Hi. This is a lot later than intended due to me not being able to find a beta. I messaged a whole lot of people and none of them got back to me. So, I edited it a few times myself and decided to upload it. I am bad at grammer and punctuation so, I apologise for that. If anyone wants to beta for me that would be good. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think.
- Sinead

Kurt sat sullenly on a log. This was the lamest camp ever. Anytime anyone approached him he simple gave them a glare and turned away. He cast his eyes around at the other families internally labelling and judging them.

The family right next to him seemed relatively happy. They didn't seem like the kind of people who should be at a camp for families that are troubled. They had a son and daughter who looked to be around his age. The girl was tall and skinny, long, thick dark hair that stopped at her waist, big brown eyes; she was really gorgeous. If Kurt was straight she'd be the kind of girl he'd go for. Her brother, he assumed, was good-looking as well, pretty similar looking to the girl. Kurt looked him up and down. Not really his type it seemed but there was no harm getting to know him right? He got up and walked over to where the two kids were standing.

"Hi. I'm Kurt Hummel." He said with a smile. They glanced at him and broke into identical smiles.

"I'm Nicholas Duval, Nick for short, and this is my sister Maria." The boy said with a grin. Kurt smiled back.

"It's nice to meet you both." He said politely. "Where are you from? I'm from Lima, Ohio." They both looked up in surprise.

"Oh we're from Ohio too. Westerville." Maria stated with a small smile.

The awkward small talk was interrupted by raised voices. They looked over to the other side of the clearing where a man and a woman were yelling at each other. Clearly that family had issues. Kurt felt sorry for the kids who all looked like they just wanted to disappear completely. One teenage boy about their age was sitting stone faced, clearly upset. He had blonde hair that had been styled flawlessly and stormy blue eyes. He was glaring at the adults, presumably his parents, with a frown settling on his face.

"Is that Jeff?" Maria asked in shock. Nick stiffened and turned away.

"Yes." He said that one word harshly and his polite smile faded.

Kurt raised an eyebrow and glanced back over to the blonde boy, Jeff. He obviously knew how to take care of his hair but his clothes were a few seasons old. Still better than the average around the camp site though.

"So, you guys know him?" he asked gently. He didn't want to draw it out but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He watched interpreting the body language of Nick, who flinched slightly and shook his head, as a yes.

"I don't know him at all." He said in an almost defiant voice and glanced down at the ground and grinding his teeth.

Kurt gave him a look that expressed his disbelief and turned to Maria raising an eyebrow in the hope she might answer his question. She hesitated glancing at Nick before gently speaking up.

"We used to know him. He used to be my brothers best friend." She said starting to say something else but stopping when Nick gave her a glance. She met her brother's gaze. "You don't think if he's here that…" She said her smile slipping and a look of anxiety and worry taking its place.

Nick frowned and sighed. He shrugged and glanced at the gates as if hoping to ward off something. Kurt watched them with a slight frown. He was intrigued. This family was obviously going through something and whatever it was they were relatively good at masking it and yet at the same time were making it completely noticeable something was wrong.

Kurt glanced over his shoulder at his father standing and chatting with another family. His step-mother, no he refused to call her that, that woman was standing next to him. And her idiotic son was over with a few other teenagers probably insulting the intelligence of the human species by even existing. He turned back to the Duvals and smiled politely at them.

Maria spoke up first breaking the silence and offering Kurt a smile.

"So, where do you go to school in Lima?" She asked casually. He smirked slightly knowing this was obviously a loaded question.

"I go to McKinley High school." He said and when she looked like her question had been unanswered he understood. "It's a public school." Maria nodded.

"Oh." She said and offered him a polite smile. "I'm sure its…"

"No. It's not," He said shortly not wanting to go into detail about his school. He didn't want to go there. Not yet. In fact, not at all if he could help it. Maria looked a little surprised by his reaction but nodded again. "So, where do you guys go to school?" he asked based on her reaction suspecting the answer to be from a private school.

"I go to Crawford Country Day and Nick goes to Dalton Academy." She replied shooting her brother a concerned glance.

Since they had noticed Jeff, Nick had been withdrawn and had stared at the ground, grinding his teeth during the silence and recent conversation. Kurt glanced down and noticed his fists were clenched. Well, something was going on here. Kurt's curiosity buzzed. He forced it down for now and looked back at Maria.

"Oh, cool." He said not really knowing how to respond. He wondered if she thought less of him because he went to a public school. He looked at her inquisitively but saw only politeness and slight anxiety on her face.

Suddenly Maria's face drained of all colour. Her mouth fell open and she looked horrified as she stared over Kurt's shoulder. Nick looked up in concern noticing straight away and following her line of vision. His face grew angry and his frown increased significantly. He actually growled out loud.

Kurt snapped his head to look where they were looking. A boy, a very attractive boy, was walking across the campsite towards Jeff. The boy could be considered short by some, he had seemingly thick hair that had been gelled down significantly, and his clothes. That was what got to Kurt the most. He was wearing a waistcoat, a grey waistcoat and oh god; there was a bowtie. That boy was wearing something unique and fashionable and he had styled hair. It couldn't get any better. Could it? And then he smiled. He smiled at the blonde kid whose name Kurt did not care about right now and it was magic. There was no other word to describe that boy's smile. It sent Kurt's heart racing in a way that had never happened before.

Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it Kurt glanced back to the Duvals. Maria looked crushed, soul-less, heartbroken. Nick looked like he wanted to kill the guy. Kurt decided it was better not to ask but before he got his thoughts straight Nick suddenly strode forward.

"Blaine Anderson!" He yelled. The ridiculously good looking guy turned and looked at them taking a step back as Nick strode towards him.

"N – Nick. What are you doing here?" Blaine said in surprise taking another step back. Jeff stood up and began walking over. The tension pulsed out and soon the whole campsite was staring, waiting in anticipation of what was going to happen. Without a word Nicks fist clenched and swung towards Blaine but it was caught by Jeff.

"Stop it." Jeff's low voice rang out and one of the counsellors, Samuel, hurried over.

"Okay boys, break it up." He commanded.

Nick yanked him arm out of Jeff's hold and strode back over to them. He put an arm around Maria who still looked like she'd been stepped on or kicked in the stomach or something bad. Kurt just looked at both of them, confused about what had just passed.

He glanced over to where Jeff and Blaine were sitting, talking, and every now and then glancing over towards where he was standing by the Duvals.

"Blaine is Maria's ex-boyfriend. He cheated on her, led her on and then dumped her." Nick said his voice strained with anger.

Kurt nodded not saying anything. He glanced back over to the two boys. That was strange. He'd thought Blaine to be gay. He was usually right about that. He shrugged slightly and looked back to them.

"And the other one?" He dared to ask but didn't say Jeff's name not wanting to cause any anger but Nick stiffened anyway.

"Me, Jeff and Blaine go to the same school. We were best friends. Blaine was a git. Jeff took his side. End of story."

Nick made it sound like there was a lot more to the story. Kurt figured he was bitter about losing both his best friends but it seemed to be something more than that. He bit his lip not wanting to jump to conclusions but his brain doing so anyway. Could it be that Nick had feelings for one of his friends? Kurt's eyebrow rose involuntarily. He glanced inquisitively at the boy. Maybe he wasn't 'out' yet? Maybe he hadn't even figured it out himself yet? Either way Kurt could help him get used to the idea.

Kurt frowned and cast his thoughts aside. He really shouldn't assume something like that without justification. He didn't want to ask in case it was something they were uncomfortable with. Although it would come up eventually, right now it would be better to stick to safe, small talk.

Small talk made things easier. Talking about their respective towns and weather, pets, animals in general, zoos, vacations and flying got them relatively comfortable around each other. Kurt was glad he had managed to make friends at the camp. He had been worried. He didn't want this to be just another day at high school.

Kurt took a sudden breath in when a bell rang, startling him. That talkative lady from earlier, Sally, stepped up and clapped her hands.

"Okay everybody. That bell simply rings to let you know when food is ready. You have kitchens in your cabins so you can eat breakfast and lunch as a family but we prepare dinner to be eaten in the hall. So, if you could all just make your way over to the hall which for those of you who don't know is that big building to your left." She said gesturing towards the building.

Kurt heard his father call for him but ignored the sound of his voice and walked with Maria and Nick. He had no intentions to deal with his 'family' today. That would be an issue tomorrow but for today he wanted to enjoy what was going to be his summer experience; even though he knew tomorrow would probably ruin his summer.

They were talking about the food; hoping it was good. Kurt nodded along as they walked but found his eyes drifting to that guy from earlier. Blaine. His eyes settled on the boy. He tried to stop himself staring but everything about, even just thinking the name sent butterflies tumbling through his stomach, Blaine sucked him in. Trying to force himself to remember that Blaine was straight did nothing to help.

Suddenly he found Blaine's brown eyes staring back into his. His heart was in his mouth and he felt a jolt of electricity run through him. Kurt felt his breath catch and forced himself to look away knowing without seeing that his face was turning pink. He felt Blaine's gaze remain on him and tried to make it look like he hadn't been affected.

He quickly re-joined the conversation with Nick and Maria trying to forget what had just happened but his mind kept replaying it over and over. His heart was still racing and he felt like he could conquer the world. He felt, strangely and undeniably, happy. A feeling he had never experienced before. At this point only one thing was for sure. This summer would be different than Kurt expected.