Walking down the halls on Monday, I keep my guard up as usual. I am being so cautious, I nearly yelp when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and see that there is one new message from Kurt. Eagerly I open the text and see one word on the screen.

Courage

I smile in appreciation. The text is short and sweet, but holds a lot of meaning. Over the weekend, Kurt helped build my confidence and reminded me not to give up. He even talked ideas with me on how to stand up to Karofsky. Today I will not take any harassment. I will have courage.

********

So far, I haven't had the chance to put my new found bravery to work, but I'm not complaining. I head to my locker before lunch to put some thing away, and I've almost reached my destination when my books are thrown from my hands. I look up to see Karofsky, right as he slams me hard into the lockers. He jeers at me, then turns walks away, laughing.

But instead of staying on the floor like usual, I get up and chase after him. “Hey! What's your problem?”

He turns around and looks at me, but quickly pretends he didn't.

“Karofsky! I'm talking to you!” This time he starts walking toward me, and my courage I felt moments earlier begins to shrink.

“What do you want, gay-boy?”

“I want to know, why you target me. And why you've made it your mission to make me unhappy.”

Instead of answering, he just laughs, but I can tell he is a bit nervous. “Because, homo. Your in glee club, you wear stupid bow ties, and you flaunt it in our faces. All the gay is disgusting.”

Before I realize what I am doing, my fist has connected with his face. And I've punched Karofsky.

He backs away clutching his face, and shouts at me “What the hell?” then starts to swing at my face. I duck, then sock him again, hard, in the gut. Before he can manage to hit me back, I sprint down the hall. This gotten out of hand, I was never meant supposed to be violent. It's exactly what I'm against.

By the time I've reached the parking lot, there are tears coming down my face. Why I'm crying, I don't really know. Maybe because no one sticks up for me, or because of the rude things he said, but I think the real reason is because I'm ashamed of what I did.

******

I drive for a while until I realize that I have arrived at Dalton Academy. I really don't know why I chose to come here of all places, but now that I have arrived, I know that I need to see Kurt.

Right now he's the only one who will understand. But school doesn't get out for over an hour, so I'll have to wait.

I decide to send him a text while I wait, to let him know I'm here.

Hey, this is sorta awkward, but I'm outside Dalton right now, and I really need to talk with you… Can we meet up soon? I'll be waiting.

I sit and replay the events of the day through my mind, and I feel even worse. It really couldn't have gone any worse.

My self-pitying thoughts are interrupted by my vibrating phone.

Ok, are you alright? Meet me in the parking lot, 2:30. We can go up to my dorm & talk there. Hope you are okay

I smile at the text, because he is so caring. I really got lucky to have met this wonderful boy. Which brings my mind to another issue I've been thinking about lately. The first time I saw him, I knew he was special. And over the weekend as we talked, I liked him more and more. He has the most charisma of anyone I've ever met, and has such an endearing personality. I can't help but want to know more about him. Now, I hope he doesn't dislike me after I tell him what I did.

Kurt, like me, has a strong belief that violence is never the answer. So after I punched Karofsky today, I hope he is understanding.

*******

After getting Blaine's text today, I am really worried for him. It seems that something bad happened. When the final bell for my class rings, I hurry out to the parking lot, scanning the rows for his car. Then I see him, leaning against his car a few rows away. Damn. He is even more attractive than I remember. With his tan skin and dark hair, I don't see how anyone wouldn't think he is good-looking. Stop it! I scold myself. You are just friends.

“Hey! I found you,” I say, as I wave to him.

“Oh! Hey, thank goodness. Two hours is a really long wait.”

            “Two hours? Blaine, that's a long time. Ok, what happened?”

            His face falls and it looks like he's almost going to cry. “It's okay, it's okay. Shh, come here.” He's crying silently at this point and I wrap my arms around him. “Let's head up to the dorms, okay?”

He nods his head and follows me as I head thought the halls of Dalton, until we reach my room. Jeff, my roommate is studying with Nick at the library, so I know the room is empty.

“Okay, can you start from the beginning?” I ask, and he nods again.

“Well, it started when K-Karofsky harassed m-me in the hallway…” Blaine begins.

****

“And then I punched him.” He pauses a minute before adding, “Hard. And then again in the stomach.”

My eyes grow wide, because I would never believe that this boy in front of me would ever be remotely violent.

I think he see's the look of surprise on my face, but misinterprets it because he says, his face falling, “I know, you probably think I'm awful now. Since you are so against violence.”

            “No, I don't think your awful. I think you probably just acted on self defense. Doesn't mean it's right, but I'm not going to shut you out or anything.” I joke lightly.

            Apparently he was worried about this though, because as soon as I said it, he looks as though a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

            “Thank you, thank you, for understanding.” He says, and starts crying.

            “S-sorry. Stressful day.” I make out through his sobs.

            I pull him in to a tight hug, and we sit there for a while. Eventually he stops crying, but we still stay with our arms around each other.

            After a few more minutes have passed, I slowly pull away. “Well, I'm hungry, what about you?” he nods his head, still not making eye contact with me. “I think I what we need is a Disney movie marathon and some pizza.”

            He starts to grin and I grab his hand, pulling him out of the room with me. “Come on, let's head down towards the cafeteria.”

            *****

            How I found myself bawling in the dorm room of practically a stranger, I'm not quite sure. And that stranger happens to be a pracitically perfect boy, who I like. A lot.

            My luck just gets better and better.

            At some point he pulled me into a hug and we've been sititng like this for a bit. I finally stop crying and begin to relax. This day has been awful, but now I am trying to let it go.

            He pulls away and asks if I'm hungry. I don't trust myself not to stutter so I just nod my head.

            “I think what we need is a Disney movie marathon and some pizza.”

            Disney movies? I smile instantly. That sounds great! I'm still excited about watching the cartoons when I feel Kurt grab my hand, pulling me out the door.

            We enter the hallway and I let him pull me through the corridors, until we reach a room, which has many different smells.

            “This is the cafeteria, they almost always have pizza. Let's go grab some.”

            He drops my hand after realizing we are still linked and I see a blush creep up his cheeks. I follow along pretending not to notice, but my head is buzzing. Did I cause him to blush? Could he possibly think of me like that?

            I push the thoughts aside and focus on grabbing my food.

******

            We are halfway through The Lion King when I realize I haven't contacted my parents. They are both very busy, but I'm sure they have noticed by now. When I check my phone, I see 3 calls from my mom and a few anxious texts.

            I quickly send her a message, letting her know I'm okay, just with a friend.

            “Everything okay?” Kurt asks me, probably wondering why I suddenly got up.”

            “I forgot to tell my parents I was here, my mom was nervous. But it's fine now.” I reassure him, settling back in my place next to him on the matress. Although it could be an awkward situation, it isn't. There is no tension and it feels like I have been friends with Kurt for so much longer than just a few days. It's nice to have someone who understands, who I can be serious with but then go and sing along to Disney movies with.

            I'm friends with the glee club, but I'm not nearly this comfortable around them.

            I tune back into the movie and realize we are at the part where Simba's father is about to die. I watch the scene unfold and feel sadness for the poor lion cub. As on the screen, the little lion looks for his father and finds him deceased, I hear a sniff next to me. I look over and see Kurt looks really upset.

            “Um, Kurt, are you okay?” He glances up at me then tries to clear his throat.

            “Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just haven't seen this movie in a while. I forgot the dad died.”

            “Oh.” He seems really upset for that to be the only thing. “Are you sure that's all?”

            “It just reminded me of my mom, that's all. I'm fine. Can we just keep watching?” He finishes, and I can tell he doesn't want to talk about it.

            I nod my head and turn back toward the screen. There is silence again until Hakuna Matata, where we both sing with the animals.

*****

            After the movie, I yawn and realize that it's 7:30pm and I need to head home. We paused it eventually and went down to the cafeteria to buy some junk food. Kurt complained he really shouldn't have that much oily food in one night, but once we got back to the room, he had his fair share of the snacks.

            “Well, I should probably head back. But thanks for tonight. Just what I needed.”

            “Of course! It was fun for me too and it's nice to have another friend around.”

            “Same. Especially one who gets it.”  I look him in the eyes as I say this, and he nods.

            “Thanks for confiding in me. I'm here anytime you need to talk.” Kurt says warmly, before pulling me into a quick hug. “Bye Blaine, I'll talk to you soon.”

            “Bye Kurt”