The whole glee club started clapping and shouting enthusiastically, curious to see who they would be up against this year. They had won the competition the previous year, and were fully planning on repeating their performance.

"First: The Hipsters, a first year club from the Warren Township Continuing Education Program. Now, they are a glee club composed entirely of elderly people getting their high school GEDs."

This caused some hilarity among the glee club members - surely they would be able to beat a couple of old people, right?

"And the other team to beat," Mr. Schuester continued, "the a cappella choir from the all boys private school in Westerville, the Dalton Academy-"

"Warblers!"

It was Kurt who had shouted out the last word, and now slammed his hand in front of his mouth, embarrassed by his spontaneous outburst. It didn't do anything to hide the fact he had been the one shouting, though, and the entire glee club was now looking at him.

"Yes, Kurt," Mr. Schue said, shooting him an investigating look, "the Dalton Academy Warblers. Do you know them?"

"Yes! I mean... no... it's just... Blaine, my... eh..."

Kurt paused, not quite knowing how to formulate what he was about to say. What was Blaine to him? An acquaintance? A guy he shared a house with? Someone he'd fallen asleep next to?

"... a friend of mine," he finally decided, "Blaine, he sings in the Warblers."

"Well, that's nice, Kurt," Mr. Schuester said, a bit apprehensive. "Just don't let him get hold of our setlist, will you? Now, to get you in the competition spirit, this week's assignment is ..."

-o0o-

"Ok, Lance Bass, we need to have a talk."

Kurt didn't even look up when he felt Puck falling in step with him as he left the choir room.

"Exactly. You have to spy on that friend of yours."

Rachel now joined him on the other side, and Kurt cast a sideways glance to see that look on her face, that determined look that didn't promise anything good.

"His name is Blaine. And I don't have to do anything of the sorts."

But both Rachel and Puck now stepped in front of him, effectively blocking his way and stopping him in his tracks.

"Kurt, you know as well as I do that we got lucky last year. Coach Sylvester will take every opportunity she can possibly think of to steal our spotlight. We simply can't leave anything to chance this time."

"Yeah, dude, winning last year at Sectionals was the first time that I really felt like a part of something good. And I'm not gonna let some private school sissies in uniforms take that away from me."

Kurt felt himself flush with anger at Puck's description of Blaine, but before he could open his mouth, Rachel cut him off.

"What Puck is trying to say," she said, directing a death glare at the football player, "is that winning Sectionals last year brought us closer together as a group. But that bond is still fragile, and if we don't win this, we could lose it again."

"So you want me to cheat to help us win Sectionals?"

"Yes! Auw!"

Puck shot an indignant look at Rachel, clutching his arm where the diva had elbowed him.

"Of course not! Kurt, I would never ask you to lower yourself to the level of cheating! I just... ," Rachel tilted her head, considering the best way of phrasing this. "I just ask you to help us, to help the glee club, be as prepared as we can possibly be."

"By stealing The Warblers' setlist?", Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, not necessarily," Rachel said matter-of-factly, 'but if you would happen to come across such information, that could of course..."

"Forget it, Rachel, I'm not doing it."

Kurt made to push past them, but Puck stopped him.

"Come on, dude!"

"Kurt, please... I am not asking you this for myself - my talent will bring me to Broadway within the next five years whether we win this competition or not. But the others, Tina, and Mercedes, everyone: they've worked so hard, and this competition may be the only chance they will ever get to receive some form of recognition."

Rachel was looking up at him, and there was something in her eyes that made Kurt consider that maybe -just maybe- she was indeed not pleading her own case this time.

"Alright," he finally gave in, "I'll see if I can find something."

Rachel flew around his neck.

"I knew you'd do it for me!"

"I'm not promising anything though!"

But Rachel didn't appear to hear him. She was jumping up and down with excitement now, clapping her hands.

"Thank you, Kurt. I won't forget this."

-o0o-

Kurt slowly opened the back door and slipped through it. He felt like a thief breaking in into his own house, and in a way, that was exactly what he was. He'd gone straight home after school - he knew Blaine usually finished early on Tuesdays, but his longer commute should give him enough time to take a quick look around in the other boy's room. He silently hoped Mrs. Anderson would not be home - he didn't want to run the risk of having to explain why, on top of the stairs, he turned right to Blaine's room instead of left, to his own. But his hope flew out the window as soon as he entered the kitchen.

Weeks later, when Kurt finally found the courage to tell Blaine what he had seen that day, he didn't include all the details. He didn't tell him how Mrs. Anderson's blouse had fallen off her shoulders, laying casually on the floor. He didn't tell him about the noises that both Mrs. Anderson and her lover had been making. He didn't tell him about the fierceness with which the man's hands had been groping Mrs. Anderson's back, and head, and... ass. And he certainly didn't tell him that he had stood there a good 5 minutes, in shock, before he had finally turned around. Because Kurt had seen those hands before, on that very same naked back, when they had carefully draped a pink dress around Mrs. Anderson's body a few weeks earlier...

Thoughts were racing through his head as he sneaked back out of the kitchen even more silently than he had entered. Mrs. Anderson and... Kevin? But he didn't have the time to dwell on his discovery, especially since the kitchen being out of bounds meant he would have to go all around the house to even get to the stairs. He looked down at his watch. Maybe he should do this some other time... . He considered it for a moment, but then shook his head. He really just wanted to have this over and done with.

He didn't take any wrong turns this time, and soon found himself standing in front of Blaine's bedroom door. He hesitated for a moment, gathering his courage. He still wasn't very comfortable with the idea of spying on Blaine, especially not now they'd really started to get along. Just the other night, they had watched Sweeney Todd together -this time Kurt had made it through the movie without falling asleep-, and had spent hours afterwards discussing who they would cast if they were to make a gender-reversed version. But he had promised Rachel that he would take a look, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Simply get in, have a look around, and get out - after all, Rachel hadn't specified exactly how detailed that look was supposed to be. Kurt turned the knob, and entered the room.

-o0o-

"Oh K�rt! You are the worst spy ever! I knew I should've just done it myself."

The first thing Kurt had done when he got back to his room was to skype Mercedes and Rachel to tell them how it had gone. He almost wish he hadn't, because Rachel was now looking quite furiously at him from his laptop screen.

"Rachel, please, don't look at me like that. It's bad enough as it is."

Kurt felt every bit as miserable as he looked, the memory of being caught still fresh in his mind.

Once in Blaine's room, Kurt went straight to the desk. There were papers and folders everywhere, stacked in seemingly unorganized heaps, so he just flicked through them randomly. There were English essays, magazines, summer pictures, and even an herbarium buried at the bottom of one pile. Kurt's eye fell on one of the pictures - a group shot from what he guessed was a summer camp. 10 or 12 boys and girls in horse-riding gear were posing, taking goofy positions and making overall crazy faces. Blaine was easily recognizable at the edge of the back row. He was bending sideways because a black haired boy standing next to him had his arm wrapped around Blaine's neck, pulling him down, rubbing his knuckles on Blaine's head. Both boys were laughing and seemed to have the time of their lives.
Kurt was still looking at the picture in his hand when he heard the door open and when he spun around, he found himself standing face to face with Blaine.

"Was he very angry?" Mercedes asked apprehensively.

"Not really, actually," Kurt said, "I'd even say he was more... amused? I tried to talk myself out of it saying that Mrs. Anderson had sent me for him, but that hardly explained why I was looking through his papers and he wasn't really supposed to be home that time so..."

He brought his hands to his face and moaned.

"It was so embarrassing. I can't believe I let myself be talked into this!"

"And I can't believe you didn't take that setlist!" Rachel shouted.

"Is it this what you were looking for?"
Blaine was holding up a piece of paper, and Kurt tried to read from afar what it said.
"What's that?"
"The Warbler's setlist, obviously. Want it?"
Kurt pulled back his outstretched hand as quickly as if he had burned himself. Sure, that was what he had come for, but getting it this way seemed... wrong. And quite possibly a trick.
"Why would you think I want that?"
Blaine raised an eyebrow, surprised and slightly indignant.
"Kurt... we found out about our competition today as well. And then I come home to find you going through my stuff. I can put one and one together."
Kurt felt his face flush, feeling more embarrassed with every moment passing.
"So, do you want it?"
Blaine was still waving the piece of paper in front of Kurt.
"I... I'll have to give you ours then as well, won't I?"
Blaine smiled. "That would only be fair, don't you think?"

"See?" Mercedes asked. "He couldn't just take it like that! Or would you rather have Kurt give the Warblers our setlist?"

"Well no," Rachel replied, "but we could've given them a fake list."

"Rachel!"

Kurt and Mercedes shouted in unison, shocked that their lead singer -and co-captain of the glee club at that- even dared to suggest such a thing. Rachel started to defend herself, but Mercedes cut her off, and before long both divas were dragged into a shouting argument Kurt was sure could be heard by his neighbors - and they lived 100 yards down the road.

"Ladies, please, stop shouting, you're making my head hurt!"

Both girls immediately shut up, and Kurt savored the silence for a moment before he continued, a small smile playing around his lips.

"You see, my mission was not a failure... overall... "

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, it's just that Rachel-"
"Kurt..."
"she was so persisting and then Puck-"
"Kurt!"
"and I don't even remember why I agreed to-"
"KURT!"
Kurt shut up, startled by Blaine's sudden outburst. He saw the other boy looking at him, arms crossed, and smiling, as if he thought this whole situation was quite amusing.
"It's ok. I think I might start locking my room from now on..." Kurt felt his face flush once again at this statement. "but I understand. To be fair... I was considering to try and pry some information from you too."
"You were?"
"Well, I wasn't planning on breaking into your room but... yeah..."
There was a sly smile playing around Blaine's lips, and suddenly Kurt couldn't help but start laughing.
"You're never gonna let me forget about this, are you?"
Blaine grinned.
"You can bet on that, pretty boy."

"He called you 'pretty boy'?" Mercedes clapped her hands excitedly.

"Shut up, that is hardly the point of the story!" Kurt tried to sound indifferent, although he still felt a little jolt in his stomach at the memory of those words. "Just listen, will you?"

"Either way, would you like to see us perform?"
Kurt's mouth fell open.
"The... The Warblers? Will they even let me? I mean..."
Blaine laughed.
"I had been planning to ask you anyway. But a couple of weeks before competition, The Warblers usually throw a performance for the whole school. An official one, I mean, we tend to start singing impromptu from time to time as well." He chuckled. "Anyway, we're having one tomorrow. It's an open performance, so anyone can attend - but don't get your hopes op, we won't bring out our Sectionals material. It's just to try some things out, get the feel of the stage again and such... and it always gives us such a motivational boost from the other students."
Kurt felt his heart drop - New Directions would never be able to get a 'motivational boost' from their fellow students. Some slushees in the face, maybe, but motivation? Never. It would make it extra interesting to attend a Warblers performance.
"I'd love to see that. Tomorrow after school?"
"Tomorrow after school," Blaine confirmed. "Now get out of my room so I can clean up the mess you made."
He pointed at the desk behind Kurt, which looked not in the least bit messier than when Kurt had entered the room.
"Good luck with that," Kurt smiled, hearing the sarcasm in Blaine's voice, "I have done a very thorough job if I may say so myself."
Blaine pretended to kick Kurt as he passed, sending him in a giggling fit as he quickly slipped through the door.
"See you tomorrow!"

"So you're going to a Warblers concert?" Rachel asked, eyes wide open.

"I will indeed," Kurt said smugly, "so remind me again, who was the worst spy ever?"

Rachel gave in. "Kurt, you are the best spy we could've sent. What do you think, Mercedes?"

But Mercedes seemed to have her mind set on something totally different, and her eyes sparkled as she giggled.

"I think Kurt and Blaine have their very first date tomorrow!"

And nothing Kurt said to her that night could change her mind.

-o0o-

The Dalton Academy auditorium wasn't big, but it was cosy. With its many arcs and colorful mosaics, it reminded Kurt of the ballrooms that were popular in the 1920s and 1930s. The chairs that usually occupied the parterre had been removed, and the space was now filled with blazer-clad boys, talking and laughing quietly in anticipation of the performance. Kurt had chosen a pair of grey trousers and a black leather jacket in an attempt to blend in, and although nobody seemed to pay particular attention to him, he still felt himself stick out like a sore thumb.

Suddenly, the muffled laughter surrounding him turned into loud cheering when some 15 boys in red-and-blue blazers filled the stage. Kurt looked around in wonder at the cheering audience who welcomed The Warblers as if they were rockstars. The boys on stage smiled and waved at their audience, and Kurt felt his stomach jump when Blaine looked straight at him and winked before taking his position in the center of the group.

Finally, the cheering died out, and the auditorium went silent. Then, although Kurt couldn't say who or what had given the signal, a rhythmic murmur started to filled the hall. Kurt had never quite seen an all boys a cappella choir perform before, and he found himself listen in fascination to their voices melding together, forming a rhythm, a melody, and finally, words.

Oh baby baby...

Kurt's eyes widened. Surely this couldn't be...

Oh baby baby...

The look in his eyes was one of surprise and shock as he saw Blaine break away from the group, taking the solo in one of the cheesiest, girliest songs Kurt had ever heard.

Oh baby baby
how was I supposed to know...

The Warblers, an all boys a cappella show choir, were singing Britney Spears in front of an all boys, private school audience. And they were killing it.

Blaine in particular was killing it. Kurt had heard him sing before, obviously, but never with the full force of his voice, and never in front of an audience. He remembered Blaine telling him that he loved singing, but it was clear there was something else he loved even more: performing. While the rest of the Warbler boys were side-stepping and finger-clicking in the background, Blaine turned, twisted, skipped, and hopped all over the stage, his face as full of emotion as his voice. Although Kurt had gotten to know Blaine as a friendly, ever smiling person, there always was a reservedness over him that made him look a bit stiff at times. But right there on stage there wasn't a single trace of stiffness left. Simply watching Blaine perform was enough to get anyone out of their chairs and on the dance floor.

I must confess
that my loneliness
is killing me now
Don't you know I still believe?
That you should be here
and give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time

Kurt was ready to sink through the floor as he caught Blaine's eyes.

"It's almost exhausting just to watch him, don't you think?"

Kurt looked aside. The boy next to him was slightly taller than Kurt, with untamed black, spiky hair, and Kurt recognized him as the one that had had his arm around Blaine in the picture he had seen in Blaine's room just the day before.

"I'm Kyle, by the way. You a prospective student?"

Kyle pointed at the obvious lack of a uniform, making Kurt painfully aware of how much he stood out.

He shook his head. "No, I'm just... Blaine invited me. I'm Kurt."

He held out his hand and the other boy took it, looking him up and down.

"Kurt? Kurt Hummel?"

Kurt nodded, slightly surprised and a bit uneasy. How did this boy know him? And... was he... checking him out?

"Nice to finally meet you, man!" Kyle slammed him on the back with such force that Kurt almost lost his balance. "Blaine's been talking so much about you!"

Kurt swallowed painfully. "He... he has?"

He wasn't sure Kyle had actually heard him, because the other boy just continued talking.

"He's always so excited when a new kid arrives, you know, especially when they're his age. Blaine's not one to be alone, and he doesn't have any brothers or sisters, so it always makes him happy to have more people in the house. And it had been a while now, after..."

Kyle didn't finish his sentence, but there had been something in his voice that had attracted Kurt's attention.

"After what?"

"Ah, it doesn't matter. Anyway, good to see you, I didn't know Blaine had invited you?"

"Well, I sing show choir as well, so Blaine thought-"

Kurt was interrupted by loud cheering and clapping, as The Warblers had now finished the song. He looked as the boys came down from the stage, smiling and shaking hands with their classmates. Kyle was still standing next to him, and Kurt felt a bit awkward with him just standing there, watching.

"So, do you sing too?"

Kyle laughed, a full, uninhibited laugh, the kind that would have had everyone in the room laugh along if they hadn't been so invested in The Warblers.

"No - I mean, I do, and Blaine even got me to try out for The Warblers this year, but I didn't make it."

Kurt winced. "Oh... I'm sorry..."

But Kyle brushed it off.

"Ah, that's ok, I mean, I'm too busy anyway with- oh look, speak of the devil!"

He pointed to somewhere behind Kurt, where Blaine was now approaching through the audience. The Warbler had that post-performance euphoria look on his face and made straight for the two boys.

"You! I'm so glad you made it!"

Blaine was hugging Kyle tightly, taking his face into his hands and pressing a kiss on his forehead.

"And I see you met Kurt already! Great! So, what do you think, did you like the performance?"

Kyle raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"Britney Spears, B, really? Did it have to be Britney Spears?"

Blaine chuckled. "Just wait 'till you see what we have in store for Sectionals, you're gonna love it!"

The two boys stood grinning at each other before Blaine seemed to remember Kurt was standing right next to him.

"So Kurt, what did you think? Will you be able to beat us?"

Kurt felt himself crumble under another of Blaine's winks but he pulled himself together.

"Well, you got some impressive harmonies going on there, I admit, but I can promise you here and now: we will kick your ass at Sectionals."

Blaine laughed, and once again Kurt felt his knees turn to jelly. He wasn't too sure what it meant yet, but being there, with Blaine laughing at his silly joke, made him happy. And that was all he needed for now.

-o0o-

That's when it happened. Right then, after winning the boys vs. girls competition, after the Warblers' concert, after the first week since he had moved to the Andersons that Kurt had finally felt normal again. That he had finally felt like everything was going to be alright. That he had finally felt like he was going to be alright. That he could do this.

"Courage." Blaine had said to him when he'd found out about the bullying. And Kurt had had that courage flowing through his veins when Karofsky had pushed him into a locker for what seemed like the millionth time that week. It was that courage that had made him go after Karofsky, that courage that had had him shout out his frustration, and his pride. But that same courage had left him the moment the jock had pressed his lips onto his - hard and painful and tasting nothing like burgers or Brittany's armpits.

And even later, when Blaine was holding him, comforting him, Kurt couldn't retrieve that courage, finding only fear, and anxiety. Because even though he trusted Blaine, he never told him Karofsky's parting words.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this or I swear I'll kill you."