NEVER BEEN KISSED

As the Dalton hallways fill with chatter and the shuffling of students, Blaine is pretty sure he’s never felt as ready to perform. The Warblers and himself have been practicing different numbers all week just for the off chance that perhaps they’d have a small window in which to perform for the student body during the busy school day. The more performances they gave, the more popular they’d become, and perhaps they’d even recruit some more members. Blaine feels his phone buzz in his pocket as he comes out of his French class, slipping his books into his bag before he opens it up.

/Performance time! Meet you in the Senior Commons in 5! Teenage Dream -Wes/

Blaine grins and stows his phone away as he reaches the top of the staircase. A few warblers race passed him and he chuckles to himself and checks his pocket watch one more time as he descends. He really doesn’t want to be late, especially since this time he’d been asked to sing lead again.

“Oh excuse me”

A soft, high toned voice calls out and grabs Blaine’s attention and he turns around as he reaches the bottom of the marble staircase, looking up to see a boy around his age standing there, not in the Dalton uniform. He’s slender, very pale skinned and rather beautiful for a boy, Blaine thinks.

“Um, hi. Can I ask you a question? I’m new here”

The moment those words come from the boy’s mouth Blaine knows that he’s lying. Dalton issues every new student with a uniform at least three days before their first day. He decides to let it slide though, curious as to what this strangely attractive boy is doing at his school. So instead he offers out his hand like a gentleman and smiles.

“My name’s Blaine”

The boy shakes his hand quickly and Blaine makes a mental note of just how warm and soft his hands are.

“Kurt. So what exactly is going on?” Kurt asks with a raised brow and Blaine smiles, looking around as a few more students pass them by and head down the hallway towards the common room.

“The Warblers. Every now and then they throw an impromptu performance in the Senior commons, tends to shut the school down for a while.” Blaine gives the boy a small smirk, rather proud that he can talk about his show choice like this. He notices the look of shock on Kurt’s face and doesn’t have to ask what it’s for.

“So, wait, the glee club here is kind of cool?”
Kurt speaks in a tone of disbelief and Blaine smiles happily.

“The warblers are like rock stars.” He hums and pauses for a small moment. He has no idea where this boy is from or what he’s doing here, but it seems like he is genuinely interesting in what Blaine has to say.

“Come on, I know a short cut”

And with that Blaine takes the boys soft hand and tugs him off down a different hallway, smiling to himself as they jog. He glances over to Kurt and takes note at how amazed he appears at the d�cor. His smile remains on his face as he finally let’s go of Kurt’s hand, opening up the doors to the senior commons. It’s quite full inside, Blaine giving a few of his warbler friends a small smile as he enters.

“Ooh, I stick out like a sore thumb”

Kurt’s comment makes Blaine smirk just a little and he turns to look at the boy. He is clearly taken aback, his light eyes are wide, taking in his new surroundings. There is a slight new pinkness to his prominent cheeks that Blaine decides suits him. He reaches out and straightens the lapel of Kurt’s adorable attempt at a Dalton blazer and smiles at him.

“Well, next time don’t forget your jacket, new kid. You’ll fit right in” He smiles and makes a note of how lovely Kurt looks when he smiles.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me” he hums and moves to stand with his fellow warblers, grinning from ear to ear as they start their acapella rendition of Teenage Dream.
Throughout the song, Blaine can’t help but notice how in awe Kurt seems to be. The boy watches them with what Blaine can only describe as admiration. He notices Kurt look around the room to gage other people’s reaction, and Blaine decides that perhaps Kurt needs this, for whatever reason. He needs to see that a place as freeing as this is real. He needs some form of connection. Blaine knows all too well how it feels to be lost, to feel like you’re just floating around with nothing in sight to grab on to. So he gives Kurt something to grab. Blaine keeps is eyes on the boy as he sings, hoping that perhaps his way of reaching out will give the boy an answer to whatever it was he came here looking for, and it certainly wasn’t to spy on the warblers. Yes, Blaine had figured that the attempt of a uniform and the curiosity for the glee club here could really only point to a competitor coming to take a look at the competition.
When the song ends, Blaine watches as Kurt claps happily and grips onto his satchel strap.

“Who’s the kid out of uniform?” Wes asks Blaine as he passes, keeping his voice low. Blaine looks to his friend and gives him a smile.

“I’ll tell you soon. I’ll meet you in the caf� in about ten minutes?”

Wes gives him a nod and claps his shoulder before he heads off. Blaine straightens his tie, fixes his hair and makes his way over to Kurt, keeping a smile on his lips.

“So, thoughts? Constructive criticism?” he muses, holding his arms across his chest, cocking his head to the side as Kurt looks at him with a blank expression for the briefest of moments before he lets out a breath and smiles.

“You’re all so talented, it was amazing… breath taking, actually” the boy breathes and Blaine can’t help but smile a little wider. Kurt had actually enjoyed the performance.

“Is that what you’ll report back?” he asks casually, so casually that it takes a moment or two before the colour drains from Kurt’s face and his grip on his satchel strap increases.

“I… I’m sorry…”

“Kurt. Why don’t you take a few minutes to yourself, breathe? Then come and meet us down the hallway, two doors to your left is a caf�. We can… talk there” Blaine nods and gives the boys arm a small squeeze. Kurt simply nods.

“I… Okay.” He sniffs and little and turns on his heel, hurrying off back the way Blaine had brought him. Blaine nibbles on his lower lip as he watches the boy leave. There’s something about him that Blaine can’t quite shake. He seems like an interesting character, one that Blaine would love to get to know. He picks up his bag from where it has been set on a nearby table, slotting it onto his shoulder before he grabs out his phone and texts David, asking him to join Wes and himself in the Caf�. He would have invites a few more warblers, but he doesn’t want to overwhelm Kurt. He stows his phone away in his pocket and makes his way down the hallway, taking his time to admire it as he goes.

On his first day at Dalton, Blaine’s face had mirrored Kurt’s awe exactly. He wasn’t aware that such a divine place could exist, or that the people populating it could be as accepting and as kind as they were. Blaine had made his home here, and he really hoped he could share some of his journey with Kurt, if need be.

“Think he’ll like a latte?” Wes asks as Blaine enters the caf�, holding up a tray with four steaming hot cups on them. Blaine nods and takes a seat beside David, thanking Wes for the coffee.

“I’m sure he will. He seems a little… nervous.”

“We were always going to be nice about this. This isn’t the first time someone has tried to spy on us before competition time” Wes notifies him as he takes his seat beside Blaine. Blaine sips his coffee and nods.

“I know… but I have a feeling that he didn’t just come here to spy.” Blaine looks at his two friends and they both nod in agreeance. Wes opens his mouth to speak when there is a small knock on the door opposite, Kurt standing there. He’s changing his clothes. Gone is the imitation of the Dalton uniform, in its place a more sophisticated outfit of a grey dress shirt, a charcoal throw over collar and a nice tie with black skinny jeans. Blaine takes a moment to look the boy up and down before he comes over to sit. He gives Wes and David weary smiles before Blaine pushes the fourth coffee cup over to him.

“Latte?” he hums and Kurt mouths a thank you at him softly.

“This is Wes and David” Blaine gives small gesture to the boys seated beside him, both giving Kurt small smiles.

“It’s very civilised of you to invite me for coffee before you beat me up for spying” Kurt speaks in an almost defensive tone and Wes is quick to respond.
“We are not going to beat you up” he states and Blaine almost sighs as he sips his latte, the warm rush that passes through him giving him a little more confidence for the conversation they’re having with this total stranger. That’s what he is after all.

“You were such a terrible spy, we thought it sort of… endearing” David chuckles and Blaine nods in agreeance, setting down his cup.

“Which made me think that spying on us wasn’t really the reason you came.”

Blaine shoots Kurt a knowing look, smiling to himself when Kurt lets out a breath, clearly realising the boys in blazers had found out the truth.

“Can I ask you guys a question?” He looks at the three and they all smile slightly, allowing him to ask.

“Are you guys all gay?”

Blaine chuckles and Wes and David look at him with a glimmer of amusement in their eyes. Blaine had asked them the very same thing on his first day. Blaine looks at Kurt and notices that the boy isn’t laughing along with them.

“Uh, uh no. I mean, I am, but these two have girlfriends” Blaine smiles and gestures to his two friends, feeling just a little prouder of himself. He’d discovered that at his time at Dalton, the idea of people knowing his sexuality didn’t seem to bother him anymore. In fact, he was rather open about the subject.

“This is not a gay school. We just have a zero tolerance harassment policy.” David smiles at Kurt and Wes nods.

“Everybody gets treated the same. No matter what they are. It’s pretty simple.”

Those words that had once given Blaine all the hope in the world brought tears to Kurt’s eyes. The boy looked completely and utterly shocked. Blaine watched him for a moment, noticing the look of fear and confusion in his eyes, remembering that look all too well.

“Would you guys excuse us?” He asks and looks to Wes and David. They both shoot him a questioning look but rise to their feet all the same.

“Take it easy Kurt” Wes tells the boy before he and David leave with their coffee’s in hand. Blaine adjusts himself in his seat and lets out a small sigh.

“I take it you’re having trouble at school”

The tears remain in Kurt’s eyes and Blaine fights off the feeling to reach out and take the boys hand to comfort him.

“I’m the only out of the closet at my school. And I-I I tried to stay strong about it, but there’s this Neanderthal who’s made it his mission to make my life a living hell. And nobody seems to notice”

By this point Kurt is crying, and Blaine can feel his own stomach start to churn. How could people still be this ignorant and hateful? His palms start to sweat under the table as memories from his freshmen year start to make their way back into his mind. It sounded to him like Kurt was going through a hell of a lot more than he had.

“I know how you feel” he tells him, deciding to risk sounding like a person who says they know when they really don’t. Because of course Blaine knows how it feels, and if any advice he has to give could help this boy… he’d give it.

“I got taunted at my old school, and it really…pissed me off. I even complained about it to the faculty, and they were sympathetic and all, but you could just tell that nobody really…cared” Blaine sighs softly and tries to push away the many conversations he’d had with his teachers, with his principal about how unsafe he felt around James and the other boys in his classes.

“It was like, hey… if you’re gay…your life is just gonna be miserable. Sorry. Nothing we can do about it”
Blaine notices the defeat in Kurt’s eyes and speaks up again.

“So I left, and I came here. Simple as that”
Of course it wasn’t as simple as that, but Blaine didn’t need to be spilling his past to someone he had only just met.

“So you have two options. I mean, I’d love to tell you to just come enrol here, but tuition at Dalton’s sort of steep, and I know that’s not an option for everybody. Or you can refuse to be the victim. Prejudice is just ignorance, Kurt. And you have a chance right now to teach him.” Blaine tells the boy and for a moment he believes it himself. If someone had told him this when he’d been bullied… he knows that he might not regret his decision to run quite as much as he does now.

“How?”

“Confront him. Call him out. I ran, Kurt. I didn’t stand up. I let bullies chase me away. And it is something that I really, really regret.” Blaine lets out a soft sigh as Kurt sips his coffee and sets it back down again, shaking his head.

“He’s… so much bigger than me…”

“I know it’s daunting… I get that. But half the time bullies persist because they know that no one will fight back. If you do… he might just stop.” Blaine smiles softly and bites his lip before he reached across the table and takes the boys hand into his own. It’s soft and warm and Blaine isn’t sure why he’s doing this, but it feels right. He squeezes the boys hand and by passes his shocked expression.

“Courage… is something that not a lot of people use, and you have it Kurt. You needed it to be able to come here today and share this with me. And it will be all you need when you confront this guy. And if you need me… I’ll be a phone call away” Blaine releases Kurt’s hand and pulls his phone from his pocket, handing it over to Kurt. Kurt swallows for a moment before he takes the boys phone with shaking hands.

“You’re… okay with giving me your number?” he asks and Blaine gives him a soft smile.

“Of course. You need someone on your side Kurt. I’m willing to be that person. And hey, you’ve gained a friend out of coming here today” He hums and sits back in his chair, watching as Kurt smiles and types in his number. He hands Blaine’s phone back to him and looks around the room.

“It’s a nice school…”

“It is.”

“Do you board here?”

“Yeah. There are a few boarding houses just behind the school. My folks live in Lima so it’s a bit of a trek to come here every morning from there” Blaine tells him and finishes off his coffee, Kurt’s eyes lighting up at his words.

“I…I’m from Lima.” He hums and Blaine raises an eyebrow.

“You drove all this way… to spy on a rival glee club? Now that’s dedication” He smirks and Kurt nibbles on his lower lip, fingers tapping against his cup.

“We both know now that was not the main reason for my visit…”

“I know. I’m messing with you. I’m assuming that you are a member of the New Directions” Blaine smiles and takes pleasure in watching Kurt’s light eyes grow wide at his comment.

“How did you…”

“Know? We have the competition list too Kurt, and unless you are in fact a 70-year-old man… I’m going to assume you belong to the only rival school on the list” he chuckles and Kurt shakes his head as he laughs softly.

“I really wasn’t a very good spy was I?” Kurt smiles, wider than he has all day and Blaine laughs and shakes his head.

“Not at all”

A silence falls over them as they both smile and look down at their coffee cups. Blaine looks back up at Kurt and wonders for a moment if this was how Marcus felt about him in the beginning. He’d clearly seen Blaine as a little bird, lost with broken wings, in need of help. Maybe this was Blaine’s time for redemption. Maybe Kurt coming here today was meant to be, perhaps Blaine was meant to help him get his wings back.

“I should probably be getting back… before my Dad starts to worry” Kurt says slowly and gets to his feet, Blaine doing he time.

“Of course. I… you want me to walk you out?” he offers and Kurt shakes his head as he slips his bag onto his shoulder.

“Thank you… but I’ll be fine.” He hums and looks at Blaine with a soft smile. “Thank you Blaine. For… everything” He breaths and Blaine moves over to him as Kurt offers out his hand for him to shake. He takes it and places his other hand over the top of the boys, squeezing softly.

“Don’t thank me. Just… take care of yourself Kurt. And please... don’t hesitate to call” He smiles and when Kurt lets go of his hand and waves goodbye, Blaine feels something tug in his stomach. He doesn’t want Kurt to go. He wants to learn more about this lovely boy. He takes a seat and opens up his phone. He has a message from his mother and one from Wes, but he ignores them and opens up a new message.

/Courage xx -B/

He sends the message and sits back in his chair, taking the time alone to reflect on just how much he’d overcome in the past year, and he really hopes that Kurt can do the exact same.

*****

Since that day at Dalton, Blaine and Kurt text every second that they get. Sometimes it’s just pointless little messages talking about nonsense, and sometimes it’s so deep that Blaine has to take a moment to remember that this is a boy he’s only just met. That doesn’t change the fact that he feels completely comfortable messaging this boy. They haven’t called each other yet, but Blaine knows that step will come. Right now he was just enjoying having a new friend.

The first call comes when he’s sitting in the Dalton garden by himself, surrounded by a few text books for his history class, trying his hardest to focus on the founding fathers. A smile spreads across his lips when he sees Kurt’s name pop up on his screen, immediately answering.

“Hey you” he hums and leans against the trunk of the tree he sits under, closing his text book.

“Blaine… I… I’m sorry… I just don’t really know what to do”

Kurt’s voice is high and it’s shaking and Blaine immediately feels dread hit him hard. Kurt’s in trouble.

“Kurt, what’s going on? Are you okay… are you safe?” Blaine asks, trying to keep his voice calm, even though he’s internally freaking out. What if they had him cornered? What if there was more than just one guy there? Was Kurt about to be hurt?

“Yeah… yeah I’m safe”

Blaine lets out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding in, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Okay good… good. What’s wrong?”

“I thought I was okay but… seeing him every day in the halls... I get so scared that he’ll do it again…” Kurt speaks quickly and lets out a soft sob at the end of his sentence that causes a lump to in Blaine’s throat.

“That he’ll do what again, Kurt?” He’s scared to ask, scared to find out if the answer is as bad as he thinks it is.

“He kissed me”

The words shock Blaine a little, and he just sits there under the tree, staring off into the distance. Karofsky had kissed Kurt? That was… unexpected. And extremely wrong. Twisted even. Was Karofsky gay? Could someone really be hurting and hiding themselves that much, that they’d take all their emotions out on someone who wasn’t afraid to be themselves? Blaine comes to the conclusion that, yes… that could be the case.

“Kurt…I’m coming to you”

Blaine’s not really sure what his plan of action is here, but he knows that if this boy is willing to kiss Kurt against his will, and go right back to harming him… he could definitely be cable of taking things a whole lot further.

“You don’t have to come here Blaine, I just needed to tell someone…”

“I’m coming anyway.” Blaine says firmly, starting to shove his things into his bag.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. It sounds like he’s… confused. Maybe if I talk to him…”

“He’s not one for talking Blaine. He likes to use his fists a whole lot more than his words.”

“We’ll see. Besides… you sound like you could use a friend right now” Blaine sighs and swings his bag over his shoulder, fishing around for his keys as he hurries across the grounds towards the student parking lot.

“I could. If you’re really sure?”

“I’m already on my way” Blaine smiles as he climbs into his car and sighs for a moment.

“Kurt?”

“Yes?”

“You confronted him didn’t you”

There is silence on the other end for a moment as the realisation kicks in and Blaine runs a hand through his hair.

“Yes.”

Blaine bites down hard on his lip. He’d caused this to happen. Him and his bloody advice.

“I know what you’re thinking Blaine, so stop it. This is not your fault. I needed to do this. We… had no idea that this would be the outcome” Kurt tells him softly and Blaine sighs.

“I know; I know…”

“So stop blaming yourself this instant. I’ll meet you outside the school.”

“Okay”

They hang up and Blaine shakes off all his negative feelings as he starts the long drive to Lima. He can afford to skip a few classes, and he’ll explain to Wes the situation and hopefully he won’t cop too much slack for skipping out on a rehearsal. He flicks the radio on as he drives, refusing to think about this being his fault. Kurt was right, he had needed to stand up to this guy.

[What if that had happened to me?]

The thought makes itself clear in Blaine’s mind. What if he’d finally stood up to James after the Sadie Hawkins dance? What if he’s told him what was what, made him stop all his vicious taunts and violent acts? Would James have kissed him?
No. He was homophobic. He wasn’t a closet case.
Blaine tells himself this over and over as he drives, and feels almost sick to the stomach that the idea of kissing James still seems to give him some form of butterflies. It was hard, to separate the James he had known to be his best friend, and the James that made his world hell for months on end. Sometimes Blaine liked to think that they were two different people, but the reality was that they were the same. And he needed to understand that, the sooner the better.


Blaine spots Kurt the moment he pulls up at McKinley. He’s standing there in front of the school, blue coat and grey scarf of to keep him warm, accompanied by a pair of black jeans. So, Kurt has impeccable taste in fashion. Blaine notes this as he gets out of his car and smiles over to Kurt, who waves and hurries over to him, bag hitting his hip as he does.

“Hey! Thank you so much for this” he breathes and stops in front of Blaine, clearly nervous as he lets out a breath. Blaine reaches out and squeezes his arm.

“Relax. It’s fine. I’m here. Now… did you want to do this now…” he asks and receives a quick not from Kurt.

“Please”

The pair walk into the building and Blaine realises immediately that he stands out. He’s still in his Dalton uniform and a few people are giving him odd looks here and there. Regardless, he’s here for Kurt.

“I don’t know why I called you… this happened two days ago. I just felt so scared that it could happen again.” Kurt explains as they walk and Blaine shakes his head.

“Honestly Kurt, I’m glad you called. That’s why I gave you my number” he tells the boy and they share a small smile as they start to head up the stairs.

“Thanks again, for coming”


“Don’t worry about it. Just let me do the talking” Blaine states and Kurt gives him a not, looking up. Blaine notices the colour drain a little from the boy’s cheeks.

“There he is”

Blaine looks up and spots who Kurt is talking about, and Kurt was right. He’s massive, and would easily be able to take Blaine down if it came to it, but it won’t. Blaine swallows and looks to Kurt.

“I got your back” he hums and makes his way up the steps.
“Excuse me” he calls and gets the attention of Karofsky, who smirks just a little at the sight of Kurt and this boy he’s never seen before.

“Hey, lady boys. This your boyfriend, Kurt?” Karofsky looks down at Blaine and frowns, looking at him like he just might be the scum of the Earth. Blaine taking a breath before he composes himself. There was no need to make this any worse by allowing his ego to be bruised.

“Kurt and I would like to talk to you about something.” Blaine states simply and almost kindly and Karosky simply rolls his eyes.

“I gotta go to class.” He huffs and pushes passed Kurt, knocking the boy to the side. Something in Blaine stirs and he raises his voice a little.

“Kurt told me what you did.”

Karofsky turns at those words and shrugs, shoving his large hands into his pockets.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” he asks and its Kurt who speaks up.

“You kissed me”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Dave huffs and it’s then that Blaine notices a dash of fear in his eyes. Perhaps he needs to take a different approach to confronting this boy.
The boy begins to walk away as Blaine starts to talk, keeping as calm as he can be. He doesn’t need things to escalate any further.

“It seems like you might be a little confused. And that’s totally normal. This is a very hard thing to come to terms with, and you should just know that you’re not alone.”

As Blaine finishes his sentence, his stomach flips as Karofsky hurries back up the stair, a face of rage. He grabs Blaine by his blazer and Blaine is sure that, for a small moment, he’s about to be punched. Instead he is forced backwards into the fence and slammed against it hard.

“Don’t mess with me!” Karofsky spots and Blaine’s hands immediately rise up in defense, his heart hammering away inside his chest, readying him in case he needs to run.

“You have to stop this!”

It’s Kurt’s voice that he hears and it’s Kurt who shoves the jock of him, Blaine finally letting out a breathe he didn’t know he’d been holding in. Karofsky just gives them a glance before he runs off down the stairs, leaving Blaine to internally calm himself before he panics in front of Kurt.

“Well he’s not coming out anytime soon”

His sad attempt at lightening the mood does nothing of the sort, and he watches as Kurt takes a seat in defeat on the cold steps. Blaine sighs and straightens his blazer, moving over to the boy.

“What’s going on? Why are you so upset?”

[Stupid thing to ask Blaine. His bully just displayed physical violence in front of him, and basically showed he was never going to change. And hey, Kurt was kissed against his will. What could possibly be wrong?]

Blaine regrets his question the moment he asks it, though Kurt doesn’t seem to mind him asking.

“Because until yesterday, I had never been kissed. Or at least, one that counted” Kurt sniffs and Blaine takes a long moment to look at him. Kurt had never been kissed before. The very idea of having a first kiss stolen makes Blaine’s heart ache. He pats Kurt on the shoulder and gets to his feet.

“Come on. I’ll buy you lunch”

Kurt gets on his feet and quickly wipes his eyes as Blaine does up his blazer.

“Are you okay?” He asks as they begin to walk back towards Blaine’s car. Blaine flashes him a smile and nods.

“Yeah. I’ve had worse. Besides, it really does seem like he’s just too afraid to admit to himself who he really is. I’d suggest… perhaps… staying out of his way until that happens. I know that goes back on what I said about confronting him and having courage…”

“Blaine”

“Yeah”

“Thank you”

Blaine looks at the boy beside him and swallows when he sees the sincere and soft expression on his face. He feels his cheeks pink just a little and he nudges the boys shoulder with his own.

“You’re welcome Kurt”

The boys both smile as they continue out into the carpark, Blaine shoving his hands into his pockets. It’s been a while since he’s made a new friend, and to him, Kurt seems like a really nice guy. He hasn’t felt this open with anyone since James. The thought of his old best friend brings a little bit of fear into his bones, but he pushes that thought away with the thought of how hungry he is right now and how Kurt seems to be fidgeting with his scarf a little as he waits beside Blaine for him to unlock the car.

“So… Friday night, how do you feel about hitting up breadstix? I haven’t been there in so long” Blaine hums and watches as Kurt stares up at him in what appears to be shock. Then he smiles.

“Sounds like a plan”

And a plan it is.