Dodging down the hall at the beginning of lunch that day, Blaine made sure he didn't see any letterman jackets, before he stopped in front of the sign up bulletin board. He knew what he wanted. He just didn't know how that would be received at Mckinley.

After looking over the sign up sheets eight times, Blaine finally picked up a pen and neatly wrote Blaine Anderson  on the Glee Club sheet. He stared at the list of names for a moment.

Rachel Berry

Mercedes Jones

Santana Lopez

Quinn Fabray

Brittany S. Pierce

Tina Cohen-Chang

Mike Chang

Kurt Hummel

Sam Evans

Artie Abrams

Blaine stopped and looked over the list again. He noticed that Kurt Hummel's name had been crossed off. He thought about Kurt, the boy he met two days ago, and wondered if that happened to be the same kid. After all, how many Kurts were you going ti find in Lima anyway? And why would he sign up for glee club and change his mind? Or had someone else crossed out his name as a joke? No one else had been crossed off.

"Can I see the pen please?" a voice asked from behind him.

Blaine turned to see two tall boys. He flinched at the sight of their letterman jackets. One of them ran his hand over his mohawk, while Blaine studied his appearance for a moment. "Sure," Blaine handed him the pen. He then placed his arm behind his back, hoping the boy didn't notice his hands were shaking slightly.

The boy smiled, as he signed Puck to the glee club sheet. He looked over the list and said, "who's this Blaine kid? Mr. Schue will be happy to see a new face. I hope he can sing." 

The taller boy took the pen from his friend and sloppily wrote Finn Hiudson  under Puck's name. "Yeah, we could always use extra people, as long as they're good. I mean, it doesn't help that Mr. Schue lets anyone in, even with an audition." He turned and looked at Blaine, "hey, maybe you should consider joining. Do you like to sing?"

Blaine weakly smiled, feeling uneasy. These guys didn't seem too bad, not yet anyway, "uh, that Blaine kid would be me... Not to sound cocky, but I can sing. i was, sort of, the lead singer of the Warblers. We went against you guys at Regionals last year." They stared at him for a moment, and he offered, "Dalton Academy."

The boy that called himself Puck continued to watch him for a moment, like he was trying to think really hard. "Uh... Regionals. Hmm."

Finn seemed to be thinking hard too, before his face lit up and he said, "oh, yeah, okay. I don't remember what you did, but I remember thinking you guys were good." He glanced around before he said quietly, making Blaine lean in to hear him, "my step-brother almost went there. He had a reallly bad year and thought about going, but he changed his mind."

"Why did he change his mind?" Blaine raised his eyebrows. "If he was having a hard time, Dalton would have been a good choice."

Finn shrugged, "he never really said. One minute he was practically ready to toss his suitcase in the back of his car, and the next, he said he couldn't go. He never wanted to talk about it, so I don't know the whole story. I wasn't going to push. He doesn't like talking about things, until he's ready."

Blaine smply said, "I'm sorry. I hope he's okay now." He didn't really know what else to say. It wasn't like he really knew Finn or his step-brother. he wasn't going to pry.

Finn gave him half a smile, "thanks, man."

Giving Blaine's shoulder a pat, Puck said, "we'lll see you in glee club, Blaine," and walked off down the hall, with Finn falling in step beside him.

Staring after them, Blaine felt conflicted. If Puck and Finn were both jocks, which according to the football sign up sheet, they were, then why hadn't they slushied Blaine or slammed him into a locker? Did that mean only some of the jocks were bullies? Would Blaine have to figure out which ones were bad?

 Without warning, he had been forced back into the row of lockers behind him. The same large boy that had slammed him into the locker the first day had his arm shoved against Blaine's chest. He mumbled, "So you signed up for gay club, did you? You better watch your back, loser." He punched the locker next to him, making Blaine jump and walked away without another word.

At least he knew one thing, that was one jock he would definitely have to watch out for, if he didn't want to be tossed in a dumpster like kurt had.

He turned to see Kurt standing at the end of the hallway, eyes wide.

Blaine waved tentatively, but Kurt just frowned, before he turned on his heel and walked into the bathroom.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Mr. Schuester slid into the seat next to Kurt in the library later that day.

Kurt shut the book in front of him and sighed heavily, "I guess." he didn't look up, because he already felt intimidated. He knew what this conversation was about, and it was the last conversation he wanted to be having at that moment. He knew quitting the glee club would lead to questions, but it had to be done.

"Glee club starts in a couple minutes," Mr. Schuester said, sounding tired.

"I know," Kurt said quietly, twirling the strings on the end of his scarf around his finger.

"Are you going to join us?" he asked, running his hand over his hair.

"No," Kurt continued to stare at the table. His fingers continued to twirl the scarf. He wasn't really aware he was even doing it. He felt so uncomfortable. He wanted to be left alone.

Mr. Schuester moved closer and asked, "why? Kurt, you love glee. These kids have been so good to you. I know you love fighting Rachel for solos." He paused, resting his forehead in his hand, letting out a long sigh. His voice became soft. "I saw your name crossed off the list, did you do that?" He waited. When Kurt just nodded, he continued, "I don't understand. Why would you do that?"

Sitting up, Kurt turned to look into Mr. Schuester's eyes. Kurt felt like he was going to be sick. He took a deep breath, before he said. "I wanted to stay. I really did, but... I couldn't. i..." He hesitated. Don't cry. Don't cry. Not now. "i knew that, after what happened last year, I couldn't do it. Last year was the worst year of my life, and I've been through hell, Mr. Schue. I appreciate the glee club being there for me, but with Karofsky still here and... acting the way he does, i just can't continue giving him a reason to taunt me."

Mr. Schuester looked sad. Kurt had never seen him look more conflicted. The sorrow behind his eyes made Kurt feel guilty that Mr. Schuester even cared so much. No one else in the school took that much interest in his situation. He put a hand on Kurt's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. and said, "I don't know if quitting glee is your answer. He'll still find reason to taunt you."

"Because I'm gay," Kurt barely whispered.

Hesitating, because he knew Kurt was right, Mr. Schuester replied, "the glee club will be there for you. Without them, how do you expect to get through this year alone?" It was a nice change, having someone agree with him, rather than just telling him things would be better. Mr. Schuester knew Kurt wasn't going to avoid Karofsky, just because he quit glee club. He knew that Kurt's days of being bullied were far from over, and he stuck with the truth. "I wish there was more I could do for you, Kurt. I really do... I can't though, so won't you just let us be there for you? You can't fight your battles alone."

Hearing that, and feeling Mr. Schuester's warm touch there to comfort him, it made kurt feel worse. It made his mind want to cave, to rest on someone else for a while, but he couldn't. he had to do this alone. Kurt simply shrugged in response, feeling the tears stinging his eyes, threatening to fall. He bit his lip.Don't cry.

Mr. Schuester squeezed Kurt's arm again. "If you need anything, we'll be here for you, okay? I know you're waiting for Finn to head home, so just... think about stopping by, okay?" When Kurt only nodded again, he stood up and said, "we'll miss you, Kurt."

He waited until Mr. Schuester left, before he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. Kurt tried going back to his book, but once the tears had started, they didn't stop. The words on the page were blurry, and tears dropped, leaving marks  on the page. Images of Karofsky flashed across his mind, and he felt his stomach turn, as he started feeling like Karofsky had finally broken him. 

Kurt dropped his book on the floor, as he tried to place it in his bag. His hands were shaking. He picked it up, shoved it in his bag, and ran to the bathroom, wishing he could just go home and lock himself in his room.

"Welcome to glee club, Blaine. I look forward to you standing behind me, singing background vocals and swaying," the short, brown haired girl named Rachel said, as Blaine sat down next to her, eyeing her hideous bear sweater.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Now guys," Mr. Schuester said, clapping his hands together. "I know we've lost one of our best members this year, but we all know that Blaine will help us get through Sectionals. So, let's try to just focus on the positive here, Don't try pressuring Kurt into anything he doesn't want to do."

"But Mr. Schue," Tina raised her hand. "We need Kurt, Our family's just not the same without him."

The boy sitting next to her said, "Yeah, Kurt's been here since the beginning. It just won't be the same."

Protests started rising out of the others, before Rachel stood up and walked over to the piano. She cleared her throat and said loudly, "You guys, Mr. Schue is right," she placed her hands on her hips and continued. "We have to think positive. At least we didn't lose a talent like mine."

"Kurt was just as good as you, if not better," Mercedes offered.

"Shut up, Berry," a girl behind Blaine said. "No one would care if you left. At least Lady Hips didn't constantly carry on like a dying pig, every time his mouth opened, like you."

"Santana, that's enough," Mr. Schue warned. "Let's not get into that right now. Let's talk about our assignment for this week..."

They continued to talk about song choices for a while, followed by Rachel handing out a list of songs she thought they should view before Sectionals, and Rachel singing two of the songs off that list.

At the end of rehearsal, Blaine felt like he needed a week long break from Rachel Berry.

"Dude, what happened to you?" he heard one of the boys from glee ask, when they stepped into the hallway. He looked up to see Kurt standing there, his face and shirt were sopping wet, and he looked pretty defeated.

"Are you okay?" Mercedes asked, tucking the collor of his shirt down.

Sighing, Kurt said, "if you must know, I went into the bathroom, and found David Karofsky in there. I tried to run for it, but didn't make it. He pinned me against the door, so I couldn't leave. I have the bruise to prove it too. He thought a nice after-school special of a swirly would be a good way to end the day." He reached up his hand and brushed his wet hair out of his icy, blue eyes.

"I'm gonna kick his ass," the tall boy said. Blaine turned to him and realized it was Finn, the guy he had talked to earlier that day. It struck as odd to Blaine. Finn was sticking up for Kurt? That had to mean he wasn't such a bad guy. it meant that there was a chance Blaine could be safe there, or at least, more safe than he thought, considering he thought every guy in a letterman jacket was out to get those less fortunate,

Kurt shook his head, "no, Finn. Don't. I'm fine. It's no big deal."

Putting his arm around Kurt's shoulder, Finn looked at him with a frown on his face and worry in his eyes, as he replied, "dude, yes, it is. He's been knocking you around all week. This hasn't gotten any better since last year, and it's pissing me off. You shouldn't have to deal with this."

Kurt glanced at his brown boots, biting his lower lip. He didn't say anything.

"Let's get you home, before Burt finds out about it, okay?" Finn started pushing Kurt in the direction of the front doors. This surprised Blaine even more. Was Finn taking him home? Was he really being that generous?

Or was Kurt the step-brother that almost transferred to Dalton the previous year?

Blaine and Mercedes were left standing there.  She looked at him and sighed, "no one's bothered you too much, have  they? I know things around here might seem a little crazy, but they do have their targets. I mean, we're all pretty much a target. If you become too much of one, like Kurt, let us know, okay? I promise, we'll hep you out."

Blaine smiled, turning back to face her, "thanks, Mercedes."

She simply smiled back and said, "see you tomorrow," before she left.

Kurt decided to skip school the rest of the week. He didn't tell his dad that he skipped. Finn agreed to keeping it quiet. It was better to keep it that way.

After the previous year, things had gotten so bad, that Kurt purposely missed school. Half the time, his dad was the one who made him skip, after a really bad day. It was nothing new the the teachers, because they made an agreement with Burt that, as long as Kurt kept up on his school work, he didn't have to show up every day.

They hadn't actually made it clear that the agreement was still there that year, but Kurt figured none of the teachers would mind, or say anything to Burt. They were used to it.

Instead, he spent his time at the Lima Bean. He worked on some school work, and spent the rest of his time online, buying shoes he didn't really need, but had to have, because they were too cute to resist, and looking for sales on different websites.

He spent all of Friday afternoon there, and when a familiar face walked in the door, he couldn't hep but smile when the person made their way to his table.

"So you're feeling better?" Blaine asked, taking a seat at Kurt's table. He rested his chin on his hand and stared at Kurt, his hazel eyes had a little more green in them than usual. Kurt guessed the green in his shirt brought out the color. It was nice.

"Mentally, better than I was two days ago, I guess," Kurt said, shutting his laptop and putting it in his bag. When he sat up again, he noticed Blaine watching him. He couldn't help but run his hand over his hair, feeling self-conscious.

"You were never sick?" Blaine raised his eyebrows.

Kurt shook his head. There was no point hiding it. The whole school would figure out that he would be absent often anyway. They did last time. "I just... had it with the bullying for this week and decided to skip. I've been here ever since. Well, I go home to sleep." He smiled weakly, "at least i know Finn stuck to his word." 

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked, sitting forward, eyes still locked on Kurt.

Kurt waved his hand, "it's nothing." Blaine would figure out that Kurt hardly showed, but did he really need to know why? It's not like they really knew each other. Blaine just knew that Kurt was having trouble with Karofsky, but so did everyone else.

Blaine asked, "being thrown into a dumpster is nothing?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, "you're still going on about that?" He looked into Blaine's eyes and felt his heart skip a beat. Blaine generally looked interested. Why did this matter to him so much? Outside of the few people that really knew his problems, no one had ever taken interest in him. Blaine didn't even know half of the story behing Kurt and Karofsky, and he just seemed so fascinated. it didn't make sense. Kurt tipped his head to the side, taking in Blaine's features. The frown that played on Blaine's lips seemed so real. The way his triangle-shaped eyebrows were furrowed made him look so intense. The passion in his eyes just made Kurt's heart beat fast. "Why are you still going on about the dumpster?"

"I'll continue to go on about it, until you realize that it's more than just nothing," Blaine's soft voice came out barely above a whisper.

Kurt glanced at the table, heart aching, "i see." Blaine didn't get it. Of course he realized that it wasn't nothing. How could he not, after everything he went through? It hurt him daily, not only physically, but emotionally. It wasn't Kurt that didn't see that, it was everyone around him.

They sat there in silence for a minute, before Blaine looked at him and said, "do you often skip, because of him?"

"Who?"

"That guy that keeps harassing you," Blaine replied.

Kurt looked down at his latte, "oh." He took a drink, avoiding the answer. When he set his cup down again, he said, "yeah, I guess. David Karofsky and I aren't on... the best terms. He made my life a living hell last year... It's complicated," he said in response to the curious look in Baine's hazel-green eyes.

Blaine sat forward in his seat. He reached across the table, taking Kurt's hand in his. It made Kurt freeze. He wasn't expecting it, and was sure that it was just a gesture to comfort him, but that didn't stop the butterflies in his stomach. "if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm willing to listen. I know what it's like to deal with people harassing you, and I might not be good with advice, but i can listen."

Once again, Blaine was being nice to him and Kurt didn't understand why. He looked into Blaine's eyes again, because he just couldn't resist them, and couldn't help but smile, "thank you, Blaine. Can I buy you a coffee?" The question came out, before he had time to think about what he just said. He hoped Blaine didn't see how surprised he looked at his own question.

Blaine smiled back, "you don't have to."

Standing up, Kurt said, "I want to. Just... think of it as a thank you for the dumpster incident the other day."

The following Monday consisted of a series of slushies, it started with Karofsky throwing a slushie in his face and ended with him cleaning up someone's else's slushie problem at the end of the day.

Kurt shut his locker door, prepared to head home, when he heard a loud bang a few feet away.

He jumped.

It was a habit he had. Every time a locker slammed, Kurt couldn't help but flinch. He was so paranoid that David was about to hurt him, that he hated the sound of a shutting locker anymore. That made it really hard to spend so much time in a school hallway every day.

He turned to look in the direction the noise came from and saw Blaine being held hostage by half the football team.

He froze.

Should he help Blaine? After all, Blaine had been decent enough to pull him out of a dumpster, and offered to listen to his problems, which Kurt wasn't ready for yet. He didn't want to see something happen to Blaine, not after Blaine had been so decent to him. No one deserved five slushies in the face. He took a step forward and nearly fell, his kness giving out on him. He couldn't push himself to do it. He knew he couldn't handle standing up to Karofsky alone. What made him think he could stand up to more of them when he wasn't the victim?

"Someone told me they spotted you on a date with Lady Hummel the other day," David barked, his face inches from Blaine's panic-stricken face. "I warned you that if you joined gay club, you'd be sorry."

Blaine's eyes were wide as saucers. He dropped his backpack on the ground and his eyes quickly darted from one person to the next. "it- it wasn't a date." His voice came out uneven.

"That's not what I was told," David hissed. "So... now that gay club turned you, well... gay, we wanted to show you how much we appreciate your gayness here at Mckinley."

With that, five slushies were tossed in Blaine's direction, drowning him in red. They walked off, laughing and high-fiving each other. As they passed Kurt, one of them shoved him into his locker and continued walking, without a second glance. 

But he didn't care. He shouldered his bag and took off toward Blaine, who was sitting on the floor, wiping junk from his eyes. "If you came back for more, just get it over with," he mumbled, when Kurt stopped next to him.

"Blaine, I wouldn't hurt you," Kurt said quietly.

He glanced up at Kurt, "oh... you saw that?"

Kurt nodded, holding out a hand for Blaine, "come on. I know how to help you clean up. I've done it a thousand times for all the kids in glee club. Now that you joined the most hated club in school, you'll definitely get more of this." He pulled Blaine to his feet and dragged him to the bathroom. Shooting a quick text to Finn, he said he'd be out to the car in a few minutes. He then, pulled Blaine to the sink, told him to bend over and started running the water.

"Why do you wear so much hair gel? it only makes this more difficult," Kurt said, massaging Blaine's scalp.

Blaine moaned underneath him, "I just... ah... you don't want to see what my hair looks like without it. I look like Medusa."

Kurt smiled at this, "I personally think you'd look cute without all that gel." He stopped, hands freezing. Should he have said that? What if Blaine was just as homophobic as the rest of the school? He didn't think so, considering Blaine had grabbed his hand in public the other day, but it didn't mean anything to Blaine, so how would he know?

To his surprise, Blaine said, "I guess we'll see how cute I look when you're done."

Kurt replied, "I guess we will. I'm also sorry about this. I didn't think anyone saw us Friday."

Blaine switched his weight to his left foot beneath him, "I don't care. Two friends are allowed to have coffee together."

Friends?

Were they friends? They had certainly helped each other, and Kurt liked Blaine. He seemed like a decent guy. A very attractive, decent guy. But did Blaine really consider them friends? They still didn't really know each other.

Once Blaine had finished washing up, he shook his wet hair, which already started curling, and said, "see? it's already a mess."

"But cute," Kurt commented.

Blaine blushed. He actually blushed at that. "Thanks. You're one of the few people who knows that my hair is such a monster." He pulled off his shirt, reached into his backpack and dug out a fresh shirt.

Kurt, who couldn't help but notice Baine's well-built torso, replied, "you took my advice and brought extra clothes."

Blaine smiled, "good thing I did." He pulled the grey sweater over his head and said, "and since you've been so kind, can i buy you a coffee to say thank you for this?"

"Like I did for you the other day?" Kurt asked, stomach flipping cartwheels. Was this real?

"Exactly," Blaine zipped his backpack and looked back at Kurt. "I guess coffee's our way of saying thank you."

Kurt replied, "in that case, if you continue to help me, I'll be getting a lot of free coffee this year."