A KLAINE/ PUCKOFSKY FANFIC
What I did for love
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Author's note:
I'm glad you all were amused by the AVPM overload in chapter 11. Sadly this chapter doesn't have very many. : (
I will apologize again for the weirdness of my fonts changing themselves. I swear they are normal in Word, and in the preview, but when I post them, it goes haywire. If anyone can tell me how to fix this, I will love you forever.
***I do not own Glee, I do not own Gleeee, I do not own Gleeeee! (sung to the tune of "Hermione can't draw")
CHAPTER 12: IN WHICH BLAINE GOES TO MCKINLEY AND KURT CAN'T HANDLE IT
Warning: dumpster tosses, football jocks, Rachel
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*MCKINLEY*
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Sam Evans was standing talking to Quinn at her locker, before school on Monday when he first saw the new kid wandering down the hall, checking classroom numbers against a list in his hand. Sam was secretly glad he was no longer the token new kid, and at the same time, felt a pang of sympathy for the lost look in the kid's eyes. It wasn't so long ago that he'd been there himself. Sam watched the kid walk down the hall before turning his attention back to Quinn.
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Blaine had just started unpacking his backpack into his new locker when his phone buzzed: a text from Kurt. He opened it.
courage. ~K
Blaine stared at it for a minute. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He settled for jamming the phone in back in his pocket and busying himself with his books.
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Sam chatted with the lovely blonde for a few more minutes before she had to run off to a quick, before-school Cheerio's meeting. Sam walked back to his locker and noticed the new kid again, cramming binders into the empty locker beside Sam's. He was short and had dark curly hair falling all over his head. Sam thought he looked just like a hobbit and felt an instant liking for the kid.
"Hi," Sam opened his locker and smiled at the new kid. "You must be new."
Hobbit-dude winced. "Oh, it's that obvious, eh?"
Sam laughed "Well, honestly it's not a huge school, and you're starting halfway thru the year, so, yeah people are going to notice. I'm Sam, by the way."
"Blaine." They shook hands.
At that moment a gaggle of cheerleaders walked by in their short skirts. Blaine did a double take, even though he was not attracted to them, he was very unused to seeing girls everywhere. Sam noticed this. "Yeah, the Cheerios always dress like that. You get used to it, but stay away from the blonde captain; she's mine."
"I just transferred from an all-boys school," said Blaine by way of explaining his behaviour. "I can't get over how many girls there are around here-Oh my god! There's another one!" Blaine watched another Cheerio walk by. She took a second glance at him over her shoulder, eyeing the newcomer appreciatively. "Are they allowed to wear those skirts to school?"
Sam laughed. "I know how you feel, dude; I transferred from an all-boys school too, in September, and I was just shell-shocked for a while, I couldn't talk to them properly. I dressed real badly at first, too. Used to uniforms ya know? You've done well, though." Sam noticed Blaine did not look like a Sears add, like he did in the beginning. *wince*
"Yeah, I had help." Blaine admitted.
Sam grinned. "Hey, I'll show you where your classes are; you looked a little lost."
Sam and Blaine wandered around the school, chatting. Sam thought that the new kid was a really cool guy; he had come from an all-boy's school, just like him, and Sam was already thinking of Blaine as a protégé. Sam knew how hard it was to fit in to a new school, and he saw the similarities between them that made him want to take Blaine under his wing and make life easier for him.
Sam walked Blaine to each of his classes, and brought him to sit with some of the football guys at lunch. Sam drug Blaine into a seat beside him "Hey guys, this is Blaine. He's new."
Blaine tried to smile casually at the guys he'd heard had made Kurt's life a living hell. They eyed him rather suspiciously.
"So, Blaine." A dark-haired guy asked, "Buckeyes or Badgers?"
"What? Buckeyes all the way; if they beat Minnesota, they're all set to win the Inter-state Championship."
"Hey! New guy knows his football!" a jock pounded fists with Blaine across the table. Blaine grinned in relief, then found himself swept into a loud discussion about which teams had the best chance of making it to the top five.
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*DALTON*
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Kurt watched in horror as Blaine was tossed into the dumpster, flinching at the as the boy's head collided with the rim with a loud thud, he didn't wake up until he was in the hospital, but when he did, he had no memory of Kurt or Dalton. Kurt watched Blaine, in a McKinley football jacket, dumping slushies on the Tina and Artie with the rest of the football team. Kurt watched Karofsky pull Blaine around the corner, running his fingers through Blaine's curls, pulling him close and bent his head down toward him and- "No!" Kurt screamed, shooting up in his bed.
Kurt leaned over and gagged into his garbage can, then sat back in his bed, shaking and drenched in sweat.
Kurt could not bring himself to eat breakfast, but by 9:00, he had calmed down enough to send a single text to Blaine. Other than an endless stream of worry, the one word was the only thing he could think of. Kurt was having the worst day of his life; he was writhing with anxiety about Blaine. Every loud noise made him flinch, and he could not stop re-playing the nightmare over and over in his mind, and his hands were shaking so much he was dropping things everywhere. His phone was constantly in his hand, waiting for a reply, but it seemed Blaine had turned his phone off. Kurt was going bonkers. He could not concentrate. Finally, at lunch, he called Mercedes.
"Hey, Kurt."
"MercedesisBlaineOK?"
"Yes, he's fine; Finn and I are keeping our promise."
Kurt had made the two swear on pain of death that they would not divulge Blaine's sexuality.
Kurt tried to stop his voice from shaking. "How do you know? Can you see him?"
"Why don't you just call him?"
"The only way to keep him safe is to distance myself from him! The moment one of those Neanderthals makes a connection- BAM! Into the dumpster he goes. Plus his phone is off-MERCEDESCANYOUSEEHIM?"
"Relax, relax! He's on the other side of the caf with Bieber."
"He's sitting with Sam?" Kurt supposed that was safe.
"and..." Mercedes hesitated "some other football players." She quickly covered the earpiece to muffle Kurt's shriek.
"The nice ones! Anthony's there too, but I didn't go over cuz I'm letting Blaine establish himself with a safer crew, as per your wishes. Don't worry. Karofsky and Azimio are somewhere else."
Kurt whimpered.
"Look, they're pounding fists and everything. They like him, he's going to be fine, Kurt."
On the other end of the line, Kurt was pacing shakily in the hall.
"If Blaine is hanging out with football players, he's bound to meet Karofsky sooner or later. What happens then?"
"Blaine looks totally different," Mercedes replied soothingly "It's the hair. And the clothes. Which look great by the way, nice job, Kurt. No one in New Directions recognized him, not even Sam, apparently."
"What's he doing now?"
"Still sitting at the football table, alive and well." Mercedes said exasperatedly "Be quiet, I'll walk you past them."
The diva picked up her lunch tray and walked to the far side of the cafeteria, inconspicuously emptying her tray, and making her way out the door, past the football table and Blaine.
Kurt listened to the passing cafeteria chatter breathlessly and then "-Travis scored eight touch-downs that time-" two glorious, sunlit seconds of Blaine's voice. Kurt's legs stopped working and he slid down the wall onto the polished floor. The cafeteria chatter died away.
"Think you can handle the rest of the day?" Mercedes jolted Kurt back to reality.
"Yeah, thanks." Kurt whispered and hung up. Five minutes later he was up and pacing again.
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*MCKINLEY*
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Sam and Blaine walked back to their lockers after lunch. They were still chatting about the differences between their all-boys schools and McKinley, when Sam's music binder fell out, scattering papers on the floor. Blaine knelt down to help Sam pick them up. He looked at the sheet music for a second then-
"Hey!" Blaine exclaimed "You were the lead for 'Time of my Life' at Sectionals!" Blaine had been so focused on trying to adapt to the new school, he hadn't even recognized the blonde singer.
Sam looked surprised. "You were there?"
Blaine grinned and said "The all-boys school I used to go to was Dalton! I was the lead singer for the Warblers!"
Sam stared. "Whoa. Dude! You are! How did I not recognize you?" he cocked his head "I think you looked taller on stage."
Blaine laughed.
All of a sudden Sam leapt up, a huge smile on his face. "Blaine! Dude! You gotta join Glee! You clearly love to sing and we need another member!" he said excitedly "Whataya say?"
"I'd love that."
"Aw yes! Man, this is great!" Sam bounced around like an excited puppy "Meet me here after school and I'll bring you to Glee Club."
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*DALTON*
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Kurt tried his best, he honestly did, but after his third teacher had sent him to the nurse for looking too white and shaky, he gave up all hope of being able to do schoolwork when Blaine was in mortal peril. Kurt tried calling Blaine again, but the boy's phone was switched off. Kurt told the nurse he needed some fresh air and continued his pacing in the courtyard.
True to form, Wes and David were upstairs watching Kurt pace out the window. David had been hugging onto Wes all day. The pair was uncharacteristically morose as they watched Kurt pace circles around the garden, stop, kick a chunk of snow, pace some more, sit down on the bench, bury his face in his hands, then leap up and begin the whole pacing cycle over again.
David pouted as Wes stroked his hair comfortingly "Don't worry, we survived before Blaine, we can make it without him."
David sighed.
"Hey, like Blaine said, at least we have each other."
David looked down at Kurt, pacing like a madman. "What does Kurt have?"
Wes gazed down at the troubled boy for a long time. "Kurt has a decision to make."
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*MCKINLEY*
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Puck was in the principal's office. Again. He'd been there too many times to count, but today was different because he was supposed to be on good behaviour during probation. Puck had pushed a couple kids around in the morning, calling them 'losers', nothing to harsh, but it still got him landed in front of Figgins, and if he got detention for it, it would go on his record for his parole officer to see. Puck was sure he was going to get in trouble when Mr. Shuester walked in, but instead "Principal Figgins, I don't think another detention will really do Noah any good." The teacher reasoned "Maybe we can discuss an alternative?"
Figgins furrowed his brow. "OK Will. Puckerman, I want to see you in my office after school."
Puck shot a grateful look at his teacher as he left.
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Blaine found Sam after last bell and started walking with him in the direction of the choir room. "Um, will they be OK with this? I mean since I'm from a competing club?"
"They'll be fine with it. Well Rachel might... but don't worry about her. Everyone will just be glad we get to compete at Regionals now."
On their way to the choir room, the pair ran into a few other Glee members. Sam introduced Blaine to Mike, Brittany, and Santana. Mike looked thrilled. "Welcome to New Directions."
Blaine grinned nervously "Isn't it a little early? Don't I have to audition?"
"Well, technically, yes." Artie wheeled alongside them down the hall, "But seeing how we desperately need another member to make it to Regionals, we're pretty much gonna let you in no matter what. It's Artie, by the way."
"Blaine." Fist pound.
"Thanks for saving us, Blaine. Ever sung in front of an audience before?"
"I was in my old school's Glee Club."
"Blaine was the leader singer for the Dalton Academy Warblers!" Sam said, laughing when they all turned to stare in disbelief. "Yeah, I didn't recognize him either. It's the hair."
Blaine grinned sheepishly, following Sam into the room.
"SPY!" screeched Rachel, leaping out of her chair, pointing her finger accusingly at the newcomer.
Quinn sighed and rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Rachel, he's not a spy."
"You may be fooled by the curly hair and street clothes," ranted Rachel "but I have made it my business to memorize the names and faces of every single member of the competition and that-" she shook her finger at Blaine again "is none other than Blaine Anderson, lead singer of the Dalton Academy Warblers!"
"Relax, Dwarf," Santana spared the short girl a glance. "He's on our team now. You. Are so. Paranoid."
Finn got up from beside Rachel and wandered over "Hey man, how's it going? Glad to have you here."
Finn didn't look surprised. Blaine suspected that Kurt had warned him. "Thanks. It's nice to know people."
"How're Wes and David?"
Blaine rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure how long they can survive without me; my phone was literally ringing non-stop. I had to shut it off."
A surprised Puck walked in and greeted Blaine as well.
Finn and Sam proceeded to introduce Blaine to Tina, Quinn, and a still-suspicious Rachel.
"Welcome to the club, Blaine!" Blaine turned to see Mercedes walked thru the door, giving him a dazzling smile and a hug. The hug confused him for a second until he realized her ulterior motive; "For Prada's sake, boy, you'd better call Kurt and let him know you're alive;" She hissed in his ear. "he's been blowing up my phone all day, freaking out about you."
Blaine nodded. Now that he's almost made it thru a full day of public school, he was dying to call the other boy.
Everyone settled back into their seats, and Sam motioned for Blaine to sit down between him and Finn. They immediately started talking football.
Mr. Shuester entered the choir room, with a stack of music. "Sorry I'm late guys. Puckerman," he shot a look at the jock. Report to the office in 5 minutes."
"Does he have detention?" Tina was alarmed, knowing Puck couldn't afford to get into trouble.
"No, I managed to pull some strings and get him a counselling session with Miss Pillsbury instead."
"Nice save, Mr. Shue!" cheered Artie.
Puck nodded.
"Hey, Mr. Shue!" Finn called happily, "Look what Sam dragged in!" he threw his arm around Blaine, shaking him.
Mr. Shuester stared in surprise at the curly-haired boy, sandwiched between the two football players as if they were determined not to let him get away. He looked strangely familiar.
The Glee teacher walked over to shake hands with the new boy. The he realized where he'd seen him; the Warblers, Dalton. Will remembered a snatch of conversation with Kurt: "No, just a friend, but on the upside, I'm in love with him and he's actually gay..."
"Hey! You're-" Mr. Shue seemed to catch himself "-you're the lead singer from the Warblers."
"Blaine." They shook hands.
"Glad to have you Blaine." Will was confused at why the lead singer would suddenly transfer, but decided to talk to Blaine in private.
"So, Blaine," Santana smiled down at him from her perch on Brittany's knee. "Do we get to hear you sing?"
"You heard him sing at Sectionals,"
"Everyone has to do an audition song, even if we know they're getting in." Santana settled herself back against Brittany smugly.
Everyone looked at Blaine.
Blaine stood up. "Uh, can I borrow that guitar?" he gestured to the instrument in the corner.
"It's mine; go ahead." said Sam.
Blaine took a seat at the front of the room and began to play
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Wonder where I am
Somewhere across the plains
These old towns they look the same
Dust my britches off
Head out for the hills
Pray it doesn't rain
Hey baby, I left my socks on your bedroom floor and I'm
Five days to the wind
Hey baby, I'll come around when the snow is gone
And the river flows... on
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The members of New Directions watched Blaine's performance, each thinking to themselves;
Sam: "The dude plays guitar too! We are going to be best friends for life."
Finn: "Good song...I wonder what's for supper... "
Santana: "Damn that boy is a fox. I wonder if he has a girlfriend. Not that it matters."
Brittany: "Is he Mr. Shue's son?"
Puck: "Looks like I've got some competition in the guitar-paying stud department. Oh well, he helped me out before so no hard feelings."
Quinn: "What a cutie. I hope he sticks with Glee after he finds out what huge losers we are."
Tina: (swaying to the music) "Nice voice, new kid. I wonder why he left Dalton?"
Mike: "He looks a little bit Asian..."
Artie: (nodding) "I like this kid, he's got a good voice."
Mr. Shue: "Wow, a lucky break, I sure hope this kid can handle McKinley."
Rachel: "Well I can't deny that the boy can sing, in fact his vocal quality would fit perfectly as background for my solos, or even a duet partner. I wonder if Finn would be jealous if I sang with Blaine. If he's not a spy, that is-"
Mercedes: "I wonder how long this kid can keep up the straight-guy front?"
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Embers burning down
Under Eden's bridge
By the river side
Close my heavy eyes
Covered by the stars
and I'll dream of you tonight
Hey baby, I left my socks on your bedroom floor and I'm
Five days to the wind
Hey baby, I'll come around when the snow is gone
And the river flows... on
Hey...
And the river flows on
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Kurt leaned against the door, watching Blaine finish his song with a ridiculously relieved smile on his face. Now that he could see Blaine, his curls, his smile, the way he strummed the guitar, Kurt felt right at home again; all his anxiety flew out the window. He was so busy gazing at the other boy that he forgot the rest of the world existed until-
"KURT!" shrieked Mercedes, tackling her BFF. "OMG what are you doing here?"
Puck snapped his head towards the door.
"Kurt?" Tina let out a happy gasp, running over to join the hug.
"Kurt?" Finn stood up, confused at the sight of his brother squished between the girls.
With a rush of shouting, New Directions ran over to Kurt and engulfed him in a loud, happy group hug.
"Kurt! We missed you!"
"Kurt! What are you doing here?"
"Great to see you, Kurt!"
Blaine stood back and watched the mayhem with a confused smile on his face. Why was Kurt here?
"Guys" Kurt announced "I'm transferring back!"
Puck stopped dead. No way, this was too perfect. He grinned like a shark.
"WHAAAAT!" screeched Mercedes and Rachel, for entirely different reasons.
Mr. Shue clapped his hands as the Club erupted again.
Kurt laughed happily as he received more hugs from everyone, even Puck, which he didn't expect.
"Look Kurt," Puck said as the ruckus died down "What I said before. No one touches you this time, juvie or not, I'm gonna make sure you're safe."
"That goes for me too, bro." Finn said "What I said at the wedding."
The others chimed in similarly, and Puck caught Santana looking at him with an interested smirk on her face. Puck knew he must be on the right track.
Blaine stood beside his chair, watching the scene unfold. It was touching to see how much they all cared for Kurt; they were like family. Blaine now realized what Kurt had been missing.
A slender red-head in a garish yellow blouse poked her head in the door. "Noah, it's time for our counselling session."
Puck followed her out the door, and the rest of the club moved to sit down, except Kurt and Blaine, who stood staring at each other.
"Kurt..."
Kurt grabbed Blaine's arm, "We'll be right back," he said, dragging the dark-haired boy into the hallway.
Kurt stepped up to Blaine; arms crossed, and jutted his hip out. "a) you look really good-"
"Credit goes to you."
"and b) I know you're going to say it's too dangerous, but it's no use; I'm back at McKinley to stay."
Blaine sighed resignedly "I guess it was only a matter of time."
"Did you really think I'd let you do this alone?"
"I guess I should have known better, eh?" Blaine grinned.
"and c)" Kurt continued with a faux-frown, "Did you get my text? You didn't text me back."
"Sorry, I had to turn my phone off. When Wes and David said they'd text me every five minutes, they weren't joking." He flipped open his phone.
You have 487 missed calls
"I got yours though." Blaine smiled "Thanks; it was just what I needed to hear"
"Credit goes to you."
Author's note: Whew! That took a while- updates coming soon. I hope Kurt's night-mare didn't make you scream in horror. poor Kurt.