Kurt took a deep breath as he headed down the long marble staircase at Dalton Academy, clutching his bag strap tightly. He'd hoped that he could blend in with his makeshift blazer and skinny grey jeans, but all of the other students were in identical navy blazers with red piping, making him stick out like a sore thumb.

When Mr Schue had mentioned that Dalton Academy was one of their competitors at Sectionals, Kurt was sure he'd heard the name somewhere before, but couldn't quite place it. Maybe one of his friends had mentioned it in passing? He put the thought to the back of his mind, and agreed to go and spy on the boys.

He jumped as the bell rang and the halls began to fill with teenage boys, all chattering away about various video games and girlfriends. They all seemed to be headed somewhere, and he was curious to know as to where. Picking a boy at random, he tapped the shoulder of a passing pupil.

"Excuse me, I'm…" He stopped short when he saw who was stood in front of him, eyes wide in shock, his mouth unable to form coherent sentences.

Blaine Anderson, the exact boy who, 3 months before, had broken his heart into little pieces.

*****

3 months before: August 2010:

Kurt watched in despair as his dad and Finn threw his suitcases into the trunk of Burt's car, not caring if they dented the sides or messed up his immaculate packing, but was in too much of a mood to even mention it to his father. He settled on throwing both men an evil glare that had Finn running back to the house for protection. Burt sighed and walked over to his son, placing an arm round his shoulder.

"Bud, it's just camping, it's not like I'm feeding you to the lions or anything! And we're only going for two weeks; just last week you were complaining that you didn't want to spend all summer indoors!"

Kurt shrugged his father's arm off, turning to glare at him. "Did you not hear what was wrong with that statement? Two weeks. In the woods. With no cell phone reception and no shops!"

Burt went to object, but shut his mouth. There was no point arguing with Kurt when he was in these moods. Carole and Finn joined the two, and they all piled into the car, setting off on the long journey to the campsite.

*****

"We're here!"

Burt's yell pulled Kurt out of his nap, and the boy sat up to take in his surroundings. Small wooden cabins surrounded a deep blue lake and a small dock. Kurt had to admit, it looked tranquil. And at least he didn't have to stay in a tent. Opening the car door, he pulled out his phone, frowning when he saw the telltale 'NO SERVICE' symbol in the top corner. He didn't think he'd gone two weeks without speaking to Mercedes since he'd met her.

Burt wheeled his suitcases over to him, making sure to pass them carefully, trying to judge the expression on Kurt's face. Surprisingly, he looked relatively happy, despite the obvious upset over his phone. Burt pulled his son into a hug.

"This holiday is going to be all about us, ok kiddo? Some bonding time with Finn and Carole."

Kurt nodded into his Dad's chest, before being let go and following Carole towards one of the wooden cabins. Kicking open the door, he was surprised at what he saw. It was cosy, with a small fireplace and leather sofas with woollen blankets draped over the back. It looked like it was taken directly out of Log Home Living; all warm and homey.

Taking his bags up to one of the upstairs rooms, he fell onto the bed nearest to the window. The entire journey had exhausted him, and he wanted a few moments of silence before Finn entered the room and disrupted it. Just as his eyes drifted shut, Finn barged through the door, throwing his bags into a pile on the floor and jumping onto his own bed.

"This vacation is going to be AWESOME! Dude, what are you doing?"

Kurt opened one eye slightly, glaring at the tall boy.

"I'm trying to go to my happy place."

Finn's face contorted into a grimace, avoiding eye contact with the countertenor.

"Umm… Ew. Do you want me to leave the room?"

Kurt rolled his eyes at Finn's misunderstanding, rolling off the bed into a standing position.

"Not that, Finn. Your happy place is where you go when you meditate."

Finn looked even more confused. "But you aren't Asian!"

Kurt felt a slap building up inside himself, and grabbed his messenger bag, stalking into the bathroom. Pulling out a pair of shorts and a white tank top from his bag, he began to get changed. Now normally, Kurt wouldn't have been seen dead in either of those items of clothing, but it was abnormally hot for Ohio, and he didn't know anyone here. He could get away with dressing horrifically.

Once he was changed, he headed back into the room and grabbed his book from the top of his suitcase, along with a pair of Raybans. Finn sniggered as he saw what Kurt was carrying; an old, tattered copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire. "Harry Potter? Really Kurt? I always thought you preferred old fashioned books?" Kurt shot him a glare. "Harry Potter is timeless."

He was going to find somewhere away from Finn and his family to relax if it killed him (although that would be slightly counterproductive). Shutting the door behind him, his eyes scanned the site for anywhere to sit, his gaze falling on the small dock.

Perfect.

His feet pattered along the wood and he took his place at the end of the dock, opening his book and becoming immersed in the story of witches and wizards.

At that exact moment, a battered Volkswagen campervan pulled up, going unnoticed by Kurt. The doors swung open almost immediately and 6 teenage boys spilled out, all carrying bags that were patterned in navy and red. One boy in particular seemed incredibly excited. He was considerably shorter than the rest of the boys, although the curly brown mop on the top of his head added a few inches to his height. He was dressed similarly to Kurt, although his shorts bore a navy crest with a red D sown into the centre. What was most significant about this boy, though, was the giant grin plastered on his face. He swung round to his friends, who appeared to be struggling under the weight of the bags.

"This is going to be the BEST. VACATION. EVER!" He yelled, dancing around his friends, who each shot him a glare.

"Blaine, please, calm the hell down and take some bags!" An attractive Asian boy pleaded, shooting helpless looks to his friends as his arms began to give way, only to be saved by one of the other boys; a tall, black boy with a kind smile.

Blaine grinned at the boy, gesticulating wildly. "David's helping you, are you happy now Wes? It's summer! It's time for relaxing, and swimming and jet skiing and singing and playing the guitar…"

"And gagging Blaine." Muttered a blonde boy near the back of the group, only to be shushed by the dark haired boy next to him.

"Jeff, just let him have his fun. He's right; it's summer and we need to have some fun! God knows we deserve it."

Blaine shot Nick a grateful look, before leaping in the air with excitement. He began to chant "SUMMER. SUMMER. SUMMER!" over and over again, increasingly agitating the other boys. Trent grabbed his shoulders, shaking him.

"Blaine? Cool it. We're here to have fun, together. Bonding and all that." He squeezed Blaine's shoulder before releasing him.

Blaine laughed and ran off in happiness, leaping towards the giant lake. He pelted down the dock at full speed, almost knocking the oblivious boy sat at the end into the water. Reaching the edge of the dock, Blaine leapt into the water, yelling "CATAPULT!" as he hit the water, showering the boy on the dock.

Kurt shook some of the water out of his hair angrily, irritated at the inconsiderate boy who had just interrupted his peace. Placing his book to the side and leaning forward, he hoped to catch sight of this boy. As the boy resurfaced, Kurt almost gasped. He was gorgeous. His brown, curly hair was plastered to his forehead, his face lit up in a grin as he laughed with happiness, clearly glad to have arrived. Kurt leant further forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of the boy's chest when he felt himself unbalance and he hit the water with full force, startling Blaine. He'd only caught a glimpse of the boy sat on the dock, but he liked what he saw. His arms were toned and his skin was pale, almost porcelain and unblemished. His hair was coiffed to perfection and his face, although formed in a scowl, was clearly gorgeous. Blaine began to tread water, waiting for the boy to resurface.

A minute passed, and no one came to the surface.

Under the water, Kurt was struggling desperately against a plant that had wrapped itself around his ankle, dragging him to the floor of the lake. He reached down towards his ankle, trying to rip the plant in half and free himself, with no luck. He felt himself getting light headed as the last of the breath left his lungs, and felt himself fall unconscious.

Blaine knew something must be wrong when the boy didn't resurface. Before he knew it, he'd dove under the water, eyes stinging in the muggy water as he continued his search for the boy. It didn't take him long to find him; his arms limp and a plant wrapped tightly around his ankle. Blaine slotted his arms through the boy's and began to pull him towards the surface, feeling it get considerably easier as the plant broke, freeing the boy from its grasp.

The two boys reached the surface and Blaine pulled the boy up onto the dock, waiting for him to splutter and breath again.

Nothing happened.

Blaine's heart beat faster in his chest, internally freaking out. He grabbed the boy's wrist, attempting to find a pulse. He sighed in relief when he found one, no matter how weak it was. He began to perform CPR on the boy, thanking God for the first aid course that he had taken earlier in the year.

He began to breathe into the boy's mouth, and his eyes sprung open, coughing up a worrying amount of water. His eyes found Blaine, and Blaine was lost in the deep blue. They were both silent for a moment, lost in each other's eyes.

"Hi." Kurt whispered, in awe of the boy's gorgeous hazel eyes that were boring into his own.

"You're alive." Blaine whispered back, making Kurt giggle. It was the most adorable sound he'd ever heard.

"I'm Blaine." Blaine stated, pulling Kurt into a sitting position.

"Kurt. Thanks for… Saving my life, I guess." A smile lit up Blaine's face.

"You're welcome. It was kinda my fault, seeing as I startled you. What were you reading? You seemed pretty into it."

Kurt shoved his book behind him. "Nothing."

Blaine looked curious, attempting to look behind him. "What is it? I won't judge you! I wanna read it myself if it's that great."

Kurt blushed, and reluctantly brought the book into his lap, avoiding Blaine's eye contact.

"Ok ok, I know it's lame, but it's timeless, you know? I mean, she created this entire world that has completely influenced our lives now and everyone knows who Harry Potter is and… God, I'm a dork."

Blaine laughed, taking the book from Kurt. "Are you kidding? I love Harry Potter! This is my favourite one, too."

Kurt met his gaze. "Mine too."

Blaine took Kurt's hands in his own. "Are you sure you're ok? You did nearly just die."

Kurt blushed, glancing at their clasped hands in surprise. Normally, no boy wanted to touch him. Why was Blaine being so nice? "I'm fine; a little breathless, but I'll be ok. I'm eternally grateful."

The two boys talked for over an hour about their lives, from what school they go to to Glee club. It turned out that they lived pretty close, and liked similar things. Kurt was pleasantly surprised to find out that Blaine was also gay, although his father wasn't as accepting as Burt had been.

"Last month, he made me rebuild a car with him. I mean, why would I want to do that?"

Kurt coughed awkwardly. "I fix cars. I mean, I help my dad. He owns a garage."

It was Blaine's turn to look surprised. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I mean, it's not really the sort of thing I enjoy doing."

The two boys talked into the night, and were only interrupted by Burt calling Kurt's name into the darkness. Kurt pulled himself to his feet.

"I better get going. He's probably freaking out."

Blaine's face fell. "Oh… Ok. Well, my friends and I were going to go out to dinner tomorrow night. Do you want to join us?"

Kurt's face broke out into an infectious grin, nodding ferociously.

"I'll be there."

Blaine ran back to his cabin, slamming the door behind him and grinning in delight. Kurt was… incredible. He was witty and intelligent, loved everything Blaine loved and to top it all off, he was beautiful. Hearing the door slam, Wes stuck his head round the kitchen door and sighed in relief.

"Blaine, where the hell have you been? You've been gone for 4 hours! I thought you'd drowned! Blaine?"

Blaine was off in his own world, grinning like an idiot. Wes rolled his eyes and stormed up to his friend, punching him on the arm. Blaine snapped out of his stupor, yelping in pain.

"What was that for?"

"Where have you been?"

The other boys streamed into the room as they heard Blaine enter; curious as to where he had disappeared to.

"I met a guy."

"WHO?"

"WHAT?"

"DID YOU KISS HIM?"

Blaine looked shocked, turning to each of the boys in turn. "No, I didn't kiss him! I just met him! I invited him to dinner with us tomorrow."

Trent turned to him, disgruntled. "But it's supposed to be just us! The Warblers bonding session? Remember?"

Blaine ignored him and skipped up to his room, singing under his breath.

The two boys spent the next week practically glued to each other's side, learning new things about each other every day. Blaine learnt all about Kurt's mom, comforting him when he relived memories about times shortly after she'd died. Kurt learnt all about Blaine's childhood, and how his parents worked away pretty much all the time and a nanny brought him up. They were each other's best friends.

On the 7th night of the vacation, Kurt and Blaine were sat side by side on the dock, dangling their feet in the water, feeling the tranquillity in the air. Blaine turned to look at Kurt and felt his heart skip a beat. The moonlight was illuminating Kurt's face, making him look like an angel. His eyes were gray and lucid, and his skin looked unblemished and untouched. Blaine couldn't help his actions. He leant towards the countertenor, placing his lips to Kurt's.

Their lips moved together, adjusting to the new level in their relationship. Both boys forgot about where they were; it was just them.

Kurt pulled back a minute later, flustered and blushing. Blaine grinned cheekily, before shrugging.

"I'm sorry; I couldn't help myself."

Kurt giggled and Blaine's heart skipped a beat. "I'm glad you finally did."

The rest of the week was spent pressing soft kisses to each other's lips whilst hands intertwined, and planning what they would do once they got back home; how they would meet up, where and when. The week flew by, and soon it was the last night of their holiday. Kurt couldn't wait to tell Mercedes about his new boyfriend, and left Blaine on the dock with a soft kiss and a promise to meet him on the dock at 8pm for their last night.

Kurt shut the front door with a happy sigh, only to be met by his Dad's glare.

"Kurt, when I organised this vacation, I wanted us to spend more time together as a family. Me, Carole, Finn and you. Tonight, we are having dinner together as a family, and that's final."

"But Dad!"

"No buts Kurt! We're a family and god damn it we are going to have dinner like one!"

Kurt pushed past his father and up the stairs, tears clouding his vision. Ignoring Finn, who was sprawled out on his bed reading a comic book, he flopped onto his bed and began sobbing into his pillow. He didn't even hear Finn leave the room. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed his phone and went to dial Blaine's number. Confused by the sudden beeping in his ear, he looked down at the phone.

NO SERVICE.

Screeching in annoyance, he threw the phone down onto the bed.

8pm came, and Kurt found himself at the table, pushing his food around unenthusiastically and glaring at his Dad, who was flat out ignoring him. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Eventually, Burt sighed and turned to Kurt, a look of defeat on his face.

"Fine, Kurt. Go."

Kurt squealed in delight and leapt out the door, running straight for Blaine's cabin. Knocking energetically on the door, he bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for Blaine to answer the door. The door eventually swung open, but it wasn't Blaine who had opened it.

"What do you want?" Trent sighed in annoyance. Kurt scowled slightly. Trent was the only Warbler he didn't get on with, purely because he was a massive douche. Kurt suspected that he had a crush on Blaine, but never said anything; he didn't know the Warblers all that well and didn't want to overstep his boundaries.

"I need to see Blaine. My dad made me stay for dinner and I wanted to apologize."

Trent pulled the door closed softly behind himself and turned to glare at Kurt, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Look, Kurt. Blaine didn't want to say anything, but I like you (he ignored Kurt's scoff) and I think you deserve to know the truth. Blaine was going to break up with you tonight. He told us that he felt guilty for leading you on because… he has a boyfriend back at Dalton. He never felt anything for you; it was all a lie."

Kurt felt himself crumble, and he had to hold back a sob. Blaine didn't feel anything for him? He already had a boyfriend? But… What about them? Kurt couldn't even look Trent in the eye. He turned from the boy and ran back towards his cabin, failing to hold back his tears. Their whole relationship had been a lie.

Trent opened the front door, smiling smugly to himself. David looked up at him from the sofa, curiosity written over his face.

"Who was that?"

Trent raised his voice. "It was Kurt."

Right on cue, Trent saw a pair of feet appear at the top of the stairs.

"What did he want?"

"He wanted me to tell Blaine that it was over. He said he was sorry for leading him on, but he didn't feel the same way Blaine did. Honestly, I think he's a coward for not telling Blaine himself."

He heard a sob from the top of the stairs and the sound of pattering feet. His plan had worked perfectly.

Both boys left the following day, with a slight tan and a broken heart, and never tried to contact the other. They'd clearly made up their mind.

******

Blaine's face twisted into a scowl and he stared at his shoes.

"What are you doing here, Kurt?"

"I-I… Forgot you came here."

Something clicked in Blaine's mind.

"New Directions, of course. How could I forget? So you came to spy on us? How nice of you." His face twisted in a sneer and he turned away, walking towards the choir room, leaving Kurt on the stairs trying to hold back his tears.

He turned around and began to walk back up the stairs, only to bump into another boy.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean… Are you ok?" The boy's face twisted in concern.

Kurt couldn't take it anymore, and broke down in hysterical sobs. The boy wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulders and led him towards the cafeteria. Settling him down in a chair, he took his hands and looked at him in sympathy.

"I'm Ethan."

"K-Kurt."

Ethan smiled slightly. He was pretty cute, with blonde shaggy hair and emerald green eyes. "So d'you wanna tell me what happened?"

Kurt found himself spilling everything to Ethan, from what happened with Blaine to the bullying at school. He'd cried on more than one occasion, and Ethan was comforting to him.

"I'm the only person out of the closet at my school, and I tried to stay strong about it, but there's this one Neanderthal who's made it his mission to make my life a living hell, and nobody seems to notice."

Ethan began to rub soothing circles into Kurt's hand. "To be honest, I don't know what you're going through. I've been at Dalton since my freshman year, and that's when I came out. No one at my middle school knew I was gay. But, if you ever need me, here's my number."

Kurt took it gratefully, not noticing as Blaine walked into the cafeteria and spotted the boys. He took one look at the boys clasped hands and fled, hand over his mouth to stifle his sobs.

******

The bullying at McKinley didn't get much better; in fact, it got much much worse. Kurt was terrified for his life every single moment of the day, and hadn't been able to keep down any food since Karofsky had assaulted him and threatened to kill him. He'd barely slept either, and when he did, his nightmares were full of Karofsky holding his neck, choking every last breath out of him. When his Dad mentioned moving to Dalton, he was apprehensive. He'd have to see Blaine every single day, and he wasn't sure he could do that. He'd also have to board, which meant he'd barely ever see his family. But, he'd be safe. And, at that moment, that was the most important thing.

The next thing he knew, he was wearing a stiff Dalton blazer and watching his Dad lug 4 cardboard boxes and 3 suitcases full of his clothes through the entrance to Dalton Academy. Kurt strode towards the office, paperwork in hand.

"Excuse me, I was told to come here to get my roommate assignment? I'm new here. Kurt Hummel?"

The receptionist nodded, skimming her notes. "Well, you've been roomed with another boy who transferred here mid semester, because he's the only one with a single room. I'm sure you'll like him, he's very charming."

Before Kurt could even ask who it was, a voice behind him told him.

"I'm here to meet my new roommate?"

Kurt spun round and glared at Blaine.

"Just… Great." He drawled sarcastically.