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Finn held the steering wheel firmly with two hands staring cautiously at the winding street ahead of him. After the first failed attempt at getting his driver’s license he finally was behind the wheel without adult supervision. Finn was a decent driver, taught first by his Mom but after the mailman incident, Burt took over and got Finn to pass his test.

Kurt sat in the passenger seat fiddling with a button he sewed onto his vest the night before. He couldn’t help but to glance at Finn as they drove, from the button, to Finn then back to the button. Kurt was still new to the whole step-brother idea but liked having a ride to school and a friend to talk to at home around his age. Finn bobbed his head up and down lazily; his top priority at the moment was to keep his eyes open and on the road.

Kurt didn’t blame Finn for being so tired; in fact, Kurt had trouble sleeping the night before as well. His thoughts kept drifting to Sam and Blaine. They accepted Kurt’s dreams of being on Broadway and actually found him somewhat fascinating. And Blaine, well, Blaine was easy on the eyes but Kurt felt he was different in the best way possible. He thought in ways unthinkable and Kurt wanted to be a part of it, finding each simple everyday sound or movement as a sort of art.

“Finn?” Kurt snapped out of his daydream.

Finn stretched his eyes up to keep from sleeping and yawned while responding, “Whaaaahhhht?” Finn glanced at Kurt and turned his blinkers on and leaned forward to try to see past Kurt for cars. “Am I good?” Finn asked slurring his speech in drowsiness.

Kurt showed a questioning look on his face before realizing what he meant and peered out the window, “Yeah, you’re good.” Finn squinted and kept driving.

“Anyways, how’s Sam on the football team?” Kurt asked staring back down at his button.

Finn furrowed his eyebrows at Kurt and shook his head, “He’s a great player but trust me, Kurt, he’s straight”.

Kurt forced a laugh to cover how felt about the offensive remark. “No, uh, I just heard he was going to join the Glee Club so I just wondering how-”

“Glee Club?” Finn shouted. The whole car ride was silent but this sudden burst of noise raddled in Kurt’s ear and made him freeze. Kurt was already feeling the same anger he felt when Mercades and Tina told Kurt he shouldn’t join Glee Club yesterday.

“What wrong with Glee Club?” Kurt whined.

Finn slapped the steering wheel in jolted in his seat with anger and raised his voice. He’s certainly awake now, Kurt thought. “Sam is one of our best guys and, believe me; we need good guys on the team. We can’t have another kid leave us to sing and dance like Puck and Mike.”

“What’s wrong with having a passion to do both football and Glee?” Kurt cried.

“Kurt, you don’t understand. As football players, we have a reputation. We can’t be known as the fairies prancing around the field singing and dancing in our football ‘costume’. Other teams will call us weak and crush us to death! Gah! We have to stop Sam!” Finn screamed banging his fist at the steering wheel.

“Is that all you care about?” Kurt screamed shakily, “Reputations are all anyone cares about! If reputation is so important to you then how come you care about your team mate being in Glee Club more than your step-brother getting slushied and shoved into lockers every other day?” Kurt sighed and let a tear run down his lightly flushed pink cheeks and talked at his normal volume, “If you really want to do me a favor then let Sam join Glee Club as well as any other football players that want to”. Finn adjusted uncomfortably in his seat and let the silent sound of cars humming around them sink into the car.

“I didn’t know it was that important to you,” Finn said quietly and supportive, “but if it’s what you want, I will; no matter what it costs me, I’ve got your back, okay?” Kurt relaxed at the sound of Finn’s calming words. It finally hit him that he finally has the supportive brother he wanted ever since he was a lonely child. Kurt actually searched for this type of Finn to come out when Burt and Carole got married. Until now, all Finn and Kurt shared were casual conversations. Until now, Kurt saw Finn as the lost popular kid who had the prized girl in High School but was unbearably stupid. Not anymore.

“Thank you, Finn,” Kurt smiled and wiped the drying tear that streaked down his cheek, “you have no idea how much this means to me”.

“Sure thing,” Finn said in his normal state of drowsiness. Kurt was absolutely shocked; the quarterback of the football team had his back and supported his passions … well maybe that was going a bit too far but the thought made Kurt’s day a whole lot better.

He was looking forward to Glee auditioning this afternoon, but was terribly nervous. He practiced all the night before until Burt threw open Kurt’s door and told him to stop singing or he will rip his collectible stash of tiaras into bits. The threat scared him as well as the threat that Mercades and Tina probably won’t talk to him every day once they see his name printed at the top of the list.

As Kurt approached the bulletin board, he noticed a few more students joined the Glee Club Sign-Up sheet. There printed ‘Rachel Berry’ in blue pen with a gold sticker pressed firmly next to it. Typical, Kurt thought. Much to Kurt’s surprise, Mercades and Tina written their names onto the list as well. Kurt stared at the list examining every line of graphite and drop of ink, then studied Mercades and Tina’s signature. Kurt’s neck bubbled up with red fury. How could they treat Kurt like a freak for wanting to join Glee Club yet there their names were clearly written onto the Sign-Up list?

Kurt’s head throbbed with confusion as he thought about why Mercades and Tina changed their minds. Were they just joking yesterday? Kurt tore him eyes from the sheet and started back down the hall wanting to avoid Tina and Mercades but as he as he turned the corner at the end of the hall, he spotted the two leaning up against the lockers next to Kurt’s chatting quietly. He considered turning around and leaving without his books but when his foot slid behind him to back away, a body slammed into his.

Kurt turned holding his arms out slightly stumbling into a stable stance staring up into the eyes of David Karofsky. David narrowed his eyes, face tightening when his jaw clamped shut. David raised his clenched fist and stiffened his bulky chest moving his face closer to Kurt’s. Kurt gasped and shook into a ghostly pale color, “Watch where you’re going Hummel,” Karofsky snarled though his teeth. He clasped a chunk of fabric that sat on Kurt’s chest and slowly raised him up off of the tiles. Kurt made a short sob and swallowed trying to control his fear kicking his feet in the empty space beneath him.

Kurt flared his nostrils and gave Karofsky a ‘death’ stare, “Put. Me. Down” Kurt yelled. Karofsky glared at him, not moving. Suddenly, a hand grabbed David’s shoulder and tugged it to release Kurt but only made Kurt tumble to the ground with a thud. Kurt sat on the ground gasping for air and shaking. Karofsky looked at Sam in anger and confusion.

“Leave Kurt alone,” Sam said sternly.

David laughed darkly and jabbed his pointer finger to Sam’s chest, “Oh, so you’re a fairy too?” David made a look of distaste at the thought and glanced at Kurt then back at Sam, “It makes me sick,” he said. Sam stood silent as another boy with a Letterman jacket stepped up, “Come on, Dave, he’s your teammate”. David lowered his head and relaxed his face then walked the opposite direction where he was walking originally.

Some of the guys in Letterman jackets talked briefly before dispersing to their classrooms while Kurt stayed sitting on the ground sobbing and smoothing his outfit with his hands replaying what happened over and over in his head. Sam walked over to Kurt and kneeled down next to him. He wore a concerned look on his face staring at the hand he laid on Kurt’s knee, “Kurt”.

The other boy snapped out of his thought at the touch of Sam’s hand and the comforting voice and turned his head to look at Sam. “Sam” Kurt forced a smile through his tear streaked face.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Sam chocked helping Kurt up to go back to class. Kurt stared at Sam for a few seconds and pulled him into a hug. Sam closed his eyes remembering what it was like to be bullied. Nobody understanding who you are and are willing to hurt you because you’re…different. Sam squeezed Kurt tighter trying to forget. When Kurt broke away from the hug, he mouthed “Thank you,” and smiled. Sam felt like the air got knocked out of him when he saw Kurt’s smile with his pink cheeks covered in glistening tears and damp eyelashes fluttering in his direction. Sam smiled a little bigger at him before moving towards class.

Kurt stood in the hallway watching Sam leave. He wiped his eyes and paced in the hall before his eye caught glimpse of a button that lay on the floor. Kurt bent down gracefully picking up the button that he had sewn on the night before. Kurt sighed in frustration and shoved it in his pocket and headed towards class.

Kurt sat on the counter of the bathroom afterschool thankful that he always had a sewing kit in his locker for emergencies. Kurt bit his lip, concentrating, while threading the needle through his jacket and into the holes of the button. The bathroom door creaked open and a short boy with curly hair tapped the door and walked in feeling the walls until he reached a pipe leading to a urinal. Kurt looked up from his button and smiled at Blaine though he couldn’t see him; force of habit. Kurt looked back at his button to give Blaine privacy and began working through the final steps of sewing the button, neatly tied a knot after sliding the needle off and ripped off the remaining strand of thread after the knot with his teeth. Kurt sighed as he tucked his needle back into the kit and slung his satchel over his shoulder. “Hi?” Blaine mumbled at the noise. It was strange to hear the sound of thread gliding through fabrics echoing against the walls in the boy’s bathroom.

“Blaine, it’s Kurt,” he said walking over to Blaine who tried to find his way to the sink.

Blaine’s face lit up into a bright smile as he gripped the cold counter searching for the soap. “I know who you are; I can recognize your voice from a mile away,” Blaine chuckled squirting soap into his hands and pulling the nozzle but stopped for a second realizing that it wasn’t the handle. Once the water ran soaking Blaine’s hands, Kurt wondered why Sam wasn’t around. It seemed like Sam and Blaine were connected before running into him yesterday. Yet Sam wasn’t around Blaine this morning when he got hoisted up from the ground from Karofsky. The water stopped and Blaine stared in Kurt’s general direction. “You there?” Kurt shifted next to Blaine holding his arm out for him to hold. Blaine wrapped his hand around Kurt’s arm and nudged him with his shoulder, “Off to Glee Club Auditions?”

Kurt patted Blaine’s hand on his left shoulder “Yep.”