"Lucy."

"Blaine, I don't know what you're talking about." Quinn went back to working on the project, frantically turning pages.

"Luce," he said. "You can stop pretending." Blaine softened his face. He knew this was how she acted when she was afraid. She seemed immensely nervous.

"D-Don't call me that." Quinn wouldn't let Blaine's eyes meet hers. Her eyes were shifting between looking at her pencil case and a portrait of citrus fruits on the wall.

"Don't call you what?" he questioned. "Lucy? Luce? Cece? Lulu? I used to call you that all the time." Quinn's hands were shaking.

"No!" she exclaimed. "My name is Quinn. Quinn, Blaine." Quinn finally looked at Blaine. Her lower lip was trembling and her eyelids were squinting just a little. She exhaled a shaky breath.

Through the panic and anxiety in her eyes, Blaine also saw tears threatening to fall. It hurt him to see her like this. He really missed his best friend. This would be a chance to reconnect after so many years.

"If you don't want me to call you Lucy, I won't." Blaine said with honest eyes that were sparkling. He laid a reassuring hand cautiously on top of Quinn's. He was relieved when she didn't retract her hand from beneath his.

"Thank you." she said quietly. They were silent for a while. Quinn because she didn't know how to explain her situation and Blaine because he was waiting if Quinn would say anything at all. He knew not to push.

So many questions were swimming in his mind. He couldn't take not knowing. Was there something wrong with him? Was that why she left? Quinn had to tell him someday. Why not today?

"Why?" he questioned her.

"I..." she began. "I felt terrible about myself. The summer before I, um, left I joined ballet and got into gymnastics and cheerleading. I lost weight. I got a nose job. I just hated the way I looked." She exhaled slowly.

"So," she said. "I transferred to McKinley for a new start. I'm never going back. I saw you in the hallways. I didn't tell you I was Lucy because I didn't want you to find out what I did to myself. I was and still am afraid you'd hate me." Blaine nodded in understanding.

"I would never hate you, L-Quinn." he said with a calming smile.

They were quiet again.

Blaine ruminated on the new information. He now understood where Quinn was coming from. He wished she would've talked to him like she usually did, though. He could've helped somehow.

"How have you been?" Blaine asked with a tender voice. Quinn and Lucy truly seemed like two different people. The Lucy portion of Quinn had to be in there somewhere.

"I've been... okay." she said. Both of them had small smiles on their faces. It felt so strange, so bizarre, so peculiar to be seeing Quinn in a different light. Blaine no longer perceived her to be the bitchy queen bee he used to think she portrayed. Yes, there was still that part of her, but now he just saw her. Lucy.

Quinn started telling Blaine about her unexpected infatuation for ballet. She was apparently very passionate about it. She didn't pursue learning furthermore, though.

"Why not?" Blaine questioned with furrowed eyebrows. Quinn didn't seem like the person who would let anything stop her from doing what she wanted. Did she not want to continue ballet?

Quinn blushed. She could tell Blaine anything, right? "There's this person... She used to be in my ballet club. It hurts too much when I dance and remember her..."

Blaine tilted his head in confusion. This was a new side of his friend he hadn't seen. "Did you two fight or something?" he said. Quinn closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She opened her eyes.

"Blaine, I-I'm gay." she said. Blaine's eyes widened in realization. He hadn't expected that. Quinn was gay? He now recalled the times when he would talk about a boy to Quinn and she wouldn't agree with what he said.

The puzzle was being put together. She had never talked about guys with him. She never talked about girls either...

He remembered when Quinn would smile a giddy smile when this one girl from their class would let her borrow her sharpener. He remembered when every girl in the student body were apparently crushing on this new teacher that looked like Leonardo Dicaprio except for her.

"Oh." he said. He mentally smacked his head on the table. Your best friend says she's gay and that's all you say? Dumbass.

"Yeah, oh." Quinn rolled her eyes fondly.

"So, this girl? Do I know her?" Blaine asked. He was slightly disappointed that he couldn't gush about boys to Quinn. God knows Wes and David couldn't handle it. Nick and Jeff would comment on how they wouldn't ever level up to the boy they were in love with.

Sebastian would be Sebastian.

"Rachel Berry." she said.

Rachel Berry? Grandmother slash five-year-old slash blabber mouth slash Rachel freaking Berry?

"Rachel? Rachel? Isn't she dating..." he said, trailing off. He was sure she was walking down the hallway with this tall, awkward guy...

"Finn Hudson." she said. So his name was Finn. I didn't expect that either. It didn't seem to fit him.

"But if she's dating Finn Hudson doesn't that mean she's..."

"Straight." Quinn finished for him with a trembling voice. "She hates me, too." she said. Blaine raised his eyebrows at that. He rubbed Quinn's back to comfort her.

"Finn and I have a history. Sophomore year. We were dating. I was trying to forget about Rachel. It didn't work. So I slept with Finn's best friend. Got pregnant. Things went down hill from there. Junior prom, I-I made a huge mistake. I slapped her. I couldn't get over myself. During the summer, I dyed my hair pink, smoked, got piercings. Rachel, she cared. Saw me at the mall. She told me it was bad for me. So, I dyed my hair back, got rid of the piercings and stopped smoking. And then, here we are. Senior year." she said. Blaine chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Quinn asked. She certainly hadn't expected that reaction out of Blaine.

"We both had a 'bad' stage in our lives." Blaine answered with a smirk.

"What? You had a bad boy stage? Mr. Bowties and Suspenders? I don't believe you, Blaine Anderson." Quinn answered disbelievingly. Blaine ducked his head bashfully. People didn't usually believe him when he says that.

"I drove my bike here, actually."

"No way." Quinn said.

"Yes, way." he said. Quinn gasped.

"Blaine, you have to let me ride it with you someday!" she said. Blaine laughed. Quinn laughed along with him. Their laughter died down after some time.

"What was the name?" Blaine asked Quinn.

"Hmm?" Quinn looked up at him with her eyes from underneath her eyelashes.

"What did you name the baby?" Blaine asked her.

"Finn's best friend and I decided to name her Beth." she answered. Quinn smiled at the memory. She truly missed Beth. She made a mental note to call Shelby later on.

"That's a beautiful name." Blaine smiled back. He proposed it was his turn to tell her about his past now.

"Freshman year, Sadie Hawkins dance. Remember Peter? I went with him since he was the only other gay guy. When we were waiting for his dad to come pick us up, these jocks came out of no where and beat us up. I got three broken ribs, a punctured lung, a snapped tendon, and a black eye. I had to say in the hospital for three weeks." Blaine finished. Quinn smiled sadly.

"I am so sorry, Blaine." she said sincerely.

"Don't be." Blaine told her.

"But Blaine, I wasn't there for you when all of that happened. I should have been, and I wasn't." A tear rolled down her cheek as she said this.

He would've been angry but he couldn't be. At least Quinn knew what she had done. He forgave her.

"No, stop it, Quinn." Blaine said. "Don't kick yourself for this. We both had awful times in high school and that's that. So, Rachel Berry?" Blaine smirked.

.....

Blaine left his former best friend's home a couple of hours after catching up with her. Their project was turning out to be a great one.

The duo had reminisced on all that had happened in the past. Blaine recalled he had his little box full of memories with Quinn. He went home to look for it.

It was a metal lunchbox with the Disney princesses as the design. He recalled having it before realizing he was gay. Yup, I am definitely gay.

The box contained pictures of him and Quinn from their picture when they first tried baking together to the time when they both felt like doing nothing and skipped classes.

He went upstairs to his bedroom and looked under his bed. He used to be frightened of doing so until Cooper told him that no, monsters will not crawl from beneath his bed and consume him whole.

He reached under and found what he was searching for. He pulled it out from under the bed and blew on the surface of the cold metal. Dust went everywhere. He sneezed away from the box and ended up sneezing on a plant on his bedside. Oops. Sorry, Professor Greeney. Where are my manners?

Blaine chuckled at himself. He reached into his pocket and took out his assortment of keys.

Car key... Front door key... Back door key... Super Top Secret Bowtie Storage Facility key... Cooper's Drawer Key... Where's my Lunchbox key? I probably left it in my other pair of pants...

Blaine stood up from the floor and walked over to his hamper. He looked in all the pockets of all the pants in there but he couldn't find his key. He frowned.

He racked his mind and tried to recall where he could've left his Lunchbox key. He could've left it in his gym locker. Or maybe in his car.

He could pry open the lock but he didn't want to do that. He had that lock since he was ten. He was very sentimental.

He really wanted to look inside the box. He decided that he would look for the key first before trying anything.

.....

Don't ever look back, don't ever look back...

Kurt sighed contentedly and began stretching. He heard the clink of metal and slowly opened his eyes and looked for the source of the sound.

He looked to the floor beside his bed and found the key he had picked up from the swing in the park. He must've dropped it during his stretching.

The voice had been singing to him more often, now. It had become a routine for him to climb into bed, remove the chain necklace from his neck, and clutch the key dangling to it in his sleep.

He had never slept more solemnly in his entire life.

He would dream of that voice. Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night in need of a cold shower, at other times he woke up just like he had this morning.

Before drifting off into his slumber, he pictures what the owner of the voice would look like.

Would he have brown hair? Black hair? Blonde? Red? Would his eyes be green? Blue? Brown?

It felt so silly wishing that he would meet a stranger that he had heard singing on a swing in the park.

He finds himself thinking about this very stranger every single day. Would he hear him singing again? Will he ever find this mysterious person that he is oh so infatuated with?

What clothes should he wear just in case he met him? Would he be athletic? Would he be musically inclined? How old would he be?

Was he gay?

He really couldn't get this guy out of his mind. What was so different about this guy from all the others he had crushed on?

He hadn't acted this way about Finn or Sam. Would he dare claim it as love?

Kurt sighed. Was it even possible to fall in love with someone you didn't know? He'd really like to get to know this stranger.

The question was, how? Could he search for DNA on the key he found and search through government files just to find out who this guy was?

He had probably ruined that chance by how many times he has held on to the key. Kurt shook his head. What was happening to him?

I'm going mad, he thought.

.....

The final bell ringed signaling the end of classes for the day. Monday afternoon found Blaine standing outside the choir room door giving himself one last pep talk.

His eyes were focused on the door and he looked like he was concentrating really hard. It was just an audition, but he made sure to do his absolute best at everything and anything.

"Look, I don't know what creep school you came from but you can't actually open the door with your mind, Anderson."

Blaine jumped out of his skin when he heard someone talking behind him. Said person smirked. Blaine turned around and saw Kurt and Quinn standing there with amused expressions. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"I'll see you later, Kurt." Quinn said. Kurt waved and walked away not before shooting Blaine a glare. Blaine glared at Kurt's retreating back.

"Blaine, what is up with you and him?" Quinn asked him as they entered the choir room. Blaine sighed.

"Nothing, Quinn." he said. Quinn digressed because Mr. Schue had entered the room wearing none other than a vest.

"Okay guys, so this week's assignment- oh. Hello. You are?" Mr. Schue questioned when he finally noticed Blaine sitting in between Quinn and Mike.This is it.

"Blaine Anderson, sir." he said with his usual charming smile. One could practically see several of the glee girls swooning. Sugar had even faked fainting in her chair. A couple of the glee guys glared at him. He didn't do anything to show that he noticed, though.

"Hello, Blaine. Are you here to audition? We could really use all the members we can get." Mr. Schue said. Blaine nodded and stood up. "Alright then, show us what you've got."

Blaine walked over to the band and told them his song choice. He walked to the center of the room and waited for his queue. The music started up and it was time to sing.

You think I'm pretty without any makeup on

You think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong

I know you get me so I let my walls come down, down

He was singing to every girl in the hopes of winning their hearts. It looked like he was doing a great job with it.

He was jumping on chairs, and basically singing his heart out. He found out that pointing was indeed useful. He reminded himself to thank Cooper later.

By now, he was singing the second verse. He was pretty damn sure all the glee boys who were in a relationship were glaring at him. Some even had clenched fists.

I'ma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans

Be your teenage dream tonight

Let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans

Be your teenage dream tonight

He was nearing the end of the song and he had to admit he was having fun. He always enjoyed the thrill of performing. He couldn't help but get lost in the music.

Let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans

Be your teenage dream tonight

All the female glee members gave him a standing ovation. The glee boys followed suit whilst grumbling to themselves.

"That was amazing, Blaine! I think I speak for everyone when I say, welcome to New Directions!" Mr. Schue said enthusiastically. Everyone gave one final round of applause and took their seats. Quinn gave him a proud thumbs up.

Blaine had to listen to Rachel talk about her outstanding talent. Mr. Schue talked about the week's assignment. He felt accepted with the New Directions. He fit in, strangely enough.

Blaine was grinning ear to ear. I feel fucking awesome.

Glee ended so he began his walk to the parking lot. When he stepped into the hallway, he felt a body collide with his. Anger bubbled up in him. He did not him to ruin his high right now.

"Shit, I'm such a klutz." a male voice said. He felt a hand pull him to his feet. He looked at the person in front of him. The guy had dark brown messy hair that one would assume as black and icy blue eyes.

He mentally cursed Kurt. The guy was making him believe that he was lurking behind every corner.

"I'm Aaron." The guy introduced himself. Aaron...hmm. Nice name.

"Blaine." They shook hands. The two started gathering books and papers that were scattered across the tiled floor from when they had bumped into each other forcefully.

"So, um. Sorry for knocking you down." Aaron said whilst rubbing his neck. "I'm really clumsy and I didn't see anyone coming out from the door when I was running."

"Nah, It's alright." Blaine reassured him. "It happens all the time."

Aaron chuckled. "Does it really?" he asked.

Blaine realized how silly he must have sounded. "I guess not." he laughed. Blaine studied Aaron. He was really good-looking. He looked cute. Blaine snapped himself out of his thoughts when he realized Aaron was speaking to him.

"-in glee?" was all he heard from what Aaron had said. He felt bad for not listening. But hey, the guy was hot. Shit. Sebastian is rubbing off on me.

"Pardon?" Blaine said.

"So I'm guessing since you just came out of the choir room that you're in glee?" Aaron repeated. Oh, great. This guy will hate me now when I say yes.

"Oh. Uh, yeah. First day, actually." Blaine smiled charmingly hoping it would keep Aaron's mind out of thinking he was a loser. It must have worked.

"Cool." Aaron uttered. Blaine hadn't anticipated that. He figured Aaron must be cool too. They were walking together now.

"How about you? You in any club?" Blaine asked as they went out the front doors of the school. Ha, fresh air...

"Nope. I really like painting though." Aaron answered. Painter, huh... That's nice. I've always wondered what it would be like to–

"BOO!"

Blaine yelped and jumped a feet in the air. Aaron was just as startled and ended up tripping on his own feet. Blaine shot the person who had scared them a glare. "Look what you've done, David." he said.

"Oops. Sorry, man." David said. Blaine was about to ask him why he was here in the first place but he was interrupted.

"BLAINEY WHO'S YOUR FRIEND?" a very familiar voice shouted.

Blaine searched for the sound of the voice and sure enough, Wes, Nick, Jeff, and surprisingly Sebastian were running towards him.

Thad was not the only one with an unusual obsession. Jeff had an obsession with making new friends. To some, it was very endearing. To some, it creeped them out. He silently hoped Aaron would still talk to him after today.

"Guys? What are you doing here?" Blaine questioned the Warblers when they had reached their destination, in front of Blaine. Westerville was a good two hours away from Lima.

"We came here to see how your audition went, Blaine." said Wes. His friends were all looking at him expectantly. He chuckled at them. They could always make the smallest of things seem greater than they really were.

"I made it." he said. He looked around him at the reactions of his friends.

Wes was suspiciously whispering to the inside of his blazer. David was fist pumping the air. Nick was applauding. Jeff was cheering and pointing to each individual and saying "I knew it" every time.

Sebastian was Sebastian.

He realized he hadn't introduced Aaron. Sebastian looked... He knew that look. He was eyeing Aaron up and down with his smirk in place. Aaron didn't seem to notice. Seriously. How is he not noticing? Oblivious...

"Well, hello there–" Sebastian began, stepping towards where Aaron stood.

"Sebastian, don't even think about it." warned Blaine. He sent Sebastian a glare that clearly told him to back off. He wasn't sure if Aaron was gay or if he was accepting of the gay community.

"So, who's this?" asked Nick, referring to Aaron.

"Um, I'm Aaro–"

"HI AARON! I'm Jeff. Nicky is my boyfriend. This is Wes, David, and Sebby. We're from Dalton! Do you want to be my friend?" interrupted Jeff. Aaron didn't look overwhelmed which was a good sign. Blaine tried conveying his message with his eyes that it was okay.

"...Yes?" Aaron uttered. Blaine grinned. He is learning quick. This is the start of a beautiful friendship.

"YAY!" Jeff exclaimed. Blaine could see Nick exhale visibly. Jeff always got slightly depressed when someone would reject his invitation of friendship.

"Wait, you guys are from Dalton? My cousin goes there. He lives with us, actually. Zero-tolerance policy, right?" Aaron asked the crazy group. He received affirmative nods.

"What's his name? We might know him." said David.

"His name is Charlie McAdams. Ring a bell?" Aaron said. Sebastian smirked. Does he ever stop doing that...?

Upon seeing Sebastian's smirk, Wes' eyes widened. "I know him, alright." Sebastian mumbled.

"What was that, Basty?" questioned Jeff.

"Nothing." he answered.

Charlie McAdams had been one of the numerous boys that Sebastian had pursued. He hadn't slept with him, but that mouth was enough.

"So, uh, are you okay with gay people? Because that might be a problem if you're not." Wes spoke up.

"I'm completely fine with it. I don't understand how people bully others for being gay." Aaron stated with a frown. Blaine snuck a glance at his watch. His parents would be arriving today.

"Listen, I have to go, guys." Blaine told them all with a sad smile. He really missed them.

"Yeah, we should be heading back to Dalton. I almost forgot we've got school tomorrow." said David. School had returned for Dalton Academy. All agreed and began saying their goodbyes.

Blaine waved one last time to Aaron and began his drive home.