Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The next morning, Blaine woke up earlier than usual, a rare thing for him. He rolled over in his bed, checking if Kurt was okay before he realised what he was doing- it was a habit that Blaine had got into, but he didn't particularly mind. Caring for his friends was part of his nature. He rolled onto his back, staring up into the darkness as he stifled a groan with a roll of his eyes. He'd remembered what had woken him up.

Blaine refused to call it a nightmare; it wasn't a dream that had made him wake up. It had been a thought, a fact, to be precise. And it started with the words 'winter' and 'dance'. Or, more accurately spelt- his father.

He'd be attending.

Which meant Blaine was completely at loss for what to expect- he guessed he would have to talk to the man, but he knew if he acted too differently, his friends would pick up in seconds. But, when Blaine had gone to public school, his father had been very particular about Blaine's ways, cracking down even harder when he came out. So was he expected to pretend to be quiet and still hold respect for the man who'd lost it long ago? He let out a confused sigh, jumping slightly when Kurt began to stir beside him. Quickly, Blaine lay still, silencing the room with the exception of Kurt's breathing. The other boy rolled over, sinking back into a deep sleep which Blaine, almost an hour later, joined.

The next time both boys awoke was to a shark knocking on their dorm door, the sound instantly making Kurt leap to his feet, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. Although the boys had fallen to sleep together now many times after their weekly film, they'd never been woken up to a door banging- especially as they usually hosted them at the weekend. It was a Friday today, exactly a week before the winter dance, but, somehow, neither boy had remembered to set their alarms. Blaine flicked his eyes to his bedside table, reading his clock: 8:45. Ah- school started in about a quarter of an hour.

"Blaine? Kurt? There's an assembly in the hall in half an hour- are you up?"

Blaine cursed under his breath, biting his tongue as he saw Kurt flinch slightly. But at the same time, he was proud of the boy; usually, his jump would have been much more prominent. But, nowadays, not so much around him, and Blaine was honoured to be held with this kind of trust.

"Well hurry up! You'll end up with detentions if you're late."

"Okay!" Blaine shouted back, climbing to his feet and quickly exchanging looks with Kurt. And with that look, both boys agreed to get changed as quick as they could along with where they would- Kurt taking the bathroom whilst Blaine changed in the bedroom.

Ten minutes later, both boys were downstairs, lingering outside the assembly hall with the other scholars as they waited for the doors to open. In one hand, Kurt held a snack bar, Blaine having forced him to take it so he didn't miss out on breakfast. Kurt had frowned but begrudgingly accepted it, hesitant as the other boy only seemed to have one and, if he ate it, what would Blaine eat?

Of course, Blaine had diminished this thought with a wave of his hand, telling him that was wasn't very hungry anyway. But Kurt could still hear the other boy's stomach rumbling.

Blaine smiled as he saw Kurt beginning to eat the snack, encouraging him then continue. Sure, he was hungry, but it wasn't as if he hadn't gone longer without eating. After when he'd first come out to his dad, he'd avoided him for ages, only really eating lunch as any other meal he'd have to eat with the older man. Besides, it wouldn't do him any harm to skip a meal- he'd make sure that he'd simply eat more at lunch. Kurt meanwhile didn't seem to like eating more than his usual salad, something Blaine was intent on changing, and if he skipped a meal, he'd have no reserves to run on.

"Hey Fors," greeted Blaine as the boy appeared by them. Fors gave him a weak smile before going to stand in the corner, watching Blaine out of the corner of his eye. The jet black haired boy had made it his mission to find whoever was stalking Blaine; whoever had hurt his brother. It didn't mean he had to look happy whilst he did it though. Or be happy.

"What's up with Fors?" Blaine wondered aloud, turning back to Kurt and finding the cereal bar was nearly finished.

"You haven't heard?"

Blaine looked around to see Wes now next to him, David in tow.

"No?"

"Apparently Theo's ill- a fever or something."

"But c'mon," cut in David, "when has one of them ever been ill and not the other? Never, that's when. They're inseparable, and, according to Jacob, Theo had locked the door so the nurse couldn't get in. Fors is the only one who can, but, because of the barricade, he's using his usual way of getting around. Which means no one else can follow."

"But if Theo's ill, why isn't Fors with him now?" Blaine asked, sending Fors a not-so-subtle, worried look from across the hall. The teen stared back, his face blank of emotion.

"I don't know," replied Wes, "I hope they're okay."

"Me too."

Just then, the doors to the hall opened and the group were caught up in the move towards the large room, each trying to get decent seats near eachother.

The assembly was on the winter dance; the arrangements, the timings, even the music options. The warblers were to start it up, performing three songs of their choice and afterwards, it would be a DJ for the main event. At the end, the warblers were to do the finale, again, the song of their choice but preferably one of a good beat. On each of the options, the scholars held a vote- it was tradition for The Dean to do this. It allowed the students to have their say, and often he found their ideas were better than his own.

However, throughout all of this, Blaine was distracted by Fors. He had taken a seat next to Blaine without any hesitation when they came in, Kurt taking Blaine's other side. The twin didn't seem to have been paying attention to the man at all though. In fact, during the whole of the time the head teacher had been talking, the boy had had his head bowed, looking from a distance as if he was in prayer. However, if you looked closer, you could spot the glow from his mobile along with the rough outline of something else, also rectangular, under his jumper. Fors didn't seem to be concentrating at all.

Blaine nudged him with his elbow quickly as The Dean started to talk about the general rules: no spiking the drinks, no creating a mockery of the school, no disrespecting the parents- the usual rules the boys at Dalton wouldn't dream of breaking. Well, all of them with maybe the exception of two. Fors looked up at Blaine, looking around the room, suddenly alert.

"What?" Fors mouthed back.

Ever since Theo had told him about Blaine's stalker, he'd been worried Blaine might get hurt, especially after whoever it was knew at least one other person knew his secret. Theo hadn't been able to tell him who it was for definite although he did say that whoever it was probably roomed with Jason- a large, malodorous creature they often referred to as 'tweedle dumb'. Fors would hazard a guess at the stalker being Harrison, or his other sidekick- but Fors could see no reason for it to be them. They simply lacked motive, not even considering their low- levelled expertise. Fors would have to have a scout around to find out who it definitely was, and after what had happened to Theo, he wasn't too keen to do that.

Blaine nodded towards the front, telling him wordlessly that he should listen. Fors shrugged and turned back to his phone, texting his brother for the fifth time in less than an hour to check if he was okay. Each time he received the usual 'I'm fine, stop worrying', but he didn't believe him. He blamed himself, he should be the one in bed with a sprained ankle and bruised ribs. He'd do anything to be the hurt one with cuts on his face; he'd do anything to help his brother.

Blaine sighed and turned back to the front, smiling when he found Kurt looking at him. He bumped the other teen's shoulder lightly with his own, a friendly gesture that had developed between them. Kurt broke into a grin as well before they both started listening again, a tiny smile flickering on Fors' face as he glanced up, spotting the pair smiling before they turned back to the front. They were both oblivious little idiots, and, if he wasn't so worried for his brother, he would have found it adorable.

At the end of the assembly, the warblers were held back, extra rehearsals being held during lesson time now nobody had any tests or anything.

"See you at lunch?" Blaine asked before Kurt departed, looking up at the said boy with unneeded puppy eyes. Kurt nodded in agreement before smiling goodbye and walking off to his first class, pulling his blazer sleeves over his hands and feeling more self conscious without Blaine. Wanting to get out of the corridors as quick as he could, he sped up his walk.

Meanwhile, Blaine had moved to the front of the assembly hall, looking up at Thad, David and Wes who were standing on the higher platform. As the warbler council began to talk about the group numbers and solos, Blaine was surprised to see Fors hadn't left yet. He was a warbler, but Blaine would have guessed he would he would have left to see Theo.

"Anyway, so we have four performances to learn which means four songs. However, this does not mean there is already a set number of soloists- if you want to audition for a lead, please go sit on the left side of the hall, if you don't, please proceed to the right."

Wes smiled when he saw the majority moving to the left. The higher the amount of people who auditioned, generally the better quality of vocals they receive as each boy would try so hard to win. The three moved to take seats in the audience as he waved the first person on stage.