It was the Saturday before school started again after the summer break, and Rachel had all but demanded that Kurt come over to discuss potential songs they could sing in Glee this year. At some point, Rachel's dads had called her downstairs to talk about something, but judging from the creaking of the stairs, she was coming back up. Kurt glanced up for half a second when Rachel stormed back into her room in that typical Rachel-like manner, before turning back to his phone. It wasn't unlike Rachel, after all, to storm in and out of the whatever room whenever she wanted, so he didn't think anything of it now, even if they were having a sleepover and Rachel usually kept her storm in and outs to a minimum on those occasions. Rachel, however, didn't seem to appreciate his lack of attention, if her dropping back down next to him on the bed and placing her head on his shoulder was any indication.

Trying tentatively to get his shoulder back and make sure his clothes didn't wrinkle too much, Kurt asked, "Rachel? What's wrong?" In response, the girl just groaned, and alright, now Kurt really had to get his shoulder away from her face.

"It's my brother," she spat eventually, contempt clear on her face.

"Your… brother?" he asked. "Since when do you have a brother?"

Finally lifting her head (Kurt's clothes sighed in relief), Rachel glared half-heartedly at him. "Half-brother, actually," she corrected him. "Blaine Anderson. He's always been there, just not… around much. One of my dads apparently had a fling with some woman at some point and she got pregnant, and bam! Half-brother."

"Okay." Kurt wasn't exactly sure what to do with that information.

"He always lived with his mother, he even has her last name. But now he's coming to Lima. To McKinley." She groaned again. "He always ruins everything, and now he's going to ruin my senior year."

"Are you sure you're not overreacting?" Kurt asked carefully. "I mean, I'm sure he's not that bad, right?" On the other hand – he wasn't sure if McKinley could handle another Rachel Berry.

She huffed. "I'm definitely not overreacting. Just wait, you'll see it for yourself."

o-o-o-o-o

When Monday came around, Kurt kept an eye out for any kid that looked like Rachel Berry. At some point, he'd almost gone so far as to ask a freshman if he was related to her, but the boy had gotten away. He hadn't seen Rachel all day, so he hadn't been able to ask her to point out her brother. Knowing Rachel, though, she would probably drag this Blaine kid to Glee rehearsal. He was probably an amazing singer if he was related to Rachel.

Kurt wasn't sure what to think of that, though. It would mean even less solos for him than he got now.

On his way to his final class of the day – English – he did see a rather short guy who bore some resemblance to Rachel, but he had to be at least a junior, if not a senior. Kurt wondered why he'd never seen the guy around before; he was amazingly good-looking.

Good-looking enough, at least, to make Kurt collide with a stray trashcan in the middle of the hallway because he was too busy sneaking glances at the new guy. With a face as red as a fire truck, Kurt hastily scrambled up and almost ran into his English class.

Unfortunately, he was by no means safe there, it seemed. Almost as soon as he'd sat down, the handsome guy walked in as well, and Kurt didn't know whether to be mortified or happy. As if it wasn't bad enough that he'd already made a fool out of himself in front of the new guy, he was now even in his English class. On the other hand, this meant that Kurt had a shot (a small one, but a shot nonetheless) at getting to know the guy.

He was surprised, however, when the guy didn't sit down, but instead remained standing at the front of the classroom. His feeling of dread grew worse when the guy placed his bag next to the teacher's desk and went to close the door.

"Good afternoon, class," the guy – no, man – said, and a few students muttered a reply. Kurt, however, sat frozen in his seat, hoping that the man wouldn't be looking his way the entire hour – no, better year, the entire year. Naturally, that was the moment he caught the man's eye, and he looked away instantly, hoping that his blush wouldn't be too obvious. He also couldn't believe the words that came out of the man's mouth next. "My name is Blaine Anderson, and I'll be your teacher this year."