~*~*~*~

Kurt sighed as he slipped out of his English class and headed towards the gym locker room. He knew that Sam had just finished with gym class so he was hoping to catch the other before he lost the nerve to tell the other it was best that they not partner up for the Duet competition. He was still a bit upset that no one seemed to agree with him, that it was no big deal for him to sing with the other... but he knew, deep down, that they were absolutely right.

He slipped into the locker room and sighed as a couple of the boys that were still in there quickly finished dressing and made their way out the moment they saw him. He shook his head as he glanced around before hearing the sound of a shower still on. He headed in that direction, not having spotted Sam yet, and blushed a bit when he confirmed that it was Sam showering.

He let out a bit of a cough causing the other male to look over towards him, clearly a bit shocked. Kurt just smiled weakly as he let out, "Don't worry... not looking anywhere I shouldn't be looking... Promise..." he said, trying not to laugh awkwardly.

Sam looked away, clearly a little bit unnerved and a little uncomfortable himself as he spoke, "Umm... this is a little bit weird... you know... guys don't usually talk to each other when they're in the showers."

"Sorry... but this can't wait. I really just need to get this off my chest. I'm pulling out of the Duet competition... you can do your duet with someone else in Glee... someone that society deems a little more appropriate then me," Kurt said, relaxing a little once it was out. He knew he was doing the right thing. It was best that Sam not sing with him, even if he really did want to sing with the other.

"Did I do something to upset you?" Sam asked suddenly and Kurt couldn't help but smile weakly. How Sam could somehow think that he'd done something wrong was beyond Kurt. Sam was too nice for his own good and that really did make this all so much easier. He didn't want to see Sam get hurt by the jerks of the school.

"No... no, god no... You didn't do anything wrong," Kurt piped up quickly, shrugging a bit, "It's not you... It's me. You've been really nice and everything and I wish you the best. I've just come to realize that. It's not fair to you to let you go out there and sing with me when I know right well that it will give other people the wrong impression about you. You're new to the school and you really don't need that."

"Is that so?" Sam said, lifting an eyebrow and Kurt smiled a bit as he changed the subject, "You know... they do make special shampoo for color treated hair," he knew it would rile the other up a bit but he didn't care. It got them off the subject and made sure that Sam wouldn't have any hard feelings or anything.

"Dude! I don't die my hair!" he called out as Kurt turned to walk away, only to get a sarcastic, "uh-huh," in return as the boy disappeared around the corner, chuckling softly as he headed out of the locker room a small smile on his face. That hadn't been as hard as he'd thought it would be. And now he had a clear conscience.

~*~*~*~

Glee practice came and went soon enough and Rachel and Finn did this horrendous joke of a duet before Sam performed with Quinn, winning the competition. Kurt couldn't help but smile weakly. Sam was good... and he was glad the other had found a suitable partner to sing with. The two of them looked happy together truth be told and it wasn't hard for Kurt to see that Sam kind of liked Quinn.

Kurt frowned at the thought and looked away after a moment. He hated this... He had to go through life everyday watching couples being happy together and he had no one... and probably wouldn't have anyone for a very long time knowing how stupidly prejudice people in Lima could be. He was lonely and as much as he tried hard not to show it he couldn't help it sometimes.

When the bell rang he was the first to get up, grabbing his things and slipping out of the room quietly. He headed off towards his locker as quickly as he could only to hear Rachel's voice coming up behind him, causing him to let out a soft sigh.

"Hey... There was something I wanted to talk to you about, Kurt..." she said as she walked up next to him, books in hand. Kurt couldn't help but go through the possibilities as he rolled his eyes, "If you've cheated on Finn or gotten yourself pregnant or something... I don't want to hear it," he mumbled out.

"No... It's not that," Rachel said calmly, brushing his words away quickly as she let out, "You know... I think you and me have a little more in common then you might think, Kurt."

"That's a horrible thing to say," Kurt let out, knowing it might well have hurt her but he didn't care. Rachel might be a great singer but she was also full of herself and a major drama queen... way more then he could ever be. He grabbed his hairspray and fixed his hair quickly as he looked at her, waiting for her response.

"I know you're lonely, Kurt..." she said finally, "I can't imagine how hard it is to be you... to have feelings you can't act on for fear of being humiliated or laughed at or even worse. We're going to win nationals this year... you wanna know how? Because we have you..."

Kurt was a little shocked but forced a customary, "well that's true..." for Rachel's benefit. Though truth be told, lately he didn't feel as confident as Rachel might think he was. He was a pretty decent actor thankfully and played his part well but the harassment from Karovski and the rest of the school bullies was really starting to wear him out.

"Exactly... that's twelve people who love and respect you for just being who you are. I know you're lonely... but you are not alone. So... I was wondering if you wanted to do a duet with me... I picked the perfect song... it represents things we both love and I think you'll really like it," she said with a smile.

"But the competition is over," Kurt let out, lifting an eyebrow causing Rachel to just chuckle softly. It wasn't that he didn't want to sing with her, he just wasn't sure what was in it for her really. Of course, anything to perform in front of the class but usually she was more of a solo act... or a duet with Finn at the least. She often seemed to see the others as 'beneath her'. Of course... maybe he was still picturing the Rachel he'd met at the beginning of last year.

"I know... but can't we just sing together... just for the sake of singing together? Just for us, for fun," she said with a nod and Kurt couldn't help but smile back and nod and a calm, "alright then. We can talk about it tomorrow... I'll come early and we can practice."

Rachel smiled at this, giving him a quick hug and a nod as she turned to head off. Kurt watched her walk off, feeling a little better knowing someone cared. He turned around to finish grabbing his things from his locker but only ended up face to face with a slushy facial, a gasp of shock escaping his lips as he looked up at the perpetrator.

"Stupid faggot..." Karofski said as he laughed and smirked at the other slamming him against the lockers before walking off. Thankfully he hadn't pushed him hard though it did make the bruises on his back ache none the less.

Kurt clenched his eyes shut for a moment before turning to glance back towards were both Rachel and Karofski had gone... neither one of them in view by now as he sighed, taking a deep breath, before turning to his locker and grabbing his spare change of clothes.

He headed off towards the washrooms, frustrated, cold and embarrassed. He wiped the slushy from his face and watched it out of his hair, the water from the tap hiding the fact that he was quietly crying.

He was sick of this. The truth was he'd dreaded coming back to school after summer break. He'd enjoyed his summer for the most part. Nothing really bad had happened and no one had really bothered him... of course Kurt hadn't gone anywhere or done anything serious that might agitate any homophobes.

He hated this school truth be told. If he could have he'd already have transferred schools... but there were no schools close enough for him to transfer to and he'd never ask his father to move cities just for his benefit. Burt was happy here and he had his business here too. Plus Burt had Carole and he knew that the two of them were getting pretty close. He couldn't ask his dad to leave all that behind.

Kurt tensed when he heard the washroom door open and someone come in. He quickly pulled his head out of the sink, hair dripping as he glanced over. Brittany stood there and frowned a bit as she tilted her head. As usual Kurt had snuck into the girl's washroom to clean up. Most of the girls at the school were use to him being there by now and weren't bothered by it. It wasn't like he'd be trying to look at them anyhow.

Kurt sighed and looked away from Brittany after a moment as he returned to washing out his ear. The blond girl walked over and grabbed the cloth Kurt had brought in with him. She wet it and brought it up to the side of his neck where his skin was still a bit purple from the slushy.

"Thank you..." Kurt murmured quietly and Brittany smiled brightly, "We're friends aren't we? And this is what friends do. I know you'd do the same for me... that is... if anyone actually ever slushied me... which doesn't happen very often cause I'm in the Cheerios... you know what, you should join the Cheerios. Then maybe you wouldn't get slushied anymore."

Kurt chuckled weakly to her and nodded, "Maybe..." but said nothing more as the two of them finished off cleaning him up before Brittany handed Kurt his towel so he could dry off. He honestly liked Brittany. There wasn't a mean bone in that girl's body. If she ever did anything cruel it was always by accident. She really was just like a little kid... completely innocent.

"All better," Brittany beamed and Kurt nodded, "thank you Brittany... I'll see you in Glee tomorrow?" he let out, unsure of what else to say as Brittany nodded, moving to follow Kurt out before pausing just outside the door, "Oh ya... I went in there for a reason didn't I?" she said before turning to slip back in, Kurt chuckling softly and saying goodbye to her before the door closed.

He returned to his locker and grabbed his things, sighing softly as he rubbed a bit of slushy from his locker door before locking it up and heading out of the school. He spotted Karofski standing on the stairs when he went out and bypassed the other quickly, spotting the others smirk from the corner of his eye but ignoring it as best he could though a shiver ran down his spine.

~*~*~*~

The next day Rachel and Kurt did a wonderful rendition of "Get Happy" for the Glee club and everyone seemed to have enjoyed it. Kurt headed out after to go and grab his money for lunch but didn't get far as both Azimio and Karofski were standing at his locker.

He spotted them and tensed, turning to head the other way, screw food. Unfortunately for him both jocks followed and eventually Kurt slipped out of the school, trying to get away from them only to be cornered near the back of the school.

His heart leapt in his chest and he backed up, clenching his fists and narrowing his eyes, "Go away!" he shouted angrily as the two of them moved closer to him, forcing Kurt against the wall before they moved to grab him. Kurt tensed, struggling as he was dragged towards the garbage bins at the back of the school.

Kurt shook his head, struggling against the other only to have Dave grab him roughly by the face with both hands and snarl at him, "stop fucking squirming you stupid little shit or I'll smash your head against it instead!"

Kurt tensed at this, flinching as he finally tossed his bag down, scowling at the two of them. He trembled a bit from anger more then anything as the two jocks grabbed him and tossed him in the garbage, throwing the lid closed, laughing and giving each other a high five before turning to head off to their lockers to grab their things for their next classes, leaving the smaller boy in the darkness of the foul smelling dumpster.

Kurt stayed like that for a minute or two, making sure they were gone before he brought his hand down, shifting himself so he could try to stand. He let out a loud pain filled yelp, however, as he felt something slice into his palm. He quickly yanked his hand back up and pressed it to his chest as he struggled, more carefully, to get up and push the lid back open.

Once the lid was open Kurt managed to slip out without using his injured, clearly bleeding hand. It seemed he'd cut his hand on the lid of an open can and he couldn't imagine the germs he'd now been exposed to. The idea made him sick to his stomach and he almost wanted to throw up right there.

He should have gone to the nurses office... even the hospital for a tetanus shot... but he didn't. He was sick and tired of it all... tired of being pushed around all the time. So Kurt just left... left the school grounds and went home instead, locking himself in his basement. He knew his father would be upset but he really couldn't care less anymore.

He slipped into his washroom and pulled out the first aid kit, pulling out everything he needed. He looked over the injury before he began to clean it out thoroughly, put some disinfectant on and wrap it up in fresh gauze, taping it securely.

He decided finally that he didn't want anyone to know what had happened and that he'd gotten hurt at all. Once he got out of the washroom he immediately went to plan his outfit for the next day, completing the look with a pair of gloves that would hide his bandaged hand.

He then moved to lay on his bed, face pressed into the pillow as he screamed into it. He was tired of this... tired of being pushed around and laughed at and called names constantly. He was sick of being Kurt Hummel. Why did everything have to be so hard all the time?

He shifted to lay on his side finally, staring across the room at nothing in particular for what seemed like hours before eventually falling asleep laying there, eyes slipping shut and body going limp. He'd been rather tired lately, sluggish from stress which kept him from getting a good nights rest.

"Kurt?!" came a voice suddenly, shocking the sleepy brunette as he almost jumped out of bed. He blinked and looked around groggily before spotting his father as the bottom of the stairs. He looked at the man who moved towards him, quickly giving him a once over.

"Are you sick? Injured?" he asked, arms crossed over his chest as Kurt frowned and shook his head 'no', "did the school burn down?" he asked, getting the same response, "then why the hell did you leave school early? I got a call from one of your teachers saying you didn't show up for your afternoon classes."

Kurt looked away from his dad and frowned, not really sure what to say to appease the other without telling him what happened and without making things worse. He decided to give it a try anyhow, uttering out, "I was tired... I..."

"No... you don't get to make excuses. Unless you're sick or hurt or the schools closed, you will be there and you will do your work. If you're so tired maybe you should go to bed earlier and forget that stupid makeup routine thing you do every night," he let out, Kurt flinching a bit at the others outburst.

"It's not makeup... it's moisturizer," he mumbled out and Burt just rolled his eyes, "I don't care what it is... There is no excuse for you to be cutting classes. I'm disappointed in you, Kurt. I thought you cared more about your schooling and your perfect attendance record."

"I'm sorry!" Kurt finally snapped out, clenching his fists. He really was tired. Tired of fighting people... Tired of being pushed around. He could tell his father was upset by his outburst as the man shook his head but he wouldn't meet the others eyes.

"You're grounded... after school you're to come right back home for the rest of the week... and you're to stay in the house for the weekend too," he said before turning to head upstairs, leaving Kurt to think about what he'd done.

Kurt sighed softly, not really caring all that much that he'd just been grounded. He brought his hand up to his face after a moment, looking it over as he frowned. He was pretty sure it wasn't deep enough to need stitches but he had to be extremely careful to keep it clean and infection free.

He shifted after a while to sit up, finally moving towards his schoolbag to grab his homework. The least he could do was complete the work he had. He knew he'd have a lot more the next day due to skipping his last few classes after all. It was best he do whatever he could to keep from getting anymore behind then he already was.

~*~*~*~