The Scholarship

Episode 2: Surprise

Okay, so it's 6:30 am, I should be doing my moisturising routine, or sleeping. I shouldn't be sitting in the back of dad's car, on my way to Westerville, again. My hands, also, shouldn't be shaking, and why oh why, did I not do my hair this morning? I am a mess, and if it's my audition today I am screwed!

"…and so I told work that I would be in late, I said it was family emergency…they're not too bothered seeing as they thought I was going to be away anyway." Burt nodded along to what Carole was saying, his eyes flickering to Kurt who was staring out of the window, headphones trailing from his ears.

"Alright there, Kurt?" Kurt blinked, looking up into the reflection of his father's concerned eyes. Kurt, with a sigh, reached up and pulled out his headphones.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" Kurt nodded.

"Yeah…I'm just- I hope the audition isn't today, because I'm totally not ready." Carole frowned.

"You sounded amazing last night." Kurt gave her a smile, and shrugged.

"Thanks, but…I'm not sure that I'm good enough. From the sounds of it Blaine is amazing, and if can't beat him…" Burt's hands flexed on the steering wheel.

"He ought to go easy on you, it's not like he needs the scholarship; you do." Kurt nodded.

"Yeah, but…"

Imagine how that would look, reputation wise, if he lost his scholarship? What's the betting, if he's that good, that he's the lead Warbler singer? I know I'd never ever want to be upstaged like that, besides he doesn't know about the death threat, he might just think that people are just teasing me…if only.

"Kurt, honey, it'll be fine." Kurt nodded, taking out his phone which was beginning to buzz.

Rachel said that you were having problems getting into Dalton. Are you okay?- M

Kurt smiled at Mercedes' text. He'd half expected some accusatory rant about how he should have come to her about this kind of thing. He was glad that he got this instead. He took a deep breath, leaning back into his seat, and typed out a response.

Yeah, just need to get a scholarship- K

Kurt frowned at his own response. He'd made it sound really casual, easy. Why was he hiding all this from Mercedes? Mercedes was his best friend, the first person who he'd just told that he was gay, though he realised that most people would have guessed anyway.

Scholarship! Are you going to have to do a load or tests or something? How much time will this take?-M

He allowed himself a small smile at her response, acknowledging that he probably should have been more explicit with what it had been.

No, I need to sing…it's complicated but I basically have to win it off this other boy- K

He didn't like labelling Blaine was "this other boy" but he was more concerned with the fact that he didn't feel like telling Mercedes about how he felt about Blaine. This was the kind of thing that they'd do, as best friends…discuss crushes - they'd always been celebrities - and their dream weddings and so forth. He wondered, vaguely, if it had something to do with the kiss.

Oh! You mean your new crush, right?-M

Kurt felt his heart freeze for a second. "New crush". How did she- oh, Rachel. Kurt frowned at the screen. Exactly how much did Mercedes know?

Yeah, him.-K

Kurt had to wait a long time for Mercedes to text him back. He sat there, staring at the screen with an intent expression. Both Carole and Burt shot him looks, but, when Burt moved to open his mouth, Carole shook her head and shushed him.

Why didn't you tell me about this? Why did you go to RACHEL?-M

Kurt sighed, always knowing that it would be coming to this. Mercedes was hurt that he hadn't been speaking to her about things. That he'd shut her out, but back at McKinley he hadn't really felt like letting her in. He'd seen her deal with her problems, and seen the obvious way out, as opposed to him, seemingly stuck in a never-ending spiral of bullying and fear.

I don't know…I just needed Rachel's opinion on what I had to sing…it was more her thing than yours.-K

Again, he had to wait a long time for Mercedes to respond. He really wanted this weird barrier between the two of them to go away, for everything to go back to the way it had been, but at the same time he knew that they were in high school, and as they moved through it their friendships with people were bound to shift and change.

Oh, okay.-M

Mercedes' response was too short, and impersonal. Kurt bit the inside of his lip, thinking carefully. Eventually he reached his decision.

Look, I'm going to Dalton right now, and I don't know when I'll be back, but after school do you wanna meet me at Breadstix and we can hang out and talk?-K

Kurt crossed his fingers, hoping that she'd accept his offer. Maybe it would be easier to talk things out face to face.

Alright, I'll hold you to that white boy.-M

Kurt smiled at the screen, glad to have some of the old Mercedes back.

I look forward to it already.-K

There was a longer pause after that text, and Kurt slipped his headphones back in as Carole and Burt began to discuss houses and other such things.

So, what's this Blaine like? I want ALL the details. And what are you singing?-M

Kurt smiled, broadly as he tapped out his response. For seven o'clock in the morning this day was turning out to be pretty good.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked David, moodily poking at the fruit salad he was eating for breakfast. Blaine shrugged.

"He seemed pretty on the ball about the whole thing. I think he thinks that it's a great idea…and I can't see why they'd shoot it down."

"Are you gonna flop the audition after?" Blaine shrugged, again, at Nick.

"I might as well…Bastian can handle the Concert…or you could do it Nick."

"Oh no way!" said the understudy Warbler. "I am not singing on stage with your boyfriend."

"For the last time he is not my boyfriend!"

"Yeah, but you've been flirting with him since you met, and that was in January of Freshman year." Blaine turned a little pink and refused to look Jeff in the eyes.

"Where's…Fffflint?"

"What is up with you?" demanded Nick before anyone could answer Thad's question. Thad went a tiny bit red, but he didn't open his mouth again. "You've been awful for the past week." Thad shook his head.

"Nothing." Nick narrowed his eyes at his god-brother, but didn't chase it up.

"You know, wonder-boy here makes a good point, where is Flint?"

'Wonder-boy?' mouthed Blaine. Thad shrugged, and Jeff shook his head. They all looked at Nick. The boy who was busy picking apart the croissant that had been dumped onto his plate by Jeff, looked up.

"What?"

"Where's Flint?" Nick shrugged.

"His parent's called last night." the table winced as one. Blaine stared down at his soggy bowl of cereal, feeling bad for his friend.

"Was it a phone call or a…"

"It was a…you know." David threw down his fork, and walked off. The other blinked, and looked around. Wes had just walked in.

"Um…what?" said Jeff, staring between Wes and the seat that David had previously occupied. Blaine sighed, rubbing a hand across his forehead as Sebastian sauntered over.

"Hey guys." he said, sliding onto the bench next to Blaine. Blaine went slightly red as Sebastian angled his body so that his face was almost directly next to Blaine's.

"Hey Sebastian, what happened with Wes and David?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow, glancing at his best friends.

"I don't think anything happened, per se…I think it's more what didn't happen." there were more raised eyebrows.

"Are you gonna expand on that?" asked Nick after a pause. Sebastian shook his head, pulling over David's bowl of fruit salad and picking out the pieces of orange from the bowl.

"Thad," the Warbler Councillor who had been very silent since Nick had spoken to him, looked up in surprise.

"Y-yes?" Sebastian eyed him, his gaze shifting to Nick for a brief second as he raised an eyebrow, before he altered his expression again and turning back to Thad.

"Hammonds wants all the Warbler Councillors to be there when we talk Kurt through our proposition." Thad nodded, emphatically, and Sebastian grinned.

"I guess I'll see you, Blaine, very soon." the Head boy leapt up from the table, and gracefully made his way over to Wes and Liam.

"Oh for gods sake." muttered Jeff. "Just go and snog his face off why don't you?" Nick snorted loudly, whilst Blaine turned scarlet, and snapped his mouth shut.

Okay, so I'm a little bit worried. On the plus side, I've made things up with Mercedes - I think - but on the downside I'm sitting outside the Headmaster's office, again. I don't know why, but I'm starting to get uneasy. All the other Dalton students have gone into lessons, so what the hell am I doing here? The audition can't be now.

"You can go in now." Mrs Aarons, who seemed to be the Hammonds' PA and secretary, came up to them. Carole took Burt's hand, and Burt put a hand on Kurt's shoulder, as she opened the door.

Kurt wasn't sure what he'd been expecting when he entered the office, but he sure as hell hadn't been expecting to see David, Thad, some guy he didn't know, Sebastian and Blaine all standing there. Hammonds smiled up at the family, and gestured to the three seats.

"Please, take a seat." Kurt sat down, his father's hand finding his shoulder, and Carole kept Burt's hand intertwined with Burt's.

"Are you going to tell us when this audition is?" demanded Burt, and Kurt felt his heart swell at his father's determination towards getting him into this school. Hammonds nodded.

"Yes, it will be next week."

"Next week!" Kurt winced at the explosion of noise that erupted from his father. Carole squeezed his hand a little tighter. She put a restraining hand on his arm, and leant forwards, frowning.

"But, we just can't wait a week…Kurt can't go back to McKinley." Hammonds held up his hands, nodding.

"I know, I know. I haven't finished." Kurt looked up at that, suddenly very interested. "Now, as Sectionals is this week we need our Warblers focused-" Burt made to interrupt but was prevented by Hammonds holding up a hand "-but one of our students, Nick - he's not in the room right now, but Kurt met him yesterday - suggested that Kurt takes this week to…indoctrinate himself into Dalton life. He can stay in one of the houses, experience the lessons…give him a taste of life, as well as giving him more time to prepare." Kurt felt his heart swell slightly at that.

Oh my god! This school is just… I cannot believe that he's given me a week here just to…just because I can't go back to McKinley! And it wasn't even Hammonds' idea, it was Nick's. I barely know, I don't know him, but they seem to care about whether or not I'm safe!

"You'd- you're offering us a week free of charge?" asked Burt, like he could barely believe it either. Carole's eyes had lit up in hope, and Kurt could just feel something unexplainable swelling inside of his chest. So many people cared. Suddenly he felt slightly tearful. It was overwhelming.

"Are you okay?" asked the unnamed boy. Kurt looked up at the Dalton boys standing there, sniffing slightly. There was a raised eyebrow from Sebastian at the sight of his watery eyes, some rapid blinking from David, a frown from Blaine and absolutely nothing from Thad. Kurt nodded.

"Yeah…I'm fine, um…"

"Wes." Kurt swallowed, nodding.

"I'm fine, Wes." the boy nodded, stepping backwards slightly. Hammonds looked at the boys and then frowned.

"Did you deliver the message to Luc, Sebastian?" Sebastian nodded, curtly.

"Yes sir, I did." Hammonds sighed.

"Thad, go fetch our music director will you." this time Thad nodded curtly, and he exited the room, closing the door gently. Hammonds turned to the family before him again. "If you want, Kurt can start today…I'm sure that between all of Dalton we can find some uniform that will fit your son. However, I must warn you that if you agree to this, Kurt, we will treat you like any other new student at Dalton. We will give you catch-up work, we expect your homework completed, and we expect you to follow the rules set out. Blaine, Sebastian, I expect the two of you to take care of his orientation." both boys nodded, and Kurt's heart skipped a beat when Blaine smiled at him reassuringly. "You'll be in good hands, Sebastian did a fine job of orientating Blaine." Kurt smiled at him.

"Thank you." Hammonds nodded, accepting his gratitude.

"Mr Hummel, do you want to go ahead with-" the door flew open, banging against the wall loudly. A man that couldn't be older than twenty-two came striding in, Thad scuttling behind him, and wincing as door slammed shut. "Ah Luc, nice of you to join us." the boy was tall, Kurt reckoned he was probably 6 and a half feet tall, with red hair that was spiked upwards at the front, and combed down at the back. He was dressed in what looked like grey suit trousers, and a brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt. He had a large, upturned, nose, and sharp green eyes that lingered on Kurt for a couple of seconds before moving on.

"What the hell is going on, and what is up with him?" Kurt was expecting to be pointed at, but it was Thad that was on the receiving end of his thumb. Hammonds looked at Thad, one eyebrow raised, and Thad just stared blankly at him.

"There is nothing wrong with "him" as you say, and if you're concerned, Luc, you ask the questions. You're here about- weren't you listening to Sebastian last night?" Luc raised an eyebrow.

"No, of course I wasn't. I'm brilliant, I have better things to do than listen Mr "My-father-can-have-you-arrested-over-there"." He jerked a thumb at Sebastian who rolled his eyes. Hammonds looked between them with a tired expression.

"Luc, focus, this is Kurt, and-"

"He's in!" exclaimed Luc instantly, and Kurt was surprised to see the assembled Warblers and Hammonds roll their eyes at once.

"You can't give him a scholarship because he has the same name as one of the von Trapp children!" Kurt blinked in surprise.

What the hell?

"But, this means that I'll have the whole set!" Hammonds sank his head into his hand. Kurt was confused.

"Um, what?" Luc turned to him, eyebrow raised. "Five of them are girls."

"Nicknames." he said, dismissively, and turned away. "So if it's not up to me, then why am I here?"

"It is up to you, but you have to hear them sing, and choose between Blaine and Kurt." there was a pause in which Luc looked between Blaine and Kurt in shock.

"You're going pit that against Blaine?"

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" Kurt bristled a little with indignation. What did he mean by "that"? He could feel his father stiffen with anger, but Luc just shook his head.

"Well, it'll be entertaining to say the least." Kurt stared at the man as he gave Kurt and his father and Carole a nod before leaving. Hammonds shook his head.

"Someone remind me why I keep him around?"

"Because he's "brilliant"." said Wes with a snort.

"He…he…is!" said Thad, abruptly, looking indignant on Luc's behalf and Blaine clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"We know, Thad, calm down." Kurt didn't miss the raised eyebrows between Wes and Sebastian, and Hammonds clapped his hands together.

"Okay, let's focus in, you boys keep an eye on him, though, we don't want him to fall off the wagon again."

"That's why I threatened him, I don't do it norm-"

"It's okay, Sebastian, I'd figured that much out for myself." Sebastian nodded, snapping his mouths shut, and rearranging his face into an impassive mask. "So, Mr Hummel, what do you say?" Burt seemed to pause before looking at Kurt. Kurt turned to his father with pleading eyes. However odd Dalton Academy appeared, it was safe and had a zero-tolerance for bullying policy. Burt seemed to crumble, instantly, when he looked into his son's eyes that were begging for him to do this for him.

"Alright, where do I sign?" Kurt let out a sigh of relief, and beamed, especially as the Dalton boys began to applaud him, Blaine flashing him a show-stopping, heart attack inducing, smile.

Okay, looks like I'm a Dalton boy, for a week at least. Maybe in that time I can get Blaine to look at me- okay, seriously, I've gone mad. I should focus on getting my head around this school, which is flipping giant, and making some friends, or something, not getting a boyfriend, of all things. Besides…I'm not sure if I'm over the kiss, yet.

"…and this is Franklin." Kurt felt his mouth drop open in shock. They had walked through the beautiful grounds of Dalton, through the corridors with old murals on the walls, and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, into one of the three accommodation buildings. The entrance area had been a small flag-stone floored building with some scattered pieces of sports kit; hockey and lacrosse sticks, football helmets, and various trainers and boots.

Now he was standing, with Sebastian, Blaine and his father and Carole, in the common room of Blaine's house. Like, seemingly, any large space in Dalton there was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The walls were mainly floor to ceiling windows with huge red curtains. There were a collection of sofas, armchairs and tables scattered around of the room of varying sizes and styles. There was a 32" plasma TV in a wall bracket against one of the stone walls, with a DVD and blu-ray player underneath, and what looked like a huge collection of games, and controllers. There were various personal artefacts around the room; books, pens, pencils and assorted bits of casual clothing. The room to the left led into a large kitchen area that had a countertop equipped with kettle, toaster and coffee maker. There was a fridge, and small freezer, and some stools around a small island with a bowl of fruit on top.

"Come on up." the staircase was quite wide, and it was certainly old. Sebastian led the way, with Blaine half a pace behind him. On the first floor Sebastian opened the nearest door, saying it was his. Inside was a giant bedroom, larger than the one Kurt had at home. The bed was positioned in the corner, and opposite it was a large area filled with a mismatched jumble of furniture, and a 24" TV. He had several large bookcases, at the back, and large windows just above his desk that was stacked with textbooks and notepads.

"The bathroom is through there." said Blaine, indicating to a door. "There's a washing machine and tumble dryer…as well as normal stuff."

"And that's the wardrobe." added Sebastian, pointing to the other door. Kurt nodded, noting the general amount of space in the room. Sebastian just had a lot of empty space in his room, and Kurt found it a little, sort of, bare.

"So, all the rooms are like this?" Blaine and Sebastian shook their heads as one.

"No…all rooms are doubles; I'm head boy so I have one to myself." Kurt nodded, before something occurred to him.

"Wait, does this mean I have to share?" there was a pause in which the boys looked at each other, something unspoken passing between them, which caused Kurt to straighten his spine in annoyance.

"Well, no." said Blaine, eventually. "but it's recommended, and sometimes you might have to, depending." Kurt nodded.

"And are all the houses like this?" they nodded.

"Yep, they're identical."

"Except the colour scheme changes." said Sebastian, in an almost thoughtful manner. "We got off best; Putnam's colours are just disgusting…that shade of yellow…" he broke of shaking his head in disgust. Blaine nodded.

"Yeah, and Harriot's okay, but the blue just isn't as nice as the red." Kurt smiled, slightly, glad to know that he wouldn't have to put up with yellow hangings and curtains. "Come on, I'll show you mine and Thad's room." Kurt nodded, and followed Blaine and Sebastian out.

Oh god, he's freakin' head boy! How the hell am I meant to compete with the head boy? I'm just the new kid that's about to rob him of his scholarship and Sebastian is head boy, I hadn't even realised that he was older! Though I guess I should have, seeing as he wasn't sitting with Blaine or anything… Hang on, if he doesn't hang out with Blaine that much…maybe they're not dating…though either way, head boy! What the hell do I do about that?

"It's lunch time, if you're quite finished dressing." Kurt scowled to his reflection as he did up his blazer. Sebastian was slightly taller than him, and definitely wider, and so the uniform didn't fit him as well as it could have, but at the same time it was better than wondering around in his own clothes, or ones too small for him. He threw open the door to Blaine's bathroom, and shot Sebastian a withering smile as he came out. The older boy just smirked, and pushed himself off the wall he'd been leaning on. Blaine, who had been reading a book, looked up and smile.

"Hey. How's it fit?" Kurt shrugged, slightly, getting use to the heavy feeling of the blazer on his shoulders.

"Okay, little big." Blaine nodded.

"Yeah…I was kind of expecting that, Bastian is…broader than you." the rest of the sentence was lost on Kurt, though, the only thing registering in his mind was the nick name; Bastian. He closed his eyes. He was so screwed.

"I have to go." said Sebastian, abruptly. "I better check that Luc's okay, when I saw him last night he did seem kind of…out it." Blaine looked up at him, his eyes flashing with concern.

"Do you think he's gonna be okay?" Sebastian sent Blaine a genuinely warm smile.

"Luc is always going to be okay, it just might take him a little while to get there." he patted Blaine on the shoulder in a comforting manner, before nodding at Kurt. Kurt watched the way Blaine's eyes followed Sebastian as he left the room. His heart lurched in a sickening manner; even crushing on Finn hadn't been this bad. Blaine leapt out of chair from a burst of energy. He grinned at Kurt.

"Come on, you've got to make it to afternoon less-" he broke off, his phone going. He pulled out the phone, staring at the screen, his eyes seemingly popping out of his head. "Erm…hang on, I just- I kind of need to take this, can you make your way to the cafeteria on your own?" Kurt paused, trying to figure out whether nodding would impress Blaine, or just be a really dumb thing to do. He nodded. Blaine smiled. "Cool, I just." he gestured to the phone again and hurried away. Kurt watched him go with a mildly sinking heart.

I wonder what it would take for him to look at me with that look he gave Sebastian. That longing. Oh great, now I've just been stupid enough to say I can find my way around this giant, old, school that is absolutely beautiful! Urgh! I need to get my head sorted out. Hopefully, when dad turns up with my stuff and car, and I drive to Lima to see Mercedes, I can get my mind back onto Plant Earth. I'm sure Mercedes can knock some sense into me, because if she can't then I'm doomed, 100% totally, and utterly, doomed!

Blaine wondered down the hallway, hoping that Kurt wasn't being foolish in saying that he could find his way back. When he made his way into the room at the back, that was generally used by people who were suffering from terrible migraines or wanted to pray or mediate, or just needed some quiet time. Flicking the switch to light it up with a soft white glow, and taking a seat on the fluffy white sofa. Nervously, he answered the phone.

"Coop?"

"Hey there, Blainey, how's it going?" Blaine felt his jaw slacken. His heart jumped into his mouth.

"Coop! What the hell?" he heard a pause on the other end of the line.

"Erm…sorry, what?" Blaine sighed.

"Why are you calling me? You never call me!" he heard Cooper chuckle under his breath.

"Yeah, well, let's just say I've got a break so I'll be coming home sooner than Christmas."

"How soon is soon?"

"I'll be here for your concert." Blaine almost fell off the sofa in shock. His mouth dropped open again.

"You're…you're coming to Sectionals! You're coming on Friday! Oh Jesus!"

"What? No! I'm coming in, like, three weeks, or whatever." Blaine felt his heart beat genuinely stop. Oh crap.

"You're…you're coming to my Autumn Concert!"

"Yeah…and I was thinking of getting dad to come. You know, now that I'm an actor I think he can be persuaded that your singing is a good thing." Blaine closed his eyes, flopping down onto the sofa.

"Oh…that's…um…great."

"Why so despondent? You're always begging us to come! You keep saying how you're always leading your birdies-"

"The Warblers!"

"-and singing a solo. Well, if dad sees how amazing you are, he might let up." Blaine exhaled, closing his eyes.

"Yeah…that sounds…do you really think you could make him go?"

"Course! Emily's being dying to come one of your concerts for ages…I've already set Anna and Meg the task of wear him down…they're enjoying themselves already." Blaine bit the inside of his lip. Crap! Double Crap!

"Look, Coop, I'm thrilled that you guys are gonna come down…but I don't think I'm gonna have a solo this time round."

"What? Why?"

"'Cause…" Blaine closed his eyes, before taking his deep breath and beginning to speak again. "because there's this new kid, called Kurt-"

"Oh god, you've not fallen for him have you?" Blaine laughed out loud at that.

"What? No! God no! No, it's just he's being bullied, I think 'cause he's gay…he didn't say, but he just kind of looks…anyway, he needs a scholarship, and I'm the only one with a merit based one. Now, 'cause of the situation he's in, Hammonds wants to take my scholarship and give it to him."

"That's ridiculous!"

"Just let me finish, Coop, we agreed to sing for it, and we were going to do it, like, soon, but we decided to postpone it till after Sectionals."

"And?"

"Well, I was going to, you know, throw it away so that he could get in." he could hear Cooper tutting over the other end of the line.

"Blaine, Blaine! You can't just throw away something like that! Having a merit based scholarship is going to look damned impressive on your college applications. You do want to sing don't you?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"And this could be your one chance to get dad behind you…I've already set the ball rolling, so I can't really stop it now…don't be your usual dumb self, little bro, you've got to grab your chances."

"Yeah…but, I don't know, he kind of needs this."

"Blaine, come on, if you loose your scholarship dad might just pull you out anyway…you know how he feels about you getting private education."

"Yeah, yeah, I know; it's softening me up."

"Well it's true little bro, you need to a tough skin to survive in the real world, and your cushy little private school isn't going to give you that."

"Yeah, you're right…"

"Make the right decision, Blaine, you know dad'll only come if you are singing solo…don't be an idiot."

"Yeah, well, I'll try big bro."

"See you soon then little bro."

"Bye Coop." Blaine hung up, tucking his phone under his chin as he thought. On the one hand, this could be the one thing that finally broke down the barriers between him and his dad, but on the other…if Kurt didn't get the scholarship then he wouldn't get in. Suddenly, lunch didn't seem that inviting anymore, nor did attending afternoon lessons. By it's own accord, his torso was upright and his legs were moving him towards the door, leading him where he needed to be.

Okay, I'm an idiot. I'm a Grade A, amazing singer, future Broadway legend and fashion icon, moron. Why, oh why, did I say I could find the cafeteria? Every single corridor looks the same, and half the Dalton boys wondering around aren't even going to the cafeteria. I've followed half a dozen boys, and all of them have gone to some sort of club meeting, or classroom. I am never going to be able to make my way around!

"Kurt?" Kurt spun around at the sound of his name, and felt his legs sag from relief at the sight of Nick and Jeff. "What are you doing? Are you- oh my God!" they took in his appearance and their faces lit up.

"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Nick, bounding to his side. "Hammonds listened to me! He actually listened to me!" Jeff nodded, looking him up and down.

"That's, just- wow! Whose uniform are you wearing?"

"Sebastian's." they nodded in understanding.

"Where's Blaine?" asked Nick, putting an arm around his shoulder, and guiding him down the hall. Kurt flinched in surprise at the unexpected contact. Nick drew his arm back, quickly. "Oh god! Sorry, I didn't…I just…oh god, sorry!" Kurt looked at him, noting the way his eyes begged for forgiveness.

"No, it's okay, Nick, it's just…I don't…at my school - old school - whatever, we didn't…there wasn't much physical contact, at least not for me…lately the guy that touched me the most was the one that shoved me into lockers." both Nick and Jeff looked at him in shock.

"Because you were gay, right?" there was a pause before Kurt nodded. Jeff gave him a half smile, nodding. "Yeah that's what happened to Blaine."

"And if it's any consolation…you look kind of hot, in a sweet way, in the uniform." Kurt stopped walking, his mouth falling open into a wide gape, and staring at Nick in shock.

"Nick!" exclaimed Jeff, slapping his forehead with a hand. "What have I told you about flirting with the new kids!" Kurt was still staring them, wide eyes and unable to believe what he'd just heard.

"You're…you were flirting with me?" Nick nodded, staring at him in confusion.

"Yeah…is that okay with you? 'Cause I can stop…I just, I flirt with everyone - except Thad cause that would awkward!" Kurt blinked again.

"You're gay?" Nick shook his head.

"I'm pansexual, if I had to label myself." Kurt nodded, a little numbly.

"Are you sure that you're okay, Kurt?" said Jeff. The blonde Warbler was frowning at him, as if he could sense that Kurt's head was spinning.

"What? Oh, yeah…just the only person who's ever liked me was a girl…when she thought I was straight…"

…and my bully who kissed me, and went back for another one, when I encouraged him to hit me, and then threatened to kill me if I told anyone.

"Someone thought you were straight!" said Nick, bursting into incredulous laughter. Kurt felt the tension that had seeped into his body at the thought of Karofsky drain away. He smiled.

"I know…I thought I was fooling everyone, but then my dad told me he'd known I was gay since I was three; apparently all I wanted was a sensible pair of heels." Nick tipped his head back and roared in laughter. Jeff was smirking, and they led him through the school.

"That is…sorry, but I just….that's brilliant!" Kurt smiled at the two boys some more.

Out of the blue, as they made their way round another corner and the sound of singing reached their ears, Jeff reached over and pulled Kurt out of the way of a boy who was running down the corridor as fast as he possibly could. He gave them the briefest of nods, and then Nick and Jeff kept walking. Kurt stared between them, slightly wide eyed, before deciding to take up another topic of conversation.

"So, why don't you flirt with Thad?" Nick blinked at him, once, before seemingly recalling that he'd mentioned the boy earlier.

"Cause we're related…we're some sort of cousins, but we never worked it out so as far as we're concerned we're god-brothers." Kurt nodded, not being honestly able to say that he'd seen any family resemblance between the two boys.

"So, where's Blaine?" asked Jeff, suddenly, as if just remembering that that was the question that Nick had asked initially. Kurt shrugged.

"He got a phone call. He said he had to take it."

"Who from?" asked Nick, inquisitively. Kurt shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, he didn't say. I told him I could make my way to the cafeteria on my own…" the two Dalton boys looked at each other before snorting.

"Yeah…I'm sure you can Kurt." Kurt scowled at the boys, and almost walked into a teacher, and was just pulled out of the way in time. He was bestowed a withering glare by the tall women with rigid, brown, curls.

"Mr Duval, Mr Sterling, keep your friend out of trouble."

"Yes Mrs Daniels."

"Sorry, Mrs Daniels." they both bowed their heads respectfully, and, after Jeff had trod on his toes, Kurt lowered his gaze from the teacher's piercing gaze.

"What the hell?" he muttered as the two boys lead him into the canteen.

"That was Mrs Daniels, she's the Head of the History department, and Deputy Head…she's the meanest teacher at Dalton, stay out of her way." Kurt nodded, looking back in time to see the fearsome woman berating a Freshman over the state of his uniform.

Well, at least that something normal about Dalton; a mean teacher. I hope that I don't end up in her classroom, she looks like she could stand a chance at out shouting Coach Sylvester in a shouting match, and her glare is certainly of an equal intensity. I don't know about the other boys, but Nick and Jeff certainly seem ready to open up to me…I might just be able to fit in here after all...

Next Time- Learning Curve: Kurt gets his first real experience of Dalton life. It might just be half a day, but the lessons are more challenging than he could ever have imagined, and fitting in isn't a walk in the park either. Meanwhile, Blaine takes the afternoon to do some thinking, and gains advice from an unexpected source…