A/N: Hi! Thank you to everyone who’s followed, favourite, or reviewed this. I’m grateful for all of you, and if I could send you all a box of cookies, I would.

It’s only about 2AM in Western America, so it’s almost still Friday over there... (But really, I’m sorry! Internet issues)

So, I need you all to ignore the fact that Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream only came out in 2010.

Disclaimer: I don’t have enough money to pay for the lawsuit if I claim to own Glee, so, no, I don’t.

Chapter Eight: Teenage Dream.

“So, you and Puck?” Kurt asked Rachel loudly, and very incredulously, at lunchtime. He didn’t mean to sound quite so incredulous. Okay, maybe he did. It was Rachel, after all. Rachel and Puck, apparently, which was mind-blowing. Of all the combinations he could have imagined in the romantic life of the Glee club, that combination was second on the list of Least Likely to Ever Happen, right below Santana and Artie. Of course, this list didn’t include combinations that wouldn’t happen simply because of the sexual orientation of either of them.

Blaine glanced up, a slight frown appearing on his face, not yet up-to-date on the latest developments in the wild and crazy lives of the New Directions. For a bunch of misfits, they did have a surprising amount of gossip-worthy goings-ons.

“He sang Sweet Caroline for her in Glee club yesterday.” Kurt told him. He’d thought this news would be all over the school by now, but most people seemed uninterested in Puck’s love life. Maybe nobody cared because Puck’s love life was less of a ‘love’ life and more of a ‘competition to sleep with every female in the school’ life. Yeah, that was probably.

“Oh. That’s sweet – excuse the pun.” Blaine smiled at Rachel. “So... are you going to go out with him, then?” He asked, acting interested. At this point, Kurt had to concede that he probably was genuinely interested. Blaine was just a caring person. Kurt would’ve felt bad for not being more caring, had Berry not been so extremely irritating.

“Oh, come on,” Mercedes rolled her eyes as she looked up from her phone. “Like Puck actually wants anything from her other than to get into her too-short skirt.”

Blaine bit his lip, looking as if he wanted to say something, but refrained, instead digging in to his lunch.

Rachel glanced self-consciously down at her skirt, adjusting it a little before glaring at Mercedes. “For your information, Puck and I have a lot in common.”

“What, that you’re both Jewish and extremely annoying?” Mercedes asked, sniggering. Kurt couldn’t help laughing, too. She had a point; the two were incredibly different. Rachel was a hard-working, ambitious, fashion-blind diva. Puck was a lazy, badass stud. They’d never shown any interest in each other before. In fact, Rachel had a crush on Finn, last time Kurt looked, and Puck seemed to like Quinn a little more than any dude should like his best friend’s girlfriend.

“You’re just jealous of our budding love, Mercedes, and I can understand why. It can’t be easy when the nearest thing to a love affair you’ve ever had was with someone who’s as gay as a daffodil and as flamboyant as a handbag full of rainbows.” Rachel responded, looking more irritated than Kurt had ever seen her. Which was saying something- she’d walked out of rehearsal about five times, by now. He was impressed with her use of the similes, though.

“Oh, girl, at least my guy’s actually interested in my personality.” Mercedes snapped at her.

“Do they not realise that this argument is kind of ridiculous?” Blaine asked Kurt quietly, as the two girls continued quarrelling.

Kurt leant across and stole one of Mercedes’ tots while she was distracted. “No, they don’t seem to.”

“Right.” Blaine smiled at him. “So, how’s your assignment for Glee club going?” He asked, finishing his lunch off and neatly laying his knife and fork on his plate.

“Awfully. There isn’t a single song in the world that goes with Bust a Move. I’m beginning to wonder if Mr Schue set us an impossible task just for the safe of teaching us some stupid lesson.” Kurt admitted, rolling his eyes. Their teacher was a little too obsessed with having some kind of ‘lesson’ for each assignment.

Blaine nodded sympathetically. “Maybe it’s a metaphor for how you’re all going to be single forever?” He suggested, a smile tugging at his lips.

Kurt threw a tot at him.

Just another normal day at William McKinley High School.

---

“... and for this month-long project on Wuthering Heights, you will be paired up.” Their English teacher told them all, beaming with enthusiasm as he looked around at their not-so-enthusiastic faces. Blaine almost grimaced, but managed to school his features. He was pretty sure that Rachel wouldn’t appreciate it, considering she was the person he’d probably have to work with. “But I want you to work outside of your comfort zone! Don’t work with the person sitting next to you. Broaden your horizons!” He clapped twice, indicating that they should all jump up and race across the room to introduce themselves to someone they’d never spoken to before. Maybe he should be a Drama teacher instead of an English teacher, Blaine mused. He certainly had the theatrical flair.

Blaine turned in his chair, intending to ask Kurt to be his partner, and found Kurt smirking triumphantly at Mercedes as he closed a hand over her fist.

“I’ll pair up with you, Blaine,” Kurt told him with a self-satisfied smile, letting go of Mercedes’ hand.

Mercedes looked fed up as she gathered her things and stood, eyeing Rachel with a look that suggested she intended to murder her. Blaine quickly grabbed his stuff, standing and swapping seats with her.

“Don’t think I didn’t see that.” Blaine said quietly, once he was seated next to Kurt.

Kurt looked at him, the picture of innocence. “See what?” He asked, but he was avoiding meeting Blaine’s eyes.

“You and Mercedes, playing rock-paper-scissors because neither of you want to be paired with Rachel for this project.” Blaine stated, not accusingly, because in some ways he could understand. Rachel could be incredibly annoying, and he should probably take it as a compliment that they were pretty much fighting over him. But still...

He gazed at Rachel, who was chattering about possible study dates. She was so driven, it was kind of refreshing, since most of the students in the school were the laziest entities in the universe and couldn’t give a crap about their education. And she was ambitious- she knew what she wanted to do, and she knew how to get there. In many ways, Blaine admired her.

“Can you blame us?” Kurt asked, though the side of his mouth twisted up and he looked a little guilty. He hesitated, then exhaled. “I’ll partner up with her next project. We have to do two this year.” He shrugged, before adding, “And you’ll get to go with Mercedes.”

Blaine couldn’t pretend he was entirely comfortable with her yet– he was pretty sure there was still some underlying resentment on her side, for the way he’d sort of swept in and stolen her best friend. Of course, it was possible he was entirely over-thinking this and imagining feelings that weren’t even there, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, he was still a little concerned that she might have a crush on him, although Kurt had assured him that she didn’t have any crushes right now.

“So, when do you want to meet up for this? I can’t do Thursdays, Tuesdays or Fridays.” Kurt offered, when Blaine didn’t say anything.

“Um...” He chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to work out when would be best, thinking about his schedule and his parents’ schedules... “Mondays?”

“Mine or yours?” Kurt asked, diary open to note down the day.

Blaine tried to ignore the obvious innuendo there, blushing a little and clearing his throat. “Um, we could alternate?” He suggested. “We can go to mine next Monday.” He’d have to remember to ask his mom.

“Great! I look forward to seeing your house. You know, you’ve built up a great area of mystery around it now by being so enigmatic every time I ask you about it. I hope it lives up to my expectations.” Kurt teased him.

“I’m sure it will. It’s a magnificent house.” Blaine said dryly.

“It had better be.”

Considering the house had had professional interior designers working on it, it should impress Kurt.

---

“Hi, Mrs Anderson. Thank you for the lift.” Kurt said politely, as he climbed into the backseat, smoothing down his clothes and buckling himself in.

“Hello, Kurt. And please, call me Julia.” She smiled at him through the rear-view mirror, and he smiled back. It wasn’t often that he met his friends’ parents, so he had to admit that he was a little nervous, even though he had technically met her before. “Did you boys have a good day at school?” She asked a few moments later, eyes on the road as she navigated the build-up of traffic which was normal at this time of day.

“It was alright.” Blaine told her. “We’re currently learning about Spain in Geography, mom.” He added, which seemed totally random but made sense a moment later.

“Oh, really?” She asked, and Kurt could hear the smile in her voice. “That’s wonderful. My husband and I went to Spain for our honeymoon,” she told Kurt.

Kurt nodded. “It sounds lovely.” Really, it did. “I’d like to go to Paris for my honeymoon.” He informed her, wistfully. God knew if he was even going to be able to get married. But he had the whole event planned out, just in case. There was no harm in being prepared.

“Why Paris?” She asked, sounding interested. “I mean, obviously, it’s a beautiful country, but is there any particular reason why you’d like to visit it?”

Blaine glanced over his shoulder at Kurt and rolled his eyes, obviously embarrassed at his mother’s questions.

Kurt thought she was absolutely wonderful.

“It’s the fashion capital of the world, and the capital city of the country that the ‘language of love’ came from.” Kurt responded, smiling. Really, it was the origin of the French language that really piqued his interest. After all, there were four fashion capitals of the world. There was only one France.

“Are you into fashion, Kurt?” Julia inquired delicately, a note of... something, he couldn’t tell what, in her voice.

“Yes. Couldn’t you tell from my fabulous outfit?” He inwardly winced after saying this, cursing himself. As if going on about fashion wasn’t bad enough, now he was using the word ‘fabulous’. Maybe he really was as flamboyant as a handbag full of rainbows, as Rachel had suggested.

“Mm, yes, it is nice.” She assured him, sounding a little less warm than she had earlier.

Blaine twisted in his chair again and mouthed ‘sorry’. Kurt shook his head at him to tell him that it was okay, but he was confused. He’d got the impression that Julia was fine with Blaine being gay. Did she just dislike feminine gays?

“Hey, mom, can I put a CD on?” Blaine asked quickly, already pulling one from the glove compartment.

Julia nodded, and then sighed quietly. “Kurt, I don’t mean to be... rude. I’m just... not used to people as... flamboyant as you.” She glanced at him in the rear-view mirror. “I am accepting, believe me.”

Kurt hummed quietly, accepting her apology. It wasn’t as if she was the worst he’d encountered. Really, she’d been very polite to him.

“Mom, Kurt knows. That I’m gay, I mean.” Blaine told her, and she simply nodded.

Blaine pushed the CD into the car’s radio.

There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence before the music started.

Kurt’s brow furrowed the moment it did so. “... Katy Perry, Blaine? Really?”

He was pretty sure Blaine was blushing. Either way, a mutter of ‘shut up’ came from the passenger seat, and the volume was turned up.

So Blaine liked disco and Katy Perry.

What was that quotation about loving your friends, no matter their faults?

A few songs went by before Julia, who had been throwing Blaine concerned looks for a minute or so, asked, “Are you alright, Blaine?”

“I’m fine.” He sunk a little lower in his seat, seemingly embarrassed. Kurt managed to restrain himself from feeling a surge of bitterness, though the thought ‘at least he has a mother to be embarrassed by’ did flit through his mind.

“Are you just not in the mood for singing today?” She asked gently, a slightly teasing tone to her voice.

Kurt leant forward. “Wait, he can sing?” This was brand-new information. Hadn’t Blaine claimed to be a bad singer?

“Like an absolute angel.” Julia said proudly, obviously enjoying the discomfort of her son as he groaned and hid his face in his hands.

 “I’ll be the judge of that.” Kurt leant back, folding his arms, actually a little hurt by the fact that Blaine had lied to him. And it seemed such a strange thing to lie about. Unless he was actually a terrible singer, and it was just the parental ‘my child is wonderful!’ thing prompting Julia to say that.

Blaine’s head shot up and he turned to peer at Kurt. “You want me to sing for you?”

Kurt indicated the radio, which had just started to play a new song, and raised an eyebrow at Blaine in a silent challenge.

There was a beat of quiet before Blaine began. “You think I’m pretty, without any make-up 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...”

Well, Blaine’s mom had definitely been right about one thing, Kurt thought. Blaine did sing like an angel. He was actually an even better singer than Finn. Although Kurt wasn’t exactly going to tell Rachel that. Blaine was already a little scared of her. He’d be terrified if she was trying to enlist him to sing the male lead.

Kurt’s eyes widened as he listened to Blaine sing. Okay, now he was kind of mad at himself for having made the decision to hear Blaine sing and only following through on that now. Seriously, he needed to trust his first judgements.

One thing was definite: they needed Blaine in the Glee club.

---

“So, you’re a liar.” Kurt offered casually, as he followed Blaine into his room. “Also, your room is lovely.” He added, looking around it with admiration.

“Thank you.” Blaine looked guilty, eyebrows drawing together as he frowned. “I... look, I’m sorry for telling you that I’m a bad singer. I guess I panicked when you asked.”

“Well, now I know the truth, you have to join Glee. There’s simply no other option from here.” Kurt told him, well aware that there was almost no hope of this ever happening.

Blaine shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, not making eye contact with him. “Look, Kurt, I’d like to, but...” He trailed off, obviously uncomfortable and unsure of what to say.

“You don’t want the rest of the school to realise that you’re a flaming homosexual.” Kurt filled in for him, rolling his eyes a little. So maybe Blaine was scared of coming out, but would joining Glee make it that obvious? Puck, Finn, Matt, Artie and Mike were all in it, and no-one was disputing their sexuality. “Fine, well, let’s get started on this project-”

“No,” Blaine interrupted him. “I mean, yes, we should, and, uh, feel free to sit down.” He gestured to his bed. Kurt eyed it for a moment before sitting on the edge of it. Blaine sat down next to him, twisting his hands together nervously. “I... you’re right that part of the reason I don’t want to join Glee is because I’m scared of that happening. But that’s not the only reason.” He looked straight into Kurt’s eyes, biting his lip before speaking. “Look, your friends are all really cool, but I’m kind of worried that if I join, they’ll all either think I’m a terrible singer, or hate me.”

Kurt stared at him for a moment before snorting. Seeing the slightly hurt look on Blaine’s face, he quickly held out his hand to touch Blaine’s shoulder for a moment. “I’m not laughing at you. Well, maybe a little, because, Blaine... how could you think that? I mean, firstly, I said you were a good singer, which you should just take for the huge compliment it is and be grateful. And secondly, none of my friends would hate you. They all love you.” He smiled. “We all love you.”

Blaine blushed a little, but smiled back at him. “Thank you.” He paused, worrying at his bottom lip.

Kurt knew what he was going to say and spoke quickly. “You don’t have to join, or at least, not straight away. But... think about it, okay?”

Blaine nodded, looking relieved.

“Now, let’s work on this project.”

---

Coach Tenaka scheduled a practise for the same time and day as Glee. Mandatory. No exceptions. Anyone who doesn’t turn up is off the team. Kurt sent the text the moment he was released from practise, needing to share the appalling news with Blaine.

It didn’t take long for the reply to come through.

Oh no! :(

I’m choosing Glee, obviously, but unless all four of the other football guys choose Glee... the club is over.

Kurt, I’m so sorry.

So am I.

Kurt didn’t exactly intend to guilt-trip Blaine, but he was aware that the texts would probably make his friend feel guilty. Did that make him a bad person, if he was aware he was causing suffering and did nothing to alleviate it? Probably.

Either way, he was going to go and tell the football guys he was quitting football. It seemed the best thing to do was announce it in the showers, as they’d find it harder to chase him if he had a head-start and they were all naked and covered in soap.

Kurt didn’t usually shower with the other guys; he tended to wait until they’d all gone. Or at least, he had done. Now he was quitting, it was kind of a relief to think that he wouldn’t have to use the school’s showers at all.

Much as he hated to admit it, he was going to miss football. The guys had lain off of him a little while he was on the team, which was a welcome reprieve. And in a way, he’d enjoyed it, although the highlight had definitely been the game.

Taking a deep breath and striding into the shower room, he called out, “Hello, gentlemen. As you may have already guessed, I’m choosing Glee club. I’m sure this is a huge disappointment to you, but I trust that you can find an appropriate understudy to fill in for me, hopefully before your next game. Good luck in the future!”

Outrage was the main reaction to this; yells of “You suck, Hummel!” flew at him. Discomfort was also a recurring emotion, as many boys shielded their bodies from his view. As if he’d be interested in any of them.

Although he was carefully avoiding looking at Finn.

Turning, he left with his head held high, managing to leave in time to narrowly avoid being hit by the shampoo bottle Azimio threw after him.

---

The sight of Finn Hudson with a slushy in his hand was setting off extreme alarm bells in Blaine’s head. He hastily reached his locker, unlocked it, piled the books he was holding into it, shut it, and hurried in the direction the football player had taken, rounding the corner in time to see Kurt slushying himself.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Blaine stared down the corridor. A small smile appeared on his face as he heard Kurt’s defiant words to Finn, asking him to think about whether the other football guys would do the same for him.

Blaine thought it should be pretty obvious, even to Finn, that the answer was no. No, they wouldn’t. Not even Finn would take a slushy for someone, and he was meant to be one of the good guys. Kurt really was one of a kind. Blaine admired Kurt’s bravery, and only wished he could be a little more like him.

He started walking again, shooting Finn a glare as he approached him. Finn ducked his head and scuttled by, and Blaine took a certain pleasure in knowing that Finn was feeling bad. He deserved to, the asshole.

Kurt was shepherded into the girls’ bathroom before Blaine had the chance to say anything to him. Since he wasn’t yet brave enough to try going in there, he stopped next to Artie, shaking his head a little.

“Was it because of the other football guys? They wanted revenge for Kurt quitting?” He asked the gloomy-looking boy.

Artie nodded. “He announced it in the showers, and I mean, I’d never say that someone was asking for a slushy, but...” He trailed off, the end of the sentence clear.

Blaine stared at the door to the girls’ bathroom, and smiled a little. “He’s not asking for a slushy. Just for the respect he deserves.”

“Preach.” Artie agreed. “Uh, could you push me to my next lesson, please?” He added.

“Sure, of course.” Blaine acquiesced with a smile, glad to be of help. It was actually nice to know Artie trusted him enough to ask for that.

---

Pick up, pick up, pick up...

“Hey, Kurt. Are you okay?” Blaine asked with concern, finally ceasing to pace around his bedroom as he had been while waiting for Kurt to pick up. His dad had already yelled at him to ‘stop whatever the fuck it is you’re doing up there!’

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” The overly-bright tone had Blaine rolling his eyes as he sank down onto his bed, unable to help the relief that washed over him. At least Kurt wasn’t crying.

“Because you took a slushy to the face today?” Blaine offered quietly. There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few moments.

“I guess you heard, huh?” Kurt finally responded.

“I saw, actually. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Finn plus slushy equals bad, so I followed him.”

“He doesn’t try to be a bad guy.”

“He’s just a natural at it?” Blaine questioned, a little bitterly. It hurt, if he was honest, to hear Kurt defending someone who’d been willing to slush Kurt just to defend their reputation.

Blaine was sick of everyone’s obsession with reputations. Including his own obsession.

“The football guys said they’d beat him up. And he obviously really, really didn’t want to do it.”

“Yeah, sure.”

He wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, but Kurt obviously took it that way, because his tone got really defensive. “Blaine, Finn is my friend, and-”

“I’m not- Kurt, I’m not attacking your actions. I thought that was really awesome of you, and I was actually really proud. Is that weird? Can I be proud of you?”

Kurt snorted. “Of course you can, you creepy weirdo.” He was smiling, though, Blaine could hear it in his voice.

“Good.” Blaine let himself grin. “Because that speech you gave was really awesome, as well. I think you might’ve gotten through to him.”

“I hope so. Someone needs to, and his girlfriend certainly isn’t trying hard enough.” Kurt sounded, as ever, both jealous and disparaging when he spoke of Quinn.

“Yeah, well, she has her own reputation to think about.” Blaine pointed out, finding that he actually sympathised with the Cheerio. For one, it couldn’t be easy being pregnant, and for two, it was in both he and Quinn’s best interests if Kurt was kept away from Finn. Although, the latter fact was for entirely different reasons. She wanted Finn to remain her boyfriend, whereas he just wanted Kurt to remain safe.

Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that, Blaine.

Kurt hummed an acknowledgement, jolting Blaine from his thoughts. “I suppose so. I really hope Finn comes back to Glee, though.”

“Yeah, me too. I just know you guys are going to do great at Sectionals,” Blaine told him brightly, trying to be optimistic.

“Of course we will.” Kurt responded, sounding offended that Blaine would ever suggest otherwise.

Blaine smiled. “I know. I’ll be there to cheer you on, you can count on it.”

Kurt’s voice sounded softer when he said, “I’m glad you will.” They were both quiet for a moment, comfortable in the silence.

Blaine tried to ignore the niggling voice in his mind which was suggesting that maybe, just maybe, they’d do even better at Sectionals if he were in the club, too.