. I'd be happy to tell you, maybe over a cup of coffee? I know this pretty great place in Lima."

Kurt's heart leaped. Had he really been asked out to coffee by an incredibly attractive, kind, gay boy? Why yes, yes he had. He had to calm himself down, sternly telling his heart that Blaine was just trying to be friendly, almost like a mentor. And though he wanted to, he knew he couldn't come across too desperate. He had lost a friendship with Sam because of that, and he and Finn would never be truly comfortable around each other anymore.

Seeing Santana walk out, Kurt shot Blaine an apologetic expression. "Sorry, but I have to go. Rain check?" He offered, hoping that Blaine would agree.

"No problem, I get it. Maybe Monday, after school?"

Kurt couldn't help the grin that spread widely across his face, the dimples on the corner of each corner of his lips.

"Definitely on Monday."