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

16. Budding Shoots

Dear readers,

I am so sorry that it took me this long to update; I really am. I just- I started writing, and I knew it would take ages, but I never pictured it would take this long, and then midway through I lost some of it, and I couldn't bring myself to re-write it so I put it off for, like, a month. Either way, I've just finished this, like, today, and given how long my chapters are I hope you can understand how long it takes to write this, and my brain is offcially dead from trying to edit 110 pages (I'm not even joking) so if there are any mistakes (especially, towards the end) than I seriously apologise. Also, I thought this chapter was going to be mainly focused on the dates, but my brain didn't seem to like that idea so...well...you'll see when you read the chapter.

On another note, we are now about halfway through the story; in my head there are about 31-32 chapters (including the epilgoue), and I was working out whether I was going to combine them, but then I lost some of the stuff so I haven't decided yet. I've written quite a bit of the ending chapters, and I have a clearer plan in my head than I do for these chapters, so (fingers crossed) it should be quicker when we get closer to the end, but I don't really know how true that statement is so please don't hold me to that. However, I reckon the chapters are probably going to be about this length so there is a lot left...a lot.

Either way, I have my GCSEs now (they literally start tomorrow) and so I won't be writing properly for a month and a half - I think - which means that I won't be updating, realistically, till July. I'm sorry about that. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Sopphires.

---

The Scholarship

Episode 16: Budding Shoots

The night wound up very quickly after the half-hour firework display came to an end. Then we all joined hands and sang – some people very drunkenly – 'Auld Lang Syne'. After that, Keats insisted on walking me back to Franklin where we would have spent some time kissing if not for the appearance of a very drunk/hyper Daniel and Juri, and, according to Chris, it was my job to get my roommate back into our room which cut short anymore romantic activities. I crashed out not long after getting Juri into bed when I felt incredibly fatigued.

Kurt woke up to the sound of crashing and banging. He peeled his eyes open, feeling fuzzy headed, and prised his face away from the pillow with some difficulty. Looking around, he saw that Juri was still passed out in his bed. Kurt groaned, rolling onto his front, and questioned the sanity of whoever was making banging noises at this time of the morning. Knowing that he would never get back to sleep, he threw off the covers and reached for his dressing gown. Yawning widely, he opened the door and saw that Daniel was bouncing up and down, smashing two pots together.

"Daniel, what the hell are you doing?" he demanded, groggily, and Daniel beamed at him, slamming the two pots together again.

"Good afternoon!" he said in a manner that was far too chipper for someone that had gotten smashed last night. Kurt rubbed a hand across his forehead, silently thankful that he hadn't drunk anything. "It's time for lunch!"

"Daniel…" grumbled Daley, the door next to Sebastian's room swinging open as his bird's nest of hair appeared. "You do realise that Sebastian will have you hung-drawn-and-quartered for this, right?" Daniel just grinned and smashed the pots together. Over his shoulder, he saw Braden and Chris put their fingers to their lips as they crept up on Daniel. Daniel grinned in an evil manner.

"Sebastian's not here!" he said in a delighted, sing-song, voice. "He went to assess the damage that we did to the hall!" Daley groaned as Daniel slammed the pots together again. Kurt pulled a pained face as several more doors swung open and angry heads poked out.

"Why aren't you hung over?" he demanded as Chris and Braden took several more steps forward, and Chris grabbed Daniel around the middle, lifting him off the ground, whilst Braden snatched the pots from his flailing arms.

"Noooo!" cried the boy, choosing not to reply to Kurt, and Thad, with eyes that weren't entirely open, stumbled from his and Blaine's room to relieve Chris of Daniel and threw the screaming, flailing, boy into one of the other rooms (Kurt guessed it was empty), slamming the door shut. Kurt scratched his head as everyone moved away like that was the most normal thing that had ever happened.

"What time is it?" demanded Chris, scrunching up his face and looking around. Kurt, who didn't have a watch on, shrugged as Daley, meandering over to them, yawned widely.

"I think it's about half one," he said, rubbing his eyes which had become watery after he'd yawned. Thad also rubbed his eyes, blinking in an owlish fashion. Daley snorted at the expression on his face.

"Are you going to let him out?" Thad shrugged, yawning widely. Chris rolled his eyes.

"We'll give him some time to calm down." Kurt looked between them all and got the impression that this was something that they did on a yearly basis. He shrugged and shook his head slightly because it was Dalton and Daniel – weird things were simply going to happen there.

Going back into his room, he saw that Juri was completely dead to the world and so took a leisurely shower, attempting to wash away the feeling of grogginess that was hanging over him. He could not imagine how those that had drunk were dealing with it because he felt like someone had bludgeoned him with a sledgehammer and left him with a mild concussion, and he was only tired, and hung over from an incredible sugar high.

He ended up spending an hour showering, moisturising and waiting for himself to feel clean again. He found that he did feel less like his skin was crawling, but he was hungry. He hadn't eaten in a very long time and so was dying for some proper food. He wanted something warm to fill him up, and then he wanted to rest. He wanted to close his eyes and to regain some of his lost energy.

Juri was still sleeping at half two, and Kurt pulled off Juri's shoes and tucked him up in bed, giving him a small smile before he left the room. He closed the door quietly and looked up and down the hallway. Letting out a sigh, he moved to the room that Daniel had been thrust into and opened the door. It was empty, which was unsurprising because it would be cruel to lock someone up for an hour.

Scratching his head and yawning, he made his way downstairs into the kitchen. One look in told him that his friends weren't there, and he was quickly directed to the dining room and was told to look for the most raucous table, which he could only assume meant that all his friends dealt with hangovers well. He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, though, because he wasn't entirely sure that he could deal with their level of hyperactivity when he was this tired.

The main building was relatively empty, only a couple of dozy students stumbling around in search of food or their friends. Kurt either gave them friendly greetings or pointed them in the direction of the dining room. Some people nodded in return or blinked in a tired fashion that said that they were too tired to comprehend what was going on.

When he reached the dining room one glance in told him exactly where his friends were. Simply looking at the table told him that this was not going to be a quiet meal as they were laughing, loudly, over their meals, but he found himself smiling at that because, whilst it would certainly help him for there to be quiet, he wasn't sure that he wanted it.

He got some soup from Stacey, who was smiling at him in a knowing manner despite the fact that he hadn't been drinking, and collected himself several rolls of bread before hurrying over to his friends' table and listened in to what Nick was saying as he sat down by Fred's shoulder.

"…man, I wish I could remember what had happened!" The others laughed as Nick shook his head, face screwed up in thought. "It's just a big blur!" He dropped his head into his hands as most of them continued to laugh whilst Flint pulled a face.

"Do you remember everything, Blaine?" asked Flint, diverting the conversation from Nick, who was smacking his forehead, and Blaine flushed scarlet.

"Um, no…" admitted Blaine, and Kurt looked over in interest because he had seen that Blaine and Sebastian made up, but obviously he did not know the details…and he was very interested in those.

"Though that didn't stop you from getting into bed with him," said Morrison, winking in a suggestive manner. Blaine groaned as Kurt choked on some of his bread roll. The others looked somewhere between shocked and amused.

"Please tell me that he didn't sleep with you!" begged Jeff. "because I will have to murder him for taking advantage of you whilst you're drunk and highly suggestible." Blaine went an even darker shade of crimson whilst the others laughed at his expense. Kurt was stuck somewhere between amused and filled with dread because, despite having helped Sebastian and Blaine's relationship, he would rather that Blaine was still a virgin.

"No," said Blaine in a very forceful tone of voice. "Sebastian would never do that to me…Besides, he would consider it a waste if we did it, and I didn't remember." There was a mildly awkward pause after that, everyone hiding smiles, even Kurt, because they were all picturing that conversation between Sebastian and Blaine.

"Okay…" said David, shuddering and rubbing a hand across his forehead. "What did Sebastian say?" There was a pause in which all the boys that had been sober – except Kurt – exchanged looks. Eventually, Flint broke out into a devilish grin and looked at Blaine with amusement in his eyes.

"Well, Sebastian came dashing over whilst Daley was doing the countdown, and he gave you this very heart-warming-"

"-sickeningly sweet-" imputed Fred, popping a sausage roll into his mouth, and Kurt blinked in surprise because he had thought that Fred had gotten drunk.

"You were sober?" he questioned, and every eye swivelled to him. Fred rolled his eyes.

"Um, yeah… I mean, I was drunk, but I kind of sobered up after I was handcuffed to something." There were chuckles and snorts, and Kurt could see Nick opening his mouth, clearly wanting to demand what had happened, but he was glared at by David, who clearly wanted to know what had happened between Sebastian and Blaine. Nick huffed and folded his arms whilst the rest of them laughed.

"-thank you, David; speech." Flint swallowed, clearing his throat, and sat up straight. Kurt could feel an easy smile curve onto his face as they all leaned in in anticipation. "He said, and I'm quoting; "Blaine, you have to listen to me this is very important! I haven't been with anyone since the Keats fiasco! I've been waiting for you! I'd live the rest of my life in celibacy if it meant being with you! And I'm sorry! I can't lose you! I love you!" and then you stared at him with wide eyes before leaping at him and kissing the living daylights out of him…I genuinely thought you'd get it on right there."

There were chokes and snorts after that, Kurt swallowing and trying to rid himself of the image that had been conjured up in his mind's eye. Blaine buried his head in his hands, letting them fall onto the table as he groaned very loudly. The rest laughed at his expense, but they also shared knowing looks that were fond and pleased at what Sebastian had said.

Kurt had to admit that he, himself, was torn between smiling in a dopey manner at how cute – and, yes, he was using that word to describe Sebastian – Sebastian could be, or allowing his mouth to twist into an unattractive shape because he was jealous of what Sebastian had said and was annoyed that he was such a strangely good boyfriend at times…Kurt supposed that he couldn't change the fact that Sebastian knew, and understood, Blaine far more than Kurt ever could or would.

"Do any of you know who I kissed?" demanded Nick, suddenly, breaking through the silence that had taken over the table as people ate and snorted at memories of last night. Kurt frowned, attempting to remember because he'd seen it but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, and then stopped as the others exchanged looks and then shook their heads.

"No…" said Flint, slowly, biting down on his lip, and Kurt blinked because he was sure that Flint had been right next to Nick, hadn't he?

"Damnit!" exclaimed Nick, slamming his hand down onto the table as he scowled. "I don't remember who it was, but it was the best kiss of my life!" Kurt blinked some more at that, looking at Nick in surprise whilst the others smothered smirks and laughter.

Then, suddenly and accompanied by a large scraping noise, Flint got up from the table. There was a pause in which he stared at the table, face and posture very tense, before he turned on his heel and marched from the hall. There was a shocked silence after that, Kurt's eyebrow raising in shock because he did not understand why Flint had just walked out.

"Who did he kiss?" asked Nick, curiously, and Kurt blinked a little bit more, memories slotting back together now that he was more awake, because hadn't Nick and Flint kissed each other? Yes, Nick had grabbed Flint and kissed him…Well that made sense; Nick had been so smashed that he'd grabbed the person nearest to him and kissed them, not realising that it was Flint and now they didn't want to tell him because that would be awkward, except Nick had called it the best kiss of his life…

"I better go," said Blaine, ignoring Nick's question like everyone else and sighing heavily as he pushed himself to his feet. "Don't do anything stupid," he added, and Kurt snorted at that along with a good many other boys.

"Who did he kiss?" whined Nick, once they'd watched Blaine walk out of the dining room, as he smashed his hand into the table, pouting at them in annoyance. Jeff shrugged, yawning.

"I don't know…I was preoccupied." There were more snorts and chuckles from the boys, and Kurt turned back to his soup, blowing at the liquid on his spoon because if Flint didn't want to tell Nick than Kurt wasn't going to interfere…after all, they were keeping his crush on Blaine secret.

"Imagine if it was Herman," said Nick, thoughtfully, and all the other boys choked on their food. Kurt coughed, raising a napkin to cover his mouth as he choked on a lump of chicken that had been in his soup because, after hearing the story of Blaine and Herman last year, the idea of someone who was sober doing that was ludicrous.

It seems that the Dalton boys are very good with dealing with hangovers – you wouldn't have guessed most of them got drunk last night if they hadn't been talking about what they couldn't remember. I'm not even remotely surprised though. I'm sure all it took was a couple of painkillers and Nick was right as rain…I have to admit the thought makes me both uneasy and relieved because I get the impression that they can take a hit and then get back up and keep going…Like I said, both reassuring and worrisome…

---

Blaine felt the chill the moment he stepped out into the grounds. He wished that he didn't have to follow Flint, he would rather eat breakfast, but someone had to follow him, and Blaine was best equipped to deal with the situation. However, he was also the one that had the worst headache; a throbbing sensation in his temples, because he had drunk more than he normally did in an attempt to get rid of his depression towards the fact that him and Sebastian had broken up…He wished he could remember Sebastian saying those words to him…He wished that he had those feelings that it would have conjured inside of him.

He sighed as he saw Flint, sitting with a straight back on the bench, brown hair a mess instead of being in its normal, combed over state. He vaguely wondered what it was about that bench – it had been there that Kurt had told him the truth of what Karofsky had done, and it been the same place that he'd taken Kurt after the incident with Charles – but sank down by Flint's side in silence all the same.

"How do you feel?" he asked, softly. Flint swallowed, shifting his weight around on the bench, before he let out a long sigh. Flint ran a hand through his hair and then shrugged. Blaine sat patiently by his side, though, because he knew that Flint would talk when he was ready.

"I don't know…I just- it- it hurts," he whispered, hands clenching into fists in an involuntary manner. Blaine swallowed, knowing how he felt, and waited for more. "It was okay…I knew he wouldn't remember it…I know that it happened on impulse, I was the nearest person there, and if I'd been sane I would have pushed him away and slapped him, but…" he shrugged, and Blaine patted him on the shoulder.

"You did what anyone would have done," he said, sympathetically, but he knew that it wouldn't help how Flint felt on the inside. Flint let out a sigh, shaking his head with a sneer curling at his lips.

"Right," he said, snorting. "I think we both know that I was too weak to say no." Blaine snorted loudly, rolling his eyes because he could sort of see why people got annoyed with him about bringing himself down because this was so infuriating.

"Flint!" he said, turning his friend roughly so that he was looking at him. His head was hung, but he eventually looked at Blaine with tired eyes, if only so that he could go back to moping once Blaine was done talking. "You're in love with him! You've been in love with for years – cut yourself some slack! If Sebastian had grabbed me then I would have done exactly the same thing!" Fling sighed, hanging his head and turning away.

"I guess…It just- I can't handle what he said, Blaine. Even if I reacted in a completely normal fashion and whatever, it doesn't change the fact that that's what he said – felt – and he'll never know." Blaine sighed, eyeing Flint and wondering whether it would be at all productive to say what he was thinking.

"You know," he began, hesitantly. "you could just tell him how you felt." Flint glared at him intensely in a manner that ought to be scary, but Flint had huge bags under his eyes and Sebastian was far more terrifying than him. Blaine huffed in annoyance and rubbed his hands together. "It's not such a dumb thing to do, look at me and Bastian. I asked him out, and I haven't been this happy in a long time."

"It's different," said Flint, shaking his head, firmly. "you and Sebastian…It was obvious that he liked you. I mean, you knew he did, even though you had your doubts, you just knew…everyone knew!" Blaine sighed, wanting to argue with him about that, but he knew that it was true; deep down Blaine had known that Sebastian liked him, but he had been too scared of rejection to ask.

"Well," he said, biting down on his lip and considering what Flint had just said. "it's not- you guys are, you know, different…He's not- he's not the same with you as he is with the rest of us…I think it's there." Flint let out an incredulous snort.

"No offence, Blaine, but I think that I might not take your advice on romance." Blaine pulled a face, not at all offended, and managed to smile after a little bit.

"Alright, but…why don't you just reveal yourself on Valentine's Day, or something?" Flint shook his head, emphatically, and Blaine sighed once more because he was very fast running out of suggestions or ideas to help Flint. "Look, what he said has to count for something, right? He didn't say that it was the best kiss of his life for nothing." Flint shook his head once more.

"He was smashed, Blaine. It wouldn't have been me, it would have been the chemicals running riot in his system." Blaine rolled his eyes, huffing and searching around for more proof.

"Well, you don't know that so let's just call a truce on that point." Flint snorted quite loudly, shaking his head at Blaine in what was clearly an amused fashion. He scowled at Flint for a moment before breaking out into a grin of his own. "I have two more arguments, and then you can go back to moping." Flint breathed out heavily and rolled his eyes.

"Alright, what?" Blaine grinned at him, trying to make Flint smile, and, eventually, he did. Beaming a little bit wider, Blaine took a deep breath and, with the air Mrs Daniels always adopted when she was announcing something she deemed important, opened his mouth to speak;

"For one, he was flirting with you like crazy during Animal – don't deny it because you were bright pink and rolling your eyes in that flustered manner – and, secondly, you're like Ron and Hermione." There was a pause in which Flint stared at him, blinking rapidly like he wasn't sure whether he had just heard what Blaine had said right before he let out a long groan.

"Blaine…" he said in a whiny voice, but Blaine just grinned at him, pleased with himself for thinking up the analogy.

"No, think about it; you two bicker all the time over nothing, you're smart and work obsessed, and he's an emotionally stunted prat that always puts his foot in his mouth." There was a pause in which Flint stared at him, clearly trying to find a way to disagree with what Blaine had just said.

"Alright, I'll give you that," he said, and Blaine smirked triumphantly. "but that is a terrible reason for me to ask him out because if, as you always claim, you are Harry that would make Sebastian Ginny…" Blaine pursed his lips together to stop himself from bursting out into laughter at the idea of Sebastian being Ginny. "So, unless you ship Drarry, I have a legitimate reason to ignore everything you just said." Blaine huffed, but fell into silence by Flint's side.

He had no idea what to say to Flint to cheer him up or make him feel better. He would have thought that Nick's words would have made things easier for Flint, but he could see that, from Flint's point of view, it had just made things a hell of a lot worse.

Flint assumed that it had been the alcohol in Nick's system that had made him say what he did – and Blaine had to admit that it must have played a part – and that had served only to strengthen the part of him that said that Nick would never love him the way that Flint loved him…or, even worse in Flint's mind, that he would never even find him attractive in the same way that Nick found all the people that he slept with attractive. Blaine personally thought that, if Flint wasn't on Nick's radar which was an if in his mind, his lack of interest came from the fact that they were really close – like brothers – and Blaine knew it would freak him out and confuse him if he suddenly realised that he'd fallen in love with someone he considered a brother. However, he got that Flint couldn't see it like that. All Flint saw was confirmation of the fact that no one would ever want him and that he was worthless and nothing.

He knew that Flint had really meant it when he'd sung The Only Exception because Flint's parent's divorce had been an absolute mess and had also showed him that his own parents didn't even love him. It had made him think that no one loved him – or could love him – and so he'd resolved to never fall in love because it would only quantify and add to his pain. He'd seen love wither and die like an unkempt houseplant, and he'd felt the double edged tip that was Cupid's arrow; to love but to be unloved in return, but after all that, he'd still managed to open up and accept – to himself – that he was in love with Nick because, at the end of the day and forever and always, Flint trusted and believed in Nick.

He heard Flint sniff by his side and put a hand on his shoulder in a gentle reassurance that Blaine was still there for him because Blaine had experienced a lot of what Flint was going through, but he had also gotten Sebastian and had the knowledge that people in his family still cared about him. He'd had his life threatened, yes, but it was happening to Flint by members of his own family.

He slid closer to Flint on the bench so that their legs were touching and put his left arm around his shoulders, pulling him against his chest and clenching onto Flint's right arm with his right hand. He wanted to make feel safe and grounded, and to let him know that Blaine was there for him no matter what.

"I'm just too scared that he'll say no, and our friendship will die," whispered Flint, raising a hand to wipe away the tears that had been dripping down his face.

"I know," said Blaine, smiling him and feeling a little bit choked up because he needed to talk to Sebastian. Also, looking at Flint was heart-breaking because he was in too deep and there was nothing that he could do about it. He didn't have the safety net that Blaine had about his relationship with Sebastian being special because with Nick it wasn't so obvious; Blaine knew it was different, all of their friends knew – well, maybe not Kurt – but Flint couldn't see it because it wasn't as blatant. It was the little things that Nick did, nearly always when Flint was too emotional to notice, that told them that. Flint had never really seen it the way the others had.

"I don't know what to do…what do I say to him?" Blaine shrugged, wondering what the other guys would have said to distract Nick from Flint's abrupt exit from the room.

"Just…lie," said Blaine, weakly, after he'd heaved a long sigh and thought it because there was really nothing else that Flint could do. "Say that you kissed…Michelle by accident, or something." Flint snorted at that, bursting out into laughter, and Blaine joined in, shaking at the idea of a sober, gay person kissing Michelle…actually, it was kind of hard to imagine anyone other than Nick doing it because Nick would sleep with anyone that he deemed "hot", regardless of how annoying they were.

"Right…" muttered Flint in a despondent manner, and Blaine couldn't blame him because who wanted to lie to the person they loved? Blaine sighed, chancing a look at him and wondering whether there was anything more that he could say to make him feel better. Unfortunately, nothing at all came to mind.

He bowed his head and stared at the grass with an angry frown, ignoring the intermittent sounds of people crunching across the frosty grounds. He chewed on the inside of his lip because his situation was so similar to what Blaine had been through with Sebastian, but he just couldn't think of anything that he could say that would help Flint deal with how he felt. It kind of hurt, to be honest, because what Kurt said was right; Flint would disregard his own asthma – that could be life threatening – just to make sure that Blaine was okay, and Blaine was completely unable to do anything to help him.

"It's alright, Blaine," said Flint, taking his hand and squeezing it, somehow knowing that Blaine was mentally beating himself for not being able to say, or do, anything more to help. Blaine rolled his eyes, sighing, and wished that Flint hadn't just said that. Somehow he felt really guilty about Flint offering Blaine comfort when Flint's heart was breaking.

"I'm sorry," he offered, still staring at the ground, now in shame at Flint focusing on Blaine when he ought to be thinking about him and Nick…though, Blaine supposed that he was a good distraction from that awful conundrum that Flint was caught in.

"It's fine…" There was a long silence as the crunching grass and the sound of breathing announced that someone was coming in their direction. "Hey Dylan," Blaine blinked and looked up at the towering figure that was obscuring the weak sunlight.

"Hey guys!" Blaine gave him a weak smile, vaguely wondering what Dylan was doing seeking them out when Blaine only really talked to him in fight club…Oh god, he really hoped that he hadn't done anything stupid last night.

"Err…" he began, feeling himself blush at the idea that he'd done something really dumb in regards to Dylan.

"It's fine," said Dylan, holding up a hand as he grinned down at him with eyes that sparkled with laughter. "you didn't do anything stupid…not to me, at least." Blaine nodded, taking in a relieved breath and glancing at Flint. Flint gave them all a pathetic attempt at a smile. Dylan shuffled his feet. "Um, Blaine, you should know that Sebastian is searching for you inside…Um, I think he wants to make out with you, but I can't be sure…it's, you know-"

"Sebastian," said Blaine, face lighting up in a grin because Sebastian was looking for him. Sebastian wanted him whether talk or kiss…God, Blaine felt light headed just thinking about it.

Then he looked Flint. He took in his slumped shoulders, his haggard expression and the way he looked like he might just topple over and collapse. He felt something drop down inside him – no, he couldn't go. He couldn't go and make up with Sebastian whilst one of his best friends sat outside in the freezing cold and felt utterly depressed and lonely.

"Thanks," he said, looking up at Dylan with a tense smile. "um…yeah…just- thanks for putting up with me last night, too." Dylan grinned, though he was eyeing Flint with a faint frown on his face.

"Hey, it's no problem," he said, holding up his hands. "like I said; you're my friend, and you should go and find Sebastian…I'll stay with Flint and make sure he doesn't face-plant into the grass and die of pneumonia." Blaine chuckled, glancing between the two of them to make sure that it was okay. Flint looked up at Dylan, eyes squinting a little bit before giving a firm nod.

"Yeah, it's fine…Go and cut down on the amount of moping that we do as a group." Blaine snorted and got to his feet. Dylan patted his shoulder and took Blaine's spot on the bench. Blaine looked once more between them, trying to work out how well they knew each other, before turning around and walking away, the most constrained of springs in his step.

The moment that he was out of sight of the bench, and firmly inside the warmth of Dalton Academy, he allowed an excited grin to spread across his face and a skip to fully enter his step. Looking around the relatively empty building, he decided that he might as well look for Sebastian in places that Sebastian would look for him in.

With his grin getting even wider, he turned on his heel and began to walk towards the music rooms. He knew that they would be all but empty because most people didn't recover from hangovers like his friends – on that note his headache was killing him – and so would avoid rooms that had the potential to make loud noise, which it made it even more likely for Sebastian to be there because Blaine was sure there was a limit to the amount of times Sebastian could make public declarations of his feelings for Blaine without murdering someone…likely Blaine.

His deductions turned out to be completely right because, when he made it to the music corridor, he could hear the sound of a lone piano tinkling instead of the normal battle of voices and instruments as they fought for the right to hear whether they were in tune or not. More than that, it was definitely coming from Warbler hall, which was the only room with its doors thrown wide open.

Standing in the doorway, he could see Sebastian sat at the piano, staring at the keys with a serious look on his face. Blaine smiled even wider – he wasn't sure how that was physically possible, but it was – because Sebastian was playing She Will Be Loved. He marvelled at Sebastian's ability to tell one person that he was looking for Blaine and then just go and sit in Warbler hall, playing the song that had said that he'd always love Blaine, with the knowledge that Blaine would immediately come to him. He had to know that, even if Blaine hadn't gotten Dylan's message, Blaine would be drawn in the moment that he heard the refrain.

"Come in, Blaine, it's creepy that you're just standing in the doorway." Blaine jumped, unable to understand how Sebastian had known he was there without looking up and seeing him. Blaine smiled, blushing at the way he kept playing and the knowing, amused, twinkle that was in his eye now that he'd raised his head and was looking at Blaine, and watched as Sebastian began to sing;

It's not always rainbows and butterflies

It's compromise it moves us along, yeah

My heart is full and my door's always open

You come anytime you want

Blaine made his way over to the piano, feeling so undeniably nervous because Sebastian was looking at him in this manner that said it didn't matter that they'd fought because he'd always be on Blaine's side – by Blaine's side – ready to help no matter what…because that was how Sebastian loved him; that was what was special; Sebastian cared more about Blaine – knowing that Blaine was safe, and loved, and protected – than he did about himself, and he would change for Blaine.

I don't mind spending everyday

Out on your corner in the pouring rain

Look for the girl with the broken smile

Ask if her she wants to stay awhile

And it hurt – it really hurt – and made tears well in Blaine's eyes as he came to rest against the piano because he could see that, yes, Sebastian would stand by him through thick and thin, and that he'd always fight for him and believe in him, but, also, that he would try and fix Blaine. Sebastian would never give up on him, and he would go out of his way to make sure that Blaine got whatever he needed. He would be whatever Blaine needed and more because that was how much Sebastian loved him. That was wonderful for him, but it hurt to think that Blaine could never do that back, and because he felt unworthy of that.

And she will be loved

And she will be loved…

Sebastian got to his feet, leaving his accompaniment, and cradled Blaine face in his hands, staring down into his eyes with an intensity that ought to be frightening, but it wasn't because the only fire burning in Sebastian's eyes was one of love, and Sebastian would never hurt Blaine because he loved Blaine. Blaine was loved by Sebastian – he was loved.

It made a tear squeeze out of the corner of Blaine's eye because everything was saved. He didn't need to have heard Sebastian's words last night to know that Sebastian wasn't going to force him into anything. Sebastian wiped it away, humming the tune under his breath, and Blaine felt his breath get trapped in his wind pipe because they were so close, and there was so much to say, but…Blaine didn't have to say anything at all.

"I think you should get surgery," said Sebastian, staring at Blaine calmly. Blaine blinked, taken aback by that statement. "Get your tear ducts removed," he clarified, and Blaine found himself rolling his eyes like natural, a smile quirking at the corner of his mouth for no reason. "No, I'm serious," continued Sebastian. "You cry too much – I mean, some of the time that's understandable, but now…? We should be passionately making out." Blaine rolled his eyes once more.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, and Sebastian rolled his eyes back at him. "Um…so…are we…?" Sebastian huffed and gave him that intense look.

"Listen to me, Blaine, this is very important; I love you – end of story. I was thinking about how to…to stop you from dying because," he hurried on before Blaine could say something. "I know that Holt is out to get you, but…I'm- I'm worried about you, here." Blaine blinked. Sebastian breathed out heavily and then took a second to think. "You're a danger to yourself, don't deny it, and I do not want to lose you – ever." Blaine swallowed. "I would do anything to stop you from dying."

Blaine wanted to say something to that, taking a couple of deep breaths because no one could ever disagree with what Sebastian had just said. He swallowed again, touched tears stinging his eyes because Sebastian knew that would do anything and that made him both wonderfully happy and dreadfully scared.

Before he could say anything, though, and no doubt ruining the moment by putting his foot in his mouth, Sebastian had leant down and kissed him. Sebastian wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling Blaine as close as he could to his body. Blaine relaxed into his arms, raising a hand to run it through Sebastian's smooth and soft and silky hair. His skin was so hot, burning, given that Blaine's fingers had been frozen outside, and Blaine closed his eyes, savouring his taste, his scent, his skin, his hair, his feeling…

---

Dalton is so weird. I mean, don't get me wrong I figured that out on my first day, but when I got back to my room Juri was wrapped up in a sleeping bag – still fast asleep I may add – that was padded with donuts…For one, that was completely disgusting because they were…you know… donuts, but each one a little iced message on it saying "Eat me, Juri"…I have no idea what to take from that so I put them in a Tupperware because you can't sleep in a sleeping bag with donuts; that's just disgusting. I'm not even sure how Juri is still asleep given that there is a lot of noise around, but I don't have the heart to wake him; he looks…adorable, just like a little kid…It's really very cute.

A quiet tapping against the door took Kurt's interest away from the Vogue magazine that he'd only read when he was filled with fury and was so now reading properly, and he got to his feet as the door swung open. Keats' head appeared around it, brown hair much messier than Kurt had seen it before, and Kurt quickly pulled a finger up to his lips, telling Keats to be quiet. Keats' grey eyes darted around the room and caught sight of Juri's passed out form. He nodded and then indicated that Kurt should come to him. Kurt glided, willingly, over to the door and closed it behind him once he'd stepped out into the hallway.

"So…" said Keats, leaning against the wall with a smile on his face. Kurt came to stand by him, leaning his left forearm against the wall so that his torso was directly facing Keats. The way that Keats was standing, legs stretched before him so that the first part of him touching the wall was his lower back, meant that Kurt stood over him, looking down into his grey eyes.

"How's your headache?" he asked, and Keats gave a mild shrug, the corner of his mouth lifting itself up into a smile that made Kurt smile a little bit.

"I can't complain…I see your room is…occupied," Kurt let out a faint snort, rolling his eyes because that sounded like Juri was in his room with his, um…well, non-existent girlfriend. "do you want to come over to mine?" Kurt blinked in surprise at that and had the sudden realisation that he had never been into any of the other houses.

"Yeah, I'd like that! I've never been in another house." Keats raised an eyebrow in mild surprise before giving him a grin.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" he questioned, taking Kurt's hand and beginning to lead him down the hallway. Kurt looked around, noting that the people around him didn't seem to be at all bothered by Keats and him, for which he was intensely glad. It seemed like the whole thing with them dating seemed to have calmed down considerably. He guessed that they must have finally got their heads around the fact that Kurt was happy and that Keats wouldn't hurt him.

"How is Stuart doing?" he asked once they'd made their way outside – accompanied by some wolf whistling from Trinity – and Keats made a huffing sound.

"He's crying in pain at the moment; hang over and severe pain behind the eyeballs don't mix together very well." Kurt scrunched up his face in sympathy, letting out a long sigh because he couldn't imagine what Stuart was going through – almost blind and in excruciating pain.

"Oh," he said in the end. Keats looked over at him, expression saying that he did not have to say anything to let them know that he was sympathetic towards the situation.

"I'm going to go and buy him a new pair of glasses tomorrow so it should be over soon." Kurt nodded once, tight smile appearing on his face. "He'll be fine; Andy is reading to him – Homer may not be everyone's first choice, but Stuart can recite parts of it line for line, and he likes nit-picking at what he perceives as inaccuracies." Keats rolled his eyes, and Kurt just smiled at him because – despite having befriended them relatively early on – he didn't really know much about them.

The two of them strolled across the grass, hand in hand, and Kurt barely felt the cold that nipped at his exposed skin because his focus was on listening to Keats explaining why, even though his parents hit him, Stuart pranked his parents. Kurt personally thought that it was dangerous to do so, but Keats explained that Stuart always did it in carefully planned conditions where he knew that his father wouldn't flip out and hit him. Keats did admit that it was risky, but Stuart felt the need to fight back somehow, and, not being the most physical of people, he found it easier to make a stand that way…and Kurt could not condemn that because he'd felt that need to; that was one of the reasons he'd chased Karofsky because the feeling of weakness had been too great and the fire of injustice burning too fiercely in him and so he'd struck out against it…but he also knew that it had dangerous consequences.

Keats held open the door to Harriot, whose foyer was similarly littered with coats, sports kit and dirty shoes, and then led Kurt into the common room. He saw instantly that Blaine and Sebastian had been right on Kurt's first day at Dalton; the common rooms were exactly the same, but the blue was not as nice as the shade of red in Franklin. It was a little bit quieter than in Franklin, and most people were lounging around, talking, laughing and playing games.

Keats led him straight up the stairs, after Kurt smiled at Drew, who was slumped in an armchair dressed in a tracksuit, and towards his room at the end of the hallway. Keats opened the door, and Kurt stepped in eagerly, burning with the desire to know more about his boyfriend and highly interested in what Keats' room looked like.

His first thought was that it was very tidy and ordered. On Keats' side of the room there were sticky notes and bits of paper dotted around the wall as well as books and excessive amounts of paper that were all stacked neatly – the ones, that is, that weren't in the four bookcases at the back of the room. His bed was made, and there were some books and pens littered on it. He had a couple of photos of his friends on his desk where his school books sat, surrounded by a multitude of pens. He could see that the paper on the wall had random phrases; some of which were his, but others Kurt recognised as being from works of fiction or quotations from somewhere else.

Vince's side of the room was a lot barer. He had all his school books stacked neatly on his desk with many different pencils cases lined up by them. There was an easel on his bed that had a half completed sketch of a building on it, complete with measurements and mathematics, and there was a pencil, rubber and ruler there. There were four photos stuck on his wall. Apart from that, there was nothing at all.

"It's very neat," he said, turning around to Keats. Keats rolled his eyes and moved to his bed, scooping up the junk that was on it and carefully putting the things down in precise places.

"You really do feel the need to make small talk, don't you?" said Keats, smirking slightly as he flopped down onto his bed, leaning back onto his hands as he looked up at Kurt. Kurt rolled his own eyes and sat down by his side.

"Is there a problem with that?" he asked, playful smile dancing on his lips. Keats leant in closer, his hot breath making Kurt's skin tingle.

"Words are precious, Kurt; use them carefully for they are both your greatest weapon and greatest defence." Kurt wanted to say something to that, but Keats had basically told him to shut up and not talk unless it was absolutely necessary. What was he meant to say to that? "I am going to have to change your belief that you must always talk." He whispered, looking highly amused, and Kurt rolled his eyes and made a huffing noise. Keats chuckled, leaning in swiftly and pressing his lips against Kurt's.

"That's going to get old one day," he said, once Keats had leant back a little bit, making Kurt follow him on instinct as he felt the ghost of Keats' kiss dancing on his lips. Keats shrugged in a careless manner, smirking, and Kurt wanted to say something more, but Keats grey eyes were so captivatingly calm that his mind had ground to a halt. Keats had that annoying effect on him.

"It may, but for now I rather like it." Kurt looked at Keats, smiling slightly, but was suddenly struck by a thought that came out of nowhere. Keats' head tilted to the side, noting the way that Kurt's face had fallen slack because all Kurt could think at the moment was something that Keats had said to him. "Kurt?" questioned Keats. Kurt let out a long sigh.

"It's nothing. I just- something you said to me last night came back…something that I didn't really like." He waited, silently, wondering whether Keats could remember the comparison that he'd made between him and Sebastian.

"Ah…" said Keats, pulling out a blank face that Kurt could not read. "I said that you were like Sebastian… I apologise, but you do know that that is not entirely a bad thing." Kurt felt his mouth twitch slightly because he knew that Sebastian was not a bad person – after all, Kurt could never forget that Sebastian had leapt into the action straight away, without question, to sort the situation with Charles out, and had pressed for Charles' expulsion – but, at the same time, he still did not like the comparison.

The main problem was that Keats had slept with Sebastian, and Kurt knew that he had at least liked the Warbler. He didn't like it because he disliked the fact that Keats was comparing him to the boy that he had a one night stand with and then got into a huge "fight" over – or something of the sort. That, and he'd already lost Blaine to Sebastian – it was strange, thinking that, as Blaine had never been his, but it felt like that – and he didn't want to lose Keats to him too.

"Kurt," pressed Keats, brushing his hand against Kurt's cheek in a manner that was meant to be both loving and to draw attention back to him. "I know that- look; I was drunk. I said stupid things. I recited limericks to Parker and Stuart for ages until I sobered up." Kurt sighed, nodding in agreement because Keats was a chatty drunk, but the fact that he'd been drinking meant that less thought was going into what he was saying, which made it more true.

"It's nothing, just…I know that you liked him." Keats' whole body tensed, the hand against his cheek suddenly feeling ice cold instead of the gentle caressing warmth that it had been. Keats swallowed, very slowly and deliberately, and then withdrew his hand. Kurt missed the touch, instantly, but he did not move to try and regain it, waiting for Keats to say what was on his mind.

"Sebastian and I," he began, training his grey eyes onto the ground so that he did not have to look at Kurt. Kurt wanted to take his slightly pointed chin and turn it so that Keats had to look into his eyes, but he didn't. He didn't because he wanted to hear the truth more than anything, and if Keats was more comfortable looking at the ground whilst he told him that then Kurt didn't particularly mind. "We weren't anything…that was the problem…I was nothing…I was a star in the sky, but I became a supernova, and I faded into nothing…Instead of over millions years like normal, it happened in one night. One stupid decision, one moment of weakness, and I faded…"

Kurt felt something inside him tear at those words. The certainty in his voice at that broke Kurt's heart, and he felt a burning hatred for Sebastian rise up inside him. He hated the way he took what he wanted from people and left them alone with nothing. He could understand Blaine's fear better, now, because this was the product of Sebastian's one night stands when feelings were involved. With Nick it had been fine because neither of them had had feelings for each other, but with Keats… Sebastian had taken advantage of Keats because he wanted sex with him. He had used his feelings against him to get what he wanted.

"Keats," he said, putting a hand on Keats shoulder whilst suppressing the urge to rip Sebastian's head from his neck regardless of Blaine's feelings for him. "look at me." Keats looked up at him, grey eyes remarkably calm considering the intense emotions that he had conveyed whilst speaking, and stared straight into his eyes. "You're not nothing…You're- you've not faded…Your talent is…incomparable! There's no one at Dalton who can write like you. Even Blaine admires your talent." Keats snorted, rolling his eyes slightly, but he seemed to have loosened up.

"I know, I have friends that told me that every day that I was brilliant, and they meant it because we don't throw our words around, but I remember that feeling every time I think about the way he ignored me, acted like it was nothing and threw me aside for Blaine." He spat Blaine's name, and Kurt felt himself, completely by instinct and accident, draw back slightly at that, feeling something sink down inside of him at the way that he'd said that because he was still angry, still bitter and it was simmering beneath the surface.

He took a couple of breaths as Keats' eyes dimmed and calmed down, his body slackened as he took in the way that Kurt had retracted from him in his moment of resentment. Kurt didn't know why, but his heart was hammering. He had seen Blaine angry before, but he wasn't as scary as Keats had been in the half second that his eyes had flashed, burning with a hot fire of jealousy, and the tone of voice; so furious and that deep rooted passion that had become twisted into something terrifying.

"I'm sorry," said Keats, holding up his hands and shuffling away from Kurt a little bit to give him some space to gather his thoughts. Kurt took some more deep breaths, not liking the way that Keats had distanced himself from him because of his anger. He didn't want Keats to run away from him because he cared for Keats so much, and he would take him with his imperfections because he made Kurt happy. Kurt was in pursuit of happiness – who wasn't? – and Keats fulfilled some of this.

"No," he said, putting his hands on his knees and fixing a serious look on Keats because Kurt was not going to be scared away. He knew that he didn't know everything – really anything – of what had happened between Keats, Sebastian and Blaine, but he knew that it was bad. He had the full knowledge that people had ended up in hospital. He knew that Thad had sustained terrible migraines, and something awful had happened to Flint, and he knew that Blaine wouldn't have hurt his close friends like that, so he knew that had to be Keats and his friends, but… Kurt wasn't afraid of Keats. He didn't want to be afraid of anything. He could see a kind, beautiful, talented boy, and he wasn't misguided – he just saw something that other people couldn't see.

"No what?" asked Keats, head tilting to the side slightly with the smallest hint of a smile on his lips, but Kurt couldn't be sure that that was real, or just the ghost of something that had died along with so many other things in their fight.

"You- you don't have to apologise; you were hurt, you were taken advantage of-"

"He didn't- it wasn't non-consensual!" Kurt held up his hands in a placating manner, a little surprised by Keats' instinctive desire to jump to Sebastian's defence…Then again, he supposed there was something different about hating someone because you had slept with them and them raping you. Kurt knew that Sebastian wouldn't cross that line.

"That's- that's not what I was implying…I'm just- I'm just saying that Sebastian knew about your feelings for him, right?" Keats paused, lips pursing, before nodding. "Well, I'm pretty sure that it would have made it easier for him to get you into bed as a result of that." Keats sighed, looking at the ground before nodding in a tired manner.

"That's true, but it was- he gave me the chance to back out, but I wanted it – wanted him – and so I didn't…" Kurt smiled at him in an understanding manner that was meant to tell him that Kurt was listening to what he had to say and not judging him. "Just…carry on." He said, giving him a smile. Kurt nodded in thanks, taking a second to think before inhaling a deep breath through his nose;

"Well, I was really just saying that, given what you went through, it's understandable that you feel angry at him…When you relieve emotions you expect them dim, but ones like that…" he broke off, thinking back to the locker rooms; Karofsky and Charles, and thought about all that he had felt – it made him feel tearful and afraid. "…they don't fade. It's still burning inside of you, and I understand." Keats smiled properly this time, lips curling upwards, and he slid back to Kurt's side, curling his fingers around Kurt's right palm. Kurt smiled down at their hands for a moment before placing his over the top, and Keats interlaced his fingers with Kurt's.

There was a moment of content silence. Kurt continued to smile down at their hands; pale fingers intertwined and a gentle pressure being exerted to let them get past whatever had just happened. Kurt knew that moments like the one they'd just had were important because Kurt needed Keats to be honest with him. He needed his boyfriend to be truthful and honest and open, and he was. For a brief moment, Kurt felt guilty because he was keeping a secret from Keats – one that Blaine knew about – but he shook the thought away because Keats was keeping far more from him.

"You are a beautiful person," murmured Keats. Kurt felt himself blush, but before he could say anything more Keats continued to speak; "The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."

The blush on Kurt's face was burning intensely, and he couldn't think what to say. With eyes that stung slightly, Kurt looked around the room, taking pleasure from Keats' soft, warm grip, and felt his gaze be captured by one of the post-it notes on the wall. His brow dipped ever so slightly as he read it, and then felt a smile spread across his face as he turned back to Keats.

"Cheat," he whispered, affectionately. Keats blinked, jerking himself away from his thoughtful trance. He shot Kurt a confused look, and Kurt nodded at the wall above Keats' head with an arched eyebrow. Keats twisted round, and Kurt heard him let out a sigh before he turned back to Kurt, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, you got me there," he said, not looking at all sheepish at using someone else's words instead of thinking of his own. "but I couldn't have put it any better myself. Those may be the words of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, but that doesn't mean it isn't the most apt description of you ever written." He pinned Kurt down with a quietly intense look. "Your suffering has made you the most beautiful person to grace Dalton's halls. Unlike Blaine you have not become blighted by mistrust, but, instead, you are accepting and open; you think for yourself and do not allow other people's conceptions and ideas cloud your own judgement. You and me only happened because you're beautiful – inside and out."

Kurt vaguely wondered how Keats – who, as far as Kurt knew, had never had a boyfriend – had become such a sweet talker, but he was more focused on what Keats had said. There was the same sincerity in his voice that Kurt had heard when he had read Keats' poems, and Kurt knew that he could never doubt what he'd said. He didn't know what to say because what did anyone say to that kind of thing? All he could do was blush – and ignore the jab at Blaine because Kurt knew that Blaine had been through far more than he had, and Kurt personally thought that being mistrustful of people was a rather minor reaction to all of that – and gape like a fish.

"You know," he said, finally, once he'd managed to get his brain into the correct gear and was being wound up a little by Keats' self-satisfied smile. "for someone who says that I talk too much, you talk far more than me." Keats let out a small laugh, amusement flickering across his face at that. He lifted his hands from Kurt's, and Kurt didn't miss the contact because they immediately came to rest at the base of Kurt's neck. Kurt smiled at him, wondering what Keats was about to do next.

"I apologise, I'm used to being the intellectual superior." Kurt let out an incredulous laugh at that, eyebrow arching to demand whether or not he was being serious. The part of his brain that was used to throwing out quips without thinking wanted to make a joke about Keats and Sebastian not working out because of their egos, but he stopped himself in time.

"I see," he said, trying to think of something else that was funny. "and you're sure that you don't have generous friends?" Keats smirked running his hands down Kurt's arms, hooking them eventually around Kurt's waist. It was hard to think straight whilst his hands were doing that; his sense of touch was going haywire and his brain was having a mini freak-out, and Keats' eyes were smiling so much, but he did manage to arch his eyebrow once more.

"That was uncalled for," said Keats in a very low voice, both in volume and pitch. "I was giving you a compliment!" Kurt continued to stare at him with one eyebrow raised.

"What did you say last night about affluent and shimmering words? If you want to tell me that I'm smart and brilliantly clever, which I obviously am, without feeling the repercussions then I would suggest saying something simple like "Kurt, you are a genius, and I fall woefully short of brain cells compared to you" or something of the sort." He smirked at his boyfriend in a supercilious manner. Keats rolled his eyes, giving him a withering look before reaching forward to press his lips to Kurt's.

Kurt didn't even feel surprised this time round, he was getting used to Keats kissing him randomly whilst they were talking, and instead chose to hook his arms around Keats' neck. Keats' arms were strong, tight and possessive around his waist, but he felt easy and relaxed in his grasp. Keats was undemanding against his lips, not wanting anything more than what Kurt was already giving to him.

Eventually, Keats leaned backwards, propping himself up on his elbows. Kurt went with him, making sure that he kept his lips glued to Keats' because the feeling that he was getting – the heat, the warmth – was too much for him to lose. He needed it because now that he'd had it once he wanted more, more, more.

Keats kicked off his own shoes and then somehow managed to slip off Kurt's boots. Kurt had shifted his position so that his hands were on the bedspread as opposed to around Keats' neck so that he had better balance. His upper body was pressed against Keats', slanting forwards so that he was half lying down on top of Keats. He knew that Keats had taken off their shoes – he still surprised how slickly he'd managed to do that – so that they could lie down without getting his sheets dirty. He had to smile at Keats' desire for things to be neat and clean.

Keats pulled a little way, breaking their contact and looking up into Kurt's eyes. Kurt swallowed, staring into Keats' burning grey eyes that were so oxymoronically calm and passionate. Kurt wanted to speak, to ask why Keats had stopped kissing him, but Keats had drawn away from him. He scooted up the bed and swung his legs onto the bed, lying them down on the other side of Kurt. He had propped himself up again on his elbows and was staring at Kurt with those eyes. Kurt felt his breath hitch.

"Kurt," said Keats, in a low voice that seemed to reverberate inside of Kurt; feeling the vibrations of his voice somewhere in him. Keats extended a hand to him. "are you alright?" Kurt blinked and then realised that Keats was checking to see whether Kurt was okay with this development of their physical relationship – or so Kurt assumed. He smiled at that, feeling something swell inside of him at the further proof that Keats was caring and loving – and, no doubt, there was the serious threat of bodily harm and murder from his dad and the other Dalton boys if he did anything that Kurt didn't want.

Kurt took Keats' hand with a smile because he knew that he didn't have to say anything to him. Keats had been right when he said that they weren't bound to talking simply with words, and his own response had been just as true. In some ways, Keats had a point about him talking too much; things seemed so much more poignant when they spoke without words; their relationship strengthened with each level of silent communication that they passed through.

Keats pulled him down so that he was bending right over at the waist and twisting ninety degrees at the hips so that his face was inches from Keats'. He could feel shivers running up and down his spine as their breathing became shallower. Slowly because there was no hurry at all, Kurt rested his free hand against the bed and swung his legs up so that he was lying down by Keats' side, his upper body at a strange angle so that he could almost kiss Keats. Together, they shifted so that Kurt was lying directly on top of Keats. He could feel himself trembling from some form of anticipation because he had never been this intimate with anyone. He never thought he would be in high school. Sometimes he never thought he'd find this at all. He could feel Keats' heart beat through their shrits, slightly out of sync with his own so that there was an overlap of the beating. Keats laced the fingers of Kurt's right and his left together as he raised his right to brush against Kurt's cheek. Kurt leant down, sinking his left arm into mattress. His lips met Keats'.

---

"Where's Flint?" demanded Nick, slumped at the dinner table and pouting in a manner that suggested that he didn't like his roommate vanishing into thin air. Blaine, who was still grinning like a lunatic after making up – and making out – with Sebastian, shrugged. Nick glared at him as David and Jeff stifled their laughter. Juri blinked in a dopey manner whilst Chris leant in to fill him in. Drew and Fred both inserted their forks into their mouths.

"I last saw him with Dylan, but that was several hours ago." Nick huffed and folded his arms, glaring at Blaine in a manner that said he was severely unhappy with him for that. "Look, I was rather distracted by making up with my boyfriend…He was happy with Dylan." Jeff frowned, ruffling up his blonde hair.

"Are they friends?" he asked, and Blaine shrugged because his mind was still caught up with Sebastian and the way the sofa in Warbler hall had moulded perfectly into the shape of his back…not to mention the moment when Luc had walked in on them entangled in each other's arms, Sebastian on top of Blaine and kissing him like he was dying with their jumpers lying, abandoned, next to the sofa. He was sure that he'd never, ever, live that down.

"Dunno," he muttered, stuffing some of the pasta into his mouth. David shrugged, and Jeff checked his watch in a rather paranoid manner.

"We won't be late," said David, casually, drinking some water. Jeff still looked rather nervous though. Blaine rolled his eyes as Nick shot his best friend a very withering look. "Morrison will send us a text if we do start to run late." Jeff swallowed, mussed his hair up and then shot everyone a grin that was so obviously fake that even Juri, whose eyes couldn't quite stay open because his way of dealing with hang over was just to want to sleep constantly, noticed that it was wrong.

"She won't break up with you!" exclaimed Drew, rolling his eyes in an exasperated manner. "I mean, she puts up with all your crazy…and I don't even think that you did anything particularly embarrassing last night." All eyes flickered to Chris and Fred. The two boys looked at each other and then shrugged, shaking their heads.

"It wasn't so bad; you were making out in the grass like crazy, but Blaine and Sebastian were far worse," said Chris, ruffling up his dark hair, as Fred let out a wide yawn and nodded in agreement. Blaine blushed because he was getting more and more humiliated as the day went on. The others chuckled at his expense, and Jeff looked marginally better at the news.

"Is Morrison with Lottie?" asked Nick, once silence had hung over for them for a long time. Blaine hadn't really been able to make conversation because his brain was still getting over the way Luc had roared with laughter as Blaine had fled the room, Sebastian pelting after him, and how they'd eventually resumed their previous activities in Sebastian's room, once they had made sure that no one would interrupt them, which was more for Blaine's benefit then Sebastian's because Sebastian wouldn't care.

"Yep, they're hanging out somewhere in the grounds of one of the schools…"catching up" on stuff." Nick shook his head.

"It's sad how I know that that's not in any way sexual." He was promptly kicked under the table by everyone who could. "I mean, they're getting married, and they haven't even done it!" Everyone attacked him at that, including Blaine, because their relationship was so sweet and adorable that it was frankly sacrilege to soil it with the idea of sex.

"Stop making everything about sex!" exclaimed Chris, throwing a meatball at Nick's head. Nick deflected it, sending it splatting into Juri's face. The Russian blinked once, clearly not sure what to make of the food flying into his face.

"Wow, I can't believe Kurt is allowing himself to walk around with hair like that." Blaine twisted around in his seat to see what Jeff was talking about. There, walking into the dining room together, were Keats and Kurt. Both of their hair was messy, but Keats' often looked like that once he'd run his hands through it enough, but Kurt's was normally nothing short of immaculate. Both of their clothes, too, had a distinctly rumpled look about them.

There was an intensely awkward pause at their table as Kurt sent them a small grin before sitting down with Vince and Parker. Blaine swallowed because Kurt hadn't even looked at them long enough to get a return of his smile. Nick let out a very quiet, half-hearted, wolf whistle. Blaine bit down on the inside of his lip, feeling highly uncomfortable at whatever he'd just seen, and spun around in his seat so that he was facing into the table again.

"You alright?" asked David, head tilting to the side and shooting him a questioning frown. Blaine nodded because he couldn't say what upset him about that sight, but he reckoned it was because he had thought that him and Kurt were becoming good friends, and it wasn't like he and Sebastian sat together all the time now that they were together.

"Yeah, just…thought we were better friends…kind of assumed that he'd be sitting with us." He shrugged in a fake nonchalant manner, and he looked at his plate, missing the weighted and significant looks that the others exchanged.

"Blaine, he is dating Keats. You and Sebastian are kind of weird in that respect, but it's understandable that you're not sitting together what with Daley being back now and all." Blaine swallowed once more, having already known that Sebastian and him would inevitably spend less time as a couple in public now that Daley was back at Dalton.

"I know, but…" he trailed off, shaking his head and shrugging. He couldn't say what it was, but something about last night had made him feel like he and Kurt had turned the corner onto something special. He guessed it was the way that Kurt had totally put up with him when he was drunk. Blaine wasn't sure; his recollection of the time was fuzzy, but he knew that he'd sung Baby It's Cold Outside with Kurt. He knew that Kurt had been far more restrained than Blaine, looking after him and stopping them from doing something stupid. He had enjoyed singing with him; it had felt natural and normal. He sighed, looking around at his friends, who were observing him with rather concerned expressions, and managed to give them some form of a smile.

"Things'll get easier when lessons are back," said Chris in a comforting manner. There were some groans from the others about him being insane for saying things would be "easier" when they had lessons, but Chris grinned at him. "Trust me, when you've fallen into a routine it will be easier for you to deal with Kurt being with Keats some of the time."

"Yeah…" he muttered in a noncommittal manner because he got the impression that he and Sebastian had the potential to drift apart with lessons and things.

"Oh there he is!" exclaimed Nick, projecting a glare onto Flint, who was wondering into the hall with Dylan and laughing. Flint didn't seem to notice or care about that as he bid the tall boy goodbye, watching him wonder over to a table occupied by Warwick, Alex, Trinity and some others that Blaine couldn't see properly, before walking over to them and sliding down.

"Hey guys! Aren't you two late for your triple date?" There were a series of loud groans at that, and Jeff scrambled for his phone in his haste to find the time and see if Morrison had texted him yet.

Kurt looked over at Blaine's table at the sound of raucous laughter. Flint seemed to have joined them since he came into the dining room, and it seemed that they were laughing at Jeff. Flint seemed to have said something by the rather bemused expression on his face, but the rest were laughing uproariously.

"Do you want to sit with them?" asked Keats, mildly, but Kurt got the distinct impression that he would be highly offended, and upset, if Kurt walked off to sit with Blaine.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "no, just…they're rather loud, but at least Juri's awake." Vince and Parker exchanged looks that apparently meant something because Keats rolled his eyes and snorted, but Kurt completely missed what was going on between them. He didn't particularly want to know.

"So, you two were busy, huh?" Vince waggled his eyebrows, and Parker choked on his food. Vince gave him a hearty whack on the back, and Parker gave them the thumbs up. Keats directed a rather icy glare onto his friends whilst Kurt went mildly pink.

"We had a very enlightening afternoon. How was your trip round town fan-girling over buildings?" Kurt arched his eyebrow, looking between the two boys and asking whether that was true, whilst both boys looked at each other and then nodded.

"It was "enlightening" as you might say," said Vince in a rather snide voice. "Parker got some rather interesting pictures."

"And Vince spent some more time attempting to draw a reconstruction of that church that burnt down."

"What the one that got rebuilt as housing or whatever?" Vince nodded, and Kurt looked between them all, not sure what this conversation was about and feeling strangely out of place. Keats raised an eyebrow and scrunched up his face in mild confusion. "My God, go draw something else! You must have "reconstructed" it six times by now." Vince shrugged.

"Whatever, we dropped in on Stuart and Andy briefly." Kurt looked up in interest at that, feeling himself stop picking at his food now that the conversation had taken a turn back onto something that he was interested in and wanted to know about.

"How is he?" he asked.

"Ready to murder Andy," said Parker, casually. "once he has his sight back." Keats snorted, almost choking on his own food as he laughed. Vince and Parker rolled their eyes and shared looks that were long suffering, and Kurt looked between them in the hope that someone would enlighten him as to what was going on.

"Stuart thinks that Andy is butchering Homer," explained Vince, yawning widely. "because Keats gave him the bad translation that he has." Kurt turned to him with a raised eyebrow. Keats let out a small snort before forcing his face to be straight.

"I knew that it would help Stuart take his mind off it better if he could yell about how what Andy was saying was wrong, and Andy doesn't know the Iliad or Odyssey well enough to know that he was reading crap versions…and by crap I mean that they were translated by Freshmen studying extra-curricular Ancient Greek." Kurt frowned, looking between the three boys in confusion.

"Isn't the translation the same?" he asked, and Keats shook his head, mouth smiling as his eyes shone with laughter.

"No, classical translations vary greatly from publication to publication. Given that the language is dead it's up to personal interpretation as to how it is worded; the turn of phrase varies greatly depending on how competent at the language and aware of the norms at the time it was written the translator is." Kurt nodded, not at all sure what to say because he knew nothing of Ancient Greek, and only had a very vague, sketchy, knowledge of what went on in the Iliad and Odyssey.

I have no idea why I feel so on edge around them. I'm so much closer to Keats than I have ever been before, and I know things about them that most people don't, but I feel as awkward as I did when I first came to Dalton…I don't suppose that it helps that the other guys are staring at me…

"Is he alright?" asked Juri, looking over at Kurt's tense posture with an expression of concern. Blaine glanced over, frown falling onto his face.

"I hope so," he muttered. They fell into silence, Blaine picking at his food in a rather moody manner, before Jeff's phone began to vibrate, dancing around on the table. He snatched it up and then clicked his neck as he spun around to glare at Morrison, who was standing in the door to the canteen with a grin on his face. He gave them a jaunty wave before sauntering out of sight.

"Have fun," said Chris in a kind voice.

"Get laid," added Nick, and Jeff kicked him. Blaine chortled into his food along with the others as David dragged Jeff from the room by the scruff of his collar whilst the blonde cursed his best friend with death threats.

"Stop being crude," said Flint in a disapproving manner. Blaine looked over at him, eyes scanning his posture and face to make sure that he was okay. Flint caught him doing so and gave him a little wink. Nick pouted, huffing some more, and the others rolled their eyes at him.

"Where did you go?" Flint opened his mouth, but Nick held up a hand to stop him from saying anything. "No, don't answer that; why did you go?" Nick, because he was so busy staring at Flint's rather blank face, didn't notice every other person at the table stiffen. Blaine supposed that they must have been filled in by Chris, or something.

"I disliked you bitching about how you couldn't remember who you kissed because that was your fault and least you got kissed by somebody! It may or may not have escaped your notice, but no one has ever liked me like that – even Fred has people fawning over him, and he just blows stuff up, which doesn't really take any skill; no offense, Fred." Fred waved it away, looking highly amused. Nick blinked at him, completely taken aback by Flint's outburst. Blaine bit down on the inside of his lip, looking down at his plate because, for one, he was having to fight the urge to point at that Flint had been kissed, and, secondly, he hated Flint talking about himself like that because Blaine knew that he really believed that no one – let alone Nick – would ever like him.

"Flint," said Nick, frowning and giving his roommate a disapproving look. "you shouldn't think like that; you're, very, very hot." There was a moment of silence in which Blaine quickly lifted up his cup so that he could hide his smile. There was a round of choking from the others. Flint blinked in shock.

"I beg your pardon?" he choked out, and Blaine spat some of his water back into his cup because he couldn't swallow without some of it going down the wrong way. Nick gave him, and the rest of the table who were all busying themselves with their food and drink with smirks, a confused frown.

"Oh come on, I came onto you Freshman year." There was a highly awkward pause. Blaine let the rest of his water dribble over his bottom lip and back into the cup before setting it down, wiping his mouth and trying to get his mouth to go back into a straight line. Nick blinked. "I- I didn't come onto you?" he asked, sounding frankly aghast at the idea that he hadn't flirted with one of his best friends. Flint shook his head. Nick blinked once more. "Oh, I'm sorry…that's awkward…you know, I could definitely get you laid if you wanted to."

Blaine rubbed a hand over his face, amazed by the intensely awkward atmosphere that Nick had managed to generate. He could tell that everyone else at the table was either highly uncomfortable or restraining the urge to burst out laughing at the situation. One glance at Flint told Blaine that he was trying very hard not to bolt from the room like he had this morning because he, like everyone else, could not tell whether Nick was suggesting that Flint hook up with him or that Flint should hook up with people that Nick would have introduced him to.

"Nick," said Drew, after Flint had opened his mouth and found that he couldn't get anything to come out and so closed it once more. "unlike you, the rest of us aren't obsessed with sex."

"Please stop mentioning it," said Juri, yawning and almost poking himself in the eye with his fork. Chris batted his hand away so that he didn't blind himself. "it makes me uncomfortable." Nick opened his mouth, clearly about to comment on that fact, but he was glared down, in a protective manner, by Chris, Fred and Drew. Nick huffed once more. Blaine saw Flint deflate in relief.

"What did you and Dylan talk about?" asked Drew. "'Cause I didn't think that you and him knew each other." Flint shrugged in a casual manner, glancing nervously at Blaine for a second. Blaine frowned, confused, until he clocked onto what Flint was silently communicating to him.

"No, we didn't really know each other – we talked occasionally in lessons or if we bumped into each other in the gym, but…" Flint sighed, poking his fork into the pasta salad that had been picked up for him. "after…you-know-what he talked to me; apologised, even though it was Keats' fault, and said he was there if I never needed a friendly ear…We chat every once in a while."

Blaine breathed out through his nose, shooting a look at Keats, who looked comfortable and was chatting to a far more relaxed looking Kurt, and tried to understand how he could look like that after what he'd done. He bit down on the inside of his lip because he wasn't going to start a fight and turned back to the others at the table. He knew that Flint had accidentally dropped a blue mood onto them, and he looked apologetic, but Blaine didn't mind. It wasn't nice to think about any of what had happened, but they had to get used to it. Flint heaved a sigh and began to explain that he and Dylan had talked about their families, but Blaine wasn't paying attention because he knew that he was right; they needed to get used to Keats. For Kurt's sake, they had to become accustomed to the memories, and presence, of Keats.

---

The second of January passed by very quickly. I discovered that the donuts was something that Trinity had done – what a surprise – because they thought that Juri would become more awake, and therefore get over his hangover faster, if he had sugar in his system. I have to admit that it's sort of thoughtful and nice, but, at the same time, I was revolted to find out that Juri had eaten them all. I didn't see Keats at all, but I hung out with my other friends – I'm still getting used to Morrison and Daley being around like it's completely normal. I don't know where that day or the next went, but it's suddenly the first day of term!

Kurt stretched, yawning, and looked around at his friends that were slouching over their food at the breakfast table. From what Kurt could understand, everyone was up earlier on the first day because students that hadn't made it back for New Year – and day students – were arriving back on campus, and they were up early to greet them. Juri had awoken Kurt far earlier than normal because he wanted to see some boys from Orchestra, or one of his clubs, and Kurt had just decided to get up with him, once he'd realised that he'd never fall back asleep.

It was highly disconcerting because the sky was dark, and Kurt would rather be tucked up in bed, fast asleep under his warm duvet, but there was an incredible buzz in Franklin that the term was starting. He couldn't work out whether they were excited for lessons or just to see their friends again and would be moaning about homework that evening and wishing they were back on holiday, but he would probably bet on the latter.

"Oh God," said Daley, yawning widely and mussing his wispy hair up so that it stuck up at random angles as he stared down at his phone. "QT have alerted the press that today is the first day of the Dalton term, and that it's Cam's first day." Kurt, who had just about got used to the fact that an Emmy award winning and Golden Globe nominated actor was eating breakfast with him, looked around to take in everyone else's reactions; they all groaned.

"You better run and hide," said Sebastian, breezing into the kitchen and looking remarkably unfazed by the idea of the paparazzi descending on Dalton. Daley swallowed, looking mildly nervous, and Blaine reached over to pat his arm. "and I'll make sure that QT get punished; I'm still pushing for expulsion." Kurt blinked, eyebrow arching a little, even though Morrison had said that if he leaked anything to the press he would be expelled.

"They could be," said Chris, correctly interpreting the reason for the arched eyebrow. "they're not meant to say or do things like that, but it's very hard to come up with any concrete evidence; they're stupid, but not that stupid."

"You'll see," said Blaine, giving him a grimace. Kurt sucked in a breath through his nose, not able to say anything more, and looked around the common room. Most people were slumped in armchairs munching on toast or fruit, though there were a few that were sloppily eating bowls of cereal and trying to not dribble milk on themselves or the plush sofas.

"Kurt," said Sebastian, tucking away his phone and looking at him with a mild frown. Kurt blinked, frowning a little bit in return, but gave him a steady look that said he was listening attentively. "Hammonds wants you and Flint in his office at eight." Kurt felt himself stiffen in alarm; he couldn't possibly have done something wrong, could he? He and Flint hadn't spent any time alone in the past couple of days except when they'd talked about Kurt and Blaine together…

"What?" he demanded, sure that he must have misheard. Sebastian rolled his eyes, probably at Kurt's concerned features, and heaved a huge sigh.

"You're not in trouble," he said, slowly. "Hammonds wants you and Flint to orientate a new student; he's a Sophomore, I think." Kurt blinked, a little surprised that he had been asked to look after a new student when he was so new himself, but nodded all the same.

"Oh, okay," he said, looking over at Blaine for some reason. He wasn't sure, but he thought he was looking for some help and advice over what he was meant to do.

"I'm going to man the gates," said Sebastian. "I'll have the other prefects with me; I'll need them if QT have got the press out there, so default anything else to Wes." He pushed himself away from the counter, ruffled up Blaine's hair and walked out of the room. Kurt frowned in confusion, a little bit bemused by Sebastian's choice to mess with Blaine's hair instead of kissing him.

"It'll be fine," said Blaine, sipping some coffee. "though I have to admit that I feel like I really messed up with you." Kurt shook his head, waving it away because he didn't want Blaine bringing himself down about that; Kurt was fine and settled in Dalton, and Blaine needed to get over it and stop blaming himself.

"Blaine, that's in the past; I'm over it, and I never would have noticed if you didn't keep bringing it up!" Blaine gave him a sheepish smile and then ran his hand through his slicked down hair.

"Well, given that you and Flint are orientating him, I'd say that he's probably gay, and he may have been bullied…I'm not sure what house he's in, but if he's in this one then you're meant to keep an eye on him. Otherwise, you just need to talk to him about his old school and make sure that he's okay and safe and all that – if anything comes up that really worries you then take it to Sebastian, and he'll deal with it." Kurt nodded, taking note of what he'd said because he suddenly felt intensely nervous at the idea of being partially responsible for someone.

"You vill be fine," said Juri, blinking and almost knocking over his cup. Chris nodded, rubbing his eyes, and smiled at Kurt in an encouraging manner.

"You and Flint are both easy people to talk to; I'm sure that you'll find that you're just going to be showing a new friend around the school." Kurt nodded once more, feeling reassured by the answer as Daley moved off to talk to some other Seniors.

"Do you think that we have assembly?" Kurt looked up in mild surprise as Dom appeared out of nowhere, frown on his face. Blaine nodded, and Dom pulled a face and moved off, but Kurt was interested; he had only heard of them having a final assembly at the end of the year, and, given that there hadn't been one at the end of last term, he had assumed that they were rare.

"Do you always have an assembly at the start of term?" There were nods from the other boys as Thad came downstairs, eyes barely open and slumped down next to Blaine, grabbing the closest thing to him – an empty packet of cereal.

"Yeah…" said Blaine, rolling his eyes, as he swapped the cereal box in Thad's hand for one that had food inside of it. "We only tend to have four a year, but if anything huge happens-"

"-like the fight-" inputted Chris, and Kurt found that he was strangely indifferent to the mention of the fight that had happened in Freshman year because he had worked out that the only way to deal with it was by accepting that it had happened and that no one wanted to tell him for now. Blaine shot him a mild glare, but nodded.

"-yeah, like the fight, than he calls one…but normally it's just first day of each term and last day of the year…" he sighed, softly. "They tend to be quite serious," he added. "but it's not boring like the Carol Service was." Kurt nodded, checking the time in a fashion that was a little more paranoid than normal, but saw that it was only seven-thirty.

"Assembly will be at nine," added Chris. "you and Flint will probably take the new guy to his room so that he can dump his stuff and get into uniform depending on whether he has it on or not, and then you'll need to take him to assembly in the hall." Kurt nodded, smiling at him in thanks because he did need those little pointers on what to do because he really hadn't been at Dalton very long.

"Thanks," he said, and Thad grumbled something in, what sounded like, French and then looked at the time, shooting Blaine a frown. Blaine rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"That's your own fault for getting back so late." Thad scowled in an annoyed manner, shooting Blaine a pointed look, before turning back to his food and scooping it up on a spoon that shook around in the air in a manner that suggested Thad couldn't hold his hand steady in his tiredness.

"I am looking forward to meeting Cam," said Juri, ignoring Blaine and Thad in a manner that suggested whatever weirdness that was happening between them was just normal, and Kurt turned to him.

"What has Cameron been in? I know who he is, but that's mainly because of all the publicity he gets, and he's a Goody protégé." There was a pause in which Chris indicated to his mouthful of juice, Blaine swallowed some coffee and pulled a disgusted face when he realised it was cold, Thad shrugged and Juri wrinkled up his brow.

"Down South," said Juri, and Kurt frowned, trying to work out why that name rang a bell. He knew that Cameron had been the voice of a character as opposed to a character on screen so that would mean it was an animated film…Down South…

"It's the one about those animals that escape when their zoo is set on fire, and they end up in Brazil or something." Kurt quirked an eyebrow at Chris, demanding to know whether or not he was serious, and the bookworm nodded with a straight face. "It's not as bad as it sounds…There were four films; Down South, Down South: The Way Back North, Down South: Washed up in the Pacific, Down South: Building Home." Kurt nodded, remembering colourful adverts about a mismatched group of animals running around and doing slightly bizarre things.

"Yes, I never saw it, but I remember now…Wasn't Todd Sommers in them?" All the boys nodded as one.

"Yeah, Todd played Norman the snake, and Cameron was Danny the lion cub." Kurt stared at them in disbelief, eyebrow arching on instinct because who named a snake Norman? "We know," said Blaine, rolling his eyes. "the names are really random, but, like Chris said, the films are actually pretty good. There's a cast of about six animals, and it really focuses on them, and their journey to try and get back home and not eating each other and becoming a family."

"It has good message," said Juri, nodding emphatically. "all about acceptance and tolerance."

"Yeah, the penguin is gay…" said Blaine, shaking his head in amusement, and Kurt got the feeling that, during this conversation, he ought to stop lowering his eyebrow and then arching it again. "I know, but it's not done in this sort of "I fulfil all the gay stereotypes" way, but he's just this teenage penguin that doesn't know what to do because he doesn't want to breed with female penguin…eventually, he finds out that it's okay, and he gets a penguin boyfriend…" Kurt couldn't help himself. Despite being impressed about them managing to squeeze that important message into a kids film, he burst out laughing at the idea of gay penguins and penguins with penguin boyfriends. He bent forward across the table, laughing hysterically, because the images that it conjured up were hilarious.

"That's brilliant!" he exclaimed, finally, once he'd roped in his laughter. The others nodded in agreement. "I mean, not only did they get a really big message across to kids, but…penguins with boyfriends!" Blaine, Chris and Juri all shared rather indulgent looking smiles, but nodded again.

"Yeah, the film is really good in that respect," said Blaine. "I mean, the character progression of Danny is really mapped off Cam's own development and maturing, especially the relationship between him and Todd; at first he thinks he's amazing and knows everything and brushes aside the help, but slowly he comes to understand that there is plenty that he needs to learn and that he needs help."

"Which is why we're looking forward to meeting him," said Chris, smoothly overtaking the conversation from Blaine. "There aren't many people that can see that their ego is severely inflated and then attempt to deflate it." Kurt nodded in agreement, feeling a smile curving onto his lips and excitement build up inside him at the prospect of meeting another famous person.

"What was he doing that stopped him from coming the first term if the films are finished?" he asked after a short pause. Blaine looked over at Chris and Juri with a thoughtful frown, like he couldn't quite remember the answer to Kurt's but definitely knew it.

"He's started filming a TV show," said Blaine, eventually. "It's his first acting role, and I think it's about a plane crashing or-"

"Shipwreck!" exclaimed Juri, blue eyes sparking as he remembered the name of the show. Blaine pointed at Juri with a grin on his face as Chris ruffled the little Russian's hair in an affectionate manner.

"What he said," said Blaine. "I don't know much about it, but I think it's airing sometime this year, so we're all looking forward to it." Kurt nodded once more, and Thad pushed away his bowl, rubbing his sleepy eyes in a laboured fashion.

"Should we go?" asked Chris, and Kurt nodded along with the others, hiding his grin because he was looking forward to meeting Cameron and the student that he was meant to be orientating. He agreed with the others that this person was almost certainly gay, and he wanted to be able to help them and look after them in the way that Dalton had looked after him.

Kurt wrapped Blaine's red scarf around his neck as Blaine put on the scarf that his brother had given him. Chris had a hat forced onto his head by Juri and Thad – Juri had jumped up and down in an ineffectual attempt to get it on the brown haired boy's head until Thad had snatched it from his grasp and yanked it down onto Chris' head so that it covered his eyes – and obediently put on his gloves. He noticed that neither Thad nor Juri were wearing the red jumpers or blue cardigans like the others or wearing any extra outer layer, and Kurt thought that they were crazy, but didn't do anything to stop them because he'd gotten caught up in Blaine's grin. Blaine was looking at his old red scarf with a fond look in his eyes, and Kurt could feel himself blushing heavily for no real reason.

Blaine then hooked one arm through Kurt's and the other through Juri's, who grabbed onto Chris' hand, and the four of them walked out of Franklin with Thad trailing after them, a step behind and still looking a little asleep. It was freezing cold outside, and Kurt found himself shivering quite a bit, but Blaine pulled him close, putting an arm over his shoulder, so that they were sharing body heat. Kurt had to work hard to not grin stupidly at his position in Blaine's arm and vividly reminded himself of the feelings that he had felt when he and Keats had been making out so that he didn't fantasise about being with Blaine.

The grounds were teeming with students, and Juri bounded off almost immediately to hug some people in the orchestra. Kurt managed to give Aaron – the only day student he even vaguely knew – a wave and get one in return before Juri had knocked the pianist into the snow. Chris also vanished quite quickly, spotting some boys that he knew from book club, or poetry club, or whichever curricular and extra-curricular thing he had friends in, and went to greet them. This left the three Warblers walking along side by side, Thad having been pulled round to warm Blaine's other side, in no real direction until they met up with David, Nick, Jeff and Flint.

"They're not here," said David through chattering teeth. "Morrison went to say hello to some guys from drama club or whatever, but they're on their way…I'm not sure whether QT are going to make it – Cam is literally seconds from killing them." The other boys snorted, their breath forming into white clouds in the air before dissipating.

"That would be an interesting article," said Blaine, thoughtfully, his gaze, like all the others, wondering down the grounds towards the gates. Kurt copied them and saw instantly what was causing their jaws to jump and angry frowns to form on their faces.

Even from their position right up the drive, they could see the bright flashes of cameras. The users of the cameras swarmed around the gates like black flies. He watched as Daley went charging past them, red hair flyaway, eyes filled with tears, and Wes dashing after him. He saw the faces of all the others tense, and their postures became rigid in anger. Kurt took a deep breath because he didn't know what had happened, but he knew that Daley was a nice guy, and he didn't deserve anybody picking on him given that he'd had some sort of breakdown – especially not at Dalton. It made him feel slightly sick; they really were flies buzzing around the carcass of a talented boy whose reputation had been torn apart by him withdrawing from filming and his girlfriend dumping him over a guy.

"I'm going to fucking kill them," muttered Morrison, appearing by David's shoulder with an intense scowl on his face. He was shot questioning looks by the other guys, but he simply shook his head, disregarding whatever question they had silently asked him.

"Cameron might have already done you that favour," said Jeff with a slight grin that Morrison could barely return. Kurt could feel the tension that was rolling off him in waves as he shook his head in a grim fashion.

"Cam needs to stay out of the spotlight as much as he possibly can…That bird eating story was genius, and we can't thank him enough for taking that bullet, but the whole thing is just going to come round and bite his ass for sure; if he fucks up at all – if his show flops – then they're going to be on him like a pack of wolves."

"You think they'll tear him apart?" asked Flint in a concerned manner. Morrison shook his head.

"No, if they tore him to pieces then we could help…No, Cam won't let himself break down that far. He'll put up some walls, and he won't let me help, or Daley, and that's what I'm worried about; I don't want to lose him to the selfish prick that he still knows how to be." There was a heavy silence after that in which David patted his shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Did you get the message from Sebastian?" asked Flint, eventually, breaking the silence by turning to Kurt. Kurt nodded as Juri, Chris, Drew and Fred began to make their way back over to them.

"Yes," and he looked around to check the time because whenever he thought about it he was struck with the paranoid fear that he was going to be late.

"We've got around fifteen minutes," said Flint, sending Kurt a mildly teasing grin. Kurt rolled his eyes and grinned back at him in a manner that was somewhere between superior and cool, but Kurt didn't know which one he was aiming for.

"I hope this new guy's alright," said Drew, frowning. "I mean, it's a bit ominous asking for both Kurt and Flint, don't you think? I mean, you guys are great, but…you've not exactly had this shit easy." Flint shuffled his feet before shrugging whilst Kurt examined the others with a frown, taking in their reaction and wondering whether this kind of speculation had happened when he'd first arrived at Dalton.

"I'm sure that he's only asked for me because I'm in Harriot," said Flint in a soft voice, and Kurt frowned deeply at that, unsure how Flint could have drawn the concrete conclusion that the new boy would be in Harriot. "I know he's going to be in Harriot," said Flint, catching onto Kurt's confused expression. "for two reasons; one, Charles was in Harriot, and this guy is a Sophomore so that makes sense, and two…" Flint sighed, looking between Kurt and Blaine for some reason. "if they were going into Franklin, it would be you and Blaine."

Kurt nodded, mouth closing because he didn't need to ask questions anymore. He had to admit that Flint's hypothesis made sense because Flint had never been bullied, as far as Kurt was aware. Kurt knew that his family were completely against his sexuality, but he also knew that Flint had only ever been to Dalton so he'd never been bullied. It made sense for Flint to be chosen simply because of his house as Blaine was also at odds with his family – well, just his dad, but it was more than Kurt – and so if they were in Franklin there really would be no need for Flint.

Whilst that made perfect sense, Kurt was left with the question as to why Hammonds hadn't asked for Blaine over Kurt. Blaine had suffered much worse than Kurt had at the hands of bullies, and Kurt couldn't really offer anything different to what Blaine could, and Blaine had been at Dalton far longer. However, maybe that was why Hammonds hadn't picked Blaine. Blaine had suffered a lot, and he'd almost died over the holidays, so Hammonds might not want to force upon him the responsibility of another student. It made sense, actually, for Hammonds to not use Blaine as long as he had other people that could cover the bases and make sure that the new boy settled in okay.

"I think he'll be physically alright," said Kurt, speaking up after he'd pulled himself out of deep thought, and interrupting the conversation that had come up between the other boys. There were a couple of frowns and a lot of blinking, and Kurt gave them all a smile. "I never got physically attacked…well, only locker shoves, but they weren't so bad…" he shrugged, letting the silence tail off, and could tell from their faces that they understood that that was only a half comfort; yes, he was not physically hurt, but mental afflictions could be just as – if not more so – deadly.

"This is so depressing," commented Nick, frowning around at the bleak sky and all their rather grim faces. "Where are Tri-" Jeff slapped a hand over his mouth to stop him from uttering the name that could, potentially, summon the three hyperactive boys from where they were bothering some other students.

"Here they come," said Morrison, suddenly, tucking his phone away and nodding at the gates. Kurt looked around and saw that the huge gates were sweeping open to allow a black car with tinted windows to sweep up the drive. As they all watched, several reporters took their chance to dash onto the grounds. He saw the mousey head of George holding the gates wide open enough so that they could just the trespassers out, but not open enough to allow more in whilst Sebastian, Norman and Mac were attempting to throw them from the grounds.

He was torn away from watching the punch-up that appeared to be happening between Norman and a reporter by Blaine snagging onto the sleeve of his elbow and beginning to drag him, along with the others, towards the car park where the black car was coming to a halt. He turned around, pulling himself from Blaine's grasp, so that he could jog alongside Flint whilst the others, except Jeff, dashed off. Flint was taking it pretty slow, but Kurt got the impression that he was only doing so because Jeff kept glaring at him and putting a hand on his shoulder. He reckoned that Jeff would probably tackle him to the ground to stop him from running and giving himself an asthma attack.

When they finally got to the car park, a couple of minutes behind everyone else, Sebastian and the prefects had expelled all the reporters from the grounds except for the one that was still attempting to punch Norman in the face. The car had all its doors wide open and luggage was being pulled from the boot by three blonde haired boys, who could almost be brothers at a first glance. Two of them were identical; same height, same sharp nose, same blonde hair that was slicked back and looked oily from the overuse of gel, same naturally arching eyebrows and light brown eyes. The other boy was quite a bit shorter than them with broad shoulders, blonde hair that was pulled back into a pony tail that went all the way down to his shoulder blades, rather chubby cheeks, button nose and amber eyes that looked almost like copper. He, alone, was smiling.

"Cam," said Morrison, dragging the boy, who was dressed in a Dalton blazer that looked a little across the chest, towards them. "this is Flint, Jeff and Kurt." Cameron gave them all a nod before twisting around to see if the reporters were gone.

"How very rude of you, Morrison," said one of the QT twins in a very snide tone of voice.

"Yes, how could you not introduce us?" Morrison pulled a face that Kurt could understand because, after hearing just two sentences from the boys he instantly disliked them. He disliked their tone of voice, the sneer on their faces and the way they looked down on him like he wasn't fit to be in their presence.

"You have ears don't you?" snapped Morrison. "You heard perfectly well that that is Kurt, and you should know that he sings far better than you ever will – even with the wonders of auto tune." Both boys tutted in a dismissive manner, sharing looks that said "yeah right", and slammed the boot shut. Kurt found himself smiling a little bit, though, and blushing because Morrison had never heard him sing, but he'd said that with such certainty in his voice that Kurt couldn't help but be flattered.

"You're so petty, Morrison," spat one of the Goody's, and the other one nodded.

"Yeah, you're pathetic." There was a round of snorts from the Dalton boys.

"Right well, let's get your stuff over to Franklin," said Morrison, turning his back on the twins and picking up one of Cameron's cases. Kurt watched the actor grab his other one, shooting Morrison a small grin, and they began to walk away.

"Hey!" exclaimed one of them. "Where are you going?"

"Yeah! Help us with our stuff!" Kurt looked at the other Dalton boys, who were all suppressing laughter, and carried on walking with them. They walked for a couple more metres, until they were out of earshot of QT, and then came to a stop. Cameron grinned up at all the older students.

"Hey," he said, pulling out a dazzling show smile, and Kurt got the distinct impression that he was a little bit on edge in their presence. "it's nice to meet you all; I've heard far too much about you." There was a moment in which Morrison smile told them that that was the more real Cameron; Kurt wasn't sure how much that he knew about the boy at all given that he'd made up a story about eating his pet birds.

"We've heard rather a lot about you too," said Jeff with a friendly grin on his face. "Mostly about whether or not you are a genuine arsehole." Cameron snorted, looking down at the ground with a small smile on his face. Kurt stared at him in mild confusion because if he had gained one impression that he was sure that was fairly accurate it was that Cameron was not shy.

"You alright?" asked David, voice dropping in pitch as the tone became concerned. Cameron rubbed his hands together and looked around at the reporters outside the gate and QT.

"Yeah, just…It's never easy being on a plane with QT, but this time…" he trailed off and shuddered. "Wouldn't fucking leave me alone; I think they're trying to make me snap, or something." Morrison reached over to pat his shoulder, solidly, whilst Kurt pursed his lips and sent a glare in the direction of the Goody twins as they stood around waiting for someone to carry their luggage for them.

"They won't manage it," said Morrison, confidently. "once you're here you'll barely have to see them; you're not in the same house so you don't have to spend any time around them unless they seek you out to torment you which – by the way – they will probably do at some point because they're sad like that." Cameron snorted once more, shaking his head and looking around the frosty grounds with mildly narrowed eyes.

"Right…great…" he muttered, and Kurt got the very distinct impression that he was not looking forward to Dalton that much. Morrison patted his shoulder once more, shooting him a sympathetic look.

"Cam!" Before anyone else could speak, Daley came dashing out of nowhere, tear tracks gone from his face and looking overjoyed. Cameron broke out into a small, slightly sarky looking, grin and hurried over to give him a hug. Daley patted him on the back as they broke apart, both grinning at each other. Kurt had to admit he looked a lot better now that he was smiling in a genuine manner.

"Daley, hey!"

"So," said Daley, pointing to the Seniors that had assembled behind him. "these are Norman, George and Mac – they're the prefects – this is Travis, Liam, Wes and Sebastian – head boy." Kurt saw Cameron's face light up when he got to Wes and Sebastian; he supposed that Daley had mentioned them to him or something. Cameron reached forward and shook all their hands, grinning up at the last two especially.

"Nice to meet you all," he said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his grey trousers.

"You're being orientated by Braden; he's your roommate, and he's…" Sebastian trailed off, looking around and not immediately spotting the boy.

"I'll find him," said Travis, rolling his eyes and walking away from the group. Cameron's gaze shot around the group, asking for information on Braden.

"He is great!" exclaimed Juri, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "He plays mainly cello, but he does Viola in Orchestra 'cause we are not having as many, and he plays trumpet! He is very clever!" Cam eyed Juri with a mildly disturbed look on his face like he wasn't quite sure what to make of someone who got excited over the fact that his friend had been mentioned and was clever and musical.

"You might not want to do that," said Morrison, casually. "Chris, Drew and Fred can get pretty over protective of their "little guy"…and that's considering the fact that Juri vehemently denies that he's their "little guy" because…" he trailed off as Juri, who had gone even pinker in the face in indignation, burst out;

"I am not little guy!" he exclaimed, voice jumping up in pitch as he did so. "Ivan is little guy! We cannot both be little guy!" He stomped his foot into the snow in apparent frustration, and Kurt had to purse his lips together very tightly to stop himself from bursting out into laughter because Juri really looked like a pouting child. His hair was then ruffled by Chris, Drew, Fred and then every other guy – including Kurt – ruffled up his hair too; except Sebastian, naturally. Cameron looked somewhere between highly disturbed and amused.

"I hope you're not calling Juri "little guy" again," said Braden, appearing out of nowhere. Kurt watched with a small smile on his face as Braden's eyes, which were amused, flitted onto Cam, passed over him, and then did a double take. His eyes bugged wide open. "You're the new student that I'm orientating!" he exclaimed, looking excited and like he was seconds from bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet but wasn't doing it because then he would be liked Juri.

"Yep," said Cameron, hands in his pockets with a smile on his face from the fact that he was famous and recognisable and that people were excited to see him. Braden looked around for some advice, and Sebastian rolled his eyes in a highly exasperated manner.

"You take him to your room, ditch his stuff, answer his questions – which he won't have – and then take him to assembly and lessons. Oh, and Hammonds wants to see you at the end of the day." Braden nodded and made a vague gesture with his hand to indicate that Cameron should follow him. Cam gave the group an awkward nod and then followed Braden away across the grounds. Sebastian turned to Flint and Kurt. "We need to go to Hammonds' office now." Kurt looked at the others and was given supportive smiles by the others.

"Do you know anything about the guy?" asked Flint as they began to move off towards the main building. Sebastian shook his head in a very controlled manner.

"No, but no news if good news – I only get told beforehand if there's something serious to worry about." Kurt sighed in sync with Flint, the two of them sharing smiles of relief, because he felt like he could breathe a little easier now that he knew that the person that they were meant to be looking after was okay.

"Oh, well; that's a relief, I suppose," muttered Flint, but Kurt got the feeling that Sebastian was not about to have a conversation with either of them; he seemed awfully tense and uptight. Kurt looked at Flint, who shrugged a little bit, and they both looked at the head boy on their right hand side. "Is everything going to be alright to do with the reporters?" asked Flint in a rather tentative manner, like he was expecting Sebastian to bite his head off.

"Fine; the ones that broke in will be charged for trespassing, and the one that attacked Norman will be charged with assault so they'll have some happy times doing their punishment." Kurt nodded as they walked into the warmth of the main building. "I have to admit that you guys are going to have a weird job. For whatever reason, Hammonds didn't pick a Sophomore, so you're going to have to make sure that he's making friends and coping between and after lessons – it'll fall more to you, though, Flint." Flint gave a shrug that said he didn't mind as they reached Hammonds office. Mrs Aarons gave them a nod that said they should go in. Sebastian knocked on the door and then opened it.

"Sebastian, Flint, Kurt, come in." Kurt filed in after Sebastian and Flint and looked at the family that were sitting before Hammonds' desk. There was a man in a sharp suit with slicked back brown hair, briefcase resting by his leg and thick-lensed, wire-rimmed, glasses that were almost slipping off the edge of his nose. The woman was dressed in a nurse's uniform, her dark haired scraped back into a tight bun and she was nervously checking her watch. The boy in the middle was quite broad shouldered and slightly chubby looking. He had short brown hair and was dressed in Dalton uniform.

There was a mildly awkward silence in the room as Kurt stopped at the side of the room by Flint's shoulder, feeling rather strange looking in on the sight of new boy when that had been him not so very long ago. Sebastian was looking at Hammonds in a highly expectant manner whilst Flint was eyeing the new boy, and the family stared at the new additions to the room.

"Okay," said Hammonds, clapping his hands together and giving everyone in the room a smile. "this is Sebastian, he's head boy, and Flint and Kurt. All three of these boys are gay and out, and it will be Kurt and Flint that will orientate you." The boy gave Kurt a nervous smile, meeting his eyes, and Kurt felt the strangest feeling that he knew him…or had at least seen him before. He couldn't place it, but he was that he had. "Boys, this is Trent Nixon," the three of them nodded as one, and Kurt noticed that Sebastian was giving him a very thorough once over. "Kurt, do you know him?" Kurt took a deep breath in through his nose, wrinkling his brow, and then shook his head, pulling a face.

"No…I'm sorry, am I meant to?" he asked, hesitantly, feeling instantly bad that he might have forgotten someone. Hammonds shook his head, sending him a rather amused looking smile.

"No, I wouldn't say that you're "meant to", I was just wondering if you did. Trent was at McKinley; he's a Sophomore, but he had some lessons with Juniors as well…I thought you might have come across him, but if you haven't that's understandable." Kurt looked back at Trent, understanding why he had the niggling feeling that he had thought he'd known him, but then shook his head.

"No, I don't we think we had any lessons together."

"We didn't," said Trent, speaking up with a hesitant look on his face like he wasn't sure that he was allowed to talk. "I only had Spanish, English and Maths with the year above; your step-brother was in my Spanish class." Kurt blinked, mildly surprised that he knew that Finn was his step-brother. Trent rolled his eyes, smiling slightly. "Your parents got engaged in our home room," he explained. Kurt flushed at those words as both Flint and Sebastian turned to him with raised eyebrows and Hammonds blinked in confused surprise.

"Okay," said Hammonds, looking mildly thrown by the random aside in the personal lives of Kurt's family. "anyway, I asked you to help orientate him because of that, and Flint, he's in Harriot with you, um…" Hammonds broke off at that, looking once at Kurt before continuing. "and I want you to put him in Charles' old room." There was a brief pause in which Kurt didn't react in anyway like he thought Hammonds was expecting him to because he was really over it, and he'd had forewarning from Flint when he'd been explaining why he thought Trent would be in Harriot.

"Okay," said Flint, and Kurt was mildly surprised that Sebastian had not said anything this entire time; he was just standing at the side of the room looking rather tired and little bit under the weather – no doubt because of all the crap that he'd had to deal with in the aftermath of the party, and the press problem – and staring at the new student rather intensely. Then again, Kurt couldn't quite remember how much he'd spoken when Kurt was new…though, Kurt's situation had been different.

"Alright," said Hammonds, and Kurt noticed that he, too, was eyeing Sebastian like he'd figured out that there was something slightly off with him. "Kurt and Flint, can you take Trent and his things to Harriot and get him settled before assembly; sit with him and get him to his first lesson…You know what to do," he said, and Kurt and Flint nodded as one. "Sebastian, I take it we need to talk about the incident at the gates?" Sebastian nodded, curtly.

"Yes sir,"

"Is Norman alright?" Sebastian nodded instantly.

"Yes, he's fine, but that doesn't detract from the fact that the reporter was looking for a fight; too dumb to realise that we've got security cameras on the gates." There was a very smug note to Sebastian's tone of voice that Kurt could have sworn was making their Headmaster smile in that same amused manner that he seemed to have.

"Alright," said Hammonds, clapping his hands together in a very final manner. "are you all comfortable with everything?" he asked, looking at the Nixon family. Both parents looked at Trent. The boy took one second to pause for thought before nodding in a firm manner. Hammonds smiled. "Excellent, welcome aboard," Hammonds got to his feet, shaking hands with the two parents as the three that were seated did the same. "Kurt, a quick word," Kurt, who had been prepared to walk out of the room, froze and then nodded. Flint moved over to do the door, opening it, and held it open so that the family could walk out first. Kurt looked at Sebastian, who was still standing by the side, and then back at Hammonds.

"Sir?" he asked, and Hammonds gave Kurt a small smile.

"This may sound a little bit weird, but I want to know whether you would be okay if I mentioned what happened to you and Charles in assembly…It's a situation that was dealt with quickly, but I'd rather avoid it ever happening again." Kurt blinked, mildly surprised that Hammonds was asking him, and then nodded.

"Yes, of course." Hammonds gave him a smile, nodding in thanks as he retook his seat. Kurt blinked a couple of times before realising that he was meant to be leaving.

"Thank you, Kurt," said Hammonds, looking up at him with a smile. "have a good term." Kurt gave him a wide smile, saying that he would, and walked to the door, catching a brief glimpse of Sebastian settling himself into the chair directly opposite Hammonds' desk before Flint closed the door.

Kurt had to admit that he felt strangely nervous as he stood in Dalton's spacious foyer watching Trent be hugged and kissed goodbye by his parents. He noticed that Trent looked rather embarrassed by being showered by their affections as Flint collected his various pieces of luggage and tested their weights.

"You'll take care of my son?" asked Trent's dad, walking over to Kurt and jolting him from his thoughts about why Flint was lifting each case up more than once, studiously not looking at the family. Kurt blinked and then nodded, offering him a reassuring smile.

"Of course, I was new myself quite recently." Mr Nixon nodded.

"I know, um…" he looked around, taking in Trent pulling himself away from his mother and giving her a firm look that said that he was going to be fine. "he's not- he's having it a bit… weird with the boys he was friends with at McKinley; I think that it's bothering him, so can I ask that you make sure he makes friends?" Kurt gave the man before him a reassuring smile, remembering the feelings that he'd struggled with when he seemed to have no real friends at the beginning of his time here.

"I will…It was hard for me; my transfer, and it took a while for me to settle in and feel secure with my friends – I'll look after him." Trent's father gave him a genuine smile at that, relief washing over his features. He held out his hand, looking back around to see that Trent was taking some of his luggage off Flint, who seemed to want to break his back. Kurt accepted it with a smile, feeling his strong grip and squeezing back firmly.

"Thank you, and, Kurt, I'm sorry." Kurt stared up into genuine, sincere, apologetic, brown eyes and felt completely, and utterly, confused. He swallowed, eyes wide and slightly overpowered with the intense look that he was getting, and made to speak, but Mr Nixon had let go of his hand, walked over to his son, clapped him on the back and gave him a final hug and then walked off with his wife.

"You okay, Kurt?" asked Flint, walking over to him in a rather laboured fashion. Kurt rolled his eyes at him, shaking away the look of shocked confusion on his face, and peeled one of the rucksacks away from Flint with a glare at him for putting his back under great strain.

"Fine," he said. Flint shot him a disbelieving look, but Kurt decided that he was going to focus his attention on Trent. The boy looked a little bit out of his comfort zone, but Kurt could absolutely not blame him for that. Trent sighed and gave him a nervous smile.

"Um…this is going to sound really weird, but it's really cool to meet you." Kurt stared at him, eyebrows raising in disbelief and shock because if there was anything that he was expecting an ex-McKinley student to say to him – even if they were gay – it was not that. He looked around at Flint, who pulled a face that asked why that was such a terrible thing for him to say, and then turned back to Trent.

"Um…what?" he asked as they began to move through the school that was dotted with clumps of students catching up after the holidays. Trent gave him a nervous smile.

"I know, I said it was weird, but…I really admired what you did; you joined the New Directions, you were out…Those were two things I couldn't do…" Kurt sucked in his cheeks, trying to think what a good response to that was. He knew that signing up for the New Directions had simply been because singing was a passion, and he'd needed a platform for that; his talent craved an audience and the New Directions had been the best place for that, and coming out… Coming out was… He'd come out to Mercedes because she was his best friend and she had been crushing on him in a weird manner and he'd needed to get it out; he needed to get rid of his secret because it was suffocating him and it was so hard and he needed that positive response. It was the same with his dad; that positive response had told him that it was okay. His dad standing by him had given him the confidence to be whoever he wanted to be.

"It wasn't easy," he said, looking at Trent. "I mean, I know that I was brave and strong, but…I was also lonely, and I felt alienated and different and afraid…The New Directions were worth it – don't get me wrong – because, though they can annoying as hell, they're my friends and family, and my relationship with my dad has never been better, but…" he shrugged. "What happened with Karofsky…" he shook his head. "Sometimes it's not worth it, and it doesn't matter; it's up to you and what you think is best for you and what makes you feel comfortable."

Trent sighed, looking at the flagstone floor beneath their feet, and he heard Flint let out a long breath that gave Kurt the impression that he was doing some serious thinking – Kurt had not forgotten the way that he'd refused to look at Trent saying goodbye to his family, and he supposed it had something to do with his family not accepting him; Kurt would chase it up later – and Trent shook his head.

"I know, but…it was mainly peer pressure, you know?" he said, looking apprehensive, like he thought that Kurt would criticise him. Kurt gave him an encouraging smile. Trent sighed once more. "I had all these friends that I'd known for, like, forever, and they all told me that I should not join the New Directions, and I wanted to, but…but I couldn't…I couldn't risk losing them because they were the only friends that I'd ever had in my life, and I didn't think that I could ever have other ones, and when I realised I was gay…I'd heard them taunting you, and I- I didn't know what my parents would say…I went to- I went to tell them, and I just…" he broke off, shaking his head. "Nothing came out."

"It's alright," said Flint, suddenly breaking in. "You told them eventually…Telling your parents – your family – is- it's the hardest part, but you did it; that proves more about your courage than anything." Kurt looked at Flint, noting the choked up quality to his voice. He was staring at the wall, though, so Kurt couldn't look at his face. Trent shot him a questioning look that Kurt shook his head at, subtly, pulling a face that told him not to question it.

"Well…I carried on like there was nothing wrong, even though I was sure that there was something wrong with me, and it- it got so hard, but then…" he sighed and looked at Kurt apologetically. "My dad apologised to you?" he asked, hesitantly. Kurt nodded, frown falling onto his face. "My dad is on the board of governors," he explained in a whisper. Kurt felt his heart skip a beat; they'd overturned Karofsky's expulsion, they'd made him flee, they'd ignored a death threat.

"I see," he said, finding an icy quality entering his voice even though that Trent's father had apologised because he didn't doubt that Trent's father was okay with gay people now…now that his son was gay; it was okay when it was son, but other people didn't matter.

"I swear my dad's not a bad person," said Trent in a rather desperate voice. "I only came out because he came back from the meeting, and he was- he was furious." Kurt's head snapped around to stare at the rather pathetic looking boy. "He was so angry that they would dismiss a death threat and give him no punishment. He kept shouting about how backwards everyone was, and how it was no different to racism and how if it was that then they'd- they'd all be getting jumpy over it…and I- I've never seen him go off on one like that, and McKinley pisses him off a lot…you know, it is a shit hole." Kurt snorted at that, smiling at the boy as they walked outside, Flint quietly walking alongside them, listening in.

"Can't disagree with that," he muttered, and Trent gave him a nervous smile, and Kurt could feel yhe relief that they were back on friendly terms coming off him and immediately felt bad for reacting so coldly to him when he'd heard the news.

"Well, I was listening, and my mum was somewhere between agreeing with him and trying to calm him down, and I don't know…I just- I just sort of yelled it at them…Needless to say, my dad stopped ranting." Kurt managed a smile at the amused look on his face. "Well, for a bit at any rate…Then they started freaking out about McKinley…" Trent rolled his eyes, but Kurt was smiling at that, glad that at least there was someone supervising McKinley with some sense. "It took some time, but we agreed that I wouldn't come out, and we'd find some place safe to transfer to over Christmas." He shrugged. "Here I am…It was basically painless…except the science part of the entrance exams; those were hard."

Kurt burst out into spluttering laughter as they reached Harriot. Flint joined in, shaking his head in amusement about how the tale had ended. Trent really looked like he was okay; he hadn't been bullied and his family were accepting and had moved him to Dalton so that he could be out and safe. They'd moved him to Dalton so that he could be himself.

People gave them curious looks as they moved through the common room, but no one moved to interrupt them as they moved towards the staircase. Keats, who had been sitting with Vince, had given Kurt the briefest of frowns to which he smiled at and gave a look that said they'd talk later. Keats had nodded and settled back into his chair, resuming his conversation with Vince.

"You're into singing, then?" asked Flint as they climbed up to the second floor. Trent nodded, pulling a slight face.

"I mostly do it in the shower, though, so I doubt that I'm as good as any of the Warblers." Kurt and Flint shared sideways looks before giving him comforting smiles.

"You never know," said Flint. "the Warblers seem quite intimidating – I was sure that I was never going to make it, and my dad had led them so there was huge pressure – but I found that once I got singing that it was like I was back in my shower; belting out the lyrics like there was no one else there at all…and I got in."

"And he got one of the leads in Les Mis; he played Marius and rocked the part, so you can't know until you've tried." Trent nodded, looking slightly nervous, as they got up to the third floor, and Flint pushed open the door to the room that Charles Lancaster used to occupy.

Kurt found that it was remarkably bare. The walls were empty, two beds neatly made, curtains closed, desk unused, bookshelves vacant…The only thing that showed people had ever been it was that everything scarily clean. It didn't look like someone had lived in it, but, at the same time, it had obviously been cleaned regularly. It was sort of disturbing, like Charles had never been there at all. Trent looked similarly uncomfortable.

"How come Charles didn't have a roommate?" Kurt asked as Flint turned on the light. Flint shrugged in a casual manner.

"I think he asked to be on his own; it was what he was used to even though Lottie said it wasn't a great idea." Flint shrugged again, and Kurt nodded in understanding, looking around the room and feeling a little sad for him wanting to be isolated and on his own. Trent looked around with a frown on his face.

"Um, can I ask who this Charles guy was?" he asked. Flint sighed, heavily, and shot Kurt a look that asked him which one of them wanted to do the explaining. Kurt let out a long breath through his nose and sat down on one of the beds, looking up at Trent.

"Charles was a Warbler…I didn't know him that well, but the others did…He came from a- a-" he looked at Flint for the right words. Flint shook his head, shrugging. Kurt rolled his eyes slightly at his inability to find the words that he needed. "Basically, his family said that if he found a "respectable" boy than it wouldn't matter that he was gay, and he was under pressure to get engaged as soon as possible…he originally asked his best friend, but Alvin isn't gay so he turned him down…Then, he chose me, and he- he…" Kurt swallowed, wondering why, to his ears, what he had to say sounded almost stupid? "He- he forced himself onto me…kissed me whilst he held me against the lockers…He was expelled because he caused me physical harm…It's- I don't think he was that bad a person, but he was…he was messed up in the head, I think…His sister seems nice, though."

Trent blinked, looking shocked, and then glanced around the room with a mildly uncomfortable look about him. Flint walked over and put a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort whilst Kurt took a couple of deep breaths in, trying to get rid of the swirling panic in his chest brought on by all the memories of Karofsky and Charles.

"It's alright…Dalton's normally a lot better than that…We have a zero tolerance policy for both harassment and violence…It's a really safe place to be." Trent nodded, but Kurt could tell that he was mildly overwhelmed by everything.

"How do you feel?" asked Kurt, looking up at him with concerned eyes. Trent shrugged, frown falling onto his face in a manner that suggested that he didn't quite know how he felt.

"Um… can I have a moment?" he asked, indicating towards the bathroom. Both Kurt and Flint nodded, instantly. Trent hurried off into the bathroom, closing the door behind him, and Flint turned to Kurt with a questioning expression on his face. Kurt sighed and got to his feet.

"He's just left all his friends and family…He's in a new school whether the only person that he vaguely knows is me, and that's only from a serious distance and lots of whispering. Now, we've just told him that he replaced a gay student who abused someone…It's a bit of a mess, and I can't begin to imagine how he must feel after all that…He might not have been bullied, but he's still going through a hard time." Flint nodded, looking around in concern.

"Okay," he said, checking his watch. Kurt stared at him, eyes narrowing because there was something not right with Flint; he could feel the tension and anxiety being exuded from him.

"What's wrong?" asked Kurt, bluntly, tilting his head and arching an eyebrow when Flint blinked and pulled a face that said that he didn't understand what Kurt was saying. He continued to stare at him in disbelief until Flint sighed, shoulders sagging.

"I can't do this, Kurt…I'm gay, but…how can I offer any of this when I don't-" he broke off in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose. Kurt stared at him, patiently, waiting for him to talk to Kurt about whatever was wrong with him. "Kurt, you know that I said that I wasn't- wasn't confident with my sexuality, or something?" Kurt thought back to when he'd found out that Flint was gay and then nodded.

"Yeah, I remember." Flint sniffed, rubbing his eyes slightly.

"I never- I never came out." Kurt looked at him, blinking in complete shock because- did that mean- did that mean someone – someone at Dalton – had outed him? He could feel his mouth fall open slightly in shock, staring at him in disbelief. Flint sucked in a huge breath.

"I mean, I came out to my close friends, but the rest of the school – my parents; grandparents; whole family – I was outed to them…" he took a huge breath. "and my- my father, and my grandfather, they hold that against me. I'm a coward for not coming out; it's the reason I'm a failure, it's- it's- it's…" he broke off, taking a huge breath, and Kurt could feel anger rushing through him, drowning out the sadness, because there was a limit – a line – that was never crossed; should never be crossed, and someone had done that…someone at Dalton. Kurt, at McKinley, when his life was in danger had kept his mouth shut! So why couldn't someone at Dalton do that?

"Why?" he demanded, furiously. "Who?" Injustice was swirling through him, pumped around his body as his heart pounded with anger, and he could feel his whole body tense as he prepared to tear into the person – people – that had done this to make them pay.

"And- and I know that they wouldn't accept me even if I had come out," continued Flint as if Kurt had never interrupted, sounding like he was close to bursting into tears. "but I- seeing Trent with his parents in the foyer, knowing that that's only happening because he came out…it hurts. It hurts to think things could be different if I was just a little bit stronger…but I'm not…I'm weak…"

Kurt stared at Flint, watching him as he put a hand over his eyes, squeezing them shut in an effort to stop the tears, and didn't know whether to embrace the wreck of a boy in front of him or to rage and storm around Dalton until he'd found the person responsible and torn their head from their body and then go and do the same to Flint's family.

He took a couple of deep breaths in through his nose, exhaling heavily, and clenched his jaw tightly together, fighting the almost overwhelming urge to rampage around Dalton like a caveman in search of a petty revenge for damages done. Reaching forward, he rested both his hands onto Flint's trembling shoulders and remained there for a moment, applying a gentle pressure to let him know that Kurt was still there before him and ready to comfort him.

"Flint, you are a lot of things," he began, slowly. "but you are not weak." Flint snorted, looking at the ground, but Kurt shook his head firmly. "Look at me," he commanded. Flint resisted, dropping his head down even further and breathing heavily. "Look at me!" he repeated, even more force in his voice. Slowly, Flint looked up. Kurt stared into glistening, hurt, eyes and felt the strongest urge to burst into tears because this wasn't right; it was like there was a tiny child standing before Kurt, trembling with poorly suppressed fear as to what punishment they might get for disobedience.

Kurt let out a deep breath, removing his hands from Flint's shoulders to drag them down his face in a sign of weary frustration as he took a step back. Gathering himself together and still breathing deeply, he reassessed Flint; he was shaking, eyes wide with a fearful yet expectant look on his face – thank God, Trent was taking so long in the bathroom.

"Flint, I- I can't believe that someone at Dalton would do that to you, but I don't think you're weak. I think that you've been subjected to something terrible, but suffering as a result of that doesn't make you weak; it makes you human." Flint stared at him for a second, face twisting through a myriad of emotions that were too fleeting for Kurt to label, before snorting and rolling his eyes.

"I hate being human," he said, pulling an annoyed expression. Kurt let out a snort of laughter, smile jumping onto his face at the statement, which he hadn't exactly been expecting. Flint shot him a mildly wry grin, rolling his eyes again. "I'm serious; I would much rather be Vulcan or whatever." Kurt shot him a disparaging look, arching an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Okay Spock," he said as the door to the bathroom opened, and Trent came walking out, blowing his nose on a handkerchief that he promptly put up his sleeve. Kurt suppressed the urge to wrinkle his nose at the fact that he had a snotty tissue up his sleeve, choosing to keep his smile on his face.

"Alright?" asked Flint, and Trent nodded, giving them both a grin.

"Yeah just- I've never really been this far away from home; all my friends live round the corner, literally…It's kind of scary." Both Flint and Kurt gave him kind smiles, telling him that it was perfectly natural to feel homesick – Kurt had felt absolutely awful on his first night.

"Of course it is," said Flint, checking his watch. "but we need to get to assembly." Trent nodded, and Flint began to lead the way towards the hall. Kurt fell into step next to Trent and looked him over, noting that his shoulders were rather tense and the gait of his walk was very strict.

"Dalton's a little hard to settle into," he said, feeling that he needed to give him some reassurance whilst Flint was preoccupied with his own problems, which were very serious and Kurt was not about to forget anytime soon; though he knew that the other boys would know all about it, and Trent had to be his priority.

"Really?" asked Trent, looking at him with an extremely apprehensive expression.

"But," he said, continuing with his previous sentence like Trent hadn't spoken. "I had a lot of people around me that supported me. Yes, they forgot that I didn't know things and so carried on like I wasn't there, but I kind of get, now, that they were just trying to include me." Trent frowned, and Kurt sighed. "I came here under a pretty bad cloud, and I think that they were trying to not remind me that I was new… It wasn't a good tactic, but they meant well – they always meant well." Trent nodded, small smile on his face at the news because there were very few people at McKinley that would always mean well; not even the New Directions could boast that given all the back-stabbing, double-crossing and bitching they did.

"Okay, I'll remember that," he said as they joined the crowds that were filing into the hall in a very orderly manner, talking and laughing about things that had happened in the holidays and things that they were looking forward to that term.

Flint led them to some seats relatively near the back and sat down next to a very tall boy – Kurt couldn't work out whether he was the same height as Ros – and his friend, who Kurt recognised as the boy that Keats sat next to in history, but who Kurt didn't know and presumed Keats wasn't exactly friends with…Also, Kurt could have sworn that he wore glasses, but that could just be Kurt confusing him with someone.

"Trent," said Flint, leaning forward in his seat. "these are Dylan Williamson and Alex Kier-" so it was the guy from History. "-they're in our year, but Dylan is-" Before Flint could finish the sentence, the lights around the hall faded out slightly, and the stage became illuminated as Hammonds strode out to a lectern that had been step up on the stage.

"Welcome back boys," said Hammonds into the expectant silence that had automatically fallen over the boys when their headmaster had walked onto the stage. "I'm glad to hear that those of you that came had fun on New Year…" He trailed off as amused titters filled the hall. Kurt chuckled along with the majority of the boys, guessing that Hammonds had been clued in about the destruction they'd caused. "and I want to say to the two new boys that we've got joining us-" Kurt felt Trent stiffen a little bit beside him and shot him a smile that said to relax. "-that I hope you enjoy your time here, and I don't have to tell the rest of you to look out for them." There was a silence as Hammonds looked around the room in a deliberate fashion.

"Now, before I get onto my main speech, I have my little recap. I want to congratulate the fencing team for beating Garfield and continuing their unbeaten streak into a fourth year; let's set a new record, boys. I want to congratulate the Warblers and gymnasts for their victory at Sectionals and progressing onto Regionals. The play was amazing, as always, and I want to thank you for all the work you put into that whether you were on stage or in the pit or worked on the technical side…It was wonderful. I want to commend all the Footballers, and Kurt-" Kurt blinked, shocked by the mention of his name. "-for your performances against Garfield at the Football game; we're getting there…um…Well done all the soloists, and all the performers, in the concert, and the artists that won – it was another fantastic evening. That all being said, let's keep this going…There's a mass of sporting events coming up; we've got a lot of Garfield games so let's keep making that point; it doesn't matter who you are; if can play, you play."

Kurt smiled at the speech, nodding along to his final point because Dalton would only be Dalton if it focused so hard of treating everyone the same. Taking a look at Trent, he saw that his mouth had fallen open at the multitude of things that they'd succeeded in. He stifled a smile and fixed his gaze back onto Hammonds, who had been waiting for the muttering to die down.

"So, now that that's all done and dusted I have one more announcement to make; the press." Kurt noticed the way their Headmaster's face tensed at the mention of the paparazzi, disgust briefly riddling his features. "You are not allowed to make contact with them with information in regards to any of the students of Dalton. If we catch you, you will be expelled and you will be charged for invading their privacy…We will not be lenient." He gave the room a steely glare. "You have been warned." There was an ominous silence after that in which Trent leant into Kurt.

"Why is he saying that? Um…is that in anyway normal?" Kurt shook his head, leaning into him too.

"No, there are a load of people that have famous parents; my friends' dads are P. and Rupert Thompson…you know the rest of that family," Trent nodded, wide eyed. "And there are five celebrities here; Daley Kellerman, Morrison Barringer-Tanner, Cameron Gaylin and QT." Trent stared at him in disbelief, and Kurt nodded. Flint leant across.

"Unfortunately for us only QT are in our house." Trent frowned. "They're not very nice," said Flint with a look that said he would expand later as Hammonds was clearing his throat, bringing the muttering and whispers to an end.

"Okay," he said, putting his hand against the lectern. "let's get down to business." Silence fell instantly. "There have been instances, smattered throughout my time here, that have been of great concern, but something that happened last tern really got me…There was an incident last term that I know you all know about, but I think that I need to talk about it all the same…" Trent looked at him, eyebrows arching to ask whether this was Charles. Kurt nodded once, looking back at Hammonds. "Firstly, I want to stress the idea that if you are put in a situation where you are hurt or threatened or uncomfortable or feel like you have been violated or insulted or anything in anyway, I want you to know that you can come to anyone. I feel that we got lucky that we were told straight away, and I need you to know that you can come to me, your head of house, your teachers, your head boy, your prefects, your friends…Speak to someone, and if you are that someone than please report it…This is not a breach of trust; this could be what saves someone."

"Whenever I think about this, I think back to my own time at Dalton," Kurt blinked at that in mild surprise, having not exactly known that Hammonds was an ex-Dalton boy, but not really surprised to find out that he was. "and my best friend…I'm sure that at least half of you know this story, and you're probably sick of it, but my best friend was gay, and back then were less openly gay people on campus, and he couldn't come out to me, and he felt like a fraud; he self-harmed, took drugs, and tried to kill himself…" Kurt felt his eyes go wide open, shocked that Hammonds was telling them this – had told many students this – and incredibly horrified that that had happened. "Now, I got lucky, and I found him, and he was fine…but the problem is it was luck. Luck is great, don't get me wrong, but we need more than that; we need trust." He sighed.

"Now, the thing is, a lot of you here are under pressure from parents and family, and at Dalton we try and take that away, but sometimes it isn't enough." Kurt swallowed, knowing that this was about Charles and why he had done what he had. "Sometimes that pressure is to get good grades, but sometimes it's more. For Charles, it was the pressure to get married. That pressure was piled on because he was gay, and his sister was engaged, and it got the better of him; he tried to force it…Now, I don't feel the blame lies with him; I feel that it's on his parents… and on me." Kurt blinked, staring at his Headmaster in disbelief.

"I feel like you are all my responsibility, and when a situation like that comes up I feel like I've failed every student involved. Now, if you are under any kind of pressure like that than I want you to please tell someone. Tell someone, and we can try and help you. Dalton is here to educate you, yes, but it's here to help. So many of you here have come for safety…sanctuary, and we wouldn't be a very good sanctuary if we didn't supply help and support…And if you're a friend, and you hear this, you might brush it aside, but please ask. I never asked when my friend got pale and thin, and I didn't know until too late, so, even if it's nothing, please ask…It's better safe than sorry…" he gave the hall a tight lipped smile. "I wish you all a good term; stay safe, stay happy and stay Dalton…" He gave them a proper smile as they all chuckled. "Alright, off to you lessons." They all began to get to their feet, a huge wave of boys beginning to trample their feet, almost drowning out their Headmaster's final words. "Oh, and I like you boys and all, but try to stay out of my office." With that last laugh echoing around the hall, Hammonds made his way off the stage to the applause of the whole student body.

Kurt filed out of the hall behind Trent, who immediately fell to the side when they were out in the open, and looked around to make sure that Flint was following them. He could see his friend conducting a whispered conversation with Dylan, whose hand was rubbing soothing circles onto Flint's shoulder, and Kurt would have thought that they were talking about what he and Kurt had been talking about if whatever Dylan was saying wasn't making Flint giggle. He gave Trent a small smile, telling him that they should wait, and then turned to face him properly.

"So, first impressions?" he asked, and Trent shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Um…if I said that I completely bought every word that Mr Hammonds said, would I be a fool?" Kurt let out a wry laugh, understanding that, after McKinley, it was a little bit hard to take the "we care" thing seriously.

"No," he said, shooting him a kindly smile. "you wouldn't be a fool; Dalton is really like that…Figgins was just a crap Principal." Trent nodded, looking around at the other boys in a mildly nervous fashion. Kurt took a step towards him and put a gloved hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine. When Flint finishes his conversation, we'll take you to your first lesson and find some boys to keep an eye on you, and if you need anything, just like he said, you can come to me…to anyone." Trent took a deep breath, nodding.

"I never thought it would be this scary, you know? It's just- I'm finding it hard to forget that I've never really made friends; the only friends I had were people I met when I was, like, four and our parents got us all together because we lived in the same area, you know? I don't- I just-" he ran a hand through his hair looking worried. "I just realised that I have, like, no social skills." Kurt gave him a smile.

"It's fine. Trust me when I say that these boys talk a lot." Trent nodded, managing a wider smile, and Flint came wandering over with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry about that," he said, looking really very sorry for holding them up. Trent shook his head, nervous smile returning to his face. "Alright, do you have your time table?" Trent nodded and pulled the time table from his pocket. Kurt and Flint both peered at it, and Kurt saw that he had Chemistry with Doctor Booth. "Oh that's good," said Flint, giving Trent a comforting smile. "Doctor Booth is your head of house, and he's our Chemistry teacher – he's really good. Come on, we better get you to his lab or else you'll be late."

The three of them had to all but sprint to the Chemistry lab – well, Flint jogging as fast as he could – to prevent Trent from being late to his first lesson. It left no time for talking and as Kurt was dashing up the stairs, he suddenly realised that his school bag was still sitting back in Franklin as he'd assumed that he would have time to get it. The only thing that stopped him from freaking out about it was the fact that Flint was also bag-less.

Kurt made it to the classroom first, Trent two paces behind him and Flint bringing up the rear as he gasped and panted. All the Sophomores that were queued up outside, waiting to be let in, turned to look at them. They broke into grins at the sight of Trent, some rolling their eyes at the sight of Flint struggling to breathe.

"Flint," said Dom, dumping his bag onto the floor. "when are going to learn that you can't run? I mean, seriously?" Flint stood upright, glowering at the Warbler before blinking and standing upright.

"Dom, Al, this is Trent, could you two watch out for him." Kurt looked at the two younger Warblers as they both nodded on instinct, but Kurt was more focused on the fact that Al really did look like crap; he was really pale and tired looking. "He's thinking of auditioning for Warblers so…" Trent looked marginally alarmed by the prospect of what Flint had said as the wheezing Warbler guided him over to their side, but Flint gave him a smile that said it was worth the try.

"We'll keep an eye on him," promised Dom, and all the other boys around them hummed in agreement as they nodded their heads. Flint took in a gasping breath and made his way back to Kurt's side. The two of them made their way back down the hallway as sound of talking resumed.

"So…" he said as they began to hurry back down the spiral staircase. "who's that Dylan guy?" he asked, giving Flint a mildly suggestive look because he didn't think that he had ever seen Flint giggle like that before. Flint went faintly pink, picking up on Kurt's not so subtle suggestion. Then he shrugged.

"I don't know," Kurt arched an eyebrow at that, and Flint began to blush a little bit more. "I mean," he said, looking embarrassed by his mistake. "that he's just a friend that I have – he offered his support to me in Freshman year, and we chat in the gym from time to time, and in lessons…You remember when I walked out on New Year's day?" he asked, and Kurt nodded. "Well, Blaine went after to me, obviously, but then Dylan came up and said that Sebastian was looking for him so he went, and Dylan stayed with me, and we just talked…We talked for the rest of the day…It was just weird." He gave Kurt a shrug, half smile on his face. Kurt stared at him, assessing the way that he seemed far more relaxed and happier.

"And do you like him?" Flint looked at him, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly.

"Of course I like him; he's my friend." Kurt rolled his eyes, huffing mildly at Flint's pointless evasiveness, and then arched an eyebrow.

"You know that that is not what I meant." Flint sighed, putting his hands in his pockets and giving Kurt a mild shrug.

"I don't really know. I just- I like the way he makes me smile, you know? He makes me feel really easy. I love my friends, no doubt, but…there's just something different about being around him…'cause he doesn't know everything, there's just something different about the tension being not there." Kurt gave him an appraising look, not disagreeing with what he said.

"So is he or is he not The Only Exception?" he asked, just for clarification because he was mildly confused because it sounded like Dylan and Flint had only bonded after New Year whilst Flint had been singing The Only Exception before Christmas. Flint went pink.

"Um…well…you see…" he stared at Kurt, eyes very wide, and then darted off towards Harriot. Before Kurt could quite comprehend the fact that Flint had bolted from his presence when Kurt had asked who he was crushing on, Flint had vanished inside his house. Kurt blinked once, completely taken aback by his decision to flee, and then made his way over to Franklin, shaking his head in bemusement.

Well, that was interesting…I have no idea why he did that…unless…No, he couldn't be- could he? That wouldn't make sense…He's completely normal around me, and I'm not completely oblivious like Blaine so I would notice it…I wonder why he decided to bolt though. He must know that I wouldn't tell anyone… It might just be really embarrassing…like that Herman guy…Or maybe it is Dylan…or, alternatively, he just didn't want me to tease him, and, given our friends, I can't exactly blame him…

---

Blaine hated the first lesson of term. He hated it – not because it was French because French was a doddle – because assembly always killed his brain. Hammonds always said things that were deep and important, and it had the habit of short-circuiting Blaine's brain, and this year was no exception. What Hammonds had said about pressure and talking to someone had really got to Blaine. Blaine had only told Thad about his dad and the threat about Kinzie, and he was now worried that Thad might tell someone. Blaine knew that Thad might think it was the right thing to do, but… Blaine needed Thad to keep it a secret. Dalton couldn't help him with this; no one could.

Glancing at Thad, he saw that the Warbler councillor was busy writing on a piece of paper and not focusing on the lesson. He could see that Madam Marchand was busy talking to a couple of boys at the front about something in French. He could hear David groaning as he attempted to understand what was going on and reckoned now was as good a time as any to silently communicate with Thad. Tearing out a sheet of paper, he picked up his pen and wrote;

Thad, please don't do what Hammonds said.-Blaine

and passed it onto Thad's desk, making sure that David, as opposed to their teacher, didn't notice what he was doing. Glancing back at Thad, he saw that the boy hadn't noticed that Blaine had put the piece of paper on his desk. Rolling his eyes in something between amusement and despair, he poked Thad with the end of his pen. Thad jumped, looking up, and Blaine indicated to the piece of paper with a frown. Thad stared at him with a look of confusion before picking it up. Blaine watched, feeling intensely nervous, as Thad read it, frown in place, before picking up his pen to write a response.

I wasn't going to; you asked me to keep it a secret. However, I think you should tell Sebastian. You know that he would want you to tell him – remember your first night.-Thad

Blaine stared down at the response, biting down on his upper lip, feeling guilty, sick, scared and relieved. He was glad that Thad hadn't been planning to tell anyone about what Blaine had said, but what he had said about Sebastian worried Blaine more. He knew that Thad was right about Sebastian wanting to know about this, but it was also different. Sebastian couldn't help him in the way that he had when Blaine had first come here; no one could change the situation. Also, it had been Sebastian's job to look after Blaine; they were boyfriends now, that meant what they had was different to what they'd had at the beginning.

I know what you mean, he began to write in response, but I can't do it. I need you to trust me in this, Thad. Sebastian can't do anything about it so there's no point worrying him.-B

He handed it back to Thad and watched him scan it with narrowed eyes. He bit down on the inside of his lip once more, trying to fight the overwhelming feeling of panic. David had dropped his head down into his French textbook and was grumbling and groaning about how much he hated foreign languages.

I do trust you.-T

Blaine blinked down at the piece of paper, feeling his lips turn up in a grin at that because his secret was safe. Whatever was going to come of this situation, Blaine knew that he had nothing to fear as far as Thad was concerned. Thad would keep his secret and try to help him because that was Thad did. He just had to worry about the Warblers and Regionals.

"Blaine," said David in a whiny tone of voice as he raised his head from his book, having decided that he wasn't learning anything by banging his forehead into the text, and Blaine hurriedly stuffed the piece of paper away before David could spot it.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning away from Thad and the front to focus on his friend. "What?" David sighed, running a hand over his head.

"Do you think that it's possible my mum could be depressed?" Blaine arched an eyebrow, not entirely sure where that had come from and unable to understand why David would think that Blaine would be able to know whether his mother was depressed.

"Um…I dunno…what makes you think that?" David heaved a sigh, picking up his pen and spinning it around his hand.

"She doesn't want to socialise, she's not eating, she's not really sleeping properly either – she's taking these pills, and I don't know what they do…She doesn't really talk to me, and she's not interested in dating anyone…I mean, it's like she thinks that there's no real point bothering anymore." Blaine swallowed, beginning to understand why David was asking him this. He shrugged.

"I suppose…is this because of her and Adam?" David pulled a face, running a hand over his scalp as he thought.

"I- I don't know…I don't think so because Daley said that Adam's the only person she really talks to when they're on set – she doesn't talk to him or Harper or any of the other actors or people around." He looked over at Blaine with a worried, and Blaine sighed.

"I guess it's possible…I mean, it kind of sounds like it, but…" he shrugged once more. "it's kind of hard to say if you don't know what's bothering her. Maybe you could get Adam to ask." David stared at him in a mildly condescending manner.

"You don't think we haven't already tried that?" he demanded. "Every – friggin' – one of us has asked her! For fuck's sake, Alex popped round to interrogate her, but we've got nothing! She won't tell us anything! She just makes polite small talk and vanishes the moment she sees an opportunity to end the conversation! She won't talk to us at all!" Blaine felt his eyes widen as David practically screamed the last bit of the sentence at him. Every eye in the French class turned to the African-American boy, who was taking deep breaths and attempting to vanish from sight.

"David, mon cher êtes vous d'accord?" "David, my dear, are you alright?" David swallowed and shot Madam Marchand an apologetic smile.

"Oui, Madam," "Yes, Madam," he said, shooting her his most charming smile. The rest of the class stared at him with raised eyebrows and wide eyes as David sunk back into his chair, trying to vanish from view as Thad stared between them with an arched eyebrow that questioned their sanities. Blaine began to chuckle to himself as the class turned back to the front, and David scowled. "Shut up!" he said, glaring at both Blaine and Thad, who was somehow managing to project a baffled yet patronisingly-disdainful air onto David just by raising one eyebrow.

"Vous êtes un idiot," "You are an idiot," said Blaine in his best Sebastian-esque superior voice. "Même moi, je ne crie pas dans la classe!" "Even I don't yell in class!" David shot him a withering glare and stabbed the picture of a random French boy in their textbook with his scissors.

"Je déteste français!" "I hate French!" he moaned, much louder than he intended to. Every eye swivelled back to him. Madam Marchand stared at him, eyebrows arching in a dangerous fashion as David groaned out loud and smashed his face back into the desk.

"Pourquoi?" "Why?" she questioned, still with her eyebrows arched in a menacing fashion, and David, raising his head from his desk, gulped. Blaine pressed his lips together to stop himself from bursting out into hysterical laughter as David screwed his face up and tried to think a way to phrase it that wouldn't get him murdered by the Frenchwoman at the front of the classroom.

"Um…il est difficile…" "Um…it's difficult…" he said, faintly, completely terrified, and Blaine screwed up his face up as hard as he could and clenched his fists so that he didn't burst out into hysterical laughter. "J'aime l'anglais…parce que…j'aime la reine…" "I like English…because…I like the queen…" There was a moment of stunned silence in the classroom as everyone stared at David, either silently questioning whether he knew what he had just said made no sense or trying to work out whether he had genuinely just said what he had.

Blaine looked at Thad, whose eyebrows were still arched, and attempted to hold back his laughter. Thad's face had gone rather red, his lips were pressed firmly together, and Blaine knew that he, too, was seconds from bursting and beginning to laugh. Blaine looked away because eye contact just made his desire to laugh even stronger and waited for David to say something else.

"J'aime la reine pace qu'elle est vielle," "I like the queen because she is old," Blaine blinked once, made eye contact with Thad, and lost all self-restraint as they made "what the fuck?" eyes at each other. They both let out loud cackles of laughter, and Blaine slumped forward over his desk as he began to howl with laughter at what David had said. He could hear the rest of the class chuckling, and Madam Marchand was giggling over the top at his words. "Je déteste français parce que je vous hais tous – en particulier Blaine et Thad!" "I hate French because I hate you all – especially Blaine and Thad!"

---

"I'm still pouting!" said David, folding his arms and glaring at Blaine as Kurt walked into Warbler hall. Kurt looked between David and Blaine with an arched eyebrow as the former sat in his seat with an angry frown and the latter collapsed onto a sofa with laughter.

"Why are you pouting?" asked Kurt, dropping down next Blaine. Blaine doubled up in hysterical laughter whilst the other Juniors – exempting Flint who had gone to find Trent – collapsed into seats around them and began to laugh as well.

"In French," said Blaine, reigning in his laughter as much as he could. "David said, very loudly, that he hated French!" Kurt began to smile in disbelief, arching his eyebrow once more as he looked over at David, who was still pouting. "He then proceeded to say that he hated French because it was hard, and he liked English because of the Queen-" Kurt joined in the snorts of laughter at that. "- and he liked the Queen because she was old…Oh, and he also hates our entire French class, especially me and Thad."

Kurt shook his head, smiling in amusement at what David had said because he completely mucked up the language and the country, as David let out a huffy noise and banged his fists against the table like a two year old. Thad, who was sitting at the other end of the council table and had his phone balanced on the table, snatched it up as he snorted quite loudly at that, and the other boys began to giggle.

Before they could say anything more, though, Wes came striding into the room, flanked by Sebastian and Liam, and a general silence fell as the leader of the Warblers took his seat and surveyed the group of students with an intense look, doing a head count.

"Is Flint with Trent?" asked Wes, noting that the Harriot boy was the only one that was missing. Kurt nodded, and Wes nodded to himself before picking up the gavel and banging it. "Alright, this meeting is very short. Firstly, we're going to only have a couple of rehearsals before we break for the mad sports time so we're not going to get into any serious kind of training for Regionals." There was a round of nodding, and Kurt wondered exactly how crazy this time of the year was with sports fixtures. "So, with that in mind, we need to get our impromptu performance done and dusted as soon as. By that I mean next week. So, any of you thinking of applying for auditions be warned; you've got two days to prep."

"Two days!" yelped Blaine as Kurt's mouth fell open. Two days! Of course, Kurt was going to audition, but he hadn't thought of a song yet! What was he going to do?

"I don't know what you're complaining about, Blaine, you're default lead even if you bomb it." Blaine glared at David as Wes cleared his throat, silencing the chuckles and murmurs from the Warblers.

"Yes, two days, which is why you need to sing something you know, but not anything we've seen before. Also, apply to Luc by the end of the day, and by that I mean you've got until the end of dinner. He'll give the list of all the applicants to us, and tomorrow we'll have a quick meeting to clarify if you've qualified, and we'll offer our nomination if they're not on the list."

Kurt ran a hand through his hair, mind whirring because what did he sing? It was too late to try and do a real performance with props, and there also wasn't much room in Warbler hall for all of that. However, he needed to put himself forward as their best option, and the uniqueness of his voice was the only way to do that so it really had be a show tune or something of the sort…Something that no one else could sing in the same way that he could.

"That's it, I think," said Wes, looking around the room to see if anyone had anything that they wanted to say. There was a silence, and Wes broke out into a grin. "Stop looking so freaked out all of you!" he exclaimed with a grin. "I've been a Warbler long enough to know that we've got this." He grinned at the rest of the group, and Kurt took mild comfort from the way that Wes met his gaze and gave him a small wink. "Alright, meeting adjourned." He slammed the gavel down and noise began to filter back into the room. "Good luck."

Kurt let out a long breath, looking at Blaine, who gave him a weak smile and patted his shoulder. Kurt sighed, still running through all the possible songs that he could do, and hooked his bag onto his shoulder. He fell into step next to Blaine, who was gnawing on his bottom lip, and Jeff and Nick, who also looked like they were in serious thought.

They can't all be auditioning, can they? I reckon I could beat them all, but it's easy to get lost in all the different songs and forget someone's performance…

"Kurt!" Kurt looked around and saw that Flint and Trent were waiting outside Warbler hall. He smiled at the others and walked over to them.

"Hey," he said, smiling at Trent, who looked much better than he had that morning, and noticed that Dom, Al and Warren were hanging around in the corridor. "how were your lessons?" Trent pulled a face.

"This place is way harder than I was anticipating…Those exams didn't prepare me at all," Kurt laughed and nodded in agreement because Dalton's exams were trying, if the end of term ones were like the entrance tests, but they definitely didn't compare to being thrown head first into a lesson.

"You'll get used to it, and everyone is pretty ready to help explain things and share their notes." Trent nodded and managed a stronger, if still nervous, smile.

"We should go in and talk to the council now, if you really want to apply." Trent bit down on the inside of his lip and looked between Kurt and Flint. Kurt gave him an encouraging smile whilst Flint wandered over to Warbler hall, probably to check that the council were still inside.

"Just do what you want," said Kurt, reaching over to put a hand on his shoulder. Trent took a deep breath in and looked around the corridor as Flint moved back to their sides.

"I want to do it…It's just- I haven't auditioned for anything since the Middle School play – and that was the last time I sang a solo!" he took in a huge breath, eyes slightly wide, and Kurt had to admit that if that was him he'd probably be freaking out. Each successful audition and solo helped to build up a reserve of confidence and leaving something alone for several years was, naturally, going to deplete that reserve.

"So, into the lion's mouth or not?" asked Flint. Trent took a deep breath, rubbing his hands together and closing his eyes in thought.

"I want to do it," he said, nodding, and Kurt and Flint broke out into simultaneous grins.

"Alright then," said Flint, clapping his hands down onto Trent's shoulders. "let's go." Kurt walked alongside Trent as they made their way back to Warbler hall, leaving Al, Dom and Warren in the hallway where they had made no move to join in the conversation.

"…I'm saying that we should just consider the option!" Kurt was mildly surprised to find that Wes was arguing with David from where they sat at the council table. Thad was watching the disagreement with narrowed eyes, and Sebastian and Liam were leaning against sofas and listening in.

"I don't think that it would work! We're just getting used to having a duet!" Kurt looked over at Flint with a quirked eyebrow. Flint shrugged and cleared his throat. All eyes turned to them. Sebastian arched an eyebrow, Liam frowned, Thad began to count on his fingers (Kurt had no idea what that was about) and Wes and David shared looks.

"This is Trent," said Kurt, rather unnecessarily because the silence was awkward. "He wants to audition for the Warblers." There was a silence in which Liam nodded, Sebastian rolled his eyes in a "duh" manner, and Wes leaned back in his chair, looking at his deputies.

"That's great!" said David, sending Trent a wide grin. "We're just going to have to put some serious thought into when we audition you because it would be good if you could perform with us next week, but the timing would be tight." Wes was nodding along.

"You don't happen to have a song that you'd feel comfortable performing tomorrow, do you?" asked Wes, looking vaguely hopeful. Kurt looked at Trent with a frown as a pulled a face in thought. Sebastian arched an eyebrow at Wes.

"As head boy, I'm not sure that I can advocate that kind of pressure." Wes held up his hands.

"I'm not saying that you have to, we could do it after the impromptu. It's just the goddamn sports break that we've got."

"Well, there's one song that I think might be good enough," offered Trent in an apprehensive voice, and Kurt had to admire his guts for suggesting that he got up and sung for them all tomorrow given that it had been years since he last sang a solo. There was a pause in which the three councillors looked between each other, clearly making up their minds.

"How does this sound?" asked Wes. "You sing to the council tomorrow, and if we think you're good enough we'll get the Warblers to vote, and then you can sing for them…If it's not, we'll put the audition on hold, and you can do it later. Sound good?" Trent bit down on his bottom lip, looked between Kurt and Flint before nodding.

"Yeah, that sounds really good." Wes smiled at him, grin splitting across his face. David did the same whilst Thad gave him a small smile before his face fell back into a frown over whatever things Thad frowned about.

"Alright," said Wes. "we'll see you tomorrow in here…You can sit in the corner whilst we run over some other stuff, and Flint-" Flint blinked and looked away from where he was examining Trent to meet Wes' eyes. "-solo applications need to be in to Luc by the end of dinner and auditions are in two days." Flint's mouth fell open, eyes going wide, and Wes gave him a grin. "Take it easy, boys," he said, giving them a wave that said the conversation was over. Kurt smiled at the Warblers left in the room before turning around and walking away with Trent and Flint.

"Are you auditioning?" asked Dom the moment they stepped from the room, leaping forward. Trent nodded, looking excited.

"Yeah, tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!" exclaimed Warren, looking at Dom with wide eyes, and Al's eyebrows leapt up his forehead as, for the first time, he looked engaged in the conversation. "Have you got a song?" Trent nodded, walking on instinct away from Kurt and Flint to the boys in his year.

"Yeah…I was singing it quite a bit over Christmas so I hope that it's good. I don't really know, though, because only my parents have heard it, and I don't think I've ever heard them criticise my singing, which is great, but it means that I've got no idea how good I am in reality…"

The conversation faded as he walked away with the Warbler Sophomores down the corridor. Kurt turned to Flint with a grin, glad that Trent was fitting in so easily and making friends without having to try. If there was one thing that Kurt hadn't wanted at all was for Trent to struggle in the same way that Kurt had in slotting into Dalton.

"He makes it look effortless, doesn't he?" said Flint, walking so that he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Kurt. Kurt nodded, smiling even wider at that. "He was chatting to Warren about Miles Davis, or something, like he'd known him his whole life when I went to see him at the end of the day."

"That's great," said Kurt, letting out a long breath in relief. "I mean, I was kind of worried that his first couple of days would be like mine, but I think it's going better…"

"Well, the situations are really different," said Flint, giving him a sympathetic smile as they began to walk away from Warbler hall – ignoring the raised voices that suggested that there was trouble in paradise as far as Wes and David's rule of the Warblers went. "I mean, you'd been through a terrible time, and you were put completely on edge by the scholarship thing – not to the mention the fact that our year is the only one that has a giant divide in it, which you managed to stumble right into the middle of."

"I suppose," said Kurt and then glanced at Flint. He looked better than this morning. "Look, I'm sorry if I upset you." Flint's face turned into one of confusion, and Kurt rolled his eyes. "You fled my presence this morning…"

"Oh," said Flint, blushing. "I'm sorry about that…I just- I get kind of jumpy about it…Um, as you may have noticed we tease each other mercilessly, and I- well- let's say, they're not quite as blind as Blaine so it would be- it would be awkward if they knew, and I- I just…" he faltered, going really pink in embarrassment, and Kurt rolled his eyes, taking pity on the flustered boy.

"It's alright…I understand, of course…You don't have to say if you don't want to. I was simply curious to know if Dylan was The Only Exception." Flint looked around, clearly worried about whether their conversation might be overheard by someone.

"He's- he's not," admitted Flint, once he was sure that there was no one near them. "but…but I think I might like him in a- in a more-than-friends-way, but I- I just don't know…" he looked up at Kurt, confusion plain in his eyes, and Kurt sighed and shrugged.

"It's hard," he admitted. "because whenever you're around them-" and there was no question which person he was talking about. "-you're constantly trying to work out whether they like you, and you get lost in how much you love them, but…" he turned to Flint with a serious expression on his face. "I'm really happy with Keats; he says the most ridiculous things, and he makes me feel so special…All that pain that you get about knowing that they'd never look at you that, it just vanishes…" he looked at his friend, who was biting on his bottom lip in a nervous manner. "If you like him, then you have nothing to lose by asking him out or just suggesting it or whatever you feel comfortable with." Flint nodded, giving him a smile that said thank you.

"Thanks Kurt," he said. "I think- I think need some time to think about this, but thank you for that…I normally talk about this with Blaine, but Blaine's perspective has changed now that he and Sebastian are together – he thinks our situations are the same, but they're not because it was completely obvious that Sebastian liked him…sorry," he added, looking apologetically at Kurt for the mention of Sebastian and Blaine and how they were completely in love blah, blah, blah… Kurt shrugged because he'd heard it all before.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I've heard it so many times before that it doesn't really bother me." Flint stared at him in disbelief. Kurt heaved a sigh. "Alright, I dislike it, but I can also accept it better now, and I think that Keats helped with that." Flint nodded in understanding.

"Yeah…I'm going to go for a walk…" he said, scrunching up his face into a frown. He made to walk away before stopping and turning back to Kurt. "Oh, and Kurt, I know that you have plans of maybe trying to get us to make up, and I'm really sorry for this, but you're going to have to count me out – I'm not befriending that boy again on my life." There was a pause in which Kurt stared at him, blinking in confusion as Flint's entire boy stiffened. Kurt frowned and looked around, immediately spotting Keats, who had silently appeared by Kurt's shoulder.

"Um…" said Kurt, not entirely sure what to say because Flint's statement had come completely out of the blue.

"See you around," said Flint, turning around and hurrying off. Kurt stared after him, mind struggling to think of a farewell before he turned to look at Keats, who looked really casual with the whole situation.

"Don't worry," said Keats, giving Kurt a small smile. "I won't make trouble, even though I did apologise properly to him – not like the other ones that I gave because Hammonds made me." Kurt bit down on the inside lip, looking back in the direction that Flint had vanished before shrugging.

"I'll bare that in mind," he said, looking back up at his boyfriend. "How was your first day?" Keats shrugged.

"Nothing special, how was the new boy that you were orientating?"

"Alright, actually," said Kurt as they began to walk off down the hallway. "Hammonds only wanted me because he went to McKinley, but I didn't know him." Keats nodded.

"I take it that he wasn't out at McKinley." Kurt nodded.

"No, he wasn't, he came out to his parents, and they freaked out about the situation there – his dad is on the board of governors, but, apparently, he didn't want to overturn Karofsky's expulsion – and decided to transfer him here over Christmas. They agreed he wouldn't come out to the people at McKinley."

"I see…" said Keats, coming to a halt at random and suddenly pulling Kurt into an abandoned classroom. Kurt blinked in surprise as Keats closed the doors and guessed, from the set-up of the chairs and tables, that this was where the debate club met.

"Um, I'm all for making out in empty classrooms, but if we get caught then we could get in pretty big trouble." Keats looked at him with an amused smile on his face.

"Don't worry, this will be completely gentlemanly." He walked so that he was standing before Kurt, taking his hands in his. "It occurred to me, and I'm sure that it's occurred to you too, that we've never been on an actual date." Kurt smiled at that because he knew exactly where this was going. However, he didn't say anything because he wanted, desperately, for Keats to ask his question. Keats looked at him, knowing in a second what Kurt was thinking, and smiled wider. "So, baring that in mind, I was wondering whether you would do me the honour of accompanying me on a date this Saturday?" Kurt broke out into an even wider grin, eyebrow arching.

"Did you think for one second that I would say no?" he asked, and Keats rolled his eyes.

"I was simply trying to be romantic. I'll remember never to try that again." Kurt laughed at him, shaking his head.

"Of course, I'll go out with you this Saturday."

"Perfect," said Keats, drawing Kurt a little bit closer to him. "I was thinking that we could leave about two and go into Westerville. We can do whatever, and then have dinner in a restaurant; I've got the reservation made already so you don't have to worry about a thing."

"Except what I'm wearing," he pointed out, and Keats rolled his eyes once more.

"Naturally," he commented in a dry tone of voice. Kurt took on of his hands back and whacked at Keats. Keats let out a pronounced "oww!" of pain and pulled his face in a very pained expression. "Kurt, how could you do that to me?" Kurt rolled his eyes and stared at him in his best disdainful manner, shaking his head.

"Honestly," he said in a lofty manner, and Keats straightened up, winding his free hand around Kurt's waist, pulling him close. Kurt licked his lips slightly as Keats leant down to kiss him, and-

The door banged open and made them jump apart. Kurt looked past Keats, who had spun around to stare at the door, and saw that the debating team, including Chris, were standing there, staring at them. Kurt swallowed, flushing a little bit despite them not having been doing anything.

"Um," said Chris, who seemed to be the focus of all the eyes. "this room is now occupied…" There was an awkward silence as Kurt saw Keats roll his eyes. "I think the chess room is free." He added with the faintest of winks. Kurt raised an eyebrow. Chris shrugged. "Anything to preserve Juri's innocence," he said with another shrug as the rest of the team broke out into laughter. Kurt rolled his eyes at that because he had to admit that he did like Juri being sweet and innocent, even if Kurt had been advocating him getting a girlfriend. However, his reason was the same one that he had given Flint; getting over people was easier done with someone else.

"I think we had better leave," muttered Keats, and they quickly slipped past the other boys who were already talking about other things as they made their way to their seats, and Kurt was glad that there was no teacher around. "So," said Keats, turning to Kurt once they were alone again. "want to come back to my room?" Kurt swallowed, sorely tempted to say yes, but he also wanted to put his name down to Luc, and he was worried that he would forget if he went with Keats.

"I think," he said, putting his hands on Keats' blazer and smoothing out the fabric. "that I had better put my name down with Luc…I don't want to forget." Keats' head tilted to the side, and Kurt wondered whether he might have offended him.

"Solo?" he asked, and Kurt shook his head.

"Lead," he corrected, and Keats rolled his eyes.

"Details, details…the point is that you would be amazing in either." Kurt flushed, smiling at the compliment even though he knew that he was amazing.

"Well," he said, taking a step back from Keats. "I need to go find him."

"Good luck on your quest," Kurt rolled his eyes, shaking his head at his boyfriend's silliness, and turned to walk away. He felt buoyed as he made his way back to the music corridor because he could be a Warbler lead, and, more importantly, he was going on his first date! Keats was taking him out to dinner, and Kurt could feel himself flushing in anticipation of that night. How could he possibly wait until Saturday? He was completely giddy, and he felt like skipping down the halls, but he didn't because that would be rather embarrassing, and he knew the boys here well enough to know that they were tease him for doing so mercilessly.

Even if he managed to restrain skipping through Dalton, he was certainly walking faster because he reached the now empty Warbler hall much quicker than he had been expecting. He could hear voices drifting through from Luc's office as he closed the doors to Warbler hall behind him and was tempted to come back later, but listening in for a moment that they weren't talking about anything serious;

"I said that you'd like him!" was the exclamation from Daley, and Kurt could hear Luc grumbling something about bird protection and supposed that Cameron was there too. He crossed the room and opened the door to Luc's office, looking in. Sure enough, Cameron Gaylin was standing in Luc's messy office, bright yellow canary standing on his finger. The two red haired boys were watching him, Luc with mildly narrowed eyes and Daley with a smile.

"Evening Master von Trapp," said Luc as Cameron jolted at his appearance, and Daley gave him a small smile. "Your name is now on my mental list of people," Kurt blinked at him, not entirely sure whether that meant he'd applied and looked around for a little bit of help.

"You should write it down Luc," said Daley, and Kurt was mildly surprised by the fact that Daley was so casual around Luc and called him that because hadn't he been told that you could only do that if you were one of his "music kids", and Daley wasn't into music.

"I would, but I don't want to take my eyes of him." Luc jabbed his finger in an unnecessarily forceful manner at Cameron, who blinked in alarm. Daley, however, simply rolled his eyes.

"Firstly, Cam ate budgies, not canaries, and, secondly, you know that story is bull."

"Still…I don't trust blondes to look after living things – or anything, for that matter." Cam's eyebrows leapt up his head, and Kurt found himself laughing, quietly, in amusement as Daley huffed and folded his arms.

"Look, I won't argue with you in regards to the cleverest boy in Dalton being a brunette, but not all blondes are stupid." Luc glared at Daley, whose posture was a lot more casual than Kurt had seen it out of Sebastian or Morrison's presence.

"You know, I preferred you when you were scared of me." Daley rolled his eyes, grinning easily.

"Well, I preferred you when you ignored me." Luc chuckled and rolled his eyes, moving over to his desk to scribble down Kurt's name on a piece of paper.

"So I can really look after Pavarotti?" asked Cameron, eyes wide in hope, jumping into the conversation when Luc was laughing because it was one of few real indicators as to Luc's mood. Luc looked up and narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"If a single feather on his body is harmed, you will experience a painful death-" Daley snorted loudly at that for whatever reason, and Luc shot him a brief glare before turning back to Cameron. "-but, yes, I don't see why not…Just don't let Braden touch him; he's a good cellist, but I don't trust any of these boys after what his year-" Kurt was surprised that Luc jabbed his thumb viciously in his direction. "-did to all the others." Kurt frowned, looking between them in confusion.

"Sorry, what did my year do?" There was a moment before Luc burst into hysterical laughter. Kurt arched an eyebrow, looking over at Daley for answers. The ginger boy shrugged in a marginally casual fashion, something in his jaw tensing a little bit.

"I wasn't there, but, in short, they killed off all the Warbler mascots." Kurt arched an eyebrow, not entirely sure what Daley meant by "Warbler mascots".

"What he means," said Luc, gasping for air and turning to Kurt with a huge grin on his face. "is that they killed off Pav's brothers and sisters…There's an unbroken line of canaries going right back to the founding of Dalton, and each new member of the Warblers was given a "Warbler" to look after for a term. It was a sacred tradition…until your year came along. David's escaped and died on the lacrosse pitch, Jeff's died of a stroke or something of the sort, and Nick poisoned his and Flint's…Pavarotti, here, was the sole survivor of the massacre; he was Thad's. I decided after that to end the tradition, especially after Blaine was the next new Warbler, and he had a hard enough time looking after himself…it totally would have been a bad idea to give him Pav here."

"Though, Luc is a terrible carer of him. Often Sutherland and Hartfield kidnap him so that he survives!" Luc laughed in an uproarious fashion, and Kurt had to question why Luc found that story so funny, but then he decided not to because it was Luc.

"Now, I remember why you're a comic actor! All those months of depression are coming to an end! Hallelujah!" Kurt wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he thought he saw Daley flinch at the mention of "depression", but he shook it off with a grin.

"I have to admit that I like being back at Dalton…it does make it easier to be comic, but you're the only person who would find that comic."

"I am not the only person that would find it funny! Cam was giggling! And Pavarotti was expressing his amusements too!"

"Pavarotti is a bird! How can he be "expressing his amusements"? All I see expressed here is your insanity, and your inability to cope with the fact that you have an appalling sense of humour!" Kurt turned around, shaking his head as he laughed, and left the room to the sound of Luc and Daley bickering about whether or not Luc had a good sense of humour because he found Daley funny.

---

Blaine sat down in the common room, folding one leg over the other and frowning in thought. He had never had to get a song prepared in such a short space of time – or so he thought, he often forget things like that because the days blended together in his head. He couldn't think of song that was good enough for him to perform in such a short space of time. He knew that this was probably the hardest audition that he was going to have to do because of Kurt. Kurt had an amazing voice, and he had to be the council nomination which would put him at the top of the soloist list.

Blaine loved Kurt's voice, and he thought Kurt was amazing and definitely deserved to have a solo or a lead or whatever, but Blaine also loved the fact that he and Sebastian got to sing duets together. He loved singing with him because he loved looking into his eyes whilst listening to his sumptuous voice that rolled over Blaine in amazing waves, and just made him want to leap onto Sebastian and kiss him until they passed out from oxygen deprivation. That, and Blaine wouldn't have much longer to sing with Sebastian. Kurt would have his entire Senior year here.

He reckoned that he could probably pull out some Katy Perry song, but that might count as something the council had seen before. He ran a hand through his hair and decided that his best option was probably to go upstairs, turn on his iPod and listen to music until he found the song to sing. He got to his feet, ignoring all the guys that were laughing and groaning about the amount of homework that they had already had piled onto them.

He picked his way away from them, trying not to think about his dad's threat for one second, and headed towards the stairs at a really slow pace because instead of the usual feelings of hope and joy that he got at Dalton, he felt nothing but hopelessness and despair. He couldn't believe that just hours earlier he had been in hysterics over what David had said in French because he didn't feel like he could ever laugh again. The thought of never laughing again made him want to cry, and he swallowed heavily as he made his way up to his room, picking up his iPod he flopped down onto the bed, face first, and closed his eyes. Automatically, he put the headphones in his ears and started the music.

Blaine wasn't sure how long he lay there listening to a random mess of Disney songs, recent pop music and classic rock. He listened to every track, but not once did he ever spring upright with a grin on his face because he had found the perfect song to sing. In fact, he was sure that he was drifting off to sleep as he listened to David Bowie's Rebel Rebel, which wasn't exactly a soothing song that would normally put him to sleep. However, before, he could doze off completely, the sound of the door opening and closing cut through the sound of Bowie's voice. He rolled over and saw that it was Sebastian. He sat up with a smile on his face, turning off his iPod.

"Bastian," he said with a grin. Sebastian came to sit down on the bed, leaning over to press his lips to Blaine's. Blaine leant forward into the kiss, but Sebastian pushed him down onto the bed, tongue slipping out of his mouth and into Blaine's waiting one. Sebastian ran a hand through Blaine's hair, running it down his face, along the curve of his neck and beginning to work loose Blaine's tie. Blaine raked his soft hand through Sebastian's hair. It was so soft, and he loved the way that Sebastian emitted low noises whenever he tugged on it. He let out a low groan as Sebastian's lips pressed against his neck and struggled to get his brain into gear. He needed to talk about the solo.

"Blaine…" groaned Sebastian, pulling out an astonishing pair of puppy-dog eyes, and Blaine wanted to cave and give in because Sebastian wanted him that badly, and it made him want to swoon. "Please stop trying my self-restraint…" he was breathing deeply and shallowly. Blaine attempted to control his own breathing because he just wanted to jump forward and lock his lips back over Sebastian's and run his hands straight back through his hair.

"What about the lead auditions?" he said, removing Sebastian's hands from his body because they were rubbing against his chest in a highly distracting manner. "Two days! I don't think we're going be duetting next week!" Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"I forgot what I came here to tell you!" he said, smiling at Blaine in a manner that made him flush because he knew that Sebastian insinuating that he was so good-looking – hot – that he'd managed to make Sebastian forget all about what he had meant to tell Blaine. "I spoke to Wes, and, because it's either one of the people auditioning or us, we can sing together!" Blaine felt his eyes widen in surprise, heart beating that he thought it would at such an innocuous statement.

"We can?" he asked in amazement. Sebastian nodded, waiting for the inevitable explosion of relief and happiness that would come. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, lunging at Sebastian. Sebastian caught him easily, nuzzling slightly into Blaine's neck. "I love you!" he exclaimed, leaning back before kissing Sebastian on lips. He drew back before Sebastian could deepen the kiss and get them distracted again.

"I know that you love me, you say it all the time!" Blaine rolled his eyes, shaking his head in amusement.

"You're meant to say that you love me too," he said, pulling out his own puppy-dog eyes. He fixed the most baleful look his could onto his face and made his bottom lip tremble, waiting for Sebastian to roll his eyes and give his response. Sebastian heaved a huge sigh and rolled his eyes.

"I love you too, Blaine…Now can we please make out? I swear that I cannot resist you for any longer!"

"But what song are we going to sing?" demanded Blaine, eyes wide open in panic. Sebastian rolled his eyes, letting out a soft groan.

"Can we please have this conversation later? I have some ideas that I think you'll like, but I really need you right now." Blaine could feel himself flushing an even darker shade of crimson, an effect that Sebastian often had on him, and he wanted to say no and demand to know what the songs that Sebastian had chosen were and when they were going to practise, but… Sebastian was staring at him with such an intense look in his eyes that it made him want to melt.

"Okay…" he whispered, mouth turning up into a smile at the spark of happiness that flared up in Sebastian's eyes at his words. Sebastian slid closer to him on the bed and then stopped, glancing at Blaine's door.

"What are the chances of Thad walking in a disturbing us?" he asked, eyebrow arching. Blaine, whose whole body was tense in anticipation, deflated and shrugged.

"I dunno!" he exclaimed, glaring at Sebastian for saying that he needed Blaine and then stopping before they could do anything. "Quite high, I suppose." Sebastian rolled his eyes and grabbed Blaine's hands.

"Come on, I don't want any more interruptions." Blaine managed an amused smile as Sebastian dragged him out of his room, walking backwards down the corridor with complete confidence that no one would dare walk into him because – you know – he was Sebastian, and they would die if they walked into Sebastian or tripped him up or whatever.

"Are you sure Daley won't come in?" asked Blaine in apprehension because he would much rather that Thad walked in on them than Daley. In fact, he'd rather anyone, which included Mrs Daniels, walk in on them than Daley, especially given that she had done that and hadn't actually done anything to punish them…though, she had been distracted by Trinity doing rather strange things. Sebastian gave him a level glare that told him he was a complete idiot for thinking that Sebastian hadn't already considered it.

"Blaine… sexy," he said in a low voice that made him weak at the knees. "you need to think less…much less…" Blaine wanted to roll his eyes and tell Sebastian to shut up, but Sebastian was staring at him again in a manner that so intense it made him both nervous and excited.

"Okay, but only if you do too!" Sebastian let out a low chuckle, rolling his eyes and shooting Blaine a condescending look.

"You know that that is impossible, Blaine…Besides, I'm not sure that you would want me too…" Blaine stared at Sebastian, for some reason feeling even more light headed and blushing. He let out a small giggle as Sebastian dragged him into his room, and Blaine made sure to kick the door closed behind him.

---

"Alright boys," said Wes, banging the gavel. Kurt looked over at Trent, who was standing in a corner, and then glanced back to Wes. "I will be quick about this because we might have a new Warbler, but the people auditioning are Tyler Drummond, Nick Duval, Warren Gallagher, Kurt Hummel, Liam Madden, Jeff Sterling and Flint Wilson." Kurt let out a relieved sigh, glad that he'd qualified for a solo even though he knew that it would be insane if he didn't. "Congratulations, boys; you'll be auditioning in that order tomorrow after Sebastian and Blaine."

Kurt swallowed, not keen on going after the original leads because he had no doubt that both Sebastian and Blaine would be amazing, and that would probably make the others more likely to go for them. He looked around the room as his back was patted by Francis, who was standing behind him, and saw that all the boys were smiling at any of the people whose names had been read out. He was mildly surprised that most of the boys that were auditioning were in his year with only one boy each from the other three. He supposed, though, that Liam was the only Senior that could compete against Sebastian.

"Okay then," said Wes. "we're going to go and listen to Trent's song. Thad, can you make sure that Luc is there?" Thad nodded and left the room. "On interest, how many of you would vote yes?" There was a pause before Kurt began to put his hand up. Slowly, after apparent consideration, the rest of the hands went up. Wes nodded, looking at David as he stood up. "Good, Trent, come on." Kurt smiled at Trent, whose face had broken out into a smile at the show of hands, looked incredibly nervous.

"You'll be fine," said Flint, sitting forward with a big smile. "Just sing your absolute best." Kurt nodded and moved to say something more, but Wes was already ushering Trent out of the room. Kurt gave him a big smile instead before Trent walked out of the room, and David closed the door behind them.

A very calm silence fell over Warbler hall now that the figures of authority were gone. Kurt sat back into the sofa and looked sideways at Blaine. Blaine turned to look at him, smiling, as other conversations began to happen.

"Have you decided what you're going to sing?" he asked. Blaine pulled a face and shook his head.

"The council decided that me and Sebastian could sing together-" Kurt arched an eyebrow in surprise, having thought that the council would be quite strict on making them audition as individuals. "Oh, they are," said Blaine, smiling, and Kurt had to admit that there was something incredibly captivating about his smile, and he was amazed by Blaine's ability to instantly read what Kurt was thinking from a single arched eyebrow. "but because it's either me and Sebastian or any of you, they thought that it was only fair that we should audition as one." Kurt nodded, seeing sense in that. "-anyway," said Blaine, rolling his eyes. "we kind of got…um…distracted…" he went pink in the face as Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I see…I'm struggling to think of a song." Blaine gave him a calm smile and put a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring manner.

"Don't worry, you'll find one…just don't be too ambitious; go for something simple that you can sing well compared to something extravagant that could flop." Kurt nodded, pulling a face that said he already knew that but still couldn't think of a song. "The way I think of it," continued Blaine, seeing that Kurt hadn't gained anything from what Blaine had said. "is that if I can't sing it perfect off the cuff then it's not the right song," Kurt arched an eyebrow.

"And there are lots of songs that you can get perfect "off the cuff" that would be good for an audition?" Blaine shrugged, noting the disbelieving look on Kurt's face.

"Trust me, get your iPod, turn it on and wait for the right song." Kurt sighed, accepting that there wasn't much wrong with Blaine's suggestion except for the length of time that it took to do. He looked around the room as Blaine patted his shoulder in a sympathetic manner and was unnerved to see that Sebastian was staring at him…or was he staring at Blaine, Kurt couldn't tell…Either way, it was weird because he wasn't glaring at Kurt or staring in that strange way that he did at Blaine. "Ignore Bastian," said Blaine, softly, and Kurt jumped, having been unaware that Blaine had noticed where he was looking.

"What is he doing?" asked Kurt in a low voice so that Sebastian didn't hear because if Sebastian had spooky hearing like Mrs Daniels than Kurt wouldn't be surprised. Blaine shrugged.

"I don't know, but you should just ignore him…The last time I took him seriously in one of his funny moods we had that row, so I think it's best to just pretend that he's not looking at us." Kurt pulled a face and then turned back to Blaine.

"So…do you have any idea who's going to get the lead?" he asked. Blaine shrugged, pulling a thoughtful face.

"No, normally the last round is me versus Sebastian, and then they decide that we should duet, and Nick is often the one that gets through to the penultimate round, but you, Flint and Tyler all stand a really good chance to get it." Kurt nodded, frown in place, though, over the mention of rounds.

"Blaine," he said, beginning to feel mildly worried because he had no idea how these auditions worked because they weren't exactly how he'd imagined them if they were done in rounds. "what did you mean when you said that you and Sebastian got to the "last round" all the time, and Nick gets to the "penultimate round"? Don't we just…sing?" Blaine blinked at him once before breaking out an apologetic smile.

"Oh, Kurt, I'm sorry, I completely forgot that we didn't have auditions for the Winter Concert so you don't know how this works!" Kurt felt something twist inside of him at that, but Blaine immediately shot him an easy grin and patted his arm. "You'll be fine if you stay calm, and there's no need to worry, Kurt, I'm sorry that we didn't explain this to you earlier." Kurt shrugged.

"That's fine, just do it now!" Blaine laughed at him, and Kurt could feel an involuntary smile breaking out at the sound.

"Okay, so, first, the default leads – so me and Bastian – sing our song, and then all the challengers – you guys – sing your songs, and you perform in alphabetical order. Then you all go out of the room, and we vote for whoever we think should go out. Then the challengers left sing, we vote one out, and then you sing again, and we vote, blah blah blah…"

"So, you and Sebastian can vote?" he asked with a confused frown. Blaine stared at him for a second, blinking, before shaking his head.

"Oh no, me and Bastian can't vote, but we can input…What happens is we send you out of the room, and we discuss and vote, and then the default lead – it'll probably be me because Sebastian hates doing it – will come out and say who went through and who didn't. Then we do that over and over until there's one challenger left. Then the default lead sings again, and they do, and then we vote for the lead that we want." Kurt nodded, trying to work out how many times he would have to sing to get the lead. "There aren't normally this many people auditioning," said Blaine, giving him a half-smile that was clearly meant to be encouraging. "I have to admit that feels good to know that I only have to sing twice…finally." Kurt frowned at that.

"Weren't you the default lead?" he asked. Blaine heaved a sigh.

"No, technically that was Sebastian because I never won it off him because we sang duets so I had to sing more than twice, but there weren't that many of us so it wasn't that bad." Kurt nodded once more, reckoning that he would have to sing about seven times to get the lead…Oh God, that was going to be a long rehearsal, and he would be lucky not to lose his voice.

The door opened before Kurt could say anything back to Blaine, and Wes came back in, leading David, who was holding a CD player, and Trent. Thad brought up the rear and shut the doors to the hall before dashing to his seat. Trent took a couple of deep breaths, eyes searching out the friendly faces of the boys that he knew, and Kurt gave him the most encouraging smile that he could. Trent swallowed and nodded to David, who pushed play.

I'm still feeling the rain fall

Bouncing off my skin

How long do I have to wait for

The sun to shine again?

Kurt felt an instant smile break out across his face at the song because, not only was Trent's voice filled with confidence, it was overflowing with hope. Kurt knew that, even though he hadn't been out, he had suffered at McKinley. He'd been forced to suffer in silence, keeping who he was squashed down inside of him out of fear, and he – just like Kurt – had been sitting there wondering how much longer was he going to have to go on like this. How long would it take for things to get better?

Come on paint me a rainbow

So I can follow it

I don't know where it'll take me

But I like wondering

Kurt was also glad to hear the fact that Trent seemed to have gotten the easiest way to enjoy Dalton very quickly; he was ready to sit back and let the rollercoaster take him on whatever ups and downs and loops that it had. Kurt knew that trying to understand Dalton did your head in because it was madhouse, but he got the impression that Trent was looking forward to all of that – he was looking forward to everything because he finally had things to look forward to!

Whoever you are

Where will you be?

Are you the same old dreamer?

Out there waiting only for me?

His voice seemed to lift slightly higher, filled with sweet hope and joy, and all Kurt could do was relax into the sofa and simply listen to Trent's voice. He could hear the excitement in Trent's voice which Kurt could completely empathise with because this was the school that allowed people to genuinely believe that love was something that could really happen. That there was that special person – the one – out there someone.

Waiting for love

Waiting for the same old dreamer

On the other side

Hoping that no matter how far

I'm gonna to find my way to you

Following a rainbow…

Kurt looked sideways and saw that Blaine's face was split into a wide grin. He met Kurt's eyes, and Kurt could see, instantly, that he was completely relieved that there was one gay person that could come to Dalton for safety and a place to be who they really were and not be in a rut of depression after having their lives endangered…That fact had almost as much hope in it as Trent's voice. Trent was here. He was okay, but, more than that, he had quickly grasped the fact that he had everything to believe in…

Glancing around the room, Kurt could see that most of the other Warblers had similar smiles and relaxed expressions on their faces. Kurt looked at Flint and saw that he had a thoughtful expression on his face; left elbow propped up on the arm of the sofa and cheek squished into the palm of his left hand with rather glazed eyes, like he was thinking about, or seeing, things that were not in the room. Sebastian looked a lot less creepy than he had when Kurt had last looked at him because he was leaning against a table, and had the same mild frown that he'd worn when Kurt had been auditioning.

Now that Kurt thought about it, though, he could understand why. Trent didn't sound like someone that hadn't sung solo in years…He sounded easily as good as- as Kurt himself did, especially now that he had fallen into the song completely. Kurt had to admit that he was torn somewhere between amazement at that, and complete frustration at the amount of competition there was in the Warblers. Given the fact that Sebastian and Blaine seemed to consistently sing solo, he had assumed that the others weren't as good, but then he remembered the play…Oh, he was very lucky that Trent didn't have his crest yet.

Oh, oh, oh, oh…

Stuck in my mind

I'm wasting time

Still on my own

Kurt was drawn back into reality as Trent reached the middle eight. Looking over at the boy, he saw that his eyes were closed as he became lost in his own song. Kurt knew, though, that these words would be resonating deeply within him; his identity was stuck inside of him, not gaining anything and all on his own.

I never thought that

I would find my way

Into the light

Dreaming to find…

And, of course, he would never have thought that he would find Dalton because no one in that situation did. They believed it was out there – they hoped it was out there – but they never thought that they'd find the place where it was normal for boys to ask each other out or to kiss under the mistletoe, even if they weren't gay, just because it was there. It was a dream…not a normal, boring dream, though, more like one of the gas induced Britney dreams some of the New Directions had had, but a dream nonetheless.

Wherever you are?

Where will you be?

Are you the same old dreamer?

Out there waiting only for me?

Trent opened his eyes as the backing dropped back into the simply guitar chords from the beginning. He looked around at the all the Warblers, and Kurt knew that he, like Kurt had, was taking heart from all the smiles in the room, was finding solace in people that respected a guy's ability to sing, and had sort of already found the end of the rainbow.

Waiting for love

Waiting for the same old dreamer

On the other side

Hoping that no matter how far

I'm gonna to find my way to you

Following a rainbow…

I know we're gonna find it

I know we're gonna find it

I won't let you go…

Following a rainbow…

Kurt burst into applause along with all the other Warblers. Trent was scarlet in the face, taking in some deep breaths, and Kurt guessed that he was feeling giddy and lightheaded from the rapturous applause he was getting. Trent ran a hand through his hair, and Kurt shot him a wink, also giving him the thumbs up. Trent let out a little laugh as Wes' voice cut through all the noise being generated by the Warblers.

"All in favour of welcoming Trent Nixon to the Warblers?" All hands shot into the air, and Trent let out a relieved sigh, sagging slightly. "Alright," said Wes, banging his gavel loudly so that people would shut up. "let's wrap this up. I look forward to the auditions tomorrow."

---

"Blaine," Blaine looked up from his desk as Flint's head appeared around the door. Blaine broke into a grin and beckoned him in. Flint took some rather nervous looking steps into the room and dropped down onto Thad's bed. "I was expecting Sebastian to be here," said Flint, and Blaine felt himself blushing scarlet for no other reason than the fact that Sebastian had been here and that Blaine wasn't sure that his uniform and hair was neat enough to convince anyone that they'd been singing.

"Um…he left to…do…things…" Flint stared at him, eyes swooping up and down Blaine's figure, and Blaine felt himself go even pinker as a knowing expression filtered onto Flint's face.

"I take it that you got a lot of practise done," he said, winking with a smirk on his face. Blaine scowled, fighting a smile at the memories, and threw his pen down onto his work.

"We did," he replied, shortly, getting up and sitting down on his bed, nervously smoothing out the bedspread under Flint's amused gaze. "Stop looking at me like that!" he exclaimed, face going even redder because he couldn't quite take the implications of things that were completely true because there was no way to deny that he and Sebastian had spent more time making out than singing.

"Alright…" said Flint, still smirking in a manner that Blaine knew was unstoppable. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something. Where's Thad?" Blaine blinked, frowning because if Flint's question really was "where is Thad?" than why had come to Blaine because Blaine didn't know where Thad was any more than the next person.

"Um, no idea…he's either at gym or out doing Thad things… Why?" Flint shrugged, looking around the room in a manner that suggested he was expecting Thad to leap out at them, which Thad definitely wouldn't do, but Blaine knew that most of the others would do it because he'd been scared out of his wits several times by them doing it to him.

"I would rather that we weren't disturbed," said Flint in a very dry tone of voice. "and I know that Thad keeps his mouth shut, in general, but I have a feeling that I'll lose my nerve if there's any delay." Blaine blinked at him, eyebrows arching in intrigued confusion. Flint sighed. "Look, Kurt gave me some advice, and I think that I want to act on it, but I wanted to talk to you about it." Blaine nodded, feeling a little bit of concern building up inside of him.

"What advice?" he asked, and Flint swallowed, twisting his fingers together.

"I think- I think I like someone else, and I- I- I'm really confused." Blaine hopped off his bed as Flint pressed the palms of his hands against his forehead and let out a long groan. He sat down next to Flint and put a comforting hand on his back, rubbing his shoulder blade.

"It's alright…" he said in reassurance, presenting a calm exterior so that Flint would feel better, but on the inside he was desperate to know who this other person that Flint may like was. "Who do you like?" Flint let out a long groan, dropping his head forward before grunting out;

"Dylan," and then slumping face down into Thad's bedcovers. Blaine blinked once, trying to remember what Dylan's sexuality was, and wondered just when the hell this had started.

"Um…" he said, not really sure what to say. "and Dylan definitely swings our way, right?" Flint let out an indistinct mumble into the bedclothes before he pushed himself up, turning to face Blaine.

"He's bi," said Flint, and Blaine nodded because that was a start…that was good, actually, unless Dylan was with someone. "He's also single," added Flint, quickly catching onto Blaine's train of thought. "He had a girlfriend, but they broke up in the summer." Blaine nodded, trying to work out what Flint wanted him to say and/or do.

"Do you know why they broke up?" he asked, eventually, because he was running short of things to say in this conversation that wasn't really a conversation because of how stilted things were.

"She had an affair with some guy that went to her high school…Long distance didn't work out, that kind of thing." Blaine nodded in understanding.

"Okay, so I take it that having two crushes on two different guys is what's confusing you?" Flint nodded, looking thoroughly miserable. Blaine sighed, sitting back on the bed and thinking back to that bamboozling time when he had been coming to terms with the fact that he liked – had fallen in love with – Sebastian and, yet, was still crushing on Garth.

"I mean, Kurt told me that I had nothing to lose by, you know, asking him out, but…I feel like I'm giving up on it forever, and, even though I know that he doesn't – he'd never – like me like that, I feel like shit and like a failure." Blaine rubbed his shoulder some more, thinking carefully over what had been said.

"Well, I think Kurt's right about asking Dylan out, and…Flint, it's really hard to deal with at first, but it'll probably make you happier in the long run…You've been hung up on Nick for years, and I think, if you're not going to ask him out, then you should definitely make a move, but only if you really want to. Don't do it because we've told you it's for the best, do it because it'll make you happy or because you think he's really hot-" Flint went mildly pink and looked away at Blaine's suggestive look. "-or whatever, just make sure that's what you really want before you take the plunge."

Flint nodded, looking down at his hands, and Blaine sighed mildly, but let his friend fall into contemplative silence. He knew that Flint would reach the conclusion that was right for him, and Blaine was glad that Flint wasn't fixating on whether or not Dylan would like him because it seemed to prove that Flint had some shred of self-esteem left in him. He couldn't describe how glad that made him because it meant that Flint wasn't quite as weak as he thought it was.

"I want to do it, but…I mean, how did you get the guts to ask Sebastian out? I mean, if I think about doing something like that – Nick and Dylan alike – then it feels like I'm having a panic attack!" Blaine squeezed Flint's shoulder tightly.

"Calm down," he said, softly, giving him a smile that told him that things were going to be fine. "if you think that I wasn't freaking out when I asked Sebastian out then you are the biggest idiot in the world!" Flint gave him a small smile at that, rolling his eyes faintly.

"You're the biggest idiot, Blaine, because Sebastian had just given a speech about how you had made him consider a monogamous relationship and how he was trying for you…You don't get a bigger sign that someone wants to go out with you than that!" Blaine let out a small laugh, slapping Flint's shoulder in an affectionate manner.

"Shut up!" he exclaimed, but Flint was laughing and grinning too. "So, are you going to do it?" Flint shrugged, looking nervous once again.

"I dunno. I mean, what would I say to him?" Blaine pulled a face because he hadn't put any thought into what he'd said to Sebastian because it had all come bursting out of him.

"Well, I don't suggest my method of blurting it out so…" he sighed, shrugging once more. "I think it would be best if you sat down with him and, you know, talk about how you feel…I reckon that it would be good for both of you to make sure how you feel and all that and what your…physical boundaries are." Flint nodded, running a hand through his light brown and staring at the floor.

"Okay, that- that sounds…doable, I suppose." Blaine gave him a small, encouraging smile. Flint swallowed, putting a hand over his face. "If…just…if – by some wild chance – that Nick liked me…what- what would I do?" Blaine sighed, biting his lip at that because that was a difficult question. On the one hand, Blaine would say go for it, but on the other… A relationship wasn't one sided, and Flint would feel terrible if he hurt Dylan.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I mean, I know how conflicted you feel, but with me…There was no way that Garth would want to go out with me given that he couldn't remember me…I suppose that you'd have to think long and hard about what you really want, and if that's Nick, and he really wants you, then I suppose I could advocate you breaking up with Dylan…I'm sure that he'd understand…" Flint groaned, putting his head in his hands.

"This is a nightmare!" he exclaimed. "I mean, being in love with Nick was bad enough, but now this! I can't- I can't concentrate, and I can't decide what to sing!" Blaine returned to rubbing Flint's shoulder, swallowing and thinking hard before the obvious thing hit him in the face. He turned to Flint with a big smile, and Flint, seemingly catching the grin out of the corner, looked up at him. "What…?" he asked, drawing out the word with a look of complete apprehension on his face. Blaine grinned.

"You should sing it out!" he said, grinning like an idiot. "Find a song that expresses how you feel and sing it for the audition, and then you should think about Dylan and Nick and all of that…" Flint nodded, rubbing a hand over his tired eyes.

"I wish it was that easy," he moaned. "I'm so confused that I can't panic over whether or not Dylan might like me." Blaine rolled his eyes at that because there went Blaine's hopes that Flint was building himself up some self-esteem. "Though he's always seeking me out and making jokes and telling me that I look great…I think he's flirting with me, but I don't really know…I don't know anything about flirting." Blaine grinned at his friend, completely understanding how he felt in regards to that because Sebastian had driven him crazy, but he was also glad that Dylan appeared to be actively attempting to get Flint's attention.

"Well…" said Blaine, running a hand through his slightly messy gelled hair. "I stand by what I just said about singing and then making your decision…Though I have to warn you that Nick might get pouty and jealous about you not spending time with him." Flint blinked at Blaine, frowning. Blaine rolled his eyes and let out a long, exasperated sigh. "When you spent all that time with Dylan on New Year's Day, he got all huffy about you not being around at dinner…I get the feeling that Nick will get jealous without knowing why he doesn't like you not being with him." Flint groaned, putting his head back into his hands and pulling his hair slightly.

"Blaine…" he whinged. "Why did you have to tell me that? You just made me feel worse! I'm so confused!" Blaine sighed, having not intended to make him more confused because he'd been trying to prepare him for Nick's childish behaviour, and rubbed his shoulder again.

"Sorry, I just wanted you to be prepared…I didn't want you to get into a relationship and then immediately want to get back out because you perceive Nick being jealous of you and Dylan because he likes you." Flint groaned and flopped down onto the bed.

"I hate my life!" he said, throwing his hands over his face, and Blaine managed a faint smile because, whilst he was worried that Flint might be getting a little too close to giving up on everything after Christmas and all the negative feelings that he was carrying, he could tell that Flint was joking.

"At least you've got a sense of humour in you," he said, nudging Flint with an elbow, smile on his face. Flint let out a groan at Blaine's abuse, but he took his heads from his face with a small grin on his face.

"I highly doubt that that will do anything to help me," he grumbled. Blaine just sent him a crooked smile, feeling rather cheeky because it wasn't often that Blaine felt a real blast of optimism, especially around Flint, but he was rather looking forward to the idea of Flint getting a boyfriend.

"I don't know, everybody loves a clown!" Flint pouted and shoved at Blaine. Blaine allowed himself to topple over onto the bedspread, letting out a groan of pain. "Flint…" he moaned, and Flint whacked at him again. Blaine pushed himself upright, grabbing onto Flint's attacking hands. The two of them had a strange sort of fights in which they pushed each other's eyes back and forth before they somehow ended up toppling off the bed.

"Oww!" yelped Flint, having ended up on the bottom of the two person pile. Blaine let out a chuckle, grinning down at him. Flint detached his hands from where they were trapped somewhere between their bodies and the floor and swiped at Blaine's face. Blaine rolled off him, and Flint leapt up, rubbing the back of his head with one hand, and chucked himself onto Blaine to pin him down.

"Oof!" gasped Blaine, feeling all the wind being knocked out of him as Flint landed on his torso. He coughed a little bit, but Flint was smirking down at him.

"Ha! Who's laughing now?" he demanded, and Blaine struggled to think of a smart comment to say to that, but he drew a complete blank. Flint snorted, leering down at him in a manner that Blaine knew was meant to be victorious or intimidating, but really wasn't. "Na, na, na, na, naa!" chanted Flint, poking his tongue out at Blaine. Blaine scowled up at him, telling him that he was being childish, but he knew that Flint didn't care.

"My boyfriend and my not-friend; it can't be!" Blaine went scarlet at the sound of Sebastian's voice. He'd heard the door opening, but he hadn't had time to do anything about the fact that Flint was lying on top of him before Sebastian's voice had broken through.

Flint leapt off Blaine at the sound of Sebastian's voice, and Blaine, scarlet faced and feeling utterly humiliated, tilted his head back so that he could see Sebastian standing in the doorway, eyebrow quirked and arms folded whilst he looked down at them with a severely disapproving look upon his face. Blaine swallowed, wondering why he was constantly being humiliated, and looked back at Flint, who was nervously wiping his hands on his trousers like he didn't know what to do in the situation.

"Um…well…I'm going to go and do some practise for the audition…Thanks for the advice, Blaine!" Blaine tilted his head so that he could see Flint hightailing from the room, squishing past Sebastian and fleeing out of sight. Blaine righted the position of his neck and waited for Sebastian to say something.

"Blaine," said Sebastian, closing the door. "stand up and look at me." Blaine rolled his eyes, letting out a huge sigh, and got to his feet. He turned around to look into Sebastian's judgemental face. "So…is there anything that you want to tell me?" Blaine glared at him in a disparaging manner. Sebastian's face didn't change. Blaine got the impression that this was going to be a battle of wills.

"No," he said, folding his hands behind his back. "I don't think there is…I was having a personal conversation with an intimate friend." Sebastian stared at him for one second longer before a smile began to quirk at his lips.

"Blaine, are you being deliberately misleading?" Blaine began to smirk at him, not entirely sure where this conversation was going to go, but he had a feeling that it was going to end with them both on the bed locked at the lips…Sebastian had a knack for doing that.

"Perhaps," he said, rocking forward onto the balls of his feet as Sebastian took a couple of steps towards them, for some reason getting the feeling like he was being coy for some reason that he couldn't discern.

"I see…" replied Sebastian, stepping even closer to Blaine and his voice dropping even lower in pitch. Blaine had learnt to take that as an indicator that Sebastian was going to end the conversation soon. "I have been teaching you very well, Blaine, very well." Blaine gulped a little, picking up that same intense vibe that he got from Sebastian when he knew that Sebastian really wanted him. He could feel the nerves building up inside of him, and he would hate it if it wasn't accompanied by a rush of adrenaline. He desperately wanted to say something more, but he couldn't quite think what. He had to say something.

"I'm sure that there's plenty more you could teach me," he said, smirking some more as he took a step away from Sebastian. He could see that Sebastian approved of everything that he was doing, but he also got the impression that Sebastian was stopping himself from jumping at Blaine…wow, Blaine was getting really good at reading Sebastian. He felt ridiculously proud of himself for that.

"Oh Blaine," came Sebastian's reply, eventually, as his smirk grew in a manner that told Blaine he was, also, proud of himself for – sort of – teaching Blaine to flirt. "you have no idea…"

---

Okay, so I've got my song, and I know that it's perfect, but I definitely feel like I may be sick. I was surprised to find that Blaine's method actually worked, and it didn't take too long either…though that might have had more to do with the fact that I skipped over a lot of songs because I knew that they wouldn't work. I'm actually very pleased with my song choice, I think it's got a lot of meaning for me. I just wonder what the others are doing…Oh no, Mrs Daniels has realised that I've been tuning her out for the past, like, half an hour…Crap…

"Mr Hummel," snapped Mrs Daniels, and Kurt hid his wince as he sat up straight in his chair. "can you repeat what I just said?" Kurt blinked once and then looked over at Juri and Morrison for some help. Juri was frowning, which told Kurt that Mrs Daniels had been using long words again, and Morrison pulled a face that told him he would never guess what she'd been saying.

"Um," he said, facing front and trying to retain some of credibility. "I'm sorry, I can't quite recall what you said." Mrs Daniels gave him a fierce glare, but was distracted by the sound of muttering and whispering. Everyone looked, with her, at Thad and David, who were talking furiously in undertones, and were being watched through narrowed eyes by Nick.

"Mr Thompson, Mr Harwood!" The two boys leapt and looked, guiltily, up at their History teacher. Mrs Daniels glared down at them. "And what was so interesting?" There was a pause in which the two councillors looked at each other before shrugging.

"Warblers," said Thad, eventually, into the silence as David cringed under the intensity of her glare. There was a moment of silence in which Kurt briefly thought that she might accept that as a reason to talk, but then he realised that she was bristling in anger.

"Oh really," she said in a voice of complete contempt that Kurt thought was totally out of place. She seemed to only be focusing on Thad now, who looked remarkably unfazed by that seeing as David had slumped across his desk in relief that she wasn't interested in him anymore. "and what makes you think that my lesson is an acceptable place to do that."

"Well-"

"And I think you should well know that being a Warbler councillor – and discussing it in my lesson no less – is not sufficient enough to keep your music scholarship. You contribute none of your talents to the department, can you even still sing?" There was a moment of complete silence. Kurt stared at the very pale looking Franklin boy. He could see that Thad looked utterly horrified by the idea that he might lose his scholarship, and Kurt couldn't blame him because he wouldn't be able to stay at Dalton, probably, if he lost it. The other boys around him also looked like they'd been slapped. "Get up," she snapped, and Thad, wide eyed, got to his feet, gaping without being able to speak. "Sing," she commanded. Kurt felt his neck jut forward in shock because she couldn't just make him sing.

"Mrs Daniels," began Nick, looking shocked by her apparent threat to take away his scholarship. "I don't think he can-"

"Quiet Mr Duval!" she shouted, voice sharp, snappish and very loud. Nick's eyes went wide, and he shrunk back in his seat looking alarmed. "Now sing!" Kurt swallowed, feeling the awkwardness of the situation settle down on him because Thad could clearly not find his voice. Kurt couldn't exactly blame him for that because the pressure of the situation was overwhelming, and Thad could clearly not cope under pressure at all. The longer that Thad continued to gape wordlessly the harder it became to look at him. Nick and David were both looking away already, redirecting their gaze onto their hands or desks because they couldn't stand to see him suffer the humiliation that he was, and Juri had closed his eyes whilst Morrison was snatching glances at Thad before looking back at Mrs Daniels' cold face. Glancing around, Kurt saw that Alex had removed the glasses and had closed his eyes, and even Keats was looking away.

Don't give up

It's just the weight of the world

When your heart's heavy

I…I will lift it for you

Kurt blinked once, taken aback by the sumptuous voice that came floating into the room, and stared at Thad, for a moment believing that he was singing, but then clocked onto the fact that his mouth was still closed, and his eyes were wide in shock. Kurt looked, along with everyone else, to doorway and saw Luc, lounging against the doorframe with a smirk on his face, singing.

Don't give up

Because you want to be heard

Kurt felt his mouth hang open, having known that Luc's voice had to be good, because he had never heard a voice like that; it was rich, confident, smooth…perfect. He also didn't understand how Luc could be projecting when he was slumped in that position against the doorframe, not supporting his diaphragm at all.

If silence keeps you

I…I will break it for you

Luc smirked at Thad, shooting him a knowing wink. Kurt snorted at that, feeling amazed that Luc had appeared at the right moment and had picked the perfect song, and could see that Thad's face had broken out into a grin of relief, happiness, and his posture had relaxed completely. All the other boys were smiling, even Keats had a faint one, but Mrs Daniels looked furious.

Everybody wants to be understood

Well I can hear you

Luc straightened up, unfolding his arms and arching an eyebrow at Thad, and Kurt could completely see why Thad liked Luc because, not only was he an absolutely unbelievably incredible singer, he was telling Thad that he understood that Thad couldn't speak all the time – he couldn't sing right now when he most needed to – but Luc was there to help.

Everybody wants to be loved

Don't give up

Because you are loved

Luc's voice rose in volume as he got to the end of the chorus, and both of his eyebrows arched even further. He was staring right at Thad, whose whole face had lit up, and the class looked more engaged and attentive than they ever had when Mrs Daniels was talking…Perhaps that was why Mrs Daniels looked like she wanted to intervene and shout for them to stop.

When Luc stopped singing, he gave Thad a very pointed look. Kurt watched Thad swallow and nod, and he sat up a little straighter in expectation for Thad's voice. Thad swallowed once again, turning to the front of the class and straightening up so that he could confront Mrs Daniels on his own.

Don't give up

It's just the hurt that you hide

When you're lost inside

I…I'll be there to find you

Thad's voice was timid and fragile. Kurt could hear that it was perfectly in tune, and there was no hesitation when he changed note, but… Kurt couldn't put his finger on what it was because there was nothing wrong with what he was singing, but it sounded…unconvincing…? That, and the confidence in his stature had vanished. However, he could also hear the honesty and simplicity in his tone…Kurt thought he meant it, but he couldn't be sure.

Don't give up

Because you want to burn bright

Somehow, out of nowhere, came the memory of what Keats had written about Thad in his poem;

…The stars fall down upon you…

…The Morning Star that shone so bright,

Is nothing more than a cold reminder of all that could have been…

and thought about Thad's fall from grace in Dalton and wondered whether showing off his voice like that was ever going to claw back what he'd once hand…He had to admit he couldn't see it.

If darkness blinds you

I…I will shine to guide you

Then, completely by surprise, on the second "I", something came bursting out from inside Thad. The volume increased dramatically, filling the room almost like Luc's had, and somehow the fragility vanished. It was incredible, especially given how Thad's shoulders were hunched, and he looked like there was no way that he was singing what he was…

Everybody wants to be understood

Well I can hear you

Everybody wants to be loved

Don't give up

Because you are loved

(You are loved)

Kurt had been so absorbed in Thad's voice, his song and his really strange demeanour – the way he seemed to have no confidence or presence, but was singing in a manner that sounded like it wasn't his; like he was lip-syncing, but he wasn't – that he completely missed the entry of the other boys that had decided to sing backing. Nick, David, Juri, along with several other people, had chimed in, but Kurt had completely forgotten that that happened in the song and hadn't even considered the idea of joining in until that moment.

You are loved

(You are loved)

He came in the second time round with a smile on his face because this was so weird – they were singing in their History classroom! – and they were being allowed to do so. Mrs Daniels had managed to arrange her face so that it was strangely neutral, but Kurt could tell that this was not going the way she planned at all given that half the classroom was singing backing to Thad, but she couldn't tell them to stop because it was she that had ordered Thad to sing in the first place.

Don't give up

(Don't give up)

It's just the weight of the world

Don't give up

Kurt glanced at the doorway, expecting to see Luc smirking at the scene that he had created, but he was surprised to find that the music teacher had melted away somewhere in the song. Kurt supposed that he didn't want to be around when the song ended and Mrs Daniels undoubtedly tore into him for assisting Thad. He also guessed that Luc knew that Thad could handle the song on his own once he'd started.

Everyone needs to be heard

You are loved…

They let Thad take the final line on his own, and Thad let the note hang from his lips, reverberating in the still air of the classroom, before he fell silent. Kurt swallowed once, silently amazed by Thad's voice, and then joined in the applause that was sweeping through the classroom. Thad immediately dropped into his seat, scarlet faced, as Nick patted his arm.

"Quiet!" exclaimed Mrs Daniels, and the applause died instantly. Kurt knew that she hadn't been expecting the performance that she had gotten; it had been a strange one, but Kurt got the impression that it was heartfelt, and Kurt could tell that she hadn't particularly wanted it. "Now, that that is over, can we please move on into more important topics?"

Kurt snorted under his breath at that because Mrs Daniels had generated that detour completely and was relieved to see that the lesson was nearly over so that he could go to French. The only downside to that was that QT were in his French class, and they, unlike Morrison, did not bother to try and catch up, which meant they delayed the lesson and asked stupid and pointless questions whilst also voicing their idiotic opinions at the tops of their voices.

They were completely awful people in Kurt's, and most other peoples', opinion, and he most disliked their attitude to the rest of the school. They turned their noses up at people in the hallway and class and expected people in the corridors to part for them, despite holding no position in the school and having done nothing to earn their respect. Kurt had heard enough of their sneering over extra-curricular activities that were mentioned near them to know that they thought all of that was beneath them, and they knew very few people's names as well and seemed to think that there was no point in trying to learn any more.

Mrs Daniels spent the rest of the lesson glaring at the class and snapping at people, which wasn't that unusual, and Kurt was very glad when the bell went because that meant he could throw his books into his bag and fall into step next to Keats as they all swarmed out of the classroom.

"Did you know that Thad could sing like that?" he asked, the moment they were clear of the classroom. Keats nodded, copying Kurt as he twisted around to look at the still scarlet Thad as most of the other people in the class mobbed him.

"Yeah…I mean, I don't think I've ever actually heard him sing like that, but…I knew he could; you've probably heard that he used to be huge…The Warblers raved about his voice when he joined." Keats blinked once, head tilting to the side. "It was better than I imagined, actually." Kurt nodded, mind turning back to what had started the whole thing.

"Could she- I mean, could he really lose his scholarship for not singing solo?" Keats tilted his head to the side a little bit more, pulling a thoughtful face.

"I doubt it," he said, finally. "I mean, there's no way Hammonds would allow it, and Luc would probably throw a fit too, but I think Mrs Daniels has a thing about it because Thad didn't get his scholarship by arranging music, or whatever he does on Warbler council, and I think Mrs Daniels believes that he should be giving his voice back to the school, or something…" he shrugged as Kurt frowned because, whilst Thad didn't sing, he obviously did contribute to the music department. "It would never happen." Kurt nodded, still frowning and wondering why Mrs Daniels thought that she had the authority to take away someone's scholarship, or why she thought it mattered that she didn't think he deserved it.

"It's bullying, isn't it?" he said in a soft voice, pulling a face and turning to face Keats. Keats frowned in thought, pursing his lips.

"In all honesty…" he replied in a very quiet tone of voice. "I'm not sure." He looked distinctly uncomfortable, and Kurt couldn't blame him; the idea was unsettling. The warning bell went. "I need to go to Maths…" he took a deep breath. "Just- don't worry." He put a hand on Kurt's upper arm, squeezing in reassurance before Kurt nodded, and Keats darted away.

Kurt heaved a sigh and made his way to French with a heaviness in his body because Mrs Daniels wasn't pleasant – she never had been – but what she'd done today had genuinely disturbed Kurt. He didn't think the other boys were too upset by it all once Thad had sung, but Kurt knew what bullying looked like better than the other people in that classroom, and the threats and the humiliation that she had subjected Thad to had been painfully – worryingly – relatable.

He let out another sigh as he made it to French, Madame Leblanc giving him a glare from over the frame of her glasses, and he plopped down into his seat next to Fred as Quinn or Taylor – Kurt couldn't be bothered to find out which one was which because he doubted they'd ever afford him the same courtesy – demanded that they recap the environment topic for strictly their sake because everyone else could say far too much about litter, dirty air and recycling for their liking.

Kurt let out a groan as Madame Leblanc, a little too easily flattered by two very un-smooth boys, began to write up vocab on the board, and Fred dropped his head onto the desk and moaned. Kurt reached over and patted his friend on the back in sympathy because he didn't want to listen to two baboons attempting to converse in a foreign language when their own was well beyond their mental capabilities.

It was an incredibly tedious lesson, and Kurt was completely unsurprised when Fred began snoring about halfway through. Kurt had then taken to jabbing him at intermittent periods throughout the rest of the lesson to stop him from alerting Madame Leblanc to his passed out nature. The rest of the time he ran through the song lyrics in his head and tried to stop his mind from turning back to what Mrs Daniels had done because it made him feel very uncomfortable.

The final bell took far too long to arrive, and by that time Kurt was absolutely sick of his song, and Fred had slobbered all over his textbook. Kurt had to laugh at that, and it took him quite a long time to shake Fred from his rather deep slumber. Vince and Stuart gave him small smiles and rolled their eyes as they went past, and QT flounced from the room, completely in step, and barged Warwick – a boy in his house that Kurt had never actually spoken to – into the door. It was Warwick's profuse swearing, as he'd banged his head against the door and cut it, that managed to wake Fred properly, and he ran from the room shouting something about soldering irons and buttermilk…Kurt took that to mean that he'd been having a highly unusual, but very Fred, dream.

He left the classroom and proceeded along to Warbler hall, beginning to feel nervous again, and walked in a hurried manner because the last thing that he wanted was to be late for an occasion like this. He knew it was illogical because he was the fifth performance, and there was no way he could be that late, but he was worried that if he wasn't there bang on time they'd skip over him and not give him the chance to perform.

When he got there, he was incredibly relieved to find that they hadn't started at all. Most people were standing around and listening to Nick tell the story of what had happened in History. Thad was sitting in his seat at the council table with a frown on his face that said he was thinking very hard about something. Most people looked somewhere between shocked, amazed and confused.

"Could she do it?" asked Francis, head tilted to the side in confusion as Kurt settled himself down into one of the sofas. People looked between Thad and David for some answers.

"I don't think so," said David, confidently. "Hammonds is in charge over all, and Luc makes the decisions about who gets music scholarships, and he'd never take it away…" Thad nodded, rubbing a hand over his face.

"I sssspoke t-t-t-to Luc…he ssssaid…never…" People nodded, letting out sighs of what sounded like relief, and took their seats as the Seniors walked. Blaine had had a very concerned look on his face, but he looked better at the sight of Sebastian, who winked at him with a smirk before settling himself down on the arm of Blaine's sofa.

"Right," said Wes, banging his gavel, and Kurt glanced over at Trent to make sure that he was okay. The new Warbler was looking at Wes in excitement, and Kurt smiled as he turned back to the council because he seemed to be completely fine. "the antics of Mrs Daniels aside, let's get down to business; Sebastian, Blaine, would you care to get your arses of the sofa and up here to perform." There were snorts and chuckles at that. Blaine was rolling his eyes as he got to his feet, shaking his head in amusement at Wes. Sebastian huffed and got up and walked over to pick up a guitar.

"Alright, calm down," said Sebastian. "stop being so prissy, and Blaine stop biting your lip; it's an unattractive habit, and it turns me off." Blaine went scarlet as Kurt let out a small snort through his nose. The other Warblers either cackled at Blaine's expense – Wes and the other Juniors, mainly – or looked mortified on Blaine's behalf.

"Shut up," groused Blaine, running a hand down his face with a look that questioned his sanity for going out with Sebastian. Kurt wasn't even going to pretend that he wasn't he half wishing that Blaine was doing that for real instead of because Sebastian embarrassing him. Sebastian simply rolled his eyes and began to play the intro, silencing the titters that were rippling around the Warblers with a couple of chords.

You never know when you're gonna meet someone

Sebastian began to sing first, and Kurt sat up just a little bit, recognising that the same quality to his voice as when he'd sung She Will Be Loved; it was that little bit of emotion that crept in and turned Sebastian from a good singer to an amazing one.

And your whole wide world in a moment comes undone

Blaine flushed once more as Sebastian's eyes swept away from the Warblers, unconcerned by them now that he knew he had their full attention, and locked straight onto Blaine. Blaine felt his breath get stuck somewhere in his wind pipe because he could never quite get over the fact that he had managed change Sebastian, and it was even stranger to hear him openly singing about it.

You're just walking around and suddenly

Kurt was pretty sure that Blaine had been seconds from missing his entry because one moment he'd been staring into Sebastian's eyes, and the next he had started and then began singing, blushing even more – Kurt was pretty sure that Blaine could blush deeper than anything other person that Kurt had met; it was really quite remarkable.

Everything that you thought that you knew about love is gone

Blaine felt awful as he sang that line because every time that he did – every time – he thought about Garth. He thought about two pairs of green eyes; one living, one dead, and he felt awful because he'd been so sure that he'd been in love with Garth, but he hadn't been because it was nothing compared to how he felt for Sebastian, and it made Sadie Hawkins seem so stupid because he'd asked him there because he was sure it was love, but it hadn't been…He'd ruined Garth's life for nothing…

You find out it's all been wrong

But Sebastian always cut back in at just the right time to stop Blaine from bursting with guilt, and Blaine was still – days later – getting over the fact that Sebastian hadn't been with anyone since the Keats debacle because he'd been waiting for Blaine…He'd found a better way to live his life…A way that included Blaine being in the centre of it.

And all my scars don't seem to matter anymore

Kurt felt a smile spread across his face as he watched the two of them, the fact that they were singing a love song to each other fading into the background, because Blaine really did deserve this, and so very much more. He had suffered so much at the hands of people from Kinzie – and his fight with Keats had left its marks too – and the least that he deserved after all of that was someone who loved him and cared for him, and he had that.

Cause they led me here to you

Blaine had to admit that, on balance, it was nearly worth it all. Garth was the one thing that stopped him saying that it was definitely worth it, but he would rather his suicide have succeeded than never have come here at all…His friends were wonderful, and Sebastian was everything…Blaine would take it.

I know that it's gonna take some time

I've got to admit that the thought has crossed my mind

This might end up like it should

Kurt watched Blaine as his voice rose in volume and confidence, taking a couple of steps closer to Sebastian, but somehow making the performance less intimate. Kurt, and everyone else in the room, could hear Blaine's tentative hope that this time things weren't going to end in pain and devastation. Kurt thought it was that – the desperate desire for this to not be another disappointment that may break him – that really touched them all.

And I'm gonna say what I need to say

And hope to God that it don't scare you away

Don't wanna be misunderstood

Kurt even had to smile at Sebastian when he took over because it was in songs that he seemed to have the ability to be to be completely honest. He took a couple of steps away from Blaine, beginning to build a performance out of what they were singing as Blaine blinked before taking some steps towards him, chasing the person that he loved and the words that helped him believe that he wouldn't possibly lose him no matter what.

But I'm starting to believe that this could be the start of something good

Their voices joined together for the first time, and it was the combination of Sebastian's confidence and Blaine's tentativeness that made it so special. The two forces of their voices pushing against each other, but not battling or competing – coexisting in the way that Blaine and Sebastian did as two completely different people that somehow fitted together quite well.

Blaine looked up at Sebastian and saw that the smile that was playing on his lips was not his usual performance smirk, but his genuine smile. Blaine knew that Sebastian had complete and utter confidence in most of the things that he did, but this was one of the few areas of life that he had no experience in and no idea how to navigate. He knew that Sebastian had confidence now. Sebastian knew he could do this.

Everyone knows life has its ups and downs

Blaine smirked as he walked away from Sebastian, one eyebrow cocked in a manner that demanded Sebastian to challenge the fact that Blaine knew better than anyone that life had its dizzying heights and terrifying lows and that sometimes they could coincide and overlap and leave you a mess.

One day you're on top of the world and one day you're the clown

Sebastian didn't follow him, backing away so that the distance between them swelled. Blaine knew that Sebastian had never really experienced anything like the falls that Blaine had, but Blaine did know that watching them and experiencing the fallout from those pained Sebastian just as much.

Well I've been both enough to know

That you don't wanna get in the way when its working out

The way that it is right now

You see my heart I wear it on my sleeve

Blaine had to admit, as he wondered towards the door with his hands behind his back and tiny smile on his face, that he probably only got as hurt as he much because he didn't really do things by halves. When he'd fallen in love with Sebastian he'd done it wholly and completely; so much so that it scared him.

Cause I just can't hide it anymore

However, he forgot about all of that when Sebastian sung back to him because Sebastian didn't exactly do things in halves either…Blaine just knew that it had taken him longer to accept and understand that he loved Blaine…He wasn't ashamed of it, and he'd shout it to the world…

I know that it's gonna take some time

I've got to admit that the thought has crossed my mind

This might end up like it should

He had to admit that he could believe in him and Sebastian better now. He knew that now he knew that they could get back together after a fight that it was easier to believe that they would last. He had no misconceptions about how easy it was going to be because he and Sebastian saw things so differently, but he also knew that they could do this – they would make it because they wanted to.

And I'm gonna say what I need to say

And hope to God that it don't scare you away

Don't wanna be misunderstood

He also knew, as Sebastian leaned against the wall and stared at him, that things were only going to work if Sebastian told Blaine what he was thinking, even if it risked freaking Blaine out because the alternative was Blaine running off and breaking down. He knew that Sebastian was worried about Blaine not being ready and being frightened away as result, but Blaine trusted Sebastian implicitly.

But I'm starting to believe that this could be the start

Cause I don't know where it's going

There's a part of me that loves not knowing

Just don't let it end before we begin

Kurt felt strange watching the performance with a smile on his face because it was strange how easily they had opened the performance up to everyone in the room; everyone in the room could empathise with the fear of false hope and the feeling that this was perfect and that if things could stay that way then it always would be. Neither of their presences were overbearing; perfectly balanced against each other, and there was nothing very showy about it – they were just singing very simply and very honestly.

You never know when you gonna meet someone

And your whole wide world in a moment comes undone

I know that it's gonna take some time

I've got to admit that the thought has crossed my mind

This might end up like it should

Blaine raised his voice to the loudest that it could be without it being unbearable or overpowering. He walked back towards the council table and saw, out of the corner of his eye, that Wes was smirking, David was grinning in a stupid manner and Thad had a pleasant smile on his face – his friends were way too invested in his romantic life if they were smiling like that over a duet.

And I'm gonna say what I need to say

And hope to God that it don't scare you away

Don't wanna be misunderstood

Sebastian copied Blaine's movement, wandering lazily over to him, as he continued to strum the guitar. He looked effortless and relaxed, and Blaine knew that it was only like this – lost in a song – that he could really connect with people he wasn't really close to. Blaine loved Sebastian when he was like that even more than he loved Sebastian in general.

But I'm starting to believe

Oh I'm starting to believe that this could be the start of something good

Their voices trailed off as they reached the end of the song, standing before the Warbler council table either side of Wes. Blaine took a deep breath in as he stared up at Sebastian, who had stopped strumming his guitar, and got a soft smile in return.

Kurt brought his hands close together, wanting to applaud them for their stunning performance but not wanting to destroy the wonderful atmosphere that had been created, and had to admit that if he lost to them then there would be no shame in it at all. Sebastian and Blaine broke eye contact, Blaine blushing, and looked at the Warblers. Just as Sebastian's eyebrow arched to demand why they weren't applauding, the Warblers burst into rapturous applause and cheers.

Kurt breathed in as Blaine made his way to his sofa. Sebastian resumed his position perched on the arm as the clapping began to die away. Wes picked up Gavella and banged her a couple of times until silence fell. He cleared his throat, but Kurt could see the smile that was tweaking at the corners of his mouth.

"Alright, that's what you have to beat…No pressure." Kurt swallowed, having to admit that the bar had been set higher than he had anticipated. Looking around the room, he could see that Trent's eyes were slightly wide at the performance, and Tyler was pale white at going next. "Tyler, would you like to do us the honour of going next?" Tyler gulped, loudly, and a ripple of laughter sounded around the Warblers as the Freshman got to his feet.

"Whenever you're ready," said David, kindly, shooting the boy an encouraging smile. Tyler nodded, taking a couple of deep breaths, and came to a stop in the corner of the room by the piano. He settled himself down, shifting his weight from foot to foot until he was comfortable.

Desperate for changing, starving for truth

I'm closer to where I started, I'm chasing after you

Kurt sat up in surprise when Tyler began to sing because his voice was much higher than he was expecting. It was in the same range that it had been in the play, but Kurt had assumed that he'd been singing in falsetto then because Kurt had been under the impression that he was the only countertenor…unless his voice just hadn't broken yet.

I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I've held on to

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you…

Kurt could hear more confidence building in his voice, and Kurt was taken aback by his choice to sing completely unaccompanied. Kurt, himself, had brought the backing track on a CD because it was awfully exposing to do it on his own. He sounded very good, but Kurt knew that if he slipped up at all it would be glaringly obvious. He had to admire Tyler's guts for getting up and doing that.

He could tell that Tyler was becoming more and more comfortable in his song, voice notching up in volume and any of that wavering sound was eclipsed by the firmness in his tone. Kurt had never heard the song sung in this way, and he had to admit that he liked it just as much as the original version. Whilst Lifehouse had a more gravelly sound, Tyler's voice was sweet and pure. Just like Sebastian and Blaine's the performance was completely simple, and Kurt thought that it was incredibly pleasing on the ear to hear. He sounded so much better than he had in the play, and Kurt got the impression that he was far more at ease than he had been last time. This competition was much tougher than Kurt had anticipated.

There's nothing else to lose, there's nothing else to find

There's nothing in the world that can change my mind

There is nothing else…

Kurt was fascinated by the intensity in Tyler's voice, and the way that it sounded like a reaffirmation of something – a promise – and Kurt wondered whether he was singing about someone. It certainly sounded like he was, but Kurt knew that there could be so many things that he could be singing about that it was probably best not to speculate.

Desperate for changing, starving for truth

I'm closer to where I started, I'm chasing after you

Kurt had to been surprised by his choice to fade out earlier, but he understood, now, as he recapped the first two lines of the song; his voice a soft whisper, building up anticipation for the chorus that they all knew was coming.

I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I've held on to…

And, just like they all must have guessed, his voice came soaring back in as he charged, headlong and fearlessly, into the last chorus. Kurt knew that his gamble at singing unaccompanied had definitely paid off; he had shown the strength of his own voice as well as the confidence and poise that he had gained since the play. Back then he had been overcompensating for his nerves by shouting, but here he was calm and composed – he presented himself as a greater option than they may have previously considered. Worryingly enough, Kurt could see him fronting the Warblers in the next performance, and Kurt had to hope that the others weren't as good as this.

I'm hanging by a moment

Just hanging by a moment here with you

Kurt burst into applause along with all the others as Tyler let out a shaky breath, running a hand through his hair, scarlet faced, obviously trying to calm his racing heart down as he got off the adrenaline rush that was performing. Kurt took in his own steadying breath because it was Nick, then Warren and then him, and, somehow, he had to make himself stand out from all the others and present himself as the best option. There was so much more competition here than in the New Directions.

"Excellent!" enthused Wes, beaming in a manner that suggested the auditions were pleasing him. "Nick, it's your turn." Kurt watched as Nick got to his feet and picked up on of the guitars, strumming the strings to double check they were in tune. Nick took a deep breath in and was shot an encouraging smile from Jeff, which was a little bit strange given that they were competing against each other for the lead.

Standing

On the edge of forever

At the start of whatever

Shouting love at the world

Kurt shifted in his seat, pleasantly surprised by Nick's song choice. After watching him at the New Year's Eve party, he had been expecting dancing and a lot of flirty looks with that "I-know-you-want-me-and-I-want-you-too-so-I'll-see -you-later-wink" smirk on his face.

Back then

We were like cavemen

But we mapped the moon and the stars

Then we forgave them…

It was immediately different to Animal, and Kurt could instantly see Nick's logic in his decision. This way he showed his diversity as a performer, and the versatility of his voice. It was nice and calm as a performance; the way he played the guitar was almost lazy and his posture was relaxed, and it dampened the tension and palpable feeling of nerves that was being generated by those auditioning.

Although no one understood

We were holding back the flood

Learning how to dance the rain

We were holding back the flood

They said we'd never dance again…

Nick came to life in the chorus, beginning to dance; crisscrossing his feet, swinging his hips and twisting his torso from his shoulders. It wasn't much of a routine, and Kurt got the impression that Nick was probably making it up as he went along; feeling his way through the song and not over thinking, but it was enough to give his previously very sedate performance a new dimension. He did it effortlessly and naturally, and Kurt could see it again; he was completely at home in his performance and song…not that Nick was ever one to really seem uncomfortable.

The most interesting thing, though, for Kurt, was the fact that Nick obviously didn't feel the song. He wasn't singing about an emotion or a feeling for someone like Blaine and Sebastian had, but his performance was equally engaging. Kurt didn't exactly know what it was, but he knew that Nick was no worse off for not picking a song that he didn't feel. Kurt did remember, though, that Nick was the one that seemed to challenge Blaine and Sebastian the most, and Kurt could certainly see Nick as a lead; he was more charismatic than Tyler with a stronger presence too.

We will meet you where the lights are

The defenders of the faith we are

When the thunder turns around

They'll run so hard we'll tear the ground away

If Nick's song hadn't just resumed its soothing, calming quality, Kurt was pretty sure that his chest would close up completely in panic. He knew that he was good, he knew that he was unique, and he knew that he could win this, but the doubts inside his mind were multiplying by the second.

Although no one understood

There was more of them than us

Learning how to dance the rain

There was more of them than us

Now they'll never dance again

Nick went spinning around the room on his last chorus, dancing in and out of the furniture, twisting between the different Warblers with his ever so charming smile on his face as he gave the song everything he had because he was running out of lines and notes to make his mark.

Now we'll never dance again

He came a stop, right in front of the Warbler council leaders, hand flicking away from his guitar in a dramatic manner after he'd done his final strum. He spun around to face the Warblers, taking a low, sweeping bow as Kurt joined the other Warblers in applauding him. Nick looked incredibly pleased with himself, like he knew just how good his performance had been, and he chucked the guitar at Warren as the dark haired boy got to his feet.

"I love this!" exclaimed Wes, rubbing his hands together in an excited manner. "Warren, please continue to make my day!" Warren bit down on the inside of lip, took in a composing breath, and hooked the guitar around his neck. He rubbed the faint shadow of stubble on his chin before looking around the room with a frown. Kurt watched, confused, as Warren continued to stand there in a moment of indecision. Wes arched an eyebrow and looked at David, who shrugged and gave a look that said they should wait.

"Sorry!" apologised Warren, taking the guitar off and moving over to the piano. "I just- I want to play the piano, is that alright?" Wes rolled his eyes as Thad rubbed a hand over his eyes and David gave him a smile.

"Of course you can use the piano!" Warren beamed in a very chipper manner and darted over to the piano, lifting up the lid that covered the keys and pulling out the stool. Warren took a deep breath, settling his fingers onto the keys and began to play.

There's a cold voice on the air

You've been looking everywhere

For someone to understand your hopes and fears

Well I've thought about that for many long years

Kurt had been listening to the intro with interest, not one hundred per cent sure he knew what the song was, but finally recognised it was one of Keane's songs. He could hear a frailty to Warren's voice that was almost masked by his loud piano chords. Kurt could understand why he'd chosen to play the piano given because it sounded more like the original, but he didn't think that he'd gotten the balance right.

So I walk through Mansers Shaw

I don't see you anymore

We love to think about the way things were

But the time has come and I'm glad it's over

He could hear the piano threatening to overpower Warren's voice, and he found himself desperately hoping that Warren could hear that too and do something about it. He was mildly surprised by that because if Warren got better than it was worse for Kurt, but…Kurt didn't want the Warbler that he didn't really know at all to flop this…He guessed it was hard to be backstabbing to any of the Warblers; they were too cheerful and friendly and warm to be bitchy towards, he supposed.

I don't know why I waste my time

Getting hung up about the things you say

When I open my eyes and it's a lovely day

You know sometimes I feel like I'm

Getting snowed under with the things you say

When I open my eyes and it's a lovely day…

However, Warren was failing to get it under check. Kurt supposed that he was probably nervous and not fully in control, but that surprised him a lot because of the Warren that he'd seen in the concert. On stage with his flute, Warren had played a beautiful piece of music – Kurt couldn't remember what it had been called because it was one of those pieces that didn't have a title but was called what it was, so to speak – in which he'd effortlessly performed seemingly complex passages as his fingers clicked the keys calmly and varied the tempo and dynamic of the music with utter assurance. In the concert, he'd also calmly directed the Concert Band and hadn't panicked at all when Juri had fallen over his own feet and knocked over the music stands. Kurt guessed that he must not be as self-assured with his voice as he was with everything else, and he had to admit that it was sad that he didn't have that same confidence because his voice would be fine as long as it wasn't strained in an attempt to sound properly over the piano.

You know sometimes I feel like I'm

Getting snowed under with the things you say

When I open my eyes and it's a lovely day

His voice died away instantly when he got to the end of the song. The look on his face said that he knew that the performance wasn't as good as it could have been, despite getting the same level of applause as all the other performers. Kurt sucked in a huge breath as Warren ducked his head, closing the cover over the piano keys, and got to his feet. He shot Kurt a taut smile that said good luck, and Kurt stood up, resisting the urge to bite down on his lower lip.

He picked up the CD player from the corner of the room and set it down on the edge of the council table. He could see David had an excited grin on his face as he turned it on and inserted the CD. He looked around the room and got a winning smile from Blaine, along with two thumbs up, and bright grins and encouraging looks from everyone else. He took one last deep breath, composing himself and reaffirming his belief that he could do this, and pressed play.

He let the intro music filter out and watched the expressions shift into ones of interest and surprise. He had decided to cut the beginning from his performance because he'd felt utterly ridiculous doing without anyone standing before him as John, and he hadn't been sure whether talk-singing was serious enough for the Warblers.

You think you own whatever land you land on

The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim

But I know every rock and tree and creature

Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

He felt calmer the moment that he started singing. All the nerves that were pent up inside of him in anticipation melted away because this was not something that he had to worry about. His voice was soft, calm and mediating, and he knew this song. Pocahontas was a film that he had grown up watching, just like all the other Disney animated classics, and he didn't have to worry because he'd had this song perfect by age five.

You think the only people who are people

Are the people who look and think like you

And, now, as a teenager, the lyrics held more resonance than ever because that was the suffering that he'd been subjected to at McKinley summed up in two lines; he was bullied because he was different; he didn't objectify women and get overexcited about running around in the freezing cold and getting muddy and sweaty, and because of that he was second class, second best and treated like he wasn't a person.

But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger

You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

And it was how he'd gotten the friends that he had in the New Directions; they had stepped out of their comfort zones and learned to look at their lives differently as they began to understand that there was more to each and every person than they thought. They'd learnt so much by listening to them sing and singing with them, and they had all learnt that their differences only ran skin deep. They had been strangers, but soon they were friends.

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?

Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?

Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?

Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?…

The volume of his voice rose naturally as he soared into chorus of the song. He could feel that all the tension had drained from his shoulders; his posture upright and correct, but also loose and relaxed, and he couldn't help but smile as he looked at all the upturned, smiling and attentive faces. Each Warbler looked completely engaged in his song, even Sebastian was watching him with an interested expression on his face. The council weren't smiling, but Wes and David had very focused looks in their eyes that said they were listening carefully and Thad's eyes were glazed over in a manner that suggested Kurt's song had taken him off elsewhere. Trent's mouth had curved up into a huge smile as he watched him sing, and his eyes were rounded in a way that told Kurt he'd probably never heard anyone sing like he had – and that was one the biggest compliments he could get.

How high will the sycamore grow?

If you cut it down, then you'll never know

And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

He could hear his voice reverberating around the hall, the vibrato ringing through majestically, and he knew that this was the best performance that he'd given the Warblers. The other two had been good, no doubt, but this was far better because he was…he hit every note without even thinking, he could carry the song effortlessly, and he didn't have a sickening feeling of nerves or something twisting in his stomach.

For whether we are white or copper skinned

We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains

We need to paint with all the colours of the wind

You can own the Earth and still

All you'll own is Earth until

You can paint with all the colours of the wind

He knew that this wasn't a message that any of the boys at Dalton needed because he knew that they all understood that everybody was equal, and everybody deserved to be loved no matter who they were and that they needed to be united and as one. Most of all, though, these boys knew that there was much more to life than owning something; loving someone and being loved in return was worth far more than that.

He took a deep breath in as the backing track came to an end, and he reached over to press stop, smiling around the room and soaking up the applause that he was getting. He took his CD out, slipping it back into his pocket, and he retook his seat, trying to suppress his smile slightly because it was turning into a triumphant smirk because he could win this. He knew that he had been easily as good as Blaine and Sebastian, who had probably been the best performance so far, and that meant he could go all the way and lead the Warblers in the impromptu next week.

He pressed those feelings down, though, because the competition wasn't over yet; he had many more hoops to jump through before he could have that honour, and there were three more performers to go. Liam was getting to his feet, and Kurt straightened his face as the blonde boy picked up his guitar. He took a look around the room once, taking in all the expectant expressions, before beginning to strumming the intro as people stretched and trained their gaze back onto Liam.

I walk a lonely road

The only one that I have ever known

Don't know where it goes

But it's home to me and I walk alone

Kurt found himself smiling as Liam began to sing because Kurt was glad that he was performing the song without the electronic guitar tremolo underneath because that grated his ears; he'd actually given up on that version and had gone back to the cast recording of it, sort of proving that it was possible for covers to be better than the original.

I walk this empty street

On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Where the city sleeps

And I'm the only one and I walk alone

Kurt watched Liam roll his shoulders, whilst still playing, and seem to loosen up his posture. He sounded confident and assured, but Kurt knew that he wasn't quite on the same level as himself, Sebastian, Blaine and Nick. Tyler had been amazing, but Kurt reckoned that he fell just under the level that he perceived himself and those previously mentioned to be on…though that wasn't to take anything away from Liam's talent because he was amazing…Kurt just knew that there were people better than him in the Warblers.

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

'Til then I walk alone…

Kurt had to admit that he really liked the simple style of his performance. He stood there with the guitar looped around his neck, confidently playing his way through the guitar riff, and sang, weight perfectly balanced between his legs which were shoulder width apart. He had a startling honesty in his voice that was rather shocking given the utterly depressing nature of the song and how it was about loneliness and sadness. Kurt knew that Liam had plenty of friends and was perfectly happy, but there was something so downtrodden in his tone that it made him want to leap to his feet and hug the blonde boy.

He refrained from that, naturally, and instead chose to look around at the expressions on the different Warblers' faces. Most people looked captivated by the performance; spell bound and riveted, but Wes' eyebrows were arched in a manner that made him look highly surprised. In fact, the two members of the council also had different expression; Thad had a faint frown creasing up his forehead and David had sucked in his cheeks and pushed out his lips so that he had a rather strange expression on his face. Blaine had his head tilted to the side at an excessive angle and looked rather far away whilst Flint was shifting around in his seat in a nervous manner, and Sebastian tapped his fingers against his leg in a manner that was either a nervous tic or an expression of impatience.

I walk this empty street

On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Where the city sleeps

And I'm the only one and I walk a...

Liam's voice rose a little bit in pitch as he recapped the second verse, probably mimicking the way that – in the soundtrack – John Gallagher Junior's voice was joined by Rebecca Naomi Jones', even as he dropped the volume of his voice as it was the only way to notch down the intensity of the performance without ceasing his acoustic accompaniment.

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

'Til then I walk alone...

He did do the last line unaccompanied, voice low and soft, a mournful, reflective tone lingering in their ears. Liam stared into the room for a moment, and no one clapped because he seemed completely fixated by something. Eventually, though, he sagged slightly, huffing and rolling his eyes, and everyone took that as their cue to burst into applause for him. Liam nodded once in acknowledgement, taking off the guitar and extending it to Jeff as the blonde Junior picked his over.

"Penultimate performance!" said Wes, rubbing his hands together with a rather manic glint in his eye. Sebastian yawned, stretching so that his back clicked, and cast his friend a disparaging look.

"Penultimate performance of the first round," he shot back. "There's a very long way to go." Wes glared at Sebastian, silently telling him to shut up, as Jeff plucked each of the guitar strings and Thad nodded at him – Kurt had no idea what that about – and then took a deep breath as he settled his fingers on the frets.

Immediately, the rather upbeat sound of Jack Johnson began to fill the hall. Jeff had an easy smile on his face that told Kurt that this was going to be a short, sweet, cheerful and chirpy performance. Well, it would certainly help to put a smile back on everyone's face after Liam's audition.

There's no combination of words

I could put on the back of a postcard

No song that I could sing

But I can try for your heart…

Kurt almost rolled his eyes at how easy it had been to predict the sunny tone in Jeff's voice, and how effective it was. Kurt reckoned that it probably worked better on him than anyone else, though, because the phrase "no combination of words" had instantly reminded him of Keats and all of what they'd said about talking too much and being simple, words being precious and speaking without words.

Love is the answer

At least for most of the questions in my heart

Like why are we here? And where do we go? And how come it's so hard?

It's not always easy and

Sometimes life can be deceiving

Jeff was swaying and bobbing along happily to his own song, looking completely at east and not at all like he was under any kind of pressure. He didn't make it look like it was an audition at all; he had really gone for something that he could sing easily and well and not thought about how it would showcase his voice in anyway or whether it had any meaning…or maybe it did…

I'll tell you one thing it's always better when we're together

Mmm its always better when we're together

Yeah we look at the stars when we're together

Well It's always better when we're together

Yeah, it's always better when we're together…

Kurt knew that Jeff really, really, loved his girlfriend and was completely over paranoid about her breaking up with him for whatever reasons that he thought she might, and he got the distinct impression – because, you know, it was Jeff – that this was the kind of thing that he would serenade her with. Kurt saw a quick imagining of Blaine, cheeky grin in place and sparkle in his eyes, singing that to him and felt himself colour up instantly, both in embarrassment at his fantasy and the feelings he knew that he would feel if that would ever happen. It was such a simple declaration of feelings that, coupled with Jeff's adoring grin that said just singing a song about their love made him happy, it was incredibly powerful.

Also, though, he could see that Jeff kept looking over at him and their other friends with that same grin. Oh, how he loved Dalton. How much he loved the fact that a guy could get up and declare his completely platonic love for his friends in a room that was filled with boys that were grinning at him in a teasingly affectionate manner and would brush it off as completely normal.

I believe in memories

They look so, so pretty when I sleep

Hey now, and when I wake up

You look so pretty sleeping next to me

Jeff hopped around the room, dancing between outstretched legs and feet, until he was balancing on the sofa arm next to Kurt. Kurt looked up at him with a grin as Jeff leant against the back, stretching out in a languid fashion, and beamed around the room. He got a lot of cheesy grins in return.

But there is not enough time

And there is no, no song I could sing

And there is no combination of words I could say

But I will still tell you one thing

We're better together

His song drew to a close as he went through the lyrics that sounded like rambling, and Kurt had to admit, sadly, that Jeff's performance probably didn't match up to the highest bar that Kurt had set. He looked happy with his song either way as he took some rather deep bows as they all clapped him loudly. He grinned once to all of them as Wes cleared his throat;

"Alright, brilliant! Flint, last performance; no pressure, and Sebastian don't you dare." He pointed a finger at Sebastian with a glare, and Sebastian closed his mouth looking smug. Flint got to his feet, looking rather sick, and Kurt felt bad for him for having to go last constantly. He pulled out a CD and, like Kurt, slotted it into CD player. He took a couple of deep breaths, and Kurt felt his heart go out to him because his hands were trembling terribly. He swallowed in annoyance at the memory of what Flint had said about his dad and all the pressure that was heaped upon Flint's shoulders.

"Breathe deeply," said David, leaning forward so that he could put a hand on Flint's lower arm. Kurt could see that Flint was becoming rather distressed as his hands shook. Blaine made to stand up, and the movement drew Flint's attention. Their gaze locked, and something – Kurt had no idea what – passed between them. Flint swallowed and hit play.

Birds flying high you know how I feel

Sun in the sky you know how I feel

Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel

Kurt had barely a second to take in the tremolo string intro before Flint began to sing. He blinked, mildly surprised by the choice of song, and sat back as he let the expressive tone of voice wash over him. He sounded so relaxed that it was almost impossible to believe that just a moment before he had been almost having a panic attack about having to perform.

It's a new dawn

It's a new day

It's a new life

For me

And I'm feeling good…

Kurt felt a smile spread across his face as Flint reached the end of the first verse. He had a feeling that he knew where this was going. Flint was going to ask out Dylan! Kurt felt like leaping off the sofa in excitement and letting out a giant squeal and hugging Flint. He was feeling good about this! He was looking forward to a new start with someone that liked him…Oh, he knew that feeling very well.

The brass in the backing track came crashing in, and Kurt felt his smile get wider as the confidence in Flint's voice seeped into his posture. He glanced around the room – seeing that most people looked amazed, and their close friends looked mostly confused – and saw that Blaine's eyes had widened and happy smile had spread across his face. Kurt guessed that Flint had probably spoken to Blaine about his feelings, and Blaine, like Kurt, had probably advocated that Flint went for it; he looked overjoyed at the prospect of Flint getting together with someone.

He saw Blaine's gaze flicker over to him for a brief second, perhaps catching sight of Kurt's staring out of the corner of his eye, and then turned back to Kurt. They shared knowing smiles as they silently communicated their excitement and hope at what Flint was singing with such confidence and assurance. He felt good; he felt sure; he was going for it. Blaine rolled his eyes once as if to say "at last!", and Kurt snorted and turned his attention back to Flint.

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know

Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean

Sleep in peace when the day is done, thats what I mean

And this old world is a new world

And a bold world

For me, for me

Kurt found, though, that what surprised him the most about the performance – more than the boldness of his action – was the versatility of his voice. He sounded so different to when he'd sung The Only Exception and My Interpretation. In Paramore's song he had shown a vulnerability and fear, and in Mika's he had been defiant and passionate and angry. Here he was hopeful, expectant and ready to dive headfirst into whatever was waiting for him.

Stars when you shine you know how I feel

Scent of the pine you know how I feel

Oh freedom is mine

And I know how I feel

It's a new dawn

It's a new day

It's a new life

It's a new life

For me

Flint's eyes had closed as he had become absorbed in his own song. He was clearly lost in whatever things he was envisioning how things would be different. He could see that most people were staring at him in slack jaw wonder given that he sounded a million times better than in the play – and that was saying something because he had been outstanding in that – and their other friends were either pleased or, in the case of Nick, highly confused.

And I'm feeling good

I'm feeling good

I feel so good

I feel so good

Kurt swallowed at the end of that, clapping enthusiastically, because, whilst it had been wonderful to hear and an amazing performance, he was easily as good as Sebastian and Blaine and Kurt…He was probably better than Nick on balance. This was a serious competition.

"Alright," said Wes, grinning in an unrestrained manner. "that was an amazing first round! Seriously, this is gonna take a lot of time! So, all of you that auditioned if you'd like to make your way outside, we need to get down to business." Kurt got to his feet, running a hand down the grey material of his trousers to get rid of the perspiration that had built up on his palms throughout that process.

Kurt followed the other boys out into the corridor, and they sat down on the benches and in armchairs in complete silence. Strangely enough, there was a greater feeling of tension in the hall then there had been whilst they'd been singing their solos. Kurt guessed that the anticipation was starting to build up inside all of them again.

They sat in complete silence, everyone too tense and nervous to talk. Kurt knew that, logically, it wouldn't make sense if he hadn't gone through, but there would be no way of knowing for sure until Blaine came out to announce who hadn't made it. He kept his mind focused on his breathing as best he could – as well as staring at the tiled floor between his feet – because that stopped his mind from whirring off hyperactively, and it meant that he couldn't quite panic and go into some form of undignified frenzy.

Kurt felt his breath hitch as the sound of shoes on the flagstone floor alerted them to Blaine's approach. Looking up, his neck felt very stiff because he'd been staring at the floor for some period of time, Kurt watched the neatly dressed Warbler walking towards the group. He glanced sideways and noticed that the other boys were straightening up, glancing hesitantly towards the lead, and Kurt could feel his heart began to beat faster.

"You guys were all great," he said, and Kurt rolled his eyes because he just wanted to know who had gone through. "but…" he drew out the word, and Kurt could feel his jaw clenching because he needed to know. "I'm really sorry, but, Kurt, you didn't go through."

What?

Kurt felt his heart skip a beat as the information processed with his brain. He stared up at Blaine, mouth falling slightly open, as the other boys let out mild sighs of the relief. They got to their feet as Kurt sat there, unable to comprehend what had happened. Nick, Jeff and Flint embraced each other, and he got pats on the shoulder in conciliation, but he still didn't get it.

How can I not have gone through? I was- I was better than the others! I mean, they were good, but I know I was better than Jeff and Warren and Liam. How did this happen?

"Kurt?" Kurt looked up at Blaine, who was staring down at him in concern, and let out a sigh, hoping that his eyes were just wide and not watering.

"I really thought that I was going to get it," he admitted, and Blaine gave him a reassuring smile, dropping down onto the bench next to him.

"You were great," he said, firmly, and Kurt let out a dismissive sound because if he'd been so great than why had he gone out in the first round? "No, seriously," said Blaine, touching his arm and forcing Kurt to look at him. Kurt glanced up into sincere hazel eyes and temporarily forgot how to argue. "you were great it's just…" Blaine sighed, and Kurt frowned a little bit. "You just- you just didn't show us anything that then we didn't already know." Kurt frowned further, not sure what that was meant to know.

"What does that mean?" he asked, swallowing, and Blaine let out a long sigh.

"I mean, that we know you've got an amazing voice and that you're a countertenor, but…that doesn't mean you'd make a good lead." Kurt continued to frown, still not sure what Blaine meant. Blaine sighed again, brown furrowing in thought. "Look, being a lead isn't about being the best person on stage and the best singer – it's about having a different part." Kurt stared at him, blankly. Blaine swallowed and sighed once more. "Look, when they arrange the music the lead is just another part that they have to fit in; everything isn't focused around you…it just means the spotlight is on you…it's about the responsibility to stand up and be our representative, and you haven't shown that you can do that; you've just shown us you…we know you're good, but…we can't vote for you."

Kurt let out a long sigh, shoulders slumping and gaze falling to the ground. He couldn't believe that he had managed to misjudge it the situation so badly. He supposed that he ought to have figured that out from the songs that he had heard the Warblers perform – show tunes weren't really their style – but he had thought it was about his voice, not how the Warblers could use it.

"I'm sorry," said Blaine, hand falling onto Kurt's shoulder, and Kurt shrugged because it wasn't Blaine's fault. "No, I mean it, I- I messed up." Kurt looked up at him in surprise, frowning some more. Blaine sighed, looking at him with such regret that it made Kurt want to reach over and hug him. "I told you to do something simple, and I forgot that you wouldn't be singing a pop song like the rest of us would…" he broke off, shrugging. "I just- I was such an idiot to think that you wouldn't automatically be singing that, you know?" Kurt smiled at him, nodding.

"Blaine, it's- it's fine…It's not your fault any more than it is mine," he sighed. "I just- I really thought that I'd have a chance at singing solo." He pursed his lips and shrugged, letting out a sigh when he couldn't find the words.

"You will," said Blaine, confidently, gaze boring into Kurt's and telling him that Blaine was right. "next time you are a cert…Kurt, you give me and Bastian a serious run for our money – you will get this, I promise." Kurt gave him a small smile, the corners of his mouth turning up at Blaine's earnestness and honesty.

"Okay, the next time I'll have you running for the hills in shame." Blaine broke out into a real smile, letting out a small laugh.

"I look forward to it," he said, getting to his feet and patting Kurt's arm. Kurt got up too, attempting to shake out the feelings of failure that were pressing down on him. "Now, come on, we'll need you to help with the nitty-gritty details of choosing the right lead." Kurt looked at Blaine, experiencing that painful pang that came from loving Blaine deeply and irrevocably with no prospect of having that feeling reciprocated or him ever knowing, and then smiled brightly too.

"Of course you'll need me, don't think for a second that I wouldn't vote to throw you out." Blaine laughed, putting his hands on Kurt's shoulders and squeezing tightly, making him intensely nervous and causing his heart to beat faster. It was strangely difficult to breathe as he was guided back to Warbler hall.

Choosing a lead, despite not being in the running himself, wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He saw quickly that he had completely misunderstood what the Warblers were looking for in their potential leads' performances because, in the next round, Kurt voted for Warren whilst just about everyone else had voted off Liam. It had confused Kurt at first as Warren was the weakest singer, but, after hearing Warren performing again, he got that Warren's song as a whole was just better. Liam got very intense during the middle of his song, and it was confusing and off-putting. Warren was weaker, slightly, but he would be a better lead if he was simply fronting the Warblers.

After that, things were simpler as they all unanimously voted off Warren, Jeff, Tyler and Nick so that they were left with Flint against Sebastian and Blaine. Flint had looked dumbstruck when he and Nick came back in after the penultimate round, and Kurt had to admit that he was very endearing. Blaine even looked vaguely nervous as Flint gave his final performance, and Kurt got the impression that no one had come as close to toppling him and Sebastian as Flint had this time round.

However, in the end, Kurt had had to agree with the others and vote for Sebastian and Blaine. He had thought that Flint was just as good as them, but he didn't have quite the stage dynamic that Sebastian and Blaine did. There was something so enticing and charismatic about Blaine and Sebastian when they were performing together that it meant it would be very hard to come up with something that would beat it. That didn't mean, though, that there was no hope because Kurt reckoned that he could do it. It would take some time and careful thinking, but he could win lead off them.

Blaine threw his arms around Sebastian the moment he saw the hands go up in their favour. He could feel his heart hammering from relief for no real reason other than he got another duet with Sebastian, and maybe – just maybe – if they kept going, they might be able to win Regionals. If they kept practising, kept getting better, then maybe they stood a chance.

Sebastian shook him off pretty quickly, giving him a look that questioned Blaine's sanity for thinking they might lose, and so Blaine bounded over to hug Flint, who looked a little bit let down, as he grinned because Flint was feeling good! He was getting a boyfriend! Well, as long as Dylan said yes, which was a technicality that he was going to overlook because otherwise his good mood would die and he would rather that it didn't because, you know, he was in a good mood!

Blaine genuinely felt like dancing around the room and dragging Flint with him. When he drew back from squashing Flint, he could see that Flint was grinning in an embarrassed manner because he knew exactly what Blaine was thinking. He knew that he and Kurt were going to descend onto Flint and demand to know everything that he was feeling the moment that they got out of Warbler hall. He got the impression that Flint knew that if his not so subtle attempts to shuffle away from Blaine were anything to go by.

"Alright!" exclaimed Wes, banging the gavel. "We have our leads! Tomorrow we begin with learning the piece! And we practise on both days on the weekend! Do not forget! I will flay you all live if you do! You should fear my wrath! Fear it!" he brandished the gavel threateningly at all the people in the room as they all tried to not snicker at him.

"Okay," said Jeff, holding up his hands. "we fear you, now can we please go? I'm starving!" There were titters and sniggers from all the boys.

"Insubordination!" roared Wes, waving his gavel around in a manner that made him look like a maniac. David snatched the gavel from him and banged it, dismissing the Warbler as Wes let out a furious cry of; "Mutiny!" and leapt at his friend, sending them crashing to the floor. The Warblers burst out laughing, and Blaine hooked his arm through Flint's and dragged him from the room.

The moment they were out, Kurt appeared by their side. Blaine shared a smile that was somewhere between evil and excited over Flint's head, and Kurt shot it right back and hooked his arm through Flint's. Flint let out a loud groan, and Blaine burst out laughing along with Kurt.

"If you thought that this wasn't coming than you're an idiot," commented Kurt, shooting Flint a disparaging look. Flint pouted and pulled out some puppy dog eyes that weren't very effective given that there was still his giddy happiness sparkling away inside them.

"Kurt's right," said Blaine, grinning at his friend. "you knew this was coming so spill." He gave Flint his best glare, and Flint huffed, rolled his eyes and grabbed onto their sleeves and proceeded to pull them to the side of the hall.

"Okay, so, I just- I thought it over, and I just- I kind of…" he trailed off, twisting his fingers together. Blaine gave him a sympathetic look that also told him to calm down. Flint took in a deep breath and shot them both a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I just- I reckoned you were both right. I know…I know that I really like him…I'm really excited, but I'm terrified, but I'm more excited than that…" he trailed off again, looking really nervous, and Blaine glanced over at Kurt. Kurt was grinning in a manner that said he was utterly delighted by what Flint had just said.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" demanded Kurt, eyebrow arching. Flint swallowed, blushing heavily under the gazes that he and Kurt were projecting onto him. "Go find your man!" Flint looked over at Blaine in a nervous manner. Blaine held up his hands in a calming gesture.

"Just remember to breathe," he said, calmly. "Take your time when you speak and make sure that you say everything that you want to before he does, or whatever." He reached forward and put a hand on Flint's shoulder, giving him a huge smile. "And no matter what happens; you are amazing, and you deserve the very best…Sometimes, though, it's really – fucking – hard to get that." He heard Kurt snort, slightly, at what he'd said, but he kept staring at Flint because he didn't want Flint to get himself worked up into a state and bring himself down any more than he did every other day.

"Okay," said Flint, sucking in a huge breath and looking between the two boys with an almost fearful expression on his face. Blaine knew how terrifying the first plunge into this was, and he knew that Flint had a veritable choir of self-doubting voices in his head that were ready to hinder him, but Blaine knew that Flint would feel better after this. Even if he was rejected, he knew that he had the courage to stand up and put himself on the line, which was something that Flint sorely needed. "I'm going, I'm going, I' going!" and with that last proclamation, Flint turned on his heel and walked away.

"Yes!" exclaimed Blaine, jumping up into the air in delight and throwing an arm around Kurt's shoulder and squeezing the taller boy slightly to him. He heard Kurt let out a mildly startled laugh, and he stumbled a little bit as Blaine's weight unbalanced. He felt Kurt's hand collide with his back as he patted him, but Blaine knew that this meant more to him than Kurt because Flint was moving on and he was being brave and he was building up some self-confidence, and they were all far too greatly invested in each other's love lives for it to be good.

"How do you think the conversation is going to go?" asked Kurt, looking at him in curiosity as Blaine detached himself from Kurt, and they began to walk. Blaine breathed in and pulled a thoughtful face because, in all his honesty and hope, he wasn't entirely sure.

"I don't know," he admitted, giving Kurt a tiny smile. "I mean, I'm friends with Dylan, and all, but we're not close, and this kind of thing is never something we've really talked about…except when he's teasing me about Sebastian." He rolled his eyes, and he could see Kurt rolling his eyes and smiling teasingly at him.

"Yes, well, I didn't even know who he was until Flint told me about him, but…when we came out of the assembly I saw them together, and they sort of looked…" Blaine looked at Kurt in interest as the Warbler searched for a word that would sum up what he'd seen.

"Flirty?" he suggested, eventually. "Couply?" Kurt shrugged, looking amused, and Blaine looked up at him with humorous eyes because he was glad that there was someone he could tease about this – he couldn't really do it with Kurt because the whole dating Keats thing still made him a little uncomfortable – and he was glad that there was more evidence that this conversation was going to go well.

"Blaine!" Blaine blinked, surprised by the sound of Sebastian's voice, and turned around in time with Kurt so that their bags swirled around them and just missed hitting the other. Sebastian was hurrying down the hallway towards them. Blaine took a deep breath, feeling nervous, because Sebastian had a rather intent look in his eyes.

"Bastian?" he asked, trying to ask in one word whether everything – and there were a lot of things under that umbrella of a word – was okay. He watched Sebastian's eyes flickering towards the ceiling and deflated because that meant everything was fine and normal. He watched Sebastian's eyes dart once to Kurt, who shifted slightly but didn't move, before they turned back to Blaine.

"Blaine, I've been thinking, and I distinctly remember that I promised that we were going to do this properly-" Blaine nodded, slowly, not sure where this was coming from. "-and this can't really be "the start of something good" unless I do this right. So, baring all that in my mind, will you go out on a date with me on Saturday after Warblers?"

Blaine felt his breath get stuck somewhere in his throat at Sebastian's words, face colouring up and sincerely glad that it was only Kurt with them, and found himself tuning instinctively into the pounding of his heart that was telling him that his system was going haywire over the thought of going on a date with Sebastian.

"Yes," he gasped out, having constrained his voice as much as he could so that a high pitched squeal didn't come out. "I would- I would love to!" He grinned up at Sebastian, feeling ridiculously happy, and Sebastian nodded, a pleased expression spreading across his face. Blaine knew that he couldn't, given where they were, he could throw his arms around Sebastian and kiss him, but he sincerely wanted to. He wanted to dance around and sing and hug everyone and paint rainbows and sunshine everywhere, but he couldn't really do that either. He just had to stand there and beam at his rather awkward looking boyfriend.

"Good," said Sebastian, nodding in a fairly stiff manner, like he had no idea whether he had just done that right. "um…I'll see you later." Sebastian nodded once more and then turned around, striding down the hall way and out of sight. Blaine jumped up into the air once, allowing himself to be slightly more undignified now that it was just him and Kurt. He turned back to his friend and saw that Kurt had a mild frown on his face and was looking in the direction that Sebastian had gone. Blaine felt his smile die slightly at the sight of that and tilted his head to the side.

"Kurt?" he asked. "Everything alright?" He watched as Kurt started, blinked and then seemed to jerk himself away from his thoughts, turning back to Blaine with a small smile on his face.

"Sorry," he apologised, light tone of voice back and casual smile in place. Blaine blinked once, shaking his head because he didn't care that Kurt had zoned out, but Kurt was his friend and he wanted to know what he was thinking.

"No, it's fine," he said as they began to walk again. "I just- you alright?" He saw Kurt blink in apparent surprise, shoot him a confused look and then nod.

"Yeah, no, just…That was a surprisingly awkward conversation given what you'd just performed…I didn't think that there was anything wrong, but…?" he left the question open ended, but Blaine shot him a reassuring smile that said that everything between him and Sebastian was fine.

"No, it's just- me and Bastian don't really talk, you know? I mean, we flirt and hang out, but we don't talk…if you know what I mean?" he looked at Kurt questioningly, glad that he had a friend that he could talk to this about without merciless teasing; he knew that Kurt would tease him, but he wasn't as bad as the others. Kurt nodded, giving him an understanding smile.

"Yeah, I mean, I sort of know what you mean…Keats has this thing about words being precious and trying to make me talk less so I guess I kind of know where you're coming from." Blaine snorted at that, glad that a smile was able to curve its way onto his lips, and nodded because that did sound like something that Keats would say.

"Most of the time it's just making out and stuff, and we keep getting walked in on!" he rolled his eyes and shook his head whilst Kurt chuckled at his expense. "Anyway, we don't talk as much as we used to, actually, and I guess…this is not something that we ever know how to do so we have nothing to say to each other." He shrugged, pulling a face, and Kurt gave him an encouraging smile.

"Maybe it will be easier when you're out of Dalton; you won't get teased and disturbed." Blaine nodded, but he had to admit that he felt apprehensive about going out with Sebastian…He could still feel the cold blade of Holt's knife pressed against his neck…He shuddered, and Kurt's hand descended comfortingly onto his shoulder. "You'll be safe," intoned his friend softly, and Blaine looked up at him, desperately needing to hear this because the more he thought about it the more terrifying a prospect it became. "I highly doubt that Sebastian will let anything happen to you."

Blaine nodded, sniffing in deeply and trying to get rid of the stinging feeling of tears in his eyes. He did feel comforted by those words, but he also could feel something sickening twisting in his stomach at the idea of Sebastian getting hurt because of Blaine. No, he had to be positive; things we were looking relatively calm with Keats, Flint was getting a boyfriend, he was singing lead with Sebastian…This was turning out to be an amazing year so far, and he had to hold onto that.

"Yeah," he agreed, taking in a deep breath and looking at Kurt for a little bit more reassurance that Kurt willing gave to him with the widening of his smile and squeeze of Blaine's shoulder. "I know he wouldn't."

"Finally!" exclaimed Kurt, rolling his eyes to the heavens. "You've finally learnt about positive thinking!"

"Hey!" said Blaine, feeling stung and indignant. He shoved Kurt slightly so that the taller boy stumbled away from him a little bit, smirking teasingly. "I know plenty about positive thinking!" Kurt arched an eyebrow at him, condescendingly, and Blaine crossed his arms, pouting at him. "I do too! That was positive thinking in Warbler hall!"

"Of course, it was, Blaine," said Kurt, putting an arm around his shoulder, and Blaine knew that he was being patronised. God, he hated being shorter than people! It was very hard to be intimidating whilst looking up at someone.

"Was I not being positive about Flint and Dylan? You can't deny that that was positive…"

The two of them wandered through the corridors, arguing about Blaine's ability to be positive, and when they reached the canteen their conversation had somehow moved onto Grey's Anatomy – Blaine had no idea how it had gotten there – and they were playfully arguing about their thoughts on Arizona's return.

"Bowling!" shouted Nick, the moment they took their seats, and Blaine jumped, taken aback by the cry. He looked at Kurt, whose eyebrow had frozen in its arched position, and then around at the rest of the table. The others all rolled their eyes in sync.

"What about bowling?" asked Kurt, breaking off some bread and popping into his mouth as Blaine shook his head and poked his fork into his rice. Nick huffed.

"Bowling this Saturday after Warblers? We haven't done it in ages!" Blaine froze at that, rice spilling off his fork and back onto his plate because he'd been planning on hiding the fact that he'd been asked out by Sebastian from his friends for a day or two so he could bask in the warm glow of happiness that it generated before he got teased into an early grave.

"We can't," said Kurt, ignoring Blaine's wide eyed stare because Blaine's mouth wasn't exactly working at the moment. "me and Blaine both have dates." There was a shocked silence after that, and Blaine turned to Kurt with wide eyes, having been previously unaware of that fact, and also secretly glad that people were busy staring at Kurt instead of clocking onto what that meant about him and Sebastian. "What?" demanded Kurt, taking in their wide eyes. "I take it I didn't mention it earlier?" There was a round of shaken heads. Kurt sighed and gave them all a level stare. "I'm happy," he said firmly. "and Keats is a gentleman." Jeff snorted loudly, and Nick opened his mouth to contradict him, but Kurt sent him a fierce glare that said to shut his mouth. Nick obediently snapped his trap shut. Kurt smiled. "Good."

"So…" said David, turning away from Kurt to look at Blaine and blinking a couple of times. "what was that about you having a date?" Blaine went scarlet and shot Kurt a half-hearted glare. Kurt arched an eyebrow, probably demanding to know how Blaine thought he could've kept it a secret, and Blaine rolled his eyes mildly and looked back at the others.

"Um…Sebastian asked me out after Warblers," he mumbled, redirecting his gaze onto his plate. He got the impression that everyone was staring at him, silently demanding more, but he didn't really want to say any more because…he felt embarrassed and awkward enough as it was.

"Sebastian basically said," broke in Kurt, when it was clear that Blaine was not going to speak at all, and Blaine didn't know whether to be relieved or not by his decision to speak for him. "that he remembered promising to do their relationship properly and that it wouldn't be the "start of something good" if he didn't do it properly so, therefore, he wanted to go on a date with Blaine."

"Aww!" whispered Jeff, and Blaine jerked his head up, eyes going wide, because that had to be the first time anyone had ever awwed over Sebastian. Everyone else was staring at the blonde with disturbed expressions on their faces. Jeff's eyes were really wide, and he had a freakishly large grin on his face. Blaine glanced over at Nick, who was slowly edging away from Jeff in a manner that was totally hypocritical given all the crazy shit that he did.

"Did you just make a cute sound in regards to Sebastian?" demanded David, nervously poking his friend with Thad's knife. The other Warbler councillor, who had been frozen mid eating his chicken, jolted at the loss of his knife and glared at the African-American boy for taking away one piece of his cutlery.

"What?" exclaimed Jeff, defensively, batting away the knife which was snatched back by Thad instantly, who resumed eating, and the rest of them continued to stare at him in bemused shock. "That is totally an adorable thing to say!" There was a pause in which the others seemed to consider what Jeff had said, and Blaine simply groaned and hoped that Sebastian didn't choose this moment to come and engage him in conversation like he sometimes did.

"Well, you may have a point," said David, finally. "but just…don't say that around him, okay?"

"Yeah," chipped in Nick. "I kind of like having you as a friend even if you won't go bowling with me because you have a greedy girlfriend!" Blaine recoiled slightly as Nick half yelled the latter half of the sentence at Jeff. Jeff whacked him around the back of his head.

"Just for that, I'm giving you more food." Nick groaned loudly, and Blaine smiled gladly at the subject being successfully diverted him from him and Sebastian.

"Can I ask something?" said Kurt, tentatively, and they all looked at him with either welcoming or derisive expressions on their faces, depending on whether or not your name was Nick Duval. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Right, point taken. So, um, what's with the food thing?" There was an awkward pause in which everyone looked back at Nick, who glanced at Thad. Thad rolled his eyes to the ceiling and put down his knife and fork.

"My mother d-d-d-decided that ssshe did not l-l-like Nick and ssso ssshe laced hisss f-f-food with sssomething…We never f-f-found out what. He hallucinated…It t-t-traumatised him." Blaine ran his fork through his own food and glanced at Kurt, who looked somewhere between shocked, apologetic and saddened. Blaine remembered how he'd felt when they'd heard about it. Whatever had happened in the summer of Freshman year had changed both Nick and Thad for good. "It wasss sssumer after Freshman year," added Thad, for Kurt's benefit. Kurt nodded.

"I'm sorry," he offered, and Nick shrugged weakly and pulled out a fake smile.

"That doesn't matter," he said in a fake off hand voice. "What matters it that none of my friends will go bowling with me because they're all too busy with their girl-slash-boyfriends!" Blaine frowned and guessed that David must be going out with Elise again.

"What about Thad?" asked Kurt, indicating to the pale boy that had sat back in his seat and hunched his shoulders after the mention of his mother. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Someone failed Spanish again," he said, and Thad rolled his eyes and huffed. "and now needs to study extra hard as a result!"

"Whatever," grumbled Thad. "Besides, I need to practise." Blaine nodded in understanding and then sat up straighter, smirking at Nick.

"What about Flint?" he asked, and Kurt looked surprised by that and the other three let out chuckles and snorts that suggested they had been counting how long it took for Nick to realise that he had missed Flint out. Nick stared around the table with wide eyes.

"Um…let's pretend I didn't just do that…On a safer topic of conversation, that's brilliant! Except Flint sucks at bowling! It's no fun with him! I always win! And I can't go with anyone else! Morrison is going to be with Lottie. Chris wants to paint, Drew has some kind of practise, and I learnt the hard way to never bowl with Trinity, Juri and Fred." There was a moment of incredulous silence in which they all demanded to know why he had tried to bowl with that lot in the first place.

"Well, your idiocy aside, I'm sure that you and Flint will have a wonderful time. I'm sure you can find something to talk about besides his inability to bowl," said Jeff, winking, and Blaine felt himself freeze at that and desperately wanted to shake his head to say that he should stop hinting at Flint's feelings. However, he didn't think he could do it subtlety so he didn't risk it.

"On the subject of our almost-soloist, where is he and what the hell was he singing about? It was awesome, but I didn't get it." There was an awkward pause after that, and Blaine saw that Kurt was looking at him for guidance. Blaine gave him a look that said not to broach the subject without Flint. Kurt gave him a tiny smile, and the others didn't need to be told that, though they were looking at Blaine in a questioning manner that asked what was going on. He told them to wait for Flint. They all accepted it instantly.

"Well, you won't die from anticipation because there he is." Blaine twisted around to see Flint walking into the canteen with Dylan by his side. Their arms were brushing, and the happy grin on his face told Blaine all that he needed to know. They walked side by side and talked with tiny smiles on their faces as they collected their meals. They stood before each other, talking, before they eventually split; Dylan walking over to Alex, Warwick and Trinity, and Flint coming to them.

"Hey guys," he said, dropping down with a self-satisfied smile on his face that made Blaine and Kurt grin at each other in pleasure. Jeff and David exchanged sideways looks that questioned what was going on. "you'll be pleased to know that on my way back I saw Cam hanging out with Braden, Pedro and Francis in one of the music rooms. They seemed to be getting on like a house on fire so it looks like he's settled in really well." Blaine nodded along with all the others, glad of that fact, but also narrowed his eyes because he got the impression that Flint was purposefully diverting the conversation

"Bowling!" exclaimed Nick once more, before anyone else could input into the conversation, and Blaine glared at him for him leaping into the silence when he was sure Kurt had just been about to ask the all-important question. Kurt snapped his mouth shut, narrowing his eyes darkly at Nick. Flint blinked in confusion. "Bowling on Saturday, you up for it?" Flint went scarlet.

"Um, sorry," he said, wincing. "I said I'd go with Dylan." Blaine sucked in a huge breath of air, grinning even wider. Kurt pressed his hands together in glee. Thad tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. David and Jeff exchanged sideways looked again. Nick remained oblivious.

"That's fine, he can come too." Flint went even redder, and David clenched his fists, punching them into the air, and Jeff clamped his hands over his mouth. Thad dropped his knife and fork, mouth hanging open. Nick finally got that there was something going on that he had missed. "What? What is it?" he demanded, looking around at them all in annoyed confusion. Flint took in a huge breath, closing his eyes.

"We can't do that because me and Dylan are going together – on a date." The shocked silence that should have followed was immediately broken by the celebratory noises of the other boys at the table. Blaine threw his arms around Flint as Kurt squealed in delight. David punched the air in celebration with his cheers. Jeff threw himself across the table with a delighted cheer to messily plant a kiss on Flint's forehead – for whatever reason made him think that was the best way to congratulate Flint – and Thad was clapping as he looked at Flint with a surprised smile.

"This is fantastic!" exclaimed David, reaching across to slap his friend heartily on the shoulder. Most people, who had looked over at the initial outbreak of noise, were now turning back to their meals, and Blaine was amused to see Hammonds forcing Mrs Daniels' to retake her seat so that she didn't punish them for disturbing the quiet. "Seriously, man, this is really great." Blaine watched Flint looked down at his plate with an embarrassed expression that Blaine knew so well, but it really was a greatly fantastic thing because Flint had been sad for so long because of his sexuality, Nick and his family so for him to find someone that made him so happy was nothing short of perfect.

"Thanks," said Flint, looking around at them with a small grin. "I- I can't believe it to be honest," he muttered, rubbing his hands together in a nervous fashion.

"Nick," said Jeff, elbowing his friend, who was still sitting there with a shocked expression on his face; slack jaw and wide eyes. "you going to say something?" Everyone looked at him with judging expressions, except Flint who just looked terrified. Nick swallowed and looked around the room once before looking straight into Flint's eyes.

"Sorry, kind of a shock. I didn't- I had no idea you liked him…at all. Woah, um…" Nick scratched his head looking puzzled. "Did you ask him out because I would have thought they'd be taking you out in an ambulance in this situation?" Blaine rolled his eyes at the way Nick had phrased his question, but couldn't deny that it was a good question. All eyes turned to Flint. Flint sighed.

"Alright, I'll tell you the whole story…"

---

Flint hurried down the corridor, body telling him that he had to move quickly or else he would lose his nerve completely and back out, and if that happened then he wouldn't put it past Blaine and Kurt to do something about it for him. He could not imagine the humiliation that he would suffer at that. It would be almost as bad as Nick doing something about it…oh that thought was painful.

Now, where was he actually going? He came to a stop in the corridor and slapped a hand over his face because why was he just walking around aimlessly? He squashed his nose into his face with his palm and tried to think logically. He didn't really know where to find Dylan because the only clubs he was in – fight club and one of the football teams – couldn't be on as Blaine ran the former and was in another one of the latter.

"Keep that up much longer, and it's going to be permanent." Flint dropped the hand from his face like he'd been shocked. He looked up at Dylan, who was standing before him with an amused expression on his face, and gave him a weak smile.

"See, not that hard to find him," said Alex, rolling his eyes. Flint blinked, taking in the presence of Dylan's best friend, and gave him a small smile. Alex rolled his eyes once more. "I'll just have my poem back," he said, snatching the piece of paper from Dylan's slack fingers. "and I'll see you at dinner. Nice to see you, Flint, I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you." With a final roll of the eyes, Alex departed.

"Sorry about him," apologised Dylan, instantly, the moment Alex had vanished from sigh. Flint shook his head because his brain had just clocked what Alex had first said.

"You were- you were looking for me?" he asked. Dylan blinked and then did a double take, glaring after Alex's departing form.

"Um, well, about that- you see I- well…" Dylan trailed off, running one hand through his hair, and then grabbed Flint's hand. Flint fell his heart skip a beat and nausea and nerves begin to choke him as Dylan dragged him into an empty classroom, flicking on the light. Flint was quickly forgetting out to breathe. He could feel his chest closing up as he began to ask himself what on earth he was doing. Why would he think for one second that anyone would want to go out with him?

He gulped in a huge breath, hearing it tear in his throat, and couldn't force it to go all the way into his lungs. He raised his free hand to his face as Dylan began to talk to him, but he wasn't able to properly hear the words that were being said to him. He could feel Dylan's firm grip position him so that he was sat down in a chair and bent forward. Then the hands set about undoing his tie and opening the neck of his shirt.

"You're being very forward, don't you think?" he choked out, and he heard Dylan laugh which he felt proud about because it wasn't often he made people laugh.

"You've been around Nick too much," joked Dylan, and Flint felt it become a little bit easier to breathe at that. He tilted his head to the side, not able to disagree with that.

"Yeah," he whispered, and suddenly aware of the fact that Dylan's face was really close to his. Dylan had seriously grey eyes except right around his pupils it was lighter. It had spears of almost white that lanced out into the rest of the iris. It was almost like a tiny snowflake sat around the pupil. It was freaky how captivating that was.

"So, Flint," Flint blinked and jerked back slightly. "um, there's something I've been meaning to say to you for a while, and if I don't do it soon then I think Alex and Warwick will probably do their nut – not to mention Trinity – and do something stupid so…" Flint chuckled in understanding.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he agreed, even though he technically didn't know that they were talking about the same thing and if they weren't then it would be very awkward, but he reckoned that they were so it was okay. "I think Blaine and Kurt are devising plans as we speak." Dylan chuckled.

"Two true romantics, you're in trouble!" Flint chuckled heartily at that, and he wondered whether it would be a good idea to ask him himself. Dylan sighed and reached out to cradle both of Flint's hands in his.

"Yeah," he muttered. Dylan took a deep breath and shuffled a little bit closer.

"So, Flint Wilson, I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to give me an honest answer but not until you've thought it over, and please don't freak out and have a panic/asthma attack because I know you're stupid enough to not carry an inhaler." Flint let out a little chuckle, but now he was almost certain that he was about to be asked out and so remained in silence. "Okay, so, I know we've kind of been friends for a long time, and we got a bit closer after what Keats did, but…ever since New Year's day when we sat and just talked…well, ever since then I can't get you out of my head." Flint went scarlet instantly and tried not to smile too much. "You can smile," assured Dylan, and he grinned just a little bit more. "Anyway," continued Dylan. "I've been thinking about you every day since then, and it's kind of distracting to be honest, and it drives my friends crazy, and I need to do something about it…This is crazy, but do you want go out with me on Saturday? I mean, I know you have Warblers, but after that? We could go bowling and get something to eat? Just you and me…on a date?"

Flint took his hands from Dylan to put them over his face as he tried to breathe steadily. He heard Dylan shuffle back slightly, and he wanted to reach out and grab him so that he didn't get the wrong idea, but he couldn't. Not at that precise moment when his eyes were stinging because this was it. It was what he wanted, and what he feared. If he said yes to Dylan, then he said no – in his mind – to the possibility of ever having Nick. Dylan; who he wanted and wanted him in return, or Nick; who he wanted and was unwanted in return.

It was a harder decision than he would have thought, not to mention all the self-doubt that was telling him that he would never be wanted. Except, they were simply voices in his head, but this…this was real. Dylan was right in front of him, hot breath warming the backs of his hands, and had just asked him out.

He had never felt like this before. He was such a mess of emotions. He was happy and scared and freaked out and overjoyed and worried and disbelieving and amazed and confused…but mostly it was overjoyed…overjoyed and relieved.

He didn't have any words, though. He had no words to say all of that. He couldn't describe in plain English how it felt to be such an utterly hopeful mess. No words in plain English…

"It's a new dawn It's a new day It's a new life For me And I'm feeling good…" he sang, softly, reaching forward to pull Dylan closer into his presence. His brain, for the first time, seemed to not be working at all. It was kind of weird to be completely unable to think because there were no thoughts there instead of having his brain completely clogged with too many thoughts that stopped him from thinking. He didn't even know what he was meant to be doing, but the next thing he knew he had pulled Dylan in and kissed him right on the lips.

He was insane.

And being insane felt…

…perfectly wonderful.

---

There was a stunned silence at the table. Blaine stared at Flint with his mouth hanging open because he had not been expecting that. He hadn't been at all surprised by the rest of the tale, but the ending…Wow, he had not expected to hear that Flint had been kissed, let alone that he'd initiated it. He looked round at all the other faces and saw that they all looked similarly dumbstruck.

"You kissed him?" asked Jeff in a whisper, brow scrunching together in obvious confusion, trying to process such an alien idea. Flint nodded furiously, staring down at his food. David gaped wordlessly. Nick looked like someone had slapped him again. Kurt cleared his throat and patted Flint's shoulder.

"At least one of us made the move for our first kiss," Flint went even redder at that, and Blaine noticed the way he shot Nick a half glance before grinning nervously around at the others. Blaine gave him an encouraging smile, along with the others, that said it was perfectly fine to discount Nick's kiss from the list.

"Hey, David," said Jeff, elbowing his friend. "you know what we've got to do?" David blinked dumbly for a second before his face split out into a wicked smile.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "My favourite part!" Blaine narrowed his eyes slightly as the two boys jumped from the bench. Jeff made to grab Nick, but then seemed to think better of it and nabbed Thad by the shoulder instead. The Franklin Warbler councillor rolled his eyes and hopped from the bench. Kurt let out a small giggle as Blaine clocked what was going on and Flint slammed his head down onto the table. Nick didn't even jolt; he just continued to sit there with wide eyes.

Blaine watched, amused smile settled on his face, as the three of their friends came to a stop by Dylan, tapped him on the shoulder and made the taller boy rise to his feet. They then proceeded to talk to the boy looming over them – well, Jeff and David did, Thad just seemed to be standing there – whilst punching their fists into their palms. Dylan looked mildly amused by the whole situation and nodded a couple of times before getting high-fives from Jeff and David, and the three Warblers traipsed back to them.

"What did you say?" asked Flint in a voice of trepidation, cautiously raising his head from the table. He was shot three charming smiles to which he glared intensely.

"Oh nothing, darling," said David, winking, and Flint kicked him under the table. The rest laughed, except Nick because he was still busy gaping, and David rolled his eyes. "It's fine! It was just the normal stuff; bodily harm, disembowelment, torture, death…you know how it goes." Blaine chuckled at Flint's expense because the poor Harriot boy was sitting there with wide eyes and a petrified expression.

"Nick," said Jeff, elbowing his friend several times. "Nick, buddy, you've got to say something else, or I'm going to have to start freaking out over you, okay?" Nick nodded, shutting his mouth and fixing wide eyes onto Flint.

"Yeah, I just…I can't believe you didn't tell. I mean, we are roommates." Blaine scrunched his face up and looked at Flint, who was studiously avoiding Nick's puppy dog eyes.

"I know," muttered Flint, and Blaine hated the way he sounded so ashamed of what he'd done even though it had been completely natural and understanding. He shot Nick a glare for increasing Flint's guilt levels, but Nick didn't see as he was still staring at Flint. "I just- I needed a sympathetic ear, okay? And, I'm sorry but you're not that…I needed someone who would talk feelings and not make fun of me, and I needed to believe that I was allowed to be frightened." Flint shook his head, ducking it down so that Nick wasn't in his line of sight. Nick took in a deep breath, frown on his face as he thought; the eyes darting around the room giving away how quickly he was trying to get to the solution.

Then a pale handed reached across the table and covered the trembling on. The fingers curled around the palm, steadying it and holding it firmly. Flint jerked, looking down at his and Nick's hands before hesitantly meeting the boy's eyes, blinking at the openness of them and the soft smile that rested across his lips.

"I know that I'm not any of those things any of the time, but the bottom line is we're a family, and I love you, and so if you need me to be anything that I'm not…all you have to do is ask, and I'm not perfect, but I'll do my very best to be perfect for you."

Blaine stared at Nick with a completely slack expression because he was saying that now? Blaine had expected pouting and teasing and whining about the loss of his roommate, but he had not been expecting that! Oh god, did Nick have any idea how that had sounded? Oh Christ!

Blaine looked over at Jeff, who bore a similar expression of disbelief. He arched his eyebrows when he caught Blaine's expression and rolled his eyes, clearly demanding to know why Nick hadn't bothered saying that years ago. Blaine shook his head and shrugged, and they both turned to Thad, who was staring at his god-brother like he'd sprouted antlers, and Thad simply shook his head when he noticed their expressions and rolled his eyes to the ceiling, probably communicating a sense of exasperation about Nick's timing.

"Okay," said Flint in a thick voice. "I'll remember that." Nick smiled at him and retracted his hand. Then he looked around at the rest of the table.

"I cannot believe that you are all dating people. This is going to suck." There was an incredulous pause in which they all stared at him and arched their eyebrows. "What?"

"You're really not having a good day, are you?" said Kurt, eventually. Nick blinked at him, head tilting to the side. Kurt rolled his eyes. "It may have escaped your notice, but Thad isn't dating anyone." Nick's mouth formed a round "o", and he stared at them for a second before slamming his head into the table, causing the rest of them to break down into laughter, and Blaine, glancing at Flint, got a wide grin and a nod that said he was more than fine.

---

"Thad, please stop making that face. It's seriously off-putting!" The harmonies of the Warblers, ever so slightly out of key and rather jagged around the edges, faded out chaotically. Kurt sighed, lowering his sheet music, and shot the Warbler councillor a glare. Thad, however, seemed oblivious to Wes' protestation against his facial expression and all the stares as he continued to screw up his face and stare at the score before him.

"Thad!" exclaimed David, rolling his eyes. "Thad, we know there are problems, but it's Saturday! We have to get through this quickly! We're performing on Tuesday – probably – and we haven't done a full run through."

"We would be further through if someone had arranged the music on time." David turned a glare on Nick, who was lounging against a piece of furniture and smirking at his stressed out looking friend.

"Yeah, well, it's not my fault that Wes took ages to decide what song to do, and then the printer went spastic so I had to write everything by hand and then I couldn't even scan it onto the computer because the printer was still – fucking – broken!"

"Alright," said Wes, stepping forward and putting a hand on David's chest, pushing him back slightly so that he could calm down and take a couple of breaths. "let's just calm down. Thad, what's the problem?" Thad held up a finger in response and then turned to Kurt and Tyler.

"Can I have the note you were just on?" he asked in a very calm voice given how stressed out most of the other Warblers were. Kurt glanced at Tyler, who simply shrugged and rolled his eyes slightly. The two of them pitched the note in their heads before singing it. Thad's face immediately distorted. He pointed at Tyler with one hand and gave him the thumbs down and at Kurt with the other and gave him the thumbs up. Kurt smile in delight at that as Tyler adjusted his note though it was still out against Kurt's.

"No, Kurt," said Thad, shaking his head and gesturing to the ceiling with his thumb. "you're flat go up." He gestured up again. "This is the note that you want," he sang, and Kurt, glancing at Tyler and wondering why Thad couldn't make his hand signals more obvious, adjusted his note.

"Good!" enthused Wes when Thad gave them a nod that said they were okay. "Now that that problem is- What?" he demanded, looking at Thad's shaking head. Thad put up his index finger again to ask for a moment, and Kurt rolled his eyes once more and checked the time because he was so sure that he was going to be late for his first date.

"I thought that wasn't the only problem," muttered Thad, probably more to himself then Wes. "This is wrong!" exclaimed Thad, dropping a part of the score with a shocked expression on his face. Kurt arched an eyebrow as David looked over at him in an offended manner.

"No, it's not!" he said, indignantly. Wes rolled his eyes as most of the Warblers huffed and glared at one of their leaders.

"David, don't argue with Mr Perfect Pitch, alright? What's wrong with the music, Thad?" Kurt arched an eyebrow in surprise as he looked over at Thad. Thad was shaking his head and looked at Wes with a rather apologetic expression given that he hadn't done anything wrong.

"There's an entire part that's wrong, but I think that it's only out by a semitone…I think you just transcribed it wrong, David." With that he reached forward and nabbed said part from the hands of Jeff, Dom and Francis. Wes rolled his eyes once more.

"How long will it take you to sort it out?" Thad shrugged and moved over to the piano, lifting up the lid and beginning to play chords. Wes rolled his eyes, this time accompanying it with a heavy sigh. "Alright everyone, take five…or however long it takes to fix this." He gave David a glare to which David simply held up his hands.

"Yeah, I told you not to make me arrange it!"

"Yes, but if you don't learn now whilst I'm here to clean up your mess, then when are you going to do it?"

"You clean up my mess! Thad's the one who's fixing the piece…" Kurt rolled his eyes and tuned out the argument, making his way over to Blaine as Sebastian got to his feet, stretched and walked off. Flint also sidled over, and the three boys, all of whom were embarking on their first dates in a time that was ticking ever closer, stood awkwardly before each other for a couple of moments.

"So…" said Blaine, exhaling and sinking into the sofa that he'd been sat on for the entire rehearsal as he and Sebastian perfected their solo part. "we on for meeting up after our dates?" Kurt took a moment to consider the proposition, but already knew that he wanted to because it was the closest he would come to being able to gush about it to girls in the way he would have if he'd been back in Lima – he had too little time and too many things to do to make a trip back to Lima.

"Yeah, I'm in," he said, and then turned to look at Flint. Flint chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment before nodding.

"Me too, just as long as it's not done in my room." Kurt snorted at that because there would be no way in any realm of the universe that he would ever discuss his first date in a room inhabited by Nick Duval because, no matter how sweet his promise to Flint had been, that boy loved to tease and joke and be generally immature and sex-obsessed.

"Yeah, I don't think that was ever a possibility," said Blaine, rolling his eyes mildly. "I suggest my room because if I hear one more comment about corrupting Juri's innocence…" he trailed off ominously, and Kurt had to agree with that statement because he got at least two comments per day to that effect from Chris and he was so close to pulling out his hair over it.

"What about Thad?" asked Flint, gnawing on his nails. Kurt reached over and slapped his hand, giving him a pointed look that told him to desist with the disgusting habit. Flint smiled nervously at him, looking like a naughty child. Blaine rolled his eyes once more.

"Don't worry," he said, reassuringly. "the moment he works out what we're doing he'll probably high-tail from the room and crash on the sofa." Kurt arched an eyebrow as Flint let out a little snicker. Blaine shook his head. "Long story, but he basically walked in on me, Flint and some other guys squealing over…" Blaine trailed off, looking over at Flint with a puzzled expression. "What were we actually doing?" he asked, and Kurt snorted at the way Flint's brow furrowed.

"Err…I don't remember, but he stood there for a couple of minutes listening to us squeal before running out of the room." Kurt chuckled and glanced over at the boy that was furiously amending the parts with a pen. He could just about picture him doing that.

"We're going to be late," said Blaine, rubbing his forehead in a nervous manner. "We're going to be late!" he repeated sounding really stressed out. Kurt looked at Flint and saw his expression become more panicked. He rolled his eyes at Blaine for settling Flint off.

"Blaine," he said in a forcefully calm tone of voice. "I doubt that it's going to be a problem for you because, in case you hadn't noticed, your boyfriend will also be late." Blaine gave him an apologetic smile and ran a hand down his face, looking over at Flint. Kurt could tell that there was something passing between them that he didn't quite catch. So, instead, he sat down on the sofa and indicated that Flint should take a seat on his other side. "Okay, I'm only going to say this once; everything will be fine. I know you're both scared – I'm worried too – but let's face it; me and you, Flint, we got asked out, and you, Blaine, seemed to have reformed Sebastian…If anything goes wrong, it won't be because of us. Now, we all know there are homophobic jerks in the world, but last time I checked you – Blaine – ran a fight club that your boyfriend, Flint, who is also a giant, attends. That just leaves me with my hopelessly uncoordinated boyfriend who by far favours brain over brawn, but you don't see me freaking out."

There was a silence in which he looked between the two nervous boys with a fierce glint in his eye, telling them both that they were both to stop losing their heads over the situation in which they were both safe. Flint exhaled and flopped against Kurt, resting his head against his shoulder, and Kurt smiled at him affectionately. Blaine gave him a self-deprecating smile and then sat up, childish grin back, and dropped his head down against his other shoulder. He looked between the two of them before rolling his eyes and leaning back against the sofa cushions.

"Did Sebastian disclose what you're doing?" asked Flint eventually, and Blaine shook his head, rolling his eyes slightly.

"No, he said it was a "surprise"…I have to admit I'm a little nervous as to what he's cooked up, but he says it's all safe, and I just need to dress casual so…" he shrugged a little bit. "I'm not really sure what to expect. "What about you, Kurt?" Kurt shook his head.

"Me and Keats are keeping our plans open for the rest of the day. We're having dinner at a restaurant he booked, but I think we're just going to wander around town or something…are you just bowling, Flint?" Flint shook his head.

"No, we've extended our plans so we'll be out for dinner too."

"Text when we get back to Dalton?" suggested Blaine, and Kurt nodded as Flint muttered "yeah" in a soft voice. "Awesome," murmured Blaine, and Kurt watched a tiny smile grow across his face, betraying how over excited he was about the whole prospect. Before they could start another conversation, though, Thad stepped away from the piano and held up the parts to indicate that it was done.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Wes as Kurt and Flint got off the sofa and wandered back over to the rest of the Warblers. "Now, I suggest we try and run it twice through – thirds, sorry about your part do the best you can, but I doubt it's changed much – without the soloists, and once with, and then we can call it a wrap." Kurt grinned at Trent as he made his way back to his spot.

Kurt had to admit that he was nothing short of delighted as to how Trent was settling in at Dalton. Kurt kept an eye on him, tending to catch him in the cafeteria or after Warblers, but he and Flint, who kept an eye on him in the house and such, had quickly realised that he had made enough friends for them not to be constantly hovering over his shoulder. He nearly always had a smile on his face and seemed to constantly be in the middle of some conversation with someone. He had told Kurt that he was really happy at Dalton and that he'd been surprised to find that the school had been everything he hoped, and the only thing that worried him were his friends from McKinley, who he wasn't exactly talking to but who sometimes made fun of him for being in a private school via text and all. Kurt had been quick to make sure that he knew that, if the situation became too much, he could seek help from Kurt or any of his friends, and that, if things were to escalate any further, the Dalton boys would be more than happy to stand up and defend him. Other than that, Trent was completely fine – so much better than Kurt had been – and whenever he did check up on him, Kurt found that their conversations quickly turned onto something else and that it really was more like chatting with a friend then orientating a new student.

"Alright!" cried Wes, drawing Kurt out of his train of thought and bringing his focus back to the Warblers. "Let's take it from the top, two bars for nothing…" Wes beat the tempo in the air, and the Warblers came in bang on time with their upbeat harmonies. Kurt had to admit that the piece sounded much better since Thad had tweaked the harmonies once or twice, though there were the natural slip ups from those sight-reading, and it seemed to take no time at all to run through the piece three times after such an agonisingly slow rehearsal.

The moment the final note died, and Wes had dismissed them accompanied by death threats in case any of them were stupid enough to run late tomorrow, Kurt sped from Warbler hall, Flint and Blaine on his tail. The three of them moved through the large corridors as fast as was dignified, and allowed, and the moment they were out into the cold grounds they broke into a proper run, Flint assuring them that he was fine to sprint the distance over to Harriot. Their goodbyes were lost on the wind as they dashed into Franklin and into their rooms, shouting good luck to each other as they slammed their doors shut.

Kurt took a couple of deep breaths as he looked around his and Juri's room. They hadn't been back long enough for it to have become a tip, but there was still a considerable amount of junk on the floor – mainly paper, he noted – that Juri would, no doubt, slip and slide over. Still, his concerns for his roommate would have to wait for another time when he wasn't about to embark on his first date because, right now, he needed to get changed and have his look perfected. He had planned his outfit painstakingly in advance over the phone with Mercedes, but that didn't stop him from feeling nervous as he changed from his uniform and into his outfit. He had no idea what Keats would think/say about how he'd dressed, and he just hoped, as he attached the finishing touch of his hippo pin, that Keats would have the sense to compliment him profusely.

Checking the time, he found that it was bang on two thirty, meaning that Keats ought to be arriving at Franklin any moment. He sucked in a huge breath, trying to push down all the feelings of nerves that were mounting up inside of him because everything he'd said in Warblers made perfect sense and was completely true, and made his way over to the door, hooking his satchel onto his shoulder just before he left the room, double checking to make sure that he had everything, and then exited from his bedroom.

Some of the other boys, who obviously knew where he was going, wolf-whistled as he came down the stairs, and he hid his laughter as best as he could whilst trying to glare down at all of them, who had assumed innocent expressions the moment he looked their way. He saw that Keats was standing in the entrance with Thad, and Kurt rolled his eyes as he made his way over to the awkward looking pair.

"Perfect timing," said Keats, giving him a small smile out of the corner of his mouth. Kurt accepted the compliment with a gracious smile and turned to Thad, who was trying his best to seem unruffled by the situation. Kurt arched his eyebrow at Thad's tiny smile, and Keats rolled his eyes. "Thad, here, was just threatening my life." Kurt snorted a little bit at that because Thad wasn't the most threatening of people.

"I see," Thad shrugged, casually, moving away from them.

"Nick was busy with Dylan," he commented and walked away. Kurt turned back to Keats with his eyebrow still arched, amused smile on his face. Keats shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"It would have been more threatening if he hadn't been stuttering," he said and offered his arm to Kurt. Kurt, taking in his boyfriend's black slacks, pale blue shirt, dark blue V-neck jumper and navy blazer and deciding that he looked very good, hooked his arm through Keats', and the two of them set out across the rather chilly grounds of Dalton. "So, it's quite the day for first dates, isn't it?" Kurt chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, it's a little bit strange, I have to admit, but it's also very exciting." Keats pulled an unconvinced face.

"I have got to admit that Dylan and Flint was not a couple I saw coming." Kurt nodded in agreement and looked at him in interest.

"Do you know Dylan well?" Keats shrugged, pulling another face.

"I did, I suppose. I knew him through Alex – you know, Alex Kier; I sit next to him in history, and he and Dylan are best friends – and we got along alright." Kurt blinked for one second, taking in the deliberate use of the past tense, and then understood that they had been close before the fighting had started and torn so many different friendships apart.

"I see," he muttered, softly, not particularly enjoying the reminder of what had happened but accepting that he had sort of brought that on himself; everything seemed to be linked back to the events in Freshman year one way or another. Keats nodded his brown head solemnly.

"I'm driving," he said, abruptly, when they reached the car park and pulled out his keys to emphasise the point. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Well, obviously you're driving; I haven't got a clue where we're going!" Keats stared at him for a second before rolling his eyes and heaving a huge sigh.

"The one time I attempt small talk," he grumbled, unlocking his car. Kurt felt his eyebrows arch as he stared down at the sleek, silver, luxury sedan Lexus that his boyfriend was preparing to get into.

"You drive this?" he demanded, looking over at him with a stunned expression on his face because he knew Keats was rich and everything, but he also didn't get on with his father at all. Keats rolled his eyes.

"Daddy wouldn't want his perfect little boy driving anything common now, would he?" he said in a mocking tone of voice, and Kurt got it instantly. Keats' entire image; the neat haircut, the smart casual dress code and the luxury car, was carefully crafted so that no one, for one second, would be believe him to be anything other than the rich son of a senator. No one would ever know that all of that was simply a show to hide the fact that he was gay because he conformed so perfectly to the stereotyped views of what he should look like.

"I'm sorry," he said because his dad – whilst never getting what Kurt wore – had never told Kurt how he should dress and present himself, let alone create a fake image for him so that he could hide a very important part of his identity from the world. Keats shrugged.

"Nothing I can do about, and the car's pretty good."

But not as good as a father's love, thought Kurt, sadly, as he got into the passenger seat and took in the leather interior. Keats gave him a smile that told him to cheer up and stop looking depressed about his home life, and Kurt gave him one in return that said he would try. Keats nodded and turned on the engine, reversing the car and driving out of the Dalton grounds.

"It's really not that bad," said Keats, looking over at him with a grin. "seriously, you're making this situation out to be a lot worse than it is. My dad hates me, but I love this car." He patted the dashboard in an affectionate manner, and Kurt, raising an eyebrow and looking incredulous, had to smile in amusement back at him.

"Okay, Keats, it's just- it's just sad, that's all." Keats rolled his eyes.

"There are a lot of sadder things in the world than this, Kurt." Kurt nodded in mild agreement and looked back at his boyfriend, who did seem completely comfortable with the situation.

"Fine, I'll stop." Keats gave him a grin and reached forward to the CD player.

"I'm picking the music," he said, giving Kurt an intense look. "because, no offence, I don't think any of the stuff you listen to would sound quite right for speeding down roads." Kurt arched an eyebrow at him, telling him that he was offended.

"So, tell me, what is right for speeding down roads? And what do you mean by speeeeeeeding!" Kurt felt himself being thrown back into his seat as Keats put his foot down on the accelerator, sending them shooting down the road well above the speed limit. "Slow down this instant!" he scolded, and Keats, laughing at his expense, obligingly took his foot off the accelerator. Kurt glared at his boyfriend. "You know this isn't a toy car, you can't just drive it as fast as you want down the hallway."

"Funnily enough, Kurt, I'd worked out this wasn't a toy." Kurt rolled his eyes as Keats reached forward to turn on the music. "Now, as I was saying, music." Kurt watched his smirking boyfriend, having a feeling he knew what might be coming.

Thunderbirds are go

"How did I know?" he asked, looking over at his boyfriend with a fond grin. Keats simply shrugged, putting both hands back on the wheel.

"I don't know, Kurt, have you ever considered the possibility that you're a psychic?" Kurt snorted, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, and opened his mouth to say something. "Don't insult the song," preempted Keats, waggling a finger in Kurt's direction. "The film may have been a piece of crap, but the song is awesome!"

"I wasn't going to insult your song," he said in an offended tone of voice. "I was just going to ask if you've ever actually seen The Thunderbirds." Keats made to reply but then turned up the music as the song started properly.

Spring breaks come around and there's more heroes to be found

There's something major going down on Tracy island, island

Rockets underground keeping our planet safe and sound

If someone evil's coming round they should be frightened, frightened

Kurt didn't know whether to laugh hysterically at his boyfriend's terrible singing or screw his face up and stick his fingers in his ears. The laughter won out, and he ended up bending forward in his seat as he laughed at the sight of Keats bouncing around his seat, though Kurt had to admit, as Keats sang along very badly but very enthusiastically, that the song had a seriously catchy beat.

Cause now the boys are back in town,

No strings to hold them down, down

Keats waited right up until the end of the chorus – when they were echoing the word "down" – before putting his foot back on the accelerator, sending them swooping forward in the car as the chorus started;

Don't be mad please, stop the hating,

Just be glad that they'll be waiting,

Friends we have aren't ever changing,

No, now the lid's about to blow, when the Thunderbirds are go…

And Kurt, only half reluctantly, joined in because it was just like last time; there was so much exuberance in what Keats did that it was impossible to be swept along with all his energy and enthusiasm. Keats made the car so lively and fun by singing that Kurt just felt like he was being a right old party pooper if he didn't join in too.

He had to admit that it was a very good song for driving along a road very fast – Kurt had decided that he was just going to trust his boyfriend's common sense and brains and believe that they were still below the speed limit – because of the fast, punchy beat. The scenery of Westerville swept by the window in a blur, and there wasn't a moment where Kurt was fighting for breath because he was trying to sing whilst semi-fighting his laughter at his boyfriend. Still, it filled him up on the inside with something that was ridiculously warm and fuzzy because moments like this where Keats was singing badly, grinning, head banging and occasionally taking a hand off the wheel to wave an arm around in the air were proof – more proof – that Keats was more than some villain. He wondered how many people actually knew that this side of Keats; the one that was just a little crazy and so ready to let loose, even existed. He knew that his four best friends would, but outside them he wasn't sure at all. Keats seemed to keep so much of himself locked up behind a hard exterior, and it was so sad that he didn't let himself out more often because Kurt reckoned that if the others saw how much of real person he was, they might be more inclined to forgive him.

Thunderbirds are go

Don't be mad please, stop the hating,

Still, it didn't really matter right as Kurt leant towards his boyfriend, still singing, Keats' voice dropping away with the backing track, because they were out on a date, and nobody's opinion could change that.

Just be glad that they'll be waiting,

Keats' voice came back in over the top, so off key, but Kurt was just going to overlook that because he seemed to have developed a resistance to Keats' terrible voice that meant it didn't kill his ears to listen to…

Friends we have aren't ever changing,

…unless he was screaming in the manner that he was at the precise second because the backing track had just come smashing back in.

No, now the lid's about to blow, when the Thunderbirds are go

Thunderbirds are, Thunderbirds are go…

He joined in the shouting too because he needed to drown at the bad singing, and the two of them were almost instantly drawn into a battle to see who could belt out the lyrics the loudest, which Kurt obviously won because he was far more superior to Keats in the vocal department. It was still fun, though, to drive along in the comfortable warmth of his boyfriend's luxury car, hopelessly thrashing said boyfriend at singing, and just like the drive to his house when they'd gone to tell his dad about the two of them, time seemed to melt away into nothing so that, before Kurt knew it, they were pulling to a stop in the underground car park of a shopping centre somewhere in Westerville. He blinked, taken aback, as Keats shut off the car and leapt from his seat, hurrying round and opening the door before Kurt had unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Why thank you," he said, tipping his head politely at his boyfriend's gentlemanly gesture. Keats gave him a politer smile, accepting his thanks with a gracious nod.

"You're very welcome," he said, and Kurt hooked his bag onto his shoulder and stepped from the car. Keats shut the door behind him and then gave him a fixed look. "So, do you want to hold hands around here, or do you want to play it safe? I spoke to some people that have been out on dates here, and they said that it's a bit touch and go depending on the people around, but the restaurant I booked is okay." Kurt bit down on the inside of his lip and considered it carefully. It was his first date, and he wanted to spend it like any other couple would, but he also didn't want it to be ruined by some brainless Neanderthals.

"Let's try not to worry," he said, instead, hooking his arm through Keats' in a gesture that wasn't as provocative as holding hands but not also exactly straight. Keats shot him a fond smile, and they began to walk towards the stairs into the main mall.

The mall was underwhelming in the way that it was relatively like the one in Lima with similar shops, though naturally different ones and a little more high-end he reckoned which wasn't too surprising, and it seemed to have a similar clientele with families and their noisy children, couples both their own age right up to elderly folks and huge gaggles of shoppers – predominantly female – that also generated an awful lot of noise.

"I figured we could grab a cup of coffee in a café or something…on me, of course." said Keats, turning to him as they meandered aimlessly through the crowds. Kurt nodded instantly because he could never argue with the offer of a cup of coffee, especially not when it was free.

"That sounds perfect; lead on!" Keats grinned and nodded, beginning to walk over towards a café that had wicker chairs sitting around circular shiny tables.

"I figured that we could just talk," continued Keats. "because we know some facts about each other, but not as much as we could." Kurt nodded, fully agreeing with him because there were so many things about Keats that he didn't know.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," he said, and Keats nodded in a smug manner that said he had known that and that was why he had come up with it. Kurt rolled his eyes in a manner that said he despaired at Keats' pig-headedness.

"Now, now, Kurt, let's not give each other those condescending looks." Kurt playfully scowled back at his boyfriend as they wandered inside the comforting warmth of the café that was filled with perfect aroma of coffee. The two of them wandered up to back of the queue, falling into comfortable silence as they waited to make it to the counter and place their orders and collect their warm cups of liquid before finding some seats.

Kurt sat down in his seat, raising the foam cup to his lips and wincing as the scalding liquid burnt his lip. Keats gave him a look that told him he was an idiot for drinking it when it was so hot and made a point of blowing on the top of the drink before taking his first sip. He made a delighted noise, and Kurt narrowed his eyes at him into a mock glare and took his own first sip, making a point to swallow even though it had probably burnt his throat.

Somehow, drinking their coffee seemed to have become a competition between the two of them as to who could take in the largest mouthful and then swallow it without choking. It was kind of ridiculous, and it was much harder than you would think because they ended up with chipmunk cheeks to take in as much as possible so it took a large amount of self-restraint to stop themselves from bursting out into hysterics at each other's ridiculous expressions. It turned out that they were both highly competitive, which meant that there was no time for talking until they had slurped down the entire contents in the cups right down to the last dregs. It was after those last dregs had been swallowed that they were able to burst out into laughter.

"So, what do you want to know?" Keats sank back into his chair, arms folded, smile on his face. "Ask me anything…except what happened in Freshman year." he added, after some consideration. Kurt huffed, rolled his eyes, and considered the question. There was so much that he wanted to know, but he couldn't think of any questions. He searched around for something simple and without real meaning.

"What sport do you do?" Keats pulled a face of mock-hurt, gasping.

"Kurt, I'm offended! How could you not have noticed what pin I was wearing?" Kurt opened his mouth, cheeks blushing, faltered, and then closed it.

"I was distracted," he said, finally. "There was a lot to take in that evening." Keats rolled his eyes, readjusting his position in the chair.

"Yes, there certainly was…and, for your information, I'm on the non-competitive swim team." Kurt nodded, not really having anything to say.

"Cool…so, is that the same as Juri?" Keats blinked, possibly slightly surprised that Juri had been mentioned, but then shook his head.

"No, not really." Kurt quirked an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me Juri is on the competitive team?" Keats shrugged.

"He is…sort of." Kurt continued to stare at him in confusion and mild disbelief. Keats sighed. "Juri's sort of halfway between the two…He basically fills in for Drew's spot because Drew can't always make practise, or galas." Kurt nodded in understanding.

"Isn't that difficult, switching schedules or whatever?" Keats shook his head, the traces of annoyance beginning to show on his features.

"No, we train at the same time, just in different lanes." Kurt nodded again.

"I wouldn't have thought that he wasn't strong enough to compete in swimming; he's so small, he must only be good for short distances." Keats let out the faintest of annoyed huffs and slumped a little in his chair.

"No, the opposite; Juri's only any good at long distances." He looked up at Kurt's confused face. "Juri's too small to get ahead of the others, really, in a short space of time, but give him a couple of lengths and he's well in contention." Keats shrugged. "He doesn't swim consistently, though, because of Drew, but when he does he has the hardest races; the 200 and 400 IM, normally, and he tends to not make it onto the medal podium." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Come again?" questioned Kurt, the part about an "IM" going completely over his rolled his eyes.

"IM; individual medley…That means that he swims all of the four strokes in one race." Kurt nodded.

"I see, what do you swim?" Keats shrugged.

"I don't really specialise because I don't have to race…I just have to struggle through training…" Kurt nodded, mildly interested in learning a bit more about Dalton culture as a whole.

"Do we have a good swim team?" Keats shrugged, pulling a thoughtful expression.

"If we had Drew we'd probably be top of the league, but, without him and Juri instead, we tend to place third-fourth-fifth…It could be worse, but it's annoying as hell when we know we can do better." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you keep saying "we"? You're not on the team." Keats shrugged again.

"Community feel of Dalton?" he guessed. "That, and I have to go to all the galas for support…it's not that attractive for other people; no cheerleaders…but there are lots of fit guys…" Kurt wasn't really sure what to say to that statement, given that him and Keats were dating and all, so he just swallowed, and moved the conversation on.

"So, is there a difference between your pin and the pin of the competitive team?" Keats nodded.

"Yeah, on ours we have this, like, watermark of a…you know those "no enter" signs that are a red circle with a red diagonal line through it?" Kurt nodded. "Yeah, one of those faded into the background." Kurt nodded.

"Maybe I'll come with you to the next meet, I'd like to see Juri compete." Keats smiled in an amused manner, for some reason that Kurt couldn't work out.

"Just as long as you don't get jealous…" he said with a wink, and Kurt snorted, and then frowned.

"Don't people…I don't know…feel awkward about that kind of thing?" Keats raised an eyebrow, snorting.

"Kurt, a third of Dalton is homo, bi, or some other kind of not-heterosexual." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Really, bi?" Keats frowned at him, looking a little bit confused.

"Yeah, bi, what's wrong with that?" There was an awkward moment in which Kurt just looked at him with mild incredulity whilst Keats frowned at him in complete perplexity. Eventually, Kurt broke the awkward silence.

"Well, just, don't we both know that "bi" is just a term that gay guys use when they want to hold hands with girls in high school and not feel like they don't fit in. I mean, I know, I've been there, but it's not right." Keats' mouth had actually dropped open in shock. All composure seemed to have vanished. Beneath his normally ever so put together mask was a look of pure horror.

"Kurt…" he managed to get out, grey eyes abnormally wide. "You- you can't talk about people like that." his voice was a hoarse whisper, and Kurt was completely taken aback by Keats' reaction to his simple statement.

"Oh, come on," he said, rolling his eyes. "when has anyone who was "bi" ever had a long lasting relationship with a woman? Look at Daley." Now Keats was incredibly pale too, and he looked mildly queasy.

"Kurt, I might not get on with anyone in that group of friends anymore, but even I feel no kind of enmity towards Daley, not after what happened." Kurt frowned at him.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded, and Keats seemed to struggle for his voice. "He said he was bi, and then his girlfriend dumped him, because of a guy…He was just using her to hide his homosexuality…" Keats sat forward very abruptly, face ashen.

"Kurt, are you listening to me?" he demanded, his voice very low. Kurt blinked.

"Yes."

"Did you hear what I said before you just spouted out that piece of trashy gossip." Kurt flinched backwards at the scathing tone of his voice.

"Yes, I did."

"So, like I said; even I can't talk ill about someone like Daley, now I don't know anything…Christ, Hammonds put a "no-questions" ban on it." Kurt raised an eyebrow. Keats sighed. "It's a thing that can happen if terrible things happen to someone so that all we know about it is what Hammonds told us; not to ask about it, but I- I do know that he was, truly, bisexual." he took a deep breath, his eyes marginally fearful. "Do you have any idea of the kind of trouble that you could get into for saying something like that?" Kurt stared at him, taken aback by the seriousness in his eyes, and the fact that he was defending one of Sebastian's best friends.

"No, what kind of trouble could I get in?"

"You could be expelled for discrimination, Kurt, that's how serious what you just said is." Kurt took a deep breath, remembering Jeff's reaction when Kurt had told him about his views on religion.

"I don't understand. What is it with Dalton? Every time I say one of my views I get something rammed down my throat about discrimination!" Keats took a deep breath.

"Because, and please, Kurt, don't overreact, you are discriminating! How would you feel if I told you that you weren't gay – that it was just something you were hiding?" Kurt took a deep breath.

"Obviously that's you being discriminatory, but-"

"Kurt, just because it's your view, doesn't mean you have the right to express it! You of all people should know that!"

"I don't believe what I'm hearing!" exclaimed Kurt, sitting back in incomprehension. "I make one little point about what I think and you're jumping down my throat, practically accusing me of being like all those Neanderthals back at McKinley! Why can't I have a different view?" Keats let out a sigh, looking tiredly patient.

"I'm not saying that you can't say that, but I'm saying that you have to have respect for other people's views. I'm saying that you don't know Daley, and you don't know what happened; I don't know what happened! Heck, I don't think that anyone apart from Sebastian and Morrison knows what really happened! I just know that even I – who couldn't stand Daley at the beginning of Sophomore year – know that what happened wasn't his fault, and it wasn't because he was "hiding his homosexuality" or whatever other crap the Goody's threw at him!"

Kurt stared at Keats, his mind whirring incredibly fast. He wasn't really sure what had happened between them, but he was aware that they were right in the middle of a fully-fledged argument. Kurt had to admit that, maybe, he shouldn't have brought Daley into this; he really did only know the scantiest of the dirtiest gossip about what had made him withdraw from filming midway through the third series of Turn Left for Hell.

Kurt took a deep breath in and tried to calm down. He didn't want to get straight into a row with his first boyfriend, and he didn't want to lose Keats when he wasn't even sure why they were fighting. He had his views; he wasn't religious, and he didn't appreciate it being shoved down his throat, but…if he stopped and thought about it, Jeff hadn't tried to tell him that he should be religious, he just looked saddened and had "pitied" him.

Kurt closed his eyes, massaging his temples and had to admit that he probably ought to save his judgement on bisexuals until after he'd actually properly met one. He just didn't like people hiding their sexuality and being afraid of who they were. Kurt got all the crap because he was honest about who he was, so why should the people who lied and hid and were cowards be happier than he was? That just wasn't fair on so many levels.

"Come on," said Keats, reaching over and peeling his hands away from the sides of his face. "let's just…let it go, alright?" he rubbed his thumbs into the back of Kurt's hands, and Kurt gave him a smile.

"Yeah…"

"I'm not saying that what you said about Daley was "okay", but I think…" he shrugged. "You just need to…soften your words." he nodded for both of them, and Kurt just sighed and let himself feel calmed and comforted.

"I'm just…" he took a deep breath. "I went through a phase when I thought I was losing my dad, and I…" he let out a long sigh, eyes flickering shut. "I pretended to be…all kind of "butch" like him, and I had a "girlfriend" and I had never been more unhappy…no one was teasing me, but…" he shrugged. "It made me miserable. I just- it's not fair that my life was only bearable when it was a lie. Being me was the only thing that I really had…" he shrugged, swallowing heavily, and Keats squeezed his hands.

"It's okay, Kurt, really I promise it is. I think I get what you're saying, but…" he exhaled through his nose. "I think you should get to know somebody who's bi before you make a definite decision…I can introduce you to quite a few guys if you want?" Kurt smiled at him, letting out a quiet laugh.

"That might be nice, I've been meaning to get to know some other guys at Dalton." Keats gave him a larger grin.

"Alright, let's stick to some more light-hearted questions, okay?" Kurt nodded.

"I whole heartedly agree."

"I believe it's my turn." smirked Keats, not letting go of Kurt's hands. He pulled a thoughtful face before smiling. "Now, this isn't exactly light-hearted, but…I've been wondering for some time, I know that you were looking at our website, but why us out of all the tolerant schools in Lima?" Kurt sighed, a slightly frown appearing as he tried to remember what had drawn him to Dalton in particular.

"I don't know," he said, finally. "I just Googled it one day. I was sick and tired of being bullied so I typed in something like "bullying policies in high schools" into the search engine, and yours popped up some way down the page with your zero-tolerance for harassment." He sighed, breaking out into a small smile and shrugging. "Let's just say that that caught my attention." Keats nodded in understanding, an intent look upon his face. "I kept reading your page. I surfed around a little bit more to make sure you were actually real, and one day I went out of my room and left the window open, and my dad came up and he saw it. I don't think he read much then, but he looked it up in his own time – neither of us said anything to each other when we saw the tuition fee, but…" Kurt shrugged. "When Karofsky got his expulsion overturned my dad suggested it to me." Keats nodded in understanding.

"I see…I was just wondering how you stumbled across our simple website." Kurt gave him a disbelieving stare, arching his eyebrow.

"Your website is hardly "simple" – you've got dozens of pictures and little quotes and links and other things all done in some fancy format…though your colour scheme is a bit, err, odd." Keats burst out laughing and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, the maroon and the blue don't exactly go together, but, in our defence, we were intending to do red and blue like our uniform, but the red made it look like someone had bled all over the screen – not exactly an attractive or desirable sight." He rolled his eyes. "That, and Andy's computer kept throwing a hissy fit every time we tried to change the shade of red, and it was too much effort to use another one so we thought maroon and blue, why not?" Kurt shook his head, smirking.

"Naturally," he muttered. Keats gave him a smirk out of the corner of his mouth, winking at him for some reason that Kurt couldn't quite understand but didn't both questioning because it was just an insignificant gesture that said they were back to normal.

---

Blaine let the door slam behind him as he dashed into the room. He looked around his room and was pleased to remember that Thad was going through one of his clean phases that meant the whole room was completely spotless. He supposed that that was a good thing because if the room had been a mess then he probably would have freaked out because his brain was going haywire because he'd completely forgotten what Kurt had said about dressing, and if the room was messy he would probably end up going berserk about whether all of his stuff was in the place that he had last left it.

He ran a hand through his hair and blinked several times, trying to work out what he needed to do to make himself ready for his first date. He had no idea what he was doing. God, he really needed someone talking sense into his ear at this moment because his brain was telling him to go insane and just lose his head completely…and he really needed to keep that because otherwise Sebastian would insult him into the next century.

He took a deep breath in, putting his hands over his face and shutting his eyes in the vain hope that he could block out the rest of the world long enough for him to regain some semblance of sanity. He knew that there was no real reason to be panicking over this because Sebastian had seen him at his best and his absolute, marginally suicidal worst and still loved him, but he couldn't help himself. He felt bad because it was always Sebastian that had to adjust and change in their relationship, and that wasn't fair. Blaine should have to do that too, but he didn't really know how. He felt like if he presented himself in a way that he knew Sebastian would like then he'd be able to do that, except he was pretty sure that made no sense, and even if it did he had no idea how to do that.

He undid the button on his blazer, and he pulled it off, flinging it onto his bed. He pulled off his tie and flung that on top of his blazer. He ran a hand through his hair once more and undid the top couple of buttons as he struggled to think past getting out of his school uniform, and he needed to think of something else to put on after that because he couldn't go out naked, though he knew that Sebastian would probably have no qualms against that because he was Sebastian.

He walked over to his wardrobe and threw the doors open. He looked at his array of colourful shirts, polo shirts, cardigans and sweaters, not to mention the boxes of bright bowties. He blinked a couple of times and looked at them all; they really weren't giving him any feedback.

He groaned and slumped forward, falling forward into the soft fabric until his forehead impacted into the wooden back of the wardrobe. He groaned and had the sudden urge to collapse into it and curl up into a ball to save himself from any kind of embarrassment that he would inevitably have to experience because all Blaine really did was embarrass himself. It was a really annoying character trait that he seemed to have.

But, no! He and Sebastian were a couple, and he wanted this so badly that he could barely believe had been able to live through all those years without him. He had a duty to Sebastian to go out on that date…that, and he seriously wanted to. He loved Sebastian. This was going to be one of the best days of his life if he gave it a chance and manned up and faced it all. This was going to be-

"Fuck!" yelled Blaine, ducking out of the wardrobe, hand flying to the back of his head, as he toppled over. The back of his head felt goddamn painful because, at the end of his motivational speech, he'd leapt up in a burst of positivity and forgotten about the metal bar that acted as a railing that he hung his clothes on and so had cracked his head against it.

He groaned as he rolled onto his front, his back aching from crashing onto the floor, and his head protesting against being smacked into a metal bar and then the floor. He could not believe that he had managed to do that. God, that was something that Juri would do…except Juri probably wasn't tall enough to do that to himself because he was shorter than Blaine, which was kind of saying something.

He pushed himself up so that he was sitting on the floor and rubbed his head several times. He touched the back of his head tentatively to make sure that his head wasn't bleeding because that would be a really bad thing, and he could have concussion of something, but it was not so that was really good. Now, he could get back into his positive bubble of happiness and confidence about the date. That was a far better place to be than rolling on the floor clutching his head, and completely terrified of what would happen on the date.

He got to his feet and rubbed his head once more, just to make sure that he really was okay, and then turned towards his open wardrobe once more. He reached in and pulled out a pair of black, skinny jeans that he could wear. He went to kick off his shoes, and then realised that he'd tied his laces tight enough to stop him from doing that exact thing. He rolled his eyes at his own stupidity and bent down to untie them, eventually kicking them off so that they were rolling under his bed. He changed into his jeans and then went back to staring at his shirts.

He reached in and pulled out a couple, trying to pick one and remember what colours Sebastian liked/liked him in. His mind was blank, and he decided that he was going to blame the head injury for that because that was a hell of a lot less embarrassing for him, and he could not believe how often this happened to him as well. Why was it always his brain that melted into a pool of goo every time he needed it?

"Why aren't you changed?" he spun around as Thad came into the room, frowning. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, shrugging.

"Um, I had a slight accident, and so I was slightly delayed." Thad frowned at him, rolling his eyes, and then walked over the wardrobe. He rifled through the shirts before pulling out a blue and white checked shirt, navy V-neck jumper and red and blue bowtie. He threw them at Blaine, arching an eyebrow that demanded to know what the problem was. Blaine stared at the clothes, trying to decide whether or not to take Thad's fashion advice. Thad wandered around in t-shirts, jeans and fleeces most of the time so it was really hard to gauge whether he had any sense of fashion.

"You can take my advice, or you can deliberate in here until Sebastian drags you out whilst you're half dressed." Blaine had to admit that Thad had a point about that. Thad's fashion sense would have to do for today otherwise he'd probably never go on the date.

"Thanks," he muttered and hurriedly changed as Thad walked over to his desk and began to open his books. "What do you think about my hair?" he demanded as he spun around, indicating to the messy of gelled curls that sat atop his head. Thad narrowed his eyes, pulling a face of obvious indecision.

"Um…fine…" he guessed, after a while. "I mean, Sebastian does like your curls, right?" Blaine bit down on the inside of his lip and then nodded.

"Okay, good, you're right, excellent!" he beamed, grabbed his jacket and gave Thad a wider grin. "Thanks for the help!" he exclaimed as he darted from a room, and then froze, back tracking back into his bedroom. Thad's eyebrow arched. "Where's Sebastian?" Thad shrugged and tilted his head to the side.

"Room?" he guessed. "His or Daley's, I'm guessing." Blaine shot him one last grin and rushed back out of the room, running over to Sebastian's door. He took a deep breath in, trying to get himself to calm down, before he knocked on the door.

"Come in!" came the call, and Blaine took in another huge breath of air, and then pushed the door open. Peering around the door, he saw that Sebastian – dressed in jeans, rugby shirt and jacket – was sitting on his bed, talking with Daley who sat by his side. Sebastian broke out into a smile, getting to his feet, and Daley grinned.

"Hey," he muttered, trying to unstick his throat so that he could talk properly to his boyfriend. "I'm ready." Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Really?" he asked, eyebrow arching scathingly, and Daley reached forward to whack him, telling him to be polite. "And so am I, let's go. Call me if you need anything," Daley got to his feet, giving them both a tight lipped smile that said he was okay with the silent reminder of Tom he was getting.

"You know I'm not going to do that," said Daley as Blaine stepped back out into the hall, Sebastian a couple of steps behind. "I'll call Wes, or Morrison, or Ros, or someone that's just not you, okay?" Sebastian rolled his eyes and shook his head, but decided that it wasn't worth arguing the point. "Have fun," he said, and Sebastian rolled his eyes once more, disparaging of Daley's statement, and Daley simply shook his head and walked into his own room.

Blaine looked up at Sebastian nervously, biting down on his lower lip as he gave him a tiny smile. Sebastian continued to stare after Daley for a couple of seconds before turning to Blaine. He eyed him up and down once, making Blaine feel more nervous, and then his smile reappeared.

"So," he said, glancing around. "I take it that I'm not being threatened with bodily harm?" Blaine snorted a little bit, feeling himself relax.

"I don't think Thad is that stupid." Sebastian pulled a deliberating face that apparently questioned the fact, despite Thad being an academic scholar, and then he smirked.

"Well, I suppose I may have dodged a bullet with that…though I seriously doubt Thad's ability to be at all threatening-slash-intimidating…let's go," and with that, Sebastian grabbed Blaine's hand and began to tow him from Franklin. People wolf-whistled at the sight of them coming down the stairs and through the common room, causing Blaine to blush scarlet and hide his face behind his hand, and Sebastian smirked around at all of them in response, giving them all a look that said something along the lines of; "yes, I know I'm your God. I'm glad that you finally understand that you should all be bowing down and kissing my feet, and the ground on which I walk, and worshipping my presence. I am that awesome…and, no, I'm not going to thank you for what you're doing.", or something of that sort.

"Where are we going?" he asked, looking up at his boyfriend. Sebastian shook his head, smirking down at him with a knowing look in his eyes.

"You really don't understand the concept of a surprise, do you?" Blaine rolled his eyes, huffing in an annoyance because of course he understood the concept of a surprise, he just didn't particularly like them, especially not where Sebastian was involved because he loved Sebastian with all his heart but he didn't exactly trust that smirk of his.

"You know full well that I'm not overly keen on surprises, I don't really take them well!" Sebastian's head tilted to the side, pulling that deliberating face again.

"Well, I wouldn't disagree with that statement at all, but still, this makes it a whole lot more fun." Blaine narrowed his eyes as he looked up at Sebastian.

"For you or me?" he asked, cautiously, not entirely sure that he wanted to know the answer to that. Sebastian's playful smirk got wider, and Blaine felt something inside of him squirm in a mixture of excitement and nerves.

"You know I have only your best intentions at heart," he said, pulling out his hurt face, and Blaine rolled his eyes and arched his eyebrows because that didn't answer the question. Sebastian gave him a dazzling smile. "I am in love with you, Blaine, I didn't ask you on a date so that I could humiliate you," Blaine grinned up at his boyfriend in pleasure. "because that would be a waste of time; I can do that well enough at Dalton." Blaine really ought to have expected that comment – or something of the sort – to come and the smile on his face to fall, but he still got that sinking feeling in him that said Sebastian had once more punctured a happy balloon inside of him.

"I hate you," he grumbled as he walked around the side of Sebastian's car. Sebastian, rolling his eyes, unlocked the sports car accompanied with a beep, and shot him a hurt look that had Blaine immediately feeling bad. Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"You need to work on being more of a cold-hearted bitch, Blaine, we should set some time aside so that I can give you some more intensive lessons." Blaine was given a wink as Sebastian slid into the driver's seat. He felt himself flush and pursed his lips together, trying to get rid of his embarrassed grin, and then pulled the passenger door open and got in as Sebastian honked on the horn.

"I like not being cold-hearted," he said, doing up his seatbelt and pouting at Sebastian. Sebastian rolled his eyes and leant over as he buckled himself in, kissing him on the lips. He felt his eyes go slightly wide even though it ought not to be a surprise, but he relaxed when Sebastian's hand came up to linger gently against his cheek before he pulled away.

"Hmm, I might have to agree with you that," he said, drawing back with a self-satisfied look perfectly planted on his lips. Blaine flushed and sat back in his seat, tucking himself neatly in. Sebastian gave him a fond look. "Let's roll," he said, turning on the engine and starting the car. "want any music?" he asked, and Blaine nodded, silently asking whether he was allowed to touch the car. Sebastian rolled his eyes. "If you break anything I'll be delighted; I can charge my dad a shit load for it." Blaine bit down on the inside of his lip, not sure what to say, but nodded eventually.

"Okay," he said, reaching forward to turn on the radio. He fiddled around for a little bit, trying to find a station that was playing something he vaguely liked. However, Sebastian was glaring at him in a manner that said the fleeting sounds of individual channels was beginning to annoy him so he quickly settled on latest station.

…Down, down

You oughta know

Tonight is the night to let it go

Put on a show

I wanna see how you lose control…

Sebastian joined in instantly, and Blaine blushed slightly as Sebastian kept shooting him sideways, flirty looks. He found that all he could do was laugh, half embarrassed and half amused, as Sebastian smirked and quirked his eyebrows along with the music. Blaine found that, most of all, it was easy to just be really relieved that things seemed really easy between them at the moment instead of the awkward silences that he had been expecting.

So baby, don't worry

You are my only

You won't be lonely

Blaine took over, completely in sync with Sebastian, dancing around in his seat as best as he could. Sebastian was shaking his head in a manner that suggested he thought that Blaine was an embarrassment to be with, but Blaine knew that, internally, Sebastian was probably in hysterics – he'd just never let Blaine have the satisfaction of knowing that Sebastian thought what he was doing was funny.

Even if the sky is falling down

You'll be my only

No need to worry

Baby, are you down, down, down, down, down?

Down, down

The two of them joined their voices together for the chorus without any communication at all. Blaine loved how singing with Sebastian had become second nature to him. He knew how to perform with Sebastian – his boyfriend (yes, he was still excited about that!) – and it felt great. He had so much difficulty, a lot of the time, with knowing what to do around Sebastian, but this was so easy.

Baby, are you down, down, down, down, down?

Down, down

Even if the sky is falling down?…

Blaine actually hated this song; he thought the lyrics were bad and the tune was pretty annoying, and, basically, it was just shit all round in his opinion, but singing it with Sebastian made it something special. He and Sebastian hadn't sung together for fun for ages because they were both really busy so they sung each other songs from Warblers, or their solos, instead. Or Sebastian sang to Blaine when he was sad and depressed and needed something to cheer him up, or to make sure that Blaine knew that he wasn't alone. Fun never really seemed to be on their singing agenda anymore, which was seriously sad.

Except there was no time to dwell on that; Sebastian speeding them away from Dalton at a speed that was almost certainly illegal, and the world outside the windows of the car was an insignificant blur, and that meant that Blaine could pretend that the rest of the world didn't exist. Blaine could pretend that it was only him and Sebastian, and he could feel truly safe. If there was nothing out there, then Blaine didn't have to worry about what might happen to them for being openly gay because it was just Sebastian, and Sebastian would never hurt him.

Down like she 'posed to be

"Blaine!" exclaimed Sebastian, shooting him a glare, as the rap started, and Blaine took up Lil Wayne's part with enthusiasm. Blaine just grinned back at him, still rapping;

She gets down low for me

Down like her temperature

'Cause to me she zero degrees

"Blaine," grumbled Sebastian, still giving him evils at every opportunity. "what did we tell you about rapping?" Blaine gave a falsely innocent shrug whilst he made ridiculous, rapper movements with his hands.

She cold, over freeze

I got that girl from overseas

Now she's my Miss America

Now can I be her soldier, please?

Sebastian thunked his head into the steering wheel when they came to a stop at the red, and Blaine managed to fit a tiny laugh into the rap, still bouncing around in his seat in a manner that was garnering him weird looks from the family in the car next to them, but he was having too much fun to care about what other people thought about him at the moment.

I'm fightin' for this girl

On the battlefield of love

Don't it look like baby cupid

Sent her arrows from above?

"I do not know you," muttered Sebastian, probably to himself, as they began to drive again and pointedly not making eye contact with Blaine. Blaine got the impression that, again, Sebastian was probably laughing away on the inside, if only at Blaine's expense because he looked like an idiot.

Don't you ever leave the side of me

Indefinitely, not probably

And honestly, I'm down like the economy

Baby, don't worry

You are my only…

Sebastian took over the tune, belting it out loudly, probably in an attempt to rid his mind of the sound of Blaine's rapping, and Blaine bent forward in his seat, laughing hysterically at himself because he knew that he was ridiculous and stupid, but that had been so much fun! He really wished the Warblers would let him do that again.

Baby, are you down, down, down, down, down?

Down, down

He joined back in with Sebastian, sending him one of his charming, dapper smiles – Sebastian wasn't the only one to have perfected a polite, I-am-completely-upright-and-perfect-but-not-in-a-s elf-conceited-or-snobbish-way persona – to which Sebastian simply rolled his eyes in an amused manner.

Baby, are you down, down, down, down, down?

Down, down

Even if the sky is falling down?

And the sky is falling down

The drive instantly became some form of karaoke with the two of them singing whatever came onto the radio, making up the lyrics to songs they didn't know. Sebastian changed station every time any form of rap came on the air, and Blaine found that most of the time he was laughing as Sebastian pulled faces that said Blaine's singing was bad, that Blaine was insane, that Sebastian was embarrassed to be seen with Blaine, that Sebastian was insane for being with Blaine, that he was secretly amused…the usual Sebastian kind of thing.

Throughout all that, Blaine kept one eye on the passing scenery, trying to work out where Sebastian was taking him. It all looked rather unfamiliar because Blaine really only went out of Dalton when Nick decided that it was time for them to go bowling once more, but this wasn't anywhere near the shopping complex that held the bowling alley so he had no idea where he was. He knew that Sebastian would likely have a detailed agenda of what they were going to do, so he knew that the best thing he could was simply wait until they reached wherever the hell they were going.

Patience wasn't really Blaine's thing, though, and so he found himself shifting about in his seat, and not just in time to the beat. He knew that Sebastian was smirking from the glint in his eyes when he kept snatching sideways looks at him as he shifted around in his seat, and when the car began to slow down he was practically vibrating up and down in his seat.

"Okay," said Sebastian as they came to a stop by some park. "I know it's cold outside, but you planned that thing in my bedroom, and you seriously liked that afternoon we spent out in Barca, so I thought…" he gestured towards the bandstand. Blaine broke into a grin. "I mean, there are other people in the park, but I managed to hire it out. We should be fine." Blaine broke out into a wide grin and reached over to hug his boyfriend.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed. Sebastian shrugged in a casual manner.

"I brought some blankets and such, and there's more coming this evening, though I think you can guess what that might involve." Blaine nodded with a smile.

"But I'm okay in this, right?" Sebastian arched his eyebrow at Blaine in a condescending manner that demanded to know whether he thought Sebastian would give him incorrect information, or if he thought that Sebastian anymore smartly dressed than him. "Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes. Sebastian grinned at him, and the two of them got out of the car. Sebastian opened up the boot and pulled out some blankets, tossing them to Blaine. Blaine clutched them in his arms as Sebastian pulled out a wicker basket. Blaine snorted at the sight of it. Sebastian glared at him.

"Shut up, it's the only basket at Dalton with a bottom on it, and Daley was the only person that I could ask without dying." Blaine simply smirked at him, silently agreeing with him on that because if he'd ask anyone else for it then they'd have laughed hysterically and teased him forever.

"I didn't say anything," he said in reply. Sebastian scowled at him and nabbed one of the blankets from Blaine and threw it over both their shoulders as they walked side by side. Blaine had to admit that he didn't feel that cold with Sebastian by his side. Sebastian's side brushed against his and that warmed him up on the inside.

"I bet you didn't," he grumbled, but, like always, Blaine could hear the fond undercurrents in his voice that he saved just for him. He really loved Sebastian.

There was still snow on the grass, and this felt totally insane because it was so cold outside, but when they got there, Sebastian laid out a picnic blanket on the floor and piled up the blankets around them so that they could sit down side by side and be warm. Sebastian opened the basket and began to unpack the food. Blaine felt his stomach rumble because they'd barely had lunch before Wes had pressganged them back to Warbler rehearsal.

"So, I kind of raided all of the food out of the fridge in Franklin so we may or may not be murdered by ravenous wolves when we get back, but I couldn't exactly remember what you like…all I could remember was that you don't like lilies." Blaine rolled his eyes.

"It's not that I don't like lilies," he said. "it's that I'm allergic to them." Sebastian rolled his eyes and simply continued to take out food. Blaine looked at his boyfriend, marvelling at the way Sebastian had the ability to remember whole swathes of conversation word for word but couldn't remember a simple thing like what Blaine was allergic to – albeit not too badly.

They fell into comfortable silence as they sat side by side, leaning on each other, and ate their way through all of the food that Sebastian had packed. He really hadn't been joking when he said that he'd taken out all the food in Franklin because there were some things there like Alan Wishaw's peanut butter – Alan was neurotic about it because, for some unknown reason, it was special – that was not to be touched on pain of sulphuric acid on toes (he wasn't joking either; Louis Clark had had his toes burnt when Blaine was a Freshman because he'd eaten some.) and Sebastian really ought to know not to take. When he asked why he'd been stupid enough to do that; Alan was in his year, Sebastian had simply shrugged and muttered that it was there so he'd taken it.

The longer that they sat there, though, especially when the food supply began to diminish and then disappeared completely, the more awkward the silence seemed to get. Blaine wasn't sure what was wrong all of a sudden, but he felt fidgety and nervous. He suddenly had the huge desire to make conversation. He could feel the silence urging him on into a conversation that he hadn't thought of yet, and those conversations were always his worst because he tended to start stupid ones.

"How's Daley?" he asked, eventually. "Cam seems to be fitting in fine, but I haven't really seen that much of Daley." Sebastian sighed heavily, relaxing backwards onto his elbows so that Blaine had to twist to look down around to look him in the eye.

"Daley is…Daley is fine," he said, eventually. "He's sleeping well, he's not flashing back…Most of the time, it's like it never happened. I'm glad…He's so much better than before, actually. I'm surprised. He's calmed down a lot now that school is under swing properly." Blaine smiled at him, silently transmitting his glee and relief. Sebastian nodded. "Yeah, I know, it's great." The silence fell again. Blaine knew that that avenue of conversation was officially closed. He could pick up on Sebastian's silent hint to not pursue that topic.

He bit down on the inside of his lip and tried to think of something else he could say. It was strangely hard to find something to talk about with him. He didn't understand why this was a problem all of a sudden, and he was immediately struck with the painful thought of what if it was him. What if he was so boring that it was impossible to talk to him, and what if Sebastian realised this and broke up with him?

"I don't like that face," commented Sebastian easily, looking up at him with calculating eyes that were narrowed. Blaine sighed and ran a hand through his hair, glancing away from Sebastian, "Ah," said Sebastian, sitting up and taking a hold of his chin, turning his face to him. Blaine hesitantly met his eyes, not sure what they would say. "you're filled with self-doubt," commented Sebastian, knowingly. Blaine sighed, shrugging.

"What? It's just-" he broke off, looking away because one of the thoughts that he'd had at the party was coming back to haunt him. Him and Sebastian didn't talk at all, all Sebastian really wanted to do was make-out, and, yes, he randomly dropped flowers into Blaine's room and made him breakfast, sort of, but…It just- he didn't feel at all like Sebastian liked him as a person in this very moment.

"Blaine, I can read you like a picture book, remember, so, pray, tell me why do you think that our relationship is ending?" Blaine looked pointedly away from Sebastian with his burning eyes and bit down on the inside of his lip.

"We can't- this isn't easy, you know?" he said, and knew immediately that Sebastian was confused. "I meant that if this was you and Wes, or you and Daley, or whatever, you'd be talking away casually, and everything would be relaxed and not weighed down with an awkward silence." He chanced a look back at his boyfriend and saw that Sebastian was frowning at him intensely. "I mean," he continued, heartened by the silence for once. "that you know me completely, and we can't even have a casual conversation…It's like- I just can't escape the feeling that you don't like – love – me as a person."

"Right," said Sebastian, arching an eyebrow and pulling a condescending expression. "so I love you because you're an alien." Blaine glowered at him and shoved him, knowing that Sebastian understood perfectly what he'd meant. Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Blaine, Blaine, Blaine, how many times do we have to go through this? I find you sexually attractive; very much so, but I don't love you because of the way you look because that would be very strange." Blaine frowned at him, and Sebastian rolled his eyes once more in exasperation. "Look, I'm really attracted to you, but I love you because you're this screwed up, but highly charming, kid that is somehow both incredibly naïve and horribly world weary; you believe there is so much to life whilst you sometimes which your own was over; you fight in the face of fear every day yet you still believe that you're a coward; somehow, you're both aggravatingly optimistic and hopelessly depressed…" Sebastian stared at him, intensely. "You are most certainly the most interesting person I will ever meet."

Blaine looked at Sebastian, swallowing down his fear and feelings of confusion, and found that it was completely impossible for him to try and disagree with Sebastian; he really hated it when Sebastian did that because Blaine kind of wanted to argue his point, but he couldn't. He knew that it was kind of stupid to want to argue with Sebastian – to try and win an argument with Sebastian that was really about his own self-esteem – but he felt the need to.

"That still doesn't explain the silence," he said at last. Sebastian rolled his eyes, shaking his head in an annoyed manner that said he was annoyed that Blaine had ignored what he'd said – Blaine really hadn't, he was just more focused on other things – and letting out a huge sigh.

"It's like I said, I know you. We can read each other, and that means we don't need words. I mean, what's so special about talking?" Blaine stared at him, struggling to find the way to articulate what he was feeling and thinking.

"I just- it feels like…like we- we should…" he muttered, knowing that Sebastian was going to ridicule him for his desire to be like other people and paying attention to social norms.

"Blaine, we're both gay – that's why we're dating, obviously – and quite a large majority of society would say that it's completely against social standards for us to even be dating; I don't think we should pay attention to what people should "normally" do on their dates. Let us define our own way to be normal, or, to become deeply philosophical, what is normal? Is it merely a state of equilibrium that we believe we see in some people, but in fact simply masks their own faults or quirks whilst they gaze at us and pine after our normal?"

Blaine groaned, hating it when Sebastian decided to adopt his very wise and serious tone of voice because Blaine knew there was no way to outsmart him, and slumped backwards against his boyfriend. Sebastian raised his arms so wrap and around Blaine's front, and Blaine closed his eyes, trying to tune out the rest of the world and focus only on the Sebastian's solidness and safety. He felt Sebastian's lips brush against his forehead, kissing him softly and in a protective manner, and was suddenly struck by a memory that made him smile widely, snorting.

"What?" asked Sebastian, and Blaine tilted his head back so that he was looking up into the upside down face of his boyfriend.

"Nothing, just…I remembered the first time you did that." There was a pause in which Blaine could see Sebastian trawling through his mental catalogue of all his memories before his face fell into one of understanding, both of them sharing the same moment:

…"There,…I'd never do that to Keats…I care about you, Blaine, I really do…please don't forget that."

"I won't – ever."…

"You're pretty shit at keeping your promises," muttered Sebastian, and Blaine snorted some more, gazing up at him with a soft smile on his face, suddenly revelling in the silence that was hanging over them because it was so gentle and peaceful and reminded Blaine of that moment in Freshman year so perfectly; the moment when Sebastian had managed to take away all of his fears just through being there, being close, and by his side.

"I know," he replied under his breath. "I know…" Sebastian smacked his head, and Blaine gave him wide puppy dog eyes that asked him why he had done that. Sebastian glared at him.

"No insulting yourself!" he proclaimed. "I refuse to have a conversation whilst you're busy mentally beating yourself up!" Blaine chuckled under his breath.

"Okay, I promise that I'll try."

"What did I just say about you and your promises?" Blaine snorted a little bit, rolling his eyes. Sebastian ran a hand through his hair, and Blaine allowed his eyes lids to flicker shut, the silence overtaking them. Blaine supposed he would just have to get used to the silence between them. It wasn't always that bad, either.

---

Today has been pretty much the first date that I have dreamed of. After we stopped Q&Aing in the coffee shop, we strolled around the Westerville, and he showed me all the different shops. I managed to drag him into a couple of clothes shops and found some clothes for him: he was surprisingly compliant as acting as my Ken doll, and it felt awesome to have so many girls staring at me jealously when they saw I was with Keats – he is so good looking; someone asked me if he was a model, and I was so tempted to say that he was but instead I left her hanging in enigmatic silence. It's great being the one on the inside for a change. Now, though, we're in the car again, and we're heading off to whatever restaurant Keats has booked for us.

"I've been here before," said Keats, randomly, into the silence. "um quite a while ago, in fact, with Blaine." Kurt arched an eyebrow, looking over at Keats in shock.

"You're taking me out to the same place you took Blaine?" he asked in mild incredulity. Keats shrugged.

"I don't see why not. If I'm out here with my friends then we don't go posh; we grab takeaways most of the time, or whatever, but when I took Blaine out…It was right when he first came to Dalton, and when he was in a really bad state, and we were working on building up his self-esteem. This was the nicest looking place when I looked on the internet so I took him here." Kurt nodded a little bit.

"Was it your idea?" he asked, after a little while. "To take him out to the town?" Keats shrugged, biting down on the inside of his mouth for a moment.

"Probably…I mean, we were always making plans to try and help him get better, and a lot of those revolved around making sure that he understood that we liked him as a person and weren't just spending time with him because it was what we were "required" to do." Kurt nodded once, looking back out at the road before him. It was very dark outside, and Keats' headlights light up the black tarmac and made the bonnets of oncoming cars glisten.

"Do you- do you ever miss it? What you had?" Keats' face twitched a little bit as he looked up into the rear-view mirror, purposefully not making eye contact with Kurt.

"I don't think so, no. Blaine is a lot of hard work," he continued, swinging his head round to look at Kurt. "I know that you…love him, still do even though you're trying hard to get over him, but you should know that he is so much hard work. You say something nice, and a second later it's not enough; he needs more. Constant reassurance, Kurt, constant…" Kurt stared at his boyfriend; at the way his hands were clenched around the wheel; at the way he was staring at the road; at the way he was so tense, and understood that that had been a question too far, but he couldn't let what Keats had said go, either. He was picking on the flaws in Blaine that other people had made; he was having a go at him for all that everybody thrown at him, and Kurt couldn't accept that.

"It's not his fault," he said, firmly. "What you said about constant reassurance; he's lost so much; he's suffered so much, is…you can't hold that against him." Keats' knuckles went white. "He didn't choose to be like that."

"And I didn't choose to want Sebastian." Keats snapped back, and Kurt sat back in the seat, looking away and conceding the point. Keats was right; none of this was applicable to apportioning blame. They didn't choose this to happen. Keats may seem to want to project the idea that he was better off without Blaine, but Kurt knew that he would rather they hadn't have fought. He wanted to apologise for pushing, but he was getting a little sick of having to tread carefully – Keats was his boyfriend, but the others were his best friends.

They didn't have to go much further in silence, thankfully, and soon Keats was indicating that he was going to park by the road on some relatively suburban looking street. Kurt looked around, not seeing the restaurant, as Keats killed the engine.

"Look, I suggest we talk more about that at a later date – pun not intended – for now, though, I would like to request your presence by my side, or opposite me I suppose, at dinner." Kurt snorted a little, not at all trying to deny that he was very charmed by Keats, and tipped his head.

"I graciously accept." Keats let out a shout of laughter and leapt out of the car. Kurt stayed put, picking up his bag and making a show of checking his appearance in mirror, waiting for Keats to open his door and offer him his arm like a true gentleman. Sure enough, Keats pulled open Kurt's door and extended out his hand, palm facing up, allowing Kurt to grasp his fingers with his own and step out of the car in a manner that was far more elegant than Keats' exit had been.

"Come on," said Keats, hooking his arm through Kurt's. "it's not a long walk; just round the corner and onto the main street, but it's easier to park off down here. I may be a senator's son, but I'm pretty sure my car could still be clamped." Kurt snorted, breath forming in the cold evening air, and leant in closer to his boyfriend, seeking his heat. Keats chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Like I said, not a long walk, but probably long enough for us to lose our fingers. I say we take this at a run." And before Kurt could object to that idea and say that he was not at all dressed for running down semi-icy pavements when it was completely dark, Keats had grabbed his hand and was towing him down the street at a run.

"You know!" he cried as he dodged a particularly treacherous looking frozen puddle. "When somebody says "I say" they generally leave time for the other person to voice an opinion!" Keats gave another shout of laughter.

"That's how things work in a democracy, Kurt; I never said that this was one!" Kurt aimed a slap at his boyfriend's shoulder as they came to a halt outside a posh looking restaurant.

"Christ, why did no one tell me that I was dating a dictator?" Keats shot him a charming smile that did not entirely mask the devilish glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Fear not! I only wish to subject you to an amazing three course meal!" Kurt snorted, rolling his eyes, and arched an eyebrow.

"Well, tempting as that sounds…" he made to walk away, but Keats jerked him back to his side, spinning him around so that Keats had an arm securely wrapped around his waist.

"I don't recall that being a question." Kurt made a show of trying to wriggle free, but Keats leapt forward to kiss him on the lips. Kurt relaxed instantly into his grip, body sagging against Keats' solid frame. Keats drew back, the mischievous glint in his eyes sparklingly fully. "Do you require any further persuasion?" Kurt snorted, blowing his breath into Keats' face as he mocked thinking.

"No, I think that I'll be quite fine with this." Keats gave him a self-satisfied smile, doing a highly accurate impression of a cat that had gotten the cream. He wormed his way out of Keats' arms and reassumed their position of having interlocked arms. Keats then led his way into the foyer of the restaurant. The smartly dressed man gave them a pleasant smile.

"Table for two in the name of the Powers," said Keats, charming smile at full force. The man made a show of checking something, giving them a look that clearly stated his mild confusion as to why two teenage boys had booked a table at a very expensive restaurant.

"Right this way," he said, indicating for the two of them to follow him into the restaurant. The two of them were led to a small table that had a small candle and some flowers sitting on it. They were given the menus, and Kurt opened it up and almost balked at the prices down the side.

"Keats…" he growled under his breath. "This is really too much. This is place is too expensive. I mean, I know that you drive an expensive car, and have expensive clothes, but this is a step too far. I refuse for you to-" Keats leant across the table and planted a hand firmly over his lips.

"No," he said, emphatically. "listen to me. You are my boyfriend and that gives me the right to pamper you to your heart's content – nay, I think that's my duty. I don't care that you can't afford this place; what matters is that I can, and you deserve to be taken out and treated like a God…even though you don't believe in them." Kurt fell silent at that, looking down at the menu once more and biting down on the inside of his lip.

"It doesn't seem fair for you to treat me to this, and for me to give nothing in return." Keats reached over and put a hand over his.

"Your company is all I need in return; your friendship, your constant friendship…" he gave Kurt a small smile. "You still stand by me, Kurt, and we might not love each other in the way that we love other people, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about you with all that I am. We have an…an unusual relationship to say the least, but it works for us. I care about you with all I have. You being here; you staying despite other people trying to convince you to leave, is more than enough for me."

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Kurt and Keats broke intense eye contact to look up at their waiter. Kurt rifled through the menu hastily, swallowing slightly, whilst Keats gave Lance – according to his name badge – a smile.

"Um, can I have an orange juice, please? Kurt?" Kurt closed the menu once more and matched Keats' charming smile.

"Mineral water, please."

"Still or sparkling?"

"Erm…sparkling, thank you." The two boys were given a smile and a nod before their waiter walked off. Keats looked back at Kurt, charming smile easing up into something a little more natural.

"I really mean it, Kurt. You don't have to give me anything. I have too much money, and I would very much like to squander it over something worthwhile like you compared to pointless stuff. There is nothing worthier of my money than you…well, except for antique books; I'm a complete sucker for first editions." Kurt muffled his snort at those words in favour of giving Keats a glare that told him he was very insulted that there was something that he deemed more valuable than Kurt himself. "I'm sorry," said Keats, holding up his hands. "I thought my passion for literature was obvious to you." Kurt tilted his head to the side, arching an eyebrow.

"I knew you had a passion for creating literature – prose or verse – but you never said anything about loving books to an extent that rivalled Chris!" Keats snorted a little bit, arching an eyebrow.

"I think you'll find that my love for books far exceeds-" he broke off at Kurt's disbelieving expression. Keats pulled a face. "Fine! I don't love books more than Chris, but I do love poetry more than him. I refuse to concede that point." Kurt chortled and opened the menu, looking back at all the food that it was offering him.

"I'll give you that point as long as you tell me what the most delicious food is at this place. There's far too much for me to possibly choose from, and it's all too expensive for me to make a mistake – don't contradict me, mister, I'm drawing the line at you paying for dishes that I'm not going to eat." Keats tilted his head to the side, looking at Kurt with amused eyes.

"I suppose I could take that deal." Kurt grinned at him, arching an eyebrow in a victorious manner.

"I knew you would."

The meal passed by in a sedate manner. Kurt and Keats strolled through their three delicious meals, the conversation flowing easily between them without ever touching on the heavier topics of Blaine or Sebastian and the huge fight that had happened in Freshman year. It was easy and relaxed, and half the time Kurt found himself wondering whether Keats was less of a boyfriend and more like a friend-with-benefits because being with him just felt like being with one of his friends, but Kurt liked kissing him and being with him in a way that was more than that. He didn't want it to be that, though. He wanted Keats to be his boyfriend, properly, and he reckoned – given that Keats seemed to want that to – that it didn't really matter that their relationship was weird. Their relationship was whatever Kurt wanted it to be. So Keats was his proper boyfriend…

After all, no one said you had to love someone to be going out with them…

---

Blaine looked up at Sebastian from his position laid against the backseat of Sebastian's car. It was much warmer inside the car than it was outside, and they'd retreated back to the car in search of the heating that it provided after they'd eaten their way through most of the food (but not Alan's peanut butter because they had plans on retaining their toes). Sebastian had then proceeded to demonstrate the amount of fun they could have without talking at all, which Blaine had to admit that he preferred because it didn't lead to any awkward silences and feelings that they were wrong as a couple.

Sebastian checked his watch, and Blaine let out a groan, smirking ever so slightly at Sebastian's uncharacteristically dishevelled appearance. Sebastian shot him a glare that said he knew exactly what Blaine was smirking about and shuffled towards the door of the car, opening it and letting in a blast of cold air. Blaine let out a sharp gasp, narrowing his eyes threateningly at his boyfriend.

"Well, fun as this has been, we have places that we need to be; tick tock, tick tock." Blaine glared at Sebastian some more, telling him that he was not remotely pleased by this change of plans, and Sebastian simply smiled pleasantly and reached forward to pull Blaine upright. "Don't worry," he whispered as their foreheads touched, gently, and their noses brushed against each other. "they'll be plenty of time for more later."

"Fine," said Blaine, pouting, and Sebastian was quick to kiss the childish expression off his face. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?" he asked as Sebastian drew back, and Sebastian smirked at him, eyes sparkling wickedly.

"Now, Blaine, where would be the fun in that?" With that frustrating question, Sebastian hopped out of the car, thankfully slamming the door shut behind him, and made his way towards the driver's seat. Blaine let out an overdramatic groan, flopping back down onto the comfortable leather seats that were perfectly moulded into the shape of his body, luckily managing to restrain the desire to throw his hands up past his heads because that would have resulted in painful fingers and bruised knuckles, not to mention a whole load of snarky insults. "Blaine," said Sebastian as he got into the car in the front. "as much as I don't mind you lying around like that, I am going to have to ask you to at least put on a seatbelt." Blaine grumbled under his breath about Sebastian being pushy and sat up.

"We are having dinner, right?" he checked because he was beginning to feel hungry again; Sebastian ate far more than his slim figure would ever allow anyone to believe, and he didn't want to risk eating the peanut butter. Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Blaine, are you suffering from memory loss, or did you simply ignore the lectures about eating three square meals a day that I've been giving you every year?" Blaine felt something in his face twitch at the mention of memory loss, instantly reminded of Garth, and he looked down at the divide between the front seats with sad eyes. "Blaine," said Sebastian, catching onto his hand and kissing it so that he had Blaine's attention. Blaine looked up at him with watering eyes. "I'm sorry." Blaine shrugged, but he could feel all of his well contained emotions building up inside of him. He put his free hand over his face, hastily wiping away some of the tears.

He didn't know what it was, exactly, but he could feel his sadness and guilt over Garth spiralling out of control inside of him. Garth and him had almost been a date. Almost. Blaine knew if that night had gone right then- then they would have- Blaine would have asked him out for real. Now this day was drawing to a close, and Blaine couldn't escape the fear that was making him want to be sick that suggested history would repeat itself. He guessed it was the attack spooking him and leaving him with a crippling sense of déjà vu, but he suddenly didn't want to leave the car. He felt safe inside the vehicle, with Sebastian right by him, and he was frightened to move off to the end.

"Hey, hey…" whispered Sebastian, twisting around in his seat so that he was facing Blaine properly. He reached over and caught Blaine's face, and Blaine allowed himself to be pulled against Sebastian's shoulder. He latched onto his boyfriend's solid form and tried very hard not to break down completely. He could feel his whole body trembling. "I'm sorry," murmured Sebastian, pressing a kiss to his cheek and loving caressing his tear-stained skin. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. We can go back, right now, if you want. You and me; we can stay in my room, and we'll be safe. I'm not leaving you, Blaine. I'm not. I refuse to leave you, okay? I promise you that." Blaine squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

"Okay," he said, clinging onto Sebastian's words with all he had. "I just- me and Garth…we were- we were at that dance together, and me and you we're out together…"

"I know," muttered Sebastian, kissing him on the cheek again, slowly raising Blaine's face so that they were looking each other in the eye. Blaine tentatively held his gaze, and Sebastian gave him one of those gentle smiles that people were only privy to when their worlds were imploding around them. "I know. I understand, remember? No words; no need to force it." He kissed him on the lips, softly, and continued to stroke his face in a soothing manner. "Do you want to go back to Dalton?" he whispered. Blaine stared at him and saw that he was fully prepared to turn his back on the date. Blaine shook his head instantly.

"No…" he muttered. "No, I want to- I want this to happen. I want my first date!" Sebastian smiled at him, grin on his face that said he believed that it was his awesomeness that made Blaine want his first date so badly as opposed of his sense of entitlement to have something good and normal.

"Those were exactly the words I wanted to hear," said Sebastian, releasing Blaine's face and giving him a big grin. "Now, are you getting in the front with me or are you going to remain back there like I am your chauffer?" Blaine weighed up the options before finding a way to smile again. Sebastian narrowed his eyes. Blaine gave him a smug smirk and lounged in the back seat, kicking Sebastian's chair.

"Chop, chop, chauffer, we haven't got all day!" Sebastian glared at him via the rear-view mirror, and Blaine simply shot him his best charming smile in return.

"Sir, I'm afraid the engine will have to remain off until you decide to obey health and safety regulations and wear a seatbelt." Blaine poked his tongue, childishly, out at Sebastian and did up the belt with a grudging expression on his face. Sebastian gave him a pleasant smile. "Just doing my job," he commented, finally starting the car and pulling out onto the road. "Now, would sir be liking any music whilst we drive?" Blaine grinned, admitting that he could probably get used to Sebastian calling him "sir", even if it was in a vaguely derogatory manner.

"Yes, the latest rap music, if you please." Sebastian glowered at him, screwing up his face in a manner that said he deciding whether or not to disagree with Blaine or contradict him. "Now, chauffer, not next week." Sebastian's glower darkened, and then he turned on the radio.

"The rules have now changed; driver picks the music." Blaine let out an exaggerated groan, even though he was more than partial to Sebastian's taste in music, and Sebastian shot him a satisfied look as he flicked around the stations.

"But I wanted to rap!" he said with an evident pout in his voice, folding his arms like a petulant child. Sebastian gave him a disapproving look.

"God forbid you will ever rap again," he commented. "and you have to learn the all-important rule of life; that I am in charge of absolutely everything." Blaine rolled his eyes and scowled at him.

"You are not in charge of absolutely everything!" he exclaimed, and Blaine knew that was so not the right thing to say because all that would follow would be an argument about whether or not Sebastian was in charge of everything, which Sebastian would undoubtedly win, and Blaine would feel stupid and flustered and annoyed and completely in love…

And that was precisely what happened in the entire drive to whichever restaurant Sebastian had plans on taking him to. They didn't stay exactly on topic; meandering around whether people would worship Sebastian because they thought he was amazing or because they were afraid of him when he was ruler of the world, but the same train of thought ran through all of their arguments. It was kind of frustrating for Blaine; like banging his head repeatedly into a brick wall without him sustaining any damage so that he would collapse and give up, but it was also kind of fun. Kind of… Blaine was fully prepared to admit that he was probably insane for that.

Looking out of the window, Blaine saw that they were pulling into the parking lot of the mall at Westerville. Blaine didn't really know any of the restaurants that well – when they went bowling there, or occasionally shopping or the cinema, they tended to always eat at the pizza place that was attached to the bowling alley – and so he was interested as to where Sebastian was taking him. He shot Sebastian a curious look, but Sebastian just gave him a flat look that said if Sebastian had withheld the information for that long did he really think he would tell Blaine now when they were almost there.

"Please," begged Blaine in a half-hearted manner. Sebastian simply arched an eyebrow in disapproval of Blaine's behaviour and got out of the car. Blaine sighed heavily and unclipped his seatbelt. Sebastian opened the door, eyebrow still arched.

"Blaine, are you going to get out of the car?" Blaine rolled his eyes and got out of the car, shivering a little bit in the cold air. Sebastian rolled his eyes and opened the boot of the car and pulled out a jacket that he seemed to have been carrying around for that exact purpose. Blaine grinned up at his boyfriend a little shyly as Sebastian slipped it onto his shoulders. "Well at least you're out of the car," he commented, slipping an arm around his shoulders.

"Is the food good?" he asked, eventually, as they made their way towards the stairs up into the shopping centre. Sebastian shrugged in a casual manner with the arm that wasn't looped around Blaine's shoulders.

"I guess…" he said. "I mean, we took Daley here – me, Wes and Morrison – when we were trying to "reacclimatise" him to the outside world, but we were more focused on people than food, and Daley not freaking out and doing himself serious damage." Blaine nodded, biting down on the inside of his lip because that had killed the mood completely.

"Right…" Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"I know, not the most romantic of places, but I don't exactly know any "romantic" places at all, and I am not asking Wes because, well, I'm just not. It's, like, a marginally better idea compared to asking Nick for help on this. I mean, it's not like we even visited that many places in the first place because you would not believe the amount of places that…that fucking Thomas took him to, but this was the best of the three places that we visited." Blaine nodded in understanding, feeling uncomfortable at the mention of Thomas like he always did. "And there goes the mood again," he said, shrugging and arching an eyebrow apologetically. Blaine gave him a small smile.

"That's okay. I mean, obviously not- but it's okay about the mood." Sebastian rolled his eyes and towed him towards a Chinese restaurant that he vaguely recognised and suspected that this was the place that Jeff and Cat often went to. "Oh, Jeff talks about this place." Sebastian nodded.

"Yes, Morrison said that Jeff recommended the place to him for his and Lottie's first date or something." Blaine nodded as Sebastian opened the door, holding it open so that Blaine could walk in first, and then walked over to the Latino waitress. "Good evening, ma'am," he said in his oh-so-charming voice. "table for two in the name of Smythe." Blaine tucked his hand into Sebastian's as the waitress nodded and led them into the restaurant. Sebastian squeezed his hand reassuringly, looking back at him to question once more whether Blaine was okay to be there. Blaine nodded. He wanted to be there. He didn't think that anything else should matter.

They both sat down at their table and accepted their menus with gracious smiles. Blaine opened it, scanning the Chinese characters and their English translation, and reckoned that he would probably go for lemon chicken and egg fried rice like he always did – he'd gone off noodles when Cooper had mocked him mercilessly for not being able to eat them with chopsticks; Blaine had cried for almost half an hour when Cooper had convinced him he'd never play piano or guitar well if he couldn't use chopsticks properly. His dad had been really pissed off about that because it had been the first meal they'd had out with Emily when she and his dad had gotten serious. He'd thought she'd dump him for having cissies for sons, but, instead, Emily had taken Blaine up in her arms and told him that Cooper was a fool, and he could do anything he wanted…That Blaine would be amazing no matter what…

"You're reminiscing," Sebastian was looking at him with an arched eyebrow, head cocked to the side and a curious-slash-calculating expression on his face. "it's a bad memory that ended good, and it definitely had something to do with Chinese food given the way you zoned out whilst looking at the menu so I'm going for a family memory…Going by the transition of emotions, I'd say post your mum leaving, but pre the coming out…care to share?" Blaine let out a small sigh and shrugged a little bit.

"Um, from when we first met Emily; I think it was the first meal out we had as a group – me, dad, Cooper and Emily – and Cooper made fun of me for not being able to use chopsticks with noodles…he really wound me up, and I was crying for ages, but Emily made me feel better." Sebastian sat back in his seat with a nod.

"Yeah, well, your step-mum is by far the most sensible person in your family. I would say the nicest, but that doesn't exactly include your little sisters, and I think they and you would be offended if I did that." Blaine snorted a little at that, smiling and rolling his eyes.

"Yep, they really would be as well." Sebastian winked at him, flicking through the menu and occasionally shooting Blaine looks as if he was wondering whether Blaine would disappear or freak out at any moment. Blaine tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he wasn't very good at using them on Sebastian and he knew that Sebastian could see through them so it only weakened his efforts.

They ordered relatively quickly, and the food came even faster, and though the conversation flow wasn't exactly easy, they muddled their way through the evening without too many awkward silences. There were a lot of silences, sure, but most of them weren't awkward because they were speaking through their facial expressions, and Blaine was either being patronised or having to fight his laughter. When the silence did get awkward, Sebastian would always have some form of witticism – usually about one of the other diners or the workers – that he could throw out and have Blaine in hysterics. Blaine even stopped feeling nervous after an hour because nothing bad could possibly happen to them. He had Sebastian by his side (well, technically opposite him) and that kind of made everything else irrelevant.

Talk about the perfect Start of Something Good…

---

"…and he totally trashed me in every game, but he was such a good winner compared to Nick that it didn't really feel like I'd lost. Then we had dinner, but it wasn't anything posh; just pizza in one of those cheerful, fake-Italian places, but it was still good fun. He told me all about his family – the stuff he hadn't already told me – and we just, sort of, talked…It was so much easier than I thought it would be!" Kurt smiled fondly at Flint as he finished regaling them with the tale of his first date. Flint was scarlet in the face, but Kurt could tell that the flush was just made from the residual excitement of it all.

"And you were okay?" double checked Blaine, who was watching Flint closely. Flint nodded, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, we had no problems with anyone being…you know…" Kurt nodded instantly whilst Blaine rolled his eyes slightly because he had told them the story of his break down and deflated a little bit.

"That's not what I meant. I mean were you okay? You know with panic attacks and stuff." Blaine pursed his lips together in concern as Flint broke eye contact with them. He caught the sideways glance from Kurt that asked what they should do, and Blaine sent him a look to stand back whilst Blaine dealt with it as he shuffled across the floor of his room to be closer to Flint's side. He gently put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Flint," he said calmly. "you know how this is; I – we – don't judge you." Flint sighed and met his eyes.

"I had four," he admitted. "I don't know why, but I did, and I didn't have my inhaler, and Dylan flipped out about me possibly dying…" he trailed off, looking up at Blaine with a pained expression. Blaine closed his eyes and sat back on his heels. Kurt looked between them for a second, or two, before clearing his throat so that their attention snapped back at him.

"Can I ask what's going?" he said with an arched eyebrow. Blaine and Flint sighed as one. Flint closed his eyes and sucked in a huge breath before focusing back to on Kurt.

"My parents go on about the fact that I don't have an inhaler on me because my mum might not want me alive, but she doesn't want me dead, and I would be an everlasting disgrace to the Wilson family if I died of an asthma attack and not a gunshot wound." There was a moment of silence in which Kurt fought hard to keep complete and utmost disgust from riddling his face, Blaine ran a hand over his eyes and shook his head and Flint directed an angry glare onto the floor.

"Come on," said Blaine eventually. "this is a fun occasion when we share the tales of our first dates; we had great days so let's try not to ruin it. For once, I suggest taking a leaf out of Nick and Trinity's book and keep reality at bay for tonight." The other two boys glanced at each other before nodding.

"Yeah," echoed Flint in a tone of voice that told both of the other boys that he was exhausted of thinking about his family and all of the negative feelings they brought.

"So, you and Sebastian," and it was really a testimony to – a – how much he wanted to change the subject and – b – given up on Blaine that Kurt wanted to know if Blaine and Sebastian's relationship had improved. "things got less awkward, do you think that'll be permanent?" Blaine shrugged.

"I hope so. I mean, Sebastian was right: how much we talk isn't a comment on our relationship because Sebastian learnt basically everything about me, and he can read me so well it's scary…" Blaine broke off at that, trying to shove his dad's threat, and the terror of Holt and Kinzie, from his mind. Kurt frowned.

"But what about the other way round?" he asked as Flint shifted so that he could look at Blaine face on. Blaine sighed and shrugged.

"Reading Sebastian is really hard; I'm not really sure anyone could ever do it, and he's actually a really private person so…" he shrugged once more. "I guess I just learnt that you can only change someone so much: small talk never has, and never will be, Sebastian sees the point of, but I also guess things between him and me are just different to your guys' relationships." Kurt frowned and looked over at Flint, asking if he'd gotten that. Flint frowned for a moment before nodding.

"Me and you, Kurt," he said, angling himself towards Kurt. "are still getting to know our boyfriends, but Blaine and Sebastian have known each other really well for several years. I think Blaine's saying that he shouldn't compare his relationship to anyone to else's because it's just different." Kurt nodded in understand as Blaine gave him a wry grin.

"Sorry, it didn't come out like that; two different things got muddled together in my head." Kurt snorted at that, rolling his eyes, as Flint let out a chuckle.

"Am I the only person that feels like today is a crazy dream: we all have boyfriends, we all went on dates…David and Wes fought because David did something wrong to do with Warblers…" Blaine and Kurt burst out laughing at Flint's words, Flint joining in a second later. Kurt didn't know why they were laughing so hard – it really hadn't been that funny – but he guessed that they were all still on a high from the events of today, and after all that they'd suffered because of their sexuality, it did seem like a dream. It was kind of sad that it was dreamlike that the three of them had gone out on dates, been completely fine and then were able to sit around and talk freely about it…

The door opened a moment as they continued to laugh, and Thad stepped into the room. The three of them, all failing in their attempts to stop their laughter, looked over at him, and Kurt noticed he was smartly dressed in the way that he had been on Kurt's first night at Dalton when Thad had found him locked out of the school. The rather tired looking boy's eyes flickered around the room for a moment before his face adopted a rather horrified look, and he pelted out of the room and down the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him. Kurt stared at the empty doorway with wide eyes, turning back to the others and suppressing his desire to laugh as hard as he could. However, seeing the others' amused expressions caused his self-restraint to burst, and the three of them began to roar with laughter.

"My God!" exclaimed Flint after a little while, wiping tears away from his eyes. "He is hilarious!" Blaine shook his head, pressing a hand against his forehead, and Kurt simply snorted again. "His idea of what is horrifying are seriously screwed up!" Blaine snorted once more, rolling his eyes, and Kurt looked back towards the open doorway.

"Why was he dressed like that?" he asked, cautiously, guessing this was probably something he could get an answer to. Flint glanced at Blaine, who straightened his face and shrugged.

"He works in a posh restaurant somewhere in Westerville," he said, simply. Kurt nodded, small frown creasing his forehead, and Blaine gave him an amused smile. "He never said exactly why he got the job, but we think…well, he's never really had much money in his life. I mean, either Nick and his family pay for stuff, or his mum does. I know he doesn't like the idea of leeching off Nick, and, well, given where his mum's money comes from it's not that surprising that he wants some of his own." Kurt nodded in understanding, completely able to see where Blaine was coming from.

"And there goes the mood for the rest of the evening," commented Flint, and Blaine turned a glare on him.

"No! Die you pessimist!" With that roar, Blaine leapt at Flint, sending the two of them sprawling backwards onto the floor. Flint let out a muffled cry, and Kurt burst out laughing, hand flying to cover his face as his entire body shook from laughter.

---

Kurt felt his phone vibrate against his leg as he listened to Dr Booth drone on about something to do with organic chemistry that they were apparently recapping but was new to Kurt. Flint jumped by his side, and the two of them slipped their phones from their pockets as one, both knowing what the message would say.

Senior Commons; one minute; the countdown has begun – last to arrive gets decapitated- Wes.

Kurt snorted and rolled his eyes, jumping up off his stool. Flint hurried to his feet, a second behind Kurt as they both gathered together their books and stationary. Dr Booth had trailed off midsentence, seemingly taken aback by the disturbance in his class. The other boys straightened up.

"Countdown has started, sir," said Flint, swinging his bag onto his shoulder, and the other students leapt to their feet as the head of Harriot rolled his eyes and walked over to his seat, clearly preparing himself for a nice break from teaching. Flint caught Kurt's elbow and guided him out of the classroom first.

Kurt could feel anticipation building inside of him as he and Flint made their way through the crowds of Dalton boys that were eagerly spilling out of their classrooms. They parted for the two Warblers, shouting words of encouragement and patting them on the back as they made their way to the stairs and hurried down to the ground floor. There was such an incredible buzz from all the boys at the prospect of this performance, and Kurt found that if lifted him so much. He wasn't doing a solo like he'd wanted to, but at the same time he didn't mind as much anymore. This was clearly a completely different kind of performance than the one he'd given with the Warblers at the concert, and he had to admit that he was kind of glad that his first one of these was in safe hands. The idea of messing up in front of all the excited Dalton boys was a prospect that even Kurt, who had nerves of steel and understood that so much of performing was about taking risks, would baulk at. Still, Sebastian and Blaine were nothing if not experienced, and this would be flawless; he felt sure of that.

He and Flint hurried into the Senior Commons, that was already half filled by excited Dalton boys, and walked leisurely over to the rest of the Warblers when they both realised that they weren't the last people there. Kurt grinned at Trent, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet, as he slipped off his shoulder bag and leant it against the wall.

"Looking forward to it?" asked Flint, and Trent nodded, raising a hand to start chewing on his nails. Kurt reached over to slap it away, giving him a parent-ish stare that made several of the other boys around them crack up.

"Yeah," he muttered, a little breathlessly. "I could barely sleep. I just- I can't believe that I'm performing!" Kurt gave him a kindly smile reaching over to pat his shoulder in an understanding manner.

"Speaking of that," said Wes, sliding over to them with a rather sleep-deprived looking Sebastian by his side. "there's something that we want to give you." Trent frowned, looking a little bit nervous, but Wes' easy smile assured him a little bit. "Now, technically, we're not really meant to do this, but our own rules have kind of tied us up in knots, but basically…You need a crest to perform a lead or solo, and we would really like you to consider going for that, so…" Sebastian slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out the little box that would contain Trent's crest. Trent's went wide.

"You want me to sing solo?" he demanded in shock, eyes incredibly as he looked around at all the grinning Warblers in shock.

"We'd like you to give it some serious thought," said Wes. Trent looked like he'd been struck speechless, and Kurt tried to keep up the supportive smile on his face even though his insides were throwing a hissy fit.

Another soloist? I thought there wasn't much competition in the Warblers; just Sebastian and Blaine to beat, but now…My god! What am I going to do? I thought I was almost a dead cert to get a solo with them, but now I can really see myself being resigned to back-up once more.

"Um, of course, I'll think about it," choked out Wes, and the Warblers that were clustered around him let out a short whoop as Trent took his crest from Sebastian, followed by the pin boxes. Kurt found his bright smile again as Trent looked at him and leant forward to immediately congratulate him;

"You really deserve this," he said, and Trent looked down at the crest box with a torn expression.

"I don't know. I mean, shouldn't you be a soloist or something? Your voice is amazing, and I'm just the kid…I don't even know how this school works." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"You do deserve it," broke in Flint in a very calm and convincing tone of voice. "and it'll be some time until we perform again so just think about it, okay?" Trent nodded as Blaine came bounding into the common room. Kurt watched as Wes drew a hand across his neck, to which Blaine rolled his eyes, and all of the Warblers fell into place. He grinned down at Tyler as Blaine dumped his bag, and he caught the flick of Wes' wrist that cued their harmonies.

The upbeat note to their voices seemed to smack a real smile onto everyone's faces. Most of the boys were already bobbing up and down and dancing around. Kurt looked around at the other Warblers as they moved together in easy synchrony, and whenever he met someone's eyes, the smile on his face seemed to get wider. The Warblers didn't really have show-smiles, or at least not in front of the rest of their school. This performance wasn't just about testing their voices and showcasing their talent; this was fun for absolutely everybody.

Life's like a road that you travel on

When there's one day here and the next day gone

Blaine, who had been dancing around in the empty space before the Warblers with a seriously cocky grin on his face, spun around so that he was facing most of the student as he sang, dancing with his wonderful grace and ease.

Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand

Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

There's a world outside ev'ry darkened door

Where blues won't haunt you anymore

Where the brave are free and lovers soar

Come ride with me to the distant shore

Blaine could feel the beat behind him lifting him, putting a skip in his step and making every single one of his crap dance moves, which were the meant to illustrate the lyrics but probably didn't really, absolutely awesome. He could feel his own words coming true – the blues were flying away from him; music cleaning his soul and opening him up to pure joy – and he could feel that fragile, but perfect, connection with everyone in the room that could only be made through song.

We won't hesitate

To break down the garden gate

Sebastian came dancing smoothly out from the main pack of Warblers, his smirk that was so charming and flattering serving to take away the heaviness from his face.

There's not much time left today

Life is a highway

I wanna ride it all night long

If you're going my way

I wanna drive it all night long

And it didn't matter that, whilst they belted out the first chorus, Blaine was bopping around like a fool whilst Sebastian pulled out his ultra-slick – seriously sexy – dance moves because Blaine couldn't care about what other people thought of him whilst he sang.

Through all these cities and all these towns

It's in my blood and it's all around

Sebastian moved forward as he took the next verse, Blaine falling back so that he was settled between Wes and David at the front of the Warblers, who were dancing – or perhaps skipping would be a better word – side to side like normal.

I love you now like I loved you then

This is the road and these are the hands

He went straight up to Daley, who was standing between Morrison and Cam, and unashamedly sang right to him, a stupid grin that he had to have learnt from Blaine on his face, using the cheerful song to deliver the all-important message to Daley.

From Mozambique to those Memphis nights

The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights

Knock me down get back up again

You're in my blood

I'm not a lonely man

Sebastian pointed dramatically at his friend as he fell back towards the Warblers, hips swaying hypnotically, and Daley threw his hands up over his face in embarrassment, but he was also clearly laughing hysterically, just like Sebastian had planned.

There's no load I can't hold

Road so rough this I know

I'll be there when the light comes in

Blaine danced back out so that he was in front of the Warblers at the same level as Sebastian, but on the other side of their performing space. He took in all of his friends' grinning faces and felt that incredibly feeling that he only ever got at Dalton – that feeling that everybody was on his side for once.

Just tell 'em we're survivors

He slapped his right fist against his heart so that his arm was crossed over his chest and thrust his left arm into the air, the hand of that loosely curled into a fist but with his index finger pointing towards the ceiling.

Life is a highway

I wanna ride it all night long…

Kurt looked around and met Juri's eyes. He had to stifle a laugh at the sight of his little Russian roommate jumping up and down and being grabbed onto by Chris to stop him from accidentally punching someone. Dylan stood over his shoulder, looming above him in a manner that was ridiculous, and from his awestruck expression – slack face, wide eyes, mouth agape – Flint was probably looking very hot in this second. Drew, Fred and Morrison were also dancing around together, waving their arms in the air. Cameron was also bouncing around with Braden and Pedro and some other Freshman, and Daley was beginning to dance around too, and it was seriously weird to see three celebrities rocking out and looking like they were having the time of their lives along to music of some prep school choir in Ohio. Scanning the crowd some more, he caught sight of Vince, Parker, Stuart and Andy moving around in that same awkward manner that they had. He winked at them as Parker raised his camera to photograph him. He snorted, looking away, and then mentally back tracking. Keats wasn't there.

There was a distance between you and I

Kurt frantically scanned the crowd as Sebastian began to sing another part of his solo, frown faintly forming on his forehead because where was Keats? Kurt couldn't see him at all. Why wasn't he there? What could possibly have kept him from coming to an event that shut the whole school down for at least ten minutes?

A misunderstanding once
But now we look it in the eye

Blaine looked at Sebastian, half smiling from the corner of his mouth when their gazes locked, loving the way that their relationship could be transcribed into any and every song that they sung.

There ain't no load that I can't hold

Road so rough this I know

I'll be there when the light comes in

Just tell 'em we're survivors

And so when he reprieved his little bridge section, he chose to stare straight into Sebastian's green eyes and be perfectly assured that no matter how rough the road got from here on out, he would have Sebastian by his side. He'd survive anything as long as he had Sebastian.

Life is a highway

I wanna ride it all night long

If you're going my way

I wanna drive it all night long…

Kurt was officially laughing as he sung, sharing excited and delighted sideways glances with Tyler and any other Warbler that could catch his eye as they jumped up and down as one, clapping their hands in the hair, and began to dancing a little more freely amongst themselves. The Dalton boys were taking it as their cue to notch up the bad dancing and enthusiastic spectating, which of course was hilarious because they never did things in halves at Dalton. Things inside the mesh of Warblers kind of became quite muddled, but they were all dancing around and having fun so it didn't really matter that Kurt had ended up dancing back to back with Jeff, both of them wiggling their shoulders, completely out of position because Wes was too busy dancing around with David to notice, and Thad was at the front looking straight ahead, which was probably a good thing as he was the only one still moving loyally side to side, even though he had a very large skip in his step that meant he practically leapt a foot of the ground each time.

If you're going my way

I wanna drive it all night long

Somehow, they managed to get back into their neat rows for the last two lines, finishing with their hands clasped before them and heads down like they hadn't gone totally crazy during the song. The Dalton boys burst into huge, enthusiastic applause, roaring at the tops of their voices, whooping and clapping. The Warblers kept ranks for half a second more before they all broke out into laughter, high-fiving, hugging and clapping each other on the shoulders.

Kurt detached himself from the very hyped up Nick and Jeff and pushed himself through the Warblers towards Trent, who was scarlet faced and standing stock-still wide eyes like he couldn't quite believe that had happened. Flint was also making his way to Trent's side, and they reached him at about the same time.

"Alright there, buddy?" asked Flint, wiping away the traces of sweat from his forehead and taking some deep breaths that suggested his scarlet face was not an exaggeration as to how physically strenuous that performance had been. Trent nodded, slowly.

"Yeah, just…that was incredible!" he exclaimed, voice squeaking a little bit at the end. "I mean, I've performed in school plays and such before, but I have never experienced anything like that! They're all so excited and- and- and it's just- they're so supportive, and…" he trailed off, blinking rapidly and rubbing a hand over his face. Kurt glanced around and saw that Dylan was trying to get to Flint whilst trying to give him a chance to talk to Trent.

"Off you go and talk to your boyfriend," he said, prodding Flint in the back. Flint looked hesitant, but there was only so much of Kurt's perfectly manicured index finger jabbing into his back that he could take, and so he moved off. Kurt gave Trent a comforting smile.

"I know how you feel," he said. "I've performed before the school before, but that was in a really formal concert, but this was really something else…It's overwhelming the atmosphere here is, especially when you compare it to the frigidness of McKinley." He looked around the room and saw that Warren was sidling over. "Now off you go and enjoy." Trent gave him a weak smile before hurrying over. Kurt straightened up, rubbing his hands against his trousers, and headed towards Vince, Parker, Stuart and Andy, constantly being congratulated by the people around him.

"Nice show," commented Stuart, pushing up his glasses with a tiny smile on his face. "very energetic." Kurt smiled at him, taking the compliment with a gracious nod of the head.

"Where's Keats?" he asked, deciding that it was best not to beat around the bush. Three pairs of eyes leapt up to Vince. Vince ran a hand through his hair before shrugging.

"Last time there was an impromptu it was maybe a two-three weeks before we met you, and to say that it was a highly flirtatious duet between Sebastian and Blaine would be a gross understatement. He decided that it was safer to give it a miss than risk seeing something that would make him explode in a violent display of passionate anger and jealousy." Kurt pursed his lips at Vince's words, finding that they did the job that they were intended to; he could not fault Keats' choice one bit.

"Right," he said, huffing out a breath through his nose. They all cast him some sympathetic looks, and he nodded in acceptance of that fact. "I see. That's fine. I just- I would have liked him to have been there of course, but-"

"Kurt," David's hand descended onto his shoulder and cut off his unnecessary ramblings. "Luc and Wes want a Warbler debrief in our hall." Kurt nodded, gave Keats' friends one last smile, before turning away with David. David glanced back over their shoulders. "Everything alright?" he asked. "Where was Keats?" Kurt sighed, shrugging.

"They said Keats didn't want to risk seeing something that would upset him, you know? With Sebastian and Blaine." David nodded in apparent understanding.

"Ah, yes of course." Kurt quirked an eyebrow at David. David rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Look, we don't talk, but that doesn't mean we didn't…hear things. Nick and Flint told us all about how he was…shouting and whatever after the impromptu last term. We were worried for Blaine, you know? We didn't want any of it kicking back off, and people getting hurt or expelled – on either side." Kurt nodded.

"Good, I suppose." David gave him another smile and clapped him on the back as they entered Warbler hall, Kurt making his way over to one of the sofas to sit by Jeff and David took a seat at the Warbler council table.

"Alright," said Wes, clapping his hands together. "let's keep this brief because we do have to go back to lessons: that was good, seriously good. I know it was a hard show for us all to put on, but we showed that we could perform under serious time pressure. Our vocals were solid. Our dancing got a little bit suspect by the end, but that was a spur of the moment thing so we can deal with keeping our composure at a later date. That's all I have to say, Luc?" All eyes swivelled to their red haired music director, who was leaning against one of the walls.

"I don't really have much to add. I don't do that there was some pretty freaky dancing going down, but I was only listening to you guys. Wes was right; your harmonies were good, and much more in tune than I was expecting, and your voices carried well too. Now, we're off until the soccer – football, I'm sorry, Blaine, stop growling at me like a dog!" Laughter rippled from around the Warblers, and Blaine sat back with a charming smile. "We're off till the soccer game, but I expect your performance level to remain constant. I don't want any dipping, or you'll have hell to pay from me." There was a moment of silence in which everyone considered what torture Luc may subject them to. "Now, why don't you go and skip off back to your lessons?"

"Hey!" exclaimed Wes, brandishing the gavel. "Don't you dare undermine my authori- fuck!" Every person in the room descended into hysterics as Wes accidentally let go of the gavel and banged himself in the face. Kurt slumped against the sofa, hand over his face, laughing hysterically.

I'm going to miss the Warblers during our break. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm thankful that we're having it because Met is going seriouslycrazy over Regionals, and I do not need to risk losing my voice or collapsing from exhaustion, but Warblers is something else…I mean, we must be the only club in which we're run by a council and an overseeing director, and they're all insane! I cannot wait for this to be back.

---

Next Time- Goal: The maddest time of sports fixtures has descended upon Dalton Academy, but when clashes and an enemy of different kinds enter the field of play, their hopes of sweeping victories across the board begins to look less like a reality and more like a dream…