Rachel came barging into the boys' room, wearing her drama diva expression, as they were unpacking. Well, Kurt was unpacking; the others were just goofing around. The rest of the girls came in after her and as soon as the door closed, she started babbling.

“I have terrible news. You won't believe it, I didn't believe it before I saw it with my own eyes. The Warblers, the actual Warblers are there, on this ship. Why aren't anyone reacting? This is the worst news ever!”

“Um, who are the Warblers?” Sam asked, sitting up.

“They're the glee-club we're going up against for sectionals. The acapella group from the all-boys school Dalton Academy. They're probably here to steal all our secrets so they can beat us and why can't you see how serious this is?!” Most of the others seemed pretty bored, they usually did when Rachel had a diva-rant.

“I don't really see the big deal. They're a group of friends on vacation, why are you freaking out?” Mark inquired.

“Yeah,” Santana supplied “they're just a bunch of dapper school boys, what are they supposed to do to us? It's not like we even heard about them until this year, and why would they come to a cruise ship to spy on us? You should just chill hobbit.” You could practically see the steam come out of Rachel's ears as she stormed out of the room. Finn followed soon with a quick goodbye, leaving the room in silence.

“Whatever. I'm not going to let her ruin this. Let's get out of this room and do some exploring,” Quinn smiled.

The others nodded and the room was soon empty, except for Kurt. He stood alone in the room with a smile on his lips. He remembered the Warblers clearly enough. Not that he'd ever met them, but he'd done some research after Mr. Schuster told them about them. They were from an all-boys boarding school with a zero tolerance harassment policy. He didn't know if it actually worked, but if they were here, maybe he could ask?

And since it was an all-boys school, there were bound to be some gay guys, right? To be honest he'd been very interested in Dalton Academy at first and almost gone over just to see how things worked. But, then he saw the tuition and gave up on that dream. He could never ask his dad for that kind of money. It wouldn't be his fault if he happened to run into them though. And if he found someone who could give him some advice or actually took an interest in talking to him, well, who could blame him? No one, that's who. With a plan forming he grabbed his shoulder bag and left the cabin.

*

He didn't find any warblers, he was stupid to think he would. He didn't know how any of them looked and they were on vacation, so of course they weren't wearing their uniforms. They were probably in their rooms anyway or somewhere doing something fun, not just hanging around on deck where he could stumble over them. And even if he found them, what was he supposed to do? He didn't have enough confidence to walk up to a group of unknown boys and strike up a conversation. No, it was better like this. He sat down by the wall in an empty part of the ship, listening to his iPod and took out the latest vogue magazine. He was deep in the world of Broadway musicals and fashion when someone suddenly tapped his shoulder. Kurt took of his headphones and looked up. An Asian guy was standing there, looking down at him. “

That's some voice you've got there.” Oh shit, did I sing?! That wasn't on purpose, must be so annoying for other people. He seems happy enough though.

“I… um… Thank you?” The guy laughed and held out a hand. “I'm Wes.”
“Kurt,” he shook the outstretched hand with a nervous smile.

“Hey, if you like to sign you should come meet my friends. I was just on my way over to them to do a couple of songs. We don't have any sopranos among us though, so it would be really cool if you could help us out there.”

“Um… Well, actually I'm a countertenor.”

“You're a countertenor? Wow, that's amazing. I can't give you a choice then, you have to sing with us. The boys would love to sing with a countertenor and I know Blaine's dying to do a duet with someone who's actually able to hit high notes.”

“I… umm… I… okay?”

“Great.” Wes held out a hand to help him up and Kurt took it and was dragged to his feet. He seized his bag and followed the other guy for a good five minutes before they stopped in front of a group of eleven boys.

“Hey guys! Say hello to Kurt, I just met him and he has an amazing voice so I invited him to sing with us.”

The guys smiled at him and said their hellos. “Kurt this is David, Thad, Ethan, Andrew, the James twins Cameron and Richard, Flint, Trent, Blaine and the cute couple at the end is Nick and Jeff.” The two boys at the end grinned at them and Nick kissed the others cheek. Kurt starred at them for a moment before he looked down. He'd never met a gay couple before and they were so adorable. He kind of wanted to talk to them, to ask them about all the things he couldn't learn from anyone he knew. He'd actually never met any other gay gays at all. Well, except for Karofsky, but he was an evil bully, in denial and so far into the closet as it was possible to be so he didn't count. But he didn't have courage enough to go up to them, so he just stayed put and waited for something to happen.

“And guys, Kurt here's a countertenor.”

“Awesome, what's your range?” Nick asked with another smile.

“Ehh, I can sing from A2 to Bb5.”
“Wow, that's incredible,” Jeff said with awestruck eyes. “How do you sing so high? Can you show us?”

“I… Well, I'm not sure…”

“Come on Kurt. Can't you do Defying Gravity? You sang it so beautifully earlier.” Wes put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. Kurt nodded slowly and bit his lip. He didn't know why, but he found it hard to say no to him. Maybe it was something about the way he talked?

“I'll play for you.” Blaine sat down by a piano next to them and played a short intro. Kurt took a deep breath before he started.

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game

Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap!

It's time to try defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity
And you won't bring me down!

I'm through accepting limits
‘Cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But ‘til I try, I'll never know!

Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love
It comes at much too higher cost!

I'd sooner buy defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
And you won't bring me down!

I'd sooner buy defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
And you won't bring me down!
Bring me down!

The guys stared at him in silence as he belted out the last few notes. Blaine didn't play an outro, he just sat there starring. Kurt swallowed hard and looked down, chewing at his lip. This had been so surreal with Wes coming up to him and bringing him to his friends, no one did that to him, ever. However, judging by their silence they would probably ask him to leave or something like that soon. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. A pair of hands on his shoulders interrupted his stream of thoughts. He looked up and right into Blaine's eyes. “That was amazing Kurt. Promise you'll sing a duet with me sometime, okay?”

“O-okay?”

“Great.” Blaine pulled him into a hug and gave him a big smile as he pulled back. Kurt smiled back at him, surprised and happy. It was really weird to have someone be so excited about his voice, but the unfamiliarity just made it better.

“Kurt Elizabeth Hummel!” Rachel's voice tore through the air and he turned to face her. “What?”

“What are you doing talking to these-these Warblers?!” Kurt looked at her in surprise before he looked over at the boys around him. He looked at Blaine, at Jeff who sat on Nick's lap and finally at Wes. He should have known. “I'm just making friends.”

“We do not make friends with Warblers! We do not talk to them unless it‘s absolutely necessary and we certainly do not sing for them!” He shrunk under her accusing words, she didn't really have a say in this, but he started to feel like he'd done something wrong.

“Excuse me, but who are you?” Wes's voice interrupted them. “I am Rachel Berry of the New Directions.”

“Oh.”

“So you're in a glee-club,” Jeff looked over at them “that explains why you're so brilliant.”

“We're leaving now,” Rachel grabbed his arm “wait till the others hear about this.”

“Kurt,” Blaine's silky voice made him turn around once more and look into his hazel eyes. “Bye,” he whispered, fighting to keep his tears back.

The boys in front of him had accepted and appreciated him, no questions asked. They had potential to become his friends with time, but now, if Rachel had her way, he would never talk to them again. Kurt bit down on his lip as he turned his back on the Warblers and followed Rachel away.

*

“So you're singing with the Garglers now?” Puck gave him a doubtful look. “Warblers. And I didn't even know that's who they were.”

“It seems pretty simple then,” Mike commented “as long as you don't hang with them anymore the problem's gone.”

“I can't make that promise.”

“And the damage's already done and wait, what?!” Rachel starred at him in horror.

“They were actually nice to me; I'm not going to throw that away just because you're paranoid.”

“Can't you see that those guys are using you?! They probably knew who you are from the beginning and tried to gain your trust so they could pry our secrets from you.”

Kurt was on the verge of tears, but kept his ground nonetheless. “Just because that's the only reason you would ever be nice to me, doesn't mean it's like that for everyone else!”

“What's happening here?” Mr. Schuster came up and looked confused between Kurt and Rachel. “Kurt was hanging out and singing with the Warblers!”

“Calm down Rachel, I'm sure he's got a good explanation. Don't you Kurt?”

“As I've been trying to say; I didn't know who they were until Rachel told me.”

“So why don't you just promise not to hang with them again?!” Rachel spat.

“Because in the fifteen minutes I spent with them they treated me better than any of you have ever done in the year we've been in glee-club together! Not to talk about anything you did before that time.”

“But that's not real, they're just using you! If you dare to go back to them, they're just going to pretend to like you and then drop you after sectionals! You're just setting yourself up to be hurt and us to lose! You're sacrificing everything we've been working for just for a moment of satisfaction! How can you be so selfish?! And you're wondering why nobody likes you?!”

“Rachel,” Mr. Schuster sounded a little stern, but not enough to make anyone listen. It was too late anyway, Kurt could feel tears pressing against his eyelids. Normally he wouldn't let her words affect him, but it had just been too much the last couple of months. He almost lost his dad, he was losing Mercedes, and then everything that was happening with Karofsky and the other bullies. They'd upped their game over the summer and his body bore the marks of it. The way he lost his first kiss was just the top of the iceberg of misery and he didn't know how much longer he could handle it. So instead of snapping back at Rachel like he usually did, Kurt just lowered his head and fought a losing battle against his tears.

“Calm down girl, he didn't do anything wrong.” Kurt's head snapped up at the sound of Wes's voice and the warbler gave him a small smile. He stood there facing Rachel with Jeff, Nick and Blaine behind him. “I asked him to sing with us because he has a unique and beautiful voice. There wasn't a reason for him to reject that offer.”

“And seeing the way you treat him I'm not surprised that he wants to meet some new people,” Jeff added.

“Wha…” Rachel starred at them in shock.

“Look Dapper boys,” Santana chimed in, stepping forwards “this is our problem and though Berry here makes everything more dramatic than it should be, it doesn't concern you.”

“That's where you're wrong,” Wes gave her an overbearing smile. “We've taken an interest in Kurt here and are concerned for his wellbeing. So if you hurt him, mentally or physically, it's our problem.” At that Kurt finally let his tears fall. No one had ever said anything like that about him. He tried to hide them, but it was in vain and Blaine's feet were on the ground in front of him in a matter of seconds.

“Kurt? You okay?” His voice was calm and soothing and Kurt looked up at him with teary eyes. Blaine put his thumbs to his cheeks at once, stroking the tears away. “It's okay, it's okay.”

“Kurt,” Rachel turned to him, regret filling her eyes “I didn't mean to. Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. No, I didn't think. I'm sorry Kurt.” He wanted to answer; to say that it was okay, though that wasn't exactly true. But the after-effects of the past months hit him and he started shaking uncontrollably.

“Give him some space,” Nick said, and Blaine led Kurt away from the group of people. They stopped inside a small, empty room and he sat down on the floor, his back against a wall. Blaine sat down in front of him, a worried expression on his face. Kurt looked around; the two of them were alone.

“That wasn't only about what Rachel said, was it?” Kurt looked at him for a long while before he answered. “No, it wasn't.”

“Do you want to tell me about it? You don't have to of course, but it might help.”

Kurt let out a shaky breath. Did he want to tell him? He hadn't really told anyone about all the things that troubled him, and this guy was really a stranger. Before he managed to reach a decision, he started talking.

“I'm the only person out of the closet at my school. I don't even know any other gay people at all. And I try to stay strong about it and fight for myself, but it's just not working anymore. Almost all the jocks have ganged up on me and I don't know how much longer I can handle it. It was bad enough last year, but they've gotten so much worse this year. I can't go five steps without something bad happening and I've got so many bruises that I look like a freaking avatar. And nobody even cares and I'm losing my best and only friend. And my dad just had a heart attack, he's fine now, but I'm still so worried about him. The worst of it all's Karofsky. He's the worst bully and as it turns out; he's doing it because he's in the closet. And… And he kissed me, and until that moment I had never been kissed, and now I just don't know what to do.”

Kurt started shaking again and Blaine moved to his side, putting an arm around him. “Firstly, first kisses are really overrated. Like seriously, they're usually all sloppy and awkward and absolutely nothing to look forward to. Second kisses on the other hand, they're amazing. And don't even get me started on third kisses, ‘cause then I'll be going on all night.” Kurt let out a small laugh and Blaine beamed at him. “Secondly, you're really brave Kurt. Much braver than I could ever be. I was bullied at my old school and I ran away. I didn't stand up and just let them chase me away. You on the other hand, you're strong every day. You stay true to yourself and refuse to bend to them no matter what they do. That's a true gift Kurt. And if you have some days like today? Well, everyone's allowed to be weak sometimes, we're only human after all.”

“You make me seem much cooler than I am.”

“Pfft. That's not necessary, I think you're plenty cool.” Kurt felt a blush creep up his cheeks and looked down. “That's just ‘cause you don't know me.”

“I reject that out of hand. And I'll prove it to you. Give me some time to get to know you and I'll still tell you that you're cool.” Kurt starred at him for a moment before he lowered his gaze. Did Blaine mean that he wanted to spend time with him? “And I don't care that you're from New Directions, you still owe me a duet.”

“Yeah, if you still want to.”
“Of course I do. Here, put in your number so I can get hold of you.” Blaine gave him his phone and Kurt typed in his name and number before he returned it. He felt kind of overwhelmed, this kind of thing never happened to him. People just didn't ask for his number, especially not nice and cute guys. “I should get back, but I'll call you or text you or something later, kay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Blaine smiled at him before he stood up and walked out of the room. Kurt sat there in silence for a while before he got up as well and went out on deck to get some fresh air.