Kurt Hummel sat in his black Navigator, absentmindedly nodding his head to whatever song was playing over the speakers. He was currently driving to McKinley just like any other day, with coffee in hand and his brother in the passenger seat. Finn was currently engrossed in writing his English essay (which Kurt had told him he needed to do last night. But since when does Finn listen to him?), and as a result, their usual banter was replaced with a comfortable silence. This lull in conversation allowed Kurt to think; which wasn’t really Kurt’s favorite thing to do, because why would he want to sit and think about how shitty his life was?

Nevertheless, Kurt was stuck in this car for the next twenty minutes and he wasn’t going to spend it listening to the garbage on the radio. So, Kurt thought; thought about the bullies, the hate, Glee club, and his dreams. It was a lot of emotions and thoughts to have rattling around in his head everyday, and sometimes Kurt honestly didn't know what to do anymore. It seemed as if every day simply blurred together into one indecipherable mix of slushies, shoves, and slurs; not to mention boring classes and a glee club that seemed to have completely forgotten about him and his plight. It was his senior year at McKinley High, and Kurt knew this year was going to be no different from the last three.

Sure, Karofsky and Azimio were both gone, but that didn't mean the homophobia in Ohio was any less prevalent. Thankfully Finn, Noah, and Mike had banded together to help ‘protect’ Kurt, but they had their own lives, and he didn't want them to waste their senior years watching his back. And even with all of the problems Kurt seemed to be having, he was still determined to fight through and come out on top; ‘on top’ hopefully meaning a nice university in New York city with a loving boyfriend and a tastefully decorated apartment. It was this dream that kept Kurt going every day, including today.

It was raining hard when Kurt finally pulled his Navigator into the parking lot at McKinley, pulling him from his inner narrative. After a brief farewell from Finn, Kurt was forced to decide whether to risk ruining the soft leather on his satchel, or to spend the next ten minutes carefully styling his hair back to how it currently was. After a minute or so of deliberation Kurt decided hair was much less important than a designer bag, and hopped out of his car quickly, keeping that satchel tucked safely under his arm.

Kurt's boots squelched as he splashed into one of the many puddles covering the asphalt, and he cursed the incompetent weather man on the local news channel.

"Dammit, I just polished those last night!" Kurt muttered angrily under his breath, diverting his gaze to the ground as to avoid any more puddles. It just so happened that as he sidestepped a rather large and murky one, he would run into somebody. Kurt stumbled back from the warm mass, and looked up into the eyes of one of the school's many hockey players. 'Wow, fate must really have it out for me this morning'

"Watch where you're going faggot, I don't want you infecting me," the hockey player, Jeff, spat. Kurt bit back a witty retort and made to move away from him, but he was once again blocked by Jeff. "Wait a minute Hummel, one more thing before I let you inside." Kurt felt strong hands grip his shoulders roughly as he was pushed down.

Kurt fell down into a puddle, hard. It splashed all around him, drenching all the parts of his body that weren't already soaked. He managed to glare up at Jeff, but the full force of his ‘bitch please’ face was ruined by the stringy pieces of hair dripping into his eyes. Jeff laughed and quickly jogged off to relay the story to the rest of his teammates, Kurt was certain.

Kurt muttered a few choice insults under his breath as he got up and turned to locate his satchel. But it wasn't on the ground where he expected it to be; instead it was replaced by a ratty pair of red converse. Kurt's eyes trailed up legs wrapped in a tight pair of acid wash jeans, (which made him cringe, he got enough of that from Carole), a broad chest clad in a black V-neck, and up to the boy's face. Kurt's eyes were immediately drawn to the multiple piercings; an eyebrow ring, multiple earrings, and a stud in his nose, among others. Once he got over the initial shock of the piercings, Kurt was pleasantly surprised by the curly black hair, warm hazel eyes, and full lips that were currently drawn into a feral grin.

"Like what you see babe?" the boy said, and Kurt felt blood rush to his cheeks at the sound of the smooth voice. His cheeks reddened even more when the other boy's eyes openly raked down Kurt's own body.

"I'd like my satchel back." Kurt said, looking over the boy's shoulder rather than into his eyes.

"That's it? I don't even get a 'thank-you' for picking your precious bag up?" he chuckled, "You should be happy that you have a nice ass, 'cause your manners are lacking."

Kurt's eyes narrowed at this comment. "Look, you can say whatever you want; I've heard it all before. Even this little 'flirt with the gay kid so he won't be suspicious when you drag him out to the port-a-potty’ act, so give me my satchel back and we can both just walk away from this and go on living our miserable little lives."

"Nobody's life can be that miserable when they get to watch you strut around all day." the other boy grinned at Kurt again, holding the satchel out. "But have it your way, I'll give you your satchel back if you'll help the lonely new kid to his classes." He grinned again.

Kurt quickly reached out and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. "Fine, follow me new kid."

"Gladly," the boy said, and Kurt could actually hear the smirk in his voice. Kurt simply sighed and opened the doors to the school, thankful for the blast of heat and dry air that welcomed him.

"I'm going to my locker first, and then we'll go down to the office to pick up your schedule." Kurt walked down the hallway to his locker quickly, and silently put his books away. He was aware of the boy's hazel eyes on him the whole time, but chose to ignore them until their owner opened his mouth.

"Blaine,"

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"My name is Blaine," the boy, Blaine, explained. Kurt nodded and closed his locker, making his way back towards McKinley's front office. "Are you going to grace me with your name, or continue being an ice queen?"

Kurt had just opened his mouth to retort when he felt himself being shoved into the nearest row of lockers. He grimaced when the bruise on his shoulder took the majority of the impact.

"Hey assholes, who the fuck do you think you are?" Blaine yelled after the two retreating football players. They turned and glared at Blaine, stalking back towards him.

"Is this your butt-buddy Hummel? Did you finally find somebody who actually wanted to fuck your sorry ass?" one of them asked, leaning in towards Kurt.

"He's not my-"

"So what if I was? Would you be jealous? It would make sense if you were, he's fucking sex on legs," Blaine spared a glance at Kurt, who he was pleased to see had a raging blush on his cheeks, before turning back around to glare at the other two.
“Walk away or I’ll break your fucking nose.”

“Yeah right, a puny little shit like you couldn’t even reach my nose,” the jock chuckled, but he was cut off when Blaine swung a punch at his face. “Fuck!” He clutched his nose, which was bleeding profusely.

“Walk away.” Blaine spat.

“Fine! But this isn’t over, fairies.” The two jocks walked away, one of them still cradling his nose.

“Are you alright?” Blaine turned back to Kurt, his eyes soft.

“I-I’m fine. Thanks.” Kurt looked down; the vulnerability in Blaine’s eyes was almost too much to bear. Nobody had ever done that for him before, maybe Blaine actually liked him, maybe he wasn’t a bully, maybe he was ga- ‘No, don’t think about that Kurt. Remember Finn, Sam? Just forget about it, wait until you’re in New York and there are people like you everywhere.’

“Good, let’s go.” Blaine’s voice was hard again, and when Kurt looked back up, he saw that his face was once again formed into a look of cool indifference. Kurt nodded and started back down the hall, forcing any thoughts about Blaine’s caring face away.