CHAPTER 5: Love and Loss

2009/2010, Kurt aged 16

At the end of the summer, Kurt started his sophomore year of high school at Dalton Academy for boys in Westerville, OH. Because the school was a nearly two-hour drive from Lima, Kurt had to board at his new school. Kurt and Elisabeth were both sad, but Kurt promised to come home every weekend and spend time with his mother and his friends who were still attending McKinley.

For the first time in his life, Kurt had to share a room, but luckily the rooms at Dalton weren't exactly small. His roommate was a shy guy, who spent most of his time with his nose buried in books and thankfully had no problem with the fact that Kurt was gay – something that Kurt was not willing to hide anymore. Even if Dalton turned out to not be as perfect as it seemed, Kurt did not intend to tip toe back into the closet, just because in the past, people had bullied him because of it.

The first few weeks at Dalton were hard. The curriculum was a lot more demanding than McKinley's and Kurt had a hard time catching up, even though the school year had just started. He spent most days in the library working on essays and reading assignments to keep up his grades because of his academic scholarship.

It was also quite lonely at Dalton. He missed his two best girls. The kids were a lot kinder at Dalton, they smiled at him and talked to him in group projects, but they didn't exactly go out of their way to befriend him.

It all changed when an older student overheard him singing in one of the common rooms. He introduced himself as Wes Montgomery, head of the Warbler's council. Kurt was confused at first, because he hadn't heard about the school's a capella group yet and therefore didn't understand why this Wes guy thought he might be interested in joining a bird group.

Wes seemed surprised; after all, as he explained, the Warblers were like rock stars at Dalton. He told Kurt that it was an honor to be invited to audition for the group and that being a member of the Warblers would guarantee him popularity at school. Kurt agreed to audition because after his school experiences, being part of the popular crowd sounded like a dream come true.

That night Kurt called up Mercedes and Rachel to discuss his audition song. It was Rachel's egocentric behavior that gave him an idea for his song. While Rachel went on and on about the songs she would audition with, and recounting her audition for McKinley's newly formed glee club, Kurt tuned her out for a bit, only to tune back in when she was talking about how perfect Defying Gravity would be for her and how it was such a shame he was a boy and couldn't audition with it.

Kurt thanked the two girls for their input and hung up the phone before searching the Internet for sheet music. He had found his song. Now he just had to wait and see if Dalton was really that accepting.

Kurt's audition went off without a hitch and he was welcomed into the Warblers. Wes smiled at him like the cat that got the cream, while another boy at the council's table – David Thompson – told Kurt about the history of countertenors at Dalton.

After Warbler's practice was over, Kurt rushed back to his room to call his mom and told her all about his audition. Elisabeth was proud of her son and told him she couldn't wait to come see him perform. She also questioned him about the boys his went to school with – a weekly occurrence by now - but Kurt informed her that no one had caught his eye yet.

It was three days later, when Warbler Hall erupted in cheers. Kurt was seated in the back and couldn't really make out who everyone was welcoming, but once the new boy stepped fully into the room and Kurt got a good look at him, his heart stopped for a second. Because the guy was cute. Definitely cute. Mercedes would probably have called him smoking.

He was a little taller than Kurt, had gelled back black hair, tanned skin and looked way too confident to be a sophomore like Kurt. The one thing Kurt had been complaining about Dalton were the uniforms, but on the new boy – Blaine - the shouting of the other boys informed him, he didn't mind it at all.

Once everyone had calmed down a bit and Wes had explained to Kurt that Blaine was sort of their lead soloist, even though he was only a junior member, Kurt finally got a chance to introduce himself to new guy, even though technically he was the new guy.

New guy, Blaine, Kurt reminded himself, immediately asked Kurt all kinds of questions about his transfer, his range, his hobbies and so many more that Kurt could barely follow, so that when rehearsal was over, Kurt not only had no clue what they had been practicing, but he also felt like he had just made a new friend. A good-looking, male friend, who was either very touchy-feely with everyone he encountered or was actually flirting with him. Kurt suspected the first.

He relayed his dilemma to Rachel and Mercedes during their weekly phone call. Mercedes advised him to just ask Blaine if he had a girlfriend, but Rachel offered to just come up to Dalton and hit on Blaine to see if he was into girls or not. Mercedes was appalled Rachel would suggest that and this was how Kurt found out that apparently Rachel had been out on a few dates with a boy from a rival – her words – show choir.

In the end, there was no need for sneak tactics. When Kurt opened up to Blaine about the reason he transferred, Blaine told him that he had been in a similar situation in Middle School, but had used his parents' need for appearing all high and mighty and better than anyone else to get them to transfer him to a private school after Middle School.

Kurt only ever talked about his mom, but it seemed to Kurt like Blaine's parents were a lot like his own father, and therefore he understood why Blaine wasn't out at home.

After their talk they started going out for coffee regularly, sometimes alone, sometimes with their Dalton friends and sometimes with Rachel and Mercedes, who both had insisted on meeting Blaine. From the girls Kurt heard all about what was going on at his old school; his former bully who had gotten the head-cheerleader pregnant and had joined the new glee club with her after their popularity dropped, the shy Goth girl who was dating a football player, who was also a phenomenal dancer, Kurt's ex-girlfriend – at that Blaine shot Kurt a questioning look – who was rumored, at least in glee club to be more than just friendly with her best friend, another cheerleader, and Mercedes' attempts to get the new guy, Sam, to go out with her.

After every outing with Blaine and the girls, the girls tried to convince Kurt, that Blaine was flirting with him, but Kurt always brushed it off, because he couldn't believe that one of the most popular guys in school could ever be interested in him.

During Thanksgiving break, which Burt again didn't attend – and Kurt got it, his father's new family was just more important than the son who continuously had to send his father pictures of him and his fake girlfriend, as to not completely ruin their relationship - the girls and Kurt had another one of their monthly sleepovers.

Between pedicures, and analyzing Mercedes' first date with Sam, the girls encouraged Kurt to just ask out Blaine, instead of waiting for the other boy the make the first move. Mercedes told him that if it worked for her, it would certainly work for the fabulous Kurt Hummel.

They also told him to envision the worst-case scenario. Blaine's not interested. Things might be awkward for a while. Kurt gets his heartbroken but in the end they move past it and are the best friends they are now. Mercedes again reminded him that she and Kurt were the best example for this scenario.

So, on the first day back at school after break, Kurt squares his shoulders, told Blaine he needed to talk to him in private and then proceeded to invite Blaine to a community theater production of Grease in Columbus. Blaine blushingly accepted, and confessed that he'd been wanting to ask Kurt out for ages, but had been afraid that Kurt could never be interested in being more than just friends.

After their first date, Blaine drove back to Westerville, where he also stayed most weekends to avoid his parents and Kurt drove home to Lima. Before he left he leaned in and tried to kiss Blaine, but Blaine pulled back and then told Kurt, it wasn't because he didn't want to kiss him, but that he had never kissed a boy before.

Kurt was surprised and then told him about Karofsky's kiss, because he thought it would only be fair for Blaine to know about his past as well. Blaine however disagreed and assured him it didn't count because Kurt hadn't wanted that kiss. He told him he had kissed a few girls in the past, which he thought didn't count either, and Kurt, in return, told him about his very public first kiss with Brittany, which for Kurt definitely counted even if he would have preferred to have his first kiss with Blaine.

They both agreed to take things slow, because they didn't really know what they were doing, having never been in a real relationship before, before they hugged and drove home.

xXx

Christmas turned Dalton into a winter wonderland. Christmas trees were found in the common rooms and dorm buildings and mistletoes decorated doorways, even though there were only a few couples in the all boys school.

The day before Christmas break found Kurt and Blaine in one of the common room practicing a song for Dalton's Winter Spectacular the Warblers put on every year to receive donations from parents and alumni. Blaine had succeeded in convincing the council to let him sing a duet with Kurt and the new couple had agreed on "Baby it's cold outside" because it complemented both of their voices.

They hadn't approached the kissing topic since their first date two weeks ago, and so Kurt was in for a surprise when, after the line "gosh your lips look delicious" Blaine swooped in and quickly pressed his lips to Kurt's in a chaste kiss. Kurt nearly missed his cue for his next line after the brief kiss, but kept smiling brightly throughout the rest of the song.

Kurt later "retaliated" by pulling Blaine underneath the mistletoe under the front entrance and gave them both the first kiss that counted that they deserved. No one was watching this time, but Kurt didn't mind, because for the first time, he was not in a relationship to proof something to others, but because he finally found someone who liked him just the way he was.

Burt had sent Kurt another check for Christmas, and at first it looked like it was just going to be the two Hummels again, but when Blaine accidentally let it slip that his parents were out of the country and he would be celebrating Christmas on his own, Elisabeth invited Blaine over to their house for a Christmas eve dinner.

Her motivations weren't truly altruistic, because what kind of mother would she be if she didn't at least try to interrogate the boyfriend about his intentions concerning her son. Blaine, proved to be a polite, well-mannered boy, and it didn't take long for her to see what Kurt saw in him. At night, she made up the living room couch for him and insisted he'd stay with them until his parents came back from their trip.

Noah Puckerman, Kurt's former bully, threw a New Year's Eve party, to which Kurt, to his surprise was also invited. Rachel explained that it was just a party for the people in Glee club and their friends, because the popular kids had been staying away from Puck since "Babygate" and the subsequent joining of Glee club.

To Kurt's utter surprise, no one at the party seemed to mind that he showed up at the party with his boyfriend, but he suspected it was because of the two girls making out in a dark corner of the Puckermans' basement.

Kurt and Blaine celebrated their first Valentine's Day together with their first full on make out session in Blaine's living room. Blaine's parents were away on a business trip yet again, and Elisabeth had told Kurt that she wanted the house to herself because a friend was coming over – code for, as Kurt had realized by now – a date. Kurt didn't mind his mom dating – after all, she was still quite young – as long as she didn't bring home asshole like that homophobe Paul all those years ago.

Their – lets call them celebrations – were however cut short when Blaine's parents unexpectedly came back home a day early, and were – to say it nicely – not amused to find their son with his tongue down another boy's throat.

A heated discussion ensued which culminated in Blaine's father telling him that if he didn't want to be normal and continued to be involved with guys who basically dressed and sounded like girls – at the point Blaine had punched a wall – it would be better for everyone involved if Blaine didn't come back home anymore.

Blaine's parents, always keen to keep up appearances and avoid scandals, informed him that Dalton had been paid for the rest of the semester and that they were willing to give him a monthly stipend until he got his trust fund when he turned eighteen and gave him the rest of the evening to pack up his belongings.

Kurt took a distraught Blaine back to his house, where Elisabeth, after asking her "friend" to leave, hugged the shaking boy and then proceeded to make hot chocolate for all of them. Together they discussed Blaine's future living arrangement, and while Blaine insisted that he got an apartment when the school year was over, Elisabeth told him that she wouldn't allow a sixteen year old boy to live on his own, and insisted that he moved in with them, for now on the weekends, and after school was over for good.

Before Blaine could politely decline, Elisabeth told him that she wouldn't accept a no, and that they better started cleaning out Kurt's old bedroom, because they were sure as hell not going to share a room, cool mom or not.

xXx

The following weekend saw Kurt and Blaine redecorating Kurt's old bedroom together with Elisabeth who had volunteered to paint the walls. Blaine, at first, had a hard time dealing with having a parental figure around so much, mostly because he was surprised that an adult would want to spend time with him, but countless Friday night dinners together and game nights proved to him, that Elisabeth didn't just endure his presence, she actually wanted to spend time with him as much as with her son.

The only thing Blaine lamented was the lack of privacy he and Kurt had, now that they were both living in Kurt's house. There wasn't much that they could do at Dalton, because they had strict rules in place for same-sex couples, so as to be fair to boys who had girlfriends in other school and weren't allowed to have them in their dorms either.

Elisabeth did give them permission to be in one of their bedrooms together, as long as the door stayed wide open, and Blaine was way to scared to get kicked out of another house to try anything with Kurt, who didn't mind it too much either, because he actually preferred that they were taking it slow and hadn't gone beyond heated make out sessions yet.

In April, they discovered that even with Blaine's monthly stipend he wouldn't be able to pay for Dalton anymore. Because it looked like Kurt's two chief tormentors might actually graduate in May, and Kurt's other bully had joined Glee club and had invited Kurt to one of his parties, it was decided that both Kurt and Blaine would attend McKinley come next fall.

Elisabeth justified Kurt's transfer back to public school to Burt by telling him, that Dalton even with the scholarship was just getting to expensive and that Kurt had missed his friends a lot during his time away. Burt didn't protest, because he had to pay for two families now, and was glad he didn't have to help pay for an expensive private school anymore.

Kurt's seventeenth birthday also marked Kurt and Blaine's six-month anniversary. Kurt called his father and told him he didn't have to come because he was going up to Columbus with his girlfriend for that weekend. Burt seemed pleased to hear that Kurt and his girlfriend were still going strong and wished them a good time.

A good time did Kurt and Blaine have in their hotel room at the Columbus Hilton – yes Blaine had splurged for the occasion – after seeing a production of Rent. Beforehand they had both agreed that they were definitely not ready to go all the way, but that they were willing to go a little further.

A little further culminated in taking off their shirts, which wasn't exactly something new – they both had been to the public pool - finally getting to touch each other without Kurt's infamous layers in the way and Blaine awkwardly sticking his hand down Kurt's pants.

Although the whole experience had been slightly awkward, Kurt still declared afterwards that this had been one of the best days of his life so far. Blaine only smiled at him, because even post-orgasm Kurt had a penchant for being dramatic. Kurt was just glad they had already exchanged I love yous because he was sure that otherwise that would have been the moment he would have blurted it out.

Because school was over for the year and Elisabeth couldn't keep an eye on them all the time anyway, she allowed Blaine to stay in Kurt's room, after giving them a lengthy lecture on safe sex, that embarrassingly involved a lot of pamphlets, and the emotional aspects of intimacy.

All three were red-faced when it was over, but when Blaine later that night proclaimed that Kurt's mom was the best mom ever, Kurt could only whole-heartedly agree. He might only have one parent, but that parent was so much better than having two who didn't give a rat's ass about their children.

Unfortunately, as Kurt had yet to learn, good things never last. It was after their second sexual experience, and yes it was still so fresh that Kurt had to number them, that Kurt learnt this lesson. Kurt and Blaine were snuggled together on Kurt's bed, watching Moulin Rouge for the umpteenth time, while Kurt's mom was on her way back from a concert in Dayton.

They had just reached the part where all hell breaks lose on the stage of the Moulin Rouge, when the phone rang. Kurt, who was closer to the phone, answered. As Blaine turned to Kurt questioningly, Kurt turned even paler than usual and the phone hit the floor with a loud bang.

The next chapter will introduce the Hudson-Hummel family.