A Different Kind of Love

Chapter 2: No Longer Simple

Lucy found Blaine after school. He was sitting in his backyard, against the tree, his knees up to his chest and his face hidden.

While she tended to provoke him a lot, she felt uneasy when she heard him actually crying.

"Blaine?" she said, hesitantly.

He ignored her.

"Blaine, are you OK?"

"No," he croaked, his voice raspy from the tears.

"Oh."

She sat down next to him, and said no more. Because she didn't know what to say.

Eventually he broke the silence.

"Lucy," he began, hesitantly, his voice clearer than before, "do you think I'm... girly?"

"Of course I do, I tell you that every day," she said matter-of-factly.

"Right." He sounded so... defeated. She frowned. Whatever she might say, she liked Blaine. And some part of her really didn't like seeing him cry like this. She slowly put an arm around him and gave him a hug.

"Why are you asking?" she said softly.

"Jim said it today, after class. He said I was nothing but a sissy and a girl, because I like dolls and stories about princesses and stuff."

Lucy huffed. "Jim's just stupid. He only likes football and Pokemon and things like that. Everyone knows that stories about princesses are the best kind, and dolls are way cooler than football."

"Really?" said Blaine, hopefully. "But I thought you said I was a girl."

"I said that because you were whining, not because you like dolls," she explained. His face fell slightly, and she hastily added, "But it's practically a compliment. I mean, I'm a girl. Girls are great." He smiled slightly. "Anyway, I love playing dolls with you. That's why you're my best friend."

"I-I'm your best friend?" Blaine asked, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"Well, yeah. But that doesn't mean you aren't annoying!" she hastily added.

Blaine threw her a blinding smile. "OK! You're my best friend too." His expression turned thoughtful. "But you're kind of annoying as well."

She shoved him, but he didn't look that upset this time. He poked her in the stomach in retaliation, and then ran off before she could exact her revenge. She ran after him, laughing between fake shrieks of rage.

Quinn Fabray was arguably the Queen Bee of McKinley High School in Lima. In fact, she would be the one arguing this. She revelled in her title of Head Cheerleader, Top Bitch. Those who didn't like her respected her. Those she thought might have something she didn't... she crushed them.

But this attitude was hidden under a façade of innocence, religion and beauty. If she wanted something from you she was as sweet as pie. Adults thought she was simply charming. She came from such a good family. She was loved and supported by her parents, who marvelled at their ability to raise such a perfect daughter, such a prime example of Christian goodness. She did well in her classes. Her two best friends were both cheerleaders, who followed the stereotype of a Girl Posse. She had Santana, the second-in-command, also a complete bitch according to many, and regarded as a slut by all, and proud of it. And Brittany, the Ditz. Who was, oddly enough, incredibly sweet and kind. Everything Quinn pretended to be. Quinn actually did like Brittany, though she wouldn't ever admit to hostile feelings towards anyone. Brittany was genuine, if a little... off.

Quinn had the perfect boyfriend. Popular, handsome football player Finn Hudson. Slow, but sweet. Rather like Brittany but... less so. A bit brighter than that. A little less sweet, too. But this worked well for Quinn, as it meant that Finn could go ahead tossing people into dumpsters with Puck and the guys, and Quinn could continue defacing the bathrooms with cruel comments about people she didn't like.

Quinn Fabray made a habit of going on to MySpace every day to check all her friends' profiles. And her enemies'. Especially Rachel Berry's. Rachel Berry... was annoying. And talented. And parented by two fathers, which gave Quinn plenty of ammunition.

No one knew quite why she would hate Rachel Berry so much. And she would never admit her real reasons. She simply said that Rachel was practically a freak of nature, and needed to know that. Needed to at least try and be normal. Needed to stop being so pathetic. That Quinn was helping her, really.

Quinn would never tell anyone that she had once been named Lucy. That she had been friendless, unpopular. That she had considered herself ugly.

No one would know that she had a real best friend, who knew everything about her past, who accepted her.

A best friend who was a short, overly-enthusiastic, ridiculously polite, gay nerd.

She could only hope that no one ever discovered this.

Unfortunately for her, things were about to get more complicated.

Blaine Anderson wasn't happy at his school, to say the least. If you asked him, he wouldn't get into the details, simply stating "taunting" in a vague manner, but the truth was that he desperately needed to go somewhere where he was wanted. Somewhere safer. His mother wanted him to go to Dalton Academy, but his father said that he wouldn't pay for it.

"You're living in Lima right now, aren't you?" John Anderson had sneered at his ex-wife. "The boy can stay with you and go to the school there."

Blaine's mother hesitated. She knew that a new school like the old one wouldn't help anything.

But then Blaine had piped up, miserably, from the living room, where he had been sitting throughout the entire the argument, trying not to feel horribly resentful as his parents decided his future.

"Quinn – I mean, Lucy Fabray goes to McKinley in Lima. I could go there."

"See? Maybe that girl could try and persuade him to be normal," John insisted.

It had been decided. Blaine Anderson would go to Lima.

The first person he met on his first day was a boy climbing out of a dumpster.

"Are you OK?" he asked, reaching out a hand to grasp the one scrabbling at the edge.

"I'm fabulous, actually," said the other boy sarcastically, cautiously pulling on the offered hand and heaving himself out.

He wiped himself down as he picked up a - was that Marc Jacobs? - jacket from where it had been discarded, carefully replacing it on his shoulders.

Blaine just stared. The boy in front of him was so... well, fashionable - pretty, even. Slightly baby-faced, but in a rather angelic way. But the angelic image was ruined slightly by the incredibly haughty expression on his face and the suspicion in his hard grey eyes as he caught Blaine staring.

"What?" he asked.

"What?" repeated Blaine stupidly before flushing in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry. How did you get in there?"

"Some morons who dislike my impeccable fashion sense threw me in," the boy explained off-handedly, no real emotion showing on his face.

"Ah, I see," said Blaine awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to this.

"Thank you, by the way," the boy said, suddenly. "For helping me out."

"Oh! You're welcome. Um... I don't suppose you could show me to the principal's office? I'm new here."

The boy shrugged, "OK. Follow me."

"Thanks! My name's Blaine." He held out his hand.

The boy looked at it in surprise for a second, before shaking it. "Kurt." Something almost like a genuine smile graced the boy's lips, and Blaine smiled back.

A/N: Please let me know what you think ;) Thanks to those who reviewed, you guys made my day :)