Blaine felt stupid for not realising earlier; he was Kurt's plus one. At Dalton being unique was what had allowed him to shine alongside the Warblers. Public school meant he got harassed daily for even being part of the Glee club, let alone being himself.

It wasn't just that; the Warblers and New Directions were drastically different. Whilst New Directions had freer methods there were more arguments in comparison to the cheerfully calm Warblers. Both groups had a sense of family but Blaine knew he was only part of one. The Warblers had helped him after the Sadie Hawkins nightmare. They were his friends and his safety blanket. Whilst New Directions members looked out for each other they were also fiercely loyal, Blaine knew he couldn't just sing and cross his fingers (although that didn't stop him – he had to start somewhere), he had to earn his place. It would require legwork. He had to be friendly, but not overly so.

He had tried. God he had tried! Initially it seemed to be working. The members warmed to him, even Santana. Well, sort of. She warned him that if he wanted to avoid a beating he should ditch the bow tie. Considering her usual mean-spirited comments Blaine took this as progress. However Finn seemed to hate him. This wouldn't have been to bad if it hadn't been for the fact that:

a) He was Kurt's stepbrother

and

b) The leader of the group.

After a while Blaine gave up trying to win Finn over. He settled for just being civil, it was clear that any other efforts only agitated the boy further. He hoped that Finn would return the favour but instead he just got ignored.

Then he and Kurt had a fight. Blaine knew he'd said some stupid things. The words that were on his mind weren't meant to come out of his mouth, but they had and now he was paying for it. Kurt just wouldn't stop going on about NYADA. Blaine knew he was supposed to listen and force a smile like a dutiful boyfriend would when all he really wanted was for Kurt to stop talking. Unfortunately Blaine could only bottle up so much. Eventually he'd let slip the words:

"Shut up."

Things had escalated from there. Blaine had expected Kurt to be angry and upset but the aftermath shocked him.

He arrived at school with a badly timed headache. Remembering previous years made him wonder if it was due to stress, but he didn't have much time to contemplate this thought as he spotted his boyfriend. Kurt stood by his locker looking more fragile than ever. Blaine felt his gut wrench at the sight of the damage he had caused. He had to apologise. As soon as Finn was finished talking to Kurt he would make his move.

But when Finn started to leave Blaine found himself intercepted by Mercedes.

"What did you say to him?"

"Hey Mercedes can I just get past?" Blaine asked walking forwards, but Sam pushed him back.

"You're not going anywhere."

Blaine sighed. He had a been a jerk to Sam in the past but he'd made amends and tried to explain how he hated it when his ideas got shot down in smoke. But of course none of that mattered now. Mercedes was angry at him so Sam was too. Blaine knew it made sense (sue had pointed out the pair's sexual tension numerous times) but he still felt a bit disappointed.

"I want to apologise!" he protested.

"As if!"

Santana joined the group with a bitter laugh. "Leave him alone Anderson or I'll introduce you to a little Lima Heights hospitality."

Blaine wished he wasn't so short as Puck came up behind her.

"You heard the lady."

This scenario felt all too familiar so Blaine turned and walked in the opposite direction trying to ignore the growing feeling of betrayal. His headache intensified. At least he knew one thing: it was stress induced.

Somehow Blaine managed to make it through the rest of the day without bumping into any of his other supposed friends although he made the painful mistake of nearly sitting next to them at lunch. After that he didn't feel hungry.

He forced himself to drink a little water in the hope that it would tame his headache before retiring to the gymn for a relieving boxing session. Halfway through coach Bieste walked in. She gave Blaine a surprised look.

"Aren't you meant to be at Glee club?"

His eyes widened.

"Crap!"

He got changed and ran.

By the time he got to Glee he was ten minutes late. He rushed in muttering an apology.

"Nice of you to join us Blaine." said Mr Schue.

He could feel the full force of everyone's glares as he sat down. His headache felt ten times worse as each Glee member got up and sang a song. First there was Rachel with Become What You Hate, then Finn with Fuck You. It was partly censored thanks to Mr Schue's input. It got worse and worse. The songs were clearly targeted at him. Blaine felt like the entire Glee club was musically attacking him. Then again, he was glad they weren't physically doing so. Nonetheless it felt like a punch in the stomach when Mike and Tina did their duet. He thought he was firm friends with the couple but apparently not.

Soon it was just down to him and Kurt. There was no way Blaine was going to listen to Kurt's song choice this afternoon so he promptly stood up. Mr Schue looked a little surprised but welcomed Blaine up to the front nonetheless.

"What are you going to sing for us Blaine?"

To be honest he had no ideas, he just didn't want to listen to Kurt sing about how hurt he was. Blaine tried to look like he knew what he was doing and approached the piano.

"You'll see."

Time for a little improv.

He'd been working on a song for a while now – his own song. It just needed a few adjustments. Like lyrics.

He closed his eyes and let one splayed out hand fall onto the piano. He winced at the discordant notes and quickly changed to a brighter sounding major chord. Repeating the pattern didn't sound too bad. Blaine almost smiled: he was going to literally sing his feelings. Ignoring everyone else in the choir room he focussed on Kurt.

You're the hand that steadies me

Keeps me smiling and on my feet.

But now you've gone I've lost it

And I'm stuck on repeat.

The chords for the chorus came naturally to him.

Mess up!

Screw up!

Everything blew up in my face, yeah.

Fuck off!

Get lost!

It was never going to happen anyway, yeah.

Realising all too soon that he'd run out of lyrical ideas Blaine did a piano solo accompanied by the backing of the verse chords. This allowed him a little time to come up with a bridge.

Now I'm trapped, held right back.

And I can't make it right.

Cuz I won't, won't pretend

That our friends wouldn't mind.

Blaine followed that up with a brief reprise of the chorus and finished the song.