Anderson.

The moment Kurt had heard the name his imaginary wedding got crashed and their dream apartment in NY burned down.

He hated Anderson.

Hate was a strong word, Kurt knew that, but it really was the only suitable word choice in that matter.

He remained pissed even in the following days. He couldn't even understand why this whole thing bothered him so much. Anderson now played on his team. So what? Why did he care so much?

Of course deep down he knew why. He was disappointed. His chances of finally finding someone like him and the possibility of not having to graduate from high-school as an unkissed virgin had decreased to about zero percent the moment Mercedes had spoken out his name.

Blaine Anderson.

If Kurt had been a dictionary, his definition for the name would've been: a cocky, slimy, arrogant jerk who most likely had some form of Napoleon complex and seemed to have a worrying obsession with hair gel.

Kurt still remembered his first encounter with the boy as if it was yesterday. He had walked down the halls after class, not paying attention to his fellow peers as usual, when something had hit him right in the face. Something cold.

When he had looked up, he had been staring right at Blaine Anderson's face. The boy had worn a smug smile on his face and was still holding the now empty slushie cup in his hands.

While Kurt had been standing there, dripping wet and teeth clattering from the cold wetness that had started to soak through his clothes, Blaine had taken out his phone and he could hear the familiar sound of a picture being taken.

"Hey guys, guess what I just posted on Facebook." the boy teased and was backed up by loud laughter.

Only then, Kurt had noticed that Blaine hadn't been alone. When he had finally managed to wipe enough remains of the slushie from his eyes, he had been able to recognize the group he was surrounded with and the jackets they all, even Blaine, had worn. As it turned out, Anderson had joined the football team that day and throwing a slushie in Kurt's face had apparently been some sort of inauguration for him.

The next couple of times Kurt had run into Blaine had been just as pleasant. While most of the other jocks usually kept their mouths shut and just pushed him around a little or grunted something out that probably counted as a word in their Neanderthal language, Anderson seemed to know exactly where he could hit Kurt with his words.

Contrary to popular belief, the bullying alone wasn't the most humiliating experience. The crying was.

Kurt usually didn't cry when he was being the victim of their cruel pranks. When he got pushed into lockers, he'd bite his lip to stifle his screams of pain. When they slushied him, he would just wipe his face clean and walk away with his head held high. And sometimes he would even manage to throw a witty comeback at them, that probably had them thinking for the rest of the day with their small brains.

But Anderson was different. He wasn't just another dumb jock like them. He was smart and therefore knew exactly what kind of impact the right words could have on someone.And he used it to his advantage to make Kurt's life a living hell.

And he hated himself for letting those words get to him that much, he's always had a fairly good self esteem, even with all the bullying. For example he knew that he dressed better than everyone else and he's always believed that his talent and drive would get him out of this cow town someday. But somehow the things Anderson said to him made him doubt everything about him. What if he was right? What if he'd be stuck in Lima forever? The thought alone was enough to make him panic. And while he knew he wasn't bursting with masculinity, the times where the other boy had called him a hideous hermaphrodite had taken its toll on him and were part of the reason he had become really self-conscious of his body and didn't change in front of the other boys anymore.

He hated that Blaine Anderson had so much power of him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kurt was washing his hands and still lost in his thoughts when the door to the boys' restroom opened. To see who had just walked in, Kurt lifted his head to look into the mirror in front of him. He didn't know who he had expected to see, but he surely didn't expect to seehim.

"What do you want, Anderson?" Kurt snapped as he turned around to face the other boy, who was standing just a few feet away from him with his eyes downcast.

"IneedyourhelpHummel," Blaine mumbled before he looked up at Kurt, whose brows furrowed in confusion at the words he'd just heard.

"Excuse me?"Kurt asked and gave the other a bewildered look.

"I need your help, Hummel," Blaine repeated, this time in a louder voice. He had his hands clutched into the pockets of his letterman jacket and was looking around nervously as if he was afraid to be seen with the other boy.

Kurt still couldn't quite believe his ears, had Blaine Anderson really just asked him for help? What kind of stupid little game was he playing now, he thought to himself and could already feel a wave of anger coming over him.

"Nice try, Anderson. I won't fall for any of your pranks anymore so just leave me the hell alone." He sneered and slung his bag over his shoulder, about to leave.

But suddenly an arm was blocking his way out. He glared at Blaine and was about to push him out of the way but the look on the boy's face stopped him. Blaine's brown eyes looked at him pleadingly.

"Okay, what is it?" Kurt said and crossed his arms. "I swear to you, if this is just another one of your stupid and lam-"

"No, it's not, I swear!" Blaine interrupted him, holding his hands up as if to ward off Kurt's anger. Then he took a few steps back and slumped back against the tiled wall. "I'm sure you know what everyone's been saying about me, hell, I mean everyone knows by now, even the teachers and it won't take long until my parents find out and...," Blaine stopped himself, his voice shaky and tears forming in his eyes."I just,...fuck. I can't do this and I just wanted to talk to you about this whole thing and I know we haven't really gotten along in the past, but I thought..."

Kurt was waiting. Waiting for his heart to unclench and to make the grudge he held against Blaine disappear and for him to be able to feel pity for the other boy. But he couldn't. He felt nothing, except a small tad of satisfaction in seeing his bully slowly breaking down in front of him.

Before he could stop himself, all the frustration and the anger he had kept inside for so long came bursting out of him. "So, you're gay and everybody knows. So, what? Do you really expect me to care?! Do you expect me to just forget about the past and to invite you into my little one-man army of out and proud teenage gays, do you expect me to support you in your coming out?! You haven't saidonenice word to me in all those years and I don't know if you remember the first time we met, because I still do, mainly because I had to walk around in slushie-soaked clothes for the rest of the day! Oh and remember that time where you taped that sign onto my back, wait..., what did it say again? Oh right, it said 'FAG'. Ironic, isn't it?" Kurt was breathing heavily by now and there were tears prickling in the corners of his eyes.

Blaine clenched his jaw and exhaled loudly before glaring angrily back at Kurt.

"You know what? Forget it, it was a mistake. I should've known you were just the same arrogant little prick-"

"You actually have the balls to call me that, you asshole?! " Kurt was yelling now, his voice shrill and high-pitched. "I've been out of the closet the moment I stepped a foot into this school, I've got beaten up and humiliated on a daily basis. You have no idea how full of shit my life has been, so don't you dare to call me that, you shithead. You know what?! Have fun walking in my shoes for the rest of the school year."

Kurt became aware that Blaine's whole body was trembling at this point and he couldn't tell if it was from trying to keep himself from crying or from anger. Suddenly the boy pushed himself back from the wall and muttered a single "Fuck you, Hummel!"as he rushed out of the room.

"No thanks Anderson, I'm not that desperate!" Kurt shouted after him.

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his knuckles had turned white from clenching his fists so hard. He blinked a few times, as if waking up from a state of trance. This had been the first time he'd ever managed to stand up to the other boy. This time he had been the one to make Blaine run away, upset and humiliated.

He had expected to feel great and powerful.

Instead, he just felt numb.