Kurt couldnt believe that he agreed to this.

It's not that he wasn't a fan of Big Brother, because it can be argued that he was one of the biggest. He didn't care much for the term superfan but if anyone would get the label it would definitely be Kurt. But the truth here was that Kurt had been a closeted Big Brother fan for years. Far back in the closet, only out to his family. He'd never intended on changing that. He'd been watching the show since he was 12 for crying out loud. In fact, he was the one who got Finn so passionately involved to the point that Finn would spend his summers on forums discussing gameplay and creating close to 40 accounts to vote for America's Favorite Player hundreds of times a day. In Kurt's defense, he had no idea that going through a marathon of BB6 one night over Christmas break would turn Finn into the Big Brother maniac he had now become. The last thing he expected was for him to actually tryout for the show, pass the first round, then the second, and of course rope him into doing it as well.

Kurt honestly had no plans on spending his summer in a house with however many strangers—a house with a bazillion cameras and a bajillion microphones and a bathroom that he'd have to share with these people. All of them. His initial thoughts were ‘what if there's a homophobe?' and ‘what if I get evicted first?' because NO ONE wanted to be that guy, but Kurt definitely had more anxiety over the fact that he was going to be in the reality competition than he did excitement.

He liked watching Big Brother, not being on Big Brother. There was a huuuuge difference.

They were in a small green room—just him and Finn. Finn was wearing his usual dopey I'm-a-gigantic-ball-of-sunshine smile. He had his duffel bag packed to the brim and on his lap, ready for production to give them the OK to enter the Big Brother house. Kurt was staring at him—he'd been staring at him since they arrived at CBS Studios and were ushered into the soundproof room they had been locked in for the past forty minutes or so. In all honesty, Kurt wanted to run for the hills and fast, but he couldn't do that to Finn. He couldn't do that to America who was counting on him to be an interesting BB player and not a quitter—Lord knows the Internet would never forgive him if he sucked. Plus, so many people had tried out for this competition year after year. This was Finn and Kurt's first time and they made it. Even if he hadn't asked for it, it was still a blessing, and Kurt tried to remember that.

Finn told him after they gotten their Keys—getting the Big Brother Key was basically like getting into BB college; it was like getting an acceptance letter, if you will— that they would be the only two in the house who knew one another. It was a good thing for them, of course—they could keep one another safe if they played their cards right, but honestly Kurt had been hoping that they wouldn't have to keep the fact that they were brothers a secret. He didn't really trust Finn to keep his mouth shut, and not being a blabber mouth is an important part in this game of ‘human chess'. Finn would be a great physical competitor, but when it came to strategy he'd probably suck, and them going into the house with this secret was a bit scary.

There was a knock on the door and Finn bounced up off the sofa; his excitement evident on his face. Kurt felt a churning in his stomach that was much closer to discomfort than it was to exhilaration. Grabbing his bag, Kurt stood to his feet and gave his stepbrother a glare before taking a deep breath.

“This is it, Kurt. We're about to enter the Big Brother house!”

Kurt simply looked at him. He didnt really know what else to do with himself at the moment. If you wanted to get technical, it was Finns fault he was in this predicament to begin with. He seriously couldve dragged any of his friends to casting with him, but he had to choose Kurt—the same Kurt who wanted no part of this, really.

“Youre the only one I can win the game with,” Finn had told him with a pout. “Besides, how often is it that you get to do Big Brother with your best friend?” 

Kurt didnt even bother fighting with him. He didnt think he had any argument, anyway. His stepbrother was right. 

“I bet you'll feel better when one of us wins that half a million dollars,” Finn told him, nudging his shoulder before carrying his bag to the door. Now that the door had been opened, they could both hear Julie Chen making her introduction, and Kurt saw a couple other contestants walking by. The funny thing was they were all wearing the same face that Finn had painted on—complete and utter glee. Apparently Kurt was the only one not about to burst like a piñata from happiness.

“Just… remember not to tell anyone that you're my brother, Finn. We'll be targeted right away.”

Finn nodded. “I won't, Kurt. I know this game as well as you do. We're complete strangers,” he said with a serious look on his face. “You need to remember to actually enjoy yourself. You don't have to be in game mode 24/7, alright?”

Kurt acknowledged that Finn had some good points too. He tried his best to see the bright side of things. There were tons of bright sides.

-He'd be on TV. TV time meant that he could pimp out his business in New York, and as an up and coming interior designer, all publicity could be good publicity, eh?

-There would be tons of shirtless hot guys. In the pool. Working out. Walking around shirtless.

-Where was he, again?

-Oh yes. He'd be on TV.

-He had a chance to bond some more with the stepbrother he rarely saw nowadays, well, unless it was a holiday, and they could win some serious cash and prizes together. –If they played smart, that was.

-Cash equated to Fendi. Lots of Fendi.

-Versace, too.

Kurt was pulled out of his thoughts when the production assistant directed them to the stage like they rehearsed. He took a deep breath and carried his luggage towards his place. Finn smiled at him and then took the lead, and Kurt realized that regardless of what happened, this would be the moment that changed his life forever.

He hoped it was in a good way.

-B-B-

“Although this is the first time they are seeing each other, they are not allowed to speak to one another until they are inside the Big Brother House.”

Kurt was the last one to arrive on stage. He didn't even get a chance to observe the other HouseGuests because he was too busy trying to do what production rehearsed with them in the green room.

Arrive on stage in your spot and turn to face front.
Look happy. 
Happier…
Look as if you actually want to be here…

He did that without falling on his face, so there may have been hope. But, his stomach was still doing that weird thing.

He smiled at the camera even though he was practically shaking. Finn stood close to his side with his huge I-love-life grin, and Kurt could basically feel him vibrating with joy.

“Welcome HouseGuests,” the host, Julie Chen greeted them, smiling at the 12 men and women in front of her. Most of them gave a greeting in return, but Kurt only continued to smile without saying a thing. It wasn't so much that he was nervous as it was that he was realizing this was freaking ridiculous. He was about to enter a house with a bunch of people who were more than likely going to spend the next couple months plotting each other's demise.

Again, great for TV—not so great when you're the one being plotted against.

“Take a good look around you. The person in front of you could become your new best friend, while the person behind ­you just might stab you in the back.”

Kurt was in the absolute front, so he stopped forcing his show-smile and turned around to look at the other HouseGuests. He saw people observing one another just like he was—a short brunette in a terrible pink t-shirt with a gold star on it, a tall blond whose lips could barely fit on his face, an Asian girl who already looked as if she was plotting to destroy the world – forget the Big Brother house (overachiever, Kurt thought) but as Kurt turned his head to look at the person directly behind him, his eyes were met with those of another. They were brown—well really more of a hazel, and he wasn't so much smiling at Kurt as he was smirking at him. His hair was thick and curly, and he gave off the surfer guy vibe—every season needed one right?—but when he winked, Kurt found himself hurrying to turn and face the front.

Seriously. All he needed was for his father to see that.

When he finally got to his actual home and was able to watch all of the episodes on TV, he was going to punch himself in the throat if he was blushing at that moment. The thought made his cheeks get even hotter and that was the opposite of what Kurt wanted.

“Remember,” Julie continued. “Once you walk through that door, you won't come out until you've either been evicted, or won the half million dollar prize. So, is everyone ready?”

“Yeah!” The few voices that answered were filled with enthusiasm. Kurt only smiled. He was feeling a little bit of excitement now, and no, it wasn't because the idiot behind him winked. It was actually because he was going inside of the Big Brother house and though he never actually wanted to be on the show, it was cause for some freaking out.

“The first three to enter the house are: Finn, Santana, and Quinn.”

Finn turned to Kurt with the biggest smile and thought twice before hugging his stepbrother.  It took a matter of seconds before he was practically plunging through the doors of the BB House. He damn near knocked down a feisty Latina who appeared to hold back a few impolite words—production had asked them to be mindful of their language after all, and no one really wanted to be the guy or girl that let an expletive slip before even getting inside.  They entered and Julie smiled at the remaining HouseGuests on stage as they waited.

Kurt wanted to look around again—he wanted to get an idea of the people he was going to be living with. It seemed like there were more girls than guys when he first glanced around but he couldn't really be sure. He was however confused about the fact that there were so little people. There couldn't have been more than a dozen when he arrived on stage.  It made him wonder if that was a Big Brother Twist of some kind, and to be frank the Twists are what scared him the most. He didn't think that it was about him and Finn knowing one another outside of the competition. That wasn't big enough. It had to be something else…

“The next group to enter is: Rachel, Tina, and Noah.”

Kurt let out a breath of relief. He was grateful that his name wasn't called because he still needed to hype himself up mentally to be ready to go inside. Once he stepped inside, that was it. He'd be totally isolated from everyone but the other people inside the house—no cell phone, no social networking sites, no Bravo TV, no Netflix (the horror!) and no spontaneous trips to the Cheesecake factory. It would just be him and these other people for a whole summer.

Maybe I should get myself evicted before jury, Kurt thought to himself. He smiled happily and began to nod. Yeah! That's what I'll do. I'll work both sides of the house and then I'll let someone expose me, and then they'll all vote me out, and I can totally go back to New York and get a cheesecake in celebration! Finn wouldn't be too happy, but by then I'm sure he'll have made friends—

“Next, Brittany, Sam, and Kitty will enter.”

There were a couple cheers and the movement of footsteps as the next three went inside. Kurt glanced back to see who he was left with—it was just his luck that he'd be part of the last group. All the beds would be taken for sure and he'd probably have to sleep on a sleeping bag. A sleeping bag on the floor.

A couple steps back was a young looking brunette who gave off a timid vibe. She smiled at him when he turned around and Kurt was kind enough to return it. The girl seemed nice enough—actually Kurt could smell the floater on her but everyone had their strategy, right?

That also helped him to realize that Winky was left with the two of them as well. Against his better judgment, Kurt glanced back only for a second to look at him, and again it was a mistake. The guy's eyes were on him and he was smiling—the same teasing smile he wore earlier.

Kurt turned to the front again, this time a bit more composed. Suddenly, he felt more optimistic about going inside. Maybe it was a cross between wanting to go find Finn just to ground himself, and just wanting to get this over with in general. Julie Chen nodded at whatever production was telling her and turned to the three contestants remaining on the stage. Kurt waited patiently for his signal to go inside.

“Alright, HouseGuests. You three are the last to enter, so Kurt, Marley, and Blaine; you may now turn and go inside the Big Brother house.”

Marley and Blaine, Kurt thought to himself. Then he had to wonder which was which. Both names could be unisex, right? Though, this guy didnt look like his name was Marley or Blaine. He looks like Rob, or a John… 

Oh yeah. Please pay attention. Youre about to walk into your new summer home, idiot. 

Kurt joined the two at the door; the girl looked a lot more excited than Winky did, but after Winky held the door for the both of them and they all stepped inside, a broad smile covered his face. 

“Race you to the beds.”

Kurt opened his mouth to reply, but the guy was already gone. The brunette giggled excitedly as she ran inside as well, and Kurt realized that he was literally the last contestant out of everyone on the stage to go and get a bed.

This was already off to a hellish start.

As he ran inside, Kurt was immediately distracted by how amazing the house looked this season—not that the BB house didn't always look great (we don't talk about the Big Brother 11 house. It was just. No.) but this one in particular was a theme that Kurt could get acquainted with. The style was eclectic—red chairs, dark wooden floors, multi-colored striped rugs, the walls a pale blue with framed photos placed randomly. It didn't take him long to realize that the home was music themed, and that helped him to feel at home in a way.

As soon as the interior designer in him started to fall in love with the décor, he was pretty much bombarded by Finn and a couple other guys. One was rather bulky and had a Mohawk—Kurt wasn't sure if he was supposed to be intimidated by that or not—and then there was the blond with the lips again.

Finn smiled in a friendly manner before extending his hand.

“Hi! My name is Finn. This is Noah—”

“Call me Puck,” the man with the Mohawk said.

“And I'm Sam,” it was the blond guy with the huge lips. Kurt smiled at all three of them and shook Finn's hand.

“It's nice to meet you all. I'm Kurt, and I really need to go find if there are any beds left…”

Sam made a face that said he was shit out of luck before Finn leaned in a bit.

“There's a room down the hall and to your right with a bed left. The room is painted blue, neon green, and black, and there are rock and roll instruments on the walls. The two people you came in with are probably in the other rooms. You should run, Kurt.”

Kurt pulled back and looked at Finn. He wanted to hit him at first, because why are you leaning in and whispering to me five seconds after supposedly meeting me??, but then Finn spoke again.

“I mean, you seem like a cool guy and I'd let you share a bed with me if you'd want to? The beds are tiny and all but—”

“God, no,” Kurt grimaced as he said it.

“Then go!” Finn looked at him seriously, and Puck made his way over to the kitchen to pop the champagne.

That was all the motivation he needed. Kurt zoomed past what he assumed was the Storage Room, the Diary Room, and the other bedrooms as he headed all the way down the long hall and to his right. He could hear someone closing in on him as he did so and he winced when he went into the room and there were already bags on the beds which essentially meant they were claimed.

All except for one bed in the corner.

Kurt smiled and hurried over to it, not knowing that whoever had been chasing him had already thrown his bag into the air. It landed right on the bed Kurt wanted as he flung his down, and he quickly turned around and saw Winky standing there, hunched over and out of breath.

“My bag touched the bed first. It's mine.”

Kurt shook his head no. Hell no. “I was in the room first and I actually came over here to put my things down. You flying in behind me and launching your bag across the room doesn't earn you the bed. Sorry.”

“I beg to differ,” he said, walking over and plopping down on the bed next to his duffel bag. Kurt watched him curiously. It looked like he didn't have a problem finding this season's asshole. “Julie said that we had to put our bag on the bed for it to be ours. I did that. Who cares if I wasn't standing next to it when it happened?”

“I care!” Kurt said. “Because I saw it first, and there's no way I'm sleeping on the floor.”

The guy smiled. “We have to bunk together, you know. There aren't any sleeping bags.”

Kurt grimaced. There goes this ‘great start' he was off too. “You've got to be kidding me.”

“Hey,” he stood up and gestured to the bed. “I know there isn't a lot of space but I'm a small guy and I'm a sound sleeper. My si… I mean, a couple other people are already sharing and those who aren't weren't interested in splitting their space with me, but I'm game if you're game.”

Kurt raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, but more so at the slip up. He heard that. “So wait a minute,” he began. “You're saying you want to sleep together?”

Hazel eyes went up and down his body before the guy smiled.

Kurt really did want to hit him, but he knew that violence wasn't tolerated by Big Brother. He'd be evicted and on the first day. In the first hour. That would've been a record, for sure.

A girl stepped in the room and looked at the both of them. Kurt recognized her as the Asian chick he saw on stage, and once again, she looked super ready to compete. Scary. “Hey guys! I'm Tina.”

“Blaine,” Winky said. “It's nice to meet you, Tina.”

Kurt stopped looking at him and turned back to his other new housemate. “I'm Kurt.”

“Well Kurt and Blaine,” she turned back to the door, “I'm in the bed in the middle, so I guess you two will be my roommates. There's another girl in here too. Kitty, I believe. Anyway, everyone's about to start doing the meet and greet introductions so come out to the living room when you're settled in.”

“Thank you, Tina.” Blaine sat back down on the bed and started to adjust the microphone he was wearing. He smiled at Kurt again and looked around the room. “I've been so busy arguing with you that I didn't really get to appreciate how it looks in here. This is badass.”

Kurt looked around and nodded. This must've been the ‘Rock and Roll' room, and yeah, badass was one way to describe it. Kurt sat down on the bed as he thought to himself.

“Look… Kurt, right?”

He nodded.

“I'll make a deal with you. Let me sleep in your bed with you and I won't evict you when I win Head of Household this week.”

That helped to loosen the mood. Kurt put his hands over his face as he laughed before lying back on the bed. He stared up at the ceiling and smiled a bit.  

“You're funny, Blaine.”

Blaine chewed on his lip, watching Kurt look around the room as he thought. “Are we sleeping together or what?”

Kurt smirked. “We'll see how tonight goes. If you don't drool or snore or kick me off the bed, I guess we can make it work.”

Blaine nodded his head. “Alright then. Works for me, bro.”

“I'll be HoH anyway and you can have the bed to yourself,” Kurt teased, standing up and smiling when his roommate laughed. “We should get out there and start the introductions, don't you think? Find out what this beautiful twist is…”

Blaine hopped up off the bed and Kurt could already tell this one had way too much energy. He led the way out of the room as Blaine continued to talk.

“What do you think the twist is, anyway? Any ideas?”

Kurt entered the living room with him and glanced around at everyone pouring themselves a glass of champagne and mingling. He did a quick headcount and turned to Blaine.

“Well we're definitely going to get more people.”

Blaine frowned. “I figured as much.”

The Latina that entered with Finn downed her glass of champagne quickly and then cleared her throat. “Alright everyone. Gather around, grab a seat…” The loud chatter in the room lowered to murmuring as she continued. “Now that we're all here, we can get to know one another.”

Blaine gestured over to an empty seat and winked goodbye. Kurt nodded, moving over to grab a glass of champagne for himself and then making his way to an open spot between Finn and Puck on the opposite side of the curved, red sofas. Finn was still grinning—Kurt was positive the man's face would be stuck that way when the season was over—and as he looked around the room, he saw people scanning the other contestants just as he was.

“I guess I'll begin,” the Latina said, still standing. Blaine was sat next to her holding a glass and looking around the room curiously. “My name is Santana, I'm 24 years of age. I was born in Los Angeles but I now live in Miami where I DJ and bartend at Club Cameo.”

People made oohs and aahs as she sat down. One chick could be heard saying that was one of her favorite clubs as Blaine stood up next. He looked around and did a quick wave, and it was now that Kurt got to realize how nice his Polo shirt was.

He may've noticed how nicely it fit him, too.

“Hey everyone. I'm Blaine. I'm 21 and a junior at USC, Fight on Trojans,” he said with a smile. Finn—a UCLA graduate himself, looked as if he'd puke, but there were a couple girls who were smiling dreamily at him. Kurt had to smile. It looked like Showmance City right about now… “I'm a Music Business Management major and I love to surf and play guitar. And I sing a lot so… Big Brother will probably hate me.”

There were cheers and Kurt smiled at him as he took a seat. It earned him the corniest wink he could've ever imagined. Sam looked between the two of them and hummed, but Kurt didn't have the time to deny anything because the next person was going.

“Hi! My name is Rachel and I've been watching this show since the 2nd season with my gay dads. I'm happy to finally be on!”

Sam got up to pour a glass for the girl next to him and she thanked him with a wide smile. Yep, the Showmances were already starting. After the cheers for Rachel, she continued.

“I'm from Boston, Mass. I just turned 22 last week and I do theater, hoping to be on Broadway one day.” She sat down as people greeted her hello and Kurt was just grateful that he didn't have to stare at her hideous shirt as she retook her seat.

“She's cute,” Finn whispered.

Kurt rolled his eyes. There went his partner's strategy, straight down the toilet. He'd have to deal with Finn being gaga-eyed over a chick, wouldn't he?

“Hello everyone,” a blonde stood up and smiled. “My name is Brittany. I'm really into unicorns and the color purple. My partner is Kitty, she's over there,” she pointed to another blonde who was at the end of the room sat next to Tina—her eyes going wide at what Brittany had just said. “We grew up together and we're best friends—”

“Time out,” Sam said, standing up. “You have a partner? You two are partners?”

Brittany looked around the room at all the puzzled faces. “Yes… doesn't everyone? I heard Blaine and Santana arguing in my room about having to share a bed growing up and how she didn't want to do it anymore.”

The room turned to look at Blaine and Santana. The girl dropped her head into her hands and Blaine took a deep breath—his face pretty much saying fucking motherfucker.

Kurt immediately turned to look at Finn whose jaw was dropped. They should've known that they wouldn't be the only pair that knew one another. Immediately the group started to look around and Kurt saw Puck staring across the room at a nervous chick about the same age. She was gorgeous.

They knew one another.

Also, Rachel and Marley looked 100% guilty.

And Blaine's slip up earlier… he was totally going to say ‘my sister' wasn't he?

Fuck.

“This isn't fair,” Sam said, obviously annoyed. “Who else in here has a partner? I don't!”

Tina stood up. “Neither do I… how is this fair?”

“Maybe those four are the only pairs…” Puck said.

“Bull crap,” Sam pointed at Kurt and Finn. “I can tell you two know one another. Why else would you go over and tell him where the free bed was?”

Blaine looked between the two of them. Kurt remained stone-faced and Finn looked as if he had a bad case of gas. “Why not? Maybe because I'm a nice guy.”

“Alright,” Santana stood up. “Obviously there are people playing as pairs in here. Thanks to this bright ray of sunshine, we've all been exposed.”

At least now we know who to evict, Kurt thought.

“But how do we know that you two aren't actually partners and are pretending not to be?” Santana asked.

Sam looked at Tina and then around the living room at the curious faces. “I have no idea who she is! This is my first time meeting her.”

“Exactly,” Tina agreed.

Blaine ruffled his curls and shook his head. This wasn't how he wanted this season to start off at all. They hadn't even gotten through introducing themselves yet and people were being thrown under the bus.

“Alright,” Finn stood up, going out of order and obviously not caring. “I guess I'll go next. I'm Finn, I'm 24—”

“We're kind of in the middle of something here,” Kitty said, rolling her eyes. “Fine. I know Brittany. We've been exposed. Can we just get this over with?”

Kurt dropped his head in defeat. Once more, he would love watching this drama unfold if he was at home, but living with it was going to give him a summer full of headaches.

“Hello HouseGuests,” Julie Chen said from the monitor. Everyone looked up and half-cheered at having seen her, but then she was speaking again.

“I'm glad that you're all settled in, and I see that some of you have questions regarding who's partnered with whom in the Big Brother house.”

Kurt looked around the room as people nodded. He faced front, looking and Julie on the large screen.

“Well, as you know our motto here is ‘Expect the Unexpected', and while several of you are partnered with someone from the outside—whether it be a friend, a family member, a lover, or an ex-lover,” there was a gasp that Kurt was sure came from Rachel, “a couple of you haven't met your partners just yet…”

“Damn it,” Finn whispered beneath his breath.

“This season, we'll be bringing back former HouseGuests…”

“Why?” someone asked, and Kurt laughed with the others, pretty much agreeing with that sentiment. It was bad enough that they all had to play the game knowing that there were basically already alliances formed, but now that they had to compete against people who'd done Big Brother before? How was that fair?

“Well,” Julie smiled, “let's put it this way. If we don't introduce our past players, then a couple of you wouldn't have partners.”

There was another gasp and Kurt looked around the room. Blaine had a stern face, as did his sister. Other people seemed intrigued.

“So, welcome from past seasons of Big Brother, winners Will -aka Schue- and Mercedes, and finalists Adam and Mike!”

“No way!” Finn said, standing out of his seat. The four walked through the front door and everyone in the room pretty much went crazy. To be honest, these four were Big Brother royalty, and Kurt stood to his feet amazed that he was standing in the same room as them.

He wanted them gone.

Let's be real—Kurt and Finn knew firsthand the type of players these four were. Schue and Adam were both smart competitors and definitely had the gift of gab. They were both in the same season and had formed an alliance pretty early on—an alliance that took them all the way to the Final 2 and helped Schue to win. Mercedes probably had the best social game of all time. She won her season with flying colors. And Mike… physically speaking, the guy was a competition king. The way he was hugging Tina pretty much told Kurt everything he needed to know.

There was Tina's partner. Now to figure out who else was together…

“Damn it,” Sam said, looking to Finn as everyone greeted the new old players. “Mercedes is my ex and she hates me.

Finn frowned. “Sucks for you man. Wait… so does that make you two ‘partners'?”

“Settle down, everyone,” Julie said, and as she spoke, the HouseGuests all regained composure and returned to the living room. “As you see, there are now 16 of you in this competition.” Everyone stared at the screen after looking around. “These four have entered the houses as your coaches, but they will be competing too.”

Great. Kurt bit his lip as he tried to think of the smart thing to do here. He glanced around, wondering if he knew who he could trust besides Finn, but as of now he didn't really know anyone. Sure, he was sleeping with Blaine, but that didn't mean much.

He locked eyes with Adam who was staring at him too, and the man smiled before looking back at Julie. Kurt watched him a while longer before turning away as well. It was then that he remembered that Adam was gay.

“I'll let you all get back to introductions, but then, the four coaches will be drafting members of their team. Each coach will take turns picking three of you, and of those three, one will be nominated to be the team captain.”

The HouseGuests nodded, trying to follow.

“The coach may not choose themselves as their team captain, but; Schue, Adam, Mike, and Mercedes, you must choose wisely, because whoever you pick will be competing in the HoH competition later on today.”

People were mumbling again. Finn turned back and looked at Kurt. It was clear that they realized this twist could kill their game entirely.

“Whichever captain wins HoH will also win safety for their entire team for the week, so you won't be able to nominate your own squad member. But for now, enjoy mingling HouseGuests. I'll check back in a little later.”

The screen cut off and the room was entirely quiet. Kurt closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. So much for the ‘we're the only two who know one another' twist.

“Well, I'm sure I missed a lot of the introductions but I will say that the person who I know from outside the house is my good friend Adam here,” Schue said. “I'm sure some of you know we were on the same season of Big Brother together—”

“The one where the jury unanimously voted for him,” Adam interrupted with a smile. Kurt looked up as Santana stood to her feet.

“Alright, I'm happy you two are having a great chummy reunion but there's some things that need to get out in the open here.”

The room gave her their complete attention.

“I'll admit that I'm partnered with Blaine,” she said. “He's my younger brother. My parents adopted him when I was turning 7 and he had just turned 4 and we grew up together in southern California. There. We're out. Who's next?”

The room was quiet for a while. Blaine looked over to Kurt and for some reason, he felt guilty enough to stand up next.

“Hey everyone. I'm Kurt, and this is my brother Finn. Well, technically we're stepbrothers, but we're as close as any blood relatives you'll find.”

Finn smiled. Truthfully, he was happy that he didn't have to keep the two of them knowing one another a secret. He didn't think he could do it anyway.

“We were both raised in Ohio but now I live in New York City. We're both big fans of the show and that brought us here so…” Kurt trailed off and smiled. “That's that.”

Blaine looked between Kurt and Finn as his bedmate retook his seat. The two didn't look like they had anything in common, but they did look like they got along well. Blaine turned and gave his attention to the next person speaking.

“I'm Noah but I go by the name of Puck. Short for my last name Puckerman.” He looked around. “I'm here with my ex, Quinn. We're hoping to at least learn to work together for the sake of our daughter, even though she's with someone else.”

Quinn smiled and waved. “I guess I can do a quick introduction. I'm Quinn and I'm a 26 year old teacher in Michigan. I'm married and like Puck said, I have a little girl named Beth.”

Puck sat down, not sharing anything else with himself.

The introducing went on. Sam said he was a 25 year old model from San Francisco. Mercedes wouldn't give him much eye contact, though it was clear that he wanted it. Their story was that they dated for a year and a half before Mercedes got super busy with her post BB Life success and Sam cheated. They hadn't been on speaking term since then.

Tina was 27 and a make-up artist. She and Mike had two kids together—Kurt remembered Mike always talking about them last season when he was on, and it was nice to get to meet his wife. Then he realized that they were super duper into PDA and he was more than likely sharing a room with them. Shit.

Mike had a dance studio in their hometown of Seattle. They were cute, and happy, and that was great.

Brittany and Kitty seemed clueless to Kurt, but he could tell that Santana was totally into Brittany if the way she'd been biting her lip as she spoke was any indication. The two were best friends, had done cheerleading together in college, and… were actually still in college. Apparently they kept changing their majors, and at the ages of 24 they pretty much ran Alabama University.

Then there was Rachel and Marley. Rachel seemed protective of her younger sister, and Marley only seemed to be interested in telling everyone how much she missed her boyfriend back home. Sam yawned as she talked about him. But the specifics were that she was 18, a big fan of Katy Perry—Blaine seemed to perk up at that, and worked at a Dairy Queen.

That brought everyone to Schue and Adam.

“We're obviously the final pair. We know one another from Big Brother, but outside of the house we've become close friends,” Schue said. “We run a business together and I'm really close to him.”

Adam nodded. “I've only come back because I need to be able to say that I beat him.”

Blaine looked up at that. “Don't forget he isn't your only competition here.”

Schue smiled as the room chimed in with their ‘oh snaps' and other retorts. “I like that kid,” he said.

Schue was 37 and married with a couple school-aged kids. He lived in NYC and was a Professor at Julliard.

Adam was 35, single (he mentioned as he smiled at Kurt—in front of everyone) and ran the club he owned with Schue in New York full-time.

In the midst of all the additional chitter chatter, Kurt ended up telling everyone that he was an interior decorator, though he neglected to admit that he had his own business. Business owners were seen as people with money, and people with money were seen as people who didn't need to win Big Brother. Finn told everyone that he was a high school football coach in Cincinnati, which was true, and Puck admitted to being an MMA fighter, to which Adam smiled, because he totally recognized him.

Julie came back on the screen after all the tension in the room had died down a bit. She was there to announce that it was time for the coaches to draft teams and then pick captains.

“The trick is, you cannot have two members of a pair on your squad,” Julie informed them. “For instance, no coach can pick both Rachel and Marley.”

Santana didn't seem thrilled about that. She definitely wanted Blaine to be on the same team as she was. That would at least keep the both of them safe if their captain won HoH.

Schue, Mercedes, Adam, and Mike took the front of the living room floor. They smiled at the HouseGuests and Mike rubbed his hands together as he scoped them out.

“Alright,” Julie said. “Mercedes, you have choice number one. You may now pick your first player.”

Mercedes smiled as she looked around the room of potential team members. She was thrilled that she couldn't pick Sam because he would have no right to approach her later asking why she didn't. “I'll go with Puck,” she said, pointing at him and smiling. Puck stood up and slapped five with people as he went, hugging her before standing to her left.

“Next is Mike,” Julie said.

Mike took a deep breath and looked around. His thinking was he would have one physical threat, so there'd be two of them, and then he'd try and pick people he thought were mentally capable of winning competitions. “My first choice will be Sam, Julie.”

The room clapped and Santana sat back, praying that neither Schue nor Adam would pick her. She'd be bored to death having to talk game or even share a room with either of them. Their season of Big Brother was the least entertaining thing she'd ever witnessed in her life.

“Adam,” Julie prompted.

Adam smiled at Kurt. “I've got to go with a guy who I think will be a great physical and mental player, Kurt.”

Kurt wasn't shocked at all. It was probably evident to the whole house and it would soon be evident to America that this British dude wanted in his pants. Was he even supposed to be on Big Brother US? He was British, for crying out loud.

Kurt smiled and shook Adam's hand as he joined his side. Blaine watched the two of them.

Schue's first choice was Blaine, as promised, and Blaine hopped up and stood in front of the room, hoping that Schue's other choices would be good. Santana now knew that Schue wouldn't be able to choose her since he chose her partner, and she swore if Adam said her name she'd go lose her shit.

Luckily, she was drafted by Mercedes, along with Brittany. Nice. Maybe she could even get Puck to do her dirty work. He seemed gullible enough.

Mike's team consisted of Sam, Quinn, and Rachel. He seemed confident with his pickings.

Adam had Kurt, Kitty, and Tina. While they looked weak compared to all the Sams and the Pucks of the competition, Adam knew they'd be ok.

Last, Schue had chosen Blaine, Marley, and Finn. Blaine was happy that he had Kurt's brother on his side. Maybe that would result in an alliance with Kurt.

He wanted to get on Kurt's good side. They were sleeping together, after all…

-B-B-

The teams went to talk in private to figure out who the coaches would choose for team captain.

“I'll be perfect at endurance competitions,” Kitty began. She looked at Adam who was listening closely, and Kurt pulled a few bottles of water out of the fridge for all of them as she continued. “I won't let you down, Adam. You need a player who has your back, right?”

Tina smiled at that. “Are you implying that Kurt and I won't have Adam's back?”

Kitty picked up the bottle of water and glared at her. “Tina. You'll basically do everything Mike tells you. Kurt, I'm sure you're sweet, but Finn has you in his back pocket—Mr. I Love My Brother More Than Anything, which means that Schue basically has an extra team member.” Adam was smiling as Kitty turned back to face him. “Let me be captain. I can handle it. I can win Head of Household.”

Kurt simply shrugged when Adam looked at him for some input. “Hey, she's got the game figured out, coach,” he said. “If she wants it, give it to her.”

Kurt didn't want to compete for HoH, anyway. That was one less target off his back.

“Fine,” Adam said, sitting up and smiling. “Kitty is our captain.”

Tina shook her head and smirked at Kurt. “Thanks for the water.”

“No problem.”

-B-B-

Schue wanted to spend some time with his players before making an assessment. He quickly discovered that he liked Finn a lot. The kid had some real leadership qualities and he seemed to know the game well. Blaine seemed to be a fan also, but Schue could tell that Finn wanted to be captain more. Blaine seemed more intent on glancing around at the other teams. Seemed like he'd be a key social player, and Schue respected that.

It was either that, or he was staring at Kurt again.

You couldn't get anything past Schue. He'd won a season, after all.

“Are you up to the challenge, Finn?”

Marley smiled. “I was going to say that Finn should be captain.”

Blaine threw his hands over his heart, mocking hurt. “You wound me, Marley.”

She giggled, pushing him playfully. Finn rolled his eyes at the two of them.

“I'm up for it, coach.”

Schue smiled. “It looks like Adam chose Kitty and Mike chose Sam. I wonder what Mercedes is up to…”

Marley hummed. “I thought for sure that Adam would choose Kurt.”

Blaine glanced into the kitchen where Adam's team was. “Why would you think that?”

Finn shook his head. “Because he's been drooling all over him since he walked in. the guy better check his self before he wrecks hisself.”

“Himself,” Blaine mumbled, looking back at them. “I doubt Kurt would be interested in him, anyway. He's sleeping with me, you know.”

Schue smiled when Finn pushed him off the seat.

-B-B-

“I hope they have a competition where we can watch a movie,” Rachel thought out loud. Quinn nodded her head, then smirked.

“We haven't even been in here for five hours and you're already thinking about watching a movie. How are you going to survive?”

Rachel shrugged. “How are you going to survive with your ex here?”

“I volunteered to come, you know,” Quinn said. “We wanted to do this together.”

“I wish I knew Mercedes would be here,” Sam said. “You all got it good. They blindsided me.”

Mike listened to the chatter of his teammates and sat up straight. “Well, Sam. I just need you to win this HoH so we can all be safe and I can make sure no one nominates my fiancé. Cool?”

Sam smiled. “I got it, boss. Don't worry—hey! Get out!”

Santana smirked and pretended to pick something up. “I was getting something. Sorry.”

-B-B-

“Not sorry,” she mumbled as she ran back to the room her team was in. Mercedes looked up from Brittany who was telling her a story she couldn't quite follow and smiled at Santana.

“What'd you get?”

“Adam chose Kitty—he really is an idiot,” Santana said more to herself than anyone else. “Schue picked Finn, as we figured, and Mike chose Sam.”

Puck rubbed his chin. “I'm willing to compete against those guys if you want me to, Cedes. I think I could take them out.”

“Or,” Santana cut in, “I could.”

Mercedes bit her lip as she took a seat on someone's bed. “I'm listening.”

“I know I can get HoH and guarantee our safety. For starters, Kitty is weak. If it's an endurance comp, she's dropping first.”

Brittany sat up. “My friend is pretty strong. You'd be surprised.”

Santana smiled. She'd forgotten Brittany was in the room. “Uh huh. Anyway, Sam would be my only competition.”

Puck combed through his Mohawk as he looked at her. “Um, did you forget about Finn? That guy looks like a threat to me.”

“That's the thing,” Santana began. “He's strong, but my brother is on his team. All I have to do is tell him that he's safe, and that I'll keep Kurt safe if he lets me win HpH. That'll bring Finn and Kurt into our hands and we'll have a little partnership going.”

Mercedes looked at her team. “That sounds like an alliance to me…”

Puck nodded. “I'd be ok with that. Just keep Quinn safe too.”

Santana nodded. “We'll talk about who to nominate after I actually win. But it'd be great. There'd be no target on anyone's back but mine. We'll have Finn and Kurt in the occasion that they win an HoH… there's nothing to worry about.

Mercedes already knew who her captain was when Santana left the room in the middle of her pep talk to go spy on people. “Ok, Santana. You got it.”

“Excellent,” she replied deviously.

“But, you have to remember to play a smart game. I could smell your temper from the hallway before I even came into the house.”

Puck smirked.

“I'm Latina. I'm not sure what you want me to do about it.”

“Just play smart,” Mercedes reminded her. “Now can we go get that HoH or what?”

-B-B-

The day was excruciatingly long. Blaine pulled on his sweatpants and walked over to his bed—well the bed he shared with Kurt. Their room was fucking crowded. They shared a room with 5 people and it was probably necessary because there were 16 HouseGuests and 12 beds, but still. This made Blaine actually miss his dorm.

Mike and Tina were already cuddled up in bed. There's was in the middle of the room. To the far end by the door was Kitty's, and Blaine wasn't looking forward to sharing a room with her. She was super opinionated, and he got annoyed quickly.

Blaine collapsed onto his bed and took a deep breath. He was so grateful that Santana won Head of Household. She and Finn actually came to an agreement when they were the last two hanging from the bars in their endurance competition that Santana would win and keep Finn and Kurt safe. Now, they were all hanging out, waiting for her HoH bedroom to be ready. Blaine hadn't seen Kurt in a while, but he assumed he was getting to know the other people around them. He'd do that too, but later.

“You ok, man?” Mike asked.

Blaine looked up from the bed and nodded. “I'm good, thanks. I need a nap. Haven't slept in a couple days. Way too excited for this.”

Mike and Tina both smiled. “I hear that. I can honestly say this show has helped change my life for the better. Just remember to enjoy yourself, and not to do anything stupid because a few million people are watching.”

Blaine smiled and nodded. He'd gotten that talk from his abuela. “Right.”

The door opened and everyone looked up. Kurt and Kitty walked in—the girl still complaining about how hard the competition was as they entered.

“It'll take me a two hour shower to get all this paint out of my hair.”

“Mhm,” Kurt said, disinterested. He went right over to the bed with Blaine and smiled as he lie down. “Hey.”

Blaine looked at him and smiled. “Sup.”

“It's like 8 and you already look like you're about to conk out. At least stay up to see your sister's HoH room…”

Tina smiled. “I hope they have some pictures of the two of you together when you were little.”

“Oh yes,” Kurt teased, crawling up the bed and lying on the pillow. “That'd be great.”

Blaine smiled. “I was a sexy kid. Don't waste your time waiting for embarrassing pictures of me.”

“Uh huh.”

Kitty sucked her teeth as she sat down. “I swear if someone stole my brush…”

Mike smiled. He didn't really miss the divas.

“Why don't you take a nap?” Kurt asked. “I'll wake you up when Santana gets the key to her room. She hasn't even been called into the Diary Room yet.”

Blaine looked up at him, upside down from where he was. “You have to nap with me.”

“But I'm not tired,” Kurt told him. He looked down at Blaine's zigzag socks and smiled. “Those are… bright.”

Blaine glanced down at them. “Oh. My ex-girlfriend bought them for me when we were together.” he heard Mike and Tina whispering sweet nothings to one another and smiled a bit. “She cheated on me. The nerve.”

Kurt pouted a little. “Maybe you should get rid of the socks?”

Blaine rolled over and crawled up the bed to join him. “Why would I want to do that? They're warm and comfy.”

Kurt shrugged. “I don't know. Seems like a shitty reminder of what happened when you have to think about her every time you look at them.”

Blaine stared at Kurt and smiled. “Maybe. I don't know. I'm over her anyway.”

Kurt nodded and looked up at the ceiling. “Seeing someone new?”

“No,” Blaine said quickly. “I'm single. What about you? Are you with Adam yet?”

Kurt laughed. “Stop it, Blaine.”

Kitty left the room while complaining and Mike got up to follow her, probably to get food.

“I'm asking. You two have Jeff and Jordan written all over you.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “For one, the guy is like over a decade older than me, and I'm not doing a showmance anyway.”

Tina chimed in from where she sat. “That's what they all say, Kurt.”

Blaine smirked. “Ditto.”

“Well I'm not,” Kurt told them. “I'm simply here to focus on my own game. The boys are hot here but meh, five hundred thousand dollars or a cute boy? What would you choose?”

Blaine rubbed his chin. “It depends.”

“Liar,” Kurt smiled.

“No, seriously. Because if you choose a guy who won the five hundred thousand dollars who was willing to be your bae then you win both.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “You sound like Kitty.”

“I'm just saying,” Blaine said. “And I see you have a zigzag pattern on your cuff.”

Kurt looked down at the leather around his wrist and nodded. “I could only bring one and this is my favorite so, here we are.”

Blaine smiled. “You know what this means, right? I'm wearing zigzag socks and you're wearing zigzag accessories. We need to make an alliance.”

Kurt smirked and shook his head. “How did you even come to that conclusion? Tina and I both think Mike has a nice ass but you don't see me aligning with her.”

Tina laughed and rolled over in bed. “Ugh. You two are going to be annoying, aren't you?”

“Yes,” Blaine said. He turned back to face Kurt. “We should name our alliance ‘Team Zigzag'.”

“That sounds stupid, and how am I supposed to take an alliance with you seriously when you keep threatening to evict me?”

Blaine shrugged. “You know I'm just messing with you, boo.”

“And, you made this alliance up in front of Tina. No one does that.”

“I'm telling everyone about Team Zigzag,” she said without missing a beat.

Blaine smirked as he moved closer to Kurt. “I can't wait for the livefeeds to start. I'm going to get everyone to trend Team Zigzag and when we get out of here, they'll call our alliance legendary.”

“Go to sleep,” Kurt told him.

Finn, please stop that.

Kurt laughed. “Ha. Big Brother yelled at him for something before he yelled at me. Finn owes me ten bucks.”

Blaine hummed. “I'll loan him the ten bucks out of the $500,000 I'll win in September.”

Kurt tried not to laugh but he couldn't help it. “You're cute.”

Blaine smiled as he closed his eyes. “Ok, seriously. Nap with me.”

He stared down at Blaine and bit his lip. “You sleep. I'll wake you up. I promise.”

Blaine nodded. “Fine. But don't leave.”

“What if I have to use the bathroom?”

“Kurt if you leave I'm evicting you.”

Kurt rolled his eyes and slid beneath the covers. “Whatever. Move over, idiot.”