Right! I have news on the smut front!

Thanks to everyone who got back to me - we had a lot of people saying they wanted it and a lot saying they didn't, so I'm going to do it like this:

There will be no smut in YDOYD - the story is still a T so there will be some pretty intense makeout scenes, but nothing more than that.

To please the people that wanted smut, I am thinking of writing a seperate story, which will either be a extra chapter of this or a completely different story altogether - this will be M rated. I can't say when it will be put up though because I am super busy and want to concentrate mainly on writing YDOYD. But it will happen.

Also a HUGE thanks to the people that joined the Facebook group - I have had some nice conversations with the 5 people on there! Lol. Please can other people join too, and take part in the polls/questions I'm asking, because it will actually help me with the writing.

Ok, I think that's it - enjoy the fencing tournament!

Liz xxx

Chapter 25 - Fencing

The next morning I woke up to a text.

Morning boyfriend.

Rolling across my bed I clutched my phone to my chest and laughed, high-pitched excited girly laughter. I was tempted to ring him up, but knew we'd be trapped in conversation for hours and I would definitely miss Spanish. Showering was the next call.

On the way to class I received my next message.

Do you want to grab lunch together? You can meet me at the common room or I can sit with your friends.

After the initial internal squealing I pondered the thought. Another trip to the senior common room was an appealing prospect, but I wanted to show my support for Artem throughout the day, as he prepared for the evening fencing tournament. Hmm… My thoughts were interrupted however when I walked into the classroom and was yet again ambushed by Scott.

"Hey Kurt, got a text from the boyfriend?" He grinned and I looked back at him, surprised. Normally he would have been the first to know about such major events, but I'd spent the rest of the evening working on my paper, so had had no time to tell my news to anyone.

"You think I don't know? Blaine's been shouting it to anyone that'll listen." His grin widened and I blushed, looking back down at the text, which made me blush even more.

"That's…nice." I responded weakly, not really knowing what else to say. Scott laughed.

"Oh God Kurt, how old are you – thirteen? It's freakin AMAZING! You finally got what you wanted." I received a thundering slap on my back and tried not to cringe, smiling instead.

"I guess I did."

"So? Is it from him?" Motioning to my phone Scott looked questioning again and I nodded.

"Yeah, He wants to meet for lunch in the common room."

"The common room?" Immediately the eyes of my best friend lit up. "Oh my God those sandwiches…" I laughed as he began salivating.

"I don't know if I should go though," I continued, ignoring the horrified look that was shot my way, "I'm supposed to be supporting Artem." Scott's aghast expression dissolved.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. The fencing thing's today huh?"

"Yup."

"Darn it. I guess those sandwiches will have to wait." Sitting down at our desks I quickly typed a reply into my phone and slipped it back into my pocket, noticing Scott glancing at me happily as I did so.

"Why are you so cheerful?" I asked incredulously. "It's almost like Blaine's your boyfriend!" He grinned again.

"I'm just happy because now I get to be your proper best friend." My eyebrows furrowed.

"Proper best friend?"

"Yeah. I was the friend, but Blaine was always the best friend, because you loved him. Now that he's the boyfriend I get to be the best friend at last." Laughter spilt out of my lips – I glanced back over at Scott to see if he was joking but the expression on his face stayed the same. Dear Gaga, he was actually serious about this.

"Scott – you've always been my best friend." I replied, still not quite believing what I'd heard. "Blaine was…well he was something different."

"Whatever Trevor, I still get all the best friend perks." I was about to enquire about what these were, before Scott my textbook and began leafing through it for the notes I'd scribbled about last lesson. So that's how it was going to be…

At lunchtime I was nervous. My couscous was being pushed around my plate without any of it reaching my mouth – my eyes were trained on the doorway. Every time a figure walked through my heart would leap, but Blaine was late. It wasn't even that big a deal – we weren't on a date or anything. But I was still nervous all the same.

"Earth to Kurt?" A hand waved in front of my face, kindly smacking me in the nose the second time and I flicked out my arm to hit Scott on the head without looking.

"Argh!" The aggravated shout made me smile and I turned to see him rubbing his temple with a sad look on his face.

"That's no way to treat your best friend!" Immediately I rolled my eyes.

"Will you shut up about this best friend thing? We've already clarified that you we-" Scott cleared his throat, looking pointedly across the room and my head flicked round to see Blaine heading towards us. When our eyes met smiles blossomed on our faces – it was hard not to do a cheesy slow-motion run, but I stood up in time for him to reach our table.

"Hi, boyfriend." He said with a smile.

"Hi." I stepped forward to hug him but was suddenly swept into a tight grasp and felt lips press against mine. Lips and teeth and…tongue? Surprised I pulled away – Blaine seemed to find my shocked expression amusing.

"Blaine" I said in a hushed tone. "We're in the middle of the cafeteria." He laughed.

"I know. Aren't I allowed to show you off?" As he spoke he tightened his grip around my waist and moved on of his hands slightly lower. I bit my lip to stop myself from squealing.

"Yes, but perhaps not so…passionately. We're taking it slow remember?" Blaine's mouth pulled into a pout and I giggled, making him smile again.

"Ok, fine. But hi." He pressed another quick kiss to my lips and I let out an indignant noise, shaking my head as I sat down. Blaine pulled up a chair beside me and proceeded to drape his arm around my shoulders. Jeez, he was being affectionate today.

"Sooo," Scott began, obviously being privy to our little show "now that you guys have finished sucking each other's face off, I'd like to formally introduce myself." Holding out his hand towards Blaine I saw my boyfriend's gorgeous eyebrows furrow. "Scott Macleod – Kurt's best friend." Blaine paused, obviously expecting to hear something else other than what he already knew. When there was no continuation, Scott staring straight forward looking completely serious and expecting a handshake, his face turned to look at me.

"Don't ask." I replied incredulously. Blaine slowly held out his hand and had it shaken vigorously.

"How's your day been?" I asked, wanting to change the subject from my always-had-been best friend's stupidity.

"Ergh, boring. Mid term briefings already. I was looking forward to lunch mostly." Smiling, Blaine slid his fingers between mine and I heard Scott sigh loudly, causing me to flash him a 'shut up' look from across the table. "You?"

"Pretty much the same." It was nice to finally be able to tell the truth, to let Blaine know just how much I thought about him. Which was a lot.

"Artem doesn't look too good." At the mention of my old roommate's name all three of us turned to look at him. If I'd looked nervous – it was nothing compared to the expression on his face. He was practically green, the steak on his plate untouched and the bottom of his fork grinding holes into the wooden table.

"Yeah, he's been like that all morning. Gets really nervous." Stefan was trying valiantly to calm his European friend, holding up pieces of potato and muttering things like "carbohydrates, strength, winning…" It was all rather funny, but I didn't like to laugh.

"Artem?" Blaine tried to do his bit – at the sound of his name the Russian jerked his head in our direction, sheer panic in his eyes.

"Artem, are you ok?" Jeez Blaine, what a question to ask. "I spoke to some of the other Head Boys and it looks like the only real competition will be from Dahl. You'll be fine." The words of encouragement seemed not to register; Artem stared blankly at us for a couple of seconds before looking back down at his cold food and closing his eyes.

"At least you tried." I said comfortingly, rubbing my boyfriend on the shoulder. Hazel eyes looked up into mine and I found it hard not to kiss him again. Very hard.

"Yeah. Anyways, I need to get some food. You look like you haven't touched yours." Blaine leaned over to look at my plate and I blushed, embarrassed by my previous nerves. "Ergh," he continued, scrunching up his nose, "I can see why. Couscous." Immediately I flicked my head round to protest.

"Hey! I happen to like couscous a lot! It's a healthy snack! What do you have for lunch?" Blaine looked at me like I was stupid.

"What every normal individual has – chips." Scott raised his hand in the air and they both hi-fived, testosterone zinging around the air for a split second.

"Amen to that brother."

"Dear Dior…" I muttered to myself, picking up my fork and scooping up a bit of food.

History passed by with no real events – everyone was getting ready for the tournament so little attention was paid to Roman architecture. (I handed in my paper with much gusto, still not believing I'd managed to finish it in one night.) I walked back to Wilde with Steven and Wade and carefully selected my house colours scarf from its place in my accessory draw (yes, I had one of those). It was fencing time.

The main hall was a buzz, rather like during the Christmas ball, except this time the voices were low and masculine, creating a drone that sounded rather like a swarm of bees. Blaine had told me he would meet me at the event, so I pushed through the crowds until I saw Scott, Stefan and Nathaniel standing over the far side of the room with the Wildeian competitors. When I reached them Nathaniel was in full flow, debriefing everyone in a very fast and technical manner.

"Now we know the strong points of Dahl's attack, and Wordsworth have a sharp defence mechanism, but we still need to watch out for the stabs from Darwin and the occasional upset." His face was flushed red and I gathered he must have been rushing around for hours. How he knew so much about fencing when he didn't even take part was beyond me.

"Hey." I said quietly to Scott, not wanting to interrupt the Head Boy's flow. He gave me a quick hug before turning his attention back to the speech again.

"What are you even doing over here anyway?" I whispered. "Surely you should be with Wordsworth?"

"Nah, can't be bothered. Plus I know it pisses them off." Pointing to the group of Wordsworth students crowding round the opposite side of the hall he grinned and I laughed back, giving him a light shove. Blaine was standing in the middle of the group giving a similar lecture to Nathaniel's, with Wes and David flanking him either side, equally serious expressions on their faces. This really was a big deal.

"What do we get if we win this again?" I asked.

"House points, that go towards the grand total. Most points gets the House Cup." I was about to question further when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned round to see a familiar figure standing inches away from me.

"Hi." Gabriel had a strange look in his eyes (well, stranger than normal) – I didn't think my initial reaction of stepping back had helped, but the sheer closeness of his face and the surprise of seeing him had made me act instinctively. He looked...almost hopeful.

"Oh, hi Gabriel." I replied hurriedly. I could imagine the faces Scott would be pulling if we were visible to each other, but thankfully he was standing behind and could only sigh quietly.

"Did you have a nice Christmas?" I couldn't believe this was the first time we were talking, although Gabriel had for some reason only come back a day or two ago – some family commitment. His tone was happy and that unnerved me, especially with how we'd left things last term.

"Um, yeah, it was good. Sorry I didn't reply to any of your messages – my phone died." Oh Marc Jacobs, why was I bringing that up? Even worse, why was I making it seem like I'd wanted to reply? Gabriel's expression brightened further and I cringed internally.

"Oh, that's ok. Are you excited about the tournament?"

"Yeah." Signalling to Artem, who still looked positively green but was being jockeyed up by Nathaniel and the rest of the fencers I nodded my head "Artem should be good."

"Yeah, he will be."

Suddenly a voice boomed out of the speaker system and everyone turned to see Mr Cox standing on the mini stage, releasing me from the awkward conversation.

"Students of Dalton, welcome to the first of our House tournament. As you know the winner of this meeting will receive maximum points for their house, which go towards the overall totals. The top five competitors will also represent the school in regional tournaments with other establishments. I hope you have all prepared sufficiently – I now ask all spectators to move to the viewing area and all competitors and their captains to take to the floor." Immediately the room exploded into a hive of noise. Nathaniel began hurriedly shepherding people around, which only seemed to panic Artem further. I shot him a good luck glance with my thumbs up and he smiled back weakly, before being pushed off into the centre of the hall. Scott, Gabriel and I made our way to the spectator area, which was situated behind makeshift barriers – annoyingly the latter followed us and stood next to me, his arm either accidentally or intentionally brushing against mine as we settled.

"This is it." Scott said prophetically. "Good luck Artem."

Now that all the competitors were lined up, it was clear to see the different houses. Apart from the obvious variation in house colours, the Darwin fencers all looked rather thin and weedy, probably more comfortable practicing equations than attack moves. Xavier seemed like a giant between them, his jet-black hair and muscular figure making him very menacing indeed. All the Dahl competitors were jumping around animatedly psyching themselves up, their Head Boy a wiry but strong looking brown haired boy, and Blaine and Nathaniel stood proudly with their eclectic mix of challengers. Instantly I felt a surge of pride coarse through me and gripped the barrier in excitement.

"Would the first fighters please take their positions." A figure from each house walked over to the fencing mats and slipped their helmets onto their heads. There was silence. And then the bouts began.

Anyone that said fencing was boring obviously hadn't watched a game themselves. The tension was amazing – the competitors dancing around each other like they were on springs and the moves lightening quick. With two separate bouts going on at the same time it was hard to work out where to look, but I settled on watching the Wilde competitor and cheering when he defeated his Darwinian opponent.

The next bout involved Artem – when he stepped up to the plate Scott, Stefan and I cheered loudly and I saw him briefly look towards us in the stands, before slipping on his helmet and crouching into position. The buzzer sounded and immediately he lunged forward – his power and skill taking the Wordsworth boy he was facing completely by surprise.

"Point to Wilde!" The referee said defiantly. Everyone cheered.

'Go Artem." Scott muttered, obviously impressed. The rest of the bout was much the same – Artem was good, really good, and he breezed through the challenge without even conceding a point. When he took off his helmet we all waved at him and he smiled, obviously pleased with his achievement, before moving to sit on the bench that would have him sorted into the next round.

"Hey, who's that?" I tried to stop my eyes from rolling as Gabriel spoke again, but when I followed the direction of his arm felt them widen instead. The next match had started and a Darwin competitor was being absolutely annihilated by somebody from Dahl. His strokes were so fast you could barely see them, even quicker than Artem's, and he sprung around so fast it made me dizzy.

"My Gaga, who is that?" I turned to look at Scott, but heard him groan before our eyes met.

"Ergh. That my friends, is Damien Dubrisque." The way he said his name already had me questioning – somebody even more mysterious and intriguing than the person standing next to me.

"Damien?" Said person replied incredulously, Scott nodded and his eyes widened like mine.

"Ok, should I know who this guy is?" I asked, not wanting to be out of the loop anymore.

"Damien is the king joker of Dahl. His parents were gypsies but they started their own circus and now they're millionaires. Even Hunter can't control him." He motioned to the Dahl Head Boy, who was standing by the side of the bout watching with fascination. I moved my eyes back to Damien and marvelled and the ferocity of his moves. When the bout finally ended the poor Darwinian collapsed to the floor in exhaustion – as people rushed to assist him Damien took off his helmet and I saw wild green eyes set into his olive skin and sharp angular face. He flicked his dark brown hair and danced around the mat like some kind of celebrating animal. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Woah. I hope Artem doesn't have to face him." I said worriedly. Scott nodded.

"Me too."

The rest of the tournament progressed swiftly – both Artem and Damien whizzed through the first few rounds, but they were never drawn against each other. As the final approached I realised they would be competing for the title, and maximum points for their house.

As the final was announced, excited chatter descended over the hall. Nathaniel had taken Artem aside and was giving him another rousing team talk – I could see Hunter over the other side trying to do the same, although it didn't look like Damien was listening. I couldn't get those piercing eyes out of my head – they were just wild.

"Hey." Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Blaine smiling at me, obviously managing to escape from his Head Boy duties now that none of his competitors were left.

"Hi," I replied, returning the smile. He leaned forward to kiss me and I obliged, but making it a short one so I could return to looking at the action.

"Yo," Scott said, his gaze not even averting at all, but Blaine didn't seem to mind.

"Oh hi Gabriel – you're back." It was then I noticed the reaction of the Wildeian beside me. Gabriel's face had gone absolutely white – I flicked my head round and stared at him worriedly.

"Gabriel? Are you alright?" He didn't respond. I saw his eyes briefly flick towards Blaine, who had now slipped his arm around my waist, then back to me, and understood.

"Sorry you didn't win." I said, returning my attention to my boyfriend. I wanted to make it clear to Gabriel, but without sticking the knife in too much.

"Oh, don't worry – we didn't come last. Artem's gonna have a tough bout against Damien though." As if on cue, suddenly the two finalists took to the floor and everybody cheered, before silence descended over the room.

"Competitors, take your positions."