Kurt and Tina were talking about sweater trades with Dylan quietly giggling in the background until he turned his head and heard a clattering noise nearby. His head whipped back around to see Kurt against the lockers while receiving a glare from local Neanderthal Dave Karofsky.
"Are you okay?" Tina asked.
"Yeah. Fine." Kurt replied, when he obviously wasn't.
Dylan looked to Kurt with concern before looking back to Karofsky with hellfire lighting up his eyes. Dylan strode past the countertenor and the goth girl, hearing protests from both but they went through one ear and out the other when Dylan grabbed the back of Karofsky's left shoulder and pushed him as hard as he could into the lockers.
"What the hell?" Karofsky yelled while Dylan grabbed the front of the football player's letterman jacket.
"Now you know how it feels being shoved into the lockers. So…how does it feel, David? Huh?" Dylan snarled, his face inches away from Karofsky's.
"Get your ballet homo germs away from me, Armstrong. No wonder you play soccer, I bet those ballet classes make your girly legs run faster." Karofsky sneered with a great smirk on his face. Dylan growled before colliding his forehead with Karofsky's, head butting the boy. Karofsky fell to the floor and growled in pain and Dylan was about to hit him before he felt a hand on his shoulder. Dylan's head turned sharply before his eyes met Kurt's piercing yet fearful gaze and the fire inside Dylan's blue irises was immediately extinguished.
"Don't." he whispered and Dylan sighed before looking down at Karofsky, who was holding the back of his head. Dylan grabbed the other boy's letterman jacket again and lifted him onto his feet.
"I'm only gonna say this once so listen good, Karofsky: Leave. Kurt. Alone." He said with an icy tone to his voice before pushing him away again and turned his back to Karofsky, walking towards the choir room with Kurt and Tina.
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Mr. Schuester was looking at some sheet music when he saw Dylan, Kurt and Tina enter the room.
"Alright, guys, let's get down to business. First, let's welcome back Noah Puckerman." Will said and most people applauded, apart from Jack and Dylan could've sworn he actually heard him booing.
"Puck, I hope your time in juvie has taught you a lesson or two about right and wrong." Mr. Schuester said.
"Are you kidding me? I ruled that place. All I did was lift weight and crack skulls all day." Puck replied.
"Wow, what a catch. Can't believe I ever let you go." Quinn said and Dylan couldn't help but laugh.
"And now drum roll, Finn because I have in my hand, our competition for Sectionals next month. First, the acapella choir from the all boys private school in Westerville, the Dalton Academy Warblers." Will then said and Dylan's eyebrows quirked. Both of his older brothers went to Dalton and the eldest: Eric was in the Warblers when he was there.
This could be interesting.
But then Dylan promised to make sure that information doesn't get to Jack or else god knows what the prankster will come up with to get any information about the Warblers out of him.
"Okay, hold up, like a million awesome gay jokes just popped into my head." Santana said and Dylan couldn't help but clench his fists after what happened earlier with Kurt.
"And the other team to beat, the Hipsters, a first year club from the Warren Township Continuing Education Program. Now, they are a Glee club composed entirely of all elderly people getting their high school GEDs." Will said.
"Is that legal?" Rachel asked.
"How are we suppose to compete against a bunch of adorable old people?" Mercedes added on.
"Are you kidding? Brittle bones. Give one of those old ladies a good luck pat on the rear and it will shatter her pelvis." Puck countered, leading Dylan to repeat his now signature eye roll.
"Moving on, since it seems to get you guys jazzed about Sectionals last year, I want to make this week our second annual boys versus girls tournament. So, split up into two groups and figure out what songs you're going to sing." Mr. Schuester announced and Dylan smiled. This would be his first time in the mash-up competition but Quinn had heard about the whole Vitamin D thing. He felt excited to do it. He had heard Rachel and Jack say something about a mash-up emergency list before something broke his trail of thought:
"Kurt, I'm going to say it again, boy's team."
Dylan turned his head to see Kurt looking to Mr. Schuester before sighing and going over to the boy's team. Dylan concluded that Kurt either was or wanted to be on the girls' team last year.
When Kurt made his way over, Dylan offered him a comforting smile.
"Hey, don't worry. With you, we'll win hands down with your Patti LuPone voice." Dylan said, gently nudging Kurt's shoulder before his smile fell when he saw Kurt wincing in pain.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry." Dylan said but Kurt raised his hand.
"It's okay. It's just a little bit of pain. Nothing too serious." The Alexander McQueen fanatic said and Dylan sighed before nodding and gently patting Kurt's back before they discussed their mash-up ideas with Sam suggesting an AC/DC medley where Dylan kind of zoned out.
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"Look, I'm not tossing the baby out with the bath water here." Will said.
"I've totally done that." Brittany said almost happily and Dylan smiled before gently squeezing the girl's shoulder.
"We're just making an adjustment. Boys, you are now doing songs traditionally sung by girl groups. And, girls, try some classic rock. Uh, The Who, The Stones. The more opposite your choice, the more points you get." Will then said. Dylan looked to Kurt and smiled and the boy smiled back before turning to the other boys.
"Don't worry, gentlemen. I have this one under control." He said and Dylan let out a little chuckle.
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"Now, obviously for this medley to work, I'm gonna have to sing lead. And of course when you're singing Diana Ross, Bob Mackie-esque marabou feather boas are a must!" Kurt said.
"Isn't this lesson about opposites? I mean, you in a sequined gown and a feather boa is exactly what you'd expect." Artie then said, looking quite worried about what Kurt had suggested.
"Okay, who said anything about a gown?" Kurt reasoned.
"Uh, dude? Make yourself useful by putting "rat poison in old folks' Jell-O or spying on The Garglers." Puck then said.
"The Warblers." Kurt corrected.
"Whatever. You can wear all the feathers you want. You'll blend right in!" Puck said and Dylan looked to Puck with cold eyes. What is it with the freaking gay jokes? And are they all blind? Can't they see he's hurting?
"Fine." Kurt said, taking his clipboard and walking out. Dylan stood up and followed Kurt while hearing Jack say: "His ideas? Too easy."
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"Kurt! Wait up!" Dylan called out, running down the corridor. He soon caught up with Kurt, who looked annoyed.
"I'd ask if you're okay but that's stupid." Dylan said but Kurt stepped in.
"No. It's not. In fact, Puckerman just gave me an idea…although that surprises me terribly. Tomorrow, I'm going to Dalton Academy to see what they're up to." Kurt said.
"Well, I'll come with you. I mean I don't think I'd be able to survive Artie's lectures on Star Wars and Puck telling us over and over again his record number of women he slept with in one night if you're not there to talk to." Dylan said and Kurt let out a smile.
"Thanks, Dylan. That's very kind of you. But maybe it's also a chance to get away from what's been happening. And I'll call you when I need picking up." Kurt said and Dylan smiled.
"Okay." Dylan said and they both laughed.
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"Watch and learn, young Jedi in a wheelchair." Puck said before strumming some chords on his guitar.
"This is so…badass. I've never broken the rules like this." Artie said before seeing Dylan about to walk past them.
"Yo, Strong Arm." Artie said, raising his fist that Dylan bumped as he passed them.
"Wanna sing with us? We'll give you a 2% cut of the money we get." Puck said and Dylan quirked his eyebrows again.
"As tempting as that sounds, I can't. I just got a text from Kurt. I have to pick him up from Dalton. Apparently he was a bad spy." Dylan said before walking away. The other 2 boys looked to each other and shrugged before singing 'One Love/People Get Ready'.
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"I let bullies chase me away, and it is something I really, really regret." A boy in a Dalton uniform said just as Dylan spotted Kurt.
"Kurt." Dylan called out and Kurt looked to Dylan and smiled before motioning him over. Dylan grinned before walking over.
"Dylan, this is Blaine Anderson: he's a member of the Warblers. Blaine, this is my friend Dylan Armstrong: he's in New Directions with me and probably the only person who really notices the extent of what's been happening." Kurt said and the two boys shook hands.
"My older brother was in the Warblers. Eric Armstrong. Do you recognize that name?" Dylan asked and Blaine nodded and smiled.
"Yeah. He was the first ever Warbler soloist I saw when I looked at schools to come to. He sang 'Ain't No Sunshine'." Blaine said and Dylan nodded at the mention of the song. Eric and Dylan were definitely the singers of the Armstrong family.
"Kurt. We'd better head back. Mr. Schuester doesn't know that you're here and if he finds out then he won't be happy. Especially after the whole Vocal Adrenaline thing I heard about." Dylan said and Kurt nodded before standing up.
"I'll see you soon, Kurt." Blaine said, giving him a friendly pat on the back before shaking hands with Dylan again.
"Nice to meet you, Dylan." the Warbler said and Dylan sent him a warm smile.
"You too, Blaine." Dylan said before the two McKinley boys left the Dalton café.
"Sounds like a cool guy." The blonde said to the brunette, who grinned.
"He is." Kurt replied before reaching Dylan's car.
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"If you don't want my help then fine. You're on your own." Puck said, leaving Artie on his own. Dylan was sat in a nearby booth with his mom and dad and he felt bad for the boy. The blonde had witnessed the whole conversation and saw Brittany flirting with Artie. That made him insanely jealous. In fact, his parents noticed and had asked him what was wrong to which he replied "Nothing" before looking to his hand and seeing a crumpled bread roll that he suddenly wanted to pelt of the wheelchair boy's head. But now that the boy was on his own, Dylan actually felt sympathy for him. Dylan stood up and went over to him.
"Hey." He said and Artie looked to him and showed a smile.
"Hey." He replied.
"I saw what happened over there. I'm sorry." Dylan then said and Artie sighed.
"It's fine. I should've expected it anyway from Puck." Artie said and Dylan let out a laugh before sighing himself.
"When we've finished our meal, we're taking you home." Dylan said and Artie looked up, looking hopeful.
"Really?" he asked and Dylan smiled, nodding.
"Sure. No one leaves a teammate behind." The blonde said and Artie smiled to him before they did their traditional fist bump.
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The next day, Dylan was walking down the corridor. The girls were scheduled to perform their mash-up today and Dylan was quite excited about it. Quinn had been giving subtle hints (with fear of being hounded by the other girls) but she didn't really care. He just turned the corner when he heard a voice behind him.
"Hey." It called out and Dylan turned to see Artie wheeling next to him.
"I wanna say thanks for what happened last night. I wasn't really feeling the short bus home." Artie said and Dylan smiled, patting Artie's shoulder.
"No problem. What are friends for?" Dylan asked before seeing someone walk down towards them. Dylan's heart started beating tenfold. He started to sweat and his mouth grew into a goofy grin. Brittany smiled at the 'love struck' Dylan while being completely oblivious about the 'love struck' part and waved to them. Dylan waved back and let out a little goofy grin as she walked into the choir room. He then looked to Artie who was now scowling at him before he wheeled past into the choir room.
Oh it's on Wheels.
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The girl's mash-up was amazing and honestly, Dylan had no idea how the boys were going to top it. He had left something in the locker room and headed in to see probably the last thing he was expecting. Jack Harmon out cold on the floor and Kurt standing by a row of lockers looking traumatized.
"What happened?" Dylan asked and all he got was a strangled sob escaping Kurt's mouth. Dylan ran over and wrapped one hand around Kurt's shoulder before sending a group text to the whole club apart from Jack and Kurt.
Get to locker room. NOW.
They were there in minutes, with Mitchell asking "How did Kurt knock out Jack?" before Dylan, Mitchell, Mike and Puck carried Jack to the nurse's room with the rest of the glee club behind them.
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Soon enough, Jack's eyes fluttered open to see everyone looking down on him.
"I just had the weirdest dream. I was the Tinman in The Wizard of Oz. Rachel, you were the Wicked Witch of the West." He said before his eyes diverted to Finn.
"You were looking for a brain." He then said before looking to Kurt.
"You were Dorothy, which is appropriate considering. And Karofsky, of all people, was the Cowardly Lion. Then a train went into a tunnel. And I heard kissing noises. Then I woke up." Jack said and everyone looked to each other before looking to Jack as if his brain was taken away by HarmCo and replaced with the Yellow Brick Road.
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Dylan walked around the corner to see Kurt dressed in canary yellow, on the floor against the lockers with his knees tucked into himself. Dylan rushed over and comforted the boy before helping him up.
"If I see him, Kurt. Just to warn you, I will end up hurting him." Dylan said and Kurt sighed, not answering.
"Come on. We need to get changed for our amazing mash up as arranged by Mr. Kurt Hummel." Dylan said and Kurt showed a small smile before they walked away.
Now they had finished performing 'Stop! In The Name Of Love/Free Your Mind' and most of the guys hugged Coach Beiste with the exception of Mitchell who just stood there awkwardly, Jack who actually leapt backwards and Dylan and Kurt who just smiled to each other.
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Okay, so this is actually shorter than I expected it to be and 'The Substitute' will be quite a short chapter too but I have big things planned for 'Furt' and 'Special Education' so watch this space!
I am actually also writing a oneshot that is going to be based around the actors and not the characters. It's an experiment so we'll see how it goes and if it's good enough, I'll post it :)
"How many chapter will it take…to get reviews?" Original Song = Best Glee Episode so far