Kurt had become accustomed to his best friend not being at the same school as he was, so when he started fifth grade at Lima North, he wasn't terribly heartbroken that Blaine wasn't there with him. They still had their get-togethers-they didn't call them play dates anymore-at least once a month. Each time, they would alternate whose house they went to and would always have a good time. Sometimes, Blaine would teach Kurt something he'd learned in one of his art classes or play a song for him on either the piano, violin, or guitar. Other times, Kurt would tell him a story he made up about some fictional character in a made-up world, or they would have a tea party of sorts. Most of all, though, they loved watching Disney movies together and singing.

What did make him happy about starting school, though, was that he got to see all of the other friends he had made way back in preschool again. Best of all, Brittany was happy to be able to see Santana again, and the three of them became almost inseparable.

Much to his surprise, Kurt made fast friends with a kid during his first week of fifth grade named Frederick. Fred, as he liked to be called, was about Kurt's height and had dirty blond hair that was pretty shaggy. It was long in the front and trimmed on the sides and back. Fred was a bit on the stocky side, but Kurt didn't really mind at all. Fred had green eyes and a shy smile which was one of the reasons Kurt felt they'd hit it off so well; they were both kind of shy. The boys loved to play together on the playground and talk about various things at lunch.

Around the middle of October, Kurt saw a girl sitting by herself at lunch and recognized her from Kindergarten. Her name was Diane; she looked lonely, and since he knew exactly how much it sucked to feel that way, he sat with her.

Fred, apparently, didn't like that. He was one of those types that believed you could only be friends with one person at a time, so he kept trying to pull Kurt's attention back to himself whenever Kurt would talk to Diane at recess or sit with her at lunch. Kurt would respond to Fred interruptions but didn't stop talking to Diane.

One day at lunch, Fred got really mad and didn't talk to Kurt for the remainder of the day. By the time the end of the week came, Fred still hadn't talked to Kurt at all, no matter how much he tried to engage with his friend. Kurt was completely confused and distraught.

That weekend was one of Kurt and Blaine's monthly get-togethers, and Kurt was feeling very off. So, when Blaine asked him about it, Kurt told him what had happened and just cried. He couldn't figure out what he had done wrong and why Fred wasn't talking to him. Blaine had held and hugged Kurt while he was crying, making sure he was completely calmed down before talking to him.

"Some kids are just like that," Blaine told him. "They only want you for themselves and will do anything to get what they want. So, it seems like you're going to have to make a choice and decide which one you're going to be friends with."

Kurt decided that he wanted to try one more time to talk to Fred. The following Monday, he made one last attempt. Fred told him, "I'm not speaking to you until you stop talking to her. If you don't, I'll never be friends with you again."

That solved Kurt's problem for him. He stayed friends with Diane, though there was a huge hole in his heart where his friend once was. Kurt hated disappointing people, and it hurt worse that this was a friend he had made on his own. Brittany and Santana helped any way they could and tried to give him advice, but Kurt felt like this was something he needed to do and figure out for himself. He knew that those two girls would be there for him no matter what, though, as would Nick and Jeff. They were also both at the same school as he was, and the five of them were pretty close.

Diane and Kurt remained friends until the end of February when she decided that Kurt wasn't 'popular' enough for her anymore and left him alone to be with a different group of girls that were popular. This left an even bigger hole in Kurt's heart, and thoughts of his friendship with Fred began to eat at him again. Kurt was so confused; why did the people who claimed to be his friends leave him so seemingly easily and quickly? He just really wanted to have friends that he made on his own, not ones that he felt like a third-wheel around like he often did with Brittany and Santana and Nick and Jeff.

One cloudy and cold day while they were out at recess, Kurt decided that he was going to say something to Fred, who was standing by himself, watching some of the other kids play four-square. He turned and looked at Kurt when he approached, rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"I know that you don't want to talk to me, but I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. I understand if you don't want to be friends again, but if you do, I'd be happy to hang out with you," Kurt said and then walked off to give him space to think about it.

Fred never did come to talk to Kurt, and Diane never tried to make amends. It was then, that year in fact, that Kurt learned a very hard lesson. He learned that there are some people in the world that will use you to get what they want, no matter who they hurt along the way. Kurt knew how that felt now, and he was determined to never let it happen again.

After that incident, Kurt struggled even more to make friends, and when he wasn't hanging out with Brit and San, he was with Nick and Jeff. He talked about the incident very briefly with his parents and Blaine, though he didn't want them worrying about him more than he knew they did, so he never went into detail about anything negative happening at school.

Seventh grade brought yet another school change. He was now attending Lima West with San, Brit, Nick, Jeff, Mercedes, Quinn, and Rachel. Unfortunately, he got put into a class with some of his childhood bullies. Kurt had secretly hoped that they would have grown out of that stage over the past few years, but that obviously hadn't happened. He was lucky enough to have at least one of his friends in all of his classes except gym class. In gym, he only really knew Finn.

Kurt still had hard feelings toward Finn in regards to the shoelace tying incident that had humiliated him in kindergarten. He knew he should probably let it go, but it was hard. Finn didn't outright pick on him ever, but he also didn't stop others from doing it either, just like in kindergarten. That is until one day after gym in seventh grade, sometime right after they had come back from Christmas break.

That particular day in February was one Kurt would never forget. They had played dodgeball in gym that day as a "fun" activity instead of basketball like they had been playing all week. It was a Friday, and he was convinced that Mr. Hughes just didn't want to teach that day. He did things like that sometimes. Finn was on the opposite team from Kurt. Kurt, to his credit, was actually pretty good at dodgeball. He had great aim, and though he couldn't throw the ball particularly hard, his aim was right on target.

In between games, David, Azimio, Shane, Brent, Joey, and Finn were all huddled up, trying to figure out a better strategy. They were tired of losing.

"So, here's what we're going to do," Brent said, leading the discussion. "That flaming princess, Hummel, is knocking us out left and right. We need to all aim for him at the same time. I don't care where you hit him, but he needs to be taken out."

"Dude," Finn interjected, "just make sure you don't hit him in the face. That's an automatic disqualification, and we'd lose that game."

"I said I don't care where you hit him," Brent spat. "Knock his ass out for all I care. We take one loss now, and then, we can win the rest if he can't play."

Finn wasn't feeling right about the plan, but he really didn't want these guys on his bad side either. So, he went along with it. Right after Mr. Hughes blew the whistle to begin, Finn's team ran up to the line to grab the rubber balls, and when Brent yelled "now," all of them threw their ball as hard as they could at Kurt. All but Finn that is. He threw his ball in Kurt's direction, but it "slipped" and hit the wall several feet from where Kurt was standing.

Mr. Hughes blew the whistle and called the game while going over to check on Kurt, whose face was beet red and had imprints of the thatching from the ball.

"Do you need to go to the nurse, kid?" Mr. Hughes asked Kurt, not really caring since it didn't look like there was any blood.

"Can I just go change and sit out for the rest of the class?" Kurt asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah," the teacher answered. "Go ahead."

Kurt hated being sweaty, so he always showered after gym since it was in the morning. He was actually happy that he got to get in the showers before the rest of the boys; they always made him feel really uncomfortable. They'd ask him questions about his mark since none of them had theirs yet, and they'd make fun of him because he didn't know whose it was. Even though he left class early, he didn't take long, knowing that there wasn't too much time left in the class, and he wanted to be dressed and out of there before it filled up with the other boys.

He got out of the shower and headed to his locker only to find it cracked open and his clothes missing. Hot tears stung his eyes. Brent or one of the other guys must have gotten into trouble, and this is their payback. Damnit! Kurt sat down on the bench, trying to calm himself down. When he had stopped crying and had resolved that he was going to have to put his sweaty, dirty gym clothes back on, he heard someone clear their throat behind him.

"What do you want?" Kurt spat at the person standing at the end of the locker row.

"Brent was bragging about taking your clothes, and it's not right," Finn said while looking down at the floor.

"Why do you care?" Kurt asked. "You've never given a damn about me before. Why start now?"

"Because," Finn shouted, finally making eye contact with Kurt, "those guys are asses, and you've never, ever done anything to hurt anyone else. Anyway," Finn continued to talk as he walked to Brent's locker, "I wanted to make up for not stopping things before they escalated. Not just today, but all of the other times before. If you'd let me, I'd like to try to be your friend."

Kurt was looking at him like he'd grown two heads. "You want to help me?"

Finn smiled his crooked smile and said, "Yeah, I do. What do you say?"

"I say," Kurt grinned, "give me my clothes, and you've got yourself a deal."

Finn laughed and handed Kurt's clothes over, catching sight of Kurt's mark. "Listen, no matter who your soulmate is, they're lucky to have you."

"Thanks, Finn," Kurt said and finished getting dressed.

During their next get-together the following day, Blaine walked up to the house and heard singing from inside. It was a surprisingly warm day, so the Hummels had some of their windows open a little, trying to air the house out from being so closed up in the winter.

"Look at me
I will never pass for a perfect bride
Or a perfect daughter
Can it be I'm not meant to play this part
Now I see
That if I were truly to be myself, I would break my family's heart

Who is that girl I see
Staring straight, back at me
Why is my reflection someone I don't know
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am
Though I've tried
When will my reflection show who I am inside
When will my reflection show who I am inside"

Oh, Kurt, what happened? You are so perfect in so many ways, Blaine thought before he knocked on the door. He knew that music meant different things for different people, and with Kurt, he had learned over the years how to read between the lines. Blaine could tell what mood Kurt was in by what movie they watched or what songs they sang. He could tell, without needing any details, what kind of week or weeks Kurt had had at school by these simple things.

Kurt told Blaine about that awful day in gym and how it ended with him getting a new friend. He remembered Finn and hoped that he would keep his word to befriend and help Kurt. Blaine was livid about the situation his best friend had been put in. He was absolutely enraged that these brutes had hurt his best friend. Each time Blaine heard one of these stories, he felt more and more certain about which person belonged to the initial on his collarbone. He knew that he would do almost anything to make sure his friend was happy and safe.

A/N: The song used is "Reflection" from Mulan.