The Scholarship

by Sopphires

When Kurt is chased out of McKinley he runs to Dalton Academy, but the private school is expensive and even with the extra money from Burt and Carole's honeymoon, they can't cover the cost of tuition. There is one way, though, for Kurt to get in, but that means winning a scholarship off the black-haired, hazel eyed Warbler Kurt is pretty sure he just fell for. Rated T for swearing

15. Glittering

Dear Readers,

A late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, and I hope that this year will be a good one for you! A thank you to anyone who has reviewed, alerted or followed this story. Also, a quick note before the story; a warning that my updating will be erratic because I have a feeling that each chapter will be about this length which takes quite a bit of time to write and edit, and I have limited time to write, obviously. Either way, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Sopphires.

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The Scholarship

Episode 15: Glittering

It's a really quiet ride with my dad up to Dalton. I'm re-packed and prepared to face the boys with a little bit of trepidation inside me. I'm looking forward to seeing Keats again, and I need to see Blaine because I haven't forgotten what happened to him, but the rest of them…It might not be so good, but I'm not going to let that bother me. I go here too, and I have a right to my own views. Nothing can change that.

"Alright?" asked Burt, opening the car boot and taking out one of Kurt's suitcases. Kurt grabbed the other and nodded. He hadn't been exactly sure whether he was meant to wear his uniform or not – it wasn't term yet, but it was a Dalton event – so he'd put it on just in case. Looking around he could see several boys strolling across the grounds in coats and hats and gloves, but they were all wearing the grey trousers.

"I'm going to go to the house," he said, and Burt nodded and followed him round to Jefferson house. There weren't many people there, but the ones that were gave him nods as he moved up to his room and dumped his stuff. Burt smiled down at him as he threw the broom onto the bed.

"Still don't understand why you need that." Kurt just grinned and shrugged. "Have a good term, and come back whenever…try and drop us a line more often." Kurt nodded and was crushed into an embrace by his dad.

"I'll see you soon," he said, honestly, and his dad nodded and left his room. A minute later he was assaulted by Daniel.

"KUUUUUUURT!" he yelled, knocking Kurt off his feet and flat onto his back. Kurt groaned, loudly, and noticed that Daniel was still crushing his middle.

"Um, hi Daniel," he wheezed, and Daniel continued to squeezed him. Kurt was not entirely sure what he wanted, but if this was revenge for the argument with Jeff then he'd certainly learnt his lesson. "Can't breathe!" he gasped, poking Daniel's back. Daniel, slowly and with the impression of someone that didn't particularly want to let him go, released him. Kurt breathed in a large lungful of air, and Daniel pulled him up.

"It's good to see you!" he said, green eyes sparkling. "It's really good to see you!" he threw his arms back around Kurt and Kurt stumbled again, but stayed on his feet, patting his back.

"Yeah, it's great to see you too, Daniel." he replied, completely sincerely because the little guys had really grown on him.

"You got a broom!" he exclaimed excitedly, and then looked up at Kurt. "Sorry I drop out of contact…Flint was having an emotional breakdown!" he said, shaking his head from side to side. "It was not pretty!" Kurt blinked at him in confusion.

"Really? So, it wasn't about what happened with Jeff?" Daniel mirrored Kurt's look of confusion. Kurt sighed. "I had a row with Jeff, and then you stopped talking to me – I thought the two things were connected." Daniel shook his head emphatically.

"We don't take sides," he said, calmly. "Now, come to the foyer! It's where we gather!" Before Kurt had time to sigh in relief that Jeff hadn't told everyone about what happened and that Trinity weren't mad at him, he was being dragged out of Franklin and towards the main building. Daniel was grinning and yelling greetings at everyone they passed and quickly they came to a stop in the foyer.

"Kurt!"

Kurt had one chance to look at a large crowd of boys milling around in the hall before he was leapt at by quite a large number of bodies. He stumbled in shock and saw the blonde head of Jeff and, by the pressure being exerted on his middle, he knew that the rest of Trinity had grabbed him too.

"Um, hi!" he said when he was released and saw that – as well as Jeff, Michael and Gabriel – Flint, Nick and David were hugging him too. Thad gave him a small smile and patted his upper arm, "Nice to see you all too," he said, awkwardly, because he wasn't sure where he stood with them.

"Hey, man, you know what happened," he looked over at Jeff who was grinning at him. "just forget it."

"Oh yeah," said David, groaning and pulling a face. "the email thing, we're so friggin' sorry." Nick rolled his eyes.

"That's what we get for leavin' the admin up to Blaine," he shook his head. "Everyone take important note of that; never let Blaine be hired as anyone's secretary." They all laughed at that, even Kurt.

"Why can't I be anyone's secretary?" Everyone jumped and spun around, grinning at Blaine in disbelief. Kurt looked at him intensely, noting that, whilst he was marginally pale, he did not that worse for wear considering everything.

"Blainey!" they all yelled, except Thad, and flung themselves at him, this time including Thad. Blaine staggered, laughing, and Kurt grinned as he hugged them all individually before pushing his way through and wrapping his arms around Kurt.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked, seriously, and Blaine nodded, pulling off a bright pink scarf with flowers on it. Kurt raised his eyebrows, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"I'm fine," he said whilst Jeff took the scarf from him, holding it between one thumb and finger with a look of revulsion on his face.

"Blaine," said Nick with a very serious voice. "why did you buy this?" Blaine rolled his eyes.

"I didn't…Cooper gave it to me." There were some rolled eyes at that, and Kurt just shook his head whilst Jeff flung the scarf back at Blaine.

"Why are you wearing it?" demanded Flint. Blaine shrugged.

"Me and Coop…" he trailed off. "We've come a long way this holiday…" he shivered and shook his head. "It's kind of depressing that this was, in some ways, my best Christmas." Kurt raised his eyebrow sharply at that, wondering what could have possibly happened to him that made a holiday where he was nearly killed his best Christmas.

"Seriously, Blaine?" demanded David, looking incredulous. "This was your best Christmas?" Blaine rolled his eyes, running her hands along the scarf.

"Well, since mum left at any rate…" he trailed off, still running his hands along the scarf. There was an awkward pause before Sebastian appeared behind Blaine. The other boys, including Kurt, suppressed their laughter as Blaine frowned in confusion at their very tight faces. "What…?" he asked, eyes narrowed. Flint let out a small giggle, and Blaine immediately spun around, colliding with Sebastian's chest.

"Hello Blaine," he said, calmly whilst Blaine righted himself and flushed scarlet. "How was the rest of your holiday?" Blaine grinned at him.

"Christmas was brilliant!" he said, and then Wes came crashing into Sebastian before anything else happened.

"Hey mate," Sebastian staggered and clapped Wes on the back. "land in hospital?" Sebastian shook his head, righting himself and straightening his blazer.

"No, they seemed to have exhausted all their plans to do me harm," he spoke very evenly and dryly and, going by the laughter of the other boys, it clearly wasn't anything serious, but Kurt still found himself a little alarmed by his words. Wes clapped his arm around Sebastian's shoulders and then winked at Blaine.

"I see your taste has gone considerably downhill, Sebastian," Sebastian blinked at him and then looked at the scarf.

"I see what you mean," he said, examining it. "it is an abomination."

"You didn't buy it?" asked Wes in surprise and Sebastian shook his head. He looked surprised and confused, and barely waved at Liam who had come wandering over. "What did you get him?" Sebastian looked at Blaine who flushed. Sebastian winked.

"Our secret," There was a pause before everyone looked between them with shrewd eyes, and then Nick exclaimed, loud enough for the whole foyer to hear;

"Holy crap! You deflowered Blaine!" Blaine went scarlet and flung his hands over his face whilst Sebastian snorted, breaking out into laughter whilst everyone gaped at them. Sebastian continued to laugh whilst Blaine just shook his head, face still hidden. Kurt felt his mouth drop open, feeling jealousy flow through him.

"I didn't deflower him," said Sebastian, once he'd gained control of himself. "Your mind works in strange ways, Nicolas." Wes narrowed his eyes so hard that he was squinting at Sebastian through his dark lashes.

"Are you sure?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I think I'd remember sleeping with Blaine, and I also think, if I did do it, I would be shouting it from the rooftops – in a more respectable manner." The boys laughed, and Blaine kicked at him with a face that was still red, and then cuffed Nick around the back of his head.

"Sorry!" he said, holding up his hands. "I just thought…" he broke off, laughing to himself. "It was the way you went red and then Sebastian winked. It was…suggestive…" Blaine whacked Nick very furiously with his scarf, and Kurt tried to ignore the swoop of relief that he was experiencing.

"David, where's-"

"He wasn't on our flight," said David, before Sebastian could even finish his question. "The whole place was mental over the break, and Cam's on lockdown so he's not coming."

"Really?" David nodded, sadly.

"Yeah, it fuckin' sucks, but he'll be here when term begins so…" he shrugged.

"Where's Morrison, then?" questioned Flint. David jerked his head in the general direction of the Hall.

"Crawford, visiting Lottie." There were some nods, and Kurt felt himself tense a little bit at the mention of her name. His understanding and perspective of Charles may have shifted a little bit, and he'd always felt a little bit sorry for Lottie since Elise had told him about her, but he was still wary – and had every right to be.

"Hey guys," everyone looked round and saw Fred standing there, minus his left eyebrow it seemed, but grinning nonetheless. Kurt watched as the others hugged him and went to embrace him last, feeling a little bit curious and sad after what Jeff had yelled at him.

"You look well," commented Blaine with mild surprise, and Kurt suddenly noticed that Trinity were dancing away to hug some other people.

"I like your new style," commented Flint, gesturing to the eyebrow. Fred touched it subconsciously and laughed a little nervously.

"Yeah, mum and dad blew up the motel room again so I ended up with the grandparents." he rolled his eyes. "That's why I "look well" as you say…" he sighed and then shrugged. Jeff rubbed his shoulder in a sympathetic manner.

"Grandparents can be pain," agreed Flint. "My grandma wouldn't stay in the same room as me or look me in the eye, and my granddad…" He sighed. "It was pretty crap." There were some more shaken heads before Fred grinned again.

"This is depressing!" he commented blithely. "On the plus side my dad had gotten a lot meetings with companies interested in his ideas so we might be able to get a house soon." he sounded incredibly bright and hopeful, and Kurt couldn't understand how, if he didn't have a house, he could afford Dalton.

"That's great!" said David, punching his shoulder as Sebastian, Wes and Liam moved off to talk to Mac and Travis. "Keep looking for the silver lining!"

"Can someone give me a hand with that?" came Chris' voice and everyone turned to him in alarm at the glum, depressed, note to his voice.

"What's up?" said Fred, immediately, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as Jeff and Blaine exchanged sad, worried, looks.

"You know what's wrong…" he said, swallowing, and Kurt was shocked to see that there were tears in Chris' eyes. "My family is just…" he shook his head. "My siblings…" he bit down on the inside of his lip. "I'm glad I'm back," he said, softly.

"I'll find you a silver lining, mate," said Drew, appearing with a grin from behind them. They all cried out, throwing themselves at him, and Chris hugged him tightly. "I mean, no one talked to me, but I still had a relatively good Christmas…I think I'm now a horse whisperer." Everyone stared at him with raised eyebrows and confused expressions. "What? The horses are my friends!" Kurt frowned in bemused confusion whilst the others laughed.

"Oh, Drew, I won another bet!" exclaimed Blaine, suddenly. Drew raised his eyebrow and folded his arms.

"Oh yeah, which one?"

"I got the Rev to say "promiscuous", but I don't have any proof…" Drew rolled his eyes

"Was he describing Sebastian per chance?" The others laughed whilst Blaine poked his tongue out at Drew. Drew rolled his eyes again and then pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and clicked his fingers and a pen from Chris appeared in his hand. Kurt caught a glimpse of a list written in scrawling handwriting with several things crossed off. Drew raised his knee and made a firm line on the page.

"What's that?" he asked in confusion and Blaine rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Me and Drew made a list of bets of what we could get religious people to say and/or do. So far I've won all of them."

"Yeah, well, it would help if the Amish actually spoke to me!" said Drew, folding up the piece of paper and tucking it away. Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Amish, you're Amish?" Drew pulled a face and made a noncommittal movement with his head.

"It's complicated, but…my mum ran away from the community and met dad…They got married, had me, but when things started to break down – I was about seven – my mum left my dad and took me back. They accepted us back, blah blah, but I found the whole thing a bit weird, and then my dad turned back up because he didn't want me raised that way and said that – as long as he got to choose where I went to school – I could stay there." He shrugged with a broad grin. "And that's basically my life story!"

Kurt nodded, in mild disbelief, at him. He wasn't stupid enough to insult them because he got the distinct impression that Drew was someone who would flip out if Kurt insulted his family – and Kurt knew far better than to pick a fight with Drew – but was still, internally, wondering how Drew was as sane as he was. Fred, Chris and Drew moved away a little bit, talking in soft voices.

"Is Chris okay?" he asked, immediately, looking over at Jeff. Jeff sighed, shuffled his feet and then looked at the others. After a little bit of silent communication, David opened his mouth to speak;

"Chris has a very large family, and they all have big problems. His dad was a chain-smoker and now he has terminal lung cancer-" Kurt's breath caught in his throat and glanced at Jeff who gave him a weak smile. "He has nine older siblings! Three sets of twins and one set of triplets." Kurt raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"It runs in the family, I think," said Nick with a frown. David shrugged, and then Jeff took over the story.

"The eldest set of twins both have leukaemia, and then the triplets are a smoker, alcoholic and drug addict, then the next set of twins one's chronically obese – she comfort eats, I think – and the other's got really bad agoraphobia – he can't leave their house. Then in the last set of twins one has terrible paranoia and the other has bad bipolar disorder." Kurt's face had gone completely slack in shock, looking over at Chris in stunned sadness.

"Unsurprisingly, their mother has quite bad depression considering everything she has to deal with. Chris is only sane 'cause he reads so much and has his art and then there was the studying…" said Flint, taking a breath and double-checking Chris' hunched figure. "He was skipped ahead a year, and he got into Dalton, but he didn't get the scholarship so he couldn't come…He spent a year off just studying for the exam so that when it came around he got full marks and a full academic scholarship."

There was a sad pause in which Kurt felt his heart go out to Chris. He looked utterly crushed, but Kurt had never seen him as anything other than a relatively ordinary guy with a passion for reading and painting. Now, though, Kurt could see the weight and pain that was on his shoulders. Kurt had to admit that he was very good at hiding it – or forgetting it, he supposed – but right now, just after he'd had to deal with all of it, he couldn't.

A loud crash shook them from their saddened stupor. Looking around Kurt saw that Juri had collided with a pile of suitcases, sending luggage sprawling across the foyer floor. There was a collective wince, and then Chris, Drew and Fred were running over to their friend, Trinity on their heels, and they pulled him up and hugged him. Kurt grinned and waited for Juri to be escorted over before hugging him tightly.

"It's good to see you," he exclaimed as the smaller boy hugged him back.

"I am glad to see you too." replied Juri with a grin, bright blue eyes shining with an unusual brightness considering the flight that he'd just been on.

"Hey little guy," said David, lifting him off his feet.

"How's Ivan?" asked Flint as they all embraced the Russian.

"Good!" said Juri. "He got over flu!"

"I told you that you were overreacting!" said Chris, ruffling up his black hair. Juri gave him a glare, but then shook his head.

"I did not…take the risk…" he shook his head, and they all smiled, kindly, at him.

"How was your sister?" asked Nick with a curious look on his face. Juri rolled his eyes

"Half-sister," he corrected and then shrugged. "Same…tell me to repent…" he rolled his eyes once more and shook his head in clear annoyance. "Her husband is jerk." Everyone sighed in sympathy.

"Tristan was a pain in the arse," commented Nick, eventually. "and Dad was just writing and writing! I swear he forgot that it was Christmas."

"Is he working on a new book?" asked Chris, face perking up, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"You know I can't tell you that," he said with a grin and then winked. "Yes!" he exclaimed, looking incredibly excited. "I've read some of it, and I know you, Chris, are going to love it!" Chris sighed, raising his eyes to the ceiling in thanks.

"Oh good! I'm beginning to despair at modern fiction. There's a lot of trash floating around, and it takes a serious amount of work to find the gems. I swear, this must be how gold prospectors felt!" Everyone laughed loudly at that and the doors swung open and Kurt fell his mouth drop open in shock as people let out delighted cries.

Standing there were a large selection of Crawford girls – Jenny, Elise, Cat, Ros, Bea, Abby and Michelle to put a name to a few – and in the centre of the group was a pretty, slim, girl with golden blonde hair that could be no one other than Lottie, and Morrison Barringer-Tanner, renowned child actor, and Hollywood A-lister! It was impossible! He was in some of Kurt's favourite programmes – HH2 for example, in which he was Kurt's favourite character – and he was completely rich, good looking and- and engaged to Charles Lancaster's sister! What the hell?

"Morry!" exclaimed Fred, breaking Kurt's shocked stupor, and rushing towards the actor, colliding with him and sending the celebrity smashing to the floor. Everybody winced as Wes had leapt at his girlfriend, pulling her into a tight embrace. Jeff's face brightened and he dashed towards Cat, lifting her off her feet, and Elise was the only person that ran towards the group. David embraced her, kissing her nose and both of them giggling.

"Get off him, Fred!" exclaimed Drew, hauling Fred off the ground and then lifting up Morrison who was groaning. "You don't want to kill him!"

"And if you did…" Chris drew his finger across his neck before Morrison pulled both him and Drew into a tight hug.

"I missed you guys!" he said, dragging Lottie past the startled Freshmen and mildly surprised others to be mobbed by the Warblers. "Well, not you David!" he said, shoving the dark-skinned boy away and heaving Juri off the ground with his hug.

"We missed you too!" said Flint, grinning, and Kurt noticed that Blaine looked like someone had just announced it was Christmas all over again.

"Morrison!" screamed Trinity, flying across the foyer and leaping onto him. He stumbled, and Jeff and Nick grabbed him before sandwiching him. Kurt noticed that Michelle was actually staying away from Blaine as Ros and Bea hugged the group, and Lottie stood to the side, awkwardly.

"Oh, it's good to be back!" he said, running a hand over his face and wrapping his arm around Lottie and Fred's shoulders. "It was crazy there!" he shook his head and Kurt blinked in shock, unable to believe that Elise had not bothered to tell him that when he'd asked who he was!

"What happened?" asked Sebastian, appearing behind Morrison and frowning. "What actually happened?" Morrison looked round and smiled at him, Wes, Jen and Liam.

"Well, to cut a long story short…Harper and Daley came back on the same day and blew up at QT and Cam respectively. I actually thought Harper would stab QT when he realised how close they came to letting it out, and Daley was screaming and crying about how Cam had just ruined himself and how could he be so selfish, blah blah blah…"

"Did Cameron let on?" asked Sebastian, seriously, and Morrison shook his head.

"No, he took it really well. I'm so damn proud of him!" he grinned around the group, and Kurt's mind was whirring very fast. He'd heard them mention Cameron that day of the first snowball fight. Something bad had happened going by Sebastian's angry reaction, and the day after – that evening to be precise – the story about Cameron Gaylin had come out about the bird-eating. They couldn't know him too, could they? And Daley, well that would be Daley Kellerman, Morrison's best friend who was in his Senior year…

"Is he still mad at him? I had no contact."

"I know," said Morrison, looking a little bit more stressed. "like I said, whole place was mental. Their dad tore into Harper for attacking QT and-"

Holy Prada, he thought, tuning out of the conversation after the annoyed sounds that the rest made at the mention of QT, they know QT! They know the band QT! I do not believe this! I had no idea famous people came to Dalton! I mean, their children is one thing, but this…I had no idea!

"Well, at least their single didn't get to number one," said David. "Alecia did us proud."

"I know!" said Morrison. "I sent her an email saying thanks the moment the news came in."

"We called her!" exclaimed David. "Rosanne rang her, and we were all screaming down the phone…I'm pretty sure she thinks we're crazy, but she also said she hopes Daley's okay…" Morrison nodded.

"Yeah, that's what she said to me too." There was an incredulous silence before Jeff burst out laughing.

"You guys are crazy!" said Jeff, shaking his head and laughing.

"What? Your mum can kill people with her bare hands!" Jeff kicked out at Flint who dodged it, laughing, and Drew, Chris and Fred just looked at each other and shook their heads as they snorted.

Suddenly, as everyone was laughing and jabbing at each other, Morrison's gaze locked onto Kurt. He narrowed his light blue eyes, as if he was trying to work out whether he knew Kurt, and then a grin burst across his boyish, good-looking, features, looking at his utterly silent and quiet fiancée.

"You're Kurt, right?" he questioned and extended his hand. Kurt blinked at him in surprise as everyone looked at him. Kurt, not entirely what was going on, accepted his hand and shook it firmly.

"Yes, I'm Kurt…no need to ask who you are." Morrison laughed, letting go of his hand and working it around Lottie's waist.

"It's nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you!" Kurt raised an eyebrow in shock, not entirely sure how an acclaimed actor could have heard of him.

"Really?"

"Oh yes!" said Morrison, nodding with a grin. "Fred's been filling me in on all that's been going on here, and you got mentioned quite a bit." Kurt nodded to him, looking at Fred who winked with the eye that had an eyebrow, and put his hands in his trouser pockets.

"I see." Morrison narrowed his eyes.

"By the look on your face I'd guess that you didn't know I was coming," Kurt shook his head, pursing his lips and glared at Elise who grinned innocently back at him.

"I was informed that you were "lovely" and that I'd meet you, but no one," he glared around at his amused group of friends. "bothered to mention who you were." There were stifled laughs, and eventually Elise spoke;

"I'm sorry, Kurt, but the look on your face was priceless! I couldn't miss it!"

"It was damned funny!" chipped in Ros, and Kurt sent a glare her way. Ros leaned a little bit into Bea, but said nothing more.

"And this is Lottie, I don't think you've met." Lottie gave him a nervous smile and extended her hand. Kurt could not see an engagement ring as he shook her hand, but noticed it hanging from a chain around her neck. It was small and traditional; the golden band slim and delicate and the diamond not more than a couple of millimetres high or wide. It sent different light patterns dancing across the pale skin of her neck and when she withdrew her hand from his she touched it, nervously, after she'd noticed his gaze on it.

The pause was distinctly awkward, everybody shuffling their feet and not really sure what to say. Morrison glanced down at his girlfriend with a sharpness to his blue eyes that melted when he saw her frightened expression. Elise glanced across at Cat who shrugged and looked at Ros. Ros took her arm away from Bea's shoulders and clapped her hands together in a business-like manner.

"As the oldest since Sebastian and the others skedaddled-" Kurt raised an eyebrow at the word but didn't question it. "-off, I say that we sort a couple of things out." She seemed to have a certain authority as no one disagreed. "Lottie, got somethin' ya want to say?" Lottie looked up at Ros, clearly pleading her to not make her speak, but Ros glared her down with a look that was rather similar to Sebastian's. Lottie looked at Morrison who took both her hands in his with a kind smile.

"I wanted," she said in a very quiet voice, her accent the only thing that made her voice sound like Charles'. "to tell you how sorry I was for my brother's actions. I feel like most of the blame falls onto my shoulders because I did not look after him the way I was meant to. I let him down and then you got hurt." Kurt raised an eyebrow, again, for lack of anything better to do.

"Look, Lottie," said Cat with a frown. "you did your best! You raised someone who is only a year younger than you! I don't even understand how you managed that so the fact that you're both walking and talking is a huge achievement. No one looked after you until you came here." Kurt looked between them as Lottie shook her head more decisively and surely than anything else that she'd done previously.

"No, I should have done things differently!" There was a hopeless, exasperated, silence.

"Like what?" questioned Bea, worriedly. "What would you have done differently?" Lottie shrugged, and Kurt was beginning to feel uncomfortable, like this was less about what Charles had done to him and more what Lottie was doing to herself.

"I would have said it differently. I ought to have known that he would do that, he is my brother."

"He didn't want your help, though!" exclaimed Elise, clearly angry now. "I'm sick and tired of you doing this to yourself, Lottie! You don't think that Bea and Jeff haven't told me that all this holiday you've sat and tried to starve yourself to death?! You wanted your brother to be happy, and you felt guilty about being happy when he was so miserable, what's wrong with that?" Kurt swallowed, noticing the intense stare that both Ros and Morrison were giving him.

He felt like that he ought to step in and say something, but what? Say that it wasn't that bad? That it didn't bother him? He got the feeling that she'd see straight through that. He felt bad for her, though, because she was so pale and delicate – like she was made of tissue paper, and she was tearing herself apart, ripping off the sellotape that held her together. He couldn't say that it had mainly frightened him because he'd been there before. Because that had led to his life being threatened. That this time he hadn't thought he would leave.

He looked over at Blaine, standing between Flint and Bea, and looked for some answers and guidance in his hazel eyes. Blaine, unlike everyone else, knew about Karofsky and understood why what had happened had been so bad for him. Blaine gave him a weak smile and then a half shrug. He didn't know what Kurt should say, but his eyes were telling him to say something quickly.

"Look, Lottie," he said, breaking into the argument that was going between the three Junior girls. "I can't pretend that what Charles did to me didn't…hurt me, but…" he looked over at Blaine who gave him a reassuring smile. "it's not the worst thing that's ever happened to me…I came to Dalton because I had my life threatened. Yes, it was horrible and I never want it to happen again, but…there's no point you tearing yourself apart over it; in the end it doesn't change anything." Happy smiles were sent his way by all the boys and girls in the circle, and Morrison mouthed a "thank you" at him as he ruffled up his light brown hair.

"See," he said with a pointed look. "everything that we've been saying! I spoke to Charlie over Christmas, just like I said, and he's…well, he's not great, but he's really just lonely. I honestly think that if Al gets back in touch with him he'll be fine…"

"I think that would help Al, too," muttered David. "I swear he gets paler every time I look at him – or his hair's getting darker." There was a pause in which everyone acknowledged that his hair was not getting darker.

"Thank you, Kurt," she said with a voice that was hoarse, and Kurt gave her a small smile in return. He did not know what to say to her because, in the end, she was more hurt by what had happened to Kurt than Kurt was. He guessed that her brother was her responsibility and that it all fell onto her when Charles was not remorseful.

"Happiness!" yelled Nick, randomly, at that and jumped onto Lottie and Morrison. Jeff took that as his cue to jump onto Kurt, wrapping Juri into the hug too. Kurt was mildly surprised, but patted him on the back anyway. Everyone else was laughing at the pair, and Thad, who had been entirely silent and – if Kurt was being honest – forgettable, pulled them away, holding them back by their collars as they bounced on the spot.

Kurt frowned as he properly looked at Thad and noticed that his cheeks appeared rather hollow. Kurt wasn't sure whether it was the lighting, but his eyes looked completely dead. Kurt blinked as Thad stepped backwards, disappearing into the line of blazers as Jeff dashed over to his girlfriend and Nick bounded into Flint's arms – for whatever reason – and faded away.

He saw that Morrison was staring at Blaine through narrowed eyes, and that most people were also shooting him looks out of the corners of their eyes. They were being subtle about, letting Flint talk about the way that his dad and his granddad had critiqued his performance, and cry as he explained his uncle had told him that he could no longer pretend to love him, but they seemed more focused on Blaine then Flint as he spoke.

"That's friggin' terrible!" exclaimed Drew in the end. "Man, I thought my extended family treated me like shit, but at least they don't pretend to love me or anything!" Kurt frowned at him, directing his gaze onto him instead of Jeff who was watching Blaine as surreptitiously as he could.

"I thought you said they'd accepted you?" Drew rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"They accepted us back, but when I agreed to go to Dalton, and then said I loved it I was "shunned" for, you know, accepting the other life kind of thing – except it's kind of mean 'cause it wasn't my choice." He shrugged again. "At least I have the horses." Kurt shot him a slightly cynical frown at that whilst Flint wiped his eyes.

"I can't believe your uncle would do that," said David with a frown, looking over at Flint. "I get that your dad's family are…you know…but your mum is so cool! I mean, are you sure there's no way you could live with her?" Flint sent him a half glare, sniffing.

"I can't," said Flint. "you know that she doesn't want me. She didn't- she didn't speak to me this Christmas, and she-" he broke off, a look of anguish on his face and Kurt guessed that, like it seemed so many among his friends at Dalton, his parents did not have a happy relationship. "Besides she's moving out to LA fulltime, David. Even if she wanted me there's no way my dad would ever let that happen, no way." There was a moment of sad silence before Nick shook his head, frowning around the group.

"Come on, can't we keep the cheer going for even a little while?" There were all laughs and chuckles and Kurt was surprised to see that Ros had fixed her gaze upon him.

"Oh, I should tell you what happened to the guys who book the motel room next to us, before my parents blew it up-" there were rolled eyes as it seemed Fred's proclivity for explosions was genetic. "-because it was hilarious!"

"See, this is what we want!" exclaimed Nick, gesturing to Fred with a grin, and everyone rolled their eyes again and shook their heads.

"Shh!" said Fred, glaring at him. "Anyway, these two guys came in, like, two days after I got back and they kind of arrived with some giant storm! They rolled their car in blasting out music, like shouted for a room and stormed in. Two hours later there were sounds like gunshots and, of course, we didn't do anything because we make a load of noise but some of other people did and there were just more bangs and they didn't answer the door so a friggin' armed response unit came. Like, full on SWAT team and arrested them! Then," he carried on before anyone could interrupt. "it turns out that – wait for it – they were playing with friggin' party poppers!"

Everyone stared at him in shock. Some people snorted or let out of huffs of surprised and amused laughter. Kurt, smiling to himself, shook his head in disbelief. How could two people playing with party poppers be stupid enough to get themselves arrested?

"Why didn't they just open the door?" asked Chris in confusion. "That would have saved a lot of trouble." Fred shrugged.

"I don't know…it was totally bizarre! But they weren't stoned or crazy or anything because the next day they were back in the motel like nothing had happened! There was this family that was there and the woman took one look at them, screamed and went hurtling out of the place, dragging this one kid behind her, got in the car and drove off and left her husband, the other kid and all their stuff behind!" The group burst out laughing as one, and Kurt shook his head some more at the ridiculousness of the story.

"Hey Kurt," said Ros, suddenly. "Can I talk to ya for a sec?" Kurt looked up at her in surprise, and then glanced across at Jeff who gave him a tight, mildly apologetic, smile.

"Sure," he said, stepping out of the circle and moving away from them. He watched the way Ros squeezed Bea's shoulder before walking towards Kurt. A couple of second later Bea followed her over to him.

"Jeff told you what happened to Bea," said Ros, steadily, and Kurt shrugged, glancing between the two of them.

"He told me that you were being…"beaten" by your parents; that's it." Ros nodded in a succinct manner, and Bea shifted, leaning closer to Ros.

"Alright, how about this, 'cause you're one of us, I fill you in." Kurt shrugged again, holding up his palms.

"I don't want you to tell me anything you don't want, especially not over something like this." Kurt might not enjoy the boys being shrouded constantly in secrecy and telling him things only when they remembered that Kurt might need to know them, but he didn't want them to tell him things that they didn't want; that would be like him telling them all about Karofsky just because of Charles…

"It's okay, Kurt," said Bea, softly. "you're one of us…You know how- well, you don't know it feels to be…" she swallowed, looking shifty. "but you're- you have had bad things done to you too." She looked up at Ros who squeezed her shoulder. Kurt nodded, giving Bea a smile. Bea swallowed and looked at Ros who rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes I think that I'm the only person at Crawford with a voice that says anything useful or meaningful." Kurt snorted at that, agreeing with it completely. "Bea came to Crawford because her parents were rich and this set of schools has quite the reputation amongst the affluent." Kurt nodded again, having seen that quite clearly from his selection of friends.

"I hadn't noticed," he muttered, dryly, and got a hearty chuckle in response.

"Yes, well, Bea got-" Ros broke off, suddenly, and glared down at her friend. "You know what; screw this! I'm not going to be your spokesperson!" Both of them blinked in shock as she turned around and stormed off to the group of Seniors that included Sebastian and Wes some way across the hall. Kurt raised an eyebrow at Bea as she tugged one of her ringlets, pulling the ginger lock of hair down until it was almost straight before releasing it and letting it spring back into its normal shape.

"Is she alright?" asked Kurt in mild concern and Bea nodded slowly, biting down onto her rather raw looking lower lip.

"Yes, I think so…she's just…what with what Tom-" she cut herself off, looking up at Kurt hopelessly as she noticed his eyebrow arching in confusion. "Oh, I don't!" She threw her hands over her face. "I'm not meant to talk about it!" she exclaimed, voice rather high, and attracting the attention of the little clump of Juniors.

"Everything alright?" asked Elise, dashing over to the smaller girl's side. Bea shook her head and began to mumble whilst Kurt stared at her in bemused confusion, not entirely sure what had just happened. "Oi, Cat!" the brunette wandered over with a frown, and then they guided the trembling Bea away. Kurt turned to his group of friends.

"What the hell just happened?" he demanded, and the rest looked at each other and then shrugged.

"What did you say?" asked Jeff, taking a step forward with a frown. Kurt held up his hands and then sighed.

"Not much…they said that they were going to tell me what happened to Bea, but Ros said that she wasn't her spokesperson and stormed off, and then Bea mentioned something about a guy called Tom and-" he broke off in surprise as the atmosphere around the circle changed dramatically. There was a moment of tense silence. David swallowed heavily. Blaine went pale. Thad looked at the floor with closed eyes. Nick began to scratch his thumb with his middle finger. Jeff's hands balled into fists. Morrison took a very deep breath. The other people averted their gazes.

"No wonder she got distressed…" muttered David as Kurt looked between the others, taken aback – and more than a little bit worried – by the change in atmosphere.

"Give me a moment," said Lottie, softly, squeezing Morrison's hand until he met her gaze. He gave her a small smile, and then she slid out of circle, running towards the group, and Kurt watched her long blonde hair sway from left to right and shine in the lights.

"Are you all alright?" he asked, quietly, and got a round of curt nods in reply. He looked over at Blaine who lifted his mouth into a tired smile, but gave Kurt no further indication of what was wrong with the name Tom.

"Nick," said Jeff, finally, unclenching his fists and looking at the dark haired boy. "I think you may have to abandon your happiness plans." Nick folded his arms, defiant expression falling into place, and Kurt found himself smiling a little bit – waiting for whatever was coming next.

"Jeffery Sterling," he said, very slowly. "I proclaim thee a heathen!" Kurt's eyebrow rose sharply in surprise, even as his smile became more defined. "I accuse thee of devil-worship and-" laughter began to ripple round the circle as Jeff looked at Nick with a completely bemused expression, clearly unaware where the insults were coming from. "-you shall bow down and worship me for I am the source of happiness."

Everyone but Nick burst out laughing as Jeff, directing a sarcastic look of devotion at Nick, bent his knees, craning his neck so that he could keep looking at Nick, and bowed down low. He swept his right hand in front of him and muttered;

"My lord," with as much false-spite he could manage. Nick, a grin breaking through his previously austere expression, pulled him upright and into a tight embrace.

"I forgive you my son," and they then proceeded to fake sob – loud enough to attract the attention of the entire foyer – into each other shoulders, proclaiming their love for one another whenever they took a break from "crying" to breathe.

Kurt could see Sebastian rolling his eyes and shaking his head in disdain whilst Wes, draped between Sebastian and Jenny, was laughing. Ros, elbow resting on Liam's shoulder, was giggling, bent double so that they were almost of equal height. The group of Crawford girls had their eyebrows raised, but El was giggling whilst Cat hid her head in her hands in embarrassment, and Lottie and Bea shared rolled eyes with smiles on their faces. Some of the younger students looked rather alarmed by the hubbub, but everyone else looked amused – if confused – by what was happening.

"Why the hell did I decide to go out with him?" demanded Cat, moving over to the circle of Dalton boys. "He is an embarrassment!"

"Love makes you do crazy things, my dear," said David, flinging an arm over her shoulder and adopting a look of great wisdom. Cat elbowed him in the chest, and he stumbled, going to the floor and looking up at her with wide, hurt, eyes. "Catherine! How could you do this to me!" Cat put her hands over her face as David continued to writhe in "pain" on the floor as everyone laughed even harder.

"I give up!" said Cat, throwing her hands into the air and shaking her long brown hair. "I don't know why I bother!"

"We're not that bad," pointed out Flint, managing to control his giggles. "Think about Trinity…" Cat let out a great groan as Trinity – as if the very mention of their name had summoned them – came bounding over.

"Catty!" they yelled as one, throwing their arms around her. "Catty, Catty, Cat, Cat!" They then proceeded to dance around her whilst chanting that over and over again. Kurt found that he was laughing so hard at the situation; Jeff and Nick were still sobbing and proclaiming their love for one another, that several tears were leaking from the corners of his eyes. Juri had been reduced to a little ball of hysterical laughter on the floor whilst Chris, Fred, Drew and Morrison were leaning against each other as they roared with laughter, and Thad was holding up both Blaine and Flint whilst he chuckled.

Cat looked ready to murder someone as she threw her most fearsome glare from underneath lashes that had serious amounts of mascara added to them at Trinity. Most of the foyer – if they weren't questioning the world's sanity – was laughing along with them, and Kurt got the distinct impression that this sought of thing happened regularly if they all gathered together, especially if they had just spent the holidays apart.

"Alright," said Sebastian, somehow catching hold of the three boys all at once and dragging them away from Catherine. "who gave them sugar? Anyone who withholds evidence will be executed along with the perpetrator and convicts." Everyone stared, blankly, back at him, trying not to burst out laughing.

"Um, Bastian," said Wes, coming over, still doubled up from all the hysteria. "I don't think anyone gave them sugar." Sebastian closed his eyes, and then released the boys who immediately leapt into the air, giggling, and galloped off.

"Someone remind me to murder them when there are less witnesses," he muttered, kissing Blaine swiftly before walking off. Kurt watched Blaine flush a little bit and squirm under everyone else's amused, knowing, gaze.

"Aww, baby Blainey's growing up," said David, putting on a baby voice and reaching over to pinch Blaine's cheeks. Blaine swatted his hand away, pouting, and Kurt laughed at the offended look on his face. The girls came walking back over.

"Alright," said El, putting her hands on Bea's shoulders. "let's just get this over with. Bea came here not that narrowed minded, but not really aware of her own sexuality. It took a little bit of time and a lot of chatting to Ros, but she came out and then went home for Christmas and came out…" she trailed off and looked down at Bea who sighed.

"My parents didn't exactly take it well…My dad thought maybe I'd been…" she looked up to the ceiling. "They thought I might have been infected by…something, and, um…He whipped me…and, um, they rubbed my skin raw with, um," Bea rolled up her sleeve and Kurt took in a huge breath of shock, some tears entering his eyes at the sight of the burns. "bleach. They kind of beat me again, and I ended up in hospital…" some tears fell down her face whilst Kurt pursed his lips, looking down at the floor.

"Bea, that is…" he swallowed, looking over at Blaine who was blinking rapidly whilst Flint had reached over and put his hand on his shoulder. "I would never have guessed," he said, finally. "You-" he shook his head. "You're really strong," he choked out. "To come back from that."

"I stay at Dalton and with Ros," said Bea with a little smile. "Mrs Husbands," Kurt raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Headmistress of Crawford," supplied Lottie, promptly, and Kurt nodded his thanks at her.

"She, um, wanted me to press charges, but I couldn't so…They're not allowed to come to Crawford so I stay here at Christmas and Easter and then over summer I hop around between Ros and El and Cat." Kurt looked down at her and saw her fragility but also her strength. He opened his arms a little bit, offering her a hug, and she gingerly stepped into his arms.

She was quite a bit shorter than him – about the height of Rachel he reckoned – and her grip was relatively weak, he guessed that her arms likely still hurt, but she rested her head against his shoulder, and Kurt found that her ginger ringlets tickled his neck and that he could sink his chin into her bushy hair. He could understand that Jeff needed to look after her because if it was the one year anniversary of the event than she was likely wracked with bad memories.

He put his hands on her shoulder as she stepped back, hastily wiping her eyes, and felt like he should offer some words of comfort or advice because he had been through terrible things too, but physical attacks was something that he was unfamiliar with.

"You're going to tell me that I've made it through the worse, aren't you?" she guessed and Kurt snorted because that was the only thing that had come into his mind.

"I was, yes, but instead I could tell that you'll never forget it and it will plague you, but…you look around and see the good that comes from the bad. I only came because I had my life threatened, but I don't- I almost don't mind because of all my friends." Bea nodded, wiping her watery eyes, and Ros came over to sling an arm around her shoulder and hug her.

"See, told ya you could do it." Bea nodded, looking up at her and face loosening as a result of the comfort that Ros seemed to offer her.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Kurt, and Ros nodded.

"Yeah, why not."

"Are you two dating?" There was a pause before everyone burst out laughing. Even Bea began to giggle as they all laughed, and Kurt, arching his eyebrow in mild annoyance, stared round at them until Ros stopped.

"No, I have a girlfriend. Name's Grace, goes to St Emily's." Kurt frowned for a second, trying to remember why he knew the name, before his eyes went wide in shock.

"St Emily's! Isn't that Garfield's sister school?" he demanded, and everyone nodded.

"Yep," said Ros, glowering slightly. "and they're just as bad."

"There's, um," said Morrison, starting slowly. "There's this sort of…secret LGBT community in the two schools because they're next to each other like Dalton and Crawford. Grace, who's a Prefect, is the only-" Morrison broke off with a frown, looking over at Ros for clarification. "Is she the only one that's out now?" Ros nodded.

"Yeah, she gets a lot of stick from those sons-of-bitches, but she's a Prefect, and she got me and her friends so she's holding it together." Kurt nodded, knowing that feeling very well, but something else crept into his mind.

"Are they boarding schools?" he asked and there was a round of nods. He felt his face fall a little because that would mean living with it 24/7, like two inescapable versions of McKinley.

"They're our arch nemeses," said Jeff, cracking his knuckles ominously. "for so many reasons."

"We'll kick their ass in Lacrosse," said Nick confidently. "Right Drew?" Drew nodded, a grin spreading across his face.

"I can't wait!" he said gleefully. "We're going to pound them!" Chris rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"You're so primitive," he said, disdainfully, and Drew elbowed his ribs.

"You didn't mind me being so big and strong when I had to lug your paintings around." Chris shrugged.

"That's not a sport," he pointed out, and Drew rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"And then there's the cheerleading!" exclaimed El, holding up her hand for a high-five from Kurt. Kurt obliged, feeling a little bit of excitement spark in that at the possible chance of taking McKinley down a peg – he would be eternally grateful to Coach Sylvester for taking his situation seriously and expelling Karofsky, but she still bullied the New Directions horribly.

"And don't you have your gymnastics too?" asked Flint, glancing between Elise and Thad, for whatever reason. Elise nodded, also glancing at Thad, and Kurt supposed he must be on the gym team.

"Yeah, that's about the same time. I think we're gonna win."

They fell amicably into different conversations; Drew, Elise, Nick, Jeff and David talking about sport, Kurt, Chris, Juri, Blaine, Flint and Bea talking about art and music, Cat, Ros and Fred chatting animatedly about architecture with Morrison and Lottie whispering to each other a little way to the side.

Kurt found out very quickly that Juri and Bea had some conflicting opinions on classical music as they, almost instantly, became embroiled in some argument that Kurt didn't understand about expressionism and tonality which Flint found – for whatever reason – hilarious. Chris and Blaine were ignoring them whilst talking about something about types of string which they both explained to Kurt was a painting that Chris was working on in which everyone that he knew became a different kind of string.

"Daley!" A shout sounded through the emptying foyer, Kurt had a feeling that he'd just spent at least half an hour listening to a conversation about string, and saw a sight that was a little bit unexpected. Daley Kellerman, his wispy red hair on end and grey eyes laughing, stood in the doorway to the foyer, two satchels slung over his shoulders and a pile of luggage by his feet as Sebastian ran across the foyer to him, Wes hot in his heels. The Juniors around Kurt let out cries of delight and, as Sebastian pulled him into a tight hug, dashed off leaving Morrison, David and the girls – minus Ros – standing by Kurt. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"My face still amuse you?" he asked Elise, and she looked at his expression.

"Not really, it's not as funny the second time."

"Besides," said David, turning to him as he pulled his girlfriend towards him. "I bet you'd half guessed." Kurt nodded at that.

"Yeah, I had. I take it Cameron Gaylin is also coming?"

"Yep," said Morrison, nodding. "but not till after the holidays are over…" his eyes were fixed on Daley as he hugged all the different boys, and Kurt got the impression that he wasn't really paying attention to Kurt. Kurt looked over at him and saw that he had a very good tan for the middle of December, but he still looked tired.

"He's doing better than I thought," muttered Cat under her breath as Ros held onto Daley tightly. "I mean, last time he looked like a friggin' zombie." Kurt glanced over curiously, but Morrison simply nodded.

"Yeah…I was worried after the fight with Cam, but…He's still doing alright." Kurt was surprised to see that Daley was making his way over to them, submerged in all the happy students that were dragging him over all chattering away. Daley came to a stop, ruffling up his already fly away hair and smiling around.

"Hey Cat, Bea, El…Lottie!" he reached forward and pulled the blonde girl into a tight girl. "How are you doing?" he asked when he let her go. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and gave him a look that asked why he was asking her that. Daley rolled his eyes. "We've been through this; you're marrying my "little brother", of course I care about you – that and you're a sweet girl." Lottie flushed a little bit before shrugging.

"I'm doing okay," she said. "Better than earlier…"

"That's great," said Daley and, up close, Kurt noticed that his face was thinner than usual and his eyes flickered around him a lot. He hugged all the other girls, though, punching both David and Morrison on the shoulder before stopping before Kurt. "And you must be Kurt," he said, holding out a hand like Morrison had. Kurt took it firmly, feeling he was less shocked as he'd half put it together for himself.

"It's nice to meet you," he said with a smile, and Daley nodded, letting go of his hand with a pleasant smile on his face as well.

"You too, I've heard a lot of nice things about you, especially that you have a wonderful voice." Kurt felt himself flushing at that because there was nothing quite like praise from an award-winning actor.

"Thank you," he said. "I have to admit I'm a little surprised," his gaze flickered to Sebastian because Sebastian had run at Daley to hug him and was obviously his closest friend, and he would not have said those kinds of things about Kurt. Daley looked around and then laughed.

"Yeah, that came from Wes," there were quite a few laughs at that. "but Sebastian did admit that you were very good." Kurt looked over at Sebastian with a raised eyebrow. Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"I may not open my heart and embrace you warmly, Kurt, but I'm not stupid – you are a countertenor, and you have a unique voice. I am not a fool, Kurt." Kurt blinked at him, not entirely sure whether that was a compliment or not.

"Okay…" he said whilst everyone else chuckled in amusement. Daley looked round at Sebastian who had swung his arm around to rest on his shoulder.

"Sebastian's compliments are always backhanded," informed Daley, tugging down on the sleeves of his blazer.

"Unless you're Blaine," added Wes. "Or Daley, some of the time." There was a little less laughter at that, and Kurt couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the whole atmosphere seemed to have shifted since Daley had arrived. No eyes focused on Blaine anymore; Daley was the centre of all their attention. Kurt knew something had happened to him, but… Their reactions were interesting because Blaine had nearly been killed and if all the focus was now on Daley…something terrible must have happened.

"You know I intensely dislike the fact that you are acting like I don't exist." There was a beat in which everyone looked at each other before Nick frowned and said;

"Did you hear a voice just then or was that my craziness talking to me? – sometimes I can't tell." Everyone kept straight faces for the longest time whilst Sebastian glared daggers at Nick, probably picturing the many ways he could kill and torture him inside his head, and Nick stared innocently around the room as he "searched" for the illusive "voice".

"Nicolas, I may have Trinity in my cross hairs, but don't think for a second that I can't switch that onto you and sink your lacrosse playing." Nick let out a shriek of horror, staring at Sebastian in an aghast manner.

"Nooooo!" he screamed, flinging himself onto the floor in the image of piety. The group dissolved into mad hysterics as Nick continued to hero-worship at Sebastian's feet whilst Sebastian rolled his eyes, but soaked up all the attention with a smug smirk. Kurt looked around the group at all the happy, laughing, faces and the way that when his eyes met with everyone's they gave him a little extra smile of his own.

It's great to come back to know that they don't hold anything else against me. Despite the things that I said to him about his religion he's just forgiven me instantly, and the others…I don't even know whether he told anyone else, and the emails, well, it was Blaine's mistake and after what happened to him I can't stay mad at him. Also, celebrities go here! I cannot believe no one told me! This is insane, but then again; it's Dalton!

---

"Juri," said Kurt as they began to slowly unpack their luggage after finally leaving the foyer an hour later. "did you see your girlfriend this holiday?" Juri, who was inspecting his violin carefully, went bright red.

"Not my girlfriend," he muttered, deliberately looking in the opposite direction whilst Kurt laughed at his expense.

"Come on, Juri," he said, pulling the spare hangers out of his wardrobe. "What's she like?" Juri let out a sigh and put his violin his case, turning around to face Kurt as he flopped down onto his bed.

"Her father use work for mine. Ve grew up togezer…" Kurt frowned, setting one of his jackets down and sitting opposite Juri, having a feeling that this was going somewhere quite important.

"So, she's our age?" he questioned when Juri didn't keep talking. Juri nodded, looking around the room with his wide blue eyes.

"Yes…her dad vas…he died on ze oil rig…it vas accident, but…" he frowned, pursing his lips and shaking his head. "She did not forgive us…Ve used to play togzer… Her cello, me violin. I am trying to earn forgiveness." Kurt bit the inside of his lip, looking into his friend's downcast expression.

"I take it that it didn't go well," he commented, and Juri shook his head.

"She vants nozing to do vith me." Kurt felt his face fall into a frown, understanding now why Juri didn't talk about it. He would go home with excitement and hope that it would be the right time, but his hopes were always dashed.

"Juri, if she wants nothing to do with you then…why bother?" Juri looked over at him with an alarmed expression.

"Vat?" Kurt shrugged.

"When the last time you properly spoke to her?" Juri shrugged, a frown falling onto his face.

"Ven ve vere…eleven," Kurt let out a splutter of laughter at that.

"Juri, you haven't fallen in love with a person, you fallen with an idea!" Juri frowned at him even more.

"Vat do you mean?" Kurt sighed, splaying his hands on his knees and trying to think a good way to explain it all.

"Let me guess, when you go there you don't go inside the house?" Juri nodded. "And you don't speak to her, or anybody else, but you see her." Juri nodded some more. "And you do what, exactly? Sing to her, play her music, bring flowers?" Juri nodded very vigorously, eyes wide. Kurt sighed. "You fell in love with the girl on the other side of the glass…You fell in love with someone who you can't have and you don't even know!"

"Is zat not how you fell for Blaine?" challenged Juri, and Kurt frowned. "You fell in love vith him on outside. I knew vo she vas. You did not know vo he was." Kurt felt himself stunned into silence at that. He couldn't argue with that, but…It was different to fall in love with someone who you had just met and then went onto know, and someone who lived on the other side of a glass window who he could not speak to…or was it?

"I suppose you may have a point there, Juri, but I'm not still pining over Blaine, am I? I went out with someone else, and I'm happy, why don't you ever consider going out with someone else? If you close your mind and say that you will go out with that one person and if they don't want to then all you're going to end up doing is making yourself, and probably that person too, miserable." Juri stared at him, blinking in shock.

"Vell…you make good point too, Kurt, but…I do not- I do not connect vith many girls. I have crushed on her for years…Her music is beautiful…She is beautiful…Others girl are not so…Crawford girls are very annoying." Kurt snorted, smiling at that.

"Yes, I can't disagree with that, but weren't there girls in the chamber choir that you get on with?" Juri took a second to think before nodding.

"Yes, I suppose."

"Look," he added, hastily. "I'm not saying you should go out with someone just for the sake of it, but I think you shouldn't close your mind to the rest of the female population." Juri nodded, and then shot him a small smile.

"You give me good advice," he said with a smile. Then he leapt into the air, arms flapping wildly, and Kurt watched, in alarmed confusion, as Juri dashed to one of his suitcases – thankfully not falling – and rooting through it until he pulled out a piece of paper. "Merry Christmas!" he exclaimed, handing it to Kurt. Kurt, with a frown and a guilty feeling in his stomach because he hadn't gotten Juri anything, took it and saw that it was a piece of manuscript paper with notes written on it in a neat script.

"Juri, did you write this?" Juri nodded, proudly, picking up his violin.

"It is not finished," he admitted. "I ran out of time, but I finish it soon." Kurt stared at the title on the top of the page that read "Kurt", slowly putting it together in his mind as Juri tucked his instrument beneath his chin and began to play.

Juri played on the lowest string of the instrument; drawing out long, sorrowful, notes coloured with intense vibrato that tapped straight into Kurt's old memories of fear and loneliness, but everyone so often he would dance higher; fleeting trills on the upper strings singing of hope and relief, and when the note lengths shortened and his bow became a blur as his fingers ran up and down the strings it perfectly illustrated the busy, hectic, beginnings of life at Dalton coupled with the freedom that Kurt now had.

It came to an end abruptly, Juri drawing out the last note before sweeping his bow off the string in a large arc, and Kurt burst into applause, unconcerned with incomplete nature of the piece because it was wonderful, and beautiful, and it was incredibly that Juri had written it himself. Also, Kurt had never heard Juri play the violin properly – sometimes he just sawed away at it when he got annoyed or stressed – but it was equally as amazing as when he played the horn.

"Juri, that's…" Kurt trailed off, trying to find a superlative that was appropriate. "that's absolutely stunning – why is everyone at Dalton crazy talented?" Juri shot him a pleased smile at that, putting his violin away.

"You are crazy talented too," he pointed out as he shoved the case beneath his bed with his foot, and Kurt preened internally at the compliment which meant a little bit more now that he understood how immense Juri's talent and understanding of music was.

"I think that may be understatement," he threw back, smirking, and Juri let out a bright laugh, shaking his head.

"I forget your confidence," he admitted. "You not bashful…" Kurt rolled his eyes to the ceiling because he thought that that was obvious about him.

"No Juri, I'm not, just like you're not coordinated." Juri threw him a small scowl, heavy eyebrows bunching together in an annoyed expression.

"I am coordinated I just don't see!" Kurt rolled his eyes, getting to his feet and beginning to unpack his things.

"Very well, just like you're not able to look in your peripheral vision," Juri beamed up at him, carefully opening up his own case.

"Exactly!" Kurt shook his head, smirking from ear to ear in amusement at Juri whilst the smaller boy stumbled around, humming under his breath, trying not to fall over any of the cases or clothing.

---

"And you're sure that you're okay?" Blaine looked at Daley's face which was slowly going pink in frustration. Daley reached forward to put both his hands on Sebastian's shoulders, almost shaking him backwards and forwards.

"Sebastian, if you don't go over to your boyfriend right now I will burn your music collection into ashes, understand?" Sebastian rolled his eyes, whacking him round the head playfully, narrowing his eyes but not throwing anything back at him.

"You are aware that I can put your bed in-"

"Leave me alone!" yelled Daley, spinning Sebastian around and pushing him towards Blaine, who was bent double giggling at Sebastian – internally…happy that Sebastian's fondness for Daley; albeit shown because of what had happened, had not diminished now that him and Blaine were dating – and was glared at as a result. Sebastian took his hand, though, and the two of them wandered off in a random direction.

"Is he really alright?" he double checked, and Sebastian turned to him with a small smile, nodding.

"Yes, Blaine, he's actually fine…as long as he doesn't find out what Q – fuckin' – T tried to do." Blaine nodded, frowning slightly, wondering how Cameron passed if off. Sebastian took one look at his face and huffed slightly. "Cam said that he'd been under the impression that QT had been serious in their threats to leak Morrison and Lottie's relationship to the tabloids." Blaine shivered at the thought of the press tearing into Lottie.

"So, he didn't lie," he said in relief, and Sebastian nodded firmly. "he just…"

"Bent the truth," muttered Sebastian with a snort, looking amused about something. Blaine frowned up at him.

"What?" Sebastian shook his head, eyes darting around the grounds in a distracted manner. Blaine frowned even more. "Bastian!" Sebastian blinked and shook his head.

"He did lie, though, no matter what Morrison and the others might want to think." Blaine felt his brow furrow some more, opening his mouth to speak. "I know that QT have threated to do it numerous times, but they all know that they're not serious – their mother would rip them limb from limb, and Morrison would leak the fact that they lip-sync in all their live concerts…to those too stupid to figure it out that is."

Blaine bit the inside of his lip at that, fully aware that Daley reacted terribly to people – especially the likes of Morrison and Sebastian – lying to him, but what was their other option? Blaine knew that if the news got out it would completely destroy Daley, and Morrison, Cameron and the sane Goodys ruining QT in retaliation would not make up for that. However, it would kill Daley – kill him – and he knew that, because they were bastards, QT probably wouldn't care. They'd spout their rubbish about the public having a right to know and move on; it didn't matter to them.

"Can we talk about something else?" he asked, hesitantly, and Sebastian gave him an appraising long before sighing and nodding.

"Simply because you had a terrible Christmas, despite your dapper smile and atrociously bright scarf; yes, yes we can." Blaine smiled at him, taking the warmth from his hand and the small smile on his face. "How was my Christmas present?" Blaine found himself beaming up at him even more.

"I can't thank you enough!" he exclaimed. "I saw Oz again, and he's looking for experts to say that the conditions he's living in aren't beneficial for his health…and Coop is going to start trying to get Adrian and mum some work." Sebastian nodded, listening with an intent look on his face. "I think he was going to get in touch with David's family."

"What about your dad?" he asked. Blaine shrugged, not really sure what to say about his dad because his reaction to Holt trying to kill him had been, well…nothing. He hadn't had a reaction – or not one that anyone had seen at any rate.

"I don't know," he said, finally. Sebastian arched an eyebrow.

"He didn't have a view about you nearly having your throat slit?" Blaine flinched, unexpectedly, at his words, and Sebastian watched his reaction without his expression changing. Shaking off the crawling feeling that he was suddenly experiencing up his spine, he nodded.

"He didn't speak to me after it. He didn't really talk to anyone properly." Sebastian frowned, casting his eyes around the ground as he thought.

"That's…unexpected. Do you have any idea what he was thinking?" Blaine shook his head, biting on the inside of his lip and wishing he could stop wondering what was on his dad's mind – and whether what had happened changed his threat at all. However, the fact that he hadn't said anything was ominous…very ominous indeed. "Blaine!" snapped Sebastian, clicking his fingers in front of Blaine's face. Blaine jumped.

"Sorry," he said, dragging his mind back to Sebastian's original question. Sebastian gave him a look that said "I-don't-like-the-fact-that-you're-zoning-out-on-me-it-reminds-me-of-when-you-first-came" to which he shrugged. "You can't say that I don't have reason…Both then and now I've come- come off the back of…" he trailed off, but Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"I think "near death" is what you're looking for," he commented, dryly, still staring at Blaine in a shrewd manner that made him squirm slightly.

"Right…" he said, looking away from Sebastian's eyes. "but yeah…No, I don't know what he was thinking about. If Emily knew then she didn't want to tell me." He shrugged. "There's not much I can do, right?"

"Except stay the fuck away from Holt the Psychopath? No, there's nothing you can do…well apart not nearly dying – remember that if you turn me grey by the time I'm twenty I'll kill you myself." Blaine looked at him, a small smile creeping onto his face despite the subject.

"That would be counterproductive!" he said in a sing song voice, and Sebastian threw him a death glare that didn't stop the corners of his mouth turning upwards into a smile.

"And people say I'm a bad influence on you," he said, shaking his head from side to side, smirking openly in a manner that was pleased with himself. Blaine whacked his arm, but knew that Sebastian wasn't about to stop smirking any time soon. "By the way, what did you get me for Christmas?"

"Um…" Blaine went a little pink, not really sure how to tell his boyfriend that he hadn't been shopping after the Holt incident – the idea of going back to the shopping centre had been terrifying. Sebastian stared at him before rolling his eyes.

"You didn't get me anything, did you?" Blaine looked away, cheeks colouring even more. Sebastian burst out laughing, ruffling up Blaine's hair in an annoying manner. "I'll make a conman out of you yet, Blaine." He said, still laughing, and Blaine scowled at him because he did not want to be a conman!

"How can I make it up to you?" he asked, and Sebastian sent him a look, eyes sweeping up and down his body, that sent a weird shiver through his body and was enough for him to randomly start feeling nervous.

"I don't think that I should say it out loud," he said, glancing round, and Blaine, following his gaze saw Wes, Daley and Liam not far away, probably eavesdropping on them, flushed an even deeper shade of red, looking away feeling a strange happy-nervous sensation within him.

"Oh…" he said, watching Wes double up in laughter out of the corner of his eyes. Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"That's one way of saying it, yes." Blaine didn't think he could at Sebastian right now – he was fully aware that Sebastian wanted to have sex with him, but somehow it made him feel really awkward…even though he was intensely pleased because Sebastian wanted him, which meant that Sebastian wasn't too good for Blaine – and it definitely didn't help that Wes was now cackling very loudly.

"Wes!" exclaimed Daley, grabbing the Warbler councillor by the ear and beginning to drag him away.

"You know if it's too awkward for you out here, we could always continue this conversation in my room, in my bed…" Blaine kicked him in the shin, glad that Wes was out of earshot.

"Now you're just winding me up!" he whined, and Sebastian rolled his eyes to the grey sky.

"Duh, I'm winding you up! It's my job!" Blaine turned to him with a fierce glare.

"At the hospital you said your job was to keep me sane," Sebastian shrugged, an unconcerned look on his face.

"What with it being you and all, the job description varies." Blaine opened his mouth, not quite sure what to say to that. Sebastian gave him a triumphant look before turning to face him properly. "If you really want to give me a Christmas present, promise me this;" Blaine stared up into his serious eyes, swallowing and biting the inside of his mouth. "promise me that you will always put yourself first." Blaine's face sunk into a frown.

"Bastian, what?" Sebastian rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Blaine, I know you, and I know that there is something that you're not telling me-" Blaine swallowed, guiltily, but Sebastian just held up a hand to stop him from saying anything. "-and I'm okay with that as long as you put yourself first. I know that your dad must have said something about you losing your scholarship, don't sacrifice anything else." Blaine stared at him in confusion.

"Like what?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Sebastian, holding up his hands in a sign of frustration and desperation. Blaine sighed, feeling tears sting his eyes.

"Okay…I promise you that I will…put myself first." Sebastian let out a relieved sigh, and Blaine opened up his arms, asking his boyfriend for a hug. Sebastian rolled his eyes and shook his head. Before Blaine's expression could become one of confused hurt, Sebastian had grabbed him by the face and was kissing him, and Blaine, on balance, had to admit that it was better than a hug.

---

There was a knock on the door, and it swung open wide enough for Keats' head to appear in the gap between the door and the frame. Kurt dropped the item of clothing in his hands, smiling, and dashed across the room to Keats. Keats wrapped his arms around him in a tight embrace and kissed him.

"I vill go see Chris," muttered Juri, trying to slide past them and out of the door unseen. Kurt rolled his eyes, standing back and pulling Keats out of the doorframe.

"See you later," he called, and Juri nodded as he scuttled away. Keats' mouth had formed a very tight line, and Kurt knew that he was suppressing his laughter. "You're late," he commented, raising his eyebrows and giving his boyfriend a disapproving look. Keats held up his hands.

"I wasn't even sure if we were going to make it," he explained. "me and Vince were hiding in the loft, but then they dragged us out, and Stuart fainted in the snow and got sick…" he rolled his eyes. "Either way we were locked away for a long while, and we only just got out. Parker is still in New York with his family, but he thinks he might be able to get here this evening." Kurt nodded.

"I see…" he replied for want of anything better to say.

"I brought you your Christmas present," said Keats, suddenly, removing the hand he'd had tucked behind his back, and Kurt's eyes widened as the small, neatly wrapped, package was extended to him.

"I didn't get you anything," he said guiltily, sitting down on his bed. Keats shrugged, seating himself next to Kurt.

"It doesn't matter," he assured him and proffered the parcel to Kurt once more. Kurt took it from him and deftly opened the wrapping paper. Out slid a small book. Kurt picked it up, feeling the leather with surprise. There was a small picture in the centre and he lifted it to his eyes. It looked like it was him dressed in military uniform…Civil War uniform is he wasn't mistaken

"What the…?" he questioned softly and Keats laughed.

"Actually, this was a little bit of a collaboration. Parker sent us all the pictures that he had of you; from the Carol Service, concert, cheerleading and so on. Then Vince did a sketch and Andy put it onto the computer. Stuart sowed the pages in and helped me cover the cardboard with leather." Kurt looked at him in surprise.

"Wow…you made it." Keats nodded.

"When I couldn't buy you anything I thought I might as well write you something," Kurt's eyes went a little wider and looked at the title that was in golden print above the soldier-Kurt and read;

The Solitary Soldier

By Keaton Powers

"You wrote me a poem?" he guessed and Keats nodded, looking a little apprehensive. Excited and flattered, Kurt flipped the book open and read the title again and the dedication;

For my Kurt

In the hope that you will never change

He found himself flushing a little at that and Keats just smiled at him in steady kind of way, clearly pleased, though, with Kurt's reaction to his gift. With fingers that almost trembled with anticipation, Kurt turned the page and began to read the poem out loud;

The solitary soldier;
So brave and strong,
Waits on the battlefield.

The old rifle;
So heavy and bloody,
Cries for the end.

The beating heart;
So weary and tired,
Bleeds in guilty sorrow.

The frightened mare;
So used and abused,
Whinnies for doting attention.

"Jesus," he muttered. "couldn't you have written something a little more cheerful?" Keats rolled his eyes and then shook his head.

"Keep reading," with a small sigh, Kurt turned the page to continue reading aloud;

The hills are covered with green grass
As the solitary soldier stands.
The world moves against him;
The armies of the South,
Rise up to take him down.

Yet he stands;
So tall and proud,
Alone.

To face fear with a straight face,
Unmoved and unshaken,
Even as within the resolve crumbles and breaks,
Is to stand up against the Gods of old.

To face down Zeus and his thunderbolts,
Poseidon as he wields his trident,
Apollo and Artemis
With arrows of fire and ice,
To trick the Goddess of wisdom herself,
To strike down Cerberus
And walk away from the gates of the Underworld.
It is to step out into the burning sunlight,
And see Demeter's work;
The world renewed and alive

To live;
Unafraid and unashamed,
Is to be a hero of mythology.
It is to be painted in the stars,
Like Hercules,
Orion,
And the Gemini.

The solitary solider
Is a thing that stands,
Not with a drop of blood
Shared with the Immortals,
But as a thing of mortal will.

It is a triumph;
A triumph of humanity!

It is to be built tall
With the illusion of frailty;
Made to seem like paper,
Simple to blow away and miss,
But in reality to be made of granite;
To weather the ages,
To change but not to break,
To live as long as the earth that grounds it.

And when the solitary soldier,
Gives up on his vigil,
And returns along paths,
That have been changed and reshaped,
But are still of the same fundamental nature.

He returns home with eyes that have had
The innocence peeled away,
But are still eyes that look down
With love and kindness,
And are the same.

The solitary soldier;
So brave and strong,
Has won the battle!

Kurt finished reading, and his mouth hung open. He was surprised to feel the sting of tears prick his eyes. He felt moved and touched and utterly amazed by Keats' ability to write. He had known that Keats had a talent – it was one of the first things that he'd learnt about the boy – but he had not thought that it was like…that. It was amazing. The poem was better than some of the poetry that he had looked at in English.

"This is…" he was lost for words. He shook his head and looked up into Keats' eyes. "This is incredible! This- are you published?" Keats shook his head, looking bashful and modest.

"No, I'm making a book, but…this is just for you." Kurt looked down at the little book, feeling touched and still a little overwhelmed by Keats' thoughts of him.

"You really think those things about me?" Keats nodded succinctly.

"You're brave and strong, and you have suffered through so much, but you haven't become embittered. You are a kind, loving, person, and I think to stay that way, after people have pushed you around and taken advantage of you, is an incredible feat." Kurt went mildly pink.

"Thank you so much for this," he said, leaning in to kiss Keats' lips gently and then hug him. Kurt would never be able to shake the feeling that he been a coward to run away from McKinley, even though he hadn't been safe, but this made him feel better. "I feel so bad," he admitted when they broke apart. "I haven't got anything to give you." Keats shrugged, eyes dismissive of the fact.

"I really don't care, Kurt, but if you want to give me something…" he trailed off, smiling a little bit. "You could sing me something, if you wanted." Kurt's eyes lit up, unable to believe that he had not thought of that.

"Yes! I will, just give me a minute…" he frowned in thought, trying to carefully select a song that would express more than just a simple declaration of their romantic feelings towards each other.

When I turn out the lights you're out of sight although I know I'm not alone…

He smiled up at Keats when those lyrics entered his head. He held up a finger to get him to wait a second as he wandered to Juri's piano and, carefully thinking about the starting note, played the key. Smiling to himself he re-seated himself in front of Keats, keeping the note in his head. He held out his hands and Keats took them both in his. He took a deep breath, and then began;

Under this national rain cloud

I'm getting soaked to the skin

Trying to find my umbrella

But I don't know where to begin

Keats frowned in mild confusion as Kurt began to sing, quite softly, to him. Kurt expressed the sadness, hopelessness and confusion that had first drawn him to Keats in the first place. The way he had argued, so suddenly and stupidly, with the only people that he knew and, when he'd been lost and on his own, Keats and his friends had been there.

And it's simply irrational weather

Can't even hear myself think

Constantly bailing out water

But still like I'm gonna sink

He saw a small smile break across Keats' face in dawning understanding as he got what Kurt was singing about; the way that, even though he'd come to Dalton and he was safe and people were looking out for him, he had still been floundering as he tried to work out how the school worked, and why his two groups of friends did not get on.

'Cause I'm under the weather

Just like the world

So sorry for being so bold

Keats smiled wider at that, both of them thinking of how Kurt's bravery and courage to be openly gay at a school like McKinley had been unrewarded and unwelcome by their narrow-mindedness.

When I turn out the light

You're out of sight

Although I know that I'm not alone

Feels like home

Kurt wasn't sure that Keats fully understood how true that statement was to him because he honestly felt like Keats was the only person that wasn't ever going to jump down his throat about something. The Warblers were hot and cold; ready to snap and ready to forget, but Keats was just steady and calm and Kurt's.

You say you feel like a natural person

You haven't got nothing to hide

So why do you feel imperfection

Cut like a sword in your side

He tried to tell Keats that, even though he'd been rejected by Sebastian, that didn't mean that there was anything wrong with him. He was talented, honest and kind. Sebastian was just…Kurt didn't even want to think about it, in all honesty, because it was his loss and Kurt's gain.

'Cause you're under the weather

Just like the world

And I need somebody to hold

When I turn out the light

You're out of sight

Although I know that I'm not alone

Feels like home

Keats pulled him off the bed and then against his chest, one hand finding his waist and Kurt, resting his hand on Keats' shoulder, allowed himself to be lead in a slow dance in the relatively clean space between his and Juri's bed that mainly constituted them going around in circles, but not fast enough to make them feel dizzy.

Yes it feels like home

Oh, 'cause I'm under the weather

Just like the world

And I need somebody to hold

When I turn out the light

You're out of sight

Although I know that I'm not alone

Feels like home

A gentle silence fell upon them as they came to a steady stop. They both smiled at each other and Kurt felt mildly nervous, and certainly a touch giddy, by the intensity that was in his calm eyes.

"What was the song?" asked Keats, eventually, not releasing his hold on Kurt's waist. "I don't recognise it."

"It's called Under the Weather," said Kurt. "I heard it ages ago, but the song got saved in my little music store in my brain." Keats laughed.

"Yes, I can imagine you've got quite the iTunes library inside there." Kurt smirked at him.

"Wouldn't you like to you know," he quipped. Keats smirked straight back at him.

"I can think of several methods of persuasion," his voice was very low, much lower than normal, and it was sending shivers through Kurt. However, before he could discover Keats' methods of persuasion, the door banged open.

The two of them leapt apart, for no real reason as they were dating and had every reason and right to be standing at an unusually close proximity, and Kurt spun around to see Blaine standing there, looking shocked and guilty.

"Um…" he said, flushing for whatever reason. "I am just going to go…" he said, slowly, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder. "Juri says hi," and then there was some muttering from down the hall. "Oh, and Chris says that if you emotionally scar Juri he – that is to say Chris – will kill you." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Emotionally scar? What does he think we're doing?" Blaine leaned back into the corridor, and then Chris came into the room.

"I don't think you're doing anything…yet…" he left the sentence open-ended, winking, and Kurt was pleased to see that he looked a lot better than he had when he'd first turned up. "Just a threat," he added, cheerfully, and backed out of the doorway. Blaine looked like he was trying really hard not to burst out laughing – they could all hear Daniel cackling somewhere down the hall – and Kurt was flushed red with mortification at the insinuation. Keats, too, looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Oh, you're dead too, Keats, as it takes two to sexually tango." Daniel's head had appeared around the door, and he also winked at the couple. Kurt looked around the room for something to chuck at his grinning face and Blaine, who had his arms around his stomach as he tried not to laugh, but could only see the book that Keats gave him. He sighed and glared at them both.

"We'll bare it in mind," he said, dryly, and Blaine backed out of the room, sniggering. Kurt rolled his eyes, shaking his head and turning back to Keats, who had snorted quite loudly at Kurt's words.

I guess it's preferable to them tearing each other's throats out, but – for whatever reason – this isn't exactly ideal for me either…

Keats smirked at him, and Kurt got the impression that he was reading his mind. Kurt rolled his eyes and shoved him, lightly, and let out a soft laugh. Keats gave him a little nudge back and Kurt rolled his eyes again.

"I'm glad that you're not trying to rip his head off," he said, softly, and Keats gave him a rather tight smile in return.

"I would be expelled if I did," he commented, and Kurt got the impression that he wasn't saying that because he was trying to be sarcastic. Keats caught the tight expression that had formed on his face as a sign of distaste. "I highly doubt you'd stay with me if I lied to you." Kurt sighed, unable to disagree with that.

"No, you're right, but…" he trailed off, shrugging. "I dislike the fact that you would like to rip his head off in the first place." Keats shrugged.

"Bad things happened between us, Kurt, nothing's ever going to change that," Kurt put his hands on his hips, arching an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

"I don't understand why you can't try to change things," Keats shook his head, turning his back slightly on Kurt. Kurt frowned at the sudden change of position; the way the light fell on his face accentuated the shadows under his eyes and made him look older and darker.

"Just leave it, Kurt," he said. "Leave it." There was a sharp note to his voice that Kurt had not heard before. It was the not the tone used with him, nor was it similar to the cold way he addressed Blaine. It was harsh and uncompromising and allowed Kurt to truly see the possibility that there was something harder buried within the warm, accepting, boy that cared about Kurt.

"Alright," he said, shaking his head slightly. "I'll leave it." He let out a sigh, considering whether it would be worth his while to consider pushing both groups of friends together again. It would likely result in fights – which were dangerous – but Kurt was not one to give up lightly on things. He would take time to plan and consider his options – Trinity – and then do something about it all. This was something that had to be done gently and carefully, not in the heavy handed manner he had been using then.

Keats turned back to him with a smile. He caught Kurt's hand and pulled him close. Kurt took a deep breath and let Keats put his other arm around his waist. He rested his head on Keats' shoulder and waited for the brown haired boy to speak.

"Thank you…" came the breathed response and Kurt felt a smile curve, effortlessly, onto his lips.

"You're welcome…"

I don't think I love Keats, not in the full meaning of the word, but I'm somewhere around there…I've never had this before, though, so I'm not sure how it's meant to feel, but I feel safe and, well, warm around him…The only problem is I keep asking; would this be different with Blaine…?

---

Blaine flopped down onto his bed and looked over at Thad. The quiet boy was hunched over his desk, scribbling on a piece of paper and didn't seem to have noticed that Blaine had re-entered the room. Blaine let out a huff, but Thad, predictably, did not react. Blaine normally liked the quiet around Thad; it gave him a break from the craziness of Dalton and to collect his thoughts, but right now he wanted a break from his thoughts.

He knew that the others had noticed, probably not the girls – well, he wouldn't put it past Ros – and maybe Kurt, that he what he was saying didn't quite match up with how he felt. He was somewhere in between wanting to talk about it and wanting to shut it out of his mind forever. He sighed and ran a hand down his face as his phone began to blare out the tinny sound of Love Song.

"Nick?" he questioned, frowning. "What's up?" he saw Thad straighten up out of the corner of his eye and turn around.

"It's Flint…he's not doing so good…mind popping round?" Blaine frowned as he sat up, shaking his head.

"Nah, of course not…we're on our way now." He got to his feet as Thad capped his pen and picked up his blazer jacket, swinging it on.

The two of them made their way out of their room and into the hallway. The sounds of Daniel, Chris and Juri going completely crazy echoed down the hallway and Blaine shuddered to think what kind of madness was ensuing in there – and hoped they didn't corrupt Juri too much. In the common room Braden was singing Christmas carols from his position in a headstand whilst a lot of other people laughed at him.

The air was sharp, and the two of them broke into a run to get to Harriot as quickly as possible. Blaine could feel his fingertips freezing off. His heart was pounding in his chest over worry about Flint because he took every hit so hard, and Blaine was scared that, eventually, if things with his dad didn't get better, he would feel that it was one hit too many. Blaine had been there. He knew it wasn't that hard to fall over the edge.

They barged their way into Hariot, nodding greetings to a couple of boys and being slapped on the back, and moved through the blue décor up the stairs. Blaine was relieved to avoid Michael as he raised his fist and rapped on the door, just as David and Jeff came up the stairs, panting.

"Come in!" hollered Nick, and Blaine swung the door open, stepping into the room that was all tidy for once. Flint was curled into a little ball in the bed, a comforter thrown over him, and Nick was sitting next to his head, looking a little bit helpless. Blaine rolled his eyes at the sight of Nick's kicked puppy face – for God's sake if he just put on a sympathetic tone of voice he might discover that Flint really wanted to talk to him and make him understand – and sat down by Flint's feet.

"Flint, buddy," said David, pulling out the desk chair and wheeling himself over to the bedside. "tell us what's the matter."

"You know," came the muffled reply and David rolled his eyes to the ceiling. Jeff smirked and Thad rubbed his forehead and sunk onto Nick's bed, no doubt despairing at the possibility of another smart mouth. Blaine glared at Nick. Nick shrugged.

"Look, Flint, apart from your uncle disowning you is there anything else that happened?" There was a long silence, and then Flint let out a groan.

"Why won't you guys just leave me alone?" There was a pause in which Blaine rolled his eyes and shook his head, Thad flopped down onto the bed as he threw his hands over his face, and the other three began to smirk.

"Oh, you want us to leave you alone do you?" asked Nick in a high-pitched voice of surprise. "Well, you didn't ask very nicely." Flint groaned and lifted up his pillow, beginning to whack at him. Jeff and David both burst out laughing, and Blaine felt a chuckle bubble up out of him.

"Blaine!" exclaimed Flint, kicking at him. "You're meant to be on my side!" Blaine held up his left hand as his right massaged the area of his ribs that had been attacked.

"I would be, if you talked to me." Flint let out a huff, chucking the pillow across the room and folding his arms across his chest, pouting.

"You're soooo mature," teased Nick and Flint glared at him with all the ferocity he could muster. Thad peeled his hands from his face, sitting up cautiously.

"Alright!" he exclaimed, rolling away so that he didn't have to look into Nick's smug face. "My dad wouldn't stop going on about how much of a disappointment I am, and how crap my grades are and how I'm a fucking coward! And granddad kept shouting about how I was so pathetic and worthless, and that I wasn't fit to scrape the mud off his boots! He kept saying that he wished he could- he could do what they did to Great Aunt Lally and…and…" he broke off, turning over and curling up into a tighter ball than previously, and Blaine felt his heart beat a little bit faster.

"Shit…" muttered Jeff, looking quite pale, eyes losing their twinkle. There was a long pause in which Blaine looked at Thad who had very narrowed eyes and was rubbing his forehead. Nick and David exchanged a long, frightened, look.

"Are you absolutely sure there is no way you could live with your mum?" asked David, eventually. "because, shit, this is getting…this is getting worse…"

"Mum doesn't want me," pointed out Flint's sulky voice. Blaine swallowed, resting his hand on Flint's leg, trying to transmit, through the covers, that he was not alone in those feelings.

"Yeah, but she doesn't…you know…" Flint snorted at Jeff's words in a dismissive way. Nick rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"They won't actually…they used conditional verbs. If they were actually planning – or going to – they would say that they will do to me what they did to…" There was a pause in which everyone just stared at him in utter disbelief.

"Man your family is insane," muttered Nick, running his hands over his face. "I mean David's family is bat-shit crazy, but yours is just…I mean I still can't understand it." Flint rolled over, face scrunched up in a frown as Thad leant forward, suddenly, and screwed his eyes up.

"What don't you understand?" he questioned, looking between Jeff, David and Blaine in puzzlement. Jeff shrugged whilst David and Blaine shared their typical "when-are-they-going-to-just-talk-without-us-in-the-room?" look that they shared every time when this topic came up. Nick huffed out a huge sigh, shrugging in an exaggerated manner.

"I don't know…I just…I can't get my head around the whole coming-to-Dalton-but-being-racist-slash-homophobic-slash-generally-intolerant-but-only-towards-their-family thing." Flint rolled his eyes, but sat up with a very intent look in his eyes. Blaine felt his hand slide onto the blanket, feeling a surge of caution because he didn't like the idea that Flint was fixating on this.

"They have one rule for the family and one rule for everyone else. They expect things from us; join the army, marry, procreate, carry on the tradition…" he broke off, looking sad. "I can't do those things…I can't join them army, and my dad sees that as a…disgrace, and me being gay…me being…me being…" he broke off, letting out a shuddering breath, a tear suddenly threatening to spill over his lid. "…and wanting to do that for- for not coming out…" he whispered, and Blaine closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

Don't get pissed, he told himself, don't get pissed. For fuck's sake keep control. Don't get angry. Don't get angry. Keep a lid on it. You don't want to flip out again. Don't want to be like Holt.

He repeated the mantra over and over again as he saw David gather the weepy looking boy up in his arms. Jeff's hands balled into fists, and he then pressed them very tightly against his head, jaw clenched whilst Nick kicked the bed frame and swore. Thad's eyes were still scrunched up, and he was pressing his right hand against his forehead. Blaine frowned at him for a second before turning towards Flint.

"And even then…" continued the trembling boy. "Even then they'd still…they'd still hate it because it's shameful and it's "not right" and I- I'm weak and this- this gives them an excuse…so that they don't get the blame. I'm not doing what I'm meant to." Blaine shook his head because God could he empathise, but it was different. Flint's situation was just different; messed up, completely baffling and kind of similar, but different.

"Flint, buddy…" David was struggling for words, which always gave Blaine cause for concern, and Nick looked like that he thought he'd made the wrong decision to try and understand how Flint's family could not love him.

"Do you believe that?" asked Blaine, softly, looking over at Flint with worried eyes because Blaine knew all about the pitfalls of believing those things. Flint shrugged, tugging the comforter up around him as he crossed his legs, leaning against the wall.

"I am weak, Blaine!" exclaimed Flint, throwing up his arms in despair. "We both know that. Sometimes I can't get through a fucking Warbler routine! I'm the only person at this school that doesn't do a sport because dancing in the Warblers is apparently enough!" There were annoyed, angry, looks exchanged before Jeff slapped him around the face, not hard enough to bruise but enough so that a sharp crack sounded. Everyone stared at him in wide eyed shock as Flint reeled backwards, eyes comically wide, and David touched Jeff's arm nervously.

"Jeff…?" questioned Nick, slowly, leaning towards his best friend whose eyes were very hard and who was breathing in a forced manner. Blaine felt his heart thump, loudly, against the inside of his chest.

"Flint," he said through gritted teeth. "don't you dare talk about yourself like that! I refuse to let you think that!" Flint nodded, dumbly, at him, still shocked by his reaction. "Having asthma," continued Jeff in his falsely calm, but at the same time furious, voice."isn't your fault, nor does it make you weak!" Flint closed his eyes and slumped against the wall.

"I hate Keats," he muttered, and no one bothered to disagree with him. A tear fell down Flint's cheek and, very slowly, Nick reached up to wipe it away. Flint's eyes jerked open, and Nick grinned at him, sitting back.

"I don't like seeing you cry," he said simply whilst the other four rolled their eyes to the ceiling as one. "It makes me sad, and, for crying out loud, can we all not be happy just once?" Jeff rolled his eyes whilst Thad frowned even more, his grip on his forehead tightening.

"We ssshouldn't…not ignore…problemssss." Everyone turned to him, Flint wiping his eyes in surprise, due to the incoherent nature of that statement. David's face dipped into a frown at the sight of him whist Jeff shot Nick a questioning look, and Blaine tried to figure out what was niggling his mind in worry about Thad's position. Flint blinked several times before asking;

"Are you- man, are you having a migraine?" Blaine's eyebrows leapt up his forehead as the pieces fitted together in his mind. Thad nodded, firmly, and people sighed in understanding because he did stutter worse when he had a migraine, but he hadn't had one in ages.

"He did bang his head," commented Nick, turning to fix a very piercing stare on his god-brother. "but I didn't think it was migraine inducing."

"Sssame place," he muttered through gritted teeth and everyone "ahhed" in understanding. Blaine looked between Thad's rapidly paling face and Flint's glazed eyes and let out a sigh. As much as he'd like to stay and make sure that Flint was okay, Thad looked like he was entering "blackout" – as Nick liked to call it – stage where his vision went spotty, and Blaine would prefer to have him in their room when that happened.

"Come on," he said, getting to his feet and hoisting Thad's arm around his shoulder. The other boy stumbled slightly, clearly unable to fully see, and then turned back to the others. "You going to be alright, Flint?" Flint gave him a smile and then nodded.

"Yeah…I'll be- I'll be alright." Blaine nodded before directing his fiercest, most Sebastian-esque, glare upon Nick, threatening him with death if he were to say something stupid or insensitive, before turning away and hauling Thad out of the bedroom.

It was awkward to make their way back to their house because Blaine was more concerned with Flint than Thad – Thad had lots of migraines, and he could handle them well, except when he lost his vision and was stupid enough to walk around and bang into stuff – and the ever increasing worry that they weren't going to be able to keep their cool.

If Flint – the only one that got a real apology – still hated him, not that Blaine could blame him for that at all, than there was no way that anyone else was going to forgive him. Blaine knew he wasn't anywhere near there. He'd thought, maybe, that some progress had been made with the concert – with what Sebastian had sung – but that wasn't right. Nothing had changed with Kurt either, except hackles had been raised and there was a great feeling of uncertainty.

Blaine got help with Thad when he made it to the common room with Warwick casting them a knowing look before leaping up to assist him up the stairs and turning on the bedroom light. With a muttered "it's shit that this still happens" Warwick left the room as Blaine dropped him down onto his bed and then turned off the light again after Thad let out a little moan and rolled onto his side. He drew the curtains across the window and sat down onto his bed. It was a little disconcerting to sit in the dark, but Blaine let it go because Thad had put up with him day in and day out, and – if Sebastian was to be believed – that was quite a difficult feat. He picked up his iPod and put it on shuffle. A second later Fighter came blaring through his headphones.

After all you put me through you'd think I'd despise you…

But in the end I want to thank you…

'Cause you made me that much stronger…

Blaine pulled his headphones and chucked the device onto the floor, music pumping out of the earphones. He crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep, steadying, breath. He heard Thad turn over and was sure that he was listening to the faint strains of song that could be heard over the silence.

Well I thought I knew you

Thinkin' that you were true

Guess I couldn't trust

Called your bluff

Time is up 'cause I've had enough

Blaine waited – just waited, but also hoped – for Thad to say something. Blaine guessed that he was thinking it over, figuring his way through what he knew about Blaine's thought process, and getting to the answer.

"You're…you're ssscared?" he could hear the hint of questioning in his tone of voice, and Blaine's immediate reaction was to deny it; that small bit of masculine pride rearing its head in the denial of weakness, before he sighed.

"Yeah…" he whispered, and the sound of the music faintly playing was beginning to grate Blaine's nerves so he reached down and switched if off, but then discovered that complete silence was even more oppressive.

"You won't…you- you- you…you won't…not again…" Blaine leaned his head back against the cold wall and sighed.

"Cooper slapped me, Thad, he just slapped me…Dad shouts all the time…what if I can't fight it? What if it's who I am? Maybe we're all too weak…I can't- I'm getting more angry, day by day, and what happens next? What if I turn into my dad or Holt?" He heard shifting and rustling and squinted through the darkness to Thad who was sitting himself up.

"You- you- you…fight it…" his breath hitched in pain and Blaine could see his neck arching back his hands flew up to cover his face. Blaine shook his head, feeling the tears well up and wanting to get it all out.

"Can I tell you something, Thad? A secret?"

"Of- of- of courssse!" Blaine let out a huff of impatient air.

"No, I mean, you can't tell anyone…not even Sebastian." There was a long pause, and Blaine prayed that Thad would say yes because he felt like he was going to burst open, and he didn't want to burden Sebastian anymore.

"Okay…I-I- I promissse." Blaine let out a relieved sigh, dropping his head down a little bit, smiling at his knees.

"Thanks. I just- Bastian's got loads on his plate, and I don't want him worrying unduly, but…I don't think I'm going make it to graduation. Heck, I'll be lucky to do a month of Senior year." he could feel his eyes stinging and kept his gaze on his knees, arms wrapped around them, knowing that Thad was frowning.

"What-" Blaine took a deep breath and steeled himself before cutting Thad off before he could fully form the question.

"Dad said that if we don't win Regionals he's going to pull him out of Dalton for my Senior year, and I have to go back to Kinzie, and then Holt will kill me." He heard Thad inhale sharply, and felt the tears begin to fall. "I'm so scared of that. I'm scared of what my family's going to do to me. I'm scared that Holt's going to hurt me. I'm scared that I'm going to lose you all. I'm scared that I'm going to lose it. I'm scared that I'm getting more and more angry and that I'm going to hurt someone. That I'm going to turn into Holt. That no one's going to stop me this time. That I'm going to do serious damage, and…"

He trailed off, choking, and left the rest of the sentence unspoken because he didn't need to say it. Thad had probably known where it was going the moment that he'd opened his mouth. That was the part that Thad would have guessed, the part about Kinzie would be the thing that was keeping him quiet. Blaine put his face in his knees, breathing heavily, and tried to keep calm. He needed to keep his head together.

"You- you- we can…we can do thissss!" came Thad's hissed exclamation. Blaine could see that he had curled up into himself, was now lying on his side, and that it was taking him a serious amount of effort to speak. "Win. We…we will win!" Blaine gave him a sad smile.

"Thad we never win!"

"Win sssport!" he shot back, and Blaine rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say that it was different. "Mentality; belief." Blaine had to extrapolate the meaning from the individual words but it wasn't hard. Thad was saying that they had to believe in themselves and keep the mentality they had in many of their sporting activities, and, well, when had Sebastian had anything less than an arrogant belief in himself? The Warblers were on an upwards curve after gaining Kurt – another person with a lot of self-confidence – and Blaine and Sebastian dueting at Sectionals.

"Maybe…" he said. Thad's eyes blinked at him through the darkness. The whites of his eyes were very bright whilst his irises and pupils were almost indistinguishable from each other.

"You will…you will ssstop yourssself…you will avoid confflict…believe in - huh - I believe in you." Blaine heard the pained hitch, but his overwhelmed emotional state stopped him from being too worried. Thad was not one to throw his words about, nor was he one to give people the vote of confident often – he kept his opinions to himself – so the fact that he believed in Blaine…Blaine was touched beyond belief and completely taken aback.

"Thanks…" he whispered and he thought he heard the shifting of the sheets as Thad shrugged.

"You're ssstrong," came the short, resolute, reply that was completely unquestionable. He had a finality to his tone of voice that meant Blaine could not contradict, or even continue the conversation. It showed how firm his belief was in Blaine; Thad spoke in black and white, the words that he forced out – especially when he was in a condition like this – were concrete and without room for doubt.

…"You are not as broken as you may feel or appear."…

"Get some rest," he threw out, eventually, in response. "Nick'll kill you if you cop out on performing." He heard Thad give a quiet snort, and Blaine plugged himself back into his iPod, changing song, and found himself smiling quite a bit more.

---

I never thought that I would be able to sit and listen to someone talk about a book I haven't read for a whole hour, but that's what Keats has had me doing. He's been describing the story he is currently "crafting" – he refuses to use the word writing, but I don't know why – and I have to admit it sounds amazing. The only thing I haven't quite figured out – I get it's a deeply moving tale of different people's lives, and all the emotional pitfalls that come with living – is where or when it's set; he's not been that specific. Still, he certainly knows how to sell it because all I want to do now is read it.

Kurt let out a sigh as Keats got to his feet, tucking his mobile away. He cast an apologetic look down upon Kurt who just shrugged.

"Off you go to Vince," said Kurt rolling his eyes. "What does he even want?" Keats shook his head.

"He's thinks he's left something behind and I need to go and find it because, apparently, I packed the bag that it was meant to be in." He rolled his eyes, and Kurt felt himself smirking at that – whenever Keats spoke about his friends he used a rather exasperated tone of voice that almost masked the undercurrents of fondness within.

"Well, I'm sure that you need to make sure that you do find it; what is it?" Keats rolled his eyes again.

"Some kind of pencil set thing…" he shook his head. "I don't even know. He has these…geometry kind of sets that he designs things with, and they're all colour coded and used for specific things – it's very boring." Kurt laughed at the look of utter boredom on Keats' face; like he couldn't think of anything more tedious.

"Well, I'm sure that you can't be delayed anymore by me," he said with a playful smile, and Keats leant down, taking Kurt's face in his hands and kissing him.

"I would love to be, but I have plans that require me to have use of my hands." Kurt laughed as Keats stood up, stretching and made his way to the door. "I'll come pick you up for the party, sound good?" Kurt nodded.

"That sounds brilliant – what time?" Keats shrugged, pulling an unconcerned face.

"Let's make it surprise, shall we? Just be ready." Kurt let out an exclamation of disbelief.

"But how will I know when to start getting ready?" Keats simply winked and slipped out of the door. Kurt rolled his eyes, shaking his head at his boyfriend's – that word still make him feel a touch giddy – antics and picking up the book. Moving over to his bookcase that contained some assorted textbooks he placed it carefully on the middle shelf with a smile.

Then, turning around, he decided that he might as well go and see what Blaine had wanted when he'd burst into their room earlier. He must have wanted to talk about something with Kurt and Kurt hoped that it wasn't too late to talk to him still because he desperately wanted to be a good friend of Blaine's, on a par with David and the others. It was hard what with Keats, and Kurt's "hidden" – well, only to Blaine – feelings.

He shook his head as he walked out into the hallway and turned towards Blaine's room; he had to stop thinking about that. The door was open a fraction, and Kurt could see that there was no light on inside though he could hear the soft, yet steady, sound of breathing in the dead quiet of the hallway where the only other sound was the buzz from the common room.

Huh, it seems Daniel and the others have calmed down a little bit, thank god.

He knocked on the door, and he opened the door a little bit even as footsteps bounded, and a second later Blaine came crashing into him, sending them both sprawling onto the floor of the hallway. Kurt let out an "oof" even as he blushed when he looked straight up into the hazel eyes that were centimetres from his.

"Blaine?" came a hoarse whisper that sounded like Thad. Blaine bounced upright and hurried to his room.

"I'm fine. Rest or you'll be murdered by Nick, remember." There was a grumble before Blaine closed the door and then reached down to pull the still blushing Kurt to his feet. Kurt dusted down his front, hoping that Blaine would not comment on the shade of pink in his cheeks. "Can we go to your room?" he asked, and Kurt nodded, a little dumbly, and Blaine beamed and dragged him along the hallway.

"Just make yourself at home," he said, dryly as Blaine flopped down onto Juri's bed. Blaine grinned up at him.

"Sorry, I've been cooped up 'cause Thad's having a migraine." Kurt, sitting down on his bed, cast him a worried look.

"Is he alright?" Blaine nodded a dismissive look on his face that caused Kurt to frown even more. Blaine caught his expression and then smiled. "Oh, don't look so worried he'll be fine soon enough. He had them pretty badly in Sophomore year, but they passed off – except he bumped his head this holiday so they've come back." Kurt nodded in understanding.

"Right, was there something you wanted when you, um…burst in." Blaine shook his head with a grin.

"No, I just wanted to…talk to you, I didn't mean to interrupt…anything that may or may not have been happening between you and Keats, and I-"

"Blaine," said Kurt with a grin, cutting through his rambling. "it's okay…I'd just finished singing to him…as a Christmas present." Blaine's face lit up with false enthusiasm.

"Oh, that's nice! What did you sing?" Kurt wasn't sure he liked Blaine's fake attempts to be interested and okay with him and Keats, but he let it go because at least he was trying.

"Under the Weather by KT Tunstall." Blaine wrinkled his brow up in thought and then shook his head.

"Nope, don't know it," then the old beam spread back across his face. "Maybe you could sing it to me sometime."

How the hell am I meant to even consider saying no to him whilst he's giving me that smile?

"Sure," he said, instantly. "I'd like to do that." Blaine nodded, still smiling. Kurt felt a little bit of awkwardness rise in between them. "I appreciate it, you know." He said, because he thought that Blaine should know that he really did appreciate Blaine trying to be okay with the whole thing.

"Appreciate what?" asked Blaine, frowning a little bit. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"You know," he said, shrugging. "the way that you're acting like you're okay with Keats and I when you're not." Blaine let out a sigh, nodding and then giving him a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, well…" Blaine broke off, frowning and then shook his head. "I just want things to be okay, Kurt," he said, giving him a very steady, serious, look. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt, and I don't want a repeat of what happened…I'd give anything to change some of the things – all of the things, I suppose – from happening, but we both know we can't change the past no matter how much we want to…" Blaine swallowed, ducking his head, and Kurt watched him with sad eyes Blaine's voice ached with pain and regret, and Kurt wanted him to smile again and to be okay.

"So do I," said Kurt, giving him a small smile as Blaine slowly raised his head to make eye contact with him, and Kurt felt his breath hitch as he looked straight into his hazel eyes and saw all the damage that had been wrought to him. "I don't know what happened," he continued. "but I know that…" he broke off. "I know that you got hurt and you lost a friend." Blaine smiled at him.

"It's not just that, Kurt," he admitted, softly, and Kurt felt himself leaning forward. "I'm not the only one that got hurt…I- I don't know if I should say this, but…people ended up in hospital-" Kurt felt himself gasp in shock, not having imagined that things had escalated that far. "-and Thad's migraines; that's because of this, and Flint's…" he broke off, shaking his head. "and what happened to Flint…and that all comes down on me, in the end."

Kurt frowned at him, not sure what to say. Was Blaine admitting that it was his fault? He'd said he hadn't started it and, given what Kurt could decipher about the whole, messy, love triangle – that may or may not still exist – that was Keats-Sebastian-and-Blaine, he was inclined to believe that. Or, more likely, was it a guilt spawned from cause and effect? Keats had fought with Blaine – over Sebastian? – and things had happened to Thad, Flint and whoever landed in hospital, and Blaine felt guilty for that.

"Blaine," he said, softly. "you're not responsible for the actions of other people." Blaine nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose, and Kurt tilted his head to the side a little, worried that Blaine might be close to tears.

"I know, but…" his brow pinched together in a frown, and he met Kurt's eyes with a heavy look in his own. "You know sometimes the pain would get so bad that he'd scream…" he let out a huff, his mouth opening and shaking his head. "And Flint…" he shook his head again. "Things are bad, Kurt, and I can fake it because I'm scared…I'm scared of going back to Chicago because there's someone out there that wants to cut my throat and will, and I'm scared that I'm going to get expelled, people who need Dalton will, or I'm going to let the people I love down."

Kurt stared at Blaine, unblinkingly, searching for something to say. What was he meant to say to Blaine? Everything clearly wasn't alright – nothing changed the fact that he'd been hospitalised because of some…Neanderthal, and nothing changed the fact that Hammonds had brought in the zero-tolerance for violence rule because of what had happened, and that the tension between them was ramping up.

"Blaine, you don't have to be scared…There are lots of people out there that support you and want to protect you, and I don't think that Keats wants another fight with you anymore than you do…I mean, I can't imagine his father would be thrilled if he got expelled." Blaine nodded at him.

"Yeah," he said. "I know…it's, like, the reason Hammonds didn't bother expelling either of us the first time round…That, and he had this…blanket policy thing that meant we all had to be punished the same so he'd have expelled a lot of people." Kurt's eyebrow rose sharply.

"Wait, he properly considered expelling you?" Blaine looked like a rabbit in the headlights; he raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck in an awkward manner as he struggled for the right words.

"Well… he threatened it, but then he went along rant about he couldn't because of what happened between Keats and his father, and to me and Garth, so it was never going to happen, but it was a threat." Kurt nodded in shocked understanding.

"Did you think he would, though?" he pressed, curiously, and Blaine nodded, a self-deprecating smile breaking out across his face.

"Oh yes…I actually broke down into tears, and then Hammonds told me to grow up." Kurt raised an eyebrow at that, having thought that Hammonds was more understanding than that. Blaine smiled at his expression. "He got really angry with us at the end and said that he wasn't going to waste his sympathy and understanding on people who didn't listen to him."

"Ah," said Kurt, straightening his face. Blaine shot him a wry, half-embarrassed, smile. An awkward silence hung between them, neither quite sure what to say, and Kurt was painfully aware that this kind of awkwardness did not occur around any of the others – what was different about the two of them?

"Wow…" said Blaine, eventually. "I hadn't realised that we had spent this little amount of time talking to each other." Kurt let out a snort that turned into a proper laugh. Blaine joined in, and Kurt had no idea what they were really laughing over.

"So, this party," he said, when they had finally managed to get a grip over their laughter. "What happens?" Blaine paused for thought, his smile still dominating his face.

"You're going to love it," he said, eventually, nodding to himself. "It's just a lot of fun, really…We all go crazy and there's lots of music and sweets and alcohol – which, of course, those underage do not drink." He shot Kurt a wink, and Kurt smiled knowingly. "And then there's the fireworks display..." he trailed off with a reminiscent grin, and Kurt watched him, a little curiously but with a smile, as Blaine seemed to become lost in good memories of last year. "The Seniors set up the whole thing up," he continued when he'd torn himself away from whatever had captured his attention. "There's no real theme – we all party in our uniform." Kurt burst out laughing.

"You celebrate New Year in your uniform?" he repeated, incredulously, and Blaine nodded, smiling too.

"Yes, we do, it's just a Dalton thing. We always host it, and Crawford comes over so…"

"Run for your life?" guessed Kurt, and Blaine let out a loud laugh.

"Yes, I hid behind Thad last year when it hit midnight and the fireworks went off so that none of them kissed me," he shuddered at the thought and Kurt could sympathise. "At least this year I have Bastian…" Kurt nodded, glad that he had Keats too. "And then at the end we sing Auld Lang Syne." Kurt nodded again. "And it doesn't matter if you don't know the lyrics because nobody does – except, apparently, Cailean did, but you don't know him because he graduated two years ago…" Kurt frowned.

"I think you told me about him, he was…Scottish? – which explains why he knew the lyrics." Blaine nodded.

"Exactly, but the whole thing is lots of fun…Nick, Flint and the others have formed this sort of "band", and they're playing, at the beginning though because Nick would pass up a chance to get drunk as New Year's the only time we're really allowed to have alcohol on campus." Kurt nodded, not sure how partial he really felt to alcohol after the incident with Miss Pillsbury. He winced at the memory and Blaine cocked his head. "What?" Kurt shook his head, internally mortified, and then gave him a reply because he was giving him pleading, puppy dog, look;

"Last year Mr Schue got an old student that never graduated called April Rhodes to come back because we needed another female lead after Rachel left," he saw Blaine frown and just shook his head. "Believe me, it's a long story and not overly interesting." Blaine was continuing to frown though.

"People just leftyour glee club and then came back?" Kurt nodded, rolling his eyes.

"People did it all the time. There was no real audition process, and we only just had twelve members so we couldn't really afford to be picky." Blaine nodded in understanding, but still looked a little surprised. "Anyway, April was amazing – her singing reduced me to tears – but she gave me alcohol, and I ended up mistaking the guidance counsellor – Miss Pillsbury – for Bambi and throwing up on her." Blaine pulled a pained face.

"Ah…That's um…that's unfortunate." Kurt snorted at him, eyes telling him that he could tell Kurt what he really thought. Blaine shook his head. "That's not as bad as my old school…Kids just did drugs in the corridors. Once I saw my maths teacher buying off some Seniors." Kurt felt his eyebrow arch sharply.

"Seriously?" Blaine nodded his head, eyes clouding over suddenly.

"Yeah…it was a terrible school…" Kurt looked at him and then thought he might as well ask what was on his mind.

"Your friend – Garth – what- what was he like…if you don't mind me asking?" Blaine shook his head and then paused for thought, crossing his legs on Juri's bed.

"The first time I saw you, actually, you reminded me of him – the way you dress…" he broke off, swallowing. "And the- I guess it was odd…Everyone just knew he was gay, if you know what I mean?" Kurt nodded his head.

"He was the stereotype of a gay person?" Blaine nodded.

"Basically, except he didn't exactly follow fashion, he just…he just bought it anyway…he was really into classic rock, but I think that might have been a product of Oz – his older brother – brainwashing him." Kurt watched with interest as Blaine's face relaxed, and a reminiscent smile spread across his face. "He drew cartoons that always put a smile on my face, and we made these flipbooks…you must remind me to show them to you, actually, and Garth… He was so optimistic. He was so sure that everything was going to get better. He always saw the silver-lining. He loved listening to me sing – especially when Oz drummed and Caz joined in – and Harry Potter, just like me, and…" Blaine broke off, laughing to himself. "We used to play with sticks for wands and with his green army men and Nerf guns and water pistols…" Blaine rested his head against the wall, a smile on his face that was so sad but at the same time so happy. "He was such a big kid…"

"Sounds like you two were perfect for each other…" breathed Kurt and Blaine gave him small smile, possibly flattered by the comment.

"The strange thing is that we barely knew each other…Only just over half a term, but…we became good friends so quickly, and I was crushing on him so hard it was ridiculous! You know that feeling of your first real crush and you're so sure that it's love and you're going to get together…" Kurt nodded, remembering Finn. "We went to Sadie Hawkins together. I asked…I thought I was going to be sick when I did it, but somehow I got it out…and I fainted when he said yes," Kurt let out an incredulous laugh, and Blaine, grinning and flushing slightly, nodded. "I know, I was so embarrassed and Oz couldn't stop laughing…and that night, everything before the attack, it was perfect…" Blaine's mouth spread into a wistful smile, and he dipped his head, staring into his lap, with unfocused eyes.

Kurt watched him with fascination because Blaine was so open and yet so very closed off – the way he laughed to himself; the muscles tensing and then relaxing for no apparent reason. He was right there, in front of Kurt, talking to him about something that was so personal and it made them so close, but Blaine was so far away from Kurt at the same time – lost in memories of better days that had happened, and all the things that he wished that he still had.

It was almost everything that Kurt had wanted to happen between them and for the first time Blaine was sharing with Kurt. Blaine wasn't holding back or censoring his words, judging what was best for Kurt or uncomfortable with the subject that they were discussing, but at the same time Kurt was almost regretting bringing it up. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about the look on his face; so happy, but also so filled with pain and sorrow, that made Kurt wonder whether he'd misjudged how easy it would be to talk about this.

"Blaine, I-" Kurt's voice, though, seemed to snap him from whatever trance he was in. His eyes focused back onto Kurt's face, and he smiled.

"It's okay…sometimes I struggle to remember the good memories of our time together. I get so bogged down in that moment when he opened his eyes – sea green; the greenest I've ever seen, more so than Luc and Bastian's, the closest I've seen is Feel's because there's so much life in his – and looked into my face and…" Blaine broke off, choking. "and asked me who I was…" His eyes locked with Kurt's, properly, and Kurt could see straight into through him and his stomach lurched as he imagined the horror, sadness and pain that Blaine must have felt when it crashed down upon him that his best friend – his only friend and the object of his affections – did not know who he was.

"I can't- I can't…" he shook his head and Blaine nodded.

"You can't imagine that kind of pain…to know that someone has wiped you from their memory – that, albeit subconsciously, he thinks he's better off never knowing you…" Kurt knew what it was like to lose someone, but it was like when Jeff had explained how he'd lost his father – it was knowing that they hadn't just gone, but they'd left; that was the worst part of the pain.

"I'm so sorry…" he whispered and Blaine shrugged.

"It doesn't matter; you helped me remember the Garth the way I want to…" he puffed out a huge breath of air. He cast his hazel eyes around the room before fixing them back on Kurt. "Do you ever get the feeling that the world is…" he trailed off, looking for the right words. "moving on around you, and that you're left standing still…trying to hold to what you know whilst it's slipping away…?" His eyes lost focus for a second, and Kurt tilted his head.

"Are you alright, Blaine?"

"You mean apart from my mum not wanting me, being bullied, my dad hating me, losing my best friend, and then my other friend whilst people around me got hurt, and then…" he trailed off, taking a deep breath and Kurt rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "and then all that happened to you and someone trying to murder me?" Kurt shot him a condescending glare that masked the sadness he felt at the amount of pain Blaine had been subjected to.

"Alright! Apart from all that are you okay?" Blaine shot him a crooked smile.

"I guess I don't like change…I'm quite insecure after everything that's happened. I worry about people leaving, and I guess my eyes got opened this holiday by my brother; we all change…" Blaine blinked some more and Kurt frowned further.

"Blaine, why are you telling me this?" he asked, gently. "Not that I don't want you to talk to me," he added, hurriedly. "but why me? Why not Sebastian or Thad or any of the others?" Blaine shrugged.

"Sebastian's under a lot of pressure right now – you must have noticed he doesn't look well – and having Daley back has made him really happy, and I don't want to ruin that – not when he's so rarely happy."

"Don't you make him happy?" questioned Kurt with a pointed look. Blaine shrugged, giving him a small smile.

"I suppose I do, but…I guess you could say that Sebastian has levels of happiness…Daley means a lot to him…" Blaine trailed off. "It was quite bad what happened…he got really violent because he was angry and…" he trailed off again, catching the surprised, and worried, look on Kurt's face. "He never hurt anyone – he threw books around, mainly…one of them might have hit Wes or Liam, but they were both okay…"

"Shouldn't he have been expelled?" Blaine shrugged.

"Kurt, people get hurt all the time – sometimes people get hurt accidentally in broom fights – what matters is intent." Kurt nodded in understanding because, really, it would be ridiculous to expel someone over something like that. "Anyway, we've gone way off topic. I don't want to talk to Thad right now 'cause he's in too much pain to really listen to what I've got to say – normally, I probably would. I guess that I thought that you'd get what I mean…not that I'm saying you're insecure." Kurt nodded.

"I appreciate that, and I guess you're right. That's how it felt when I first came to Dalton; like you were all going on in the same way and I was left behind." Blaine nodded.

"Yeah, I thought so…" Kurt looked at him, not sure what to say now that their heart-to-heart seemed to have ground to an abrupt halt. "I like talking to you," he said, finally. "You're not overly sarcastic like Sebastian, but you're also not…" he shook his head as Kurt glowed inside from the compliment. "Let's just say talking to Thad is one of the most bizarre things you will ever do…He talks with his expression. Half the time you feel like you're talking to yourself." Kurt smiled a little bit.

"I've never really had a…conversation with Thad." Blaine nodded in understanding. Kurt hesitated and then decided he might as well see if Blaine knew more than David. "Do you know-"

"Why he stutters? No," he heaved a sigh at that as Kurt nodded. "It's a shame, I can say that, 'cause he used to talk to me quite a bit in Freshman year, and he still can he just…I guess his stutter just sort of waxes and wanes; better then worse…" Kurt nodded again. "It's always worse after the holidays though. I think it's his mum."

"Do you know how…I mean, how did she-" Kurt stumbled over his words, trying to find the appropriate way to ask Blaine whether he knew how his roommate's mum had become a prostitute. Blaine snorted at his efforts.

"No, I don't even think Thad knows, but…it's not hard to guess…Either she got pregnant at fourteen and ended up on the streets because the father of the child kicked off when he found out, or was already not around, or she was just, you know, involved in that kind of thing and ended up pregnant…" he shrugged. "Neither one of those is a particularly pleasant thing to think about." Kurt nodded once more in agreement.

"So he doesn't know who his dad is?" Blaine shook his head, pursing his lips.

"Not a clue, as far as I'm aware." Kurt nodded, feeling a little bit sorry for him. "I don't know very much about him. He doesn't talk about his home and…well, I don't blame him. From what Nick has said it's not good." Kurt nodded once more in pitying understanding. He could not really envisage the kind of life that Thad lived when he was out of Dalton because all the pieces seemed so disconnected; Nick with his rich, famous, father and then Thad's mother – a prostitute and obviously involved with some form of gang or criminal…whatever – and him; a stuttering, yet clever and talented boy – he had two scholarships; and Keats had said that he was predominantly a music one. He could act and sing and play the guitar really well. He knew all about musicals and popular music, but he didn't sing solos or play except when he seemed to be accompanying other people. He was certainly an enigma.

Blaine stretched, rubbing his eyes in a tired manner, and then grinned at Kurt. Kurt frowned at him, curiously, not sure what had put the smile so firmly onto Blaine's handsome – Kurt really had to stop thinking like that – face.

"What?" he questioned, and Blaine shook his head.

"Just give me one minute," with that he darted to his feet and dashed from the room, letting the door slam behind him. Kurt blinked, a little perplexed by Blaine's sudden departure, but did not have to wait long for him to reappear. "Budge up," he said, plopping down next to Kurt. Kurt shuffled a little bit so that they were sitting side-by-side on the bed, backs against the wall, and their legs and arms just touching. "These," he said, holding up a selection of notebooks. "are-"

"Garth Maddison and Blaine Anderson's Amazing Flipbooks?" he guessed, catching sight of the title of the first one. Blaine shot him a glare.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Kurt nodded and rolled his eyes.

"I can read, you know." Blaine huffed, but opened the first one.

"I don't want any more smart mouth commentary from you, Hummel," he said, waggling a finger in front of Kurt's face with the same expression that a disapproving parent would give to a misbehaving child. Kurt swatted the finger away.

"You can't to tell me what, Anderson," he shot back with a smirk firmly in place. Blaine looked up into his eyes, the mock-furious glare firmly in place, and Kurt got one second to wonder why everybody at Dalton was such a good actor before they had both burst out into hysterics.

I love spending time with Blaine. The flipbooks that his friend made are both hilarious and brilliant. He's such a good cartoon drawer…shame he doesn't do it anymore. It's a little bit weird to see the violence that apparently Blaine came up with – I've tried not to be disturbed by his sense of humour – but I can sort of understand it at the same time; it's quite a good way of getting rid of your anger by turning into comedy and art.

---

"Hey guys!" Jeff burst in, causing them both to jump. "If you're done doing whatever two gay guys who aren't dating or bitching about their families do, we're doing presents in your common room." Kurt felt his eyes bug wide open.

"Presents?" he yelped because he didn't have anything for any of them. Jeff waved it away.

"Given what happened when you went shopping, and because I'm pretty sure we never told you we share presents, you're forgiven – you too Blaine." He could see Blaine rolling his eyes as he sighed in relief. He still felt a little bit guilty for not having at least thought about getting presents for anyone apart from Keats.

"Come on," said Blaine, pulling him off the bed. Jeff caught sight of their hands and smirked at Kurt. Kurt glared back at him, daring him to make a smart mouth comment and potentially ruining his friendship with Blaine. Jeff simply smirked at him some more before taking Kurt's other hand and towing him down the hall.

"God, and then they were talking about how – when they turned eighteen – they were going to release an "adult" version of QT Pie." There was a peal of laughter from the boys on the sofas as Daley talked. Blaine dropped down next to Sebastian whilst Kurt found some space on the floor next to Juri, and Jeff lay across the back of a sofa.

"How exactly are they going to make it "adult"?" questioned Wes, in a tone of voice that said he didn't really want to know, but at the same time did because he was highly amused. Morrison rolled his eyes.

"I have no idea…we thought it would be better not to ask."

"You should have seen Harper's reaction," cut in Daley, shaking his head. "he spat out coffee that went flying across the room and straight into Taylor's face and onto Quinn's guitar!" They all burst out laughing again, leaving Kurt feeling a little bit awkward because he didn't exactly know QT – he knew of them, obviously – and he wasn't entirely sure whether they were all friends or not.

"I hate that song," grumbled Wes. "I'd rather listen to Blaine warbling out every Katy Perry song in existence than listen to it!" Whilst everyone laughed, and Blaine glared at Wes and pouted, a sly smirk appeared on Sebastian's face. Daley, upon catching sight of it, groaned and drew everyone's gaze to him. "Bastian…" warned Wes as they all clocked onto what he was going to do. Sebastian shot him a final smirk before bursting into song;

"Are- are- are- are you a QT pie?" he sung in a mock-baby voice that, Kurt had to admit, did sound a lot like QT did on their debut single. "Do- do- do you wanna be a QT pie? Let- let- let- let us show you how!" They others had dissolved into laughter, and Kurt was a hundred per cent sure that they all hated QT. "To- to- to be a QT pie you must love your momma and your papa and your biggest ever brother!" Blaine slapped a hand over Sebastian's hand to stop him from singing. The others were laughing hysterically.

"You really dislike them, don't you?" he asked, looking between them all. They all burst out laughing even harder at that, Sebastian's eyes going to the ceiling as he shook his head in an amused manner.

"That's an understatement!" exclaimed Nick, doubling up in laughter. Morrison and Daley nodded as one.

"Trust us, Kurt, you've never lived with them! Me and Daley grew up with them, and they are insufferable!" They shook their heads as one.

"Yeah, it's like the only thing us and your boyfriend agree on nowadays!" exclaimed Nick, and Kurt did a double take – not because they agreed on something – but because that implied QT came here too.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he said, holding up his hand. "QT come here too!" There were nods from around him, all faces pulled into a look of disgust, and he could not believe that because, despite the fact that Daley and Morrison were undoubtedly more talented, QT were far more famous.

"Please tell me that you don't like there music?" demanded David, looking horrified. "After your obvious love and ability to sing Broadway songs, I would have thought you had better taste than that." Kurt shrugged.

"I don't like them anymore, but when I was eight and they got their big single – and I didn't realise that they were the children of Peyton and Alex Goody – I loved them because I thought that meant my dreams could come true too." He admitted that with a faint blush because it sounded so stupid now, and, of course, all the boys burst out laughing.

"You poor sucker!" exclaimed Fred through peals of laughter.

"I can't believe you fell for it!" roared Morrison, and Kurt scowled at all of them.

"Honestly! I was eight! I became disillusioned by the time I was ten!" he folded his arms as he glared around at them all.

"Prepare to be even more disillusioned," said Chris. "They're grade A bastards."

"And that's quite the insult coming from Chris! He's normally the mild one." Chris glared at Drew, but shrugged anyway.

"It's true…they were horrible to me when I drew them; they said that I was a terrible drawer and that they could do better and drew a fucking stick figure of me and made fun of all my family and added the title "The Franklin Drawing Bastard with his Spastic Family" to it because they hadn't bothered to learn my name and were so fucking polite!" Kurt had to admit that that was pretty mean of them – especially the remark about his family. He pulled a face into a wince, and then looked around the group.

"Is there anyone else famous that goes to Dalton that I might possibly want to know about?" The boys looked between each other before Morrison shrugged.

"Well, all of us from the Goody compound come to Dalton or Crawford so Lily – Lily Oldfield – is at Crawford, and Chloe and Clara are coming next year…so there's basically always one of us here."

"Except there'll be a break after CC come, but that doesn't matter because you won't be here." Kurt nodded, and then frowned.

"How come you all come here?" he asked. "I mean, why Dalton of all the boarding schools?"

"Oh that would be my parents," said David, sticking his hand in the air. "Alex – cause only her and Harper have sense – asked dad whether he knew of a good boarding school where she could send the kids that they were training that was out of the way, and 'cause dad went here suggested it 'cause there was also Crawford." Kurt blinked in surprise.

"I didn't know your dad went here," he said in surprise, and David nodded.

"Oh yeah, loads of us have legacies; I mean only you, Blaine, Chris and Thad don't." Kurt's head snapped around to Juri.

"Your dad went here too?" Juri nodded, opening his arms wide and shrugged.

"Vy do you think I am here?" Kurt nodded in understanding, a little bit surprised that they all had families that went here, but Chris and Thad were understandable because they were on full rides. There was a pause before Nick whined;

"Can we do presents now?" and all the others laughed, and Sebastian nodded, gesturing with his hand to tell them to get on with it.

"So, with the exception of Kurt, Blaine and Scrooge-" Kurt was guessing that was Sebastian. "-did everyone remember; Juri." Everyone turned to stare at the Russian who glared at them all.

"I left on the plane!"

"It's a private plane, Juri, it's not like you couldn't go back." Juri glowered at Nick as all the others laughed, and Kurt shook his head because how the hell did he turn out to be friends with a group of people that were scarily rich?

Still, because it was obviously highly normal for them to travel via private jet, the rest simply laughed – Chris, Fred and Drew all sharing eye rolls – and began to pull packages and parcels from where they had previously been hidden. Nick and Jeff took pleasure in throwing them at people; twenty points for a head shot, ten for the chest, five for any other body part, unless there was the potential to damage something.

Kurt quickly worked out, from opening his presents, that everyone seemed to give two gifts; one gag gift and one actual present. Most of the ones that he'd been given as a joke were things like gift certificates for McDonalds, Taio Cruz albums and the Bible, which he stared at for several seconds before looking at Jeff's grinning face and gently put aside.

On the other hand, though, the genuine presents he'd gotten were nothing short of perfect, and he could not believe the amount of money his friends apparently had when he looked at the gifts that they had given each other. Kurt found himself surrounded by designer clothes, skin products that had to be worth hundreds of pounds, scarves and bags. There were even a couple of shoes in there, and Kurt wondered how they had managed to work out his size because – casting a critical eye over every gift – told him that they would fit.

If Sebastian hadn't been sitting there making sarcastic comments about most of the things that Kurt had received being made for women with his small pile of Christmas presents – Wes, Daley and Liam had given him presents whilst the others had either given him joke gifts or small things – Kurt would have been half convinced that he'd somehow died and gone up to Heaven, even though it didn't exist, because he could not believe that David's idea of a small gift – "This is just something small because I'm not good with fashion, but Katelyn found this, like, somewhere and thought it would be good on you" – was jeans, a t-shirt and a jumper from Ralph Lauren that Kurt knew, for fact, cost around $400!

The only presents he got that weren't like that were from Chris, Drew and Fred – Thad and Nick seemed to have given him a joint present – as they'd all made him something…if that's what you could call Fred's gift. Kurt was pleasantly surprised to see that Drew appeared to have carved a bit of wood into the shape of a musical note with a flat base so it stood up whilst Fred had given him a netbook that appeared to have been mutilated – he assured him that his grandparents were rolling in money and technology and that it was safe to use – and Chris had made what looked like a picture book of Kurt's first term at Dalton; meeting all his various friends, his explosion backstage at Blaine, his auditions, cheerleading, the concert, him and Keats going out – he went bright when he saw that Chris had drawn a surprisingly accurate picture of the two of them kissing under the mistletoe – and Once in Royal and a small thing at the end that showed Kurt leaving with the note 'Be warned; there are many more adventures to come!' which he'd laughed loudly at before giving the boy a hug.

He had even received a present from Morrison and Daley, which was surprising since he had never met them until now and was also a little bit surprised that it also had Cameron Gaylin's signature on it. Opening it up, he found that they had a bundle of signed photos from the different TV shows that they worked on – Kurt had awkwardly admitted to Daley that he didn't watch Turn Left for Hell as the humour didn't exactly appeal to him – as well some more clothes that Daley explained he'd had lying around after his not-so-successful foray into modelling with Marc Jacobs about a year ago and had been waiting to give it to someone they would fit and who wouldn't look stupid in them.

Kurt had been somewhere between stunned and delighted at the gift – it was incredible that they'd given him clothes that were seriously expensive, however out of date, without knowing him – and had hugged them both; Morrison had laughed and hugged him back whilst Daley seemed rather taken aback by the gesture before telling Kurt how he'd been fired by them in just under 48 hours. Kurt had laughed even harder when Morrison had pulled up the pictures because, not only did Daley's hair clash with most of what he was wearing, he looked like he was mocking the whole thing as he attempted to pose. Kurt supposed it had a lot to do with the fact that Daley was primarily a comic actor, well known for his cynicism and sarcastic sense of humour – Kurt could sort of see how him and Sebastian got on well – and as a result it looked like he was taking the mickey out of the clothes. However, looking at him now, Kurt found that Daley didn't seem like that all and wondered whether or not the whole thing had been a front.

The boys dispersed after that, attempting to move their hordes of presents to their rooms, but not before Trinity had sprinkled glitter all over them and a broom fight had broken out. Kurt found that his wardrobe was surprisingly full, and he wondered how on earth he would take it all home with him at the end of term. Juri struggled up the stairs with all the books, CDs and chocolate – Kurt wasn't sure that Juri being hyper was a good idea – that he'd been given along with a motion sensor thing that Fred had made that beeped constantly because Juri was way too near a lot of objects, like the wall, his bed and Kurt.

When Kurt left his room for the final time he saw Chris and Drew struggling to carry up the giant canvases that people had given Chris that were taller them him being around Kurt's height. Kurt offered them a hand, but Chris had shaken his head and explained that these were the last two as Drew wedged the door open with his foot and dragged the canvas through, cursing.

He turned around at the sound of laughing and saw Blaine standing there, arms full of bowties – Kurt wasn't sure whether or not that was a joke or something he actually wanted – and clearly amused by the sight of Chris dragging something along by hand. He looked at Kurt, and his grin got a little bit wider. Kurt smiled back at him and wandered over to his side.

"If you want a Christmas present," said Blaine in a low tone of voice when Kurt had reached his side, and Kurt frowned at what he was saying. "I promise you that I will stand by you no matter what." Kurt felt his frown deeper, and Blaine shifted the bowties in his arms so that he could put a hand on Kurt's shoulder. Kurt couldn't stop frowning at him.

"I have to admit, Blaine, that sounds more ominous than reassuring," Blaine laughed at that, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"Yeah, maybe it did, but I know you've had your doubts about us, and, whilst it's debateable whether or not this is a good thing, I just wanted you to know, one hundred per cent, that you are one of us; and I can't think of any other way to show you, and if you want to give me anything, you can believe me." Kurt stared into his eyes, a little taken aback by the seriousness in his voice, before nodding with a smile on his face because he could see Blaine's sincerity and earnestness, but there was also a hint of desperation – like he was afraid that Kurt might slip away from them. Kurt didn't know whether that was simply because of Keats or whether Blaine just really cared about him, but it was enough to make him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"I believe you, Blaine, I really do." Blaine's face broke out into a wide grin again, letting out a huff of laughter before he pulled Kurt into a one armed hug. Kurt held him back tightly and strictly reminded his racing heart and overexcited brain that Blaine meant all of those things in a platonic way and that he was with Keats.

"That's great! I'll see you downstairs when I've got rid of all of these!" he rolled his eyes at the bowties, and Kurt laughed before making his way down the stairs and back into the common room where he was immediately cornered by Sebastian.

"Kurt, are you drinking or not drinking?" he asked in a brisk voice. Kurt blinked, a little taken aback by the question.

"Um…" he said, thinking about his previous experiences with alcohol and deciding that he would almost certainly have better memories of everything if he wasn't drunk. "Not drinking, I think, why?" Sebastian nodded, jotting it down on a piece of paper on a clipboard.

"No reason other than the fact that, apparently, it's against health and safety to let drunk people near fireworks," Kurt found himself snorting slightly at the comment. Sebastian shot him a brief look, as if wondering whether Kurt had actually just found something he said amusing, before shaking his head and moving off. Kurt let the weirdness of finding Sebastian funny linger with him for a minute more, and then moved over to where Thad sat.

"Do you feel better?" he asked, quietly, and the dark haired Warbler jumped, jerking at the sudden noise and then looked up at Kurt, blinking. Kurt was mildly perplexed by Thad's reaction to the question, but then supposed that he hadn't heard Kurt coming up to him. Thad gave him a smile and then a shrug.

"Yessss, thank you." Kurt sought for something to say to him – he wasn't sure "how was your Christmas" was a good conversation starter – when Nick bounded over.

"Thad, are you not drinking again?" Thad gave his god-brother a long, highly intense, glare. Kurt wasn't sure why, but it looked like Thad was trying to make Nick spontaneously combust through the power of his mind. Nick rolled his eyes. "Right, right, yeah…" he rolled his eyes again. "Either way, can you make sure that I don't do what I did last year." Thad raised an eyebrow at him, obviously trying to convey something to him.

"What did you do last year?" asked Kurt, curiously, and Nick went scarlet. Thad chuckled in amusement.

"He made out with a ssstatue – Flint caught it on film," he couldn't keep the grin of his face, and, as Nick scowled at him, Kurt began to laugh, uproariously, at Nick's expense. Nick glowered at him, but turned his attention back to Thad as he asked; "What about Blaine?" Nick sighed and shrugged.

"I wouldn't have thought that you'd have to look after him…but I suppose that Sebastian is running the whole show…and we all know what drunk-Blaine is like." Kurt looked between them in interest.

"What is drunk-Blaine like?" he asked, curiously and rather amused. Nick and Thad took a look at him, seemingly remembering that he had never seen Blaine drunk before. Nick burst out laughing, and Thad began to chuckle.

"Just wait!" exclaimed Nick, cackling quite loudly. "He's hilarious! He goes all tipsy and flirty at first, then he babbles about random stuff, and then he goes absolutely crazy, whilst also having a compulsive need to sing somewhere in there. Last year, Blaine got totally smashed, and he asked Sebastian out!" Kurt stared at him in disbelief, a grin of shocked amusement spreading across his face.

"He did what?" he exclaimed, looking over at Thad for confirmation. Thad nodded, smiling widely at the memory.

"He doesn't remember, but he went over and- and ssstarted ssluring about how hot Ssssebastian wasss, and how much Blaine wanted him….It wasss very funny!" Kurt burst out laughing, imagining the humiliation that Blaine must have suffered as a result of that.

"The best part is that Sebastian doesn't remember it either!" exclaimed Jeff, appearing from nowhere but had obviously overheard the last part of their conversation. Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't remember?" Jeff shook his head, smirking.

"No, only Flint and Thad do because they're the only ones that were sober, and some other people in Sebastian's year, but it was just before the fireworks went off so everyone that doesn't stay sober is completely drunk." Thad shook his head, putting a hand over his face.

"Sebastian almost jumped him," said Thad in a reminiscent voice. "I had to prise Blaine away, and then we hid so that none of the Crawford girls tried to kiss him when it struck midnight." Kurt smiled at the rest of the story, looking forward to seeing Blaine's drunken antics.

"But there's more," said Nick with an evil grin. "This is when he was in tipsy-flirty mode," Kurt snorted at that. "and he started flirting with Michelle." Kurt stared at them all, dumb-struck whilst they all nodded and grinned. Kurt let out a loud laugh, suddenly understanding a little better why Michelle pursued him more than the rest.

"Again," said Jeff. "Blaine doesn't remember this – he remembers flirting with someone, but he can't remember it being Michelle so…" he shrugged as Kurt continued to snort in amusement.

"We decided it would probably be better if he didn't know," said Nick, looking around as Blaine came into the common and flopped onto a sofa near David. "So he thinks he flirted with Herman." Kurt pulled a blank expression, having heard the name before but having no idea who that was.

"Oh!" exclaimed Jeff, looking highly amused at Kurt's expression. "You don't know Herman?" Kurt shook his head and the three boys laughed.

"Herman is hilarious!" exclaimed Nick, giggling to himself. "He is the biggest prude that will ever walk this earth. He gets squeamish if just mention kissing someone, and he tends to throw up at the mention of sex." Kurt raised an eyebrow, shocked but not entirely disbelieving.

"So, you let Blaine believe that he came onto him?" he asked, wondering whether Blaine might have preferred knowing it was Michelle. Nick and Jeff shared evil grins as they nodded.

"Yep!" said Jeff. "He followed Herman around for a week trying to apologise, eventually Herman got really freaked out and went to Dr Booth." Kurt's face became one of alarm, but Nick waved it away.

"Don't worry, Dr Booth was sort of amused…sort of, but he just told Blaine to stop apologising so it was fine." Kurt nodded, slowly, amused but also a little wary of Nick and Jeff's schemes; seemed like it was a good idea to stay sober.

"I think I made the right choice to not drink anything," he muttered under his breath. Three eyes fixed onto him with amused looks in them.

"You're probably right," said Jeff, grinning at him. "What's the rule to surviving the party sober, Thad?" Thad sent Jeff a half glare before looking at Kurt.

"Avoid Crawford," he muttered, shuddering. Kurt imagined all of the Larks getting drunk – the idea was rather horrific.

"I think I'll do that as well,"

"Are you telling Kurt how to survive the party?" asked Morrison as he wandered over. Kurt looked at him with mild interest, still getting use to his casual presence, and Nick and Jeff smiled innocently up at him. Morrison put his hand on Kurt's shoulder, and Kurt felt his heart beat pick up a little bit because Morrison was so rich and famous and he was standing there acting like he was Kurt's friend – equal. "It's hard being around all the nutty Crawford girls when you're sober. My advice is grab Keats and find yourself a nice corner." Kurt frowned at him, not entirely sure what to make of that piece of advice, but also a little bit amused by Nick and Jeff's scandalised reactions.

"How can endorse such fraternisation?" demanded Nick, and Kurt sent a fierce glare his way to which he yelped, grabbed Jeff and Thad, and fled. Morrison burst out laughing, taking his hand off Kurt's shoulder as he put his hand over his face and laughed. Kurt could feel a small smile tugging at his lips, but he hid it from the others.

Standing next to Morrison, Kurt felt a burning question creeping up inside him; just how did Morrison and Lottie end up engaged so quickly? He'd seen enough to know that Lottie was a much nicer, more polite, person compared to Charles, but he couldn't quite see her mixing in the same circles as Morrison – her reaction to Daley asking her how she was doing was proof of that – so why get engaged so quickly if they'd only each other for two years? What was the rush?

Kurt turned to Morrison, swinging his body round so that he was angled towards the other boy to prevent any unnecessary strain being put on his neck. The boy caught his stare in an instant and turned to face him, polite smile in place, eyes inviting him to speak. Kurt took a second to compose himself, taking a breath in before asking;

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Morrison quirked his eyebrows at Kurt, looking a little nonplussed. Then he gave him a charming smile.

"Because you asked so nicely and I don't know you; yes, yes you may." Kurt frowned at him, more than a little thrown by what had just been said.

"Wait. You're answering my personal question because I don't know you." Morrison nodded.

"If you were my friend I'd be running for the hills because – unless you were Blaine or Juri – you want to find something to tease me about." Kurt couldn't argue with that, but how did Morrison know that Kurt wasn't going to just sell it to the tabloids? "If you did that you'd be expelled," said Morrison, calmly, guessing what was on his mind. Kurt raised an eyebrow in surprise, and Morrison simply smiled, in that same nice manner, back.

"How come?"

"Dalton strict rules to do with the press since actors and such started coming…You're not allowed to breach my privacy, and journalist aren't allowed on campus – pisses QT off because it meant they couldn't make this documentary about their lives, but it's pretty much my idea of Heaven." Kurt looked at him, understanding that the paparazzi could be hounding and, frankly, inappropriate, but surely you'd want them around some of the time. Morrison smiled again. "I don't mind them. I don't mind having my picture taken, but…I like being at Dalton where I'm just like everyone else and I get to let my hair down without worrying about it ending up on the front page of next week's gossip magazine. As far as I'm concerned if you don't get to go a little bit crazy then you haven't lived."

Kurt began to laugh at that, wondering whether that was something that Trinity had brainwashed into him, because Morrison – in all the interviews that Kurt had seen and read – had always come across as someone quite stiff and uptight, but he didn't seem like that at all now that Kurt was actually speaking to him face to face.

"I know that look too," said Morrison in a sing-song voice, breaking out into an amused grin. "I have to be quite uptight in those things. The Goodys are really strict on press and your image and what you say. Plus, I've had a lot of good influences on me that have taught me to always make sure there is a barrier between your personal life and what you tell people; not so much that you're an unemotional robot, but so that you have a life to yourself…" Kurt nodded. "Anyway, I thought you had a question for me." Kurt laughed alongside him.

"You're right I did…I was wondering how you and Lottie ended up engaged. I mean, I can understand that you're dating, but surely you didn't know her before Dalton. Isn't it a bit quick?" Morrison nodded in slow understanding.

"I was wondering what when you'd ask that – it's what everyone said when it happened, but…" he trailed off, trying to find the right words, and Kurt watched him with a steady, interested, gaze. "It was one of those love at first sight things, you know, really cheesy, I just saw her and I just…" he trailed off, shaking his head and blushing slightly. "I bothered her for days until she agreed to go out on a date with me because she was quiet and shy and no one had ever really paid her attention, but we had a great time together and she wasn't dating me because I was famous – actually that was why she hadn't wanted to go out with me," Kurt tilted his head, listening more intently now. "She didn't really know who I was because she didn't watch American TV, but she'd seen Climbing Frame and, well, when I first asked her out she thought that it might be a joke or that she wasn't good enough…I'm still working on changing her mind on that thing." Kurt nodded, vaguely, thinking.

"She's completely different to Charles," he muttered to himself, and Morrison, who had been staring at the opposite wall in a distant manner, jerked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, they're really different. Charlie got all his love from Lottie, but no one loved her…She was brought up thinking that she was just a tool of the company; she was meant to do well in school, go to university – but do something businessny not what she wants – and then marry someone – the sooner and more prestigious the better – and then go into some role in the company, but not as important as her brother's because her brother was going to become CEO and run the show because he was a boy. Charles was told that – if he did everything right – he would be rich and important and Lottie loved him so he kind of got the best of both worlds – or as good as whatever you could get from their parents." Kurt nodded in sad understanding.

"I see…why aren't you still just dating, you know, going steady or whatever – why not wait until college?" Morrison shrugged.

"It was simple, really; I thought I was going to lose her." Kurt raised his eyebrow, once more intrigued. Morrison caught the look and gave him a sly, knowing but not obnoxious, smile. "Her parents were pretty scathing of me; she brought me over in the summer of Freshman year and, um, they were pretty horrible to me about being an actor. They thought I was going to marry her and then screw some other movie star and then it would result in some divorce, and-"

"Divorces aren't allowed," muttered Kurt, darkly, nodding. "Yeah, I heard that." Morrison blinked at him before nodding in understanding.

"Yes, of course you did…I was scared that I might lose her because we didn't have much contact whilst I was filming and so when I came back I put some serious thought into it and on Valentine's Day I popped the question. It took a lot promising and convincing, but she said yes eventually." He sighed. "Answer your question?" Kurt nodded.

"Yes, thank you." Morrison shrugging, shooting Kurt a smile that Kurt had been sure was just saved for the cameras, but appeared to actually be natural.

"My pleasure, I really have heard a lot about you, and, for what it's worth, I'm really glad that you're going out with Keats." Kurt raised his eyebrow sharply because Morrison seemed very firmly on Blaine's side of things. Morrison held up his hands.

"In Freshmen year I wasn't around much so I hadn't really…the only person that was really close to was David because I already knew him and Fred because he orientated me, but hanging around with Fred – in those days – also meant hanging round with Andy so I was both their friends. I saw what happened to them from different perspective than their closer friends; like a sane version of what Trinity saw-" Kurt chuckled at that. "-and, if everything goes well for you two and I hope it does, I think it would really help Keats."

"Do you think they could, potentially, make up?" he asked, quietly, because Morrison seemed like a good person to get this information from. Morrison sighed heavily.

"Honestly, Kurt?" he asked, and Kurt nodded. "No," he said, sighing again and looking sad. "I don't think they can." Kurt frowned at him.

"Why not?" Morrison shook his head, rubbing a hand across his forehead and messing up his fringe.

"They burned so many bridges, Kurt. The lines that they crossed…Keats more so than Blaine, I'm afraid…I don't think there's any way that Blaine will ever be able to trust Keats again, and Keats…" Morrison broke off and sighed once more. "I think Keats will stay within the boundaries that he knows are safe, but he won't go any further…" Kurt looked at him, not impressed by his cryptic response, but also sure that there was something buried in there that he was meant to pick up on.

Morrison caught the frown on his face and, seeing that he was in deep thought, moved away. Kurt watched him go with a relatively shrewd expression, wondering what Morrison had been implying. Something about the way he'd paused before talking about Keats; the way he'd delicately phrased his words, piqued something inside of Kurt. He frowned some more, trying to put together the little he knew about the situation.

…"I think Keats will staying within the boundaries he knows are safe…"…

Safe…

Kurt shook his head as the word turned over in his mind. There was something about that – it was the way Morrison had said it; not that Keats would stay in the boundaries, but would stay in the boundaries that he knew were safe… Almost like…well…almost like Keats had something to fear…

Kurt considered the idea carefully; Keats did seem like someone who, like Kurt himself, would hide their fear for their sake of their pride, to make sure those who inspired it did not know. Kurt could quite easily see him hiding his fear for whatever, but… That begged the question; what did he have to fear? Sebastian, Kurt could imagine, was likely to be terrifying in certain situations, but… Morrison hadn't mentioned Sebastian…

Kurt's eyes fell, of their own accord, onto Blaine. The black haired boy was sandwiched between Sebastian and David, laughing hysterically at something that was being said by Wes. Keats couldn't be afraid of Blaine, could he? Kurt shook his head, looking Blaine over again. There was nothing remotely intimidating about him, but, unbidden, Blaine's words to Kurt after Kurt had told him and Keats were official floated to the front of his mind;

…"…I did things, at the end, in the end, that I'm not proud of…"…

Could Blaine have done something so bad that Keats had become afraid of him? Kurt supposed that it was entirely possible, given the fact that Blaine himself had admitted that he was very scared, and Kurt could see how that would keep them from ever crossing back into friendship. The two of them were afraid of getting expelled, so they were too afraid to talk because they were afraid what the other might do to them could result in their own expulsion.

Kurt rubbed his forehead in a frustrated manner. Having that epiphany – of sorts – didn't really help in anyway. In fact, Kurt was sure that everything just got a lot harder. Scared people did stupid things – Karofsky – and it looked like no one apart from Trinity were prepared to risk trying to get them to talk to each other for reasons that Kurt could now entirely understand.

---

Blaine tapped on Sebastian's door cautiously. His boyfriend had withdrawn himself from them about an hour ago, and it had now been deemed time for lunch. Blaine wasn't entirely sure what it was, but he felt something clench up inside of him as he stood outside Sebastian's room. It felt like fear, but it was Sebastian on the other side of the door which meant there was nothing there that he needed to be afraid of – he may have been frightened of Sebastian's thoughts of him or being too good for him or whatever, but Blaine had never had any cause to genuinely frightened of Sebastian.

Pushing open the door with a sigh, and feeling strangely sick inside, Blaine stepped into Sebastian's darkish room. The blinds were drawn, and the only source of light came from the desk lamp that illuminated the papers that Sebastian was huddled over. He did not look up as Blaine entered, nor react when Blaine switched on the main light and moved to open the curtains.

Feeling nervous by Sebastian's prolonged silence and lack of movement, Blaine shifted from foot to foot and edged closer to his boyfriend. He had a number of theories as to why Sebastian was seemingly snubbing him, but he didn't like any of them, and he would certainly prefer to hear Sebastian's reasons rather than his own panicked thoughts.

"Bastian…" he said, tentatively laying a hand on his shoulder. Sebastian shifted a little bit, but then sat back in his chair, turning his head to look up at Blaine.

"What?" he asked, like he hadn't just ignored Blaine's presence. Blaine blinked at him, not entirely sure what was going on.

"Lunch," Sebastian glanced at his watch then shrugged.

"Nah, not for me; you go and eat with your friends." Blaine felt his brow sink into frown at that because Sebastian didn't miss meals – he frequently berated Blaine about not eating the correct amounts each day.

"Bastian, you always-"

"I know what I always say," he snapped back in a tired voice. Blaine frowned down at him as Sebastian looked away. "Leave me alone, Blaine." Blaine retracted his hand at the coldness in his voice. He had no idea what had gone wrong between the two of them. Still, he couldn't think of anything to say.

He let out a long sigh as he turned around, shoulders slumped, and made his way towards the door, dragging his feet because he didn't know what had just happened, but Sebastian suddenly didn't want to talk to him and he wasn't eating! He scrunched his face up in confusion. Putting his hand on the door handle, he paused as he thought. Slowly, he turned around.

"Bastian…" he said, the hesitancy plain in his voice. "Does this have anything to do with me not wanting to, um, sleep with you?" There was nothing but deafening, terrifying, silence. Sebastian did not make any attempt to move or speak. Blaine felt panic rush up through him and tears stung his eyes. Why was this happening? What had happened to his Sebastian? The one that had come running to his side in the holidays when he was hurt. The one that had, just earlier that day, made him promise to put himself first.

Blaine stepped out of Sebastian's room, closing the door behind him. He kept his pace even as the tears welled in his eyes until he was out of earshot because he was not going to give the Sebastian in that room the satisfaction of knowing that he had managed to deeply wound Blaine by what he'd just done; whatever foul game Sebastian was playing, Blaine was not about to let him win.

He stepped into the common room and looked around. His friends took one look at him and froze with shocked looks on their faces. Blaine cracked. Bursting out into noisy sobs, he made a dash for the door to the grounds. It was freezing outside and Blaine had no coat, but he just needed to be as far from Sebastian as was physically possibly so he flew out, ignoring the calls and the yells of his name as people vaulted over furniture to follow him.

"Blaine!" Blaine tried to keep running, but knew that he could only outrun Flint because Flint couldn't run anywhere. He could hear someone gaining on him, panting in his ear. He knew that it was either Nick or Thad, but kept his eyes fixed straight ahead as he kept running.

"Blaine stop!" A hand fisted into the back of his blazer and forced him to jerk to a halt. Heaving in huge breaths, he tore his grip away to see Thad standing before him, face scarlet and breathing deeply. Nick and David pulled up next to him whilst Flint was bent double some distance back, Jeff and Kurt with him.

He clamped a hand over his eyes as he continued to cry, feeling guilty for making Flint run after him when Blaine knew that he did not carry an inhaler and would chase Blaine because he wanted to help. He felt David pull him into a strong embrace and sobbed into his shoulder in confusion and anger because he had no idea where all that was coming from, but – of course – he couldn't be what Sebastian wanted.

"I'm okay! I'm really fine, Kurt!" he heard Flint wheezing, taking in rasping breaths from where he was no doubt being supported between Jeff and Kurt.

"You shouldn't run, you idiot!" he heard Jeff exclaim, and there was the sound of a smack and an "ow!", and Blaine found himself smiling into David's shoulder as he visualised Nick hitting Flint around the back of his head for being an idiot.

"Nick!" cried Kurt in a tone of great disapproval, and he knew that Nick was shrugging at him in response.

"What? It doesn't do anyone any good when he dies of an asthma attack; me, David and Thad are more than capable of catching Blaine – he's got stubby little legs."

"Hey!" cried Blaine, pulling from David feeling highly offended by what Nick had said. He could feel anger at the world bubbling up inside of him. Everyone's faces froze in expressions of guilty amusement. "I am sick of people making fun of my height!" Nick held up his hands in a surrender.

"Oh, woah, Blaine, I'm sorry," he took several steps towards Blaine in a placating manner, but Blaine wanted to shout at someone because he had no idea what the hell had just happened between him and Sebastian, and he was pretty sick of feeling crap.

"You're always making fun of me! Guess who else mocked me for my height? Every fucking person at Kinzie!" There was a horrified pause in which they all looked sick at the prospect of being like Holt. He saw that Kurt's face looked particularly pale, and he considered saying something to except Kurt from that but he couldn't think what.

"Blaine, we're just…we're just joking, alright?" said David in a very calm voice. "We're really sorry if we hurt your feelings, but I get the feeling this isn't about us; it's about whatever happened between you and Sebastian." Blaine glared at David because what right did he have to pretend that he understood what Blaine had been through? David had never suffered anything.

"Shut up!" he spat. "You don't have a clue what it feels like to be me! I am the butt of every joke! I am never good enough for anything, and no one ever wants me!" He wiped away the tears that were running down his face. Thad's hand fisted into his lapel, suddenly, his eyes wide but very intense. Kurt opened his mouth.

"I-"

"Fighter – not broken." Blaine stared at Thad because to everyone else that sounded like a load of nonsense, but Thad had just succeeded in stopping his heart. Then it came crashing down because he was doing it again; he was lashing out because he was hurt and confused. He could feel the tears fall faster as everyone looked between them in confusion.

"I can't," he said because he couldn't fight his anger; he had lost all control. It had been slipping away from his grasp all term, and now it was gone. Thad's hands fell onto his shoulders, and Blaine couldn't see anyone else because Thad filled his vision.

"You can; I'm not wrong." Blaine stared at him because how could he still think that? How was it that after everything Blaine had done could he still hold that belief? It was terrifying, in all honesty, because he had never met anyone with that kind of deep, unwavering, belief in him, but he knew that it was meant to give him strength.

The grass crunched in the silence, and he heard someone move over to them. No one said anything, but their breathing was deep and heavy. Blaine wasn't sure whether he wanted to look at them.

"Blaine," said Kurt softly, and Blaine knew he could not look at Kurt after the parallel he had drawn between Kurt and bullies. "I- I know that you're scared of your anger, and I know you feel worthless a lot of the time, but that's not you talking…that's depression." Blaine looked at the ground because that just made him feel worse and weak. "And it's not a bad thing," he whispered. "It doesn't make you weak, it means that you've suffered, and you have suffered – someone tried to kill you, Blaine; you nearly died. I don't think that this is in anyway an overreaction, and, for the record, I have always wanted you." Blaine felt his head shoot up at that. He looked at Kurt with a frown because his treatment of Kurt when he first arrived at Dalton was a big regret of his.

"What?" Kurt gave him a smile, and he felt Thad's hands leave his shoulder as he took a step away.

"Part of the reason I yelled at you was because I didn't think you valued me, and that hurt because I wanted to be your friend. I was afraid, at the beginning, that you would never want to be my friend because who would want to be friends with the person that stole their scholarship? Every time that I have doubted your friendship with me has hurt because I do, really, want to be your friend…" Kurt sighed, and Blaine could feel more tears fill his eyes because he was so touched.

"Kurt…" he whispered because he had nothing to say to such kind words which he did not deserve. Kurt took a careful step towards him.

"And your friends are your friends because they want you, Blaine. I don't know what Thad was talking about, but I can tell he believes in you. Flint ran out here, completely disregarding the seriousness of his asthma, because he wants to help. The problem with the world is that it's not our obligation to care about everyone – it should be, but it's not. We don't have to care about people; the people that matter are the people that chose to love you…and that's what everyone standing here has done."

Blaine took a deep breath at Kurt's words, putting a hand over his mouth as he let it out in a shaky fashion. He let the tears fall down his face because his head was a mess; he was swinging through phases of complete happiness to crash back down into the terrible reality of his simmering anger and all his fear.

"You're not alone because you're here with me…" muttered David, taking a couple of steps back towards Blaine. Kurt stepped out to the side to let his other friends form a little semi-circle before him. He took a couple of deep breaths, managing a smile.

"I'm sorry…" he said, hopelessly, and everyone just shook their heads.

"Kurt's right," said Flint, nodding seriously. "you are not at fault here. You've been through terrible things these past two and a half years…We're here to help and support you, and we all know that everyday isn't sunshine, but you should also know that simply shouting at Nick is not enough to drive him away." Blaine managed a proper laugh at that, looking over at Nick who was shrugging and smirking.

"Hey, they all have a point, and I'm well known for not knowing when to stop and saying things that aggravate people." Everyone laughed at that, and Nick's eyes glinted. "Hugs!" he yelled and pulled them all into a tight group hug. Blaine laughed at that, pulling Thad and David, who were on either side of him, as close as he could.

"Thank you, Kurt," he said as he reached forward to embrace the taller boy. Kurt hugged him back tightly before looking down at him with a smile.

"If you want to give me something for Christmas; believe it," Blaine laughed, wiping his eyes and thanking the heavens for his wonderful friends.

"So what happened between you and Sebastian?" asked Jeff as they all agreed to make their way back to the common room. Blaine shivered and shook his head.

"I have- I have no idea," he said, still shaking his head because that was something he couldn't riddle out. "I went up, and he didn't reply to my knock or react as I went in. He was just sitting at his desk, and he said he didn't want to eat." There were some shocked looks at that.

"But Sebastian is Mr Eat-your-five-a-day-and-breakfast-is-the-most-important-meal!" exclaimed Nick. "He glares at you every time you consider missing meals. Hell, sometimes he glares at me!" Blaine nodded.

"I know, which made me worried, but he just told me to go away…it was weird…" There was a pause in which all the boys exchanged looks.

"What happened next?" asked David in a wary tone of voice. "What did he say that reduced you to a very angry mess?" Blaine swallowed and bit his lip.

"I asked him whether it was because I- " Blaine found himself flushing and not at all in love with the idea of continuing. He paused, stopping in his tracks and looked at all their faces which were ranged between confused, hesitant and knowing. "I asked whether it was about me not- not wanting to do…it." There was a heavy pause.

"What did he say?" asked Jeff through gritted teeth, and Blaine could see that his whole posture was tense. The atmosphere was undeniably wrought with a sense of high nerves. He knew that everyone, except Kurt who looked worried, was thinking about Daley.

"He didn't say anything," he said softly. "I took that as a yes." There was a long silence.

"I'm going to fucking kill him!" exclaimed Jeff and dashed off towards Franklin before anyone could stop him. Blaine felt his heart sink and suddenly wanted to be sick.

"Um…who fancies running after him?" There was a long silence at David's question before Thad was tearing after him. Blaine watched as Thad, shorter yet faster and stronger, gained on Jeff and, just before he reached the door to Franklin, threw himself forward in a dive that sent them both crashing to the floor. They all winced in unison.

"That's a relief," said Nick, casually, like his best friend hadn't just declared that he was going to murder their head boy and friend's boyfriend and been rugby tackled to the ground by his god-brother. They all burst out laughing, even Blaine.

"What are we going to do?" asked Flint, and Blaine felt something swell inside of him at that because it was Blaine's problem, but it was also shared between them; it was their problem too because they cared.

"I think we should diffuse Jeff first," said David with a frown. "Then we can work out what to do with Sebastian; I could rope Wes in." Blaine shook his head at that and saw Kurt was frowning at him.

"Kurt?" he asked, and, as they reached the pile that Thad holding down Jeff, Kurt let out a long sigh.

"Haven't you had this conversation with him?" he asked, cautiously. "I was just- I was just thinking about our conversation before the holidays." Blaine frowned at him as Nick, David and Flint tried to convince Jeff that murdering Sebastian wasn't a good idea. "You told me that Sebastian had slept with Nick."

"Oh," he muttered, remembering it better now, but not sure where Kurt was going. "Yes…?" Kurt sighed.

"You said that sex to Sebastian didn't carry the same weight as it did to us… I mean, surely you've talked about this just a little bit. I mean, it has to have come up because Sebastian said…" Kurt seemed to suck in a huge breath. "before you asked him out he said that you were the first person that made him consider a monogamous relationship… The fact that he just did one night stands, no strings attached, you have to have talked about it." Blaine examined the grass between his feet, nodding as he rubbed his numb fingers together.

"Yeah, we have." Kurt frowned at him, tilting his head to side slightly.

"What did he say?" Blaine felt a tiny smile spreading across his face as he remembered what Sebastian had said to him.

"He said he wanted, you know, me, but he wouldn't do it to me because I wasn't ready." He glanced up at Kurt and saw that he was staring at him like he was an idiot. "What?" he asked. Kurt rolled his eyes as the others rolled their eyes.

"What makes you think anything has changed since then?" Blaine sighed, having not wanted to go into the details of his conversation in the grounds.

"Did he say something when you went out on that walk?" asked David, eyes narrowed in a shrewd expression. Blaine nodded.

"I told him that I hadn't got him a Christmas present, and he basically suggested…" There was a pause in which Jeff's jaw was jumping. There was a very awkward silence.

"O-kaaay…" said Nick, looking like he wanted to make fun of the situation but was restraining himself. "This whole situation just got intensely weird, mainly because I feel like if I say something smart then I'll be murdered from, like, 360 degrees." There were snorts at that and some nods.

"Maybe he's scared," said Flint, suddenly, and everyone turned to stare at him with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. Flint held up his hands. "I'm just saying; you nearly died, which means that Sebastian nearly lost you, like, two months after he got you…" Everyone continued to stare at him, but Flint held up his hands. "Look, it's just a suggestion…No one said I was right, but do any of you have any better ideas?" There was a long silence. Blaine rubbed a hand over his face.

"It sort of makes sense…" he said, slowly. "I mean…he made me promise him that I would always put myself first…It was a bit odd…It was a bit like he was worried about me…" There was another long pause.

"I think you should go and talk to him," offered Kurt, eventually. "Flint may have a point." Blaine swallowed, not entirely sure what he would say.

"After lunch?" he asked, well aware that the others would have eaten without them, but he was hungry. Nick shuddered.

"You strange, strange, person…" Blaine gave him a small shove, smile on his face.

"That's a bit rich! You calling me strange." Nick hooked an arm around Blaine and Jeff's shoulders, making an "ah" that sounded very reminiscent, and the others began to laugh.

---

I have to admit, I'm somewhere between stunned and proud of myself. I cannot believe that I came so close to admitting how I felt…Now that Blaine's calmed down they all keep shooting me knowing looks because I did – sort of – because I didn't say that I wanted Blaine as a friend to start with…It just sort of came spilling out of my mouth because it was so painful to hear him say all those things. I mean, I covered it up well, and I didn't lie, but…I feel weird…It's a weight off my chest, but there's also this weird pang because I don't think Blaine considered for one second that I may have meant it any other way. However, I'm proud of what I said to him; I genuinely think it made a lot of difference, and for telling him to talk to Sebastian…I'm helping their relationship! This is baffling.

"Kurt," said Flint, tapping his shoulder and causing him to jolt from where he had been sitting at the kitchen table. Kurt blinked and looked up at him.

"Yes?" Flint looked around and then gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Are you alright?" he asked, softly. Kurt sat up straighter, frowning, as Flint sunk into a chair so they were on eye level.

"What do you mean?" Flint sighed.

"I mean that you came pretty close to telling Blaine how you felt, and you were talking from experience back then. Kurt sighed, rolling his neck, and heard it click. Then he sighed.

"I have no idea how I feel. I don't think it crossed his mind for a second that I might have meant that in a not-platonic way, and that hurts quite a lot." Flint nodded.

"Yeah…" he snorted softly. "Yeah, I understand." Kurt nodded, absent-mindedly, but then frowned, something coming into his mind.

Maybe I know, somewhere deep in my soul That love never lasts And we've got to find other ways to make it alone Or keep a straight face But darling, you are the only exception You are the only exception…

He turned to Flint with a frown on his face, wondering who on earth Flint had a crush on, and opened his mouth to ask him as much when Nick and Jeff came crashing towards them, and Flint's expression jumped to one of suspicion.

"Please tell me that you didn't do anything to Sebastian," he said in a pleading voice, and they both grinned and shook their heads. Kurt narrowed his eyes, noting the slightly mischievous glint in Jeff's eyes.

"We need to borrow you, Flint, we think we've finalised our song choices." Flint rolled his eyes and shot Kurt an apologetic look.

"I apologise for whatever mischief they may have caused," he said, and Kurt let them go with a laugh. He watched as they were joined by David and Thad, and the five of them left, talking loudly. He pondered, briefly, who Flint was crushing on but then noticed Blaine coming down the stairs. He leapt to his feet and hurried round to him, noting the crushed look on his face.

"How did it go?" he asked. Blaine shook his head, looking around with a frown for the others. "They went to do something about song choices." Blaine nodded and then shook his head again.

"He wasn't alone. He was with Daley, Wes and Liam, and I couldn't- I couldn't do it…I bluffed my way through a brief conversation about…about performing and setting up and everything, and Wes started talking about Warblers, but…" he shook his head, rubbing his hands over his eyes.

"It's okay, Blaine…" he said, softly, but Blaine didn't seem to hear him as he exclaimed;

"I don't know what to do! Sebastian's going to be going to set the hall up soon, and he'll be with them. I can't do it in front of them! Wes will make fun of me, and I-" Kurt instinctively put his hands on Blaine's shoulders as he began to panic. He gave him a very pointed look that told him to breathe deeply. Blaine did as he was told, shooting Kurt a sheepish smile.

"You need to stop panicking, Blaine, maybe you could make up at the party." There was a tiny part of Kurt that was questioning his sanity because there was a part of him that was thinking that there was a way to exploit this for his own ends, but he stamped it down because Blaine was his friend. In the end this wasn't like when he'd been fighting with Rachel over Finn; mainly because it wasn't two people vying for another's attention. That, and his relationship with Blaine was just different; he wasn't ready to risk his friendship with Blaine for anything except certain reciprocation of his love – he didn't have that.

"Yeah…" Blaine's breath in response to his statement snapped Kurt from his thoughts. He shook his head slightly and then focused his attention back onto the smaller boy. "Maybe I can…Oh, Kurt you are the best." He said, breaking out into a grin, and Kurt had to give him one in return. "Come on, why don't you show me this poem that Keats wrote you?" Kurt stared at him, a little taken aback by his suggestion but smiled nonetheless.

He led Blaine back to his room – Juri was once more in Chris' room – and picked up the little book, offering it to Blaine. He sat by Blaine's side and watched the careful way he held the book and noticed the small smile that graced his lips as he continued to read. He nodded as he looked up, handing it to Kurt with a proper smile.

"Now that is a Keats I can talk about," he said. "Wait one second," Kurt blinked as Blaine darted from the room, not really sure what Blaine meant by that, but definitely sure that his reaction had been more than a good thing. Before he could wonder whether Morrison was wrong in what he said, Blaine returned with several small books in his hands. Kurt sat up in interest.

"Did he write those for you?" he asked. Blaine shrugged and moved his head from side to side.

"These two-" he gestured with his right hand. "-are for me, but this-" he gestured with the left hand. "-was written for Thad, but don't worry, he won't mind." Kurt felt a little bit more hope flare up inside him at that because Blaine and Thad had kept them – Blaine had told Kurt that he got migraines because of this, but he'd kept the poem that Keats had written him – which had to mean something.

"What are they about?" he asked. Blaine shrugged, spreading them out on the bed between them.

"This one's about my arrival at Dalton, the next one was what he wrote for me after I told him about the suicide and the one for Thad is about mystery. They're not as long as yours, but I can't imagine how long he spent on that poem…managed to get his favourite things in, though." Kurt frowned in confusion, and Blaine smiled at him. "He loves adding in things about mythology and the stars…It always comes up, here;" he opened the first little book and read aloud to Kurt;

Stand

For Blaine,

In the hope that you have found somewhere that is stable ground beneath your feet.

I stand on the edge of the worst unknown,
For the land before me is well traversed by others,
But I am not others.

I stand with the strength of but one man,
For I am nothing more or less,
Than a skeleton in a bag of skin.

I stand upon legs that have borne me far,
But can barely hold me now,
As with each passing second they grow wearier.

I stand upon legs of simple bone and muscle,
And do not bear the Herculean strength,
Of what I somehow see in others.

How can I stand like a god,
And hold my head up high?
When I stink with the stench of defeat.

They stand like creatures from another world,
And as I watch them move,
I wonder what great deeds have granted them that.

I will try to stand upon Olympus,
But I fear that I tumble for such a high perch,
And I shall break and shatter – again.

So as I stand upon the edge of the worst unknown,
I force me knees to hold firm and not buckle,
For I stand still.

Kurt smiled at the poem because it was like the one that Keats had given him, but at the same it was very different. Whilst the one that he'd written for Kurt had been tribute to Kurt's strength, this was more about the struggle that Blaine was facing when he immediately arrived at Dalton, broken from the events of his first school. There were not as many references to Greek mythology, but the image of the strength that they possessed was still there, except this was something that Blaine was trying to emulate as opposed to something that Kurt equalled.

"His poetry is really beautiful," he murmured, and Blaine nodded.

"Yes, he has a way of capturing emotions and amplifying them. His writing is the only thing about him I still admire." Kurt looked at him and then opened the second poem which was even shorter. He read the title Faith and Hope and flicked to the next page which bore the enscription; For Blaine, In the hope that your suffering may soon come to pass, before turning over with interest, reading;

Faith is nothing more or less,
Than a flickering candle,
That shines on in the darkness of our heart.

Hope is nothing more or less,
Than a promise we tell ourselves,
To guide us through the darkest of nights.

However ephemeral they are, though,
We could not bare to live,
Without their steady presence in our lives.

I would wish for you, despite this,
To carry them with you always,
For the sake of your tortured soul.

One day they may bring you peace.

It was undeniably painful for him to read Keats' words to Blaine after he'd found out what he'd tried to do because the friendship between them was written on the page before him. Here it was, clear as day, the proof that Keats and Blaine had shared a strong, caring, relationship where Keats was there to offer the same comfort and assurance that he gave to Kurt. He could not quite imagine what it must feel like to lose that.

"It's good, isn't it?" said Blaine. "I like the last line; faith and hope may bring me peace…I still want to believe that more than anything; that if I can just believe in myself and other people enough I may be able to get some form of comfort or resolution." Kurt sighed sadly.

"You lost this?" he murmured, understanding more what Morrison had said; Blaine had been through so much, and he'd lost so much – he was not prepared to risk it all again with Keats, not after what he'd lost.

"Yeah…it's why I could-" he broke off, choking up. "I could never trust him again, Kurt, I'm sorry. I don't want to risk getting angry, and I don't want anyone getting hurt, but I can't risk gaining and losing that again…How could I believe those words anymore?" he sighed, deeply, shaking his head. Kurt bit the inside of his lip, looking for something to say.

"I understand," he said, eventually. "I understand…" He glanced at the last book. "Does it shed an interesting light on Thad?" Blaine blinked, pulled himself away from whatever thoughts he'd been having before looking at the book.

"I guess…" he said, slowly. "I mean, the two of them never really knew each other; they only really overlapped through their friends – they have nothing common."

"Except for looking after you," he joked. Blaine laughed a little at that, nodding and rolling his eyes.

"Yes, I suppose, but he wrote this before he met me." Kurt examined the little book again.

"It's very long," Blaine laughed at that.

"Yes, he rambles quite a bit in it…It is an interesting read, but man can your boyfriend go off on tangents." Blaine shook his head. "I swear, it's really good, but half of that is him just word-vomiting." Kurt laughed loudly at his words.

"I'm sure that he'd be most offended to hear you say that," Blaine snorted, picking up the book and reading the title aloud to Kurt. "Enigma For Thad, In the hope to provide something towards whatever you want or need." Kurt frowned mildly.

"Does he always write "in the hope" at the beginning of everything?" Blaine pulled a face, shrugging.

"I suppose he does. I'd never really noticed that before." He handed the book to Kurt. "It's a long read, and I'm not going to try and pronounce some of the words in there." Kurt rolled his eyes and flipped the page, sending Blaine an amused glare before reading aloud;

In order to solve an enigma,
First I must sit down and examine,
Each puzzle that lies before me,
And each digit and letter in turn.

I cannot understand, however,
Any of these things,
If I know nothing about,
The one who codes it.

For each marking made,
Bears a shadow,
A residue,
Of its maker.

Like a footprint,
Or a shadow.
It falls distinctly,
Like a snowflake.

And it remains,
Holding its crystalline form,
Though the world around it,
Attempts to wipe it away.

It is like Atlas' hand,
With all its size and power,
Has placed itself against the Earth's surface,
And is attempting to rub it away.

But nothing is easy as that.
One cannot simply flick off
A man that does not exist,
And make him vanish.

He is like a shadow,
Or a ghost that is haunting,
Places that he has known,
And things that he will know.

To be without knowing,
Is to stand in the world,
Shrouded by invisibility,
Like Perseus on his quest.

But what is your quest?
What monster do you seek to slay?
And was it death,
That has masked you?

But masked you are,
From me, from them, from all,
And what can we do?
To pull away your veil?

More importantly, though,
Is do we have that right?
What right have we to pull away your protection,
And reveal you to the world?

For you are hidden,
As something deep inside,
Something damaged and tortured,
Writhes in pain.

You turn away from the light,
And you cower and falter,
As the spotlight descends,
And you question; do they care?

Is this a personal thing,
Where they seek to help,
Or do they seek for the sake of knowledge,
And make you a means to an end.

Is that what you have been before?
Have you been foetal and fragile,
For so much time,
That you know nothing more?

For all it takes is a wall.
A wall to be built around you,
To guard the whimpering child,
And hid it from fear and shame and to preserve.

But where is your Trojan horse?
And who does it bear?
Who will pierce your armour?
And expose your Achilles' heel?

What will cause you to tear down the walls?
To brave the sunlight.
The stares.
Silence.

Will you stand tall,
And unfurl,
From where you are safe,
To fight your battle.

Are you like King Arthur?
To rise and protect your kingdom
When the need is truly great,
And all hope has failed.

But if that is the case,
Would you take it?
One look in your eyes
Says you do not believe in heroes.

And what vanquished you before?
Was it a mere accident?
A betrayal?
Love?

You are no hero,
We all see that clearly,
But what you hide from us
Is not for the faint of heart.

Maybe you have not fought in bloody battles,
Or travelled the River Styx,
But you have seen things,
That would make us weep and cry,

So maybe that answers all.
Do you curl into a ball,
So that your eyes may not see
Anything more or less than you?

You do not have to see the suffering
From where you lie,
And you must not know pain
If there is no one there to inflict it on you.

However, pain is easy to be inflicted by you.
Your mind will turn against you,
And it will try to trick you,
And make you hate yourself.

Your self-inflicted wounds,
From all your guilt and hate,
Will be etched to your heart;
Cracked and torn and frayed.

The enigma machine clicks on.
The rotors turn
As signals are analysed
To try and understand you.

It does not seem to matter to you,
That others seek to open you up,
Like you are nothing at all,
But you give nothing away.

You talk,
You sing,
You dance,
You live.

Until it ends.
The stars fall down upon you
As the Titans are released
Who you must face alone.

And there is your weakness;
There is the gap in your armour,
Your poisoned tunic,
And your Trojan horse and Achilles' heel.

It has all been revealed at once,
And so the vultures descend to tear,
Until nothing but a bloody, ragged,
Carcass remains.

Yet you remain,
As bloody and torn and shredded.
You still exist
Because something is not done yet.

You fall from grace,
Like Lucifer's fall from Heaven.
The Morning Star that shone so bright,
Is nothing more than a cold reminder of all that could have been.

Of pride,
Vanity,
Idolatry,
And faith.

Maybe the problem with it all
Is that you are not meant to be solved.
You were not created for pleasure or fun,
But to hide something behind smoke and mirrors.

We are not meant to crack codes,
Or to discover buried secrets,
But the selfish nature of humanity,
Commands that we do so.

We will consume you with our burning fires,
Of curiosity and self-righteousness,
And you will break and burn,
Or rise as a phoenix from the ashes.

The outcome is irrelevant.
What matters is a result.
We must know.
We must know.

So hide beneath your cryptic code,
Live your double life,
But remember that on no account
Will your secret go unsolved.

Kurt stared at the last line of the poem, thinking that that was a rather ominous, threatening, ending to it all. He understood what Blaine meant about rambling; in the other poems he'd stuck very clearly to the main theme, but in this one it was like he was following his train of thought, and then suddenly remembering that he was meant to be writing about enigmas and puzzles. He wasn't entirely sure what to think, most of it was a little bit unnerving.

"There weren't exactly many long words in there," he said, eventually, sending Blaine an accusatory look as he handed the book back to him. Blaine chuckled.

"Sorry, I just wanted to watch your expression whilst you read it; it's funny." Kurt tried to not blush at the fact that Blaine wanted to watch him and so joined in laughing with him.

"That's a little bit creepy," he joked, and Blaine pulled an offended face.

"Kurt…that's mean!" Kurt laughed even harder at his wide, puppy dog, eyes. Blaine gave him a playful shove, and Kurt shoved him right back. Blaine righted himself and then pushed Kurt so that he collapsed, laughing, against his pillow. Snatching it up, he whacked it down on him. "Oh!" yelled Blaine, leaping off the bed. "You want a war?" Kurt just kept laughing and whacked the pillow at him again. "You asked for it!" Blaine snatched up Juri's pillows and brought it smashing down on him. Kurt couldn't stop laughing and neither could Blaine as feathers exploded all around them.

---

Okay, it's now officially evening and time for the party. Juri was unsurprisingly not amused by us showering feathers all over the room, but Blaine's been in a much better mood since Sebastian so I consider it worth Juri slipping and sliding over them all and trying to clean them all away. Thankfully, Dalton is well prepared for such things and has a large supply of spare pillows for just this occasion. Juri has already vanished off with Chris and Daniel, and Blaine has gone ahead with David and the others. So it's just me, waiting for Keats.

Kurt looked around at the sound of the knock on the door from where he'd been waiting the gentle snow fall from his window. He ran down the room and opened the door, a smile spreading across his face, and saw Keats standing there wearing a long, dark, coat over his uniform.

"Ready?" he asked, and Kurt, snatching up Blaine's old scarf and winding it around his neck, nodded. Keats frowned, just a little bit, at the scarf before picking up Kurt's coat and helping him put it on. Kurt had shaken his head, but couldn't stop a flattered smile spread across his face at the same time. Keats offered Kurt his arm, and Kurt, blushing heavily, hooked his own through it.

"Let's go," he said, and Keats began to walk with long strides down the hallway, dictating a pace that made it easy for the two of them to walk side by side. "I read some more of your poetry," he said as they made their way down the stairs. Keats cast him an interested, curious, look as the corners of his mouth turned up slightly into a smile.

"Really, which ones?"

"Um…let me remember their names…Stand, Hope and Faith and Enigma."

"Faith and Hope," corrected Keats, automatically, and Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Alright, but you know exactly which ones I mean." Keats nodded as he held open the door for Kurt before taking his hand.

"Yes, I do, and I'm surprised that Blaine still has them. I would have thought he'd have burned them by now, or at least torn them up in anger." Kurt cast him a disapproving look.

"He's very attached to the poems, and I think he misses that version of you." Keats rolled his eyes.

"I'm not a different person, Kurt, I didn't morph into some cruel beast or whatever. I'm the same person, and it's only because Blaine can't handle what he did that he thinks otherwise." Kurt refrained from rolling his eyes because that just sounded like a jab at Blaine being weak which was not an argument he was going to agree on with Keats.

"Either way," he said, steering the conversation back into safer waters. "I thought it was amazing." Keats smiled at that. "Though I do agree that Enigma rambles quite a lot," Keats heaved a sigh.

"Yes, my greatest mistake; getting drawn into the mystery." Kurt frowned at him, interested in the faraway look in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, curiously. Keats blinked and cast him a small smile.

"A silence is inviting, Kurt, you fill it with guesses and sound because no one care understand why a silence exists; Thad is a silence. We make cast aspersions upon him and garner no reaction. He can free fall for miles and miles, crash and burn and break, and then pick himself up and carry on like it never happened. We cannot understand so we speculate and once we begin we cannot stop. Speculation is like an addiction; we must be proved right and find the answer for fear that we will come apart without it." Kurt looked at his boyfriend in shock and managed a smile because he had never met anyone that could make something like that sound completely natural. Keats caught his smile. "What?" Kurt shook his head.

"Nothing…you're probably the only person that can say that and not sound ridiculous." Keats shrugged in a casual manner.

"It comes from thinking too much, Kurt." He said as they stepped into the hall and were both overwhelmed by the noise that was being generated. He could hear the sounds of music being pumped around from giant speakers that had been arranged around the hall. Strobe lighting had been attached to the ceiling that cast spots of white, green, red, blue and yellow around the hall. It was packed full of hundreds of bodies, gyrating along to the music.

"Are you drinking?" he called over the music, looking at Keats whose eyes were scanning the hall. Keats looked back at him, face scrunched up in confusion before shrugging.

"Maybe a little!" he yelled back, and Kurt nodded as they made their way over to the refreshments table. Kurt quickly grabbed a coke and poured it into a cup whilst Keats eyed the punch and then ladled some out.

"How are you not all deaf?" he asked with a laugh, and Keats, bending close to hear what Kurt had said, snorted.

"Miracles!" he said, and Kurt laughed some more at that. "I have to warn you that I'm a very bad dancer!" Kurt looked at his boyfriend in amusement.

"As bad as your singing?" Keats pulled a face whilst Kurt continued to smile at him. Keats shook his head, eventually.

"I think it might be worse!" he said, and Kurt burst out into laughter at that, shaking his head incredulously because Keats' singing was truly dreadful. "But you dance well enough for both of us, I think!" Kurt blushed at the flirtatious look on his face and then rolled his eyes.

"What makes you think that flattery will get me risking myself out there with you?" he asked, and Keats gave him a nonchalant shrug, sipping at his drink. Kurt copied his action, feeling himself almost choke on the bubbles and let out a startled cough. Keats raised a hand to pat his back, but Kurt gave him a glare that made him stop. He coughed once more and then took another sip, swallowing properly this time.

"If you refuse to risk yourself, as you say, then I'm afraid that I might have to take a more serious course of action." Kurt arched his eyebrow, challengingly.

"I think I'm going to be stronger than you, Keats, I'm the one that's a cheerleader." Keats pursed his lips, eyeing Kurt up and down with an intense look. Then he sighed.

"Alright, you may have me there, but…" he trailed off, draining his cup with a smile. "I could enlist the help of Crawford." Kurt felt his eyes widened in horror.

"You wouldn't…" he said, looking at Keats whose face had become undeniably wicked all of a sudden.

"Do you want to find out?" he asked, a perfectly innocent smile on his face. Kurt took a long sip of his drink, deciding that it was definitely not worth the risk of dealing with the crazy ones – Kurt highly doubted that Keats would enlist the help of Elise, Jenny, Cat or Lottie – and that his boyfriend was undeniably evil.

"You're pure evil," he said, hiding his smirk as he drunk the rest of the contents from his cup, and Keats simply looked at Kurt with both eyebrows raised, a small smile curling the corners of his lips.

"Now, how can you possibly say that?" He plucked the empty cup from between Kurt's fingers and threw it back onto the table. Kurt watched him with a raised eyebrow and suppressed smile as Keats grabbed his hand and pulled him into the melee of bodies, both of them breaking out into laughter as they dodged between people to find an empty space.

"Hello Dalton!" Kurt came to a halt and looked around to see David, bass guitar slung around his shoulder and microphone in hand, beaming down at the crowd from his position on the stage. Kurt saw that Thad stood before another microphone, tuning an electric guitar whilst Jeff was adjusting the microphone by his drum kit. "Now, I know that no one wants to listen to me so I have one thing to say; ON NO ACCOUNT LET FRED OR TRINITY NEAR THE FIREWORKS!" Everyone burst out into laughter at that. Keats shook his head, rolling his eyes whilst Kurt wondered what sort of mayhem Trinity would wreak if they got their hands on some fireworks.

"And without further ado," broke in Jeff, finally satisfied by the height of his microphone. "Let's get this party started!" There was an appreciative cheer as Jeff began the drum beat, and Thad began to play the distinct intro of Animal, the three of them harmonising along with their playing.

Here we go again, I kinda want to be more than friends

So take it easy on me, I'm afraid you're never satisfied

Flint came gliding out from somewhere backstage, the microphone headset blaring the sound of his voice out around the hall. He sang and danced effortlessly, a semi-smirk on his face, and Kurt watched him with a grin.

Here we go again, we're sick like animals, we play pretend

You're just a cannibal and I'm afraid I won't get out alive

Nick appeared from the left side of the stage, smirk growing as the general population of Crawford squealed at his appearance. He made his way to the front of the stage with a swagger in his step, and Kurt could tell that Nick was in his element.

No, I won't sleep tonight

Oh, oh, I want some more

Oh, oh, what are you waiting for?

Take a bite of my heart tonight

As everyone else in the hall – including Kurt and Keats – jumped up and down and waved their hands in the air, the two boys danced at the front of the stage, hips swaying, and Nick shooting flirty winks at Flint and the rest of the crowd.

Oh, oh, I want some more

Oh, oh, what are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?

Say goodbye to my heart tonight

Kurt didn't know whether he was meant to take their performance seriously, but, whilst Flint danced around in a fairly normal manner, Nick was pulling very…strained…faces and running his hands across his chest, which made him crack up, especially as most of the girls from Crawford drooled over the Warbler.

Keats was every bit as bad a dancer as he'd warned, but Kurt had to admit it was highly endearing, even though it meant ducking and dodging to avoid getting his eye poked out. Kurt had eventually decided that it was safer to hold Keats' hands so that no one in the vicinity ended up with a concussion. Still, he was fun to be with, and Kurt could almost not believe that he was here – in a school where to guys could sing a highly flirtatious duet together and no one batted an eyelid – dancing right next to his seemingly uncoordinated boyfriend.

However, despite Keats' arms deciding that they wanted to circle round his waste, it was genuinely very hard to keep his gaze from straying back to the two boys on stage who commanded everyone's attention with their undeniably sexy voices and dance moves. Kurt could tell that Nick was flirting heavily with Flint who was red faced from the dancing. Kurt could also have sworn that, once or twice during the song, Jeff and David burst out laughing for no real reason – or at least there was a random burst of static before their harmonies reappeared. Thad looked his normal, unflappable, self as he bobbed along by his microphone, but Jeff and David certainly found something amusing, and Flint kept rolling his eyes as Nick winked and smirked non-stop.

Hush, hush, the world is quiet

Kurt was continually surprised by what the Dalton boys could do with the Hall as Flint sung, both him and Nick making their way along the two gantries that ran along either side, finger over his lips.

Hush, hush, we both can't fight it

Nick leant over the railing, knowing smile on his face, as girls' hands reached up to try and touch him.

It's us that made this mess

Flint leaned back, opening his arms wide and gesturing to the crazy mass of students below them, who had certainly cranked the crazy up a notch since they'd started singing.

Why can't you understand?

Nick pulled a saddened face, eyes going wide and baleful like a puppy dog's as he slid down the railing, eyes locked with Flint's.

Whoa, I won't sleep tonight

As Flint got to the end of the line, they made a run back for the stage, and, whilst Flint drew up short, breathing deeply, Nick threw himself forward into a flip, David dodging out of the way at the last second, breaking out into an impressive dance routine as Flint hung to side of the stage, catching his breath.

I won't sleep tonight

Here we go again

Oh, oh, I want some more

Oh, oh, what are you waiting for?

Take a bite of my heart tonight

Nick had dragged Flint back to the front of the stage as they joined their voices together again. Keats caught hold of Kurt's left hand with his right and began to dance him from side to side like he'd done back in Kurt's room, which seemed to be the only way Keats could dance.

Oh, oh, I want some more

Oh, oh, what are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?

What are you waiting

Kurt joined in singing the song, giving his boyfriend a glare that told him not to ruin the song for Kurt by shouting out the lyrics out of tune. Keats' response to that was simply to press his lips against Kurt's, effectively silencing them both and offering a fair alternative to singing. He let go of Kurt's hand, sliding his own up Kurt's arm and neck until it came to rest against his cheek. Kurt let his free hand fall against Keats' upper arm, holding on loosely.

Here we go again, oh, oh

Say goodbye to my heart tonight

Oh, oh, I want some more

Oh, oh, what are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?

Say goodbye to my heart tonight

They broke apart when the song ended, and the hall erupted in a cheer for the two boys who stood, back to back with their arms folded, under a spotlight. Kurt, scarlet for several reasons, raised his hands above his head as he applauded them; their voices sounded incredible together and the performance had been quite something, and Keats, rolling his eyes, gave them a polite round of applause.

Kurt watched with some interest, allowing Keats' arms to go around his waist in a rather possessive manner, as Blaine was hoisted up onto the stage, and Nick and Flint took off their microphones, swapping them with Jeff and David. Nick then took the bass guitar whilst Flint dropped down at the drum kit. Blaine hooked up his own microphone whilst Thad was the only person that hadn't moved.

"Alright!" yelled David. "This is a tribute to the person that stopped QT from getting to number one!" An appreciative roar rose from the crowd, and Kurt, remembering what Chris had said they'd written about his family, joined in. A glance to his right told him that Keats was nodding along to David's words – how often did that happen? – and was clapping again.

"Here," Kurt jumped as Wes appeared by his side. "take a cup; blue is non-alcoholic, red is alcoholic." Kurt, rolling his eyes and knowing what would be performed next, took one blue and one red cups that were both half full. He handed the red one to Keats as Thad began to play the intro again.

Right, right turn off the lights

There were squawks around the hall as, not a long after Jeff had strutted forward, the lights around the hall blinked out, leaving only the spotlight over Jeff on.

We gonna lose our minds tonight

What's the dealeo?

Kurt hadn't heard him sing that much before – only his part in the play – but he was struck by, like Nick and Flint, how much of a stage presence he was; he was totally at ease up there as he pulled faces, completely comfortable and in control.

I love when it's all too much

5 a.m., turn the radio up

Where's the rock and roll?

David came forward as the lights came back on – most people sighed in relief and laughed – and he did a little dance before doing some rather over exaggerated air guitar.

Party crasher, panty snatcher

Call me up if you a gangster

Kurt face palmed as Blaine, who had just stared singing with a smile on his face, made a phone with his hand and pulled a very strange expression as he crossed his arms so that his hands hid the lower half of his face.

Don't be fancy, just get dancey

Why so serious?

Blaine did a little spin and then pulled a questioning face, arms wide, palms to the ceiling, and Kurt rolled his eyes at him for no real reason.

So raise your glass if you are wrong

In all the right ways

All my underdogs, we will never, never be

Anything but loud and nitty gritty, dirty little freaks

Everyone, which, unfortunately enough for Kurt, included Keats, burst into song along with them in time for the chorus, leaping up and down on the spot as they raised their cups into the air, some – like Keats – managing to spill the contents.

Won't you come on and come on, and

Raise your glass

Just come on and come and

Raise your glass

Jeff, David and Blaine leapt around on the stage, punching their arms into the air where they also held cups and encouraging the whole crowd to jump a little higher, raises their cups with a little more energy and sing even louder.

Kurt had to admit, as he took a break from leaping in the air to hydrate himself with some more fizzy drink, that it was probably a better performance than Animal because Nick and Flint's performance had been rather hot, but there had also been a slightly odd side to it – which might just have been because Kurt wasn't attracted to either boy, and Nick's facial expressions had been a bit over the top – whereas this just had the whole hall bouncing along, singing with them, and no annoying squealing.

David, Jeff and Blaine worked well together on the stage, fooling around a little bit whilst they sang and danced. Kurt recognised that the harmonies that were in both numbers were the kind of thing that the Warblers would do if they were singing it, which he thought was a nice touch to the performance. He also wondered whether they sang together often in a group because everything between them was so smooth and sleek, and Kurt just couldn't think when they had had the time to practise it all together.

Kurt also thought, as he punched his near-empty cup into the air, that if Dalton had to have a theme tune or anthem that this would be probably be quite a good one. From Kurt's point of view it basically summed up a lot of what Dalton was about; a place where people were accepted for their differences and where everyone was more than just a little bit of a freak, but that was never a bad thing. And, also, when were these boys anything but loud?

Oh shit, my glass is empty

That sucks

Kurt watched in amusement as Blaine upturned his cup, shaking it as nothing came out. He pulled a sad face and then chucked it aside, a wide grin breaking back across his face.

So if you're too school for cool

He fixed his tie, wiggling his neck a little bit, and grinned around at all of them, silently making the comment that they were all partying – out of term time – in their school uniform!

And you're treated like a fool

You could choose to let it go

We can always, we can always party on our own

Kurt was glad that Blaine seemed to be completely unaffected by what had happened with Sebastian, and he could also have sworn that he saw Blaine look right over at him and send him the smallest of winks.

So raise your, so raise your glass if you are wrong

Jeff and David ran forward, with grins on their faces, and lifted Blaine off the ground and onto their shoulders as they broke back out into the chorus. Blaine looked mildly unbalanced for a second, laughing over the sound system, before joining in singing;

In all the right ways

All my underdogs, we will never, never be

Anything but loud and nitty gritty, dirty little freaks

As Kurt danced with Keats he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a sight which made him smile; Trinity leaping up and down in contention with each other, Fred and Drew making weird jerking movements with their arms – like they were doing impressions of malfunctioning robots. Chris and Juri were holding hands and swinging their arms back and forth whilst Morrison spun Lottie around and around as they all laughed.

So raise your glass if you are wrong

In all the right ways

El and Cat were dancing side by side a little way off from them, moving their arms up and down in the air like they were attempting to rub it in some way, and giggling hysterically – possibly at themselves but also at their boyfriends.

All my underdogs, we will never, never be

Anything but loud and nitty gritty, dirty little freaks

Ros was swaying Bea from side to side next to Dom, whose wild, curly, hair was bouncing around crazily, had his hands under Al's armpits and was attempting to lift him off the ground.

Won't you come on and come on and

Raise your glass

Wes was standing behind his girlfriend, left arm around her waist as his right hand curled around her wrist and they pounded their arms into the air, and Daley bobbed around by them, casually rolling his arms around.

Just come on and come on and

Raise your glass

A little way over on his other side, Kurt had caught of sight of Vince, Stuart, Parker and Andy, who were all moving around rather self-consciously, occasionally prodding one of the others when things got too awkward for them.

Won't you come on and come on and

Raise your glass

And at the back of the hall by the sound and light control, headphones around his neck, Kurt caught sight of Sebastian, smiling genuinely up at Blaine as he nodded head along to the beat and waved his arm in the air.

Just come on and come and

Raise your glass for me!

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone finished with one arm in the air, either clutching a plastic cup or with their hand curled around an imaginary one, before they burst into wild, jubilant, cheering. Kurt laughed, feeling exhilarated and getting a definite buzz from the sugar, and collapsed a little against Keats.

"That's it from us!" said David as the group took a bow, and Kurt clapped and cheered them. There were loud "awws" from the crowd, but they began to take off their microphones, grinning and taking random bows before hopping down.

They were not deprived of music for long, though, because Katy Perry's Hot N Cold began to play. It wasn't quite the same when it came from a CD, and Kurt was more than happy to go over to Keats' friends with him.

"Having fun, Kurt?" asked Parker as he began to take a large camera out of a black bag. Kurt nodded, looking round at the sea of students.

"Yes! It's great! I see you made it after all!" Parker nodded, adjusting the lens on his camer as the other boys nodded and shared smiles.

"If there's one thing Dalton knows how to do," said Stuart, forced to raise his naturally soft voice a lot to be heard over the music. "is go crazy." Kurt snorted at that, nodding in agreement as Stuart pushed his glasses up his sweaty nose.

"Saw you were letting loose out there," said Vince, smirking evilly at Keats. "might have videoed a bit of it for posterity, you know?" Keats glared at his best friend whilst Kurt watched, along with the others, with a smile.

"And Kurt said I was pure evil," he muttered, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Andy will get rid of it for me." They all stared at him, frowning.

"Who says I want to get rid of it?" asked Andy, laughing slightly. Keats threw a glare in his direction, but didn't respond. Parker tuned to Kurt with an interested expression.

"Why did you say he was pure evil?" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"He threatened me with the Crawford girls if I didn't risk myself on the dance floor with him." The other four all burst out laughing as Kurt shook his head, and Keats rolled his eyes, running a hand through his wavy hair to try and neaten it, but simply succeeding in making it messier.

"Ah," said Vince, shaking his friend. "that is a wickedness to be proud of, Keats, effective blackmail." Keats flicked Vince off with a scowl whilst the others laughed at his expense. Glancing around, Kurt spotted Juri hanging around and looking entirely lost and, muttering that he would be back in a second, Kurt moved over to him.

"Juri," he said, touching his arm. "are you alright?" Juri leapt off the ground and then turned to Kurt with very wide eyes.

"Is it good to be baby-cute?" he asked, and Kurt stared at him, not entirely sure what that sentence meant.

"Come again?" he asked, arching his eyebrow. Juri wrung his hands in a fretful manner.

"Someone said I was cute like baby, is that good?" Kurt hid his laughter at that as he tried to think of something to say.

"Um, I don't know…I suppose so," then it occurred to him, going by his wide eyes and worried face, what had probably just happened. "Juri, did someone just ask you out?" Juri shrugged.

"I don't know!" he exclaimed, wind-milling his arms.

"Run for your life," said Drew, appearing out of nowhere and making them both leap in shock. "You do not want to go out with Lisa; she's mad! I dated for, like, two days! She's the clingiest thing that will ever exist – worse than limpets and leeches!" Kurt looked over and saw one of the cheerleaders – it was rather poor of him, but he had never learnt the names of ones he avoided – pushing her way through the crowd whilst staring at Juri with seductive eyes.

"Drew's right," he said, nodding and just knowing that was not the right kind of girl for Juri. "Run, Juri, that is definitely not a good thing!" Juri let out an "eep" of fear and dashed into the crowd. The boys watched him go and then looked each other, fighting their laughter. "That probably wasn't a good idea," said Kurt, slowly. "he's likely to be spread eagled on the floor being trampled on." Drew shrugged.

"It's meant to be Fred's job to look after him; keeps him away from things that could go boom!" Kurt snorted at that, looking around the hall.

"Where is he?" Drew shrugged again.

"We – me, Fred and Chris – spread out searching for him. They'll find him eventually." Kurt nodded, and then Drew frowned at him. "Say, why aren't you with Keats?" Kurt shrugged.

"I was, but I saw Juri standing there like a rabbit in the headlights, and I thought I better check up on him." There was a pause in which Drew nodded and then vanished. Kurt had only just managed to blink in surprise when Lisa had appeared before him. Kurt swore inside his head, making a mental note to torture Drew at a later date, and then turned to Lisa with a fake smile. "If you're looking for Juri, I'm afraid that he just went to…get a drink."

"Oh, I don't care where Juri is," Kurt blinked at, getting the feeling that that was not a good thing at all because her eyes were piercing into his, and he was tempted to simply flee back to Keats. However, that would be undignified, and she would probably just follow him.

"Kurt, can I have this dance?" Kurt almost leapt in surprise when his boyfriend appeared behind him, but Lisa's look of shifty annoyance had given him a split second warning. He turned around with grateful smile and nodded.

"Of course," he said. Keats took his hand and immediately pulled him into the crowd until they were completely hidden by bodies on all sides. Keats shot him a disapproving look.

"Are you trying to tell me anything, Kurt?" he asked, and Kurt glowered at him in response, not dignifying that with an answer. Keats chuckled. "I suppose it's my fault for asking out such a beautiful man." Kurt felt himself go scarlet at that, thankful for the relative darkness so that Keats could not see the extent of his blush. Instead he swallowed and arched an eyebrow;

"All of your poetry, and that was the best you could come up with?" Keats smiled at him a little wider.

"Sometimes the beauty is in the simplicity of it all; a long stream of affluent words may shimmer on the air and be like catnip to your aching ears so accustomed to abuse, but at times they may act like smoke to mask a truth or turn an unkindness into a cherished gift, nestled within the very recess of your heart." Keats fell still and pressed his hand over Kurt's beating heart. "The beat of your heart is simple; so must be the words that woo it."

Kurt was utterly lost for words. How could his response to that sound anything other than infantile? He knew that he was blushing heavily, but how could he not? Keats' turn of phrase would be enough to make anybody weak at the knees. He knew, not just how to shape and form words so that they meant more than just being a string of sounds, but also how to deliver it. He knew when to speak fluently, when to breathe, when to pause. He had a gift, not just with words, but of rhetoric too.

Eventually, after they'd stood still for a rather long whilst, and Kurt had still not found anything to say to Keats, Keats reached up with his other hand – his right was still pressed over Kurt's hand – and gently caressed Kurt's cheek, sending shivers down his spine. His grey eyes had an intensity hidden behind the calmness.

"You of all people, Kurt, should know that they we are not bound to simply talking through words." Kurt stared at him for one second longer; carefully detailing into his memory the way one strand of hair fell across his forehead and hung over his eye and the way that his tie was marginally crooked and his clothes were rumpled, before he stepped forward, almost closing the distance between them. Keats' breath was very warm against his skin.

"You're right; my actions can speak far louder than your words." Keats' mouth turned up into a smile that Kurt memorised, drawing out the moment until their lips met for as long as he possibly could. The way Keats' arm was trapped between their bodies, still pressed over Kurt's wildly beating heart, ought to have been uncomfortable, but Kurt couldn't care less. He could only care about the feel of the Keats' lips against his own, the way their noses brushed and how Keats' free hand ran all the way down to his waist like he was mapping it out.

---

Blaine's head felt a little bit fuzzy. The music was too loud and the lighting flickered far too much for his liking. He was halfway to turning it off when Thad caught his hand. His chaperone glared at him, telling him that it was unwise to risk death for messing with it, and he sighed. He sighed and pouted. Thad seized him by the shoulders and began to lead him back down towards the main space. Blaine picked up a red cup and tasted the beer, swallowing it down eagerly.

He felt utterly miserable. He was almost one hundred per cent sure that Sebastian was purposely ignoring him, which meant that he couldn't speak to him which meant they couldn't make up which meant that Blaine didn't get to kiss Sebastian at midnight as the fireworks exploded into the air; that wasn't fair!

He'd heard enough stories about himself when he got drunk to know that he went through stages, and he wasn't drunk yet – not really. He wanted to get into the tipsy phase. He wanted to be able flirt with random people, maybe he could hook up with someone and that would show Sebastian! Ha, how would Sebastian feel if Blaine kissed someone else! Then his lip trembled because maybe Sebastian wouldn't care at all, and he didn't want anyone else.

"Blaine, just drink slowly," said Thad in a very steady voice. Blaine shook his head, shooting him a glare and picking up another drink. Thad huffed, looking at him disapproval but didn't say anything more. Blaine knew that Thad abhorred alcohol, Blaine had not been surprised to find that out, but he didn't like the way he judged him like that. Thad wasn't one for judging, except when it came to alcohol and drugs.

Blaine knew that it was pointless trying to lose him; Thad could be so goddamn dogged it was unreal, and so he pushed his way into the crowd very slowly. He kept going, dodging between the girls that squealed at him, until he bumped into someone's midriff. He smiled cheerfully up at Dylan who was blinking down at him.

"Blaine," said Dylan, nodding, and Blaine suddenly found the boy in front of him hilarious. He really wanted to laugh at something, and Dylan was hilariously tall so that would do.

"You're awesome, Dyl, you know that?" Dylan rolled his eyes and looked down at him in an amused manner.

"How drunk are you, Blaine?" Blaine shook his head, frowning angrily around at the speakers that were pumping out loud music.

"Not really drunk…Just unhappy and a tiny, weeny, bit tipsy! I want to be happy!" He saw Dylan look over his head at Thad and roll his eyes.

"Alright, buddy, let's get you happy. What would make you happy?" Blaine glared up at him because what did he think would make him happy? Dylan rolled his eyes.

"Apart from Sebastian, Blaine," he said, and Blaine had no idea why – he only knew Dylan through fight club – but suddenly Dylan was his favourite person in the world. He supposed that was probably the alcohol influencing him. "how about you go and sing something?" Blaine shook his head because singing was not going to help. Then he saw a red cup and shot over to it.

"Blaine, please stop running off," said Thad as they appeared by his side. "Dylan, you don't have to bother," he added to the gigantic boy who shook his head, furiously.

"Nah, I'm not with anyone so I honestly don't mind." Blaine turned around in time to see Thad shot him a look that said he might regret that statement.

"You're so mean!" he said, pouting at Thad again. Thad titled his head to the side, giving him a patronising look. Blaine didn't really know what to say to that; Thad found it easy to make silence.

"Come on, Blaine, how about we just try and dance and forget about things." Blaine looked up at Dylan and tried to imagine dancing with the tall guy. Then he decided that it would be a very funny idea and funny was really, really, good.

"Let's dance!" he yelled, grabbing Dylan's hand. He heard Thad groan out loud whilst Dylan began to laugh at Blaine. Dylan spun him around easily, and Blaine saw the whole world blur before him. It made him laugh, though the spinning feeling in his head remained. Then he saw Thad's disapproving face, like he thought Blaine ought to be chasing down Sebastian and not dancing with Dylan, but why should he take Thad's advice.

"Blaine, I don't know what's up with you but getting drunk and trying to forget isn't going to help you?" he rolled his eyes because was everyone going to preach at him?

"Dylan…" he mumbled, somewhere between a resigned mutter and a groan.

"No, I'm serious, Blaine," he said, and Blaine looked up into his eyes. Dylan's eyes were quite serious, which was a bit odd because he knew that Dylan had been drinking and he normally smiled, so he let his smile fade and stared at him. "look, you're a good friend – very dear to me – and you've been ridiculously happy since you've been with Sebastian; chase him! We all know you're the only one he wants; hours of creepily staring at you in the gym has to count for something, right?"

Blaine wanted to say something back at him, but he could only think of laughing. Dylan spun him round a couple of times, and he felt really dizzy and kind of sick so he managed to come to a stop. He looked around for another drink, and Dylan, telling him that he disapproved, got them both one. He looked over at Thad who had his hands in his pockets and was staring at him. He took it with a grin.

"He didn't stare at me creepily," he denied, feeling stupid and very fuzzy headed. He wanted to become tipsy. He wanted to flirt. He wanted to do something stupid.

"You're kidding me, right?" exclaimed Dylan, grinning at Blaine like he was an idiot. Blaine got that look a lot so he simply looked around at Nick in a giggling group of girls, Flint moodily sipping from a blue cup, David with his arms around his girlfriend and Jeff pressing Cat into a wall. Thad was still glaring at Blaine.

"I'm always kidding," he said, lopsided grin in place. Dylan shook his head at him, expression saying that he was humouring him.

"Blaine, that guy would sit on a bench and watch you pound a bag or someone else three times a week! He would drool over you when you got your shirt off and flexed your muscles and sweat." He rolled his eyes, and Blaine hated him in that moment for being so casual about it all like it didn't really matter, but it mattered to Blaine because what if Blaine was just an object that Sebastian wanted.

"Let's go over to Flint," he said and dragged him over to Flint because he didn't want to think about Sebastian right now. He heard Dylan chuckle at him and obediently trailing him to Flint. Flint brightened at the sight of them.

"Hey guys, you spoken to Sebastian, Blaine?" Blaine glared at him because why did everyone just keeping talking about Sebastian? It wasn't like Blaine's whole existence rested on him being Sebastian's boyfriend.

"No!" he said, glaring at Flint. Flint held up his hands and then rubbed his back.

"Alright, buddy, just don't do anything stupid." Blaine smiled goofily at Flint.

"That's what I have Thad for," he said, unable to stop grinning. "Thad is my all-purpose sense-machine, and he's less annoying and sarcastic than Bastian." Flint rolled his eyes and looked over at Thad. Blaine twisted around to see that Thad's expression was one of resigned exasperation.

"Yesss, that appears to be my job," Blaine grinned at him, wonkily, and opened his arms, wrapping Thad in a tight embrace. He guessed that Thad was rolling his eyes, but he still got an affectionate pat on the back all the same.

"Come on, Blainey," said Flint, prising him off Thad because Blaine could hear Thad gasping for breath, but it was kind of fun to squeeze him because he was weirdly thin and muscly. "let's not kill your "all-purpose sense-machine", then what would you do?" Blaine laughed at that because Thad was really strong and he could easily make Blaine stop – Thad liked Blaine.

"I'd have to buy a new one; I could use you, Flint." Flint shook his head, rubbing Blaine's shoulder in amusement.

"I don't think I could agree to that, Blainey, I've got my work cut out keeping Nick and Jeff in line, and-" he broke off, looking round to see that Nick was still hidden in the middle of a group of girls who were all laughing uproariously. "-they're fine, but I think a couple more drinks that might not be the case; same to you, Blainey…"

"Why are you calling me that? I'm not a baby!" The other three all burst out laughing.

"No, you're right," said Dylan. "you're a drunk baby!" Blaine glared at him before breaking out into laughter along with the others. He was feeling much lighter and happier. He'd also had more to drink which was nice.

"Let's loosen Thad up, how does that sound?" Thad's eyes went wide as Blaine cheered because that sounded like a lot of fun. Flint and Dylan shared evil looks. They grabbed Thad's hands and pulled him into the crowd. Blaine grabbed his arm and began to jump and down. Dylan let go of Thad to watch, crossing his arms, as the sober Flint and the slightly-drunk Blaine attempt to get Thad to go crazy.

Blaine felt really giddy, and he shook Thad's shoulders. Thad was trying to fight them both, staying very tense and tight, but Flint was breaking down into laughter at Thad's pained expression, like he couldn't imagine a worse kind of torture than being made to dance in a way that wasn't in anyway artistic or choreographed. Blaine knew that Thad didn't like dancing with him because Blaine had a bad habit of kicking him in the shins; Blaine had managed to do that three times already which was kind of funny in a not-so-funny kind of way that was funny to him.

"Thad, you need to laugh some; it's making me sad!" Thad rolled his eyes, but managed a tiny smile before rolling his eyes and smiling properly at Blaine. Blaine began to laugh at that because it was funny. Everyone was kind of hilarious to Blaine. Dylan broke down into chuckles and pulled Flint away from the leaping up and down.

Blaine looked around and caught sight of Sebastian staring at them. He felt his smile freeze on his face, a feeling of horror cutting through the warm fuzziness that alcohol was bringing him. Sebastian was just staring at him, though. His eyes were fixed right on him like he was the most beautiful, amazing, thing that had ever existed.

"Blaine?" he heard Thad's concerned voice and immediately looked away from Sebastian because it was making him uncomfortable. He didn't know why. He let go of Thad and walked over, suddenly craving alcohol. He heard Thad trail him, dogged in his mission to not let Blaine do anything stupid, and he picked up the nearest red cup.

"Just go over and talk to him," said Flint, appearing by his shoulder. He knew that Dylan was probably hanging back with the presence of mind to not get involved too deeply. He shook his head, furiously, feeling sick.

"No," he said, resolutely. "I'm just an object." He choked out. He felt Flint's hand come to squeeze shoulder whilst Thad poked him, saying that, in the middle of a party, he was still ready to listen to Blaine's many problems. Flint held onto his shoulder a little bit longer. He heard Thad's breath hitch.

"Kurt was right," he said, though. "we want you – not because you look good or sing well – but because you're a nice person, through and through."

"Thad's right; even if you are just an object to him, which is wrong because he does love you, than you're not to us. We love you just the way that you are; you may have been battered and bruised, but that doesn't meant that you're just an object to be passed around and used – you're one of our best friends. Try and give Kurt his Christmas present, eh?" Blaine sniffed and took another drink.

"Alright," he said, looking for another drink because he did not want to hurt in the way that he was. He just needed to forget. He needed some peace and rest bite.

---

This is party is really fun. I've been dodging the Crawford girls whilst dancing with Keats. He may not be able to dance in another way then when his arms around my waist, but that doesn't matter much to me at all. He's had a little bit to drink, but he's not drunk at all – neither are his friends. I'm not sure who let Juri drink, but him and Trinity are running around screaming. Chris is in hysterics. Drew is now flirting with Lisa – I think he's too drunk to notice who it is – and Fred has been handcuffed to something when he nearly touched the controls. I don't want to know why Sebastian carries handcuffs around with him…

Kurt was wondering around backstage, getting some fresh air whilst Keats talked to his friends. The loud noise was giving him a mild headache, but he had assured the others that he simply needed a couple of minutes to get clear his head and inhale some air that wasn't incredibly stale and stank with alcohol and sweat.

He could hear some clattering coming from one of the green rooms and looked over to it. With a frown on his face, he made his way over. Peering in, he saw that Blaine was fiddling around with a CD player. Walking in, curiously, he cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"Blaine?" Blaine seemed to jump in shock and turned around in a slightly unsteady manner. Just from his gait; sloppy and loose, Kurt could tell that he was relatively drunk. His face lit up with a wonky, goofy, happy, smile.

"Kurt!" he exclaimed, raising his hand to wave at Kurt, stupid grin on his face. Looking around at the random mess of costumes, props and instrument cases, Kurt stepped further into the room as Blaine went back to fiddling with the CD player.

"Are you alright, Blaine?" he asked, not really sure which of the phases that had been described to him earlier Blaine was in. Blaine turned around to smile at him dopily again.

"Oh, I'm great, Kurt!" he slurred in a content manner. "You look great; I mean, you always look great, but now you look like super great, you know?" Kurt blinked, flushing a little bit at his compliment, even though it was hardly in a very flattering form.

"Thank you," he said, politely, because it was a little strange that Blaine was in here on his own.

"You've got a nice flush; you look pretty in pink." Kurt blinked, not really sure what that was meant to mean. He blinked again and shook his head.

"Um, thank you," he repeated, again. "are you sure that you're alright?" Blaine grinned at him, somehow it got even wider, and nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm wonderful, Kurt! Wonderful like you," Kurt guessed that he was somewhere in the tipsy-flirty-babbling stage of his drunkenness. He shuffled forwards and leant in, a conspiratorial smirk on his face. Kurt leant in too, confused but also a little amused at Blaine as well, and waited for him to reveal whatever his big secret was. "I'm running from Thad!" he said, nodding to himself with a grin. Kurt nodded, slowly, leaning backwards.

"Okay…" he searched for something to say, but Blaine got there first, dragging Kurt further into the middle of his room and stumbling over his own feet.

"I want to sing with you! I found the perfect song!" he said, turning back to the CD player. "I found this amazing duet, it's like wonderful – like you…" he frowned and then grinned again. "I'm repeating myself! You put up with that, that's cool!" Kurt shook his head, not really sure what to say.

"Right…what's the song?" Blaine turned back to him with his eyes alight with excitement and happiness.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside!" he exclaimed. Kurt blinked at him in shock, not really sure what to say, though his heart had started beating much faster. That was the perfect duet that he had found for the two of them. He thought back to what they'd told him about Blaine when he was drunk; he didn't really have any inhibitions – he'd asked Sebastian out – so did this mean anything or nothing? He swallowed.

"Are you sure, Blaine?" he asked. "Isn't that something you want to sing with Sebastian?" Blaine frowned at him like he wasn't sure what he was talking about. Then he grinned again, stepping forwards.

"I want to sing it with you," he breathed. "You have the perfect voice for it…Your voice is perfect." He sounded so utterly sincere that Kurt felt his heartbeat stop. His face heated up. He did not know what to say.

"Um…" he said, looking around the room and thinking that it would be impossible to turn Blaine down as he stared at him with wide, hopeful, eyes. "That sounds great!" Blaine beamed, dashing towards the CD player.

The intro filtered through the small speakers on the player. Kurt took a deep breath, trying to arrange his mind so that it was nice and logical; Blaine was drunk, he thought Kurt had a good voice and he wanted to sing with him – it probably hadn't occurred to him how flirty the duet was. Blaine turned to him expectantly, and he opened his mouth to start singing;

I really can't stay - But baby it's cold outside

I've got to go away - But baby it's cold outside

Kurt felt a smile – mildly flirtatious, but how could it not be given the song? – spread across his face, hands clasped before him and shoulders hunching into falsely conservative manner. Blaine was leaning against the table that CD player was on, pleading, baleful, puppy dog firmly in place somehow, despite being intoxicated, managing to look effortlessly casual.

This evening has been - I been hoping that you'd drop in

So very nice - I will hold your hands they're just like ice

Blaine made his way over to Kurt, gait slow and body moving side to side more than was normal, and Kurt drew back slightly, turning his face to his right as he continued to smile. He felt Blaine's hands, very warm compared to Kurt's, encase his. He let them stay like that for a second, not looking right into Blaine's eyes before pulling them away.

My mother will start to worry - Beautiful what's your hurry?

My father will be floor - Listen to the fireplace roar

He moved off down the room, taking long strides as his hands clasped behind his back, feeling a little bit giddy as he heard Blaine's slightly uneven footsteps follow him. He managed to not look over his shoulder at Blaine even though he desperately wanted to see the look on his face.

So really I'd better scurry - Beautiful please don't hurry

But maybe just half a drink more - Put some records on while I pour

He glanced around at precisely the wrong moment as he saw Blaine pout slightly, sticking out his bottom lip as his eyes went wide, pressing his hands together in a begging fashion and bending at the knees, wobbling just a little bit. He moved backwards so that they were side by side, wiggling his shoulders, and Blaine grinned dopily at him before spinning around Kurt so that their bodies almost touched.

The neighbours might faint - Baby it's bad out there

Say what's in this drink? - No cabs to be had out there

Blaine had stumbled slightly and was now leaning against what looked like a chest of drawers, and Kurt moved so that he perched on a stool, opposite, crossing one leg over the other and picking up a wine glass painted gold, examining the empty inside as he deliberately didn't meet Blaine's eyes – partly because of the song, and partly because he was sure he'd melt completely if he looked into Blaine's eyes.

I wish I knew how - Your eyes are like starlight now

To break this spell - I will take your hat your hair looks swell

He set it down and leaned back, bracing himself against the top of another stool and a box, as Blaine made a frame for Kurt's eyes with his hands, feeling himself blush slightly. He got to his feet, moving away, spinning once as he looked at Blaine who was following him, and came to rest against the back of a tatty sofa.

I ought to say "no, no sir" - Mind if I move in closer?

At least I'm gonna say that I tried - What's the sense in hurting my pride?

He squeezed his shoulders upwards, making himself smaller, as Blaine shuffled right next to him, pressing right up against him, almost losing his balance, but he regained it in time to stop himself from face-planting into the floor, a self-deprecating smile half showing up on his face.

I really can't stay - Baby don't hold out

Oh but it's cold outside - Baby it's cold outside

Kurt moved off again, finding a seat on the piano stool and crossing one leg over the other again, resting his hands on his knees. Blaine trailed him, almost tripping and falling several times. Each time he did that the aforementioned half-smile would appear on his face before he went back to looking pleading and desperate. He flipped up the piano lid and stared at the keys.

Kurt watched as Blaine almost played the out of tune piano along to the music, but he couldn't quite coordinate his fingers enough to get the notes right. He smiled at his attempts, though, and realised that the song was strangely accurate for Kurt's situation. He half wanted to leave because he was meant to be with Keats, but at the same time… He was with Blaine, who thought he was perfect and wonderful and wanted to sing with him. He looked at Kurt with want in his eyes, but… He was drunk, intoxicated, and Kurt had no way of knowing how much of this was an act or a desire set free by the presence of alcohol.

I've got to get home - But baby you'd freeze out there

Say, lend me a coat - It's up to your knees out there

Still, he all but forgot about it as he moved up and away, coming to stand by a harp and what looked like a tuba case, and Blaine came to face him. He just forgot about the slight slur in Blaine's voice and the way he was leaning against the tuba for support as he looked into Blaine's hazel eyes that shimmered with happiness and want.

You've really be grand - A thrill when you touch my hand

But don't you see - How can you do this thing to me?

He set off again, brushing Blaine's hand as they went past, feeling something tingle in his fingers and wondered whether Blaine had felt that too and whether he'd simply dismiss it as the effects of alcohol. He leant over the back of the other sofa that was in much better condition as he looked at Blaine whose whole body dropped as he looked at Kurt in wounded disbelief.

There's bound to be talk tomorrow - Think of my long sorrow

At least there will be plenty implied - If you got pneumonia and died

Blaine made his way over in a sloppy fashion, dropping his knees onto the sofa and, because Kurt was still leaning forward, that made them about level. Their faces were very – maybe too – close together, and Kurt could feel his heart beating faster because he could sworn that Blaine's eyes were watching his lips…It would take nothing to kiss him.

I really can't stay - Get over that hold out

But he didn't. He shook the idea from his mind – they were both in serious relationships – and moved round the sofa so that him and Blaine, who had picked himself off the cushions, were standing face to face.

Oh, baby it's cold outside - Oh but it's cold outside

Blaine's face spread back out into his dopey, goofy, grin, and he grabbed Kurt's hand, pulling them both down onto the sofa, hooking his arm through Kurt's as Kurt crossed his right leg over his left and Blaine did it the opposite way round so that they were shoulder to shoulder with their heads turned inwards.

The two of them giggled when the song ended, Blaine's more like drunken titters than anything else, but Kurt's were because his head was spinning. He had no idea what to make of the situation, but he still felt giddy – if a little sick at the thought of cheating on his boyfriend – and they kept laughing, as another track began to play, until the sound of clapping reached their ears.

Jerking his head round, Kurt saw Thad step into the room, still clapping; slowly enough for it to be a bit off, but not slow enough for it to be sarcastic, with a very even look on his face. Kurt felt colour swoop up his face at that, not sure what to make of his blank face and guarded eyes, and suddenly knew exactly what Keats had meant when he said that Thad was a silence – Kurt had the strongest desire to babble out excuses as to why he had been singing that even though he had no reason too; he just wanted the incredibly awkward and tense silence to end.

"Blaine, how many times have I told you not to run off?" Thad was rubbing his forehead as he stepped closer through the room, and Blaine began to giggle some more, looking like a naughty child.

"Did you have fun searching for me?" Blaine's arm had clamped around Kurt's shoulders, and Kurt felt slightly wary about the situation that he was in; like he might be about to be used in a giant game of tug of war.

"No," grunted out Thad, and he beckoned for Blaine to get up. "Kurt, I think your boyfriend is looking for you." Kurt swallowed slightly at the tone of his voice, suddenly feeling guilty about entertaining thoughts of kissing Blaine and knew that Thad had probably been lurking in the shadows for most of the song.

He got to his feet, detaching himself from Blaine with difficult and handing the suddenly clingy boy over to Thad, remembering what Nick had said about Blaine having a compulsive to desire to sing at some point once he'd started drinking; not your classic drunk-song, and Blaine's voice had only been slightly grated, and guessed that had just been that for Blaine.

He could hear Blaine whining to Thad as he walked away, making his way back into the main hall and stumbling straight into Keats. One look at his face told Kurt that he'd had a little bit more to drink because his facial expression had slackened considerably. Keats went to put an arm around Kurt's shoulders but missed completely, losing his balance, and Kurt caught him, quickly, before he hit the floor. Keats laughed.

"Sorry, Kurt…" he said, words mildly slurred. "My coordination 's shot!" Kurt rolled his eyes, not entirely surprised that that was the first thing to go.

"I would never have guessed," he commented, dryly. Keats squinted at him.

"You know," he said in a sort of mumble that Kurt could only just hear over the sound of P!NK being blasted at full volume. "you remind me of S'bastian…" Kurt felt his face twitch at that because he did not take that as a compliment.

"Great…" he muttered. Keats brandished his finger at him.

"See! Same humour…'s not very funny…" Kurt rolled his eyes as he heaved his boyfriend back towards Parker who was photographing the scenes of mayhem – people gambling with cups, rolling around on the floor, drunkenly shouting and making out – from his seat on an empty table.

"I should have guessed that you'd be a chatty drunk," Parker looked up and grinned at Keats and Kurt.

"He drunk a lot," he said, slowly. "Couldn't find you." Kurt nodded, and then did a double take because he could have sworn that Parker's hearing aids were off.

"Parker, can you hear me?" Parker, whose eyes had not left his face, grinned and shook his head.

"Too loud," he explained, gesturing around the room. "I read lips." Kurt nodded in understanding and deposited Keats into a chair. Keats ruffled up his wavy hair.

"Hey," Andy had come over, supporting Stuart who had his eyes scrunched up as he reached around blindly. Kurt raised an eyebrow and helped sit him on the table next to Parker. Parker curled his arms around his wrist, and Stuart gave him a weak smile.

"What happened?" asked Kurt in concern. Andy sighed.

"Someone took his glasses; they probably think it's funny, but Stuart is literally blind without them – the whole world is just a complete blur." Kurt looked back at the boy who had his other hand covering his eyes, clearly in distress.

"What should we do?" Andy shrugged, looking around the hall with a pained frown on his face before looking back at Parker.

"We just have to look around and see where they are; if you want to help, Kurt?" It was a little disconcerting for Andy to be talking to him whilst looking directly at Parker, but he nodded.

"Yeah, of course I do." Andy shot him a smile. Parker gestured with the hand that held onto his camera.

"I'll look over these two," They both nodded, and Andy patted Stuart's arm as he tried to block out the different noises that were clearly disconcerting him.

"We'll be quick," promised Andy, and Stuart nodded in a miserable fashion. Andy put his arm around Kurt's shoulder as Keats, after clearing his throat and attracting their attention, finally spoke again;

There once was a man with a key
Who wondered who he should be
So he pulled out a knife
And stabbed out at life
Then realised he should never be angry.

Everyone stared at him in shock as he laughed, not sure where that had come from or why he'd felt the need to recite it. Kurt glanced at Andy, asking whether that had really just happened. Andy shook his head, numbly, whilst Parker frowned heavily, looking back at the other two.

"Did I read that right? Did he just-"

"Recite a limerick? Yes, yes he did." Parker glanced at Stuart, who wasn't laughing and had a hand pressed to his forehead. "We should go," muttered Andy, shaking his head in despair. "he's a lost cause; don't let him drink anything." Parker gave him a mock-salute.

"Wait! Wait!" Kurt and Andy, who had just turned around, rolled their eyes and returned to looking at Keats. "That was the wrong one!" he exclaimed, looking worried. He cleared his throat, sitting up straight and taking a deep breath;

I once had a friend name Stuart Harmon
Who was unfortunately not a starman
He lost his glasses
And failed his classes
And so found work as a barman

Kurt rolled his eyes as Keats laughed at his own poetry, and Stuart let out a frustrated growl. Looking at Andy, who was pinching the bridge of his nose, he guessed that he had heard that particular limerick before.

"Let's just go," he called, and Kurt nodded, leaving as Keats began to recite yet another rhyme to Parker and Stuart.

Andy kept a relatively firm hold of Kurt's wrist as they made their way around the hall, through the pulsating bodies and giggling masses, for some reason that only became clear after they'd had several incidents of people leaping on them. Andy was very uncomfortable in large, loud, unpredictable crowds, if his pale face was anything to go by, so Kurt patted his back and gave him an encouraging smile.

It was about as hard to find the glasses as Kurt had anticipated. Andy looked like he would have a panic attack any second, but he refused to take a break until Stuart got his glasses back – he explained that he could do some damage to his eyes – which Kurt had to admit was very nice, but after Trinity had leapt on them, it took Andy a whole minute to stop yelling and another five to get his breathing under control.

Also, the clock was ticking ever closer to midnight, and the sober Seniors were beginning to herd people outside for the fireworks display so it was very hard to keep track of where they had looked and who they had searched. Anyone sober that they spoke to had agreed to keep an eye out for them, but no one had even seen them, and, as Kurt took in the trashed state of the hall when it had half emptied, he reckoned it would take a miracle to get them back to Stuart in a state that was anything less than mangled.

"This is hopeless!" exclaimed Andy, poking his toe through a mess of cups, tissues, streamers and confetti. Kurt turned to him with a frown, noting that he looked a lot better now that most people had gone outside.

"Doesn't he have a spare pair?" Andy shook his head, biting the inside of his lip.

"Well, he did…" he said, trailing off hesitantly, suddenly looking incredibly nervous. Kurt frowned, looking around.

"What is it?" Andy shook his head, absent-mindedly messing up his hair. He glanced around, gaze flicking over to where Parker and Stuart sat. Then Kurt frowned. "Where's Keats?"

"Behind you," came the hoarse reply, and Kurt spun around to see Keats smirking at them. "I take it your search has been fruitless." They nodded.

"Why doesn't Stuart have a spare pair of glasses?" he asked, and Keats' spine straightened. He glanced around.

"He had an argument with his father, and he slipped…Nothing too serious it happens all the time, but the glasses he had on his nose broke. We took it away to be fixed." Kurt felt a feeling of nausea rise up inside of him at that, looking over at Stuart again. Andy was nervously looking around, like he was scared they'd be overheard. Keats fixed a serious look upon Kurt. "You can't do anything about that sort of thing – they're just accidents." He took a deep breath.

"It happens all the time?" he repeated, and Keats nodded, grey eyes turning into storm clouds. Kurt found his eyes flitting back to Stuart as he never would have guessed just from looking at him, but something that Keats had said came floating back to him;

"…eighty per cent of the people at Dalton come from high pressurised kind of homes, where grades are everything, and basically nothing is good enough. That's the case for me, Andy, and Stuart."…

"Are you guys okay?" They all jumped, looking around wildly to see Daley, red hair very messy, staring at them in mild concern. Keats' face became a mask whilst Andy swallowed and straightened up. Kurt guessed that neither of them were comfortable in his presence, so said;

"Yes, we just need to find Stuart's glasses; they're his only pair, and someone took them." Daley looked around at Stuart, nodding in understanding, frowning.

"Do they have wire frames?" he asked, slowly. Kurt, sparing a half glance at Keats, nodded. Daley pulled a face. "I know where they are." Keats frowned, suspiciously, at him.

"Where?" Daley bit his bottom lip.

"They were rather mangled in one of the bin bags." Keats arched his eyebrow.

"You threw away someone's glasses?" he demanded. Kurt was definitely picking up on a very strange air around the three of them; Andy was looking away, Keats looked like he was biting down something and Daley looked mildly uncomfortable.

"No, I took them out. They're over there, but they're really destroyed." He beckoned them to follow him, and they trailed him over to the controls for the sound and lights. He picked up the wire frames that had been flattened out and the thick lenses were cracked. Keats rubbed his head and swallowed, heavily.

"Well, shit," muttered Andy. Daley looked around and then up at the clock.

"Yeah, well, five minutes, guys…you might want to head out." He shifted from foot to foot and walked away. Keats handed the mangled glasses to Andy.

"What do you think?" Andy stared at him in disbelief.

"I might be able to bend it around, but…he needs a new pair." Keats bit down on the inside of his bottom lip, and Kurt looked between them because he could sense the heaviness that hung between the two of them.

"Alright, I'll go into town tomorrow." Andy frowned up at him.

"Are you sure? Remember what happened the last time you paid for something for us." Keats waved it away.

"He'll go blind, Andy, and we need it done now, not in three weeks once Parker's parents have worked out that – if they can afford to send Parker to Dalton – they can afford a pair of fucking glasses." Andy pulled a face, testing the pliability of the frames.

"Alright, you two head out." Kurt frowned up at Keats as Andy wandered over to the other two. Keats let out a short huff before taking Kurt's hand and leading him towards the door to the grounds. Picking up their coats from the mound, Kurt tried to find something to say.

"I'm sorry, you had to find out about that tonight," said Keats in a soft voice as they stepped outside. Kurt shrugged, shaking his head.

"Has been happening for long?" Keats bit down on the inside of his lip, looking around the grounds in a pointed manner, posture scarily stiff.

"Since I came out," he replied, shortly. Kurt let out a soft sigh at that, understanding that Keats felt guilty about the situation.

"And you're sure that there's nothing you can?" Keats turned to Kurt with an eyebrow that was arched.

"When we made friends with Stuart, me and Vince were seven. His parents ran a bar, and they were struggling, but they share very similar views to my dad; he got the business back on their feet in return for doing whatever favours he needs doing…Now, remember how powerful my dad is? Nothing would happen, except it would get worse." Kurt bit down on the inside of his lip, feeling very angry as he watched Stuart come out of hall, destroyed glasses balanced on his nose and being supported between Andy and Parker.

Kurt felt himself smile, despite his feelings of anger, at the sight. Keats' friends were always a little edgy; they were nowhere near as affectionate or crazy as the Warblers and the others, but Kurt could see how much they cared about each other from the little things that they did; the way that Stuart looked completely calm about only being able to half see through a cracked lens because his friends held him up so he felt safe.

"Three minutes," said Keats, glancing down at his watch. Kurt smiled and scanned the crowds; he could see Blaine slumped against Thad as he stood next to Flint who had a firm grip on Nick. Jeff and Cat were both lying on the grass as David and El stood over them. Fred had an around Juri whilst Chris laughed with Bea and Ros whilst Drew slumped against him. Trinity were bouncing up and down uncontrollably, and Morrison had his arms wrapped Lottie and his chin rested on his shoulder. Vince had made his way, drunkenly, over to Keats' other friends. He couldn't see Wes anywhere, but he could just about make out Sebastian some distance away.

"Any New Year's resolutions?" he asked, turning to Keats. Keats pinched up his face in thought.

"I will do anything to make you happy," Kurt arched his eyebrow at that.

"Should I be flattered or insulted that you wouldn't do that already?" Keats laughed, briefly, before fixing Kurt with that same intense yet calm look.

"I mean, that I would anything to make you happy – I wouldn't just try my best, or do everything my power; I'd do anything." Kurt felt himself go a little bit red at that, looking down at that grass.

"That sounds more like a promise than a resolution, but I like it; I think you should keep it." Keats smiled.

"Yes, I will."

---

"Sebastian," Sebastian didn't jump as Daley crept up on him instead choosing to roll his eyes.

"Daley, what is it?" Daley glared at the back of his best friend's head.

"You should go find Blaine; let me handle this." Sebastian shook his head, glancing at the boys controlling the fireworks who nodded at him to say that it was all under control.

"No, I'm fine. Besides, it's not my fault that Blaine is an idiot who constantly overreacts." Daley glared at him again. Sebastian stared, calmly, back at him. Then he rolled his eyes. "Daley, I'll talk to him tomorrow when he isn't smashed." Daley let out a sigh, rubbing a hand across his forehead in an exasperated manner.

"Bastian, I'm not asking you to do this. I'm ordering you." Sebastian snorted.

"Right, and why do you think that I would listen to you?" Daley stared back at him, fighting to keep the cool expression on his face.

"Because you're too scared to lose him and too scared to hold onto him for fear of what will happen if you lose him; I know you could never cope, but neither could he – he's suffering." He snatched the microphone from Sebastian and checked his watch. "Just over a minute; go." Sebastian stared at him for all of five seconds before he dashed off. Daley watched him with a satisfied smirk, beginning the countdown.

"Fifty-nine!"

Sebastian hit the ground running, pushing his way through the crowds he looked left and right for a sign of Blaine, cursing the fact that he was not with Dylan anymore because he stood out a mile. He had no idea why he was even panicking so much; what the hell was Blaine going to do apart from mope about the fact that he didn't get a kiss from Sebastian?

"Forty-five!"

Except Sebastian knew Blaine far too well to think that he would just do that. Blaine's mind had a habit of tricking him into a downward spiral that destroyed any fragile sense of self-esteem that he had managed to built, and he would end up like the mess that he had been when he first arrived at Dalton; and it was Sebastian's job to stop that from happening, whether or not he was emotionally attached.

"Thirty!"

He spotted Ros and made a dash for her, pushing his way through the crowds because even if Blaine wasn't with her then she was relatively likely to know where he was. Fuck it all, if Sebastian did not know what to do about Blaine; he had this nasty habit of ending up in near-death situations, which just made Sebastian want to vomit, but he was stupid, they both were, and Sebastian couldn't have thought that ignoring Blaine's question was a good idea.

"Twenty!"

But Sebastian had beent trying to figure out if there was a way for him to make sure that Blaine did not end up in some body bag, whether by his own hand and or the hand of some psychopath, and the whole thing had been so pointless and ridiculous because they had been through this, but, Sebastian registered as he spotted Blaine and crashed to a halt in front of him, snatching his face between his hands, Blaine had every reason to doubt him.

"Ten!"

"Blaine, you have to listen to me-"

"Nine!"

"-this is very important!"

"Eight!"

"I haven't been with anyone-"

"Seven!"

"-since the Keats fiasco!"

"Six!"

"I've been waiting for you!"

"Five!"

"I'd live the rest of my life in celibacy-"

"Four!"

"-if it meant being with you!"

"Three!"

"And I'm sorry!"

"Two!"

"I can't lose you!"

"One!"

"I love you!"

The first fireworks exploded into the air with a deafening series of bangs, creating a shimmering mass of reds, blues and golds that shone in the night heavens as they fell to earth like a thousand shooting stars, fizzling into nothing.

Keats' intensely calm gaze was focused solely on Kurt, who could not look anywhere but into his grey eyes, as he pulled Kurt straight into his gentle embrace and kissed him on the lips.

Blaine, whose eyes had gone very wide, launched himself onto Sebastian, wrapping his arms around the taller boy and sending him stumbling backwards until he hit a wall.

Kurt broke away from Keats after three more loud bangs, focusing his eyes on the sky, face lightening up into a wide smile as tge sky became illuminated by the different colours; green, blue, red, yellow, exploding upwards, arching outwards. Three great roman candles shot into the sky, leaving behind their shimmering trail of white-gold sparks.

Kurt looked around, managing a small smile at the sight of Blaine and Sebastian against the school wall, Juri had been lifted up to sit on Chris and Fred's shoulders, eyes wide as his face glowed. Nick appeared to have grabbed Flint and was enthusiastically kissing him, seemingly unaware of the spectacle going on above their heads whilst Thad kept shooting interchanging looks between them and the fireworks display. Trinity were running around gleefully, waving their arms in the air as they screamed. Morrison and Lottie were sitting on the ground, his arms wrapped around her, whilst Drew lay next to them, hands in chin, staring up at the sky. Ros had her arm around Bea, tucking the smaller girl into her side as they laughed. Jeff and Cat had become a tangle of limbs on the floor, and David kept kissing El as she attempted to watch the fireworks.

I watch them soar in the night sky
I wonder if I could soar so high

I see them tumble down to earth
A place I have walked since birth

And as they fizz and whizz and bang
And in my heart I do feel a pang

For how can I watch this night sky
Without my lover nearby

For only in his warm embrace
And as his lips ghost across my face

May I see the fireworks shine
As long as I know he's mine

Kurt turned away from the fireworks, tearing his eyes from the glittering array that shimmered and shone above them and looked into Keats' eyes that had all the different sparks and stars reflected in them. He curved easy lips into an easy smile.

"Did you make that up just now?" he asked, softly, though no one around them would hear them as they "ohhed" and "ahhed" and laughed over the explosions. Keats gave him a soft smile.

"Have I not mentioned that you are my muse?" he asked, innocently, and Kurt blushed red as he rolled his eyes. "You're my Callipoe, my Erato and my Euterpe, all in one." Kurt stared straight back into Keats' grey eyes, utterly mesmerised and noted that the other sounds seemed to have faded into the background.

"Would it ruin the moment if I confessed that I didn't know who those people are?" he asked, and Keats seemed to consider it.

"Maybe it would be better if you just say nothing at all," Kurt had barely managed to nod before Keats' lips had sealed over his.

The fireworks exploded and crowned them all with a shower of golden sparks; hailing in the start of another year – giving the promise out that something good was to come.

---

Next Time- Budding Shoots: A new term begins at Dalton Academy, and, somewhere between chasing a coveted Warbler lead and orientating a new student, Kurt embarks on his first date with Keats whilst Blaine and Sebastian discover that just because they know everything about someone doesn't mean they have anything to talk about…