"I look ridiculous."

I stared at my own reflection in the mirror, wondering whether to laugh or cry. The suit I wore was a light grey and the tie was red. It might have looked good, apart from the shirt. What had possessed me to choose a bright green shirt was beyond me. The ensemble looked ridiculously awful. I groaned and ran my hand through my curls.

"Why does this have to be so hard?" I mumbled, bringing my hand down over my face. I closed my eyes for a few seconds before resuming my forlorn stare into the glass. Still ridiculous. Ok, time for a new shirt. I shrugged out of the tailored jacket and the hideous shirt, discarding the shirt on the floor. I looked at myself in the mirror again. Not bad, Blaine. Cutting out all of those pancakes and RedVines is really working, I mused as I looked at my toned stomach. I looked good, I had to admit. Maybe I could just go to the dance shirtless...Smirking to myself at the thought, I shook my head and picked up a more sensible white shirt.

A few tweaks later and I had an outfit. The grey suit looked sleek paired with the crisp white shirt and a dark grey bowtie. Greyscale was in. Of course the colour scheme was ruined by the bright pink socks on my feet, but that didn't bother me. Why not express yourself through socks? It's not like anyone would've looking at my feet anyway. Unless someone had a foot fetish or-ok, these thoughts were getting weird. Just concentrate on looking good. After all, there were only three hours until Dylan picked me up. With the terrifying realisation of my tight time schedule, I set to work taming the beast that masqueraded as my hair.

"You look ridiculously hot."

"As do you, my handsome friend."

Dylan grinned at me, his eyes swiftly travelling over my body before greeting me with that compliment. Naturally I returned the favour; it was true, he looked hot. Dylan was wearing a black suit with a black suit and a skinny white tie. Very chic. The dark clothes contrasted with his blonde hair which was falling into his eyes; eyes which shone like emeralds as he smiled.

"You ready to go?" he asked, still smiling at me.

"Yeah, sure," I replied, starting to walk out of the door.

"Wait! Blaine! Pictures, honey!" my mother scurried into the foyer, the family camera clutched in her hand. She smiled warmly at Dylan and ushered him in with her free hand.

"Moooom," I groaned as she poked and prodded us into place. Dylan just chuckled and slid his arm around my back. I did the same, beginning to enjoy the attention as my mom fussed over making sure we looked right.

"Ok, and smile!"

We both smiled for a few clicks before my mom squealed and announced that she had the right shot.

"Ok, can we go now? I don't wanna be late." It had taken ten minutes just for pictures. Honestly, she was acting like I was getting married or something. Mom laughed and hugged us tightly before pushing us out of the door.

"You boys have fun! Call me if you need anything!" she called after us as we walked down the driveway to reach Dylan's car.

"At last," I mumbled as we pulled away from the house.

"You loved it" Dylan laughed, rolling his eyes playfully.

I shrugged but smiled to myself. I did love it. I couldn't believe she was being so supportive. I mean, Mom had said that she accepted me but this was even better than that. She was embracing it. Which was much more than could be said for my father. My dad had stormed out of the house when I had gone downstairs to get a drink earlier, dressed in my suit and hair half gelled down. After taking one look at me, he had grimaced and walked out, muttering something about 'not wanting to be anywhere near homo-explosion when he came.' (Homo-Explosion was one of the more kind nicknames he'd devised to describe Dylan.)

"Anyway," I said, trying to stop myself from thinking about my father. Tonight was about having fun. I was not going to let my father ruin it. "I get the feeling tonight's gonna be awesome."

"Me too! I've been watching those how to dance videos on YouTube and I've got pretty good, if I say so myself!" Dylan gushed.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. Dylan couldn't dance at all; his height and huge feet didn't help his lack of co-ordination in the slightest.

"I'll take your word for it, Dyl," I teased.

"We'll see who kills it on the dance floor then" he replied, laughing along with me.

Centerville High School may have been full of arrogant jocks and a messed up social hierarchy but they definitely knew how to host an event. The Sadie Hawkins was the second school dance of the year, after Homecoming; I'd skipped on Homecoming to hang out with Dylan so I hadn't yet been to a social event at school. The main school gym had been fully kitted out for the event: fairy lights twining around the doors, paper lanterns lining the walls, shiny streamers draping across the room. A silver disco ball shone and glittered above the dance floor, sending fragmented rainbows haphazardly around the room. Corners were cast into shadows by the strobe lighting, but the centre of the room truly was a masterpiece. Around the main focus of the polished dance floor, large tables filled in the rest of the space. The round tables were draped in silver tablecloths and surrounded by silver backed chairs. Dylan and I were seated at a table towards the back of the room, with a few of our friends from drama club. We had arrived an hour ago but had yet to venture out to dance, preferring to snatch up some food at the buffet and chat with our friends; the girls wanted to hear compliments about their dresses - and rightly so, they looked amazing - and the guys just concentrated on shovelling food into their faces. It was actually really fun. The music was thumping, laughter was abundant and the lights flickered crazily, sending an air of excitement into everything.

"-so then I said 'Uhh no, don't think so!' and I just ran RIGHT into Mr Burton!"

Dylan's laughing voice broke through my thoughts, sending everyone into hysterics at the story he'd just told. I smiled slightly as Dylan glanced over at me to see my reaction. I'd heard the story many times before. Yes it was hilarious but the tale of how he broke our Maths teachers foot with a stapler and a cat got a little old after hearing it breathlessly retold 34 times.

"You ok Blaine?" Dylan murmured, leaning closer to me to be heard over the deafening music. I nodded and smiled.

"I'm good, just thinking about how cool this is."

"It'll be even cooler when we get up and dance! Show everyone our sick moves!" my best friend replied excitedly.

"Okok, when a good song comes on!" I laughed.

Bum bum de-dum bum bum de-bum bum. The familiar thumping bass began the intro to the song, the lyrics following the music soon after.

"What's wrong with me?" Dylan sang, squealing at the song. "Come on Blaine; we have to dance to this!"

"Alright!" I smiled and stood up, allowing the excited blonde to drag me out into the dance floor.

'No more gas in the rig, can't even get it started.' The lyrics to the popular song filled up the gymnasium. Rihanna was popular and everyone had loved Disturbia when it had gone huge a few months ago. Soon enough the dance floor was filled with moving bodies, all mingling together to form one huge, always moving crowd. Dylan and I laughed as we danced, just messing around with it. We sang along to the chorus as we danced around each other. His eyes were shining with excitement, his face red with exertion, his laughing breathless with ever lasting energy. I knew that I was probably the same, my face shining with sweat and my hair coming unruly, but I didn't care. I was having fun!

"It's disturbia! Disturbia!" Dylan sang to me as he grabbed my hands and twirled me around. We exploded into a fit of giggles as we stumbled, nearly knocking me to the ground. Nothing could ruin my good mood, I had never felt so good and full of life.

"Fag."

I froze in the midst of the dancing crowd. Even though the music was unbelievingly loud, I could have sworn I'd heard something. Something that sounded suspiciously like-

"Look at the fags!"

I could feel my hazel eyes widening. There was no doubt about it this time. I had definitely heard the word fag. It was obviously being directed at either Dylan or myself. I took a deep breath and tried to forget about it, laughing as Dylan attempted a fancy footwork move and had to grab my arm for support when he tripped over his own feet.

"Fags! Fairy boys!"

'Release me from this curse I'm in. Trying to maintain but I'm struggling!'

"Blaine? Are you alright?"

I shook my head, unable to get the voices out of my head. They had to ruin everything. This night had been going perfectly and some idiots just had to ruin it.

"What's wrong?" I could hear the concern in Dylan's voice so I turned back to him with a weak smile on my face. I knew it wasn't fooling him.

"Just need to get some air, no worries. I'll be right back," I quickly replied, beginning to walk away.

Not two seconds had passed before I felt Dylan's hand on my arm as he tried to keep hold of me in the crowds as he followed me out. I smiled to myself, despite everything: I really did have an amazing friend.

Taking a deep breath as we exited the gym and into the cool fresh air, I felt calmer. Everyone was inside. Out here, on the concrete path that lead from the main school building to the gym, it was deserted. I leant against the building wall, simply tilting my head towards the dark sky and took deep breaths. I could feel the curious and concerned pressure of the look Dylan was giving me, but I ignored it. After a minute I felt much better. I looked over at Dylan and smiled.

"Sorry about that. The crowds just got to me" I apologised. I hadn't meant to drag Dylan out here when he was having so much fun dancing.

"What kind of friend would I be if I just left you to stand out here alone?" he replied simply with a shrug.

"You're amazing Dyl," I smiled, causing my best friend to shrug again and look at the ground bash fully. Dylan both loved and hated compliments; he obviously liked being told good things but he always blushed and stuttered when trying to thank people for the compliment.

"T-thanks...it was nothing, really", he murmured, still keeping his gaze on the floor.

"We're going to slow things down for a bit now, folks." We could hear the dj from out here, the music muffled by the walls but still pretty loud. I heard the familiar beginnings of I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing. Typical; obviously whoever made the playlist wasn't very creative with their song choices.

"Giving Anderson a quickie, hmm?" I heard bellowing laughter and snorts from the group of guys who had just appeared behind Dylan. All our main bullies were there; Cameron Walker visible at the back, his trademark smirk firmly in place. I knew that this meant he was the leader: I had read somewhere that leaders tended to stay at the back, out of the action and attention. Perfect place for them to give orders and keep an eye on everything. The others were just the muscle whereas he was the mastermind.

"What do you want, Walker?" I sighed, thoroughly tired of all of them.

"You. Dead."

Ok, I knew the guy was a grade A asshole, but seriously? That was low. I raised an eyebrow, hardly dating to believe that the teenager opposite me had even said that.

"You heard me" he smirked. "I want you dead, fag, and your boyfriend too if possible."

Dylan quickly moved next to me. He was trying to protect me, even though I could see that he was shaking. Dylan hated violence and I knew that he was scared out of his mind right now.

"Fuck off Walker." Had I really just said that?

And that was the beginning of the end for me. At those three words the four guys in front of Cameron jumped me. One pinned me against the wall, brutally shoving me against the brick. I could feel the rough brick digging into my cheek which had been thrust up against the wall. Another pushed Dylan out of the way roughly. I guessed they wanted to finish me first. I kicked out furiously at the others as they aimed punches at my stomach. The blows hurt, their knuckles digging into the soft flesh. I was quite toned, sure, but I didn't have the muscles like these did.

"Get off!" I yelled, somehow managing to get one of the guys in the balls with a sharp jab of my foot. Jerk. I barely registered him falling to the ground howling in pain as my attention was diverted while the three other guys started to hit me. Hard. Three pairs of fists pummelled me relentlessly. I could almost feel the bruises forming. I tried to fight back, managing to get in a few lucky punches here and there.

"Blaine!" Dylan screamed out. He sounded terrified and desperate. I wildly searched for him, still hopelessly hitting one of the idiots. Thank God, he was stood to the side, nobody paying attention to him.

"Run! Dylan, go!" I screamed back. I couldn't let my best friend get hurt too; this was my battle, I had got myself into it, and I was damned if I was going to let Dylan be involved too.

These thoughts fled my mind when I crumpled to the floor as Jack - one of Cameron's right hand men - kicked me in the ribs. I swore I could feel his foot breaking skin. Was that terrible screaming sound coming from my lips? The others - Aiden, Scott and Mark, I could see all of their faces clearly now from my vantage point of the floor - leapt on me and began hitting every part of me that they could reach. I hit back, clumsily kicking and punching, shocked whenever I heard a dull thud of impact that was my foot or hand connecting with a body part. Adrenaline had truly kicked in now. It fuelled my attacks and coursed through my veins. I just kept kicking and hitting, my whole body writhing as I tried to hit someone, all the while attempting to fend off their attacks.

"You fucking fag!" Jack snarled, spitting in my face. The white substance trickled into my mouth. I spat out, disgusted.

"Can't fuck your boyfriend with no cock, twink!" Aiden growled, punching my groin. Tears sprang to my eyes at the pain. His hand connected once again with my groin, sending more shooting pain through my body.

"Fucking fairy!" Mark crowed as he threw dirt onto my face, laughing as the dirt stung my eyes. I scrunched up my eyes, desperately hoping for my tears to clear my vision. He laughed even more and kicked my leg. I could feel the dull pain as he repeated the action roughly.

"What about the other one?" Scott smirked, pulling back from where he had been kicking my stomach and looking around. Suddenly Jack and Mark leaped on Dylan who had been trying to prise them away from me with no result.

"Leave him alone!" I shouted desperately. Dylan was sobbing, his eyes wide with fear. He couldn't fight; no matter what the circumstances, I knew that he couldn't allow himself to hurt anyone. They were going to hurt him bad.

"I don't think so" Cameron laughed, stalking forward with a long metal pole in his hands. He stepped into the fight for the first time as I cowered helplessly on the ground and his pole gleamed in the moonlight. My heart dropped as I saw it. This was it. "Night night, Blaine Anderson" he whispered before roughly swinging the pole down onto my ribs. I let out a scream and I could only feel the searing pain as he hit me again and again. I couldn't think coherently. I could only feel the dull ache as the pole retracted and the throbbing thud as the metal hit me. Thud, ache, thud, ache.

Dylan was fucking terrified. He did his best to get them off Blaine, he really did. He hated violence. He cried at Bambi, he couldn't bear to watch the news in case something bad happened. But seeing these guys that he went to school with, mercilessly beating the living crap out of his best friend...he just had to do something. Something snapped. When Blaine had screamed at him to run, his voice hoarse with obvious fear, Dylan simply couldn't. He dove straight in, taking the punches and knocks to his face as they came. He wasn't a violent person but now Blaine's life was at stake, he had no other option.

"Not so cool now, eh?" Jack yelled, lifting Dylan easily by grasping his neck then dropping him to the floor just as roughly. He stamped on his arm once, twice, snap. Well shit, that arm was broke, Dylan thought absently as the pain dulled his senses and sanity. Thwack! Someone was stamping on his head. He felt a flash of pain and saw dark wetness falling to the ground. He was bleeding. Te dark red liquid continued to trickle out. Not like a delicate tinkling stream; like an angry rushing waterfall. Dylan closed his eyes. He felt dizzy. The world was spinning and he couldn't take the blurry outlines of his attackers any more.

"You fucking bastards," he managed to spit out vehemently before everything went black.

'Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep, yeah
I don't wanna miss a thing.'