Chapter One
Blaine pulled at the collar of his shirt and tugged his satchel the full way up his arm, so it rested nicely on his shoulders as he strode into McKinley High. He stood in the hallway and looked around, smiling. He sighed and hurried down the corridor, grabbing his timetable out of his bag and occasionally getting bumped by older jocks. Blaine soon arrived at the McKinley dashboard and immediately spied the Glee Club sign up sheet, taking a pencil from his bag and slowly writing his name carefully on the fourteenth line down, underneath all the other glee club member's names. He stood back and turned straight into a tight embrace.
"Blaine! Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! You're really here! Oh my-" The voice of the person hugging him squealed. Blaine laughed and hugged the person back tightly, kissing the side of their head.
"Hey Kurt." Blaine let go of his boyfriend and looked at him, amused. He had told Kurt that he had convinced his parents to let him join public school and leave Dalton, but Kurt hadn't believed him one bit.
Kurt bounced up and down around Blaine, grinning. Finally, he held out his hand towards Blaine, and taking it, Blaine followed Kurt down the crowded halls.
Blaine noticed that a few of the students glared at him, but he didn't care – he was with Kurt, and that was all that mattered.
"This is going to be so amazing! You and me – here together – just like old times." Kurt squeaked, pulling Blaine into the choir room. He looked around and took everything in. This would be his new choir room. Then, he saw that all the Glee Club kids were already in their seats and were looking at him and Kurt in the middle of the room. Blaine rubbed his foot along the ground and placed his hands in his pockets as Kurt ran to sit down and join the others.
Just then, a loud, yet welcoming voice erupted from behind him.
"Hey guys! Welcome back to Glee Club! It's great to see you all again!" Mr. Schuester appeared and smiled at all the kids – Blaine stood still next to the piano, waiting for Mr. Schuester to acknowledge his presence as he placed sheets of music down beside him.
Mr. Schuester laughed and clapped his hands together, "Right, lets get started-"
"Mr. Schuester!" Another familiar voice called, this time, it was from no other than Rachel Berry. "What is he doing here?"
Blaine looked up and saw Rachel pointing at him, and everyone stared at Blaine smiling. Blaine waved, stepping up to Mr. Schuester.
"I'm Blaine Anderson, Mr. Schue. I signed up for Glee Club this morning."
The Glee Club erupted into mutters and whispers, and Blaine froze, craning his neck to look at Kurt who was in mid-conversation with Mercedes Jones and Sam Evans.
Mr. Schue smiled and stepped aside, "Good to have you with us, Blaine! We all saw you perform at sectionals and regionals. We're sure you'll be a great addition to Glee Club."
Blaine smiled, and took a seat next Kurt, who turned and smiled at him. Blaine took his hand and squeezed it quickly, before letting it go.
"So, as you know, last year at Nationals, we came fourteenth, so this year we have to really work for it – maybe original songs wasn't the best idea and well…" Mr. Schuester coughed and looked from Finn to Rachel sadly. Blaine knew that he was annoyed about the kiss Rachel and Finn shared on stage after their first duet. Kurt had told him about how all of the Glee Club was furious at them and that's what made them loose.
"Anyway, this year, we're faced with bigger and better opponents. We meet our friends, the Warblers again and a new school choir – St. David's."
Blaine grinned when he heard the Warblers mentioned and Kurt smiled at him. He was sure he felt all the other gazes on him too, for he had – only weeks ago – been a Warbler.
"Who are St. David's?" Puck asked from the back row.
"St. David's, Puck, are a specialist arts school on the border of Ohio." Mr. Schue explained, picking up a set of sheet music and handing it out.
"So their art is more special than ours?" Brittany tilted her head, taking a sheet.
"No, Britt-Britt. It means they have better facilities than us." Santana leaned over Brittany's shoulder from behind and then sat back up straight.
Blaine chuckled quietly; his eyes drifted down to the music on the paper.
"Busy by Olly Murs? What's that?" Finn said, raising an eyebrow and looking around, spotting Puck and Mike nodding.
"I have Lady Marmalade," Tina spoke, leaning over people's shoulders' to see what they had.
"Same." Rachel, Mercedes and Santana said at the same time.
Blaine looked at his sheet reading: 'Love Song – Sara Bareilles.'
"So we all have different songs? What's this for, Mr. Schue?" Sam asked, holding up his sheet, "I mean, I've never even heard of The Script."
"Guys. This is your assignment. In the groups I've put you in, you're going to produce a performance for the Glee Club that you will show in Wednesday's rehearsal. We'll then vote on who's performance was best."
The Glee Club immediately got up and Blaine copied whatever they were doing, trying to blend in. He looked around to see if anyone else was performing 'Love Song'. Blaine recognized Artie and Sam in the corner of the room, but he saw on their way over that they weren't performing the same thing as he was. When he looked around again, Finn, Mike and Puck were huddled together; Brittany and Lauren were stood by the piano in a daze; Rachel, Mercedes, Santana and Tina were already arguing over who was going to get the best solo and Kurt and Quinn were sitting on their own, looking at their sheets, so Blaine stayed where he was.
"I've tried to put you in groups with a song that will suit each of your voices perfectly. For Finn, Mike and Puck: Busy by Olly Murs – a new, English singer. Rachel, Mercedes, Tina and Santana: Lady Marmalade. Brittany and Lauren: Boys and Girls by Pixie Lott, also a British solo artist. Sam and Artie: For the first time – The Script. Kurt, you have Maybe from the Musical, Annie and for Quinn and now, Blaine, Love Song by Sara Bareilles."
Kurt clapped his hands and Blaine turned his head to see Quinn staring at him with a poker face. Blaine nodded and Quinn got up to leave, stuffing the sheet in her bag. Blaine did the same thing and went over to Kurt who was already singing the tune to his song.
Suddenly, someone tapped him on his back and Blaine whirled round to see Quinn. Blaine muttered a quick 'hey' and then stood in silence, waiting for her to talk.
"Meet me here at lunch for rehearsals. I want to win this thing – you hear me?"
Blaine nodded, "Crystal clear," and with that, she turned and left, leaving Blaine alone with his back to Kurt.
"I've so won this!" Kurt chirped, standing up and liking arms with Blaine, "It's a shame we couldn't do a song together. Good luck with your duet by the way."
"Yeah, thanks." Blaine said, walking out of the choir room and into the hallway. He took his folded timetable out of his pocket – where he had put it earlier after getting it out – and scanned it for his first lesson.
Kurt leaned over his shoulder and smiled, announcing, "We have history together first, then Spanish second! Come on, History's this way!"
Blaine strode into the History room, looking around at all the 'Nazi was never the way of life' and 'Queen Victoria was of foreign descent!' posters, scattered numerously around the pale yellow walls. Blaine wrinkled his nose up and went up the teacher's desk, placing a note in front of her – saying that he was new to McKinley – and walked to the desk at the back that was empty.
All the way through the lesson, Kurt kept looking back at Blaine to check if he was okay, and asked him if he was enjoying school so far. Every time, Blaine's answer was the same: "Yeah, I'm fine," and "McKinley is cool, I guess."
When the bell rang for end of lesson, Blaine got up and left the room with Kurt. He was in his usual happy mood and kept skipping about whilst walking to Spanish.
"Something's on your mind! Tell me!" Kurt sang, stopping a few meters before the Spanish room, gripping Blaine's arms tightly.
"It's just the duet with Quinn. I guess I'm, well, kinda nervous to be singing with her – I don't think she likes me at all." Blaine explained, walking into the Spanish room backwards.
Kurt shrugged and walked into the Spanish room behind him, showing Blaine to where he normally sat at the back. Blaine sat down, placing his satchel on the table and got out his notebook and equipment.
Mr. Schuester strolled into the class and smiled at his pupils, walking over to the board to write down today's work. Kurt nudged Blaine and leant over to him.
"Don't worry, Spanish is really easy."
Blaine turned his head to Kurt, the corner of his mouth turned up, and then he faced back towards the front to hear what Mr. Schue was saying.
"Que quiero o me quería?" Mr. Schuester asked, flapping his hands around to get the class' attention.
Blaine stared at him confused. At Dalton, Blaine had never taken Spanish, so he just sat there in silence while Kurt raised his hand.
"I want or I wanted?" He shouted, lowering his hand as Mr. Schuester wrote the translation onto the whiteboard.
"Very good, Kurt." He dotted the board and turned to face the class once more, "Que quiero o me quería is indeed 'I want or I wanted'."
Blaine yawned and the rest of Mr. Schuester said became a slur. Before he knew it, the second bell rang for break and the class was already leaving. Blaine quickly stuffed his things into his bag and slung it over his shoulder.
"Blaine!" Mr. Schuester called from the front of the class, and Blaine walked over to him, looking over his shoulder at Kurt waiting by the door.
"So, how is your day going?"
Blaine fidgeted on the spot and tilted his head slightly, "It's good. Well, different at the least."
Mr. Schue brung his hand up to his face and mumbled a quick, understanding, "Hmm."
"I'm also thinking about the Glee Club assignment." Blaine gritted his teeth.
"Oh really? Well I'm sure you and Quinn will be great. It's going to be some great competition." Mr. Schuester patted Blaine's back and let him go.
When Blaine left the room, Kurt was still leaning against the wall waiting for him. Blaine smiled and breathed out. It was so good to be with Kurt again; he had really missed him when he had left Dalton to come back to McKinley, but he was here with him now, so everything was great again.
"Hey," Blaine murmured, slightly surprising Kurt, who turned to him and grinned.
"I'll show you to the canteen." Kurt took Blaine's hand and walked down the hallway completely unfazed by the stares of other students. Blaine held onto his bag with his free hand and turned a corner to come face-to face with… Dave Karofsky.
"So the rumor was true. Blaine Ander-gay has joined McKinley." Dave smirked, looking from Blaine to Kurt then back again.
"Dave, please don't." Kurt said forcefully, pushing past him – dragging Blaine too.
As Kurt led him down the corridor – away from Karofsky – Blaine peered behind him at Dave, who was standing in the middle of the hall, watching Kurt and him walk away.
When Blaine turned back around he was in the bustling canteen. Students – all the way up through the years – were gathered in the room, sitting right the way around the space. Blaine spotted the Jocks sitting in a cluster in the corner of the room; the cheerleading squad – or 'Cheerio's' as Coach Sylvester called them – were wandering around the room, avoiding any food whatsoever; the geeks sat in the middle of the room, reading and doing homework that was set for three weeks away. Finally, Blaine noticed Sam and Mercedes by the food counter, so him and Kurt ran over to them, grabbing a tray from the side.
"Hey Kurt. Hey Blaine." Sam acknowledged, smiling at them, "How're you guys?"
Kurt scooped a wholegrain pasty onto his plate and bounced along to the next container of food.
"I'm feeling great. Mercedes, no! Those aren't nutritious - and they clog your throat up," Kurt explained, stopping his friend from taking a spoonful of deep-fried chicken nibbles.
Mercedes sighed, dropped the spoon back into the dish and moved along to the tater tots, taking a huge serving of them and placed them on her plate.
"What about you Blaine? Are you liking it here?" Sam asked, taking out his wallet to pay the dinner lady.
Blaine picked up a toasted cheese sandwich from the table and placed it onto his tray, fishing out a few coins from his pocket to pay with. Handing it to the woman, Blaine followed his friends to an empty table a few spaces away from the windows.
"It's cool. No better – no worse than Dalton." He took a seat and dropped his plate onto the counter; "I do enjoy having Kurt with me again though – and you guys."
Blaine looked up at the smiling faces and he chuckled, Sam, Mercedes and Kurt joining him in laughter. He picked up the toastie and took a bite from it, the heat of the sandwich burning his mouth slightly.
"So, Blaine, have you heard the news?" Mercedes asked, eyeing up her tots. Kurt grinned and Sam looked at Mercedes lovingly.
Blaine swallowed and frowned, shaking his head. Kurt's eyes grew wide in haste, wanting Mercedes to spill whatever was going on.
"Me and Sam, well we're kind of-"
"We're dating" Sam interrupted, taking a sip from his glass of water.
Kurt cheered and Blaine congratulated them in surprise. Mercedes and Sam laughed, holding each other's hands for a moment, then returning to eating their snacks.
The bell rang as everyone polished off his or her food and stood up to leave. Kurt and Mercedes parted together for Science, Sam left on his own for geography and Blaine stood alone, looking at his timetable.
"Physical Ed." Blaine read, and pocketed the sheet. He exited the canteen and started down the hallways for the locker rooms; it took ten minutes for him to find the room and he entered in silence to find all the boys already changed into their kits, ready to start their lesson.
The coach looked at him angrily, "You're late, come on in, get changed and sit down."
Blaine nodded apologetically and walked to the back of the room – away from all the staring eyes – to get changed. He sat on the bench and pulled out his PE kit which included: A McKinley High School sports t-shirt, McKinley High tracksuit bottoms and a pair of new trainers Blaine's dad had brought him only a week ago.
Blaine pulled his jumper and shirt off, tugging on the PE shirt carefully. He heard mutters from across the room as he continued to change, and Blaine was sure he heard things like, "What if he looks at us when we get changed?" and "He should be in with the girls."
Blaine sighed and slotted his feet into his trainers, returning to the front of the changing rooms, taking a seat on a bench next to a small, nerdy kid who had his glasses taped to the side of his face.
The coach ordered the class to run six laps of the field and complete the circuit training routine that had been laid out for them. The class groaned and hurried outside into the sun, starting their runs. Blaine held back for a few minutes, until something tapped his back.
"You need to run you know." The guy from the bench squeaked, "I always go last because I'm the slowest and the smallest – and also because the other kids beat me up if I don't go here. After you, buddy."
Blaine nodded, starting the run. He quickly gained on the third-placed runner, but cut back because the guy snarled at him. Blaine held up his hands and slowed his run, so he was in line with the forth-placed girl.
She grunted and tried to pass Blaine, but Blaine kept quickening his pace so she couldn't. She eventually gave up and disappeared behind Blaine in a huff.
When the six laps were run, everyone was out of breath besides Blaine; he jogged on the spot and stretched out his arms, warming up like he always did before he did any sports.
"You." Someone roared from behind Blaine, making him shudder, "New kid! Come over here!"
Blaine turned to see that the coach had been the one to hold that blundering voice; he cautiously walked over, noticing people snickering about him as he did. Blaine stopped in front of her and looked at her face.
"You were seriously quick out there kiddo. Lots of energy; speed! We need players like you on our football team. Tryouts are today at lunch – you should come along!" Coach announced and Blaine let out his breath.
"Me, Tryout for the football team? I don't think I'm big enough." Blaine said, still shocked.
"We need kickers, and runners. They're not always the burliest of men." She explained, placing her hands on her hips, "So, what do you say?"
Blaine was about to agree when he remembered that this lunchtime, he had another commitment.
"I-I can't."
"What?"
"I can't try out for the team."
"Why exactly is that?"
"I already have something planned for this lunchtime. A rehearsal."
Coach laughed and patted Blaine's shoulder, "Glee Club, right?"
Blaine nodded and looked at the huge hand that held him down, "I need to practice for a big performance – it's kind of like a competition, so I really need to be there. I'm sorry."
Coach nodded and retracted her hand, letting it hang loosely by her side. She nodded and leant closer.
"I'll make a deal with you, swing by the changing room after school and I'll do a special tryout just for you – like I said, we really need people like you."
Blaine nodded and smiled, trudging back to the class, who were busy doing a number of activities. Then his smile disappeared as he neared his group; the kids were all glaring at him as they started their step-ups, whispering to each other as they did – Blaine took the end of the bench and sighed, starting his lesson properly.
After Blaine changed and left the locker room to loud jeering and bellowing laughter, he started for the English department a few corridors down. He rummaged in his bag for a while, trying to find his English book when he bumped into someone with an 'oof!'
Blaine rubbed his head and opened his eyes to see Quinn, turning around to see what had hit her in the back. She flattened out her white three-quarter-length jacket and pulled at the hem of her dress before she went over to Blaine to see if he was okay.
"Are you alright?" She crouched down to look at his face, "You should really pay more attention to your surroundings, you know."
Blaine nodded and stood up straight, letting go of his forehead and staring into Quinn's beautiful hazel eyes. He coughed and she smiled, turning to walk into the classroom.
Blaine quickly followed and stood at the front of the classroom, waiting for the teacher to place him in a space. Blaine put a note on the front desk as the teacher pointed to a seat in the middle, which was situated right next to none other than, Quinn Fabray.
Blaine paused for a minute then walked to the table, sitting himself down on the spare seat.
"Hello again." Quinn smirked, opening her leather-bound notebook and taking out a sparkly blue pen from its spine.
"Hey." Blaine replied, doing the same with his notebook, staring to the front of the room.
"Rehearsals are straight after this lesson. Do you want to get something to eat before we hit the choir room?"
"Nah. I had a cheese toastie at break so I'm all covered."
"That's nice," Quinn beamed, turning her attention to the front of the room, "I used to miss eating toasted-cheese sandwiches when I was pregnant."
Blaine nodded, rolling his pen around in the palm of his hand. Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as he thought – maybe Quinn wasn't that bad after all.
Just then, the teacher interrupted Blaine's thoughts with a single word: "Personification."
The class groaned and Quinn rolled her eyes; Blaine looked around at all the faces of the students and turned back to the front – he loved personification and he had no idea why the pupils were grumbling in hatred.
"So, first up, lets start by writing down a few examples shall we?" The teacher pushed his spectacles further up his nose until they rested right on the top and made his eyes look three-times bigger than they actually were.
"Are you any good at this stuff?" Quinn asked, flipping to a new lined page in her book.
"A little…" Blaine said humbly, copying the examples on the board into a page in his pad, "I mean, at Dalton I used to be good at it I guess."
"So, can anyone give me an example of personification if we were talking about the wind?" The teacher peered at the class and twirled his pen in his hand.
Blaine raised his hand slightly, along with three other kids, scattered around the room. The teacher pointed at Blaine and he lowered his hand, peering around at all the other's who were staring into space.
"The wind howled in anger."
"Very good, Mr. Anderson. Oh and welcome to McKinley." The teacher grinned, flashing his fang-like teeth, then pointing at another student.
Quinn nudged Blaine's shoulder and leant over to whisper in is ear, "Very good. Now, help me with this sentence."
Time ticked on and the class sped by. Blaine snatched everything off the table and threw it into his satchel, smiling. When he had packed up, he and Quinn walked out of the class and down the corridor to the choir room. Blaine stayed a few paces behind Quinn all the time because a) he was still new to the school and had no idea where he was going, and b) he thought that it might 'ruin her rep' if she was seen walking with him.
When they finally reached the room, Quinn barged in and flung her song sheet out of her bag and onto an empty chair. Blaine stood in the aperture and got out his music from the bottom of his satchel. When he fished it out, he walked over to join Quinn, sitting down.
"I – I mean we have to win this thing. I won it last year with Sam and I need to do it again." Quinn explained, scanning the sheet with her finger.
"I like this song, but there are no parts for guys and it's a solo song."
"We can make it into a duet. Come on – lets run through it." Quinn grabbed Blaine's hand and pulled him to his feet. She led him to the piano where the pianist, Brad, was sitting. She nodded at him and he started to play the tune to the song.
Quinn started singing the song and tapped the top on the piano with her fingernails. Blaine just stood and watched, half looking at the words, half watching Quinn perform.
When it reached the intro to the chorus, Quinn stopped and motioned for Blaine to sing. At once his voice filled the room and the chorus was shared between them. When it hit the high notes, Blaine closed his eyes and pushed his voice so they sounded perfect.
Blaine then started singing the second verse, Quinn tapping her foot and walking around him. Then when it reached the chorus again, Blaine harmonized as Quinn sang the straight tune. Quinn then grinned as they sang the middle eight and Blaine started laughing.
As the song reached it's end, Quinn and Blaine burst out laughing and smiled at each other.
"You're a pretty good partner, Blaine Anderson." Quinn complimented, brushing a loose strand of her wavy, blonde hair out of her face, "Best yet if I do say so."
Blaine blushed and walked back to the chairs where his bag sat, "You were good too, Quinn."
Quinn shrugged and fanned her face, "It's hot in here, and I need a drink. Want to come?"
Blaine looked at his watch. There was still half of lunch left and he was parched.
"Sure." Blaine said, grabbing his things and following Quinn out of the room, thanking Brad on his way out, who returned to his coffee.
Blaine walked in line with Quinn on the way to the canteen, chatting to her about how they could stage themselves, and she replied with how excellent his ideas were. Blaine starting to wonder why he thought Quinn would be a bad partner and he shook his head.
They entered the crowded lunchroom and walked up to the drink's counter, Blaine taking a can of apple juice and Quinn taking a bottle of orange juice. Quinn then turned to Blaine and froze.
"Will Kurt be wondering where you are?" Quinn asked, walking backwards to the que.
"I'm sure he knows I'm rehearsing."
"But we've finished."
Blaine opened his mouth to speak then stopped, fishing out a few coins and handing them to the dinner lady, walking away with Quinn.
"He'll be fine. I'm seeing him last lesson, so I'll tell him where I was then."
Quinn bit her lip and nodded, taking a seat at the end of a table full of 'wanna-be's.' Blaine sat the other side and opened his drink, taking a gulp and swallowing. Quinn tapped her bottle, not opening it.
"I thought you said you were thirsty," Blaine stared at her and placed his drink back on the counter.
Quinn recovered from her daze and shook her head, "What did you say?"
Blaine screwed his face up and said, "Nothing."
"You know the 'choreography' you suggested," Quinn looked up from her bottle to Blaine who nodded, "Well, we only have tomorrow to nail the performance before we perform on Wednesday so… we should rehearse at mine tomorrow. Rachel already took the choir room, so if we want to rehearse, it's going to have to be round one of our houses. If that's, well, okay with you?"
Blaine tilted his head and froze, before he stood and nodded, chucking his can into the bin.
"I think I can do that – you're house, tomorrow after school?"
"Yeah." Quinn smiled, standing and walking away from Blaine, "See you tomorrow!"
Blaine laughed and walked out the other exit to the canteen, to last lesson. He and Quinn were going to win the performance for sure.