A Whiter Shade of Pale.

Prologue.

Blaine awoke to yet another day at Dalton Academy to the sound of his IPod blaring through his IHome. He stared up at the ceiling of his dorm as the sounds of Rent slowly filled up the room. He was bound to let it continue through the song, but Charlie began to stir from the other side of the room in his own bed.

Blaine quickly sat up and turned off the music before Charlie could be awoken fully. He didn't want his roommate to be bothered simply because of the fact that Blaine enjoyed waking up half an hour earlier than him and taking a long shower before school started.

However, today was different. Instead of grabbing his shampoo and towel and heading down to the showers he just sat up in his bed for a moment before lying back down and throwing the covers back over himself with a grunt of unhappiness.

He glared at the wall with a million different thoughts running through his head that he found impossible to sort out. But, one thought stood out above the rest. One little thought that he first discovered running though his mind in the middle of Warbler practice one day and couldn't get out of his head since. This thought soon began to cross his mind more and more often, and now it was damn near impossible to get rid of. Today, when Blaine had woken up, it was the first thing he thought of.

Today is going to be like any other day. A day filled with school, Wes, David, and the boys, Warblers, homework, and sleep. Everything in your life is predictable and dull. When is something big going to happen?

Blaine was going nuts. Now that he had come to the realization that nothing in his life right now held any meaning other than responsibility he couldn't see past it and it was starting to depress him. He tried to put on a bright face and enthusiasm for Warblers and his friends, but it was getting hard to shake his apathy even long enough for them, and they were beginning to start to notice it.

At lunch the other day Wes, David, Charlie, and Hugh were all excitedly talking about the upcoming competition at Sectionals and game strategies for winning. Normally, Blaine being one of the lead Warblers would be conspiring with his teammates on how to psych out the other glee clubs. But, Blaine just sat there, staring at his grilled cheese as if it was conversing with him. He didn't notice when Hugh addressed him and only looked up when David slammed his AP Calculus book on the table causing Blaine to jump nearly a foot out of his skin.

"Blaine, anything you want to add in here?" David asked rather sarcastically, but still at the same time expecting the startled boy to jump into the shenanigans. So when Blaine simply shook his head and with a shrug said "Umm… no, not really." And went back to staring at his grilled cheese, Wes and David exchanged a look while Charlie and Hugh sat staring at him with furrowed eyebrows and concern.

What made this worse for Blaine was the strong fact that he just did not care. His friends could be concerned and try to get him to join in on the fun, but even of he did tag along he would be such a wet blanket and he knew it. So, he let his friends go on without him and ignored their pleas and concern whenever he turned down their offers.

This had been going on for about three weeks now and it had actually gotten to the point where Blaine was contemplating getting out of bed or not. He could just lie there, but he would never hear the end of it if he did. He cursed Wes for bringing up the idea that they hold an impromptu concert in the senior commons later today. They said it would be good practice for Sectionals, but really Wes had come up with the idea with Hugh, Charlie, and David to help try and get Blaine out of his funk. Since, he was their lead soloist this would force him to perform and hopefully put him in a better mood. They needed him to be on his game if they wanted to win and get to Regionals.

Blaine had finally settled his thoughts to a dull roar and was thinking, "Fuck it. I'm not getting out of bed. Screw the performance, that's what alternates are for. Besides I'm not in the mood. I can't believe they picked Katy Perry of all the damn songs in the known universe. If I just half-ass it like I want to the whole song will suck and then I'll just get crap from the team. Nope, there is NO WAY in hell that I am getting out of this bed. No-…"

Just then Charlie's alarm went up and he sat up in bed immediately like he had been awake the whole time Blaine was laying on his bed.

"Mornin' Sunshine." Charlie said way too brightly for his usual attitude this early. "You ready for your big performance this afternoon?"

And with that Blaine knew there was no way they were letting him get out of this, so with a loud, disgruntled sigh he tossed off his covers, grabbed his toiletries, and headed for the showers without another word to his room mate.

Charlie sat in his bed with a concerned smile spread across his face. His concern for Blaine was growing and he couldn't take watching him sink deeper and deeper into himself. The other boys had agreed. That's why they came up with the performance. Blaine may not want to go along with it, but he was and that was the main thing.

"Something big is going to happen today." The thought came to Charlie's mind like a psychic premonition. But, he brushed it off and began his own morning rituals and looking forward to his friend feeling better.

The day chugged along as usual. Blaine went to his classes, and even though he was physically there his mind wandered off to far away places beyond school. He didn't know why he was feeling so down. He really did love Dalton Academy and his friends and even his classes. He hated thinking of it. That maybe the reason was he was so glum was that he didn't really have anyone to share it with. It wasn't like there wasn't anyone else to talk to. Hugh had been out of the closet for longer than he had and was very comfortable with his sexuality even though you would've had to had the world's best gaydar to detect it. He played ever sort of known sport to man and the only effeminate quality about him was that he like to do yoga everyday. "Do I really need someone? Am I really that lonely? I didn't think so… but… maybe I am? Ughh… I don't know anymore. I think I just need a change."

The time had come for the performance and an exasperated Blaine began walking down the grand staircase leading to the commons with about every other boy in the school. The Warblers had been going around all day shouting about it in the halls getting everyone to come and cheer them on to Sectionals.

Blaine was almost to the bottom of the stairs, lost in his thoughts, not paying attention to any of the other bodies around him, when a soft, polite, and gentle voice reached his ears. "Excuse me." It was like it was against his will to ignore it and keep walking, like someone had grabbed his shoulders and spun him around in the voice's direction, and then Blaine looked up.

Two incredibly bright light colored eyes met his pair of hazel eyes. They were ice blue and sweet and were framed in an open face with a gentle and kind smile.

Blaine was dumbstruck by this boy for a brief moment all he could do was look up at him and try not to touch him to see if he was real, because in Blaine's opinion, this boy was epitome of "his type." Clean, well put together, light features, and an air of posh uniqueness that just seemed to radiate off him.

It took a second for him to realize the boy was shyly continuing on in his inquiry. "Um… hi, can I ask you a question I- I'm new here."

Blaine could tell from right off the bat that the boy looking down at him with piercing blue eyes was definitely not new; in fact he didn't even go to the school. But, he quickly decided to overlook that fact and introduce himself. He needed to know this boys name immediately to solidify the fact that yes he was real and not an apparition.

"My name is Blaine." He said confidently holding out his hand for the other boy to shake.

The other one blinked quickly and looked down taking the hand with a smile. "Kurt."

If Blaine weren't so focused on getting his name he probably would have taken more note in the fact that Kurt's hands were extremely soft, but his grip was still strong enveloping Blaine's own strong grip with long fingers.

Blaine would think about that first touch later that night when he would be trying to sleep.

Kurt broke the handshake and turned looking about the hall that was now flooded with boys in navy blazers and red pull over sweaters.

"So what exactly is going on?" he asked genuinely curious.

Blaine seemed to realize quite a few things at once. The gears in his head started turning again. First, he realized that, yes, there were indeed many other boys rushing around them and that they weren't the only two in the room. Second, he realized that he had to hurry and get to the senior commons in time for the performance, and third that he was going to get Kurt to go with him and watch his performance whether the boy went to the school or not.

All of a sudden Blaine was very excited about singing a song by Katy Perry that he really couldn't stand up until this point.

"The Warblers!" he exclaimed making it seem like they were the greatest thing since Andrew Lloyd Weber. "Every now and then they throw and impromptu performance in the senior commons," and with and added touch and look, "tends to shut down the school for a while."

"So… wait… the glee club here is kinda cool?" Kurt asked disbelievingly.

Blaine thought it was odd for a second that Kurt knew right off the bat exactly who the Warblers were, but once again decided to overlook the matter because at that moment feeling was rushing into him once again. No longer was there this giant apathy filling him and biting him to his core. Instead Blaine felt overly confident and comfortable and it exuded from his body causing his eyes to take on their familiar gleam and a thousand watt smile to take over his dapper features. Blaine didn't know what was going on. He didn't believe in love at first sight, but maybe this was infatuation?

At the moment it didn't matter to him because all he knew was that he was feeling something again, and that that something was actually genuine happiness. An instant connection made with an absolute stranger, and already he could tell they were going to be good friends.

He was so happy at that moment that he knew that the words coming out of his mouth probably sounded hokey but he didn't care. "The Warblers are like rockstars!"

Kurt once again looked shocked and Blaine could tell that he had sold the boy on seeing the performance and a sporadic skirmish of nerves hit the bottom of his stomach and he embraced the feeling.

"C'mon I know a shortcut." He took the boy's hand again feeling all these emotions building and led the astonished boy down the back hallway their hands gripped together and neither one of them let go. Both of them so caught up in the moment of meeting each other. Like they had been friends for ages.

Blaine didn't dare get his hopes up at the moment for anything more. His thoughts had been driving him to insanity for weeks now. For right now, running down the back hallway gripping the hand of his new friend and leading him to incredible performance that was about to take place was all he needed.

And, although Blaine didn't know it right then, it was exactly what Kurt needed too.

Both boys looking for something more had found each other in a strange yet wonderful twist of fate.