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IN-COG-NITO

-adv. & adj.
(With one's identity disguised or concealed)

Blaine's latest movie role was playing a nerdy high school kid. The producer asks him to do a little research by going incognito at a public school. However things get awkward when Blaine makes a friend who turns out to be a fan of the 'real' him.

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Chapter 2: The Lima Bean

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To: Jed
There's no point, the answer will still be no. What's wrong with a solo interview? Bxx

From: Jed
My agent put that idea forward but the fee would only be $15,000 :( J x

To: Jed
That's still a lot of money. Bxx

From: Jed
Will you please reconsider? At least think about it for a few days? J x

To: Jed
I'm sorry :( There's no chance of me changing my mind. Bxx

From: Jed
Oh come on Blainey, you really want to turn down that sort of $$$?

To: Jed
Not everything is about money :) Bxx

From: Jed
What planet are you from? You can give the fee to a charity if you want.

To: Jed
Ok so things might be different if we were celebrating our 10th anniversary or something. But for now it's dfinetely a no. Bxx

From: Jed
So our relationship isn't important enough? Is that what you're saying? Are you ashamed of me?

To: Jed
Of course not, don't be silly. If it's important to you to have our relationship confirmed I'll put a message on twitter or something. Bxx

From: Jed
Never mind.

To: Jed
Oh please don't sulk *puppy dog eyes* I'll skype you in a bit ok? :) Bxx

From: Jed
Ok, sure.

Blaine let out an exasperated sigh and threw his phone onto the bed. He knew he probably should have called Jed but he wasn't in the mood to repeat himself over and over again. That's what would happen and at least through texts you can get your point across quickly without interruptions. Picking up a bottle of water from his bedside table, Blaine started rooting through drawers, looking for headache pills before he started his report to his producer.

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It was Blaine's third day at McKinley, his second day had been fairly uneventful except for a number of comments shouted out in the hallways and a sticker saying 'Geek,' stuck to his back. His first class was Spanish with Mr Schuester but just as he was about to walk through the door a girl appeared before him, with a sweet smile on her face.

'Hello.'

'Hi,' Blaine replied, stepping back a little.

'I'm Rachel Berry, and you must be Cooper Williams, the new transfer student.'

Blaine nodded and shook Rachel's offered hand, 'That's right, you've done your homew-'

'Now you may not have heard but voting for senior class president is next week.'

'Yeah, I have heard about it.'

'Oh good, well as one of the candidates running I just wanted to-'

'Oh I've already made my choice,' Blaine interrupted, looking apologetic. 'Sorry.'

Rachel's face fell. 'I knew Brittany and Santana would have got to you first.'

Who?
'What? No I-'

But Rachel had stormed off into the classroom. Blaine went in after her and looked around. He caught sight of Kurt who was taking things out of his bag. Blaine felt butterflies in his stomach when Kurt's eyes caught his own. They gave each other a smile and a little wave.

Get a grip Blaine!
'What is wrong with me?' Blaine muttered to himself as he walked up to an empty space next to a boy with a mohawk. He looked like the type of guy you wouldn't want to bump into on a dark night. 'Is it ok if I sit here?'

'Sure dude.'

'Thanks.'

As Blaine took his seat, his neighbour turned to look at him. 'New boy?'

'Yep, that's me.'

'Cool look you've got going on there bro, been slushied yet?'

Blaine laughed, this guy seemed alright. 'Um yeah I have actually... on my first day.'

'Well don't sweat it, happens to most of us.'

'Thanks... you've got awesome hair by the way.'

'The chicks totally dig it... name's Puck.'

'I'm Cooper.'

'You actually you look kind of familiar,' Puck said, furrowing his brow in concentration. Blaine felt his mouth go dry.

Fuck!
'Oh... d-do I?'

'Yeah... you work at Wal-Mart right?'

Phew!
'No, you must be thinking of someone else.'

Blaine's heart rate was just returning to normal after the brief panic when Mr Schuester walked into the room, closing the door behind him and clapping his hands together loudly to get everyone's undivided attention. 'Beanus dias. Everybody open your texts books at page eighty seven please.'

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After his final class that day, Blaine spent an hour at quiz club which turned out to be a lot of fun. After all, who knew that the moon was one million times drier than the gobi desert? He also found Artie to be a really cool guy and was humbled by his positivity and optimism despite being a wheelchair. He was already wondering whether to suggest to his producer about including a character similar to Arite in the movie. The script was being based on a true story but there was already room for creative license, especially if it was a positive one. As he was making his way across the parking lot Blaine stopped when he saw Kurt standing by a car, texting or something. A smile automatically appeared on his face.

'Hi,' he called out.

Kurt looked up from his phone and waved. 'Hey. Staying late after school? You've not earned a detention already have you?'

Blaine laughed and walked over to him. 'No, I was at quiz club.'

'Quiz club? You're settling in fast.'

'Artie approached me about it on my first day... he's a really great guy.'

'Yeah he's the best. Nobody would blame him for feeling sorry for himself but he's always just so upbeat.'

'A lesson for us all huh?'

'Definitely. So did you enjoy quiz club? Or did you just go out of politeness?'

Blaine chuckled. 'Um, well I guess I did go out of politeness to be honest. But the bonus was I did actually enjoy it. Hey did you know there are two hundred and forty dots in pac man?'

Kurt laughed and it reached his eyes. Blaine thought it was the cutest sight ever. 'I didn't. Thanks for the random fact.'

'You're welcome,' Blaine whispered and then he immediately took a deep breath, just releasing he'd been holding it in.

'Actually I'm glad I've bumped into you, I want to apologise for Monday.'

Monday?
Blaine blinked a few times and then shook his head in confusion. 'Sorry, what? Apologise?'

'Yeah... when talking about school bullies and I suggested you ditch your glasses... I shouldn't have said that. I know what it's like not to be considered "the norm" and-'

'Oh God Kurt, seriously... don't worry about it. I was grateful for your advice.'

Kurt raised an eyebrow. 'Hmm, yeah sure you were.'

Blaine laughed. 'Honestly, I really was. You don't need to apologise for anything.'

'Well ok, but I just want to-'

'Kurt,' Blaine warned in a teasing tone. 'We're cool ok?'

'Sorry... I'll shut up now.'

'Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?' Blaine said, turning slightly to leave.

Kurt looked down at his feet. 'Sure, um... Cooper?'

'Yeah?'

'You said the other day that you have a gay brother right?'

Oh, where's this going?
Blaine fiddled nervously with the car keys in his hand. 'Yeah I do.'

'Is he... er... is he out?'

'Everyone knows, he's very proud of who he is.'

Kurt looked up and stared wide eyed at Cooper and then smiled shyly. 'Do you mind if I ask you about him? It's just; I've never known an openlygay guy before... that's pretty pathetic huh?'

Blaine felt a wave of affection towards Kurt. He wanted nothing more than to pull Kurt into a tight hug and tell him that there's a whole world out there outside of Ohio. That gay men will be fighting each other to woo someone like Kurt.

'It's not pathetic, it's... understandable. You may feel isolated now but you know... in a few months time you'll be able to go anywhere and do anything. And yeah, of course you can ask about m-him, I don't mind at all.'

Kurt bit down on his bottom lip for a moment which made Blaine's heart rate quicken and his brain turn to goo. 'Thanks Cooper.'

Don't say what you're thinking Blaine, don't say it, don't-
'Hey are you busy right now?'

Kurt was rendered speechless for a moment before shaking his head. 'Um, no. Just a very boring date with my History essay and reruns of Friends. Why?'

'Do you know the Lima Bean? As much as I'd love to talk about my brother out here my hands are turning to ice and I could murder a coffee and a chocolate muffin.'

'Oh... no no, I wasn't suggesting now… I mean, I'm sure you have much better things to do than hang out with me this afternoon.'

'I really don't,' Blaine replied with a shrug.

Kurt laughed. 'Well... ok... yeah sure, coffee sounds great. I haven't been to the Lima Bean for months.'

'I'll see you there in ten?'

'Ten? I can do this journey in eight.'

'Without speeding?' Blaine asked with a smile.

'Without speeding,' Kurt confirmed and he turned to his car.

Blaine went to his own car feeling half nervous and half excited about the prospect of talking to Kurt. He closed his eyes for a moment before starting the engine and tried to justify his actions to himself as he made his way to the Lima Bean, one of his favourite places when he was a Dalton student.

Surely there was nothing wrong with having coffee right? Technically it was nothing to do with his research but neither was quiz club. Although Kurt wasgay and extremely attractive and sweet and... would people class this as Blaine sort of cheating on Jed? Not that anything would ever happen of course. Ten minutes later Blaine walked into the Lima Bean, and sure enough Kurt was already there, waiting in line, so he moved to stand beside him, ignoring a huff of annoyance from the person behind.

'Hey,' Kurt said brightly. 'Why don't you grab a table and I'll get the coffees?

'Ok, sure. Medium drip please.'

Blaine sat down at an empty table for two and felt a sense of calm wash over him. He'd spent so many hours here, hanging out with friends, discussing set lists or studying for a test. He looked around to see if there was anyone with a Dalton uniform on but there wasn't. As soon as he saw Kurt approaching Blaine took his wallet from his pocket and opened it.

'Put it away,' Kurt ordered as he sat down and put Blaine's coffee in front of him. Blaine's immediate reaction was to look down at his crotch area, but everything was intact. He looked back up at Kurt with a slight blush.

'Huh?'

'Your wallet. This is on me.'

'Oh... no I couldn't let you-'

'No arguments Cooper. You can pay next time.'

'Ok, well thanks.'

Kurt smiled and then reached into his bag and produced a chocolate muffin, placing it next to Cooper's coffee. For a moment Blaine just stared at the muffin as though it was an alien object. Kurt had bought him a muffin... a muffin. His heart swelled, he couldn't remember the last time someone offered him such a sweet gesture. His brain wandered to Christmas when Jed's gift to him was a sweater and shirt he'd been given as a freebie from a designer clothes store.

'A muffin as well? Kurt you didn't-'

'You said you wanted coffee and a muffin.'

'I know but...'

Kurt sighed dramatically. 'We're not doing this againare we? It's just a muffin.'

Just a muffin? Is he crazy?
Blaine laughed and took a sip of his coffee. 'Sorry... and thanks for the muffin.'

'You're welcome. So Cooper... do you live in Lima?'

'Um... just outside Lima. I've lived all over Ohio, my um... my Mom's job moves us round a lot.'

'Oh right, what does she do?'

Shit!
'She's... a doctor. Gets bored after a year or two at one hospital and then transfers to another in a town halfway across the state.'

'That must be hard.'

Blaine shrugged. 'I guess I'm used to it.'

'What about your Dad?'

'My parents are divorced and I haven't seen my Dad for a while. My brother doesn't live at home, so it's just me and Mom... how about you?'

'Well my Dad remarried a year ago so I've gained a step brother, Finn. My Mom died when I was eight.'

'Oh Kurt, I'm so sorry.'

'It's ok... I still miss her everyday but my Dad has been amazing, I don't know what I'd do without him.'

'So you wanted to ask about my brother?' Blaine pushed as he broke off a piece from his muffin and popped it in his mouth.

'Are you sure you're ok with this?'

'I got a chocolate muffin out of it, I'm more than ok with it.'

Kurt laughed before nervously fiddling with a napkin. 'Ok... er, how old is he?'

'He's... twenty two.'

'When did he come out?'

'Um, he was about fifteen I think. He had a crush on a guy he kept seeing at the mall.'

Kurt didn't look Cooper in the eye as he asked the next question, 'What was your reaction when he... when he told you?'

Blaine smiled fondly for a moment. 'He was brilliant.'

'Who was brilliant?'

Fuck!
'I mean... well I guess I had an inkling beforehand. He was terrified of telling me but it was just like a huge cloud had lifted. It was like... so what... and we carried on playing monopoly.'

Kurt giggled. 'He told you over monopoly?'

'Yeah. He lives in Chicago now... with his boyfriend.'

'What were you parents reactions?'

'Mom was great and said she knew anyway. Dad... well he didn't really react at all which speaks volumes I guess.'

'Did he have any trouble at school… with bullies?'

'He did yeah… after he came out. Mom had to transfer him at one point as it was getting really bad.'

'That must have been horrible,' Kurt said quietly. He sighed and stared down at his coffee.

'So why were you at school after hours?' Blaine asked after a few moments of silence, sensing that Kurt may have had enough with the previous topic for now.

'Oh, I was working on my college application in the library,' Kurt smiled as he looked back at Cooper.

'Oh right, which college?'

'NYADA.'

Interesting.
'That's awesome, good luck.'

'Thanks. It's my dream to be on Broadway.'

Oh wow.
'So you can sing?'

'Yeah, I'm in the glee club.'

God does Kurt have any flaws?
Blaine was literally speechless. He was in the exact same position himself two years ago, in his school glee club, applying for NYADA and big dreams of being on the stage. He wished he could just drop the act and talk to Kurt about musicals all afternoon. But most of all, he was absolutely desperate now to hear Kurt sing.

'Do you compete in those competition show things?' Blaine asked as casually as possible.

'Yeah, we've got regionals coming up soon. If we win we'll go through to nationals... so fingers crossed.'

'I'm sure you'll make it.'

'Hopefully, we have a bit of a rivalry with Dalton Academy. We keep meeting them at regionals, they won two years ago and we won last year so…'

Two years ago? I was at regionals two years ago… shit! I've watched Kurt perform. I've stood on the same stage as him? OMG. He can't have been featured though because I would have remembered him… I would have.

'Cooper, you ok?'

Blaine snapped out of his thoughts. 'Oh yeah, sorry… I was on another planet.'

Kurt giggled. 'I noticed. So what are your big plans for after high school?'

'Probably study law or something,' Blaine said vaguely.

'Did you leave a girlfriend behind at your last school?'

'No... girls don't tend to go for the nerdy guys. Glasses... long hair... braces... yeah I'm a real catch.'

'Well when you're a successful lawyer with your short slicked back hair, perfect laser treated eyesight, straight teeth and expensive suit you'll be beating them off with a stick.'

'That's the plan,' Blaine said whilst laughing.

'You know this is really odd... I don't think I've ever had a conversation for this long with a straight guy... and that's including my step brother… but not including my Dad of course.'

Blaine felt his stomach drop. Up until now he had thought that Kurt was somewhat enjoying their coffee and chat, but just as he went along to quiz club out of politeness, it looks as though Kurt came to the Lima Bean for the same reason. So he didn't want to hang out with a 'straight' guy?

Blaine sat up straighter on his chair, preparing to leave. 'I'm sorry, this is too uncomfortable for you right? We can leave if you want, or… or I can leave?'

Kurt's eyes widened in alarm. 'Oh gosh no, I- I wasn't implying this was too weird for me... I guess I'm more concerned that youmight feel uncomfortable.'

Blaine resisted letting out a sigh of relief and gave Kurt a reassuring smile instead. 'Me? Why would you think that?'

Kurt blinked a couple of times before looking away. He started to remove invisible pieces of fluff from his sleeve. 'Guys don't really talk to me... um...'

Blaine felt a lump in his throat. He decided to speak quietly and softly, hopefully proving to Kurt that what he had to say was entirely genuine. 'There's no need to feel embarrassed, it's a reflection on them, not you. It's a real shame that's how things are for you and that a lot of kids these days still harbour so much bloody prejudice.'

Kurt's fingers had stopped on his sleeve and Blaine saw his adam's apple bob up and down. All of Blaine's instincts were telling him to reach other and take Kurt's hand, but he resisted, balling his fists up in his lap instead.

'Are all your friends female?' Blaine asked when Kurt had still not spoken. He looked back at cooper and let out a small chuckle.

'Yep. But they've got boyfriends and with it being senior year everyone's so focused on grades, applications and spending all their free time with their loved ones. Even my dad's still in the honeymoon phase with Carole so there's been far less father son bonding time recently.'

Twenty minutes later found them walking out of the Lima Bean, pausing and smiling at each other. Kurt was the first to speak. 'So er… I'll see you at school.'

'Yeah… hey we should exchange numbers.'

'Sure,' Kurt smiled. 'Gimmie your phone and I'll add my number.'

Blaine was about to reach into his pocket when it struck him that his phone had his name displayed on the home page. 'I just remembered, my battery died in English... too busy playing brick breaker when the teacher wasn't looking.'

'Here,' Kurt said, holding out his iPhone. Their fingers touched briefly in the exchange and Blaine felt his breath hitch in his throat. He was glad they were outside, the noise enough for Kurt not to have caught it. Blaine handed the phone back, choosing to drop it into Kurt's waiting hand. 'Bye Cooper.'

'See you tomorrow Kurt,' Blaine replied and then he turned around and walked to his car. Before he even got to it he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

From: Unknown
Hi Cooper, it's Kurt :)

Blaine drummed his fingers against the steering wheel and sighed. Although not without its emotional element, coffee with Kurt had been the best fun he'd had in a long time. Why did all these lies to Kurt suddenly seem so wrong and devious?

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It was 8pm and Blaine was on the phone to his producer Adam, discussing his experience so far at McKinley. '...great you're so passionate about this role but nobody will blame you if you've already had enough. The reactions you received on your first day were fantastic material, never mind anything else.'

'I just want to get a better feeling of the character and being at McKinley has really helped me understand you know? I want to know I did my best.'

'Of course, it's entirely up to you Blaine.'

'I'm not the greatest actor and I know I'm getting jobs off the back of my singing-'

'Listen to me; you wouldn't have got this gig if we didn't think you were good enough. If there's anything you've got to work on man, it's your confidence. When I've seen you singing you just ooze so much passion and heart, you don't need to prove yourself to anyone by trying too hard. Just use the same energy from the stage.'

'Thank you therapist,' Blaine said and they both laughed. 'I'll work on it.'

'Cool. We'll send out the second draft of the script on Friday, but let us know if your whereabouts change so we can inform the couriers.'

'Will do Adam... talk to you soon.'

'Take care Blaine.'

Blaine knew Adam was right. His singing led to a six month run on Broadway, which led to a supporting role in a couple of big movies, which led to where he was now. In a way he felt like he'd cheated his way into acting and that was a huge factor in his confidence issues. The critics had slammed Blaine's acting skills before he'd even begun shooting the movies he was in. Putting all that out of his mind for the moment, Blaine left his room and went downstairs where his aunt Susan and Nate had already arrived for dinner, the latter sitting on the sofa in the lounge watching telly. Blaine sat himself down next to him and ruffled his hair.

'Hey Nate.'

'Hey hobbit,' Nate laughed.

'Yeah we'll see whose laughing when you stop growing and are three inches shorter than me.'

'Whatever Blaine… do you have to buy clothes from the kids section?'

'Ouch,' Blaine replied but was smiling too.

'You have really silly hair too.'

Blaine frowned and ran a hand through his curls. 'Anything else you want to get off your chest?'

'Yeah, you have like no fashion sense and your eyebrows are totally weird.'

Blaine laughed, picked up a cushion and hit Nate over the head with it. 'Two minutes with you and my feet are firmly stuck on the ground... with extra strong super glue. Thanks Nate.'

'No problem dude. So... how far have you got on angry birds?'

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It was friday afternoon and as soon as the bell went, signalling the start of their lunch hour, Kurt looked at his phone which he had felt vibrate at some point during the lesson. His stomach sank however, when he saw who the text was from.

From: Karofsky
Did you give my last text any thought? We could do something over the weekend if you like? :)

Kurt sighed and put his phone away without replying. On one hand it would be nice to have a friend that had some idea what it felt like to be an outsider, someone to go to the movies with. But Karofsky was making it impossible with his constant pursuit despite Kurt turning him down flat on more than one occasion. Kurt could go and hang out with Karofsky over the weekend and a part of him was tempted, but he refused to give him false hope and further ammo to continue with the chase.

Karofsky was probably just as lonely as he was. When Kurt really stopped and thought about it, not only was he devoid of a best friend, he barely had a proper friend at all, not one he could call at any time and say, 'hey come over, we'll eat ice cream and talk about boys.' Rachel had Finn, Tina had Mike, Mercedes had Sam, Quinn had Joe, Santana had Brittany. Puck and Artie were never going to be more than casual acquaintances. As for Rory and Sugar, they were two years younger and seemed to live on an entirely different planet to the rest of them.

The person he had spoken to the most in the past few weeks was Cooper, and he'd only started at McKinley four days ago. Kurt would laugh if it wasn't so depressing. Because once Cooper settled in more and made friends with other 'straight' guys he would just become another person he randomly smiles at in the hallways.

His belly rumbling pulled Kurt out of his depressing thoughts and he finally left the classroom and made his way to the canteen.

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AN

Thank you so much for those who reviewed the 1st chapter, it's amazing to hear your feedback. I'd love to hear your comments about this chapter too pretty please with cherries on top? :P

(Name Kurt's Bully)
I haven't come up with a name yet for the guy who bullies Kurt the most at McKinley so would really like any suggestions you wish to throw my way :) There is a reason behind the bullying, however he's not a closet gay like Karofsky was.

*Chuggeroo* :)

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