Rory though watched her, not believing for a moment that he had forgotten about her, that he hadn't tried to find her as soon as Santana had mentioned she was in the past as well.

It had all been so overwhelming, though. First there had been being in the past, then there was Santana and Brittany and the whole story they'd weaved for him. Then, he'd started at school and he was suddenly faced with his parents – his very alive Papa. Not for a moment had he had time to think about Sugar and until seeing her on the stage that day he didn't even know that she'd been attending McKinley much less that she had joined the Troubletones.

He resolved to talk to her as soon as he could. Rory had never been a big fan of Sugar, but he'd tolerated her growing up and now she was the only person that could possibly understand what he was going through and boy did he need to rant about how despite all the wonderful things like having so much blackmail on everyone was overshadowed by things like his dad wanting his advice on sex.

He tried to catch her once they were dismissed, and he didn't know how she'd done it, but she disappeared almost immediately. With her went Brittany and Santana.

"Looking for someone?"

Rory jumped.

Uncle Finn grinned at him, "sorry," he said, "Brittany and Santana left pretty quickly do you need a ride?"

Rory always needed a ride. Brittany gave him rides to school, or Santana if she happened to be picking up Brittany and Rory by far liked that option best, but both girls seemed to think that he could get himself back to Brittany's on his own.

"Yeah. Thanks, Finn Hudson."

"No problem. Hey, do you maybe want to come over? A few of the guys and I are going to stuff ourselves with junk food and play video games. Better than going to Brittany's."

Rory smiled widely. "Sure! Yeah, that sounds like fun."

"Cool."

When he got to the Hudmel house, Rory expected to see his parents there, but there wasn't even a trace of Dad's car outside and half an hour later when the rest of the glee guys had arrived, he realized that they weren't coming.

The games weren't that different from what he had in the future, though they were played on different bigger consoles and CDs were still being used. In the future, everything was downloadable directly to the device. But they were still games about war with alright graphics and Rory picked up on how to play after a few rounds.

He was still worried about Sugar and what he was going to say to her once he finally did get to talk to her, but he let himself get lost to the games and the bowls and bags of assorted junk food that Puck and Mike had brought with them when they arrived. The guys were all really cool, and Rory was really growing to like Mike more and more and he wished he'd known him in the future.

"How are you liking America, Rory?" Artie asked.

Rory had gotten better at interacting with Artie during the play, but he was still nervous about talking to this boy that would become an amazing director.

"It's really quaint," he answered, using a word that his dad liked to use sometimes, "it's different, that's for sure and I miss my family, but I like it."

Artie smiled. "You'll see them soon though and isn't it kind of nice not having parents around telling you what to do? I know Britt's won't really say anything to you."

Once, before his Papa had died and before he'd been thrown into the past without the comfort of either his Dad or Papa, Rory would have gladly said that yeah being without parents was the best thing ever. The thing was: it wasn't.

Yeah there were moments when he could decide to stay up late and just watch tv, or he could leave the house without the extra sweater and without having to be perfectly dressed, but all of that didn't matter when he didn't have any idea what to do to get back to his time and the two people he would have relied on to help him out of the mess weren't there.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," he responded and took the control that Puck handed him.

Puck had been acting strange all day and he stared dreamily out the window then. Rory really didn't want to connect all of this to the song he'd done earlier, but he knew it probably did have something to do with it. He'd been shocked when Finn told him about Quinn and Puck having a baby and Shelby Corcoran being the mother, because it was one tidbit he'd never heard about Quinn Fabray, but he knew they were going through a hard time now that the baby and the adoptive mother were back in Lima.

There really was too much drama in glee.

Kurt and Blaine walked in later that afternoon carrying groceries. Grandma Hummel walked in after them and Rory knew he was doing a great impression of a fish because this woman looked nothing like the one he knew. Grandma Hummel was young, here, looking tired but so much younger than when Rory knew her.

"Hello, boys," she greeted, "have you eaten us out of house and fridge yet?"

"Hi, Mrs. H," Puck called.

Mike and Artie simultaneously called out a hello, and Finn got up to hug his mom quickly.

"Oh," he paused as he returned to his seat, "this is Rory. He's an exchange student from Ireland."

Rory didn't expect for her to settle her gaze on him, or for her to smile warmly at him. "Well, hello Rory. Ireland, eh? I bet you're missing your family lots. Who are you staying with?"

For a moment Rory didn't know how to speak.

"The Pierces," his Dad spoke up, "Brittany's family."

She nodded and Kurt and Blaine walked past her towards the kitchen.

"I hope you're liking it here. You're welcome any time, Rory. I should go kick Kurt out of the kitchen. Have fun boys."

Missing from her was that extra little smile that had always been reserved for him, but other than that she was just the same. She looked much younger of course, but her countenance was just the same.

"I'm going to get water," he announced.

The boys didn't say anything.

Rory walked to the kitchen and just watched them. Papa was sitting on a stood contemplating an apple, and Dad was putting things away in the fridge and talking to Grandma who was busy at the sink. This was his family. All that was missing was Grandpa.

"Oh, hey, Rory," Blaine said, "need anything?"

"Water," he said and coughed, "all we have out here are a bunch of fizzy drinks."

Blaine laughed and Kurt straightened up from the fridge to look at him over the door, "boys," he said plain and simple.

Blaine grabbed a glass from a cupboard and easily slipped it past Carole at the sink, pressing down on a button before opening the tap. Carole took her place once he was done and Rory was struck by how comfortably Blaine had done that as if he did all the time.

"Thanks," he muttered when he was handed the glass. He took a sip and looked back at Blaine who was now leaning against the island he'd taken a seat at, "so, um, why weren't you guys here for video games?"

Kurt peeked his head from the fridge again. "Because Finn knows that I'm better than him."

Blaine laughed and Rory couldn't help but join in.

- - -

Finn was an idiot. Rory had heard many stories about how much of an idiot his uncle had been in school, but he'd always sort of thought that they were exaggerations. It wasn't until he completely snubbed Blaine while discussing mash ups for the mash off, to offer Rory a solo that Rory fully understood.

It had been going on for a while, probably since before Rory had gotten there, the way his uncle just didn't even want to consider Papa a member of the club, but Rory hadn't really noticed it until he saw Uncle Finn deliberately try to bait Papa by not suggesting he take the solo.

Instead, Blaine smiled reassuringly at Rory and agreed that it was a great idea, even encouraging him. One look at Finn's face and Rory knew that things hadn't gone how he intended.

Further proof of his Uncle's idiocy came later, when Rory watched from the sidelines as he and Santana threw insults at each other. Rory had been so focused on making sure he hadn't missed Sugar he hadn't been able to say anything more than a stupid line about crops that made everyone look at him as if he were insane. But what made Finn an idiot was how the exchange ended, "Dodgeball…"

"It's a horrible idea," Rachel said when Finn told her later during lunch.

Dad who tried to avoid Rachel as much as possible said nothing, but Rory could tell he agreed.

"Well, we're doing it," Finn insisted.

That's how later that day found Rory borrowing extra gym clothes from Kurt and Blaine including shorts that were way too small on him and made him feel just the slightest bit uncomfortable.

When they got out into the gym, he grimaced until he spotted Sugar. Maybe he could catch her after the game. She couldn't avoid him forever. One thing he couldn't understand was why was avoiding him in the first place. Sugar had known he was coming, she could have looked for him immediately, and she had to be feeling like he did, isolated from everyone else.

In an effort to get out of playing he tried to pretend to not know what dodgeball was, but it was futile. Maybe he should have tried it with someone other than Puck. Then suddenly, Puck was telling him to push Artie in his chair and Rory took the job because he absolutely sucked at sports and he wouldn't embarrass himself by not being able to hit any of the girls.

He didn't expect the game to get so intense so quickly, and Artie turned out to be one of the biggest targets maybe because he was in the wheelchair and all the balls came towards Rory.

When he managed to look around occasionally, to see how everyone else doing, he was surprised at his Papa leaping away from balls and throwing some of his own just as hard. Dad was mostly dodging but throwing when a ball came near him. Rory was close enough to witness the ball he took to the face and hear him cry out over it.

Sugar was good at the game too, and Rory realized at once she must have gotten that from her mom, because Santana was vicious.

When the game finally ended, Rory almost breathed a sigh of relief and then suddenly he felt a new pain. Because although he'd taken tons of hits throughout the game, the balls had mere grazed him or been from far enough a distance to not hurt too much. They also hadn't all come at once.

He was astonished when the first one hit. He didn't understand. Brittany and Santana were sort of his friends, and Sugar was practically his cousin, but they were all throwing them at him. Faintly he heard a shout and his nose felt funny. Familiar arms wrapped around him.

A part of Rory wanted it to be his Dad, not this younger version but the one from his time. He knew it was impossible. He was going to take all that he could get.

- - -

Kurt couldn't believe them. He couldn't even begin to understand why Santana had started pelting balls at Rory when the game was clearly over. What was the point? Was it because Rory had been hanging out with Finn all week and taking his side against her? Kurt didn't know, but he didn't like it one bit. Some sort of protectiveness came over him when he wrapped himself around Rory and yelled at her to stop.

Rory looked tiny in the crumpled ball he'd made himself into and Kurt wanted nothing more than to hug him and then lock him away from anything that could hurt him.

"Come on," he said gently, helping the younger boy up.

Rory reminded Kurt a lot of himself. He had from the moment Kurt met him, being picked on by the hockey team. He was trusting and na�ve as Kurt had been when he started at McKinley, and more than anything Rory was kind and accepting. He and Blaine had discussed it once during one of their coffee dates, the strangeness that was Rory's acceptance of them.

Kurt didn't drop the arm from around Rory's shoulders, letting the other boy lean into him as he did, as he walked him to the locker room.

"At least you're just wearing this hideous gym uniform," he informed Rory as they walked, as if to make light what'd happened, "you won't get blood all over your regular clothes." He didn't add that they weren't much to look at either.

Rory grunted.

Kurt pushed him to sit down and opened the locker he'd used earlier, pulling out the cloth he would have used to clean his face later and taking it to the sink to run it under warm water. When he returned, Rory was tipping his head back.

Trying to be as gentle as possible, Kurt cleaned him up and then pressed the cloth to his nose.

"It doesn't look broken," Blaine said, appearing suddenly.

"No, I didn't think so."

Kurt let Rory tip his head back down, still holding the cloth there. When Rory looked at him, he couldn't interpret what his eyes were telling him.

"fank you," Rory mumbled.

Kurt sat down on the bench next to him and without even thinking about it, reached up to fix Rory's hair. Rory's eyes followed him as if he wasn't real and he was startled when Blaine sat down on his other side.

"It shouldn't have happened in the first place, but you're welcome," Kurt said.

"Are you alright?" he asked, "I mean, besides the nose?"

Rory tried to nod.

"Good."

"I can't believe Santana," Kurt said, not being able to hold it in any longer, "this game of dodgeball was ridiculous to start, but she really was taking it too far. Whoever invented dodgeball is a sick, sick person."

He removed the cloth from Rory's nose. The bleeding seemed to have stopped.

"Go on and wash your face to get everything off and then after you dry off I have the perfect moisturizer for you to put on," Kurt told Rory.

While Rory was off washing his face, Kurt dropped the cloth to the ground and he looked towards Blaine, "even after everything, it's like she hasn't learned that we're still her friends and poor Rory taking the brunt of everything."

Blaine tilted his head to the side, staring at Kurt with a curious expression.

"What?" Kurt asked.

"You really care about him," Blaine said gently and motioned behind him, "the way you jumped to his rescue, it was…"

Kurt almost laughed. "Are you jealous, Blaine?"

Blaine shook his head. "No. No. I just…I don't know, should I be?"

Kurt moved closer on the bench. It was odd than none of the other boys had entered the locker room yet, but Kurt let himself enjoy the moment, "I just feel really protective over him. When I saw him there hurt it was like something took over and maybe it's because I've been there or I don't know, but it killed me to see him hurt."

Blaine leaned his head against Kurt, "it's because you care about everyone. I love that about you." He lifted his head long enough to press a kiss to his forehead.

Rory returned just as Finn, pushing Artie's wheelchair with Mike and Puck in tow entered the locker room. Blaine and Kurt separated and Kurt went back to his locker to get out the moisturizer he'd offered, after all, any chance that he got to improve anyone's skin care was one to take.

Rory smiled in his usual bright way and Kurt was more than glad to see the smile on his face again. Then, he turned to grab his regular clothes to get out of the gym uniform Finn had insisted they all wear. Oh, but he hated his stepbrother and his brilliant ideas. He still didn't fully understand how this solved anything. What did pelting each other with red rubber balls do, other than leave them with bruises? Winning the game didn't make the Troubletones any better.

He redressed quickly and found Blaine with Rory and Mike by the mirrors, the three of them already in their regular clothes.

"It doesn't hurt much anymore, just kind of throbs a bit," Rory was saying.

"As long as you're alright," Mike said and clapped Rory on the back, "see you later, man. Bye Kurt. Blaine. Have to go find Tina."

"Thanks again, Kurt," Rory said, "you're…you're really brave, you know, and I just think you're awesome."

Kurt almost blushed. "Rory, that shouldn't have happened at all," he said and then it hit him. He'd been looking for this in all the wrong places. He knew just what to do. "In fact," he continued, "I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again. I'll have to rewrite my speech, but I think it'll be worth it, and who knows."

Rory looked confused, but pleased and he smiled his smile and Kurt wanted nothing more than to hug him not only because he'd inspired the change he needed in his campaign but because he was Rory and Kurt had an urge to just protect him.

Somehow, Blaine knew just what he needed, and being the guy that he was, he didn't hesitate in saying, "group hug" and pulling he and Rory into a hug almost as soon as the words had left his mouth.

- - -

Blaine was glad Kurt and Rachel were talking again mostly because he knew the two of them missed each other and because Rachel really had been out of line staying in the running for so long. He watched them walking down the hall, talking about everything they'd missed and he smiled to himself. Everything was right with the world.

He went to his locker. He'd gotten lucky and been assigned one near Kurt's. He put his things away and continued in the direction that Kurt and Rachel had gone, not even the slightest bit annoyed that Kurt had forgotten him and headed to lunch without him.

McKinley was turning out to not be the most horrible place in the world. It certainly was not Dalton, but it had its own things going for it, including Kurt. Yeah, there was the occasional jock that tried to push him or Kurt around, but for the most part they had been left alone. Blaine hadn't even been slushied and Kurt liked to roll his eyes when Blaine said that to him proudly at the end of every week.

"It'll happen eventually," Kurt would say, "then you'll see who's laughing."

Blaine had been initially surprised when Kurt didn't immediately take his campaign as a good way to have some anti-bullying stance. But despite hinting at it and suggesting it at one point, he'd supported Kurt's decision to go with the salad bar argument that only he thought was important. The change in stance after the dodgeball game surprised him, especially when it was centered around the exchange student. Still, he was glad Kurt had decided to take bullying on even if he did it through wanting to ban dodgeball.

It was the only thing that had come from the dodgeball game. He paused when he spotted Rory.

"Hey," he called, "how's the nose?"

Rory smiled brightly at him, so genuinely and in almost awe. "It's wonderful," he said, "no harm done."

Blaine liked Rory. He was a nice kid, but sometimes he got the feeling that Rory spent way too much of his time watching him and Kurt. Once, he'd voiced that to Kurt, but Kurt had shrugged him away. Kurt had some strange connection to Rory. He was one of the few other guys that Blaine had seen Kurt touch in any insignificant way. Even with Finn, Kurt avoided physical contact, but Rory got arms around his shoulders, pats on the head, and even Kurt fixing his hair. It was odd.

If Blaine wasn't so secure in his relationship with Kurt, he would have wondered if Kurt wasn't interested in Rory.

"Coming to lunch?"

Rory hesitated. "Uh. Yeah." He looked around for a moment and then walked with Blaine.

"How has everything been so far? You still being picked on?"

"Just sometimes," Rory admitted, "but they aren't pushing me into lockers so much anymore. It's just because of my accent, I think, and well glee."

Blaine nodded. "It's odd for me glee club being so unpopular. The Warblers at Dalton are really popular there for whatever reason. I guess the whole a cappella thing makes it different."

"It sounds like a great school. Those boys in the uniform in the audience during West Side Story were from Dalton, right?"

"Yup. Sometimes I miss the blazer, but don't tell Kurt. He likes trying to dress me up like his own human sized ken doll."

Rory seemed a bit awkward to him alone like this, always staring at him as if he would disappear at any moment, and pausing before speaking as if he were watching his words. Blaine had never seen him like this before and it made him wonder if this was how he acted all the time.

- - -

Sugar wasn't there to witness it, but she heard the whispers after it happened, because it was something that spread like wildfire. Her Mami had been outed, pushed out the closet the door into the jaws of McKinley High's students. Sugar had never heard the story of how her Mami came out and suddenly it made sense, because she hadn't chosen to come out. Instead Finn had practically yelled it out for everyone to hear.

Had Sugar not been worrying about staying away from Rory and running away when he tried to approach her, she would have tried to do something to help Mami out, but instead she'd been hiding from Rory who had actually been present when Finn let the cat out of the bag.

Sugar actually didn't see Santana until the performance. They were all there and Mercedes had taken the reins again. Brittany was with Santana off in the back and Sugar wanted nothing more than to join them and comfort her Mami. But she couldn't. Santana didn't know Sugar was her daughter even though she knew Sugar was from the future.

A part of Sugar wanted to tell her, to just let her know that one day she'd be happy and in love and that she'd have her. But she couldn't do that. So, instead she just watched from afar, frowning.

New Directions went first and Sugar almost couldn't tell Rory and Kurt apart with the two of them wearing the same outfit. She sat next to Mercedes and the two of them giggled from the audience at the fake mustaches and hair. The performance was good nevertheless and Sugar noticed how glad Rory seemed to be up there with his parents. More than a part of her wanted to let Rory come to her. But she couldn't. They told her she couldn't.

She clapped when they were done and then the troubletones were up there in their costumes. They were doing Adele. Adele who even in the future was still known. These were older songs she'd heard once or twice in passing, but still just as good. Her Mami and Mercedes were amazing as they sang and Sugar luckily only had to focus on the dance steps and lip singing occasionally. Dancing was easier for her than anything else.

It was the influence of her mom, she knew. Brittany was an amazing dancer. She taught Dance in the future at a small studio in Columbus, and Sugar had always tried to tag along when she was younger. She was an alright dancer.

When the slap came, Sugar didn't see it coming. Mami's hand landed on Finn's cheek and she walked out. Sugar froze. They all froze.

Afterwards, there was no winner declared, and instead Brittany was off trying to find Santana and Sugar had known she couldn't go looking for her. Instead she went to change back into her regular clothes and then find a way home.

She didn't expect to run headlong into Rory.

"Hi," he said, bright smile in place, "don't I know you from somewhere? Or rather, some time?"