If you recognise it, it's not mine.

"Kurt! How's it going in the aviary?"

"What?" Kurt paused beside his desk, pressing his phone to his ear.

"With the birds."

"Brittany, it's a school."

"Do you have an owl?"

"It's not Hogwarts either, Britt. Listen, the Warblers want me to teach them how to cheer-"

"You can't do that. Rule number three hundred and eight in the Official Sue Sylvester Lawbook: Any cheerleader, current or alumni, cannot use the elite cheerleading secrets taught to them to enlighten mere mortals, punishment on pain of extreme public humiliation," Brittany recited in one breath.

Kurt blinked in surprise. "How do you know all that? So I can't teach them cheerleading for the competition."

"No. Besides, won't you have a solo?" Brittany asked expectantly.

"Britt, these guys give out solos based on talent alone, not just favouritism. Despite that, I didn't succeed in my audition."

"Why not? You're really good!"

"But the council thought I was too loud, too different."

"Like when the jocks pushed you around? But I thought that it was different there."

"Well, rather than having to try really hard to stay different, I have to fit in here, Britt."

"But you worked so hard be good here. It's not fair," Brittany said sadly.

"Life isn't fair, Britt. Just because I could go about singing what I wanted and dressing however I liked at McKinley, the jocks were always shoving me down, and Mr Schue always gave every solo to Rachel or someone. Hell, even Mercedes was guaranteed to be allowed to belt out the top notes. Here, I'm supposedly allowed to be who I want, but if I try to express myself, I'm shot down."

"Doesn't that hurt? And it's illegal to have a gun in school."

"It hurts, but not that way, Brittany."

Outside the door, Blaine heard the heavy sigh. His heart twisted. This completely explained the countertenor's recent quietness. He'd originally put it down to Dalton's intense workload, but if Kurt had been so used to harsh treatment at McKinley, it was no surprise that he'd been hurt by the council's comments. He had been too busy preparing for Sectionals to look as deeply into the matter as he should have.

Back in the room, there was a pause, then Kurt's voice spoke up again, laughing a little. "Yeah, I bet you and Mike would knock us off the stage even if I could teach them to cheer."

Blaine rolled his eyes at the mention of David's latest crazy idea. The mere thought of Thad attempting a cartwheel again made him wince, remembering the broken vases, tables and an unlucky window which had resulted in a ban on any dancing more complex than their signature shuffle. He raised a hand and knocked on the door.

"Hang on, there's someone at the door- yeah, I'll put you on speaker."

Kurt pulled open the door, tapping a button on his phone with his other hand. A bubbly girl's voice

"Hi, Kurt's friend! Have you come to give him a solo, because Kurt can sing really well and his hands are very soft."

"Blaine, meet Brittany. Brittany, this is Blaine." Blaine said hello to the phone, sending Kurt a questioning glance, and a delighted giggle came in response.

"Hi, Blaine Warbler!"

"Hi, Brittany. You're in New Directions, right?"

"Yeah. Rachel sings mostly. I dance. I'm really good at dancing."

"Yeah, I heard."

Kurt glared at him. "You were listening in!" he accused. Blaine shook his head.

"Not really. I only heard the last few seconds," he lied. "I'm really sorry about Wes and David, they're just-"

"Mean," Brittany interjected firmly.

"No, I get that they have a certain standard they want everyone to conform to," Kurt said, glancing at Blaine subtly. Judging by the thuds coming through the phone, Brittany seemed to be jumping up up and down.

"Brittany, is everything ok?"

"Is Blaine the right standard?" the girl asked excitedly. Kurt glanced at Blaine again.

"I guess so, yeah."

"Then sing a duet! Sing a duet with Blaine!" she shrieked madly. Blaine stared at Kurt, then stood up.

"I'll ask Wes," he muttered, but his eyes were shining with barely contained excitement. His head was spinning with ideas. If he could just convince the council, this was the perfect way to apologise, and maybe even more... Then he was gone, sprinting along the corridor. Kurt hugged his phone.

"Brittany, you're a genius. Thank you so much!"

Brittany laughed. "We're still totally going to beat you, though."