McKinley High looked both intimidating and like a walk in the park at the same time as Blaine Anderson strode up to the doors. He was pretty sure the first class of the day was going to start soon- hed intended to leave early but been too focused on his appearance. Today there was no bow tie, no cuff at the hem of his pants… he wore his Nikes that were usually only worn to the gym, and his shirt was a muted grey and fit loose enough that it seemed utterly wrong, but that just meant he was doing this right. He was sure to seem completely normal- because thats what straight was. Normal.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Blaine stepped through those doors and into the halls of the first public school hed step foot in since hed been assaulted in his Freshman year. It had been close to two years now. He was still shaking, though. Adams apple bobbing with his heavy swallow, the dark haired boy lifted his foot to take a step forward, only to jump about ten feet in the air because…

*SLAM*

The noise was so loud it completely shocked him. Blaine almost couldnt believe what hed just seen, as a blur of black and white flew in front of him and smacked so hard into the nearest lockers that Blaine was pretty sure he felt the floor shake. He saw red and off white in front of him before he could focus enough to note that the colors made up a pair of letterman jackets worn like armor by two brutish looking jocks. His hazel eyes trailed over to the lockers to see a tall but slight form of a boy shooting a glare at the pair of jocks while biting his lip in obvious pain.

"Morning, Princess," one of the meatheads joked in a tone that was more than just cruel. It was a tone that was meant to hurt. To maim. Just as much as the shove into the lockers had. "Not sure how you skipped out on your dumpster dive this morning, but you should really know better by now. Hope youre looking forward to a surprise slushie facial later, twink."

The other letterman-clad male took a threatening stomp toward the effeminate kid, making the boy twitch and then laughing as he turned away with his companion, leaving the kid slumped against the locker. Blaine shifted his bag on his shoulder, looking at the brunette with concern. Now that his eyes had lost their anger, the kid looked like he was in a good deal of pain and there was definitely some fear in those pretty blue eyes.

Ugh. Pretty? Really? Did Blaine really already have to be thinking of another guy as pretty? He was supposed to be passing at this school, dammit! The whole idea behind going to public school again was to successfully fit in and graduate and all that. If he was out here, hed just end up in the damn hospital again. No. That wasnt going to happen. It couldnt. But… he did really want to help the boy who seemed to be trying and failing to bend sideways and grab his bag from where it had fallen on the floor without further hurting his back and side.

"Hey, let me get that," Blaine said as he quickly strode up to the kid and grabbed the bag and the couple of things that had fallen out of it, righting them and holding out the bag. "Uh, are you okay?"

The other boy straightened up with a slight wince, reaching about four or five inches taller than Blaine given both his natural height and that added by his boots. He gave Blaine a look from head to toe and cocked his brow before reaching out to take his bag, tossing it onto his shoulder and almost managing to completely conceal the pain the flared in his eyes at the added weight. "As okay as Ill ever be in this personal Hell of mine. Youre new. You should know youre tarnishing your reputation with every minute you spend speaking to me."

So, the kid was witty and he accepted the torture hed just gone through as a normal day. That was… disconcerting. To say the least. "Right. Uh, yeah. Im new here. Im not so sure why youre so accepting of being shoved into lockers on a daily basis… And did those guys say something about a dumpster? And a… slushie facial? What the hell does that even mean?" He didnt have to ask about the princess or twink comments. He was… pretty used to those.

"Slushie facials are the price of being in the glee club and flaunting it. Being tossed in the dumpster and shoved into lockers is the price of being the only out gay guy in this stupid place." The kid steeled himself and took a step away from the lockers and into the throng of the main hall then, Blaine falling into step beside him despite the promise that it would negatively affect his nonexistent reputation. "Unless you want to be assumed to be gay you might want to be less… nice. To me, I mean. Not that I dont appreciate it, but theres really no reason for your handsome face to get bruised. Or to be the victim of a swirly."

The shorter boy hesitated in his steps then, eyes gone a bit wide. They actually flushed this beautiful boys head down a toilet? Blaine was suddenly regretting this move back into public school. Now it was even more obvious to him that he had to hide his sexuality even more. He couldnt handle swirlies and dumpsters! He didnt want to abandon this boy whod been nothing but nice to him so far, though, either. Blaine was a naturally kind, friendly person. It would be completely unlike him to stop talking to someone just because of a potential blow to his reputation.

Rather than abandon the boy, Blaine moved a little closer after tugging a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket and unfolding it. "Im naturally nice, so I guess if nice is equated with gay around here, those jocks can assume whatever the hell they want," he commented with practiced ease even though inside his heart was racing and his mind was screaming at him about fucking everything up, again. "I do have a question, though. Where is… this English class?" He pointed to the first class on his unfolded schedule with a slightly embarrassed grin.

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It turned out the tall brunette had the same English class and Blaine was able to find out his name as soon as the two of them walked through the door and a tall guy in a letterman jacket smiled and waved him over. Apparently not all the jocks were dicks, then. Strange. "Where the hell have you been, Kurt? I thought you were right behind me when we left the house and then… poof. Dude, tell me you werent thrown in a dumpster again."

The boy Blaine now knew as Kurt rolled his eyes and took a seat behind the jock and Blaine slid into the desk beside the victim of the morning bullying, observing the interaction. "Relax, Finn, I wasnt in a dumpster. I was at my locker and Azimio and Karofsky decided to say good morning. And then I ran into new kid here." He motioned to Blaine with his chin and he awkwardly waved at the clueless looking jock. "And I helped him navigate the terrifying halls of McKinley Hell."

"Its Blaine," he muttered, only to get odd looks tossed at him from both boys. "My name. It isnt new kid, its Blaine." The jock still looked confused, but he nodded at Blaine anyway before muttering something to Kurt which involved the words bro and whatever amongst other things. It seemed the two boys were brothers, then, based on the living in the same house and the bro comment at least. Interesting. He was stopped from thinking on it anymore as their teacher strode into the room then and started in on a lack-luster lecture that Blaine tried taking notes on until a piece of folded paper made its way onto his notebook.

He looked up as he unfolded it, peering around until he saw Kurt looking at him with a cocked brow, arms crossed and notebook absolutely empty. Shooting the brunette a confused look, Blaine unfolded the note and read the neat writing he found inside.

No point taking notes in most of your classes here, new kid. Everything the teachers say is reprinted in the book or the assignment sheet anyway, and the tests are carbon-copies of the books, too. Trust me. You can relax.

The content of the note had Blaine leaning back in his seat, trying to loosen up and relax, since apparently nobody had to work for anything in this school. Maybe the whole going back to public school wasnt Blaines best idea after all. Dalton had at least challenged him intellectually even if it hadnt challenged him at all socially. But then, hed had the challenges to his mind. He had the grades to get into wherever he wanted for college and hed already taken classes that would prepare him for such. The social challenges were what he actually needed to prepare him for real life, right?

Scrawling beneath the other boys words, Blaine decided that if he didnt need to pay attention to the lecture he might as well have a bit of fun. Or try to set up some sort of social life. Not that he was apparently choosing the best option as far as a first potential friend went, at least according to that potential friend. Then again, he didnt seem that unpopular with the general masses. There had already been a couple more people making lunch dates with the openly gay guy when the teacher wasnt paying attention.

Like I said, I have a name. Its Blaine. And I guess its just the meat-head jocks that have a problem with you then? Doesnt seem like much to justify being rude to you from the start, Kurt.

He slid the note onto the other kids desk  while the teacher was looking down at her book, a natural smirk crossing his face. A face the Kurt kid had called handsome if Blaine had heard him correctly. So far hed thought of the other guy as pretty and hed been called handsome. This was so not boding well for his whole in the closet goal for this new school. Blaine was pulled from his negative thoughts by the return of the folded sheet of paper once more.

The jocks of McKinley are a force to be reckoned with, trust me. Not many others stand up to them- for good reason. I wont tell you not to though. I mean, I am the queen of standing up to the meat-heads after all. ;)

The snort at the title of queen couldnt be held back, but Blaine tried to cover it with a cough even as the teacher looked up and glared. He chanced a glance at Kurt, only to see the kid grinning and rolling his eyes at him. Great. Now Blaine was flirting. With the only openly gay kid at the damn school. He clearly needed to refresh his brain with what playing it cool and straight, dammit meant.

Regardless of these thoughts, Blaine continued to have a paper conversation with the kid throughout the class period, and he was a little sad to hear the bell ring to dismiss them.

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By the time lunch came, Blaine was confused about where all hed been and a little more than just a little disappointed. Hed only had that one class with Kurt so far, and his Spanish class had been severely lacking. Who the hell let someone named Schuester teach Spanish anyway? He didnt even know the language! Hed managed to get lost on his way to pre-calc, which he had with all seniors and an Asian guy named Mike who was also a junior and seemed pretty nice in all honesty. At least he didnt make fun of Blaine when he made his way into the class five minutes late, panting, and explaining how he went down the wrong hallway and ended up on the opposite side of the school…

The lunch period had Blaine standing in the middle of the room with a try of questionable food and a questioning expression on his face. Where was he supposed to sit, exactly? High school was hard enough without the social pressure of the lunch room. He was about to give up and find some corner seat or something where he could just blend in when a familiar voice rang out.

"Blaine!"

He thought he had to be imagining things, because why would anyone call his name on his first day when he was standing there looking like the biggest loser in the world, but then the voice got closer and spoke again.

"Hey, cmon. You can sit with me and the Glee kids if you want, Blaine. I mean, we arent exactly popular, but its better than standing around like a lost puppy, right?" The cheery grin Kurt offered as he practically dragged Blaine to the table with the others had him instantly calming a bit. This guy was… different. But in a very good way.

Once he got seated, Blaine noticed the faces around the table. There was that jock from English and the girls who had muttered to Kurt about lunch during the class as well. Oh, and there was Mike! So that was why the Asian had seemed nice. He was one of the group that Blaine instantly assumed was as accepting as this school got, since they all seemed to love Kurt.

The boy of Blaines little daydreams perched beside him then, dressing a salad as he started introductions. "Blaine Anderson, these are my fellow outcasts," a couple of them growled at that and one Latina girl flipped Kurt off for the comment before he could continue. "The angry one is Santana, but you can call her Satan. Its much more fitting." He made a kissy face at the girl before moving along from her and introducing the others.

By the time the introductions were done, Blaine now knew that Kurt called many people things that did not involve their preferred names, which made his whole new kid title make sense he supposed. There was Puck (who Kurt called Noah, though it seemed no one else had the balls to do so), Mercedes, Rachel (boy was she ever full of herself, but Blaine kind of admired her determination), Tina (whose last names were apparently too fun for Kurt to ever leave off), Artie, Brittany, Finn (the brother- now confirmed by Kurt), Mike (who he already knew of course) and Quinn (who seemed to be called Q a lot of the time for some reason). He was a little overwhelmed by all the people being interested in who he was and what his story was, but it was also kind of nice… Either way, though, Blaine was quick to get the focus off of himself.

"So, you guys sing and stuff?" he asked, acting completely oblivious. The Warblers had never faced McKinley while Blaine was singing lead there, so he wasnt worried about anybody figuring him out. One good way to screw his straight image would be to admit to being a star of a private boys school show choir. His lips were sealed as far as his own talents went, and it was easy to just get absorbed in the stories of the New Directions instead of focusing on any of his own memories.

Rachel went on about how it was performing, not singing and stuff while the others just rolled their eyes and Kurt nudged Blaine, telling him to just go with it. They kept talking and Blaine couldnt help but smile and laugh along with them, especially when Mike stood up and did a spin and a break-dance of sorts in the middle of the cafeteria. Even the jeers from the table of letterman jackets couldnt drown the merriment of the Glee table. Blaine was… happy. Too bad he wasnt about to make the mistake of joining the club and getting his own spot next to Kurt on the ass kicking list.

The end of lunch was much better than the beginning, as Blaine left the cafeteria with a grin on his face and striding between Tina and Mercedes, both of whom he shared his next class with.

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On his way to his locker before chemistry, Blaine learned exactly what a slushie facial was. He was just starting on his combination when he heard the voice from the morning- that meat-head jock again- jeering. "Hey Princess, didnt forget about this, did you?" And as he turned to look, Blaine saw Kurt get hit in the face with bright red ice. His heart sank.

The boy was shaking, whether it was from the cold or the humiliation, or the rage filling his blood, Blaine would never be quite sure, but Kurt was shaking and the jocks were laughing and it was just so… sad. Kurt had such an elaborate outfit, too, and now it was all covered in red dye number 6. The boy raised his hands and wiped the beverage from his eyes before letting the angry blue orbs fall on his tormentors. "How could I ever forget our dates, Karofsky? You are so obsessed with me after all. And to think, people talk about me being gay."

Someone who sounded suspiciously like Santana cackled in the background as Kurt turned on his heel and opened his locker quickly, grabbing a gym bag and switching out his books as the jocks trudged off, the Karofsky guy muttering loudly about how he wasnt even anything close to gay and the Hummel kid was out of his damn mind.

Blaine switched out his own books before slowly approaching Kurt, a frown on his pursed lips. "So… thats a slushie facial then?"

"Yeah. Welcome to a day in my life," the boy muttered, closing his locker and heading for the nearest restroom. Blaine noticed it was the girls restroom, but followed anyway. "You dont have to follow me, you know. Im used to dealing with this. Also, Im well-liked among the women so I can get away with being in here. Not so sure how theyd take to a straight hunk of a new kid taking up residence in their bathroom sanctuary."

Blaine snorted, then stopped himself and just shook his head, lounging against the wall as he gathered some papertowels for Kurt. "Ill take the risk. Ive been told Im pretty charming, so I think I could get out of it mostly unscathed. It isnt like Ive never been slapped across the face anyway." The confession was unintentional, but Blaine didnt divulge anymore about just why he was slapped or who had done the slapping. That would have been way more information than he intended anyone at this school to ever gain. Instead, he offered the papertowels and observed as the other boy took off his vest and frantically rinsed it, saving the fancier part of his red-soaked clothes.

Blue eyes found hazel when Kurt looked up, glancing sideways before looking back at his own reflection and trying to rid his face and hair of the ice and dye. "Youre going to be late for class. I cant really help it myself, but you should go. I can finish up here without issue. Promise." The smile he shot at Blaine was easy and kind, but the emotions in those eyes were heavy and Blaine didnt like the deeper ones there. Still, what could he do for this guy hed just met this morning? It wasnt like Blaine Anderson could change the damn world. No… the only thing he was good at when things got hard was running away.

"Alright. Didnt you say you had chem now though? I could let the teacher know youre on your way. Its the only other class we have together, I think." He blushed a bit at knowing Kurts schedule. The truth was, hed checked his classes against all of Glee club during lunch, and hed made a point to remember exactly where Kurt fit into his day. That was… something to dwell on later, though.

With a nod of encouragement from Kurt, Blaine left the bathroom and made his way to the class, getting there seconds before the bell rang and explaining that Kurt was stuck dealing with a mess and would be right in. The teacher gave a little lecture when Kurt arrived ten minutes later in a red sweater and with slightly damp hair, but the boy clearly wasnt even listening. He sat beside Blaine and nodded at him with a soft half-smile. It was a simple gesture, but it stuck with Blaine even as he wrapped his hands and started laying into the bag in the McKinley gym…