Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing.
Kurt sat alone in the library, head bent over his books as he struggled to absorb the knowledge. It was a difficult and strenuous activity, but Kurt needed to get higher grades than he did at McKinley as, at Dalton, they were expected of you. Cleverness was normal here and if he failed to achieve or only got the results he did at McKinley, he'd be frowned upon. And Kurt wasn't too desperate to get that kind of attention, if any.
And so, he was studying almost fruitlessly in the pastel toned room, bookshelves as tall as the ceiling forming walls between the tables. Although it was something he told himself he wouldn't do, he silently applauded the arrangement as, depending on where you sat, you were surrounded by books to do with that subject. Currently, Kurt sat in the history area, opting for the table by the Cold War books as it was the part of the syllabus his homework had been set on. 'To write a three page essay on the Truman Doctrine with a brief summary of The Marshall Plan', brilliant. It was one part of several pieces of homework he had received from each of his classes, excluded home economics of course. The teacher had told him his skills were already exceptional, they should be anyway, after all those years of catering for his dad since his mum died.
With a slight thud as the pages collided, Kurt closed his book and pushed it away- it was probably best he didn't think about his family. Not when he knew he wouldn't see them unless they came to visit him. It was too unsafe for him to return home with Karofsky still loose, so he just had to hope that Carole might occasionally send Finn up to see him. He may not be his biological brother, but he was the closest he was going to get, and the closest to real family he was going to see as he mum was buried in Lima and he didn't expect his dad to drive up to see him. Not after all the trouble he'd caused for his dad's heart when he found out what had been happening.
Sighing, Kurt placed his half finished paper into his bag, pulling out his French one instead. He liked French, it was easy for him as he was fluent in the language and it came easily to him. It was one of the many things he had to thank Coach Sue for. This homework was only a page long, asking him to write about his opinion on modern music in comparison to music from the 80's. This would be easy, he thought, thinking back to all the Journey medleys Mr. Schue had made them learn for glee and placing pen to paper, he could do this.
"Hey, isn't that Bambi over there? Is he still working?"
Theo and Fors snuck into the library, dodging the librarian as they made their way over to Kurt- what was he still doing here?
"Bambi? What are you doing?" Although Fors' voice was hushed, the other teen still jumped at the sound of it, whipping his head around to face the two whilst simultaneously pulling away and putting up his guard. When he saw who it was, his posture relaxed slightly, but didn't shift his body any closer. Quietly, he gestured to his work in explanation, testing his hand on it afterwards in case they decided to steal it. They may have helped him before, but Kurt couldn't be certain they'd be that generous again.
"Umm...Kurt? Have you not seen the time? Dinner's nearly over."
What? Kurt's eyes found the clock on the wall behind the front desk and was surprised to see it agreed with the pair. It was now half past six; he had entered the library at five minutes to three. He'd been in there for over three hours.
"How are you not hungry? You know, we could always make you something again...actually, after what happened last time, it would probably be best to head for the dining hall.."
"Anyway, do you want to come with us? You need to eat."
In truth, Kurt wasn't actually very hungry, despite his small lunch and breakfast; he tended to forget about normal eating patterns when he was working, it was a bad habit of his. He nodded in reply to Theo's (or Fors', he couldn't tell which) question and packed his work and book into his bag, he had finished a good quarter of his work- he would do the rest later.
"C'mon then, I heard it's chips today and if we're quick, we get extra portions from Harriet- she's our second aunt or something like that...I've never really been bothered to find out, as long as we get good food, what does it matter?"
The three boys entered the hall, the smell of freshly baked goods wafting their way and ensnaring their senses. The twins looked as if they were going to float over their by their noses like in cartoons when they first caught a whiff.
"Mmm.."
"Are you coming Kurt?"
'I think I'll just have a salad if that's okay,' wrote Kurt, gingerly holding up the paper for them to see.
"Of course it's fine, but only if you're sure. The chips here are heavenly," asked Theo and Kurt winced slightly at the thought of all the grease. However, he nodded and, after saying goodbye, walked over to the salad bar. He knew he probably should eat more to eat, after planning out his father's meals and lecturing him about having to eat something from each of the food groups, it was kind of hypocritical but he couldn't bring himself to eat anything else. He'd lost most of his appetite since Karofsky had first started hurting him and now wasn't sure if he could eat a decent meal without vomiting. He knew this meant he had won, but he'd lost the resilience for trying to fight it. It hurt him too much to pretend he wasn't breaking inside, and that was part of the reason he'd stopped eating, as well as feeling at the back of his mind that he wasn't good enough for the food. There were so many better people than him who deserved it more, even though many people had told him he was good enough for it. But it's often difficult to tell lies from truth.
As he picked up the fruits and vegetables, he snuck a look over to the table he had sat at earlier. Laughter was coming from Wes and David, both of them looking at the slightly larger boy who was grinning as well and looking at his chips- they were coated in tomato ketchup, the lid obviously have fallen off the bottle when he went to pour some out, resulting in the mess in front of him. Nick held a chip in his hand and was sweetly feeding Jeff, who leant his head on the other boy's shoulder, smiling. As Kurt looked around, he was surprised to see no looks of disgust on anyone's face as they looked at the couple, only one's of adoration. Really, they were insanely cute together, but Kurt couldn't help thinking there was something missing from the group. Slowly, it clicked as Kurt failed to spot the shiny, gelled curls of Blaine amidst the group- where was he? He bit his tongue gently as he realized just how odd he felt without him somewhere near. Blaine had stuck by his side all of the time since last week except for when Kurt disappeared and, through that time, they had bonded. He had made him feel safe, and now, he felt as if everyone was staring at him, even though at least half of the backs were turned. Swallowing the fear that had bubbled up, Kurt finished picking up his food and turned, meeting the twins eyes as he took the food to an empty table at the back of the hall, twisting himself into a place where he could see everyone, but making sure he himself was hidden behind a pillar.
About ten minutes later of sitting alone, Kurt's food had only been picked at, the majority of the salad staring defiantly back at him, challenging him to try and eat more. With a sigh, Kurt pushed the plate away, before reluctantly picking it up and tipping the remains into the bin. He rolled his eyes slightly as he did this- even the bins matched the colour scheme here. The boy placed his plate along with the other dirty ones and left the room, neglecting to see the pitying eyes from behind him of the boys he met earlier who were fighting their instincts to run after him. The only reason they didn't, was because of Wes noticing how the gremlins hadn't sat with him. The only reason they hadn't done that was because Kurt probably didn't want company, otherwise, Theo and Fors would be there- they were very protective once they had decided they liked someone.
As Kurt approached his dorm room, he was startled to hear loud music coming from it, a tenor voice he recognized to belong to Blaine singing along.
"Oh, oobee doo
I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too
You'll see it's true
An ape like me
Can learn to be human too"
Kurt frowned outside the door, realising the other boy was singing The Jungle Book. Of course, Blaine had told him earlier he enjoyed Disney but he did admit to thinking that Blaine had been lying about that, but maybe he wasn't?
He waited outside the door, listening to the music as he debated whether to enter or not. On one hand, he didn't particularly want to go back downstairs as the library had closed early and so the only place he could go would be the Windsor common room- he wasn't too keen on going into the auditorium yet. However, on the other hand, if he entered, Blaine might get annoyed if he interrupted him. He seemed a nice guy, but hadn't he mentioned earlier that if anyone found out about his love for Disney they'd tease him? Kurt didn't want to risk this happening as he had grown attached to Blaine recently, getting used to having someone looking out for him. He didn't know if he could lose a friend again. Not after Mercedes, who he used to be able to tell absolutely anything, had ended their friendship.
Eventually, his train of thought was broken when the hazel eyed boy opened up the door, a towel wrapped around his head as he did so. Kurt realised that the other boy must have turned down his music before he did so.
"Kurt! I thought I heard someone but I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or the twins messing about. Did you forget your key? I'm sorry, I'm blocking the doorway, come in."
Blaine smiled warmly as he stepped aside for Kurt to enter, Kurt mentally thanking him for giving him an excuse for standing outside and nodded along. He looked up curiously to the rather alarming shade of blue that was wrapped around the boy's hair, a tiny curl escaping the towel at the front. Wait, Blaine's hair was curly? That would explain the gel, but curly? How hadn't he seen it before? Oh right, it was probably because he hadn't really looked long enough at Blaine to study his hair other than to note the gel.
"Yeah..." said Blaine, seeing Kurt's stare and giving a tiny grin, "it's curly..that's why I wasn't down for tea, I didn't want to gel it just after I got all of it out."
'Then why not not gel it..?' wrote Kurt, pulling his notebook out of his pocket and writing after receiving an encouraging nod from Blaine.
"Ah, that's..well... I guess I do it to blend in. Naturally, my hair is almost an afro, and you don't really blend in here if your hair's as bad as mine. Of course, nobody would say anything, but...well, after y'know...the dance, I just wanted to blend in. So I started gelling it to fit in and now. Well, without it, it feels like I'm going about half naked."
Wow, brilliant analogy Blaine. He quickly got rid of the completely undapper thoughts that sprung to mind about being half naked around Kurt. I mean, sure, they shared a dorm, but neither went around topless, each changed separately in the adjacent bathroom.
Instead of noticing the light blush on Blaine's cheeks, Kurt nodded, his foot tapping unconsciously to the beat of the song.
"Anyway so, if you don't mind me asking of course, are you not going home for the weekend?"
'No,' replied Kurt, 'I'd like to, but..no.'
"Oh, it doesn't matter, I never do," reassured Blaine, gently patting Kurt's shoulder in comfort. "Say, I was wondering, I was going to redecorate my side of the room and, well, would you like to help? It's just I'm awful at matching things and making it look half presentable."
Okay, if Blaine was honest, he didn't need any help rearranging it but he wanted Kurt's friendship, and it would be a great excuse to make sure Kurt wasn't alone this weekend and hopefully strengthen the friendship between the chestnut haired teen and his other friends. Plus, Blaine really had been intending to redo it and now was the perfect opportunity.
'I- sure..if you want..'
"Of course I do!" Blaine said excitedly, "are you any good at putting up photo hangers? I've got some we can put up tomorrow but I'm awful with a hammer."
Kurt smirked, thinking back to all the times he spent in the garage with his father, using the instrument on the cars before he stopped himself, recalling those memories with his father was off limits, remember? He wouldn't be able to see him for ages, so why bother thinking about it?
'Sure.'