Ownership Disclaimer: Glee, and the music mentioned nup. My imagination I do, and pov too. I do own legit copies to the seasons 1-4 on dvd and all music on legit cds.

Inspiration: Reality that Glee is a show. A fantasmagorical show, but that's all. It isn't Dalton by CP Coulter, but it is our feeder straight after Furt, Season 2. And I have to fill in until season 5 comes back in February 2014. Only that many more days to go. EEEE!

Music Inspiration: Take Me Home, by Phil Collins, from the album Hits.

Thank you: Everyone who has been reading my nutty words since last year.

Warning: May have Trigger Warnings, especially if you're a sook like me.

First I really want to apologize, you always expect me to write with details of Kurt and Blaine's love life. Even if that were to include Sebastian, more details of Chandler or Eli, or Sugar and Sam, Stoner Brett and Dottie. I can't write details of what I've never experienced.

Maybe this chapter will help a little then, this is real, oh so delightfully real. But I'll have to include some new characters of mine.

~ S5 8.57 ~

BUGGER OFF 2013 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014.

Setting: McKinley High, first year of studies.

Kurt had seen other students being bullied, and he didn't help them. It was hard enough dealing with your own issues and others not coming to help you. Even Mr Schue had walked by when Puck and the other jocks had their hands on him, before they threw him in the dumpster. No, Kurt wasn't going to help others, they'd have to fend for themselves.

Kurt fiddles at his locker, listening to the plan they had for Mark and Sandy. He once had a crush on Mark, he used to watch him throw the ball to Finn. And then Kurt realized that he was more interested in Finn.

As for Sandy, she was an awkward girl. She seemed to be all thumbs and acne. She seemed to have a lot in common, with Stoner Brett. Unkempt, somewhat unclean and very awkward.

^o^

Richard and some of the kidz he hung around approach Rachel and Mercedes. "Mark wants to see Sandy in the shelter sheds." Richard grabs Rachel's arm and looks around quickly, leaning to tell her a secret. "He really likes her. Can you give her this note?"

"We don't really know her that well, she's a bit of a loner!" Rachel protests but Richard pushes forward, "She's got a good voice for singing, I thought she'd be good as your…. back up singer." That would get her attention, flatter Rachel, she'll take the bait then. "Oh well, in that case…"

^o^

"Sandy!" Rachel calls down the corridor, Kurt watches on. "Here, this is a note from Mark. You know, one of the jocks that Finn plays ball with? He really likes you. You should hear how Finn tells me such gossip." This makes Kurt slam his locker door and the girls jump looking at him. Kurt storms off, he's tired of all the lies.

Sandy reads the note: (Hey, I really like you, can you meet me in the shelter sheds at lunch time today? From Mark.) The handwriting is rough and in different inks and sizes. She smells the paper, no scent and the paper is crumpled. She looks at the clock, picks up her books while also dropping pens and pencils from an open case. She picks them up too, smiles at Rachel in a crooked way and walks down the corridor.

^o^

As she approaches the shelter sheds she can hear a commotion inside. She stops and looks around the edge of the doorway, Mark is in the middle of a group of his friends. Mark's quite taller than them, Richard's there too. They're pushing Mark around, laughing and obviously making him upset. Anger rises in Sandy's heart and gut, she likes Mark but hasn't told anyone. And she doesn't like Richard at all.

"STOP IT!" she yells. That stops them and they all turn slowly to look down at the creepy little girl. "L…leave him alone." Her nerves kick in and her face starts to wobble into crying.

Richard and the sea of audience advance on her. "You like Mark don't you?" Never giving her a moment to answer.. "He likes you too, don't you Mark?" No opportunity to answer from him either. They grab Mark and push him toward her. She backs away, but not quick enough because some of the others have come around and behind her.

They push her toward Mark and she crashes into him. Mark pushes her roughly away. "Get her off me…." The jostling starts in earnest from Richard and the sea of horrid school kidz. "Don't!" she calls out. "Leave me alone…."

This horrid scene continues, in the heat of a shelter shed, until finally a senior student comes and breaks them up. Richard and the others leave, laughing at the state of Sandy's sadness and Mark's face being beaten up and his clothes messed too. The dust starts to settle and mixed with her tears she looks even filthier.

The quiet starts to fill the air, Sandy looks to Mark with a questioning look of "Why did you do this and why me?" His filthy stare answers her questions, he doesn't really like her after all. She once liked him, but his obvious disdain for her and letting his friends be so unkind, have hurt her and she can see he's not really a gentleman after all. Even if he is just a boy, he's not a very nice boy anymore.

^o^

Setting: Work Office, a year after graduation.

Dottie had been watching him, intently, while she tries to do her work.

He'd always manage to interrupt her with his looks. He'd pretend he couldn't get into the office… "My keypass is broken again…" any reason he could find to interact with her, he would use it to his advantage.

"Oh, I don't know what's wrong with the photocopier/fax machine/drink machine/scanner/pens/this thing doesn't work…. Can you please help me?" Mark's quietly spoken now, his demeanour is the opposite of when he first started high school. Did they break him? It's not relevant to know, those days are gone. And now, he'll do anything he can, just to get her to speak or look at him.

"You haven't turned the power on!" She would try and do her work, but whenever she caught him in her vision, her breath would catch and the butterflies in her tummy would summersault and turn to a delightful rise in her chest. They'd pull her every nerve and throw her mind into disarray. Concentration and the release of "Oh My God!" would escape her mouth and mess her mind.

As the year progressed she found she could override these feelings. These emotions weren't totally new to her, but it had been many years since this attraction to and from another guy had her in disarray.

And now, she finds she can talk to him and not trip on her tongue, she can speak calmly and rationally with him. She can keep eye contact with him, longer than when she could with others. It's him who gets a little flustered, and that interests her. She lets him take his time talking, to explain what he wants to say. She doesn't interrupt him, she ignores comments and distractions from others, when he's trying to talk. And this gives him confidence in her.

When she first met him, she gushed at how it'd be nice to have a fella on board with them. And as she instinctively grabbed his arm, her heart stopped with her breath and mind. They hicupped with the instant feel of his adorable arm muscles, his really, really strong, and hunkable muscles. Felt through his shirt, her mind raced to how adorable the rest of him would look, feel and even taste under all that clothing.

As months traveled, and his speech was absorbed, the details of his every feature began to highlight in her senses.

With her hearing not too good, she had to pay attention to more details than a normal hearing person. Hearing a person talk, though reading their lips move, is essential to her. Unfortunately it also meant that she noticed his lips more. His delicate facial nuances were essential, to understand him. And he was certainly becoming, someone for her to admire, want more, more interactions with. These lips of his, gently spoken, cute when smiling and even more cuddlier when puzzled, these lips of his – she wanted to kiss, taste and tell him with hers, how beautiful he was.

Being at work, she had to keep him at arms distance. When she discovers the workplace sexual harassment policy is being revised, and she discovers his real cultural heritage is so different to hers, she tries even harder to not cross the definitive line of appropriateness.

None of this is helping to dissuade her. And she's never really sure if he's flirting with her, or just coincidentally breaking things. The only thing that must be a definite given acknowledgement is that they work in close proximity of one another. And so him walking in the room will always happen, him having to speak (in his oh so dreamy voice) is going to happen. Oh Good Grief!

^o^

Setting: New Years Eve.

The office is quiet of work. Mark goes to his supervisor for advice, about work.

After some work discussion the supervisor stops, leans over her desk to him and looks intently in his eyes. "She.." nods toward Dottie in the office, "She really likes you. And seeing as it's your birthday tomorrow, I think you should go and get a hug from her." He blushes deep red, even through his Chinese tan the burning of his cheeks is very strong.

Dottie's talking with a colleague as Mark approaches. He stands and waits, not wanting to interrupt. Dottie stops mid sentence, "Yes Mark?"

"I…. the boss lady says I should see you for a hug?" He's obviously nervous by the way he's holding his satchel, which he pushes behind him now. He holds his hands in a squeeze fashion, he looks at her with red burning under his Chinese tan, certain that she can't see it.

"Oh, did she now. Well of course you get a hug, it's your birthday tomorrow…." And she quickly steps to him, he quickly stepped to her. To outsiders it appears like a familiar embrace. She sees his blue work shirt colours come at her as she hugs him. She quickly breathes in his absolutely adorable deodorant and fabric softener and her whole mind blanks at his tight embrace…

They pull apart, after what seems like a hundred years of embrace. And now it seems not long enough.

They exchange pleasantries of Happy New Year and Have A Great Birthday, and he leaves.

And…. as she tries to return her mind to her work, she has to double check everything she does, for the rest of the day. As she answers the phone, her heart catches at all the lovely words spoken in the celebration of a New Year Eve phone call.

Clearly looking forward to work days now, enjoying all that the good Lord has given her during 2013 and especially this tiny piece of delight and hope for 2014…

Extra author notes from a kute little author: Any resemblance to real and living persons, is totally coincidental. (sigh! maybe!) If you are wanting some quality fill in reading, till I upload or until Season 5 returns, seriously choof on up and over and head to Dalton, by CP Coulter. It is the most amazing story. It consists here on fan fiction for the first 27 chapters. I'm wanting to see it make the light of day in… And have some fun checking out the web sites of info for the huge, massive fan base that it has. I could write more. I'm passionate. Let me give you an early New Years gift: go read it! You'll see what I mean. There is a link in my profile, or you can type CP Coulter in the Author box, hit enter and it should bring it up. Okay, have a lovely life and enjoyable New Year.