(Part 6 on Tumblr)

Blaine officially joined the New Directions by the end of the week. They had all warmed up to him considerably after hearing his audition, except the tallest of the group – Finn. But Blaine had already accepted that they weren't going to get along, and he was fine with that.

He started spending most of his time at school with them and found that he really did like them a lot. They were people that he could have seen himself hanging out with before – if he hadn't messed up so royally.

They invited him to a party a few weeks after he joined the club. Blaine was hesitant to accept at first. That was how it had started both times. A party. But Rachel was hosting the party, and she had promised an alcohol-free evening, so Blaine decided to attend.

It had taken quite a lot of persuasion to get Cooper to allow him to go.

"Please, Coop. I swear, I'm not going to take anything. And if I do, I'll call you right away and you can take me to an NA meeting. Shit, you can do a drug test on me when I get home. Just please let me hang out with my friends for the night."

Cooper had reluctantly relented, but made Blaine promise to call at least once an hour. Blaine sighed, but was secretly grateful for his brother's overbearing nature. It was better than his parents who probably didn't even know the name of Blaine's school.

He arrived at Rachel's house a little later than everyone else and nervously tugged down the sleeves of his cardigan as he descended the stairs. The New Directions were quietly scattered around the room looking totally bored. Blaine laughed to himself. It was certainly different than any party he had ever been to. It usually took a few hours before everyone passed out.

But less than half an hour later, Puck had broken into Rachel's dads' liquor cabinet and suddenly the booze was flowing. Blaine was tempted time and time again to take just one small sip of vodka, but he knew that his judgement was shot if he was drunk.

He nervously sipped from a cup of coke that he had poured himself and sat on the fringes of the party. After a while, a drunken Rachel gathered them all together for a game of Never Have I Ever. Most were taking shots when they'd done something, Santana was stripping, but Blaine, Kurt, and Finn – the only three who were sober – were simply counting down their fingers.

The game started out tame, but it seemed everyone was trying to find something that Puck hadn't done.

"Never have I ever had a drunken hook-up," Finn announced.

Blaine clapped and put down a finger, earning himself an approving smile from Puck.

When Blaine's turn came around, he grinned before saying, "Never have I ever kissed a girl."

Puck's jaw dropped. "Dude, I thought you hooked up all the time?"

"Yeah." Blaine wondered how long it would take them to realize.

"You don't even kiss them first? Dude, respect." Puck looked slightly awed.

Blaine laughed. "Not quite, Puck. There is plenty of making out involved."

"Then what …?" Puck trailed off, his eyes suddenly widening. "Oh! You like dick!"

Blaine laughed. "Fuck yeah."

"How many dudes have you been with?"

"How many chicks have you been with?"

"I like you, Anderson," Puck said decisively. "Even more now that I know I don't have to compete with you."

The game continued, seemingly a battle between Blaine and Puck. Suddenly, the subject of drugs was broached.

"Never have I ever done weed," Tina said.

Puck took a shot, but no one else did. "Sorry to break it to you guys, but if you ate my brownies last year, you did too," he confessed in his drunken stupor.

Blaine was glad for the pandemonium that ensued. No one saw him put his finger down. He knew it was just a game and no one would know if he was lying, but he didn't want to flaunt his past. He was proud that he'd managed to kick drugs twice (and he chose to ignore the fact that he had relapsed once). He just didn't want these kids to think of him differently.

"Anyway," Rachel said loudly, "now that we know Noah drugged us last year, I think a bit of a change of pace is due."

"And what's that, Berry?" Santana slurred. "Watching you sing all night long? No thanks."

"I was going to suggest Truth or Dare to see if we can't find out what else Noah has done to us all," Rachel suggested haughtily.

Honestly, this group acted more like preteen girls at a slumber party than teenagers at a rager.

The group eventually agreed and watched each other complete a series of ridiculous and occasionally disgusting dares. Knowing that he'd never be able to do any of those dares sober, Blaine chose truth when it was his turn.

"Why'd you transfer from Dalton?" Artie asked. "Were you really expelled?"

"No." Blaine said, voice as hard and unforgiving as it was the day he'd first met the New Directions. "Sorry, but no. Not answering that one."

"Dude, you have to. It's the rules of the game!" Finn insisted.

"If you don't do your truth, then you have to drink whatever's in the cup," Puck said, indicating a cup that was filled with any and all extra alcohol from the evening.

"I can't drink, man," Blaine said.

"Then answer the question."

"It's none of your business."

"Then drink the cup!"

Blaine glared angrily between Puck, Finn, Artie, and the cup. Finally, he sighed angrily, reached out, and downed the mostly-full cup in two gulps.

"Dude, that was epic," Puck said, in awe of Blaine's ability to down alcohol apparently. "But you must have done some serious shit if you chose that over telling us."

"Who gives a fuck why I left? I'm here now," Blaine said defensively.

The game died down a bit later, and Blaine ended up in the corner. He could feel his head spinning from the alcohol. It had been a long time since he'd had anything to drink, but he still had a pretty good tolerance built up. Regardless, that had been one incredibly strong drink, and he knew he'd be drunk soon. Rather than wait to see what he'd do when that happened, Blaine texted Cooper.

Can you come get me?

Why? You have a car, B.

I might be a little droink.

What the fuck? I thought I made it very clear when I said you could go to the party that you weren't allowed to touch anything!

Sorry, mom. I had to else I wpuld've tell them ab ot rehab and shit. Plus, I didn't take anythink. Just a drink.

We're going to have a long talk in the morning. I'll be there in 10 minutes.

Blaine made his way upstairs, ignored by the rest of the partygoers, and waited for Cooper on the front porch. A few minutes later, Kurt Hummel of all people joined him.

"Hey," he said lazily. He could feel the alcohol in his head.

"Hey," Kurt said faintly.

"Why aren't you down at the party?"

"Not really my thing. Why aren't you?"

"M'brother's comin' to get me. I wasn't supposed to get drunk and he's super pissed."

"Oh."

"Don't you wanna know why?"

"Why what?"

"Why I left Dalton, why I can't get drunk, I don't know!"

"I guess, but you don't seem to want to tell. I'm not going to make you."

Blaine studied Kurt for a minute. "You're really hot, Kurt, you know that?"

Kurt instantly turned a deep shade of red. "Wh-what?"

"Yeah, you're way hotter than the guys I used to hook up with. Not that I ever cared about what they looked like... But you're really hot and nice and such a good person, Kurt."

"Thank you. I guess," Kurt replied uneasily. He shivered slightly in the night air.

"Are you cold?" Blaine asked. "Here, you can have this." He immediately began pulling off his cardigan.

"Oh, no, I'm -" Kurt said, but Blaine shoved it at him. "Thanks."

Blaine smiled back.

The two boys sat in silence for a few minutes until a pair of headlights flashed and Cooper came charging from his car.

"Blaine Devon Anderson!" he shouted. "What the fuck did you think you were doing? You promised me that you wouldn't do anything. You promised that it wouldn't be like before! And then I get a drunk text at 2 in the morning? What the fuck!"

"Coop, quiet!" Blaine laughed. "Anyway, I called you, didn't I? That's different." He threw his arms out in defense and spun around a few times before catching sight of Kurt. "Hi Kurt," he said with a giggle.

Cooper just rolled his eyes and leaned forward to drag Blaine away when he heard a sharp intake of breath from Kurt. He looked to where Kurt's gaze fell and saw the track mark scars on the insides of both Blaine's arms. Quickly, Cooper pushed Blaine's arms down so that they were hidden once again. In a much softer tone of voice, he said, "Let's go, Blaine."