McKinley's hallways were buzzing with excitement; after all, it was only one week until prom – and even though it was just junior prom, it was as if the entire school would be going. Prom queen hopefuls were campaigning like never before, and their kings stood by their side in support, be it only half-heartedly.

One of the students who weren't exactly excited about prom was Kurt Hummel. Another was Mercedes Jones, his best friend. Nearly everyone in Glee club – in other words, nearly all their friends – were paired off perfectly, while neither of them even had a potential date. Even though Kurt loved the idea of prom, he didn't want to go unless with a date, and since finding a prom date was virtually impossible for a gay teen in Ohio, he and Mercedes had made extensive plans for the prom night, and none of those involved actually going to prom. He was well aware of the fact that neither of them were very happy about having to make such plans, but that was life.

During the next Glee meeting, a group of girls was discussing prom dresses, and Kurt would normally be jumping in excitement (though not literally – he had some dignity left, even after all the bullying that was still going on and still being largely ignored by the teachers) and offering to help them, but it was kind of depressing, not going to his junior prom.

It got even more depressing when Mr Schuester walked in and wrote 'prom' on the white board, in that typical all-capital-letters writing he always used. And then he dropped the bombshell: they were all expected to sing at prom. By the time Mercedes walked out, Kurt had just about had it as well, but before he could go after her, Rachel already did so.

"But Mr Schue," Finn said from his spot next to Quinn, "we don't really have to perform at prom, right? Remember that deal we made at Regionals?"

"Deal?" Puck asked, turning around in his chair. "What deal?"

o-o-o-o-o-o

"There they are," Rachel told Finn. The boy looked rather uncomfortable, walking with her like this, most likely because she'd just dragged him along, regardless of what his girlfriend would say. "Now, remember what we discussed?"

Finn actually had no idea, but he didn't want to risk angering Rachel, so he just nodded. She had probably told him the plan while they'd walked, but he'd been entirely preoccupied.

When they arrived where the other group was sitting, Rachel cleared her throat dramatically, and the Dalton boys looked up in surprise. "Warblers," Rachel addressed them, "we have a proposition for you."

The boys exchanged confused glances, but in the end, three boys walked towards the two McKinley students and introduced themselves as the Warblers council members. Finn didn't really know what that meant, exactly, but again, it was probably better to stay silent.

"What do you propose?" the Asian boy asked once they were a safe distance away from the rest of the group.

Rachel nudged Finn, but he just looked at her, bewildered, so she told the Warblers about her idea herself. "My idea will… spice things up a little, if you will," she said, a brilliantly scary smile on her face. "The loser of this competition will perform at the winner's prom. Whether at junior or senior prom doesn't matter, even though there are no seniors in our own group."

"Why?" the boy standing at the Asian boy's right asked, frowning.

"It'll make our win even sweeter," Rachel answered without missing a beat. "Or yours, but I wouldn't count on that if I were you. We're really good."

"What if Aural Intensity wins and they don't announce who's in second and third place?" the last boy asked, pointedly ignoring Rachel's last sentence.

Rachel scoffed. "That won't happen. And in case it does happen… neither of us will be performing at the other's prom."

The three boys exchanged looks, silently discussing the proposition, before the Asian boy shrugged. "That doesn't sound too bad," he said. "We'll do it." He shook hands with both Rachel and Finn, after which his two friends did the same thing. Once he and Rachel had exchanged contact information, they all left to fill in their respective groups – or, in Rachel and Finn's case, to not do so.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"You made a deal with a couple of Warblers without asking any of us what we thought?" Artie asked.

"What if we'd lost?" Mike added, and Puck scoffed.

"No way I would've sung at that gay school's prom."

Kurt glared at him, but of course, Puck didn't notice.

"But we didn't lose!" Finn exclaimed. "So all we have to do is get Rachel to call them up and have them come and sing all night long."

Mr Schuester looked thoughtful. "We could do that… but since they're an a cappella choir, they'd all be up on that stage the entire time, for hours. I think it'd be better if all of you sing some songs as well."

Everyone seemed to think that was a fair deal, and in the end, they were sent away with instructions to pick a couple of songs they'd like to sing, whether as a solo, a duet, or with a larger group. Kurt sighed quietly; he would tell his teacher tomorrow that he wasn't actually going to prom. Right now, he'd have to track down Rachel and Mercedes, and make sure neither girl had killed or maimed the other.

As it turned out, this was a rather easy task. When he approached his locker, Kurt already saw Rachel leaning against it, and he slowed his pace. Judging from the look on her face, she must be planning something, and Kurt didn't know if he wanted to be a part of it.

"What is it, Rachel?" he asked as she moved out of the way to let him have access to his locker.

"You have to come with me," she told him earnestly. "I have an idea."

Kurt shot her a look. "Does it have to do with the Warblers apparently having to perform at our junior prom? Because Finn already told the entire club about that."

She looked caught off guard for a moment before regaining her composure. "No, it does not. You'll have to just come with me and see. And listen."

Because he didn't have to listen to Rachel Berry speaking enough on an average day. With a long-suffering sigh he managed to keep in for the most part, he turned back to her. "I'm not going to be a part of one of your crazy plans, Rachel."

When he shut his locker, though, Rachel grabbed his arm and tugged him along through the deserted halls of the school, towards the auditorium.

"You'll want to hear this, Kurt. It's one of my more amazing ideas, if I do say so myself."

As they entered the auditorium, Kurt was surprised to see that Mercedes was there as well. "What's going on?" he asked, equally suspicious and bewildered.

"We have a proposition for you," Rachel told him, and Kurt was instantly reminded of how Finn had described their meeting with the Warblers at Regionals.

"We were wondering if you'd like to go to prom with us," Mercedes continued, and Kurt frowned at her. Hadn't they already decided that they weren't going? When he voiced this, she said, "I know we did, Kurt, but… don't you want to go to prom? We know it's not how you'd envisioned prom, none of us did. But at least we'd be going with friends, and it'll be fun. We don't even have to stay all night. It's… prom. What girl or gay guy doesn't dream of that?"

"I'd say those dreams usually involve a real date, and not some weird kind of three-way date with two… friends." He glanced at Rachel. "Why are we even taking her anyway?"

Mercedes pursed her lips together to prevent laughter from escaping, but Rachel looked affronted. "When I'm a famous Broadway actress, you'll be glad you got to go to prom with me," she huffed, and Kurt just raised one eyebrow.

"Or are you just hoping that when Finn sees you with me, he'll want to steal you away from his very gay stepbrother?"

"I thought we were all friends," Rachel avoided his question, still seeming angry.

Mercedes sighed. "We'll all just go together." Catching Kurt's look, she added, "It's not like it matters anyway. Everyone's paying for their own stuff, and even if we go without her, she'll hang around us the entire night anyway."

"That's true," Kurt admitted.

"And think about all the stares you'll be getting when you walk in with not one, but two girls," Mercedes continued happily.

"They'll all know it's true," Rachel said, grabbing both their hands in hers. "The gay guys really get all the girls."

o-o-o-o-o-o

That was exactly what Puck said once Kurt got home and Finn wondered out loud what had taken Kurt so long. In reply to Puck's exclamation, Kurt just rolled his eyes and went upstairs, leaving his stepbrother and his best friend to the video gaming. He still had mixed feelings about agreeing to go to prom with his friends. Yes, he'd always wanted to go, but with a date – a real one, a male one. And it didn't even matter that he'd be going with two girls, and not just one – two girls didn't make a guy, as far as he was concerned.

So when Rachel approached him again the next day, he inwardly wondered if it was too late for him to pull out. Maybe he could fake illness on the day itself. That would probably be his best option.

Much like the previous day, Rachel proceeded to drag him towards the auditorium, but not before hunting down Mercedes as well. Well, at least Kurt wasn't the only one who had to suffer.

"Rachel, what's going on?" he asked as they entered the auditorium the same way they had done the day before. "What are we doing here?"

"I think a better question would be, what is he doing here?" Mercedes corrected him, and as Kurt followed her gaze, he almost groaned out loud. Just when he thought this whole week couldn't get any worse.

"Jesse just happened to be in town," Rachel said, slowly moving to her ex-boyfriend's side. Kurt couldn't help but notice she sounded slightly nervous. "I invited him to join our… group for prom."

"Do we get any say in this?" Mercedes asked the question Kurt had been just about to ask as well.

"Haven't you learned anything from what he did to you last year, Rachel?" he asked instead.

Together, Jesse and Rachel tried to explain what had happened, then and now and in between, and how she'd changed her mind and much more than either Kurt or Mercedes had asked for. Kurt suspected that they'd simply used this as a way to get them to agree, simply because they got tired of hearing Rachel and Jesse talk. He had to admit (albeit grudgingly) that it worked perfectly.

"They probably wouldn't even notice if we didn't go," he told Mercedes as they walked out of the auditorium, where Jesse and Rachel remained behind, supposedly to practise some or other song.

Mercedes poked his side. "Rachel's already bought us all tickets, so she probably would. Not sure if Jesse would, what with the hearts he has in his eyes when Rachel's around."

"What?" Within moments, Finn was standing before them, and he stared at them incredulously. "What did you just say?"

"Jesse St James is back, and he's going to prom with us," Mercedes summarised what had happened earlier.

Sputtering indignantly, Finn made to step around them and (most likely) march off towards the auditorium, but Kurt grabbed his arm. "You can confront Rachel tomorrow. Now, you're coming home with me, seeing as I'm your ride and our parents won't be happy if one of them has to come and pick you up from somewhere on their way home."

Needless to say, Finn was uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the night, and Kurt feared that things would only get worse during the remainder of the week. He hoped he could stay clear of all the drama as much as possible.

o-o-o-o-o-o

When prom night came around, Kurt still wasn't sure if he was making the right decision in going, but since his friends (and Jesse) were counting on him, he got ready anyway. Initially, he'd planned on making his prom outfit himself, but seeing as no one in his homophobic school would appreciate his fashion genius anyway, and it wasn't like he had a date to impress, he'd decided against it. Instead, he'd joined his father and Finn when they went to the local tux rental shop. He wasn't too happy about having to rent something, but in the end, he fortunately managed to find something he approved of.

After making sure that he was completely ready, he headed towards Mercedes' house, where the group had decided to meet up – after all, neither Rachel's dads nor Finn would be all too happy to see Jesse again. The dinner at Breadstix was largely uneventful, but that was mostly just because none of them made all too many scathing remarks – if they had, it would've been a fight of (nearly) epic proportions – and instead, they just stuck to acting polite. This made Kurt even wearier of Jesse's presence, but he had no choice but to put up with him for the night. Hopefully, he'd be gone for good after tonight.

As soon as they arrived at prom, Rachel grabbed Mercedes and Kurt by the arms (once more) to find a somewhat private spot for the entire Glee club to discuss who was singing when. Of course, they had already figured this out, but Rachel, being Rachel, apparently had no faith at all in the memorising skills of her fellow Glee clubbers.

Rachel then went to greet the Warblers (and, most likely, to gloat a little too), and since she couldn't bring Finn along again (if the iron hold Quinn had on his arm was any indication), this questionablehonour went to Kurt and, by extension, Mercedes.

"I feel like the only thing we've been doing this week is being dragged along by Rachel," Mercedes muttered under her breath as they walked a couple of feet behind the other girl, and Kurt nodded in agreement.

"We'll find a way to make it up to ourselves," he promised her.

They came to an abrupt halt when Mercedes bumped into Rachel, who was standing still with her arms crossed. "They said they'd be here by now," she complained. "Do you think they didn't come?"

"I wouldn't blame them for staying away from a school like McKinley," Kurt answered. Those private school boys wouldn't know what hit them here. He could only hope that nothing bad would happen to them; that nobody would give them any trouble, because he had a feeling that Rachel, and quite possibly the rest of their club as well, would be held responsible.

"Sorry we're late," a voice suddenly came, and a group of over a dozen boys clad in tuxes was standing in front of them. How they'd managed to sneak up to them so quietly was beyond him, but he definitely didn't mind them being here, if he was honest.

"Where are your uniforms?" Rachel demanded.

The Asian boy at the front just eyed her curiously. "We thought that tuxes would be much more appropriate for a junior prom than our school uniforms."

"It'll also help us blend in more when we're not performing," another boy remarked. Kurt noticed that, while Rachel could probably see the logic in that, she wasn't happy about it, for some reason. Maybe she'd thought it would be more humiliating for the boys to perform in their uniforms, because it reminded them, and everyone else, of the lost competition?

After exchanging glances with Mercedes, Kurt smiled hesitantly at the group. "We're glad you could all make it."

This also snapped Rachel out of whatever trance she was in. She nodded stiffly before calling out, "Just follow me to the gym." As she stalked off, the others stayed where they were for a moment longer.

"Sorry about Rachel," Mercedes eventually told the Warblers. "We know that she can be completely insufferable."

"We should've locked her up in my basement ages ago," Kurt muttered.

"Except that's where you lived up until a few months ago," Mercedes pointed out. Kurt shrugged; that was true.

"You lived in your basement?" one of the other boys asked, sounding completely shocked.

"Yeah, I did," Kurt replied. "Why? It was the biggest room of the house."

"So it wasn't – " the boy continued, before another Warbler jabbed him in the side, shutting the boy up.

"Let's just go," Mercedes suggested, and she pulled Kurt along to the auditorium, at least walking a little slower than Rachel did. As they walked, she asked the three Warblers who had appeared on her other side, "Why on earth did you even agree with Rachel's crazy idea?"

The dark boy shrugged. "It's not that bad. We don't mind performing. Plus, if we'd won, we would've had an awesome group performing at our prom, right?"

"You two are… together?" another boy who'd just caught up with them asked, glancing curiously from Mercedes to Kurt.

"What?" Kurt was somewhat flabbergasted, but Mercedes just smiled at the boy.

"We're here on a group date with Rachel and her ex-boyfriend, but since that ex-boyfriend seems to want her back – "

"Even though her other ex-boyfriend, who's dating another girl now, doesn't like the idea of that at all," Kurt interrupted her, and Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Yes, that's right. Because of that, I suppose you could say Kurt's my real date. But not my boyfriend, just my best friend. We're both too fabulous to find dates in a town like Lima."

The Asian boy grinned. "Well, you never know. Some of the Warblers don't have a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend, for that matter. Maybe one of them'll strike your fancy."

While Mercedes beamed at him, another boy burst out laughing. "'Maybe one of them'll strike your fancy'? Really, Wes? Who even still uses that expression?"

As the boys continued bickering on their way to the gym, Mercedes pulled Kurt ahead. "I think I'm starting to like this particular idea of Rachel's a little more." Kurt could only agree with that.

o-o-o-o-o-o

About twenty minutes later, Kurt started to appreciate Rachel's idea even more. Although an a cappella group would probably be no one's first choice for a prom band, the songs they sang were pretty awesome, and, it seemed, well-received as well. What shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did was the fact that all the boys, and not just the lead soloist, were very decent singers. After singing a few songs a cappella, they, like New Directions was planning on doing, had the band play some songs while one or two of them sang a solo and the others just hung around the gym.

He and Mercedes had danced for a bit (because, as they had already predicted, Jesse kept dancing with Rachel), but now she was preparing for a performance. Once more, Mr Schuester had shown his obvious preferences for certain songs and singers, as Rachel had more solos to sing than, for instance, Mercedes, who, in turn, would be on the stage more than Kurt. It kind of sucked, as he loved performing, but at least it gave the other students less of a chance to hurtle insults at him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

When Wes had broken the news about their deal with New Directions to the other Warblers, there hadn't really been any protest. Most boys had actually been pretty excited either way, and Blaine desperately wished that he could feel that same way.

The problem was, he couldn't. None of his friends knew, not even his dorm mate or the people who'd first talked to him when he'd arrived at Dalton, but Blaine was not a fan of dances. How could he be, when the last dance he'd attended had ended with getting beat up and being in the hospital for a week?

He would've been fine if only the Warblers had won – dances at Dalton, he'd heard, were strictly supervised and there was no chance that a fight could break out; besides, if he really hadn't wanted to go, he could've stayed in his dorm instead. But of course, the Warblers hadn't won. They had to go to McKinley High to perform at junior prom. A public school. Since Blaine was more or less their unofficial lead singer, he couldn't remain behind. He'd just have to trust his friends and the McKinley High staff and students that he'd get out of the school unscathed by the end of the night.

So far, nothing bad had happened. There had been no incidents involving Blaine or another Warbler and one (or more) of these McKinley students. Their songs had been generally well received so far, as far as he knew, and now he and some of his friends were huddled together near the punch bowl, watching people dance and listening to the New Directions kids sing.

As it turned out, the various people singing at the competitions weren't the only ones able to belt out a song. While the current duo was singing a classic Beatles song, Blaine noticed the bossy brunette they'd met earlier (Rachel?) was waiting impatiently in the corner of the stage, most likely waiting for her turn. The song was barely over when she marched forward and ushered her friends off stage as she got ready to sing another solo (from what Blaine had seen and heard, this was her third tonight).

"I hope they do more Beatles songs," David remarked. "They sang it really well."

Blaine nodded in agreement as he watched the boy leading the girl off stage and then handing her over to what he presumed was her date. The girl on stage had started singing another ballad, which, it seemed, was her forte, and all the couples started dancing again.

"This is a pretty depressing song," Jeff commented as the girl reached the chorus.

"Yeah, it's not really a prom song," Wes agreed.

"Well, that's Rachel for you," a voice came from the other side of the table. It was the boy who'd just been on stage – and who'd also been part of the welcoming committee. He smiled somewhat apologetically. "She doesn't always think before she sings."

"You were really great up there," Blaine offered before realising it.

The boy, however, just smiled at him, almost seeming surprised. "Thank you. You're all amazing as well."

"You've got a really unique voice," Wes said – as if the boy didn't know that perfectly well himself. "All-male groups would kill for a voice like that in their midst."

The boy blinked. "Well, obviously mixed groups don't, or I'd get more solos. But I'll live."

"Where's your date?" David asked, glancing around.

"I think she's with one of your friends," the boy replied, smiling to himself.

"Doesn't that bother you?" Wes frowned slightly at him.

"Not really." The boy shrugged. "She's my best friend, she deserves a shot at happiness. Don't you want to dance, though?" he changed the subject slightly.

"We've all got girlfriends," David responded. "Well – obviously Blaine doesn't, but…"

Blaine tried to glare at David, but seeing as his friend wasn't facing him, it didn't help much. Could he have been more obvious? He might as well have walked on stage and told the entire student population of this school that Blaine was gay.

It seemed, though, that the boy either hadn't picked up on it, or he was just ignoring it. "And your girlfriends are completely opposed to you as much as dancing with other girls?" he asked, raising one perfect eyebrow.

"I guess not," Jeff replied. "If that's all. Still, that's not reason for us to actively go and seek out girls to dance with, right?"

All of a sudden, Trent was standing next to them. "We should go get ready. Apparently, it's our turn to sing a couple of songs again."

They quickly said goodbye to the boy, and only when they were out of sight, Jeff said, "You're usually more talkative than this, Blaine. What's wrong?"

Blaine glanced up, surprised. He honestly hadn't expected his friends to catch onto his lack of enthusiasm tonight. He couldn't tell them the reason, though – this wasn't the place for that, and besides, it wasn't like they'd be in a situation like this again anytime soon. "Nothing's wrong, Jeff. I'm fine."

Wes smirked. "Yeah, I bet you are. Is he your type?"

Blaine nearly tripped over his feet. "What? Who are you talking about?"

Wes rolled his eyes. "That guy. Kurt, I think? Is he your type?"

Now, Blaine flushed. "I don't even know him. How am I supposed to know if he's my type. Besides, who's to say he's even gay?"

"Oh, come on, Blaine," David said. "Surely your gay-dar went off, right? Plus, he's here with his best friend. Who's a girl."

"That's incredibly stereotypical, David," Wes said, and Blaine pulled a face. "But he's kind of right, Blaine. That Kurt kid? Definitely gay."

Glancing over his shoulder, Blaine could just make out what he thought was the top of Kurt's head. Awesome as it was to almost randomly meet another gay guy in Western Ohio, the timing couldn't have been worse. Why couldn't Kurt just go to Dalton, or why hadn't they met at one of the competitions? Why did it have to be at a school dance, of all places?

He tried to clear his head instead, as Wes was making them all warm up again, after telling them the songs they'd be singing now. There was actually only one group number; after that, some individual Warblers (or small groups) would take the stage. Blaine didn't have to sing a lot of songs with instrumental back-up, since he had solos in all the group songs.

As they got on stage to sing, Blaine glanced around, like he'd also done the first time they'd performed. There were lots of people who could be threats, but there seemed to be just enough teachers to prevent anything bad from happening. Once the song started, Blaine was able to relax a little. Performing was still what he loved to do; he always enjoyed it.

He then noticed the boy, Kurt, out of the corner of his eye, and he was somewhat shocked to see that Kurt was looking at the stage interestedly. The two girls next to him – one of whom was his date, and the other was a girl Blaine had noticed trying to dance with almost every guy in the gym – were talking about something, and sometimes, the boy replied (at least, Blaine thought so; his lips definitely moved), but never took his eyes off of the group on stage.

When the song was over, most Warblers scurried off again while Wes started singing some song Blaine didn't know, but thought it might've been a song by some or other Asian artist – Wes had been listening to those kinds of songs for months now. Plus, the Asian couple near the front beamed happily at Wes as he sang.

Without even noticing where he'd been going, Blaine suddenly found himself face to face with Kurt again. The two girls had left again – Blaine thought he saw them both holding onto Nick rather forcefully, and for a moment, he felt bad for his friend.

"So, you're like the Rachel Berry of the Warblers?" Kurt asked, sounding curious, but smirking just a bit.

Blaine, realising that he'd been staring somewhat blatantly after Nick and the two girls, turned back to face the other boy. "Sorry, what?" he asked, not really understanding.

"Rachel," Kurt said, "she's our… self-proclaimed star and demands the solos in every performance. A very short brunette?"

Oh, right, that girl. "I… suppose?" Blaine replied, not too sure about his eventual answer. "It's not like I ask for every solo, but the others seem to… feel like my voice is the most suitable for the songs we sing." Kurt nodded thoughtfully, but before he could say anything, Blaine held out his hand. "I'm Blaine, by the way."

"Blaine," the other boy repeated, shaking his hand. "I'm Kurt. And it's good to know that there are show choirs in Ohio with soloists who don't have an ego the size of the state itself."

"Bad experiences?" Blaine asked, and Kurt looked at him somewhat oddly.

"Well, as I just said, Rachel, although nice at times, can also be very overbearing when she wants to, very bossy. She makes half of the group want to strangle her whenever she opens her mouth. And as said, her ex-boyfriend suddenly showed up again, and he's also very full of himself. It's actually surprising that they managed to date each other without their egos getting in the way."

"Right." Blaine wasn't sure what the girl's ex had to do with Kurt's argument, but he chose not to press the issue. "So, are you already getting ready for Nationals? It must be great to go to New York."

Kurt seemed to agree, if the way his face lit up was any indication. When he proceeded to tell Blaine that preparing thoroughly wasn't exactly a phrase that could be found in any New Directions member's dictionary, Blaine wondered just how these people managed to even be in competitions, let alone win them. He let it go, though, when Kurt admitted to wanting to go to college in New York, which was something Blaine had always been dreaming of as well. It was nice to be able to talk about that to someone who wanted to get out of Ohio as well – not just because nothing interesting ever happened there, but also because it wasn't exactly gay friendly. Kurt, too, seemed surprised to just happen upon another gay kid in this area.

They were interrupted a few times when either Blaine or Kurt had to go up and perform, but they always found each other again. Blaine wondered if it was really a smart move to hang out with the school's known gay kid the whole night, but he found that part of him didn't care a whole lot. The part that did care made sure that they were always standing near where a teacher was as well. Besides New York, the two talked about their Glee clubs as well. They weren't competition anymore anyway this school year, and it wasn't as if they had very valuable information anyway.

"Tell me more about Dalton," Kurt suggested at some point. "I actually thought of transferring there a couple of months ago, but my dad doesn't really have the money, and my friends suddenly started looking out for me a bit more." He shrugged.

Blaine smiled sadly, knowing fully well what Kurt's reason for transferring would've been, even if the boy hadn't actually told him. "I could talk about Dalton for hours," he responded. It was true; there were so many stories to tell, about the education, the non-bullying policy, his friends' antics…

Kurt just grinned at him. "Then you'd better start talking, right?" So Blaine did. Every now and then, Kurt would ask a question or tell a story of his own, and suddenly, Blaine realised that he'd probably missed a couple of Warblers performances. He hoped Wes wouldn't be too angry, but then again, nobody had come to drag him to the stage.

They were interrupted, however, when the prom king and queen were to be announced. From where they stood at the back of the crowd, they could barely see the principal on stage, and for a moment, Blaine thought about the sheer ridiculousness of how eager everyone seemed for the announcement.

When the prom king was announced, Blaine glanced at Kurt, only to find the other boy glaring stonily ahead. "What's wrong?" he whispered, nudging Kurt as lightly as he could.

Kurt frowned at him. "That guy who was just crowned prom king. He's… the biggest bully of them all."

Before Blaine could respond to that – or even come up with something to say – the principal went on, and something odd seemed to happen. Before he could even announce who'd become prom queen, many people in the gym started muttering about something, some even glancing around. A few moments and a metaphorical kick in the gut later, Kurt was all but sprinting away from him and out of the gym, as Blaine kept staring at the front in disbelief.

Then, before he could rethink his decision, he turned on his heel as well and ran after his newfound friend. Even though his legs were shorter, he eventually managed to catch up with Kurt, and it pained him to see the other boy like this. Kurt had told him that he initially hadn't even been planning to come, but his friends had convinced him anyway. Would he still have been chosen prom queen if he hadn't even been there?

He had no idea what he was saying, not really, but Kurt was responding and crying, and Blaine had to wonder how other kids could be so cruel, and why the faculty hadn't reacted in any way. Why had the principal read out Kurt's name, not even considering the effect it would have? Why hadn't he just randomly picked one of the girls on stage, even though she wouldn't really have won? Everything was better than this.

Blaine had, at some point, sat down against the lockers, when he'd realised that there wasn't really anything he could do to help except maybe be there. And where were Kurt's friends anyway? Did they really trust some guy they hardly knew to make sure Kurt was alright?

"What do you think I should do?" Kurt asked suddenly, hesitantly sitting down as well, nearly out of Blaine's reach.

"I don't know," Blaine replied, and he'd honestly never felt more useless than he did now. "I have to tell you something," he then blurted out, again without thinking it through. He couldn't believe he was about to tell a boy he'd only met a few hours ago about something he hadn't even told his closest friends about. Life could be really messed up, it appeared. Kurt turned his head sideways, studying Blaine curiously, but not saying anything. "At my old school… the one before Dalton… I was bullied as well. As soon as I'd come out, hardly any of my old friends would talk to me, and… it sucked. Then a dance came up, and I took one of the only friends I had left and who was openly gay as well. After the dance, a group of guys… beat us up and we both ended up in the hospital." He sighed. "My parents transferred me to Dalton as soon as I got out."

"Blaine," Kurt muttered. "I'm so sorry."

Blaine shook his head. "Don't be. I – I still feel so stupid, so… weak, for just running away."

"I'd hardly call that 'just running away'," Kurt remarked. "It wasn't safe for you to stay. I get what you mean though. It must've felt like… you were letting them win." After a few seconds, he groaned and added, "Which is exactly what I'm doing right now."

"Kurt, no," Blaine protested. The last thing he'd wanted to do was make Kurt feel guilty or anything. It didn't matter; Kurt had already gotten up again, and was now dusting himself off. His face was grim.

"I'm going back in there and get coronated," he said softly. "Then I'm going to dance with my bully and just… get this over with."

Not quite sure how to react, Blaine just gave him a small smile. "Just make sure to stamp on his feet the whole time." For some reason, that remark brought about another smile. Standing up as well, Blaine took a breath. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, feeling somewhat anxious. What if this went completely wrong?

"Completely sure," Kurt answered, already walking back to the auditorium with a confidence that Blaine could only hope to attain when he was performing on a stage. Shaking his head to rid his mind of any thoughts he shouldn't have, he hurriedly followed Kurt back to the gym.

When he arrived, Kurt was already on stage and about to be coronated. Blaine chanced a look around, only to see everyone look completely shocked by the fact that Kurt was actually brave enough for this. The recently coronated prom king was looking rather uneasy, Blaine noticed. All this made him even prouder of Kurt than he already was, and the whole idea that he was this affected by someone he'd just met was somewhat overwhelming. Still, he happily joined the applause that was, most likely, started by one of Kurt's friends.

He held his breath to see what would happen when the principal announced that the prom king and queen would have to dance, and once more, he questioned the man's sanity. Why on earth did he go through with all this? Didn't he realise that neither boy wanted to dance with the other because the larger boy apparently made the other's life at school a living hell? Without fully intending to, Blaine started pushing his way towards the front, not sure if he was going to find his friends or Kurt's friends or give the principal a piece of his mind (though the last one seemed the least likely option). Before he got there, though, the prom king was hightailing out of the gym, leaving Kurt alone in the middle of the dance floor while two of his friends had started singing again. And why were they going through with this?

And was he really going to do this? He owed this boy nothing, after all. He'd been so scared of situations like this for so long and this could only end badly. But when no one else did anything (for which Blaine glared at the short brunette he believed was Rachel for a split second), he did move forward, step by step, until he was only a few feet away from Kurt, who positively beamed at him as he extended his hand and alright, maybe it was worth it after all. It was awkward at first – they were both guys, who was even supposed to lead? – but before long, they got the hang of it and other people were even joining in. At first, it was only the New Directions members, but eventually, most students were dancing again.

After one more dance, some girl Kurt seemed to know came to steal him away, and Blaine managed to find his fellow Warblers again, even though his legs were shaking. Some of them clapped him on the back or the shoulder and talked to him and he might've talked back, but he couldn't remember much of it later on.

He could not believe he'd just done that. He was just calming down a little when Kurt approached him again – which his friends seemed to take as their cue to get up and stand a few feet away, in order to give them some privacy without leaving completely.

"Thanks," Kurt said quietly as he sat down next to Blaine. "Really, Blaine. Thank you. I didn't think anyone was going to – you certainly didn't have to – "

"I would've wanted someone to step in and help me out that night," Blaine muttered in reply. "It was the least I could do."

"Thanks anyway," Kurt told him again, reaching out to gently squeeze his hand once before letting go again. "If you're worried about that, by the way, I'll ask a few of my friends to get you back to your car, if you want."

In the end, Kurt didn't even need to ask – at the end of the night, the Warblers and the New Directions members were the only ones left and thus, they all walked outside around the same time. It did make Blaine feel a little safer, though.

As he and Kurt stood next to Kurt's car – out of earshot but within the others' peripheral vision – and exchanged phone numbers in order to keep in touch and maybe even go on a coffee date or two, a sudden idea occurred to Blaine.

"Hey, Kurt?" he asked, glancing around another time for good measure. "Would you, maybe, want to go to Dalton's prom? With me, that is. I mean, it's probably nothing special, but it's a prom and at least there won't be any people who'll ruin your evening. Unless you feed Jeff and Nick too much of the spiked punch, that is." That had never gone well at some of the Warblers exclusive parties Blaine had tentatively attended, after all.

He finally looked up at Kurt and was somewhat surprised (but also rather pleased, if he did say so himself) to find the other boy blushing slightly. "You more than made up for that," Kurt muttered, and Blaine wasn't sure if he was supposed to have heard that. "But yes. I mean, that sounds like fun. I would have to ask my dad, but… that sounds great, Blaine. I'd love to go with you."

Blaine didn't think he ever stopped grinning on the way back to Dalton.