A/N: Each chapter will cover the span of an episode, and have the same name as the episode or one of the songs in the episode. It’ll stick to canon as much as possible, but obviously have Blaine there, which will change it up a lot. So, yes, this is going to be a huge project. The chapters are going to get longer, as a warning. Speaking of; Warnings are for swearing, homophobic bullying, lots of angst.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don’t own Glee. If I did, episode 4x04 wouldn’t be happening.

Chapter One: Pilot.

Kurt walked into school with a scowl on his face, full of the mixed emotions that came with the daily Dumpster dumping. The anger from being tossed into a Dumpster and the gratitude to Finn Hudson for having let him take off his bag and jacket. It was the one attribute that separated Finn from the other idiots who were on the football team, the characteristic that truly made the tall brunet stand out amidst the other letterman jackets; he had at least some kindness in him. Kurt couldn’t help but admire him for that. And, truthfully, it was hard not to like one of the few people who showed you kindness of any sort when you were one of the most hated kids in school.

It was while lost in thoughts of Finn that he heard a voice calling his name. Looking up, he saw Principal Figgins, beckoning to him from his office. Wincing and trying to work out what he’d done to get into trouble already – he had been in trouble for his clothing choices before, as well as for turning up to class covered in trash, which was completely unjust but he’d given in on caring – he stepped slowly in, giving him a nervous smile. “Yes, Principal Figgins?”

Figgins gestured to the short, black-haired boy who Kurt hadn’t actually noticed yet. “This is Brian Anderson. Can you please show him around for the next two weeks, as his buddy?”

Kurt blinked at him before glancing at the aforementioned boy, who met his eyes with what looked like a carefully schooled lack of expression.

“Hi. I’m Kurt Hummel.” He offered. On receiving a nod in reply, he waited for any further comment before shrugging slightly, gesticulating towards the door and asking, somewhat lamely, “Shall we?” before stepping outside of the office.

Walking down the corridor with the shorter boy, the silence became too uncomfortable within a few seconds, and he had to speak. “So, Brian, I’m guessing you’re not a freshman?”

Hazel eyes blinked at him with their first sign of expression: amusement. “It’s Blaine, actually. Everyone just presumes they’ve misheard me or something, I guess, because it’s an uncommon name. And no, I’m not a freshman, I’m a sophomore.” He gave a half-smile which didn’t reach his eyes.

“Oh. Well, yeah, that and Figgins is a moron.” Kurt responded, feeling a little bad for having called Blaine the wrong name, but it was Figgins’ fault. He wondered why Blaine hadn’t corrected the principal. Maybe he just picked his battles carefully. It was probably a smart idea.

Blaine stopped walking, frowning slightly at the lockers, and stepping forward to fiddle with the lock on one. “I think – I think this one’s mine.” As it clicked open, the code correct, he threw another half-smile over his shoulder at Kurt. “We didn’t have lockers at my old school...” Reaching in, he pulled out a textbook, along with his timetable, reading off “English, English room 3.”

“Me too! C’mon, I’ll show you there now. Class is about to begin anyway.” Glancing at Blaine, he watched as the shorter boy flinched at the loud crash of a door hitting a wall as some popular kid made a spectacular entrance, and felt bad for him. He didn’t know where Blaine had been before here, but McKinley was a fairly intimidating place unless you’d just come from juvie or something. In fact, it was probably pretty intimidating even if you had come from juvie.

Focussing his eyes ahead again, he was stopped by the sudden appearance of McKinley’s own short, brunette, irritating diva. “Kurt! I just wanted to remind you about Glee club today, because now Finn’s joined I need all the back-up singers I can get, and-” Here Rachel’s attention was caught by noticing Blaine. “Hello! I’m Rachel Berry.” She stuck her hand out with a bright smile.

Blaine shook her hand, eyes wide in a rabbit-caught-in-headlights expression. “Blaine Anderson. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rachel.”

Kurt got the impression that Blaine’s gentlemanly manners had been ingrained in him since birth, since people rarely find it a pleasure to meet Rachel Berry. Hold on- what did she say about Finn? “Wait, Finn’s joining Glee? Since when did Finn sing?” And why would he want to join Glee club? No-one on the football team would join Glee club, unless they were being blackmailed or something. Which he wouldn’t put past Rachel, but Mr Schuester was one of the good teachers, so it was pretty unlikely that he’d blackmail a student.

“Mr Schuester heard him singing in the shower, and with vocal training, he could be the perfect male lead for me.” Rachel explained, eyes fixed on Blaine. “We need to extend him a warm welcome. So, Blaine, why weren’t you shown around with the other freshmen?”

“Uh, because I’m a sophomore...”

“Oh! Where did you go before here?”

“Westerville High School.” Blaine looked vaguely bemused by the sudden inquisition, but answered politely. He had to have the patience of a saint.

“Why did you move?” Rachel inquired, and the bemusement on Blaine’s face faded, replaced by the same carefully blank expression he’d given Kurt earlier.

Kurt, who felt that Rachel was being too nosey for his liking, noticed the way that Blaine shifted slightly, as if uncomfortable. This decided him, and he pretended to check the time, before announcing, “We better get to class. Later, Berry.” Adjusting his bag, he led Blaine away and ignored Rachel calling after him to point out that they shared the same class.

“Thanks.” Blaine murmured, after a few seconds, so quietly that Kurt wasn’t sure he’d said it.

Giving him a smile and a small shoulder-nudge, he shrugged slightly. “So, that’s Berry. She’s...” He let out a long breath, trying to decide how best to describe her.

“A little over-enthusiastic?” Blaine offered.

Well, that was certainly true enough. Not wanting to come across as too cruel by ranting about her, he merely shrugged. As they entered the classroom, Kurt hesitated, watching Blaine sit down in an empty seat before taking his usual seat next to Mercedes. He felt bad about this a few moments later as Rachel claimed the seat next to Blaine. If Kurt had been religious, he would’ve been silently praying that she wouldn’t freak him out again with the questions, but he settled for anxiously watching as the girl started babbling at Blaine.

The amused smile Blaine shot him a few seconds later reassured his nerves, though, and he settled back in his chair to discuss the latest edition of Vogue with Mercedes, waiting for their teacher to arrive.

---

In Glee club, he found out that yes, indeed, Finn could sing, impressively well, although he had looked very startled the whole time. Berry seemed to have that effect on guys. This excluded him, although that was partly because she had messed up his hair. And, well, she didn’t seem to be interested in him in the way that she was interested in Finn. Obviously, she hadn’t realised that Finn had a girlfriend; although how she’d missed that news flash, he had no clue. The pair spent most of their time being sickeningly cute, while simultaneously managing to be popular, self-righteous and incredibly annoying.

Blaine had been mysteriously absent during lunch, then suddenly appeared in time for Kurt to show him where his next lesson was, before disappearing again at the end of the day. Since he had Glee, he couldn’t chase the boy down, not that he had his number or address or anything he could contact him with. Maybe he’d had to go home to eat lunch or something. Some kids did have overly-strict parents. It’d probably get him on the radar of the cool kids if they figured it out, but being friends with Kurt was probably enough to get him on the radar anyway. It was fairly easy to get on their radar, really...

Deciding not to worry about it, and to maybe invite Blaine to sit with him and Mercedes at lunch the next day, he went to bed early, packing a spare change of clothing to take to school tomorrow. Since Finn had joined Glee, he wouldn’t be surprised if the jocks wanted revenge on the Glee members for having coerced Finn to join their ‘homo explosion’ club or something equally inane, and he wanted to be prepared for any slushies that might come his way.

---

Apparently Finn had managed to hide his new club membership from the other jocks, because the usual Dumpster-tossing the next day went without any other incidents. However, it was followed by something a lot less usual; the question “Hey, do you... Do you need a hand?” Blaine stood over the Dumpster, eyes flicking nervous over to where the jocks were walking off and swapping high-fives. It appeared that the idiot who had been holding Kurt’s jacket and bag had launched them at Blaine before leaving, as he was clutching the jacket and had the bag slung over his shoulder.

Kurt reached out a hand, and Blaine grabbed it, pulling him out and catching him, letting him go quickly. He tried not to let this get to him – most guys weren’t happy with being close to him, because they just presumed that he was gay. Why would Blaine be any different?

Blaine held out his jacket and bag. “Um... Here. One of those guys threw it at me as I was walking over.” Glancing uncertainly over his shoulder in the direction of the jocks, he continued “So... What’ve you got first?”

“Oh, um, Maths.” Taking his jacket, he pulled it on, slinging his bag over his shoulder, before setting off for class in step with Blaine. “Thank you for catching them. Not throwing me in there with them on is kind of Fi- Hudson’s one saving grace. Along with being an amazing singer, I mean.”

“Oh, so he is a good singer, then?” Blaine inquired, after a moment in which he seemed unsure of whether or not he should respond to the part about the Dumpster toss. Maybe he decided it was bad manners to mention it. Or he just didn’t want to rub salt into the wound. Probably the latter.

“Yeah, he is. He’s not that bright, but he’s definitely a good singer. Rachel certainly seemed impressed, at least.” Kurt added quickly, not wanting to admit that he was impressed, too. That wouldn’t help with the rumours about him being gay.

“This is probably a stupid question, but- why can’t you be the male lead?” Blaine asked curiously.

Kurt would never admit it, but it was nice to see Blaine showing some sort of emotion. The first day, the only emotion he’d shown was distraction. It wasn’t surprising, really. Most people acted a little distracted their first day at McKinley, since they were too busy trying to work out how to function there to concentrate. Even if you’d been to a public school before... McKinley was different. It was worse.

“Because I’m a countertenor.” Kurt explained. “You don’t know what that means, do you?” He sighed, seeing the confusion on the hazel-eyed boy’s face increasing. He’d have to put it into terms simple enough for anyone to understand. “It means I sing like a girl. And I talk like one, too, which you’ll have noticed.”

The bitterness in his voice had Blaine giving him a look of sympathy. “Well, I think you have a lovely voice.” Blaine responded, shrugging lightly.

Kurt just about managed not to stop himself from tripping. That was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him. “Th-thank you.”

Blaine glanced down at the floor, which Kurt was glad for, as it meant he couldn’t see Kurt’s blush. “You’re welcome.”

---

Despite his intentions to ask to Blaine to lunch, he completely forgot and Blaine disappeared at lunch, yet again. This continued throughout the week, until, on the following Monday, he noticed a flash of curly black hair as he was passing the Library- the Library? Entering for what was probably the first time, apart from when he was hiding from slushie attacks, he sat down next to Blaine, who looked up from the book he was reading and gave a guilty start. “Oh! Hey there, Kurt.”

Kurt raised an eyebrow at him, glancing around. “So this is where you’ve been disappearing to for the past week.”

Blaine blushed slightly. “Yeah, well, I... wasn’t sure if you’d want me around. Y’know. At lunch. I mean, I’m just the new kid...”

He trailed off at the appalled look that Kurt was giving him. “Just the new kid?” Watching him for a moment, it occurred to him that Blaine barely talked to anyone at this school, apart from him, and if he didn’t even feel like he was friends with Kurt... “I know it must feel like you’re not fabulous enough to be my friend, but in reality, I have incredibly low standards.” Waiting for the reluctant smile to appear on Blaine’s face at his teasing, he stood up. “C’mon. You’re not supposed to eat in here, anyway.”

“I don’t actually have any lunch,” Blaine admitted.

Kurt gave him a shocked look, wondering if Blaine had actually eaten lunch at all this week, and feeling horribly guilty for not having noticed. “Well, I’ll buy you some, then.”

Blaine stood up, and smiled at him. “Thank you.” He said, quietly.

“You’re paying me back, Anderson.” Kurt responded, just to see the smile light up Blaine’s eyes at the easy way he joked with him. It was a long way from the half-smile which hadn’t reached Blaine’s eyes when he’d first met him a few weeks ago. “Hey... can I have your number?” He asked, slightly hesitantly. “Y’know, so I can track you down through the sound of your phone going off if you decide to hide from me again.”

Blaine’s head shot up. “I wasn’t trying to hide from you-”

“Blaine, I was kidding.” Kurt reassured him, inwardly slapping his forehead with his hand. “Here, put your number in my phone,” he commanded, holding it out.

The shorter boy nodded, taking his phone and typing quickly before handing it back with a smile.

“Great! I’ll just text you...” – Kurt quickly typed Hey :) and sent it – “Ta-da! C’mon, let’s go before all the food’s gone.”

---

Glee had turned from a disaster into a success into a complete disaster. Well, that was pretty obvious. When your teacher announced that he was leaving because his wife was having a baby... yeah, that kind of put a downer on your club’s future.

Unable to concentrate on his homework, Kurt stood up and stretched, wondering if he should unwind by dancing. Single Ladies nearly always made him feel better. Then again, his dad was home, and he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of Burt realising he was gay. Especially not if he realised it while Kurt was wearing a unitard. Kurt bit his lip and glanced at his phone. He needed to talk to someone, to vent to someone about what was happening in the club.

Sitting down on his bed, he grabbed his phone, selected the contact he wanted, and hit ‘call’.

 “Hello?”

“Hey, Blaine! It’s Kurt.”

“Oh, hey.” A beat of silence, then: “Was there something you wanted?”

Kurt lay back on his bed. “Not really. Well, actually, I- is it okay if I complain at you for a while?”

He could hear the smile in Blaine’s voice as he answered, “It’s fine.”

So he explained about Mr Schuester’s baby, and how he was leaving the school because of it, leaving Glee club, and how Rachel had decided that she was going to take over the club.

“... And she’s not even the best singer in there; I’m definitely as good as her!”

“Aren’t there any other teachers willing to take on Glee?” Blaine questioned.

“Of course not. We’re the underdogs of the school and no self-respecting teacher wants to coach a bunch of underdogs.” Disheartened, he sighed. “And Finn left.”

“I bet he did. I- I’m sure it’ll be okay. Either Rachel will be able to help you guys win, or one of the teachers will get fed up with her and take over just to stop her going on about how she runs a club now.” Blaine paused, before asking, “Can I ask you a question?”

“You already did, but sure.”

“Are... do you think we’re friends?”

“I think we’re best friends, Blaine. I mean, who else would put up with me complaining at them for hours on end? Thank you for that, by the way.” And yes, they’d only known each other a couple of weeks, but it was true. Sure, Mercedes was his best friend, too, but he could have more than one best friend. Although the whole best friend thing was very fourth grade, so he should stop thinking about that now.

Blaine laughed, a warm and happy sound, before there was the sound of yelling in the background at Blaine’s end, and he sighed down the phone. “Sorry, Kurt, I have to go. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Kurt answered, curious, as he put the phone down, as to who was yelling and why. He didn’t know much about Blaine’s home life – well, he didn’t know much about Blaine, apart from the fact that the boy had curly hair, hazel eyes, was as careful with his emotions as Kurt himself and worked hard in class. Well, actually, he also knew that Blaine jumped at loud noises, flinched whenever someone called him ‘Blainey-boy’, hated tea but loved coffee, liked reading, and had the most amazing smile ever.

And he knew that he wanted to get to know Blaine better.

---

Kurt couldn’t help scowling as he walked away from Glee rehearsal the next day. Sure, Mr Schuester had come back, and they’d sounded great belting out Don’t Stop Believin’ like that, but he hated the way he was being completely ignored. Firstly, his vocals were left in the background, and secondly, Finn hadn’t even glanced at him when assigning jobs! He was way more fashion-conscious than Mercedes. This was ridiculous...

Then again, he might as well get used to it. Despite how invisible he was feeling, he was still part of Glee club, doing what he loved and being the person he wanted to be. Well, mainly. He still hadn’t told anyone that he was gay. Not even Mercedes or Blaine, and he told them nearly everything.

He was just wondering how long it was going to be before he was forced to tell everyone the truth and was left alone by them all.

A/N: Yes, that was a reference to Struck By Lightning, if you noticed. ;) I hope you liked it! Feel free to review. Or just favourite/follow it, any of those would make my week.