Chapter 1
"And there is your schedule Blaine," Principal Francis said handing Blaine a piece of paper. "I've managed to put you in the correct year as a junior, despite how much school you've had to miss. We know that your grades were brilliant at school but don't be afraid to ask for help. The work here is a lot tougher than your previous school and the last thing we want is to have to hold you back. The teachers will be more than happy to help with extra lessons or you could ask students in your classes to help and tutor you. They would be very willing. Just don't be afraid to ask." I highly doubt somebody would want to tutor the new, gay studentBlaine thought.
"Thank you sir," Blaine said accepting the paper.
"I've asked your room mate to come meet us up here but he's probably running late, as normal. He can be very outgoing, I have to warn you but his previous roommate just moved back to France and he has a big heart and everybody loves him so I thought you would get on."
"What if they don't get on?" Blaine's mother asked worried. His father had to go into work that day. He had wanted to be able to drop his son off at his new school but after Blaine had been brutally attacked he wanted to take time off work to be there with his son. Now he had to make up for all the time off he had. Instead Blaine's mum came to make sure Blaine felt comfortable there and also to help him unpack his belongings.
"If you do feel uncomfortable around him Blaine, or any other student for that matter, I would like you to come straight to me. I will see if I could get you a new roommate if that is necessary to help make your transition here easier." The older man explained as the office door suddenly flew open and as a blonde head ran into the room.
"Sorry, sorry sir. Wes called an emergency practice for our performance later. He was working us twice as hard since we've had summer break and I tried to tell him that I needed to come here but you've met Wes and you must know how annoying he is when he has his mind set on something and whenever I tried to say something he just used his gravel and everybody's too scared to talk when he uses that thing but then Nick refused to continue singing unless Wes listened to me and then he demanded to know why I didn't tell him earlier." He said in a rush but never stumbling over his words.
"Mr Sterling you can take a breath in a sentence. Have they not taught you that in English?" The principal chuckled. "And I knew that Wesley wanted to do a practice as he had to ask for the room so I assumed you were there. I know how religious he is about practices."
"Thank you sir but could you please take that stupid gravel away from him. We've tried hiding it but he always finds it. He has a weird obsession with it, I swear. Is there anyway that-"
"That's all very good but I have a new student and roommate for you to meet. Blaine Anderson this is Jeffery Sterling. Jeffery this is Blaine and his mother." The principal introduced them.
"It's Jeff," the blonde said holding his hand out for Blaine to shake. "No matter how many times I tell him he insists on Jeffery."
"That's your name," Principal Francis smiled.
"Well it's nice to meet you Blaine," Jeff said as Blaine reluctantly shook his hand.
"You too," Blaine muttered before Jeff greeted his mother.
"Well unless you have any more questions Blaine, Mrs Anderson, I will leave you in Mr Sterlings more than capable hands." Principal Francis said, "And Blaine, if you need to talk for any reason I'm here."
"Thank you sir," Blaine replied before leaving the room following his mother and Jeff.
"So why did you change schools Blaine?" Jeff asked after telling them he would take them to their dorm room and promising a tour of the school later that day.
"I'd rather not say," Blaine mumbled walking close to his mother.
"Right, sorry, Francis said not to ask. I've got foot in mouth disease I'm afraid. I never know when to stop talking. Just ask the Warblers. They're forever telling me to shut up. They dared me to do a sponsored silence once and I'm positive that if the money wasn't going to charity, they would have made me pay them."
"Warblers?" Blaine asked slightly curious knowing this boy wouldn't try anything while his mother was there.
"Oh it's our show choir group. They're great. They're like my brothers really. There's a council of three students – Thad, David and Wes although I swear Wes thinks he's in charge and has the overall vote, thank god for David otherwise we wouldn't be able to control him. I honestly don't know how he puts up with him. Do you sing Blaine?"
"You love to sing, don't you Blaine?" His mum said before addressing Jeff. "He's shy when it comes to singing in front of people though, probably from when Cooper, his older brother, always told him to shut up but he has an amazing voice. It was just sibling rivalry then."
"I'm not that great mum," Blaine said embarrassed, his cheeks showing the evidence of his embarrassment.
"You should totally join Blaine, we can always have new members. We're performing for the school this afternoon if you want to watch. We're trying to get new people to join. If you're as good as your mums says, you won't have any problem with the audition." Seeing a worried look on Blaine's face, Jeff quickly added "you don't have it, it's just fun, but no pressure." They continued to the dorm room with Jeff chatting about everything and anything while Blaine's mum added the odd comment but Blaine stayed silent.
The doom room already had Jeff's thing out in half of the room. There were photo's covering the wall on Jeff's half of the room of what Blaine assumed was his friend as the majority were in the Dalton uniform. There was a shared bathroom for the two of them and for a dorm room it was surprisingly spacious.
"Well I'll leave you to unpack and sort yourself out Blaine. Wes demanded that I went back to practice when I could but I'll come back about half 11, 12 depending on when we're allowed to leave and we could go to lunch together. I'll introduce you to my friends too," Blaine just nodded which seemed to be the right thing to do as Jeff just grinned as he turned to leave the room.
"He seems nice dear, very chatty but friendly." His mum said smiling.
"I don't know, it's a lot to take in."
"I know but this is good for you, I promise, now why don't we bring your things in and I'll help you unpack."
It took the pair of them nearly two hours to unpack everything. Blaine's side of the room was a lot emptier than Jeff's. He had one photo of his family up and his guitar in the corner which his parents insisted that he bring with him, despite many of Blaine's protests that he wouldn't play it here so as not to disturb the other students. Blaine had his kindle out on his bedside table and on his shelf he put his Harry Potter collection out as well as a few of his favourite movies. He managed to arrange it so that the Disney films, which were his favourite, were hidden at the back of the shelf. He set his laptop up on his desk along with several school books. While he sorted all his personal belongings out, his mother had made his bed and unpacked all his clothes which were mainly the uniform, a couple of pairs of jeans and tops, some tracksuits bottoms and a hoody. Blaine decided to leave the majority of his clothes at home since most of the time when he would be at school, he would be wearing his uniform anyway.
"I should probably be heading home dear and let you get settled in. Plus I'm sure Jeff will be back soon." His mum said pulling him into a hug. "Everything will be fine, I promise you dear. Make sure that you phone me and your father this evening and let us know how it went. Cooper also wants to talk to you."
"I will mum," Blaine said forcing the threatening tears not to fall. "Love you mum."
"I love you too sweetie, we'll see you Saturday. Your father will pick you up at nine and then you can drive your car back on Sunday." Blaine just nodded and hugged her tighter, reluctant to let her leave. With one last tight squeeze though, she did. She left Blaine alone and Blaine let a few tears escape. It took him ten minutes before he grabbed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and his iPod and escaped into his own world.
Blaine was so absorbed into the world of wizards that he didn't even notice that Jeff had come back until the boy sat down on the bed and the brunette felt it jolt. Quickly, Blaine took out his earphones and closed his book, but not before making a mental note of his page number.
"Don't you just love Harry Potter?" Jeff grinned making himself comfortable on the end of Blaine's bed. "It was the first book I ever read and probably Deathly Hallows was the last. I'm not one for reading, I get bored too easily but I could easily re-read those books. Their just…amazing. Anyway I thought we could get some lunch. I can't believe it's already half twelve, I'm starving. I'm just glad that David managed to stop Wes from insisting we practice another song."
"I don't know if I should go," Blaine said quietly.
"Oh please come with me. It'll be fun I promise," Jeff said bouncing on the bed, not noticing Blaine's discomfort. "My friends really want to meet you and Wes wants to make sure your real and I'm not just making up an excuse for missing an hour of Warbler practice."
"I should probably change at least," Blaine said trying to find any excuse to delay leaving this room, the one place that he would probably feel safe. So far Jeff had only come across as a puppy.
"You look fine, I promise. Please, please, please!" He begged. "Dalton has loads of food and you should meet some people before classes tomorrow, it'll help." Slowly Blaine got up and grabbed his shoes. "Yes! Now Wes will have to believe me. I've asked some friends to save us seats. There's only four of them meeting us today, I didn't want to overload you with people on your first day."
"Thanks," Blaine genuinely says with a soft smile.
"You're welcome. Nick says it can be overwhelming when you come to a new school but there's something I wanted to ask you first. We met this guy last term and he looked similar to you and said he had a gay brother starting today and I wondered if it was you." Blaine instantly gulped. Why the hell did you have to say that I was gay? I swear to God that I will kill you!
"That's me," Blaine whispered bracing himself for the words of abuse that would come his way. So much for thinking that this room would be my safe place.
"Awesome, I thought it would be as you're the only new kid here this term. I thought I should let you know then that my friends you're meeting today are gay as well. So'm I." Jeff stated proudly.
"You're gay?" Blaine questioned confused. Is this his weird way of trying to gain my trust, find my breaking points and then torment for the rest of my time here?
"Yep, have been since I was born. It's why my parents sent me here, they don't trust public schools with my sexuality, it can be cruel," Blaine just nodded as they started their walk to the cafeteria. "And judging by your reaction you've seen the cruel side." Blaine nodded. "Well I won't ask, I may be as Nick puts it 'as loud as a toddler trying to get attention' but I'm not nosey. It's your story but just know if you want to talk, I'm here."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome," Jeff grinned before he began talking about what teachers to avoid and who was good. Before Blaine realised it they were having a full blown conversation and they were grabbing their lunches. Looking around the room, Blaine noticed most students were in casual clothes, only around twenty or so in uniform. Did they just like the uniform or something?
"Not it's Wes, he makes all Warblers were it to performances and we were too lazy wear our clothes to practice this morning and then change after lunch so we all opted to wear the uniform all day. Speaking of the devil," Jeff grinned nodding to an Asian student who was talking to the guy sat next to him who was grinning when suddenly the coloured guy next to him leant over to kiss him. Much to Blaine's surprise it was a quick, chaste kiss either and resulted in Jeff throwing several chips at the couple before sitting down at the end of the table. Taking a deep breath Blaine sat down in the only available seat between Jeff and another guy but Blaine chose to keep his head down not chancing a glance at any of them.
"Can you guys keep your hands off each other, ever?" Jeff complained beginning to eat but the two just grinned.
"Of course we can but we prefer to share," what Blaine could only assume was Wes' boyfriend commented before kissing his cheek.
"I thought you'd want to meet Blaine, not suck face all through lunch." Jeff said.
"Introduce Blaine then Jeff, you're just dying to feel important," Wes teased and Jeff threw another chip at him.
"Guys, this awesome, curly haired, Harry Potter lover is Blaine Anderson, my new roommate. Blaine, these guys are in the Warblers with me. Blaine that's Wes and the person he was trying to suffocate with his mouth is David. Nick's the guy sitting opposite me and Kurt is sat next to you," Jeff grinned. "I have a new roommate and he doesn't speak French! Wait, you don't speak French do you? Because my previous roommate loved to only speak French to piss me off."
"No I speak Italian though," Blaine said.
"Awesome, I know that."
"You know two words Jeff, gelato and pizza!" Nick said and the rest of the guys laughed.
"You learn to get used to them, I promise. I know they're loud but compared to my step-brother their as quiet and timid as a mouse," the guy next to him said. Reluctantly Blaine looked up to see who spoke to him and was met by the most stunning blue eyes. "Kurt."
"Blaine," he said not know what else to say.
"Yeah, Jeff covered that already," he teased before taking a bit of his salad. "I know Jeff is very…outgoing, but he is a sweetheart. He can't even kill a spider. The only thing that will be a problem is he has no personal boundaries but just tell him to move and it's fine."
"Thanks."
"Well if you're going to be sticking with Jeff, you should at least know how to handle him right?" Kurt said and winked before joining in the conversation but glancing at Blaine every now and then with a soft smile on his face. Did Kurt just flirt with me? I need to ask Cooper, he'd know. He actually has experience with people.
Blaine continued to listen to the conversation and as lunch went on, he grew slightly more confident and even added to the conversation every now and then. They took Blaine with them to what Blaine could only presume was a practice room and ten minutes later it was filled with students and teachers before the group that Blaine now knew was the warblers burst out singing.
If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea,
I'll sail the world to find you
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see,
I'll be the light to guide you
Find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need
Jeff began singing first with the rest of the guys singing in the background before Nick took over from him and Blaine found it hard to decide who he thought was the better singer. The two guys then took it in turns to sing a line from the verse.
You can count on me like 1 2 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it I can count on you like 4 3 2
And you'll be there
Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Woooooooh, Woooooooh
Yeah, Yeah
Before Blaine realised it all the guys were singing the chorus together at different pitches and dancing around. Many students in the room were singing quietly under their breath, obviously not that confident to join the group themselves and many were clapping along to the beat.
If you're tossing and you're turning and you just can't fall asleep,
I'll sing a song beside you
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me,
Everyday I will remind you, ohh
Find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need
That voice surprised Blaine. It was from the blue eyed boy Kurt. His voice was astonishing. They had obviously played with the song as it had been taken up key and Kurt hit every note with ease but Blaine couldn't help but notice that Kurt's eyes never left his. Blaine felt butterflies in the pit of his stomach. Is this what a crush feels like?
You can count on me like 1 2 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it I can count on you like 4 3 2
And you'll be there
Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Wooooooh, Wooooooh
Yeah, Yeah
You'll always have my shoulder when you cry
I'll never let go, never say goodbye
You know you can count on me like 1 2 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it I can count on you like 4 3 2
And you'll be there
Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Oohhhh, ohhhhh
You can count on me cause I can count on you
The Warblers all began to sing together to finish the song, continuing to move around each other but Kurt was still looking at him. Smiling at him. Singing to him?
A/N
Here's the first, official chapter for you all to enjoy. The song performed was Count on me by Bruno Mars.
Thanks to lucky333123 for your review and KadyLou, KiannaKitter, Rori Potter and aphass for following. I'm already working on the next chapter for you so hopefully it won't be long.