The summer before freshmen year Blaine decided to use the extra-free time and leftover money he had - thanks to his partial scholarship - and (taking his mother's advice) went to travel for a little while. Since he had only ever been to New York once before, with his parents of the age of 10, he thought it would be the perfect opportunity to check out the city he would be spending (at least) the next four years of his life. So after 3 weeks of traveling along the East Coast, with only a backpack containing his clothes and toiletries, Blaine stepped - for the second time in his life - into the city of his dreams.

It was still like he remembered it - he had been sure it would seem smaller now, but no such luck. 19-year-old Blaine Anderson stood in the middle of the crowded Times Square just as overwhelmed by all that is New York City as 10-year-old Blaine had before him. One look up at the tall skyscrapers surrounding him and he knew that would love it here. He had a strange feeling in his gut, almost like he was supposed to be here. Like he belonged. A feeling - he realized - he had been oh-so-desperately longing for.

After spending his first few days in the city - doing all the tacky tourist stuff and seeing a total of three different (on- and off-Broadway) musicals, Blaine had decided on spending the last day of his stay in New York City visiting the campus of his future college. He took off in the direction of Juilliard around noon - knowing that the school was offering summer courses for anybody interested, he knew that he showing up there wouldn't be a problem. After stopping for a light snack in a little coffee-shop near campus - which had quickly become Blaine favorite place in all of New York - he managed to arrive at the school without getting lost in the ever-present crowd of people on the sidewalks of the city.

He decided to first have look at his future housing - having read online that all first time college students were required to live on campus in the Meredith Willson Residence Hall. It was a tall, dull looking white building, which you couldn't get inside of without either knowing someone who lived there or having a keycard to gain access - which Blaine of course didn't (yet), besides it was probably closed over summer anyway - so he didn't spend much time there (just taking a quick look around, trying not to look like some kind of crazy burglar who preyed on mostly empty college dorm rooms).

Moving to find the Music Department, Blaine found himself slightly lost. He had easily found the Residence Hall - considering it was right on the edge of the campus where he arrived and had a big red sign at the front with the name on it, so no problem there. But now, trying to orientate himself without a map at hand, he had not even the slightest idea where to go. Of course there were signposts, but instead of having the name of the location they lead to written on them - they were just painted in different colors (speak of confusing). His best guess would be that each color was probably representing one of the departments or housings - with the red one leading to the freshmen dorms.

So having no way of figuring out which color would lead him to his desired destination, he simply made a beeline to the closest building he saw - figuring he could ask the secretary at the front desk for a campus map or even just some directions. However, upon arriving in the entrance hall he couldn't find anybody anywhere and was becoming increasingly frustrated - that's when he heard it. It was very faint but also most definitely there - music, Evanescenceto be precise. He knew that song really well, having listened to it countless times in the months following the attack, he had been easily able to relate to it at the time and it helped him to find new strength to keep going.

He followed the sound up the stairs to the second floor and down a long narrow hallway, until finally stopping in front what seemed to be a small dance studio (ahhh, he must be in the dance department then) - what he found there wasn't what he expected to see at all:

There, in the middle of the medium sized rectangular room was the most mesmerizing man Blaine had ever laid eyes on. His skin was pale, but not sickly - it looked almost like porcelain. The beauty was wearing a pair of black tights as well as a loose fitted brown long-sleeved top, which looked suspiciously like Alexander McQueen to Blaine. And even through his slack clothes you could still tall that even though he was skinny, he was still muscular and could've easily been mistaken for a Calvin Klein fashion model. He was tall (taller than Blaine, though that wasn't really that hard since Blaine was practically hobbit-sized), but not freakishly so and his stance was perfect - like most dancer's - while he was moving through the room.

Speaking of, his movements suddenly caught Blaine's full attention and he was taken aback anew by what he saw. He had been expecting to see the man perform one of the many modern dance styles like Street dance (a course he knew Juilliard offered during the summer) or even just to be doing some kind of freestyle combination for training purposes. But never in a million years had he thought anybody would be able to dance ballet to an upbeat song like this - and with that much grace and beauty at that. It was easily clear that this dancer knew what he was doing and Blaine found himself quickly enraptured by the whole scene in front of him.

This man wasn't just a performer - no, it was as if he was at home in what he was doing, living there. He seemed to have forgotten everything around him and just lost himself in the music and his rhythmic movements - throwing his all into it whether others realized or not. Blaine somehow knew that other people don't see it, but he did - this man was willingly making himself vulnerable (even if only briefly), practically setting himself up for hurt while he was dancing. Because right there and then he wasn't hiding behind anything, laying his soul out bare for anyone who might come along to step on and break it and just hoping exactly that wouldn't happen...

Blaine admired him for that, because he didn't think he would ever be able to do that himself. For him music had always been his safety net - a barrier he could keep between himself and the world he had learned was only out to hurt him, something he could hide behind rather than use to express himself and connect with others, like this dancer was able to.

It made him sad to see this strange man and his art because it pointed out all Blaine's flaws to him once again. And he really didn't need any reminding that he wasn't perfect, that he just isn't good enough, that is and always will be just a great, great disappointment - his dad had told him as much after all. But he still couldn't keep his eyes away from the beauty of it, couldn't just turn around and walk away - it was as with someone had cast a spell upon and now his limbs wouldn't submit to him anymore. Still it didn't bother him he could've easily stood there and watched this beautiful dancer for the rest of his (anyhow miserable) life. So that's what he intended to do: He wasn't sure how long he stood there and watched the man in the small room move upon - it could've been hours or just mere minutes, he truly couldn't bring himself to care, anymore.

But all too soon it was all over, the music stopped and after a minute it seemed as if the dancer finally took in his surroundings again and realized where he was. Now that the dancing had stopped Blaine took in the whole appearance of the dancer - for the first time without any distractions: Like most dancers' his body was thin and lithe but it also featured several clearly pronounces muscles. He was wearing a tight pair of black yoga pants paired with a dark olive-green wide neck sweater and (of course) a pair of black ballet shoes. He still hadn't noticed Blaine standing in the while he hurriedly grabbed his iPod from the dock as well as his (designer) gym bag and turned to go...

Suddenly Blaine found himself face-to-face with the most mesmerizing glasz eyes he had ever seen - then again he wasn't even sure if he had ever seen glasz eyes before then - and he wondered whether they would really change their color depending on what mood the man was in. Once again he was totally captivated by the man in front of him, so that he almost didn't notice that he had been asked a question and he had to concentrate to remember what it had been:

"Is there a reason why you are staring at me now? "

Oh god he probably thought Blaine was a weird stalker something! He thought for a moment, searching for an answer that wouldn't make him look like some creep - when he came up blank, he decided just to go with the truth:

"N-no... I ... I am actually on my way to the music department? " Blaine silently cursed himself - it was supposed to sound confident, but it came out more like he was unsure.

"Is that a question? "

Obviously the beautiful man in front of him had noticed his insecurity as well and was now apparently mocking him - slightly panicking Blaine tried to cover his anxiety by laughing quietly over the joke.

However after noticing the look the dancer was now shooting his way he hurriedly explained:

"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..."

Seemingly accepting his statement Blaine was hastily given the right directions:

"Follow the purple signs! "

Well, at least now he knew that he was at the wrong site of campus and how to get to his original destination, but he couldn't just let this lovely male get away like that - he had to at least show his gratefulness in some way and maybe getting him to go out with him... But first things first: An Introduction was required!

"Thank you. My names Blaine by the way. And not that I know a thing about ballet but I think you are really talented", Blaine told him with a supposedly flirty smile.

However the man just seemed to want to get away from him as fast as he could, simply replying:

"Yes, I have been told before, thank you. " There was obvious pride in his voice, but Blaine couldn't really concentrate on it because he was too busy following him practically bolt out of the room.

He hesitated a second thinking maybe this was a bad idea, before reconsidering and just going for it - now or never, he thought:

"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", he finally asked in a maybe too hopeful sounding voice.

He hadn't expected the response he got at all:

"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! ", the beauty told him before he turned on his heel very nearly ran out of the building.

The dancer had been polite and helped Blaine, but he had seemed somehow reserved while talking to him, almost calculating... He abandoned him without ever telling Blaine anything about himself, not even his name - but he still left behind a slightly smitten Blaine in a hallway of Juilliard.

And he would be not able to get the beautiful male with the angelic voice and enchanting dance out of his mind until they should inevitably meet again.