Another chapter up! Woohoo! I'm writing this at the same time I'm writing another story, and I try to take turns updating them, but sometimes I have an inspiration for one before the other. But read on!

SPOV

Tuesday night, all I can think about is starting school in the morning. I am jittery all through dinner, and, as usual, Blaine notices. He confronts me about it as we sit on the couch together later in the evening. I think he is watching the show, but when I pull my knees up to my chest and rock back and forth a little, he turns to me.

"What's wrong?" he asks, worried. "You've been tense all day. Something on your mind?"

I sigh, rubbing my temples. "I'm just not sure about going to school tomorrow."

"Why?" he questions.

"It's just…I've never…I haven't been my real self in front of other people in years. I don't know what to do!"

Blaine puts an arm around me, and I know he can hear the distress in my voice. "You've been your real self in front of me all this time. Is it really any different?"

"Yes!" I mumble into his shoulder.

His fingers gently lift my chin until I am looking him in the eye. "Why is it different?"

"Because I trust you!" I blurt out, and he looks confused. "I knew you wouldn't reject me," I explain. "I was used to people hating me before. Hell, I wanted them to hate me. But that wasn't really me! What if they hate the real me? What am I going to do then?" I ramble.

Blaine shushes me softly, his fingers trailing across my cheek in a comforting manner. "It's all going to be okay," he murmurs. "They're not going to hate you."

"You don't know that," I say like a petulant child.

Rather then reply, he coaxes me into lying on my stomach so that my top half is across his lap. I'm not sure exactly why, at first, but Blaine's got that gleam in his eye, and I know he has an idea, so I comply. I don't know what to say when he starts gently kneading the stiff muscles of my neck. He still hasn't said anything, but I surprise myself when I find that I have to hold back a moan as some of the tension is released and I relax a little under his touch.

"I do know that," he says softly, "Because I know that the real you is an amazing, friendly, funny guy. If you can show them that side of you, I'm sure they'll come around."

I try to reply, but the sensations washing over me are making it harder to form words, so I stay silent, listening to him as I relax a little more. His strong hands move down my back as he continues. "Besides," he's saying, "Even if they do hate you, which they won't, who cares?" he says before getting quieter. "You'll always have me, no matter what."

I manage to form a coherent thought. "I'll try," I concede. "I'm just scared that they'll hold grudges about what I did before."

"You weren't yourself before," he reminds me gently. "And they've all promised to give the new you a chance. You don't have to be scared. Just show them what you've showed me and they'll love you."

I finally allow myself to relax fully. His persistence convinced me of his sincerity, and the effort he put into calming my nerves tugged at my heart a little. It definitely worked. In fact, I'd be content to just lay here forever.

Blaine finishes working out the tension in me and slowly rubs my arm, breaking me out of my reverie. "Come on," he says softly, pulling me up to sit beside him, "You're staying with me tonight." His face takes on a worried expression. "You know, if you want to," he adds quickly.

I almost laugh at how worried he is that he'll push me too far. He doesn't understand that, the way I'm feeling now, I'd do anything he asked. Hell, if he told me there was a pink polka-dotted elephant in the room, I would have believed him.

As he leads me upstairs, I am struck by the fact that what I feel for him may be more than friendship. More importantly, I find that this doesn't scare me as much as it should. I don't know if it's the massage or just the general closeness I feel to him, but something makes me think that the possibility of him loving me back isn't too far fetched.

I don't get too much time to think about it because whatever he's done to me has made me suddenly very sleepy, and, as Blaine gently rubs my back, I drift into the most peaceful sleep I've had in years.

When I wake again, it is to a light touch on my arm and Blaine's voice in my ear. "Sebastian, come on!" he's saying, "You don't want to be late on your first day!"

I have to think about that. My first day? My first day of what? Slowly, it dawns on me that I start school at McKinley today. For a moment I am nervous, but as I slowly remember the events of last night, I find myself relaxing. I open my eyes and smile at him. "Morning," I mumble.

He smiles back. "Morning."

His hair, wet from the shower, sticks up in all directions. I reach up and pat down one unruly lock before letting my fingers trail his cheek as my hand returns to my side. It seems to shock him for a moment, but he shakes it off and smiles. "Start getting ready," he says. "I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast."

I nod and drag myself into the shower, but with Blaine further away, his calming effect is waning. "Get a fucking hold of yourself, Sebastian!" I order in my head. But that doesn't stop the fact that I want to be close to him, so I rush through my morning routine and practically run down the stairs.

When I get to the bottom, the smell of food draws me into the kitchen. There, I find Julie making chocolate chip pancakes and Blaine sitting at the table waiting to eat them. I sit beside him and am once again calmed just by being near him.

"How are you feeling today?" he asks me in a whisper.

It takes me a minute to understand that he's being quiet because his mom doesn't know about my freaking out last night, and he's not sure if I want her to. Something stirs in my chest at the realization, but I dismiss it.

"Still nervous," I tell him honestly, "But a lot better. Thank you." I smile gratefully at him, because there aren't many people who would do what he did just to help someone. He nods as Julie sets plates in front of us.

"Morning, boys," she says casually. She picks up a piece of paper front the counter and hands it to me. "Sebastian, here's your class schedule. I think you'll be happy to know that I convinced them to give you the same schedule as Blaine. That way, at least you'll have someone you know already, and he can help you catch up on your school work."

I smile at her. "Thank you."

She grins, and for the first time I notice that Blaine gets his smile from his mother. "Well we weren't just going to throw you to the wolves." She pats my shoulder gently. "I'll be working from home today, so if you need anything or if you need to come home early, just call me, okay?"

I nod. "I will, I promise."

"Ready to go?" Blaine asks as we finish eating. I take a deep breath and nod. Blaine puts our plates away and hands me a backpack before leading me out the door.

"It's so weird to be going to school without my blazer and tie," I remark in the car. "I feel naked."

He laughs. "Yeah, it's weird for a while, but you get used to it. Just think of it as part of the new-and-improved you."

As we pull into the student parking lot, the calm demeanor I've managed all morning starts to slip. "You really think I can do this?" I ask.

He takes my hand and squeezes it lightly. "I know you can do this. You're gonna be great."

I follow him into the building. We've purposely gotten here early, so there are almost no students here. We go to the main office to get the rest of the information I need, like my locker number and combination. He walks me to my locker and then I follow him to his. The hallways are starting to fill up now, and I can feel the eyes of the other students on me, but I stick close to Blaine and no one bothers me. Along the way we pass Tina.

"Hey guys!" she calls. She hugs Blaine and then turns to me. "Nice to see you again, Sebastian!" She says cheerily before hugging me too, as if we've been good friends for years. I am a little shocked at first, but I decide that I like her.

"Nice to see you too, Tina."

She joins our party on the way to Blaine's locker. "So, how are you feeling about your first day?" she asks.

I shrug. "A little nervous, I guess, but it's been okay so far."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. I'll see you two at lunch!" With that, she skips off.

Blaine grins at me as if to say I told you so, and I smack his arm lightly. "Shut up," I tell him.

He makes an offended face. "What? All I'm saying is you've made a friend already. Tina loves you!"

I snort. "I've barely spoken three sentences to the girl! I get the feeling she loves everyone."

He laughs. "Well she's friendly, but there are plenty of people she hates, and you are not one of them. You used to be, but you're not anymore. So this whole 'being yourself' thing is working out pretty well, isn't it?"

I roll my eyes at his giddiness. "Yes, yes, you were right, okay? Happy?"

"Very," he replies. "Now come on, you don't want to be late to your first class!"

I look down at my schedule. First period: history with Mr. Schuester.

"I thought Mr. Schuester was a Spanish teacher," I say to Blaine.

"He was," he explains, "But there was an opening in the history department last year, so he took it."

I nod as we walk into the room. Thankfully, we are the first to arrive. Mr. Schuester looks up as we enter. "Hey Blaine. Sebastian, good to see you again." He extends a hand and I take it. "Will I see you two at glee club rehearsal today?"

I look to Blaine, who shrugs. "Maybe," I answer, "If I make it through today."

I take a seat next to him as the other students start filing into the room. Though many glance at me curiously, I am largely ignored by the student body of McKinley High School. Throughout the period, I notice a few of the girls checking me out. "Wait 'til they find out I play for another team," I whisper to Blaine, who giggles.

The rest of the morning passes in much the same way. Through biology, English, and calculus, I find that, although the other students notice my presence, no one displays any real interest in me. So, though I hate to admit it, Blaine was right about this.

At lunch, we sit at a table with Tina, Artie, Mercedes, and a few other glee club members. The ones I haven't met seem a little hesitant at first, but they soon accept me into their conversations as if I've always been there. "So how's your first day going?" Mercedes asks.

Blaine smirks at me and I want to slap him. "No as bad as I thought it was going to be," I admit.

The rest of the day passes quickly. I sit through French class a few electives, and a Study Hall period. When the final bell rings, Blaine pats me on the shoulder. "You made it through your first day!"

I smile at him as I realize he's right. All the time I spent freaking out about today was for nothing. "Thank you, Blaine."

He looks confused. "For what?" he asks.

"Just…for being there for me. You made it a lot easier to go through with this."

Understanding, he grins. "Well, I know it's hard for you, so I just try to help when I can. Now, do you want to go to glee club rehearsal today, or would you rather go home? It doesn't matter to me either way."

I consider this. "Sure, why not?"

Seeing as I met most of the New Directions at lunch, the rehearsal is not nearly as awkward as I imagined it would be. At the very least, no one tries to kill me, so I'd count that as a success.

At home, Blaine and I find cookies waiting on the counter for us. Julie comes out of her office when she hears us. "Hi boys," she says cheerfully. "How was school?"

"It went really well," I tell her, and she smiles.

"I'm glad," she replies.

Blaine and I go upstairs to his room to do our homework. After a while, he turns to me. "Did what happened last night really help that much?" he asks curiously.

I smile at him. "Yeah, it did. You really made me feel better," I tell him softly. "If it wasn't for you, I might have had a panic attack or something."

He smiles a little bit at the thought that he helped me. "Well next time, don't wait for me to ask. I know you were worrying about it all day yesterday. If something is bothering you that much, you have to tell me."

I nod against his shoulder. "Okay. I will, I promise."

"Good," he says. "I worry about you, you know."

"Why?" I ask.

He hesitates. "Because…because I care about you," he whispers, but something tells me he wants to say something else.

So, what do you think? I don't know, I thought that with everything else going on in this chapter, our boys could use some quiet time. As always, I appreciate all reviews and comments, and they make me happy, so please click that button!

~TheSongSmith