DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

Give Me Strength

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

A/N: Hello lovelies! This is the continuation/sequel fic to my other story Sometimes You Need More Than Courage (SYNMTC). You can read this without having to read the other fic, if you'd like, but there may be some things from that previous story that will show up in this one (so by suggestion, I recommend reading SYNMTC and then reading this so you won't be confused). Anyways, this takes place a little bit before and during the episode Original Song.

A/N #2: PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER AS WELL FOR EXPLANATIONS REGARDING THE UPDATION OF THIS FIC!


Oh, oh, I want some more Oh, oh, what are you waiting for? Take a bite of my heart tonight

Neon Trees came out blasting as Kurt's cell phone alarm went off at a dark and way too early four AM. The sleepy teen reached over and set his alarm to sleep, sinking back into his blanket cocoon for just a few more moments of rest.

As he nestled his head into his down pillow, his mind slipped back into dreamland where he was currently curled up against Blaine's lean body. The other boy's arms were coiled around him in a protective embrace and every few seconds, Blaine would pepper warm kisses along Kurt's hairline as he hummed Animal under his breath.

'I love you,' dream Kurt whispered as he snuggled into dream Blaine's bicep. A noise slid from his throat that eerily reminded him of a cross between a cat's purr and a bird's chirp.

'What did you say?' Dream Blaine asked as he leaned up and gazed down at the boy lying in his arms. 'Did you just chirp at me, Kurt Hummel?'

'No, I said I love you. Didn't you hear?'

'Why are you chirping? I don't speak canary.'

'I'm not speaking canary, Blaine. I love you! Did you understand that?'

He blinked his blue eyes once, then twice, and noticed that dream Blaine had released him from his grasp and was now staring down at him. A confused look was plastered on his face.

'You're looking a little yellow, Kurt. Are you okay?'

'Just peachy. Now – are you going to say the words back? Please say so… please?'

'Chirp.'

Dream Kurt raised a brow as dream Blaine leaned forward and pressed a kiss (sharp and pointed – wait, was that a beak?) to his cheek. As soon as his harsh lips pulled away from the porcelain – no wait, yellow? – skin, dream Blaine began to sing Animal once more as he stood up and sprouted wings.

'Blaine? What the hell?'

The once dark haired boy just continued to chirp along with the music, his wings waving happily in the air.

Oh, oh, I want some more Oh, oh, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Say goodbye to my heart tonight

Kurt sat up quickly, his arm swinging out in fury as he slammed the alarm off on his phone. With as hard as he attacked the offending device, Kurt sincerely hoped that he didn't damage the screen. However, given the fact that he was just way too exhausted to care, the grumbling teen ignored the abused phone, rolled over, and threw his body off of the bed.

As soon as his bare feet hit the cool carpeting, Kurt arched his back into a morning stretch and listened carefully as the bones of his spine popped and moved. He sighed in relief as he fully woke his body from exhaustion and padded his way over to Pavarotti's cage.

The tiny canary was sitting peacefully on his perch, his beady little eyes staring at nothing in particular as he chirped a song.

"You're awfully chipper this morning, Pav." Kurt commented as he scooped some bird seed into the cage and patted the tiny warbler on its head. "Excited to see everyone today?"

Pavarotti sang in response and hopped off of his perch to peck happily at his food. He looked so adorable that Kurt stood and watched for a moment before he took a glance at his wall clock. It was almost a quarter after four; he was running late!

Breezing through his morning moisturizing routine (usually he took an hour to apply his products – today he shortened it to 45 minutes), Kurt threw on his Dalton uniform and grabbed up Pav's cage, throwing his homemade Burberry-esque cover over the metal bird house.

"Ready to go, Pav?" He yawned as he stepped outside and into the chill morning air. He dashed to his Navigator, unlocked the doors, and securely tucked the bird cage away in the backseat before he climbed into the driver seat. "Sing me a song or something, will you? I don't want to fall asleep on the road!"

And as if the little canary spoke perfect human English, he puffed out his tiny chest and sang a few tweets that sounded somewhat similar to Animal.


"Good morning!"

Kurt yawned as he sat down next to a chipper looking Blaine. The darker haired teen was sitting across from him, two coffees grasped in both of his hands. He held out one coffee to his friend with a smile.

"Got you a nonfat mocha. Is that alright?"

Kurt nodded as he brought the hot drink to his lips and drank eagerly. He was absolutely exhausted; the usual two hour drive from Lima to Westerville had already tuckered him out and he inwardly cursed the fact that he shortened his morning moisturizing routine just to have a few extra minutes of shut eye. His face felt warm, his body was cold, and he wondered if he was getting sick. He wasn't about to bring it up to Blaine though, knowing that the other boy would probably spend all day fretting about him.

And he didn't think he could really deal with Blaine freaking out over him right now.

"Hey, you're looking a little pale? Are you alright?"

Blaine was leaning forward in his seat, watching his friend closely as the blue eyed boy wobbled slightly across the table.

Kurt looked up and saw Blaine watching him; flashbacks of the two of them walking through the halls the day before took over and he remembered Blaine asking him a question very similar to the one he had just asked.

"You alright? You look a little pale."

Maybe he was getting sick? Kurt leaned forward a bit, his head looming closer towards Blaine's. He blinked back some sleep from his eyes and laid his head in his hands.

"I'm just exhausted today, Blaine. It's nothing to worry about."

"You should've stayed home. I mean, I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but you look terrible."

"Oh thanks," Kurt grumbled as he pulled his head from his palms and took another sip of his coffee. "I just need to catch up on my sleep, that's all. I've just been swamped with homework and practice and all the driving from Lima to here is getting old."

Blaine reached across the table and took Kurt's free hand, giving it a squeeze. His golden eyes flickered for a moment when he felt Kurt's hand slightly pull back.

"Oh," he whispered, releasing his grip from Kurt's with a frown. He wasn't expecting the boy to suddenly tense up like that. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, I'm sorry." Kurt murmured tiredly, looking down at his hand, "I just… if it's not just exhaustion and I'm getting sick or anything, I don't want you to catch it. I should probably go."

"Are you going to Dalton?"

Kurt bit his lip. He really hadn't thought of that. Was he going to go back to Dalton? He was feeling pretty crappy, so he wasn't really feeling like heading back to class. However, he didn't see the point in driving the two hours from Lima to Westerville, only to have to turn around and head back home for another long drive.

He could stick it out another day. Plus, he brought Pavarotti along this time and he always felt bad about dragging Pav out into cold weather…

"I'm going to class," he decided. "There's no sense in me driving all the way here if I'm not going to attend school today, you know?"

Blaine nodded, "I just don't want you to overwork yourself, Kurt. If you need to rest or anything, you are more than welcome to nap in my room if you'd like."

Kurt flushed a bit at Blaine's suggestion. As much as he would like to curl back up in Blaine's bed and breathe in the woodsy, manly scent that was the handsome boy he cared so much about, he knew he couldn't do such a thing. He slowly but surely would have to wean himself from Blaine – just enough to maybe damper his feelings for the boy. Relishing in his crush's unique scent would do nothing but advance Kurt's feelings and he really didn't want to deal with that now.

"Thanks for the offer, but I should be okay." Kurt muttered, finishing off the last drags off his coffee. "We should probably be heading out now. I left Pav in the car and I don't want him to get sick or anything."

"True," Blaine agreed as he glanced down at his watch. The two of them had barely been in the shop for ten minutes, but he completely understood why they needed to leave. It definitely wasn't good to leave an animal in the car for too long, no matter what the temperature was.

Both boys stood up. Blaine held his still semi-full cup of medium drip in one hand as he pushed the front door open with the other. Kurt tossed his empty coffee into the trash bin as he exited the shop.

"Thank you," the taller boy replied with a gentle blush as he stepped into the chilly spring morning air. "Meet you in the parking lot."

"You lead. I'll follow," Blaine called out as he headed over to his car and hopped inside. For the next few minutes, he followed behind the Navigator, paying close attention to the way Kurt drove ahead of him. The boy seemed to be operating the vehicle just fine, but Blaine did notice that Kurt was driving a little slower than normal.

He must really be tired. All this driving is killer for him. I wish he just boarded here instead of commuting… but the tuition here is already so steep and I know for a fact that Burt and Carole are doing their best to send him here now. If only I could help…

But Blaine knew he couldn't. Dalton didn't offer very many scholarships for housing and since Kurt transferred mid-semester, he unfortunately fell out of the grace period for someone to apply for a housing scholarship. In Blaine's opinion though, given the circumstances, Kurt should've been allowed at least a chance to apply for help (though he wondered if Kurt was much too proud to ask for anything). When Blaine himself transferred to Dalton just a year and a half ago, he didn't make the cut for the scholarship either, even though he didn't need it. His parents shelled out the couple thousands of dollars needed to move Blaine into his dorm and that was the end of it.

Okay, so it really wasn't the end of it.

Blaine could still remember his father ranting and raving in the car about the cost of the dorms and how much extra he was paying for his son to have a single dorm room (at the insistence of Mrs. Anderson, of course).

"I don't understand why he needs a private room, Maria. It's bad enough I have to send him to this school, which isn't cheap if you haven't already noticed! Now I've got to throw more money at them to get Blaine his own room?"

"He really needs time, William. He wouldn't get the privacy he needs if he bunks with someone else."

"Well, that shouldn't be our problem. It's his fault he's even going to this school in the first place-"

Just the memory of his father's words made Blaine's fingers curl tightly around the steering wheel. He remembered sitting in the backseat of their luxury car, listening as his parents bickered back and forth over his schooling; his body curled up against the window as he ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, feeling the raise of stitching along the inside of his mouth. His bruised body ached and his nose throbbed from the pain, but he sat still in silence in the backseat trying to block out his father's hurtful outbursts. He recalled thinking about the beating he received at the Sadie Hawkins' dance and how it was never his fault, but it was in his father's eyes and that's why they were sending him to Dalton – to avoid the shame he brought upon his family.

Not to protect him, but to hide him.

Blaine squeezed the steering wheel a little harder as he felt his throat close in anger. He was not going to melt down now, especially not when he was going to have to meet up with Kurt in the parking lot soon. He turned on his blinker and turned into the entrance of Dalton, following a short distance behind Kurt, parking in the boarders' lot while Kurt parked not too far away in the commuters' area. Gathering a strengthening breath, Blaine hopped out of his car and made his way across the lot to Kurt.

"ANDERSON!"

At the sound of his last name, Blaine looked up at the person who shouted for him. Across the asphalt skipped none other than Jeff Sterling, another one of the junior Warblers. The blonde skidded to a halt in front of Blaine.

"The council's looking for you. Says it's an emergency. I'm supposed to tell you to meet them in the rehearsal hall as soon as possible, so you'd better get a move on!"

"But Kurt-" The hazel eyed boy let his gaze fall over to where Kurt's Navigator was parked. He noticed Kurt staring at him with this odd look before the boy waved his hands towards the school, practically signifying to him to go where he needed to be.

"Okay, I'll go. But Jeff, can you tell Kurt I'll see him at lunch?"

"Can do," the platinum haired Warbler grinned as he strutted over to the guy across the parking lot from him. "You'd better hurry, Blaine. Wes sent me looking for you over fifteen minutes ago!"

And with that, Blaine shot once last glance towards Kurt before he ran off into the busy halls of Dalton.


"You want me to do what?"

Wes rolled his eyes for the millionth time as he regarded the confused junior boy standing before him. "I need you to do an impromptu performance of Misery during study hall today."

"But for what reason? And why during study hall?"

Thad pulled a steaming mug of tea away from his lips and stared at Blaine for a moment before he answered his friend's question. "Honestly, Blaine? Did you seriously just ask us about performing during study hall? This isn't the first time the Warblers have pulled a stunt like that – I mean, that day Hummel came to spy on us…"

He trailed off after noticing the far off look in Blaine's eyes.

"This is about Kurt, isn't it?"

"No," Blaine mumbled. Okay, so it was about Kurt... just a little. He couldn't help it though – study hall was one of the only times of the day that Kurt had a chance to catch up on his homework before he had to drive back to Lima. The Warblers somewhat knew how much of a heavy load Kurt had taken on since arriving at Dalton; his schedule was harder – he didn't board, he commuted almost four hours a day, and when Warbler practice came into play, he hardly had time for himself.

Sure, it was something that he had to deal with, but it wasn't something that Blaine liked Kurt to have to handle.

Which was why his mind immediately went to question-mode over the council's idea to hold a random study hall concert.

"Are you sure we just couldn't do this at lunch?"

"Sorry Blaine, but the seniors have a class meeting during lunch that is mandatory, so we just can't hold a performance during that time. Study hall is the only time we can really practice this song," David explained.

"We can practice it during our Warbler class time, couldn't we?" Blaine was honestly trying his hardest to push the performance out of study hall, but it was not working whatsoever.

"It's been a while since we performed for the student body and today is the perfect time to do so. Why question our decision now? It has already been agreed upon," Wes smirked as he patted Blaine on his shoulder. "Be ready to perform at two o' clock, okay Anderson?"

With a flash of a smile, the three councilmen hurried off to their first period classes, leaving Blaine standing behind in the hallway. Sighing, Blaine ran a hand through his gelled hair, biting down on his lip as he walked down the hall.

It had been a while since he last performed for the student body… and the Warblers were like freaking rock stars, so how much damage could one little performance during study hall do anyways? It wasn't like Kurt didn't mind singing…

Pushing the earlier, conflicting thoughts from his mind, Blaine picked up the pace as he somewhat skipped down the hall. He waved at a few of his classmates as he walked to History.

Performing always put him in a better mood!


Being exhausted always put Kurt in a bad mood.

He sluggishly dragged himself into one of the study rooms and plopped down at a table next to Nick. The shaggy haired Warbler offered his choir mate a smile as he finished scribbling down an answer to some math problem.

"You okay, Kurt? You look a little tired."

"Well, I'm exhausted, but what else is new?" Kurt offered with a slight smile. He opened up his own Trigonometry notebook and pulled out a worksheet the teacher had given them just hours before. "Are you almost finished with Trig?"

"Heck no," Nick grumbled as he slid his paper over towards Kurt. "I am terrible at math. I just fill in random numbers, turn the homework in, and pray that I pass."

Kurt rolled his eyes at this – honestly, how did Nick even pass? - and went back to solving a rather tough equation. It was during times like this that he wished he could whip out his calculator and check his answers, but he had foolishly left the device on his desk at home. Hell, he could've even used his phone's calculator, but the damn electronic died in the middle of his morning commute from the Westerville Whip to Dalton and he never had a chance to find someone with a matching charger.

It was like his day was meant to suck or something.

With a groan, he added up the answer as best as he could in his head before he scribbled the solution down on the worksheet. Somewhere outside, the academy clock tower chimed and Kurt didn't miss the slight look Nick gave his paper as he stole the answer to number twelve.

Yeah Nick, just go ahead and copy my homework. Not like I mind or anything becau-

"OH YEAH!"

The sky suddenly rained papers, many of them landing all over Kurt and his homework. The blue eyed boy narrowed his gaze as he glanced down at the paper covered study table and around at the suddenly worksheet flooded room.

Before him stood Blaine, singing and dancing with a few of the other Warblers who were in the room. When did we schedule a performance? Kurt wondered as he looked around and noticed every other Warbler singing along. He brushed a few papers off of his arm and shot a look towards Nick, who was also singing. He stared on in horror as the other boy held up his cell phone with a text that said:

Singing Misery at 2 PM for Warblers! In Study Hall C! Be there! – Wes

A knowing, yet annoyed smile spread across Kurt's face as he looked up and watched Blaine strut over to him, still belting out his song. He didn't get that damn text because his phone died. Well… Blaine was now picking papers up off of the table and tossing them in the air carelessly. He shot a quick look to Kurt before he leaned down and practically pried him away from the table.

With a slight huff, Kurt grabbed up his messenger bag and pulled it close to him as he let Blaine lead him out of the hall. The shorter boy guided him towards a bench and gently pushed him to sit before he started to dance around the room with the rest of the glee club. Throughout all of this, no matter how flashy the dance moves or how brilliantly Blaine sang the song, Kurt could only think of a few things as he lamely sang along.

How annoying is it that Blaine gets all the solos.

No one better knock over Pavarotti's cage while they're dancing.

I left my homework in the study.

God, I am sooooo tired of this...


The song had ended and the other Warblers, including Kurt and Pavarotti, were now back in the study hall doing God knows what.

Blaine stood outside the hall, his face locked in a look of confusion. Kurt had just practically insulted him.

Blaine and the Pips? What was that supposed to mean?

Sure, it was true that Blaine got most, if not all, of the solos that the Warbler council gave out throughout the year, but it wasn't because of favoritism or anything – the Warblers genuinely thought Blaine Anderson was an amazing singer. His solos were won fair and square through auditions that sometimes went through several rounds before a soloist was picked.

And yet, despite Kurt knowing this fact, he was still bitter over the idea that Blaine was singing the solos for Regionals. He was jealous, a whole lotta jealous… and it was this jealously that made him get just a tid bit snippy with Blaine.

Just a tid bit though.

But that little smidgen of snip was enough to knock Blaine backwards and even off of his performance high. The curly haired boy didn't know what to think, or even what to do for that matter, as he stood out in the hall watching as his fellow Warblers chatted about a job well done.

Was he really that pompous, that selfish that he needed so many solos?

Was Kurt only saying those things because he was in a bad mood or did he really mean it?

And what was the deal with Kurt anyway?

Thoughts blazed through Blaine's head as he stayed cemented in his spot in the deserted hall. He stayed there for a few minutes more before he felt someone press a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"You okay there, Blaine? You look a little shell shocked?"

Bright green eyes were gazing down at him – oh, it was Warbler Luka. The blonde sophomore had one light brow raised in question as he stared down at the older boy standing before him.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Blaine whispered as he shrugged out of Luka's touch. "I've just got a bit of post-performance adrenaline running through my system and it made me a little bit nauseous, that's all."

"The great Blaine Anderson - nauseous after a performance? What is this world coming to?" Luka joked as he patted his classmate on the back. "You should gather yourself and get ready. The bell for final period should be ringing soon. You've been standing out here for quite a while."

With a quick glance at his pocket watch, Blaine confirmed the sophomore's statement, noticing that he had indeed been standing in the hall for over a half an hour. How time had flown by so fast was beyond him…

Ding, ding, ding!

The bell for the final class of the day rang and the study hall began to empty. A few of the Warblers who had returned to Study Hall C crept out and stared at Blaine with blank looks on their faces, as if they were all trying to figure out why their soloist was just standing there like a statue in the hallway.

"What's up with Anderson?"

"I dunno. He looks lost."

"I wonder what happened."

"Yo, Anderson! You alright?"

Blaine blinked for a moment, realizing that he still had his pocket watch in his hand, though it was closed. He slipped the watch back into his blazer and turned on his heel, ignoring the calls from his classmates. The only answer he offered them was a slight nod and a wave of his hand as he rushed off towards his final class.

Thank God he didn't have that class with Kurt. He wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with him right now.


Unlike Blaine, Kurt had gone back to the study hall with one goal in mind: finish up some of his homework.

He cleared away the mess of papers that Blaine and the other guys had thrown about, before he got back to working on his math worksheet. He spent the rest of the study period writing down answers and letting Nick copy from his paper before the bell for the final class rang. Stretching, he stood up and slid all of his books into his messenger bag; then he gathered up Pavarotti's cage and walked out into the hall to see Blaine waving off some of the other Warblers as he rushed down the way.

"Kurt, do you know what's up with Blaine? He just ignored all of us."

"Probably has a meeting with the council or something," the blue eyed boy huffed as he hooked Pav's cage back on the stand in the hall. "I'll be back for you within an hour, Pav," he whispered to the bird as he covered his cage back up with the Burberry cover.

The other Warblers who passed him kept on talking about Blaine, but Kurt pushed their concerns from his mind as he clutched his shoulder bag closer to his body. So what if Blaine rushed off? The boy is always disappearing somewhere. He was like two different people, that Anderson. One minute, he was touchy-feely-showman Blaine, flirting up a storm with Kurt… and the next, he was shy-confused Blaine, not wanting to ruin a perfectly good friendship yet wanting to flirt with everyone and everything else under the sun. He pissed Kurt off.

He got all of the solos.

He was always in the spotlight.

He toyed with Kurt's heart.

Okay, so the last one could be taken in different ways. Blaine was rather oblivious, that was something that could be seen with the naked eye miles and miles away… but, despite his blindness, the boy had to have known that he was causing something in Kurt to malfunction. After their secret sharing weekend just a few days prior, Kurt hoped that something would have changed and yet nothing did. Blaine went back to being best friend Blaine, back to solo hogging Blaine.

There was no change whatsoever and no matter how many times Kurt tried to push that fact out of his mind, he found himself growing bitter and angry with his best friend turned crush.

This bitterness was slowly pulling him apart.

Apart from inside himself and apart from Blaine.

And he just didn't know what to do.

Not at all.


A/N: Okay, I can hear the angry mob now: "Mel, where the hell have you been? It's been over TWO MONTHS since you've updated this fic! What were you thinking?" To be completely honest… MY MOJO IS DEAD! I honestly don't know how it happened. I went on a few weeks' vacation (they were decent, I'll give them that much) and then I got really sick and spent a few weeks running back and forth to the doctors' office, but even after that, I couldn't bring myself to write. All the ideas I had for this fic and my other fic seemed to slip out of my mind. I've been Klaine-ing like crazy (watching Glee, reading fanfics, and the like), hoping that really, REALLY getting back into the fandom (never left, just needed a boost) would jog my imagination, but I've gotten absolutely NOTHING. ZILCH. NADA. ZERO. And it makes me really upset.

So, here I am, offering my sincerest apologies to you.

I'm sorry this chapter was posted sooooo late. I'm sorry it sucked (I had the hardest time trying to get this one down on paper) and I'm sorry to anyone out there who completely lost interest. I understand your pain and I hope I can reel you back in with future chapters, of which I am hoping to be able to write easier than getting this chapter out has been.

Also, I apologize if my chapters have any mistakes (grammatical or what not – let me know if you see anything that drives you bonkers) or if things just don't make sense. I blame my rogue thoughts for everything and I will try to make things up to you. Plus, the end of the chapter sort of left off in a random spot - sorry about that too. I'm leaving it as is and will pick up within the next chapter when I figure out where I'm going with this particular scene. Sorry guys. :(

Anyways, thanks for hearing me out and thanks LOADS to all my reviewers for the last chapter of this fic. I appreciate your input and kind words. I love you guys and I'm sorry I don't really show it.