The next chapter is up! I hope you like it, please let me know what you think!

I don't own the characters or places!

"Wait, are you really saying that I should have a solo at Sectionals?" Kurt stared at Mr. Schuester, just like the rest of the glee club.

Mr. Schue nodded. "It would fit perfectly. You will sing together with Rachel."

Suddenly, Rachel, who'd looked sceptical at first, started to beam at Kurt. "We will win this!" She declared loudly. "And we sound great together, Kurt."

Kurt grinned at Rachel. The thought of singing alone in front of so many people had been terrifying, but this was acceptable. In fact, he would love to sing together with his best friend. And they could choose the song themselves. It was perfect.

"Now that it's settled, we should continue practising for our competition against the Cheerios tomorrow." Mr. Schue said now. "Let's go to the auditorium." He left the room first and once he was gone, some glee club members sighed in frustration. They really hated this competition, but it would also be unfair just to say that they wouldn't do it. It would disappoint Mr. Schue and they didn't want this. Not when he did so many things for them. At the same time, the competition was tearing the glee club apart and that wasn't good for the competitions that were to come, like Sectionals in two weeks. And also for their friendships, of course. The one who felt most uncomfortable with this situation was Brittany. She stayed with the New Directions, but Santana was her best friend. And she sided with the Cheerios.

They followed Mr. Schue more slowly and Kurt looked around in the hallway. To his disappointment, Blaine was nowhere to be seen. Ever since their encounter with Karofsky last week, Blaine insisted that Kurt didn't walk around alone anymore. Most of the time, Blaine accompanied him when he left school. And if he wasn't there, Kurt always went with his other friends.

In the auditorium, they talked about their performance again. Mr. Schue always liked to talk things through as often as possible. After that, they would start the performance. They weren't too afraid of the Cheerios and confident that they would win. After all, the only two singers there were Quinn and Santana. Of course they were good, but the New Directions still had the better ones. Like Rachel and Mercedes.

While they were performing, Kurt saw someone standing in the shadows of the auditorium. First, he thought of a spy from the Cheerios, but after a few more moments, he recognized the figure. It was Blaine. And so far, no one except for Kurt seemed to have noticed him. Kurt hoped that it stayed like this, otherwise Blaine would have to answer many questions he wouldn't like. And he wanted to save his friend from this. So he tried not too look into his direction too often.

When they were finally done for the day, Rachel took Kurt aside. "We should think of a song for Sectionals." She declared immediately. "I've got already a few ideas. I would say we choose something from a musical again."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Any suggestions?" He asked, even if he couldn't quite concentrate on this conversation right now. Not when Blaine was still waiting for him.

And then Rachel began to list several songs. Kurt knew all of them, but he wasn't sure if they were the right choice for Sectionals. While she was talking, Rachel was already heading towards the exit and Kurt couldn't do anything else than to follow her. When he looked up again, Blaine was gone.

Just that he didn't leave without Kurt yet. In the hallway, Kurt saw him leaning on his locker, an amused look on his face. Apparently, Blaine thought that the situation was really funny. "Or we could sing Defying Gravity again. I know that we already did that, but it wasn't in a competition." Rachel said now and then she stopped. Kurt glanced at her and noticed that she'd also seen Blaine. "I assume you want to talk about this later?" Rachel's voice was unusually quiet and he raised his eyebrows.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all." Rachel replied too fast. "'Everything's fine. What should be wrong?"

Kurt crossed his arms and stopped. "I know you, Rachel. And when you're acting like this, something's wrong." He really didn't want to have this conversation here in the hallway, but he didn't see an alternative. "This is about Blaine, isn't it?" He'd noticed the way Rachel looked at Blaine from the distance every time she saw him, especially when Kurt was with him. Was she jealous?

"No." Rachel muttered and tried to walk past him, but Kurt stopped her again.

"Let's be honest. Please? You're my best friend, you can tell me what's bothering you." He said softly and hoped that he could break through her defensive walls like this.

It seemed to work since Rachel sighed. "Am I still your best friend? Sometimes, it feels like I've been replaced." She muttered and Kurt had been right. She was jealous!

"No one could ever replace you." Kurt placed a hand on her arm and smiled. "And I thought you knew that."

"So what's Blaine to you?" She asked, but then her eyes widened. "Oh no, Kurt. No!" Then she glanced past Kurt to where Blaine was standing. "You always fall for the wrong person."

"No, I don't." He protested immediately.

"He's just using you."

"He isn't. As I said before, you have to trust me with this." He looked at her pleadingly. "I know what I'm doing."

"Did you even really look at him? And the way he behaves?" Rachel sounded annoyed now.

"Rachel..." Kurt sighed, but then he was interrupted when someone cleared his throat behind them. Kurt turned around immediately, just to see Blaine standing right in front of them. Apparently, he'd noticed that they were having some kind of argument.

"Hey Blaine." Kurt greeted him and smiled. Everything's fine he wanted to tell Blaine with this gesture and it seemed like he understood. His tense shoulders relaxed a little bit. Why did he always assume that he had to save Kurt?

"Hey Kurt. And you must be Rachel, it's nice to finally meet you. Kurt told me so much about you." Blaine smiled at Rachel charmingly and for a few moments, she only stared at him wide-eyed.

She opened her mouth a few times to say something, but no words would come out. Then she looked from Blaine to Kurt and back. Slowly, a smile spread on her lips "It's nice to meet you, Blaine. I would say that Kurt also told me stories about you, but that would be a lie." She held out her hand and Blaine shook it hesitantly. Kurt ignored the accusing gaze she shot him at her last words.

"She's really as straightforward as you said." Blaine said to Kurt and grinned. Then he laughed at Rachel's offended expression. "I was just joking." He told her and held up his hands in a defensive gesture. It took Kurt all his self-control not to join Blaine's laughter. It was too easy to offend Rachel. "Maybe we can get to know each other better someday."

Rachel didn't look thrilled at his words, but she nodded silently. "That would be nice. And now I've got to go, my dads are waiting for me. Family dinner. Kurt, call me." With one last smile, she was gone.

Kurt and Blaine looked after her in silence for a few moments, before Blaine spoke. "It's easy to make her angry, isn't it?"

"Not angry." Kurt corrected. "I think you overwhelmed her."

"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have come over. But it looked like you were having an argument. And from the looks Rachel threw at me, I knew that this was about me." Blaine explained slowly.

"It's fine, really. She'll calm down again. Maybe she'll tell me how horrible you are, but then it'll be alright. Maybe I can distract her by letting her chose our song for Sectionals." Kurt shrugged. "That should work."

"You'll sing a duet?" Blaine sounded surprised. Most probably because Kurt had told him that he'd never sung a solo in a competition before.

"Yes, Mr. Schue's idea. He said always Rachel and Finn is boring. So he chose me instead." Kurt smiled.

"He made a good choice." Blaine agreed and grinned. "I'd really love to see that competition."

"Maybe you can come." Kurt agreed. Then something else came to his mind. "You watched our performance today."

"I bet you'll win against the Cheerios. They're not as good as you are."

He raised his eyebrows. "Did you watch them too?"

Blaine tried to look innocent, but it didn't work. Kurt stared at him. "You're impossible."

"Just because I was curious? And don't tell me that you're not." He grinned and Kurt sighed.

"Alright, tell me everything." He tried to sound calm, but the excitement in his voice was obvious. And so Blaine did, even if there wasn't too much to tell. Just that they were still trying to make their performance better and that it didn't sound really impressing with only two singers.

"I bet you're going to win without problems." Blaine finished his tale.

Kurt wanted to believe him. "I hope you're right. The alternative wouldn't be very nice."

"Just trust me with this." Blaine said with a smile. And somehow, Kurt did.

Blaine had been right. The New Directions won the competition against the Cheerios, even if Sue was really angry. Nevertheless, the gap in the glee club remained. Santana and Quinn still refused to talk to the rest of the glee club, which meant that they would have to compete at Sectionals without them.

And then they won Sectionals. It was a thrill to sing a duet with Rachel in front of so many people and to his surprise, Kurt enjoyed every moment of it. Their performances were a full success. The Warblers got the second place, right after the New Directions. Which meant that they would see each other again at Regionals. Another great thing about the day was that Blaine was watching the competition. Of course he'd been careful that no one except for Kurt saw him there, but he'd come. Kurt couldn't have been happier.

He met with Blaine now regularly after school. Rachel still wasn't thrilled, but when Blaine joined them in the hallway, she talked to him politely. And one evening, Rachel told Kurt in a surprised tone that Blaine wasn't as bad as she'd first thought. When they were talking about music, Blaine held himself back, but the distaste he'd shown the first times with Kurt was also gone. Somehow, Kurt had thought that Blaine started to feel comfortable at McKinley.

And then there was this tension between Kurt and Blaine every time they were alone. They sang together very often and sometimes, Kurt caught Blaine staring at him when he thought that he wasn't looking. Being with Blaine was so easy and Kurt knew that he was falling for him. First, it had been slowly. But then it happened all at once.

From the looks Blaine gave him, Kurt could even think that Blaine felt the same. However, he wasn't so sure about this. Their friendship was the best thing that happened to him in a long time and there was no way he was going to risk it. He'd rather have Blaine as his best friend for a long time than to scare him away by admitting that he wanted more. And he wanted more. Every time Blaine smiled at him, there were butterflies in his stomach and his heart started to beat faster. Could Blaine really feel the same? Kurt didn't want to get his hopes up. He should just be glad that Blaine had even opened up to him in the first place.

All in all, Kurt Hummel's life was pretty good at the moment.

Just that one afternoon, everything changed.

Kurt and Blaine were just on their way to Kurt's car when someone called their names behind them. They both turned around immediately, just to see Karofsky and his friends walking towards them, all smiling widely. Their intentions were obvious.

"Oh no." Kurt muttered and exchanged a look with Blaine, who's face was a stern mask now. And was he paler than usual? "Should we run?"

"There's one of them behind us too." Blaine muttered and took Kurt's hand. "This way." And then he started to run in the other direction, back towards the school. Soon, Kurt realized where Blaine was heading, but of course Karofsky and his friends blocked their way to the entrance.

And the second time in a few weeks, they found themselves in the dark corner of the school, right next to the dumpsters. However, this time Kurt wasn't their main target. He was shoved against the dumpster a few times, but nothing more. Instead, they kept hold of him and then Karofsky and his friends dealt with Blaine.

This time, Blaine wasn't able to scare them away. Instead, he was shoved to the ground several times and in the end, they threw him into the dumpster. Right in front of Kurt's eyes. Before they left, Karofsky grinned at Kurt widely. "Next time, it's your turn again. Or we'll just throw you in there together."

Once they were gone, Kurt helped Blaine to get out of there again. Blaine's face was expressionless. "Blaine, are you alright?" Kurt asked and looked at Blaine closely. When he didn't see any obvious injuries, he relaxed slowly. "I'm so sorry, this was all my fault."

Blaine still didn't really seem to see him. He was staring at the wall right behind Kurt and didn't say anything.

"Blaine?" Kurt touched his shoulder carefully and was hurt when Blaine flinched back.

"Don't." He hissed and Kurt took a step back automatically.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you." He held up his hands and an uneasy feeling in his stomach appeared. What was going on in Blaine's mind now?

Suddenly, Blaine looked directly at Kurt and his eyes widened. "Kurt, I'm sorry. It's just..." He hesitated and breathed in deeply. "It's not your fault. This would have happened sooner or later."

No, it wouldn't. However, Kurt remained silent. It wouldn't be of any use to start a discussion now.

"Are you alright?" Blaine asked suddenly, ripping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, I'm fine." Kurt replied automatically and it was true.

Blaine relaxed a little bit, but some tension remained in his shoulders. "That's good."

"Should I drive you home?" Kurt asked slowly, still unsure about the whole situation. Somehow, it looked like Blaine's defensive walls were back. The distance which he'd kept from everyone in the first weeks at school.

"No, I'll walk." Blaine muttered and looked around slowly.

"Nonsense, I can take you home." Kurt argued, not wanting to let him walk in a state like this. "My car is here."

"Don't you get it, Kurt?" Suddenly, Blaine's voice was sharp. "I don't want to go with you. You should leave me alone." Kurt thought that he could see pain in Blaine's eyes, but he wasn't so sure. The angry mask on his face made it difficult to interpret.

"Blaine..." He started once more, but he was cut off again.

"I can't do this! Not again." Blaine walked past him and this time, Kurt didn't try to stop him. Just before he vanished around the corner, Blaine looked back over his shoulder. Now the pain on his face was obvious. "Goodbye, Kurt."

And then he was gone. Leaving Kurt alone, feeling completely numb. When he was finally able to move again, Blaine was already gone.