Dalton Chronicles

Chapter One

"Well that was certainly . . . interesting."

Blaine spun around to find the voice that he knew well. Standing there, just outside the stage door at the Main Stage for King's Island, was David, Wes, and one of Blaine's best friends, who was currently dating Wes – Valerie. Valerie smiled. "That was quite a duet," she quipped, stepping forward to kiss his cheek and give him a hug. "Although she was a little sharp . . . several times."

"It would have been better if . . ." he said before he could stop himself. Valerie raised an eyebrow at him while Wes and David snickered. "If she had more personality. Nevermind," he said. "I can't believe you guys came."

"Like we'd miss it," David piped up. "Come on, I believe I was promised dinner." They group left, having to stop a few times so people could tell Blaine how well he did.

"Don't let all of this go to your head, Blaine," Wes commented as they finally made their way to the car.

"Yeah, yeah," Blaine waved him away, opening up the passenger door to his car. "You coming with me," Blaine asked Valerie.

She nodded, smiling. "I think Wes and David need some alone time." Blaine smiled back, shutting the door after she was settled.

"We'll see you at the restaurant then," Blaine said. "Usual place?"

"Of course," David smiled. "I have to have some chicken parm. They have the best chicken parm."

"Alright, alright, we'll get you chicken parm. Let's go." Wes chuckled, getting into his own car. "You take care of my girlfriend," he mocked glared at the soloist.

"As if she were my own," Blaine smirked, running around to the driver's side before Wes could reach him. "Last one there pays!" He slid into his car, which Valerie had already started, quite used to the way the boys acted. "Hi ho, Silver, away!" Blaine shouted.

"That had better not be directed at me," Valerie said, seriously.

"You're my ho and you know it."

"In that case, you're a terrible pimp," she smiled, shaking her head. "But, we have all of break to catch up. So, catch me up."

"You know this would be much easier if you want to the sister school instead of Lima."

"Yeah, well, recently you've been to Lima several times without a word to me," Valerie retorted. "And Sam goes to McKinley, too, and most of you guys didn't even acknowledge him at Sectionals." Blaine shrugged. "It's alright, you seemed preoccupied."

"Oh," Blaine commented, trying to sound nonchalantly and failing brilliantly.

Valerie smirked. "Yeah, whatever, I'll get it out of you eventually." Her door opened and Wes held his hand out for her. "Guess your paying for dinner," she said to Blaine before letting Wes help her out of the car.

They were seated and gave their drink order. The waitress was trying to flirt with Blaine but he was very unresponsive. Mostly because he was deep in thought.

"We should stop him before his brain explodes," David whispered to Wes in a serious tone.

"Agreed, but how. Do we even know what he's thinking about?" Wes snorted when David tried to give him a shocked look. "Yeah, alright, alright, so we know who he's thinking about."

"Who," Valerie inquired as the waitress came back to bring their drinks.

"Did you need a few more minutes or are you ready to order," the waitress asked, looking at Blaine expectantly.

"Darling, are you ready to order," Valerie asked, tapping Blaine on the shoulder.

"What? Oh, yes, yes, we should order. What are you having, sweetheart?"

Wes smiled. It was nice to see the two of them together. They had grown up together and Valerie had been essential to getting Blaine settled in Dalton. It was how they met and one of the reasons they had grown so close – their mutual love of Blaine. The pet names were also something just between them. Wes and Valerie had pets names, too, sure, but the Darling-Sweetheart thing was just for the two of them.

"Yes, Sweetheart, what are you having," Wes and David echoed.

Valerie smirked at them, giving her order to the waitress and then ordering for each of the boys in turn.

"Woah. That's totally awesome," David said. "That was absolutely what I wanted to order. How did you know?" Valerie pursed her lips and shared a look with Wes, who laughed and clapped David on his back. "Okay, so, we should absolutely talk about Kurt now."

"Absolutely," Wes repeated.

"Kurt," Valerie questioned. "Who's Kurt?"

"Oh, Darling didn't tell you," Wes questioned, "about his little love affair with the Spy From McKinley?"

"Spy!"

An older gentlemen from the table beside them turned and shushed David. Wes and Valerie shared a smile. "I can't believe that Blaine didn't tell you!"

"We don't share everything," Blaine commented, his eyes still out of focus. "Did we order yet?"

"Blaine," Valerie said, sharply, bring him out of his stupor. "What's wrong with you?"

"He's thinking about Kurt," David and Wes sang.

"You know, the two of you should be a little nicer to him," Blaine said, focusing on his friends across the table.

Wes sighed. "We've been over this. Yes, he's been through a hard time, but we have rules, traditions, that must be followed." He was not surprised in the slightest when Blaine and Valerie both muttered "traditions" under their breath and leaned back in their chairs in unison. Blaine had not been used to being so restricted when he came to Dalton. Wes hadn't been sure that Blaine would make it through the semester much less this far. But the two of them, and David, had become very good friends. Valerie had been a lifesaver to Blaine even if she didn't agree with all of it. Wes and Valerie had talked a lot from the very beginning and they had grown close very quickly. Blaine and David had been relieved when the two of them had finally announced they were dating.

"Alright, so you three need to start filling me in," Valerie said, "what's the dirt?"

David and Wes started filling her in, from the first meeting on the stairs to the duet Blaine asked Kurt to rehearse with him. They were worse then little old ladies and they couldn't help but add their two cents in at every possible avenue.

"Wait, are you talking about Kurt Hummel? Blaine, you're in love with Kurt Hummel?"

"Well, I'm not sure that I would call it love just yet," he said. She glared at him. "Alright," he said, practically collapsing onto the table, "I am completely and utterly in love with him and I don't think he had any idea."

Unable to help herself, Valerie started laughing. "You are so dense for such an intelligent person." Their food came.

"How do you know Kurt," David asked.

She smiled. "I practically run the music department at McKinley since Ryerson was fired and they brought Broyles in. Broyles is too far into the bottle to know which end is up. I focus mostly on the jazz band and the marching band. James focuses on the steel drum band and Percussion Ensemble. And Christina has stepped up to focus on Wind Ensemble. We sort them out amongst ourselves. Anyway, the McKinely Glee Club – New Directions – likes to use the Jazz Band a lot. I mean all the freaking time. Anyway, he recently asked me to help him arrange some music for him. He was supposed to do a duet but he ended up doing it himself. It helped that he chose one of my favorite songs: Le Jazz Hot."

"No way," Blaine said, hang onto her every word. "What else?"

"They post a lot of stuff online," she told him, "check later." He nodded. "Now, what else are we doing tonight?"

David checked his phone as they left the restaurant. "Oh, look, party in Lima. Let's go."

"What? How do you know that," Blaine asked, digging his phone out of his pocket.

"Kurt texted me about five minutes ago, but I just got it. Let's go, we're on break anyway, we can go back whenever," David said, heading towards the car.

"Why didn't Kurt text me," Blaine wondered aloud. Valerie tipped her head to the side and smiled at him. "No, really, why did he text David?"

Valerie's smile grew as she took his hand in his. "Let's go Romeo. Romance waits for no moron." She practically shoved him into the passenger seat. Wes ran over, kissed her and ran back to his car. "No racing this time," she called out.

"Love you," Wes called out. She responded in kind only to have David call out his love as well. "Get in the car, David," Wes said tiredly.

"You're really bummed about the text, huh," Valerie asked when they were about half way there.

"I like him . . . a lot."

"More then Jonathan," she inquired. He nodded, which shocked her. "Alright then, let's make this happen."

"What?"

"When have I ever not done everything in my power to help you get what you want," she smiled at him, turning onto a street in Lima. "This is a lot easier then some of the things I've pulled off."

"I've never asked you . . ."

"I know, Darling," she smiled at him, parking the car on the street, "but I want to. And you can't tell me no just as I can't seem to be able to tell you no."

"Works out then," he smiled back.

"You know it." The driver's side door opened and Wes offered his arm to his girlfriend.

"I know you're in love with Blaine and everything," he said as they went up the walkway, "but you're mine for the rest of the night. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," she replied, leaning in for a kiss.

The door opened before anyone knocked. A tall man just grunted and directed them to the basement. He mumbled something about protection before heading back to the living room. "Who was that?"

"Might have been Kurt's dad," Blaine whispered. "Let's go."

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself," David asked him. Blaine contemplated the suggestion. He probably should but he wasn't sure what Kurt's plans were. He decided to hold off on that particular pleasantry as they went down the stairs.

"Hey, V is here," Puck called out as they got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, kids," she called out. Rachel rushed over, linking their arms, and pulling her to the other side of the room to talk about musical arrangements. Wes smirked as he and David followed Blaine to meet up with Kurt. He was sitting on a cream colored couch between two girls. Kurt quickly introduced them as his best friend, Mercedes and his friend Tina.

"Hello, again, Mercedes," Blaine said, taking her hand and kissing it, causing her to smile.

"Hi, Blaine, who are your friends," she asked. Blaine introduced Wes and David.

"How do you know V," Tina asked. "Or did she just arrive the same time?"

"I don't think we invited her," Mercedes commented, "but we should have."

"No worries," Wes assured them, "we brought her. She's Blaine's best friend and my girlfriend."

"Did you know that she was dating a Dalton boy," Mercedes asked, turning to Tina. The goth shook her head. Mercedes sighed. "I thought she was dating someone on the hockey team." Wes just nodded politely before excusing himself from the conversation.

David grinned after him, trying hard not to laugh. He had the feeling that his friend just hadn't known what to say, which didn't happen often. "Forget him," David said, sitting in between the two girls. "So what are you two fine ladies up to tonight," he asked, resting his arms across the back of the couch.

"Um, my boyfriend is calling me," Tina said, looking uncomfortable. She got up and walked over to a group of boys standing nearby. She picked up the arm of a tall Asian guy and put it around her shoulders. He smiled at her before going back to his conversation.

"So, this is your room," Blaine asked, looking around the dimly lit basement.

"Yes, this is my room," Kurt replied.

Mercedes snorted. "C'mon, David, let's go find other people to talk to." David just grinned and let himself be led away.

"His girlfriend will totally kill him for that," Blaine mused.

"Totally," Kurt agreed. "How was your show?"

Blaine shrugged. "It was okay. I didn't know that the three of them were going to be there, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Oh?"

"Yes, well, Valerie doesn't tend to miss too much."

"Is she your sister or something? You talk about her all the time and you seem close. I recognize from the halls of McKinley, but . . ."

"No," he chuckled, "no, she isn't my sister. We're just very, very close. Anyway, I think I kind of met your dad upstairs . . ."

"And I think that it would be much better if I was put on lead vocals," Rachel finished saying.

Valerie was going to punch Wes. He was laughing and hiding his face in her hair as he stood behind her, arms wrapped around her waist. Valerie was trying to be attentive and polite, she actually liked Rachel – she had a lot of talent and a lot of spunk – but it was hard to take anything seriously when one's boyfriend was trying to laugh silently into one's hair.

"What if you shared to vocals with . . . Brittany. You two sounded so good together when you sang Toxic," she suggested. Rachel seemed to consider it for a second before jumping like she'd been struck by lightning.

"That would be perfect," Rachel said, rushing forward and hugging Valerie. This was awkward due to the fact that Wes had refused to let go of her, so Rachel kind of hugged them both, smiled brightly, and then flounced off. Presumably to find Brittany.

"They did Toxic," Wes asked, curiously.

Valerie nodded. "It would have blown your cookie cutter mind," she smiled.