Chapter 2

Kurt had never felt more depressed. He was once again sat at the back of the choir room but this time, everyone else was in the middle of the room singing or dancing. Rachel had insisted that he not sing the numbers they were rehearsing for Sectionals in a few weeks. Everyone knew that there was no way that Mr Schue was organised enough to have actually chosen the songs they will be performing and all of these songs are likely to be scrapped a day before the competition. Rachel had explained in great detail why she didn't want Kurt singing and the rest of the New Directions agreed with her. After the song was over Kurt couldn't control his anger any further.

“As much as I enjoy watching the majority of you perform, I really want to be a part of the group for a change. Sometimes I wonder if any of you even know I exist!” Just as Mr Schue was going to say something reassuring, Rachel decided to take over.

“Kurt, you know if there is even the slightest chance that your mystery soulmate is in another glee club, you shouldn't rehearse in case they get ideas of our songs. You should take it as a complement that we think you don't need to practice!”

Kurt was finding the whole experience extremely embarrassing and really wanted the floor to open up so he could fall into a never ending pit of his own misery. Glee club is the only part of Kurt's day that made him feel good about himself and he was slowly slipping into a state of depression now that he couldn't do what he loved. What made things worse was the fact that all of his friends agreed with Rachel of all people.

“As much as I hate to say it lady Hummel, I have to agree with the Hobbit. You can't be giving anything away, so for the sake of the team and by team I do of course mean myself, just quit arguing and sit there or leave.” Santana's input into the conversation sent Kurt over the edge.

“Fine. If no one wants me here because you are worried about something I have no control over, I will just leave you to it. Have fun at Sectionals with only eleven members.” As Kurt grabbed his bag and rose from his chair, the rest of the group looked at each other and did a quick headcount. They realised Kurt was right, without him there would not be enough members for the group to compete! As Kurt was walking past them towards the door, Puck reached out and grabbed his arm to keep him in the room. Kurt visibly flinched and wrenched his arm out of the footballer's grasp.

“Kurt, you can't leave us. We need you. We don't want to stop you from singing with us, you just have to stop singing during rehearsals.” Kurt had found that the footballers in glee club had actually become pretty good friends so when Puck tried to convince him to stay, he hesitated.

“I promise you, Kurt that this isn't going to be a permanent problem. As soon as you find this soulmate of yours, we will know exactly what we are dealing with. So for now, will you stay and just run scales with us during warm-ups to keep you at your best? Because Puck is right, we do need you Kurt.” Mr Schue had somehow managed to get Kurt to reconsider his situation, as well as encourage him to actually start looking for his soulmate instead of letting fate decide when they meet.

Kurt let out a long sigh of resignation and the group of friends looked at him with hopeful expressions. He knew he should stand his ground and not let his friends push him around but he also knew that he couldn't let them down, because there would be no way that they would ever let him back into the group. Kurt silently turned on the spot and walked back over to his seat. As the group cheered in response to his decision, a small forced smile appeared on his face to keep up the façade that he was as happy as he could be in the situation.