Kurt always tried his hardest to make it through the school day with his head down, keeping out of harms way, simply walking from class to class by himself and avoiding the jocks. He had come to realise that there wasnt safety in numbers by travelling with the other glee kids between their classes, but rather that groups attracted other groups- and their small group of three would only take more impact from the slushies when they were thrown in their faces by five guys than one each.

Where he stood, even walking around with Santana or Brittany or Finn didnt help much, because the status of one person really didnt help the other out at all. Even with Finn as his new step-brother, the bullying had only faded for a few days. Going from "Hudsons faggy friend" to "Hudsons brother" had helped, but all too soon he was just "Hudsons faggy brother".

Unlike the other glee kids Kurt had the added hassle of having a personal tormentor. Karofsky would throw coloured goo on the others, but he wouldnt go out of his way to slam them into lockers the way that he did with Kurt. No day was a safe day in Kurts books.

Karofsky hadnt turn up to school one day for whatever reason, and Kurt had just been greeted by an enthusiastic shove into the locker and then to the ground by another jock- he was too tall with dumb hair and a face that was so conventionally handsome it was boring- with the shout of "That was for Karofsky, fairy! He asked us to pass the memo on. He wanted to be here to do it for himself, loser, but he let us do it! You know he doesnt let any of us touch you except for him, huh, fag?" Kurt didnt try to get to his feet right away.

It wasnt until he examined himself in the mirror that night that he realised that he was much more bruised across his shoulders from the impact than he tended to be. Not that Karofsky was noticeably gentler in his locker shoves, but it wasnt usually so painful afterwards that Kurt had to lie on his front to sleep without pain shooting through his back every time he moved. The newer jock was making the most of the opportunity to attack him in Karofskys absence- and Kurt couldnt help but wonder what he had meant by Karofsky not allowing any of the other jocks to injure him. It wasnt protective. It was keeping Kurt for himself to abuse. And Kurt had nowhere to go.

"Kurt! Why are you in such a hurry? Let me walk you out to your car at least, boo," Mercedes said, rushing up to him and looping their arms together as they walked down the empty hallway after glee. "I know it looks like we arent getting solos for sectionals, but thats no reason to shoot off like that. I feel like I havent seen you in forever." Kurt knew that Mercedes worried about him like any best friend would, and he also knew that he had been distant lately. With everything going on with the bullying, he had become more and more reserved, and he had no plans to stick around at school for a moment longer than he had to. The building was his personal tier of hell.

"Im sorry, Cedes. I just have to get home today; I have a French speech to write, and I cant get away with reciting the French lyrics for Defying Gravity again," Kurt said, and it was a complete lie. He did have to write a speech, and he had recited Defying Gravity for a speech in the past, but the presentations werent for another two weeks and he already had a lot of class time to work on it.

"But youre so good at French! You could make it up on the spot, I swear!" Tina chimed, having caught up to them. Kurt hadnt even noticed her arriving.

"I could, if I was happy pulling Bs. But I need the French grades if I ever want to study abroad." and god knows France is the furthest place from Karofsky. Mercedes frowned but let him go when they got to his Navigator. Kurt accepted the hugs from his friends, but he wished that they would give him a little bit more space sometimes.

Ever since Kurt was old enough to walk down the road from his house to the park on his own, it had become his designated thinking space. When he was younger he would swing. When he got a little bit older he would bring a book to read. At his junior year, he had moved house, it had been a long time since he had gone to the park by himself, and he didnt know what else he was meant to do. The park was buzzing and there wasnt a single quiet space for him to find and sit quietly on his own, so he shared a bench with an elderly couple who gave him a concerned smile when he sat down and began to read. The couple left and Kurt was barely two pages further in than when he had gotten there.

"Nightbird, theres been another break in at the Hutchsworth mansion. I need you to come with me to check it out." Kurts attention was torn away from the pages of Les Misérables at the conversation happening before him. Two guys, both dressed in elaborate superhero costumes, were the source of the chatter. He rolled his eyes and tried to return to where he was reading, but had lost his place. Bitterly, he marked his page and sat back, trying to make sense of what they were talking about.

"Again? What does she have that JetCat could ever want?" the younger looking hero said, "I thought you had the amulet." The more Kurt looked at him the more he realised that he was very attractive, and the tight fitting bodysuit left little to the imagination. Nightbird was toned around his arms and chest, and it was no secret.

"I do. Right here." The older hero pulled a plastic necklace with a comically large medallion on it from under his suit, before quickly tucking it away. "But I get the feeling that JetCat wasnt involved. The break in just isnt her style. It isnt perfect enough. But the attempt looks close..."

"Glameow?"

"Thats what Im thinking. And we know that she doesnt do it to take anything. She does it to prove she can. Come on, Nightbird. We need to get over there pronto." The older hero swooshed his cape and the younger- Nightbird, he had been called- followed suit, and the two "flew" off together and out of earshot, in the direction of some other people, who were clearly anticipating their arrival. Other heroes were jumping around in the small playground, and Kurt figured they were all one group.

A girl with cat ears and crutches hobbled over to Kurts bench and sat down beside him, looking over at the group that Nightbird and his friend had flown off to. "I should have stayed over there. The Hutchsworth plot involves me fairly directly," she said, following it with a sigh as she set her crutches down and her leg in a cast up on the bench. "Les Mis, huh? Have they published it with musical breaks yet?"

Kurt took a moment to realise that she was talking to him. "Oh, uh, no. Its an ambitious read, I know, but I have a lot of time on my hands."

"We could use some fresh blood," the girl- a young woman really, she looked to be in her mid-twenties- said. Kurt glanced back over towards the heroes. "Curious, huh?"

"A little," Kurt admitted, "I just cant really figure out whats going on."

"Erica," the girl introduced, holding her hand out for Kurt to shake.

"Kurt."

"Well, Kurt, what would you like to know?" He thought about the question for a moment, looking over to the group. Nightbird held the hands of a girl behind her back while the other hero tied them in place. Beside them stood two others who werent in such obvious costume, a boy in heels with a feather boa and a younger girl with a leopard print cardigan, both ranting about something. The heroes nodded along, but it was clear they didnt have many thoughts on the matter.

"Whos Nightbird?" Kurt blurted out, his eyes not leaving the group. As soon as he had said it he felt a blush spreading from his neck. Luckily, Erica laughed.

"The nocturnal avenger! Dont let anyone in Dreamweaver hear you say that. Everyone knows Nightbird. Hes a rising star. Not only is he dashingly handsome, hes apprentice to White Wings over there, and, when White retires from the Defenders, hell be the new leader of the hero side." Kurt looked at her blankly. "His name is Blaine, and yeah, everyone thinks hes gorgeous. Just ask Hadley. Shes the blonde over there." The girl put her hands on Blaines shoulders and leaned close to his ear, whispering something. Of course someone as gorgeous as the superhero had a girlfriend. Stupid Hadley and her leopard print cardigan. "You should stick around after the session times out and meet everyone. Theyre all nice people. We dont bite, honestly."

"So why the costumes? Youre all just... playing pretend?" Kurt asked.

"No, no. Its Live Action Roleplaying. More like... extended improv acting. We do our plotting, then we get into character and we act it all out. Its fun, until you jump out of a tree and expect to have cat-like reflexes and break your leg." Erica gestures to her leg in a cast and sighs.

"How often are you here?"

"Well our location shifts around. We LARP here about this time every week, when the weather is nice. We usually meet up three times a week or so, but its not compulsory or anything to go to all the sessions, if you dont want to. Luke and I, Hadley and Blaine are always here, at least. When we dont get enough people then we just call it quits and get coffee instead."

"So if I came back at this time next week..?" Erica grinned.

"Then we would be here and you can lurk on us some more. Im getting this damn attention whore of a cast off next week, so JetCat will be back to her villainous ways. And theres nothing the defenders can do about it. Oh, Lukes looking over here. Give me a moment." Erica adjusted her top to show off her boobs better and raised an eyebrow over at the hero. He managed to avoid looking for long enough. "Damn. Hes so solidly White Wings that he cant pay any attention to his fiancée. Go figure. Dont date a LARPer when you cant LARP alongside them." Kurt nodded, pretending that he knew what she was talking about, when he really didnt. He hadnt dated anyone, nor had he even heard of LARPing until a few minutes ago. "Hey, Kurt? It would be really cool if you stuck around. You might want to have a go yourself in a couple of weeks."

"Thanks, but I really should be getting home. Maybe next week," Kurt said, standing up. He took a few steps away from the bench before turning back to Erica. "Say I did want to get involved, how much would I have to know about superheroes?"

"Better question, how much do you know about boys in bodysuits?" Erica quipped, raising an eyebrow.

"What exactly is the right answer?"

"Just say that you like looking at Blaines and Ill let you go," she said disinterestedly, inspecting her nails.

"Okay, fine. Blaine is... cute. And now Im going to leave before you force me to talk to him."

"Wise move, Kurtsies. See you next week." Kurt climbed into his car and drove home, hating how curious he was about how the whole thing worked. He wanted to try. He wanted to befriend Erica, who had teased him about boys in bodysuits, but never once batted an eyelid at his response. Suddenly, Kurt realised that he might have found a new safe haven, a place that remained totally untouched by school- a saving grace that not even glee club had.

One week. It takes Kurt one week to fall in love with the idea of Blaine.

The next week, Kurt didnt bother to bring a book with him to the park. He had spent a lot of the week wondering about the people, the odd teenagers in superhero costumes and the older two who facilitated the activity. Every time he thought about it, his mind would drift back to Blaine, the boy he had never even spoken to, but had been so gorgeous and whose smile had called Kurt back.

Erica waved to him when she first arrived with the others, but he watched as she slid into her villainess persona and didnt give it up. Kurt still couldnt really understand what was going on, but tried to pick out the familiar faces. The groups had changed up from the week before, and he couldnt work out why Blaine- Nightbird, Kurt supposed, since he was in character- was talking to the villain who he was holding in place for the other hero last week. The two seemed friendly with one another when they should be enemies.

All too soon Kurt found that he was watching Blaines every movement. The way he smiled, nodded, talked with his hands. He imagined Blaines hands holding his, the strong arms around his waist, his beautiful lips ghosting against his...

"Can you hold this for a second?" a blond boy about his age asked him, holding out a costume policemans hat to Kurt. He recognised the boy from the week before, someone in the roleplay, and took it from him.

"Sure."

"Thanks. When Dovetail comes by in a minute or two, you didnt take it and neither did I." Another hero name; Kurt wasnt sure if he could keep up. The boy sat down on the bench next to him, whistling in forced nonchalance. Another boy walked over to them and glared at the pair on the bench.

"Excuse me, sir," he said, not aiming it at Kurt, "but I need to ask you to return the hat. Ill pass it on to the Constable, no hard feelings, and he wont call your parents..." he looked down to see the hat in Kurts hands. "Oh," he said, "we can deal with the issue in, erm, ten minutes." The hero walked off, shrugging at the boy pouting at him.

"I knew that would work," the blond said to Kurt, whose eyes were stuck back on Blaine, "Im going to be in so much trouble though."

"Its not really that worth it though, right?"

"Im not meant to be acknowledging your presence, voice in the park. Here in Dreamweaver we dont believe in communicating with that which we cannot see. But all the same, Im going to cut you some slack, because you just saved my butt from the cops. It isnt worth it, no, but I get a certain rush from it. My counsellor says I have behavioural issues." Kurt, purely baffled by the boy, simply nodded, pretending to have understood most of what had just happened. Erica walked towards the bench, stopping halfway to blow a kiss to the heroes behind her. When she reached the bench, she tapped it twice, and slowly all the other LARPers ended their conversations and assembled by the bench, each tapping it. Kurt found himself stuck in the middle of the group, and no one seemed to mind.

"Jeff, you idiot! You went completely out of character there for a moment!" the boy who had approached them about the hat said, whacking him gently in the arm as he flopped down onto the blonds- Jeffs- lap. Jeff didnt seem to mind the new company.

"I didnt, Nick! I even explained that I wasnt talking to him! Right?" Jeff looked at Kurt for back up.

"Right. He said that he didnt believe in communicating with spirits or something," Kurt said, "you want this back?" he held the hat out to Nick, who took it and passed it to another guy.

"Ethan, its yours," he said.

"Nope, its Carltons. But Ill take responsibility for his actions," Ethan replied, taking the hat and putting it on.

"Okay, so the Jeff thing is sorted. Any other LARP stuff to cover?" Erica asked. The teenagers all looked at her blankly. "Great, well, as per usual next Saturday is our monthly plotter, anything that needs going in the larpwriter should be emailed to Luke, and please wash your suits because you all smell like teenage boy."

"Rude," Hadley said, looking to the girl who Blaine had been talking to, "Marley? Any help here?"

"Actually, Leo got a bit cuddly before. I do smell like teenage boy."

"Sorry," a boy said, and Kurt figured that he must be Leo. He had his arms around Ethans shoulders affectionately.

"Is that all, Erica?" a beautiful voice said calmly. Kurt looked over to find that the owner of the voice was none other than Blaine- and the velvet smooth tone to his voice was even better than he remembered. He stood slightly to the side, his cape huddled around him like a blanket, keeping to himself. Luke and Erica held hands. Nick was sitting on Jeff. Leo and Ethan were cuddling loosely. Marley and the others stood close to one another. Blaine was a stark contrast to all of them, and it made Kurt wonder if he was reserved on purpose or if he simply didnt have anyone to be physically affectionate with in the same way.

"Yes. Your mom needs you home?" Erica asked with a concerned tone. Blaine nodded. "You can go. See you on Friday?"

"Oh, um, I dont know if I can make it yet."

"Just text us or something either way, okay?"

"Yeah, Ill do that. I should get going." Blaine said, offering a wave to everyone. A chorus of bye, Blaine followed.

Ethan pecked Leo on the cheek and said, "I should head off too. See you all on Monday!" He slid out of Leos arms and half-jogged over to Blaine, offering to give him a ride home, which Blaine visibly accepted.

"Oh, everyone, this is Kurt. Kurt, everyone," Erica introduced, "he might join us soon, right?"

"Yeah, maybe. I still dont really understand whats going on," Kurt admitted, suddenly incredibly self conscious in the middle of the circle. Everyone seemed to be looking at him, and though he knew he should take it as them being interested and attentive, it was a little intimidating.

"You need a character first," Luke said, "any ideas on that part?" Kurt shrugged.

"Ill help you!" Marley said brightly, "do you have any time after school in the next couple of weeks? Or we could do it at school, if youd like!"

"You go to McKinley?" Kurt asked, feeling terrible that he had never even seen the girl before. She nodded. The group began to disband around them.

"Youre in the glee club, right?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I was going to audition at the beginning of the year, but then I looked up some of your old performances and Rachel Berry is terrifying. I could never step through that choir room door. I just wasnt going to live up to the expectations."

"You wouldnt have to. I thought it would be clear that we all just sing back up for her. You dont have to be able to match her standard, because its not like you would ever get a solo anyway." Kurt sighed slightly. He wished that he was over exaggerating.

"Oh, well, I think youre really good, anyway. Its a shame you dont get to sing more." Kurt was sure he could feel a blush spreading to his cheeks and willed it to go away. He knew he could sing, but it was still nice to hear it every so often.

"So, Marley, when are you free to do this character stuff with me? I really have no clue where to even start. I suppose it would help if you could explain where everyone elses characters fitted in, too."

"I dont do very much outside of the LARP, to be honest. Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

"I promised my friends that I would hang out with them. Monday?" Marley shook her head.

"We have a session. Tuesday?"

"Okay, deal. Tuesday it is," Kurt accepted, putting a mental block in his calendar. Marley suggested that they walk home from school together, and Kurt was more than happy to do so. It would save him a few explanations at home as to where he was going, and he could avoid being cornered at his car by Tina or Mercedes. Soon the group was diminished down to Erica, Luke and Hadley, who were clearly waiting for everyone else to leave, and Kurt took his cue to go.

Marley, though she may have seemed initially shy, seemed to have warmed up to Kurt by Tuesday, and she didnt stop chattering away for the whole walk to her house. She only lived a couple of streets over from McKinley, which meant that there wasnt a whole lot of time for them to fill with conversation. They easily slipped into polite background buzz more than anything else, asking one another about their classes and clubs, bonding over mutual hatred for certain snooty teachers and recapping the latest episode of Sing.

When they got to Marleys house, she toed off her shoes at the door (so Kurt followed suit) and she was very quick to lead Kurt through to the kitchen and immediately fix a plate of snacks. "Is it really lame that I do this every day?" Marley asked, picking up the plate.

"No, no," Kurt said, "its sweet. Thank you." He followed her into the living room- it wasnt a small room, but it was filled with so much furniture there was hardly space to breathe- and settled onto the worn couch. Marley sat beside him and placed the plate down on the coffee table.

"You can put your feet up on the table, or whatever. I know it can be kind of awkward when you first go to someones house and really, you dont have worry about anything," Marley said shyly, "but on the other hand, do you mind if we watch Degrassi before we start on roleplay business?" Kurt did his best to contain a laugh, but it obviously wasnt good enough because Marley dropped her head into her hands. "I knew I shouldnt have brought it up," she said, stifling her own laughter, "do I take that as a no?"

"Which season are you watching?" Kurt asked, "I havent watched it for a few years." Marley gaped at him.

"But you did watch it? In all its teen drama glory?"

"Yeah, but Im not up to date with any of this new stuff. Youll have to catch me up again." Marley visibly didnt stop grinning from the time she set up her DVD to the time she hit play on the episode. She pointed out each character as they popped up, and by the end of the episode, Kurt felt as though he knew enough that he could pick it up again, despite it being an older season.

"You probably liked Marco best in season seven though, right?" Marley asked, folding her legs under herself.

"Should I be offended that you picked the one gay character on the show?" Kurt replied. Marley clasped her hand over her mouth.

"Oh my god, I didnt mean it like that. I didnt want to assume anything, Im so sorry. I wasnt even implying that you are gay, I swear, I honestly just thought that he would be your favourite!" Kurt couldnt help but laugh at the situation. He had put his friendship into the right girl from the roleplay, he could just feel it.

"Marley, calm down," Kurt said through his laughter, "Im not upset."

"Oh, good, good."

"Maybe we should just move onto character stuff," Kurt suggested, and she visibly relaxed.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan to me. Have you thought about it at all? Like, do you have any kind of starting point?" Marley found some paper and pens and placed them on the table, ready for note taking.

"Um, not really. I was hoping that you could explain all the other characters to me first, and then I could see where I can fit in, or something." He wasnt really sure what kind of clarity he was expecting, but he was hopeful for some kind of progress in his understanding of the group and the interactions between the characters.

"Okay, good point." Marley split a page into two columns, labelling one player and the other character. "So we have Luke, who plays White Wings, and Erica, who plays JetCat," she began, writing things down in the columns as she went. "White Wings is the leader of the Defenders, and JetCat is his arch nemesis. But they have a sort of flirtatious relationship. Then theres Nightbird, played by Blaine. Nightbird is White Wings apprentice of sorts, and hes training to take over leadership when White eventually retires. On the same sort of tier as Nightbird is Glameow, my character. She kind of wants to be a villain but isnt that good at it, and JetCat doesnt like her very much. Leo plays Hawkbeak, a sort of minor hero, who works independent of the Defenders. They are the heroes and the villains." Marley ruled a line underneath the names so far. She glanced at Kurt, who was still following okay, took a deep breath and continued. "No town would be complete without some civilians. So we have Unique, played by Wade- but dont you dare call her that, she is Unique all the time to you- who is a famous starlet, really vulnerable to the villains. Yvonne, her best friend, is played by Hadley. Miss Tigressa is a model, also very rich, and has a sort of evil streak. Ethan plays Constable Carlton. Nick and Jeff play teenage best friends, Drew and Braxton, but whereas Braxton gets into trouble for fun, Drew has a hero persona, too," Marley reached the end of explanation and put the pen down. "So, your character. Hero, civilian, villain?"

"I dont really know enough about superheroes to play one," Kurt admitted, "but I think I can handle a civilian."

"Great! Well, theres our starting place." In the next half an hour, Kurt and Marley pieced together a character. Marley asked Kurt questions, which he tried his best to answer in character, and she noted down his answers. They had a frame for his character, which Marley assured him would be fleshed out best in time, as he simply played the game and plotted with the others.

Kurt was to play a fresh out of college journalist with a fascination with the town of Dreamweaver, where no one seemed to question the presence of the heroes and the villains, having just move the town following his parents and working in their bar. It set him in an ideal starting spot, from what Marley told him, as he had reason to interact with nearly all of the characters at some point or another, and that he would spend some time with Ethan in character initially, or so she thought, and that it would benefit him because Ethan was such a lovely person.

"So, theres one thing left for your skeleton," Marley said. Kurt raised his eyebrow at her. They had covered a lot more about his history than he was expecting, and couldnt think of anything that they could have possibly missed. "You need a name."

"How did the rest of you come up with your names?" Kurt asked.

"Lets see... I accidentally named my character after a Pokémon- its just what happened when Leo was the one to help me make her, the way Im helping you. The heroes have bird imagery and the villains have cats. Unique has always chosen that name for herself, but Hutchsworth- thats because she couldnt pick between Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. I think Jeff and Nick used a name generator."

"I think I have an idea. Marley, who is your favourite Degrassi couple?"

"Peter and Darcy," she answered quickly. Kurt considered it for a moment.

"Darcy Peterson."

"I love it. Kurt, youre so good at this!" Marley complimented, "Im glad were getting Darcy in Dreamweaver." Kurt had no idea what kind of drama his humble bartender could stir up, but he was excited to find out.