Because of his special circumstances Kurt was allowed to stay at the dorms during the summer after his first year at Juilliard - the school was open for several summer courses, anyway. Freshmen Year had gone relatively well for him. Of course New York was quite the difference to sleepy small-town Lima (Ohio), but Kurt found himself instantly in love with the city since his first night there.

As expected the other students weren't happy about someone without proper training and without any experience getting the scholarship everybody sought-after and according they weren't very welcome to Kurt at first - mostly a mix of barely hidden jealousy and out-right skepticism towards his abilities. No need to say that every student was very excited to see Kurt perform for the first time in front of the whole department at the annual "Freshmen reaping" (a showcase to feature all new students) in September- they finally wanted to know what all the fuss was about and whether he could really live up to all the praise he had received from the teachers since his audition.

As the main attraction of the whole event Kurt's performance was the last - which he didn't really care about, too grateful to even be here, still. After his introduction there was a round of applause (mainly from the people who had already seen him perform) but he couldn't really concentrate on appreciating the encouragement, too concerned about all the people sitting in the room who would be watching him in just a few seconds. There were just so many of them...

Before he could start to panic, however, Kurt closed his eyes remembering some advice his mother had once given him when he had asked about her days as a professional performer:

Just focus on the music and let the audience fall away until it doesn't matter if there are a thousand people watching you (like Kurt right now) or only one person is.

And he listened for those first marvelous sounds of music. When he hears the notes the rest of the world starts to fade away as he starts to dance...

After that first performance Kurt quickly became a legend in the whole performing arts world and everybody suddenly wanted to be in his good graces. At first Kurt was beyond than happy about this new development: he finally had friends, people who not only had the same interests as him but also the same dreams and were equally as ambitious as him - people who were just like him.

Also he got to do something he had thought he never would: he dated.

It started with one of his semi-friends asking him out for coffee and talking with him for hours about his great fashion sense and so on (with Kurt carefully avoiding any talk about his family - he really didn't need to kill the mood by going there on their first time out). Later found them half-naked and making out in one of their dorm rooms' right up until curfew.

For the following few months Kurt felt like was flowing on cloud eleven - that's how happy he was: He had several good friends who always liked to go out with him or see him perform as well as an amazing, attentive boyfriend who respected his boundaries (even though he had admittedly gone all the way already) and he always managed to get good grades and stayed at the top of class (although it took some effort, but he was never lazy and appreciated the challenge).

Having somebody there to instruct him turned out to be really great (and time sparing for that matter), especially during his single classes, which came along with his scholarship where he was easily able to follow the corrections of the teacher - some of which he probably never would've realized were even there, had he been by himself. He loved One-on-One sessions the most because he could focus entirely on his own dancing - without having the distraction of 19 other people dancing right next to him or (more often than not) seeming to be watching his every movement (when they should better watch their own if the horrible pose he saw from some of them was any indication).

Of course Kurt wasn't perfect either: he did lack some technique (although nothing major that the school couldn't help him correct with some time and training) - he simply needed some coaching.

Anyway, the fascinating thing for everybody to see was the power he held, the way he was giving his whole soul to his dancing, throwing himself into it... that wasn't something you could learn it was primal, intuitive - a gift, simple.

For the first time in what now seemed to be rather years then months Kurt was truly happy about the way his life was progressing... - he should have known from experience that it wouldn't last long.

By the time holidays - the first ones he would spend by himself - came around he was feeling all alone all over again. None of his friends (nor his boyfriend) were able to spend time with him - everyone was away visiting their relatives during the short winter break they had from school. It was hard for him to say the least: He didn't have the energy to set any decorations up or cook some fancy dinner like it had been family tradition for what seemed like ever, so he simply stayed in bed and tried to will the days to pass quicker, only getting out to make his way to the dance studio for his daily training routines. He couldn't await for his mates to finally get back.

However when they did it wasn't like anything he had expected or anticipated: The short break he got away from them seemed to have opened his eyes and slowly but surely he began to notice all the little things - like the fact that they always seemed to be taking pictures of or with Kurt, which always ended up online with a big caption like "My good friend - Kurt Hummel", or when one of them would practically beg him to repeat a dance routine for the hundredth time just so they could see it again and more often than not secretly record it without consulting him about it...

It all began to unnerve Kurt but he kept quiet and just let them go on with it thinking that's just what friends do (he really didn't know better, after all he had never had any friends before).

What made him snap was his so-called boyfriend Eric blatantly telling him one day that he would "make it worth his time" if Kurt would just lay in a good word with the faculty for him. That's what finally opened Kurt's eyes: He told him in not-so-kind words to get all the stuff he brought with him and GET THE FUCK OUT OF HIS ROOM - IMMEADIATELY! Judging by the shocked look on his (now ex-)partner's face, that definitely wasn't the reaction he was expecting from Kurt but at least he didn't seem to be stupid enough to take the warning lightly but got up from the bed - where they had previously been tangled up in one another - and in less than two minutes grabbed his shirt from the floor (where it had been discarded earlier that night) as well as all his other stuff and quickly fled the scene.

Only when he had left did Kurt let the tears - which had been threatening to fall - finally leave his eyes and stain the soft surface of the pillows resting underneath his head. Curling himself up into a ball Kurt cried for hours without end until he finally managed to slip into a fitful sleep, his dreams plagued with thoughts of self-loath:

How could he have been so stupid and think anybody would ever want to be with him? He should've known better. He just wasn't a person people wanted to spend their time with (if it wasn't absolutely necessary). That's why he never had friends before. And it's also why he will never have true friends. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt though. He had believed it - the illusion they gave him, had willed himself to believe it wanting to give himself to it completely. He wanted his first time to be with Eric. If only for a chance not to feel so lonely anymore, that even in a crowded room he felt alone. People will always just want to use him or bring him down somehow. As long as he would keep letting people into his heart they would keep breaking it, and he didn't know how often he would be able to pick the pieces up again....

After that fateful night Kurt realized that his supposed friends were just using him for their own purposes - so he just cut of all contact with them and vowed to focus solemnly on his school work, because even if he already exceeded the expectations of every teacher and student at Juilliard he would be damned if he let not only them but also himself down, now. When school stated up again in January there was a new Kurt: He was still friendly and polite to everybody he encountered - maybe with the exception of his ex - but he didn't engage much with the other students anymore and just kept to himself more and more...

Of course, everybody noticed the sudden change in demeanor but nobody said anything - well at least not in front of him - it just began to add to the legend that already was Kurt Hummel.

About 3 weeks into the second semester Kurt got called into the dean's office and was introduced to Claude one of the world's most famous ballet luminaries, a former dancer - who had starred in at least 40 different productions in all the big cities - and now educator looking for an exceptionally talented student to study under him, to become his protégé and receive his unique coaching - including single lessons and many other vantages. And after having heard about Kurt's abilities he thought he might've found what he was looking for in him, so he invited Kurt to dance for him.

Needless to say that Kurt was thrilled to be given this opportunity, which others could only dream of - even if Claude wouldn't choose him as his student he would at least be given some much valued feedback which he would use to improve his skills.

He put much thought into what his show piece should be, but in the end decided again to just use something that reflected his feelings - mostly because it was the only thing he became excited over during the preparation process.

So spring break found Kurt - once again - in the dance studio, where all the new auditions are held, dancing his heart out in front of a stranger. A great part of his future depending on whether or not they would like his untraditional fashion - after all he had never heard of anyone else choosing to create a whole new routine to "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables rather than just using one of the (in his opinion: boring) classics...

As it turned out he wouldn't have needed to worry because Claude wasn't much of a traditionalist ever and very much liked Kurt's performance - going as far as to call it fameux - and made him his new apprentice without thinking about it twice.

With all the new workload the rest of the semester just seemed to fly by Kurt - Claude was a great mentor, but since he wasn't employed at Juilliard his training wasn't counted as school work but as Kurt's free time - not that he was complaining, no Kurt loved to spend every minute of every day with his passion, living his dream. Summer break almost came as a surprise to him. And it left Kurt with an awful lot of free time in his calendar that even his (how Claude always called them) exagérée training sessions wouldn't be able to fill. So considering he was pretty much broke and only living of his small excess of scholarship money (which really didn't last long in view of his expensive taste in fashion and skincare products), he decided getting a summer job was a probably good idea.

Because of his rapidly emerging fame he naturally got a lot of offers to perform in many great ballet productions, however he declined them all: He didn't want to quit school because a part of his dream had always been to not only dance in the great sold-out houses all over the world but also to be able to teach, when his time in the spotlight would be over. He wanted to make others dreams come true and for that he would need a degree and dropping out of school thus wasn't an option. Besides he didn't feel quite ready for the big stage yet, he knew his technique was still far from perfect - natural talent or not.

Luckily for him people had not only noticed his dancing abilities but also his great sense of fashion and (with a little help from a few of his more influential fans) Kurt was actually able to land a summer internship at Vogue of all places. He would mainly be there to answer the phone and get coffee for everybody, but he was also allowed to attend the creative meetings and the pay wasn't bad either - besides it was Vogue.

He couldn't believe how lucky he had gotten: They were flexible with working hours which allowed him to keep up with his daily training routine and they also only needed him to work 5 days of the week so that he still had plenty of free time to just relax and get his mind off of all the things in his not even remotely stress-free life.

Sometimes he just missed his parents really bad, it was then that he didn't even want to get out of bed in the mornings but knew he had to in order to keep himself in form - so he just stood up and got through the day on autopilot - the only thing displaying his foul mood being the slight hunch in his shoulders when he made his way to the dance studio where he was allowed to practice for 6 hours every day during the summer.

All trace of these thoughts left his mind as soon as the first notes of "Wake me up inside"(which he had decided on working on just for the fun of it) filled the room and he lost himself in the - by now oh so familiar - music.

When the song ends Kurt slowly becomes aware of his surroundings again - namely of the big vintage train station clock located on the rear wall just left of the big floor-to-ceiling windows which graced to wall to Kurt's right. And when he did notice it his eyes became almost comically wide as he was taking in the time - it was already half-past four, he had been lost in the music and dancing for five hours straight and he would most definitely be late for work (again).

Sighing he grabbed his back and turned towards the door to leave... that's when he first noticed that he wasn't alone in the room anymore. He startled. Standing there in the doorway of the studio intently starring at Kurt was a short boy with dark brown curly hair and pretty amber eyes, he was wearing jeans and a simple button-up shirt paired with a black cardigan and a matching bowtie - not really a style Kurt would go for but it suit him quite well.

The boy's amber eyes widened as they made contact his Kurt's own glasz ones and for a moment they stayed just like that.

It was Kurt who finally broke the silence - having gotten over the initial shock - as he non-committedly asked:

"Is there a reason why you are staring at me now? I mean, do you maybe need help or do you just like to try and scare people to death for your own amusement? "

The curly-haired boy seemed taken aback by that and his voice was shaking slightly when he answered:

"N-no... I ... I am actually on my way to the music department? "

"Is that a question? " That made the strange boy laugh quietly.

"No, I will be studying Music and Composition here in the fall and I just wanted to look around for a bit, while I'm in the city. You know get familiar with the whereabouts of everything..."

"Well you're definitely wrong here - the music wing is on the exact other side of campus. Just head outside and be on the lookout for the purple signs, they will lead your way", Kurt explained to him while he made his way out of the practice room.

"Thank you. My names Blaine by the way. And not that I know a thing about ballet but I think you are really talented", the boy - Blaine - complimented him as he made to follow him down the hall.

"Yes, I have been told before, thank you", Kurt responded but there wasn't any arrogance in his voice, it was simply filled with a lot of pride.

"Do you think I might be able to show my gratitude properly by taking you out for a coffee, now that you finished you training", Blaine asked after only a second of hesitation.

"Sorry I'm already late for work. I'm sure you'll enjoy being a student here, it really is a great school. I have to get going now. Bye, Blaine! "

And with that Kurt turned on his heel and practically bolted away from the building, leaving behind a slightly confused but very much enchanted man standing just outside the dance wing of Juilliard.

They didn't know yet that this small encounter would change both of their lives...