Blaine awoke the next morning full of nervous energy. He was really going to do this. He needed to do this. It was his chance to be the friend for someone that he'd wished he'd had.

As he turned on the shower, he thought of those early days after the Sadie Hawkins dance, sitting in Dr. Mitchell's office every week, trying to put his life back together. He remembered the rainy day when Dr. Mitchell had said, "Prejudice is just ignorance," and how that simple statement had been such an epiphany for Blaine. It had made him want to change the world. If he had a bigger allowance he'd give money to the Trevor Project. He'd become a guidance counselor, or write a song that would help people understand their ignorance. He walked out of that office that day wanting to personally change the world. By then he was already at Dalton, just finding his way in a new school. At first he had just wanted out of his old school, and his parents had been so disgusted with how the aftermath was handled by the administration that the move to Dalton happened very quickly. But the more he talked about his experiences, the more he hated himself for running. If he hadn't been such a wuss, walking around like a victim all the time, maybe he wouldn't have been such an easy target. If he had stood up for himself in the hallways, just once, maybe those guys wouldn't have been so sure that he and Kyle would be easy prey that night. He didn't like to think about that night often, but he often thought of those weeks leading up to it. The taunting in the hallways had been pretty relentless, and all he had done was whine about it to the faculty. Maybe if he had known what to say, and known how to talk about this with confidence the way he felt he could now- he was sure he could have changed some minds. Maybe he could have changed everything.

It was all fantasy, but it was a nice fantasy. There was no way to know what would have happened if he'd ever stood up to his bullies. Dr. Mitchell had assured him more than once about all of this, saying that choosing Dalton was a family decision, and even it hadn't been, choosing a safe environment over a toxic one wasn't being cowardly. It was being smart. But deep down, Blaine still felt like it was. So that is why he told Kurt to stand up to Karofsky. The only way the world was going to change for kids like them was if those kids started talking to other kids and changing minds. Because, he thought ruefully, adults were pretty near useless in this department. At least in public school.

But Karofsky wasn't just another bully now. He really was someone who needed help. Who could be helped, Blaine told himself. He was a teenager just struggling to come out. He probably thinks being a victim is the worst thing that could happen to a person, Blaine mused. Blaine would never admit it, but he too had caved to pressres to "act straight" before he came out. He never beat anybody up, but there were definitely times he heard other kids get picked on and kept walking by, afraid to be included in the assault. And there was that one time playing kickball in his neighbor's yard when they were in fifth grade. He'd kicked hard and the kid down the street got hit in the face and started crying. Another kid went running inside to get an ice pack, but when his friend Jake had turned to him to say "Wow he's such a fag. It's just a ball, jeez...," Blaine had bit his lip and nodded, hanging back with him rather than risking anyone guessing. Blaine had just learned what that word meant, and had just started really wondering if maybe that was what he was. He hadn't been sure what he thought of it yet, but he sure knew what some of his friends thought of it.

Stepping out of the shower and drying off, his thoughts turned to today's plan. He didn't really think Karofsky would try anything, but he knew he needed to assure Kurt that he'd be there for him if he started shoving or anything. Boxing had given him a lot of confidence- he was pretty sure he could defend himself against just one guy. But hopefully that wouldn't even be an issue. He would do the talking, he decided- Kurt was probably going to lose his nerve. And anyway, Karofsky would probably try to change the subject, make it about Kurt if the focus was on him. If it was this person he'd never met before calling him out- he'd have to listen. And at the very least if he knew that someone else knew, he'd probably leave Kurt alone for good. That alone would make all of this worth it.

Blaine rehearsed what he wanted to say in his head as he got into his school uniform. But in some ways, confronting this Karofsky kid was going to be the easy part of all of this. It was the getting there and the getting back to Dalton that would be a challenge. He had to go to his first two classes. He had considered just taking off the whole day but then the headmaster would be asking for a doctor's note, and he would miss Warbler practice. The council would kill him if he missed practice with Sectionals looming. He had to be marked present, just miss part of the day, and hope no one noticed. Study hall was perfect because he could just say he was going to go to the library or the quad to read and no one would really pay much attention. As long as no one was in the parking lot, it was unlikely anyone would even notice him leaving. And he just had to get back in time for Math after lunch. It would be like he never left. Even if he ran a couple minutes late it would be okay, he reasoned. He'd get a demerit or two for being late, but no one would make a big deal of it as long as he showed up. If he got caught leaving, or if he missed more than the first 10 minutes of class, that'd be enough demerits to warrant a detention. He couldn't risk a detention though, because a detention meant having to get a letter signed and his parents would have to find out. Obviously that was simply not an option. But that wasn't going to happen.

He could do this. He had to. For Kurt.