That was the routine for the next several school days. Mike would pick him up, Kurt would take him home, and the two would study. Blaine was actually quite content with this arrangement, and he couldn't deny how much he enjoyed hanging out with Kurt. He was very subtle about helping Blaine around and hadn't mentioned anything since the first time he'd come over and asked one question. Apart from that everything had been wonderfully normal and kind of perfect.

                Even Mike had had his moments and talked down to Blaine at times. He loved having Mike as a friend, but sometimes it was too much and he couldn't really feel like he was an equal part of the friendship. It felt like he was Mike's baggage that he had to lug around -- with Kurt, it felt like he just wanted him there, and Blaine appreciated it more than anything, really. He smiled at the thought as he walked up the steps to school. Mike had dropped him off, and Blaine had thought to tell him that Kurt was going to walk him in.

                After a few minutes of waiting and Kurt not showing up, Blaine was beginning to regret the decision... Maybe he was just looking into things too much. He sighed and started heading inside before he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Blaine. I'm late today, sorry. Want me to walk you to class?" Kurt said, coming up beside him.

                Blaine smiled and took his arm. "Yeah, that sounds nice," he said with a smile, squeezing his arm lightly. "Can we go to my locker first?" he asked.

                Kurt laughed a little. "Sure." He asked for the locker number, and Blaine gave it to him before the two were off on a hunt to find the locker. It was a little inconvenient trying to get through the school when neither of them knew where they were going, but Kurt didn't seem to mind and to Blaine that was the important part. "Oh, before I forget, do you still need a ride home today?"

                Blaine frowned but shrugged. "I can walk or something. Tina is going over to Mike's house."

                Kurt tugged Blaine a little closer and sighed. "I'm not letting you walk," he said. "I just have to take Finn to my house. He got in a wreck and his car is totaled, so I'm going to have to take him back to our house," he said with a shrug.

                Blaine nodded slowly. "Finn?"

                Kurt laughed a little. "My step brother."

                Blaine nodded again and smiled. "Okay. It's fine, I'll walk home," he said, shaking his head and shrugging.

                Kurt sighed. "Blaine, you're not walking home. I'll take you, okay? I just need to stop by my house first," he said, shrugging.

                "...How out of the way is your house from mine?" Blaine asked as they reached his locker. He opened it and started searching for his books. Kurt asked which ones he needed and started getting them for him.

                "It's not that bad really. You live just past me, so it's on the way," he promised, tapping his shoulder when they were ready and walking towards Blaine's first class.

                "Then you can just drop me off. Don't worry about coming over if you want," he said, shrugging and gripping his arm.

                Kurt laughed. "I want to come over, though. You're fun to... hang out with," he said.

                Blaine shook his head. "I'm sure reading to me and guiding me around is tons of fun."

                "Blaine Anderson, don't talk about yourself like that, understand? I do like doing those things, so stop it," Kurt said, a bit irritably. Blaine hung his head and sighed a little.

                "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

                Kurt let out a sigh of his own and let go of Blaine. "I'll see you a little later," he said, sighing a little.

                The rest of the morning was equally odd and out of place. The usual people walked him to the usual classes, though today he had to make it to the cafeteria on his own as Mike was nowhere to be found. There was a lot of stay near the wall and asking for a little help, but eventually he made it to the large room and found a wall to lean against.

                "Blaine?" he heard.

                "Kurt?"

                "Yeah... Are you... Alone?" he asked, sounding almost horrified at the thought.

                Blaine sighed. "I'm not sure where Mike is..." he admitted before biting his lip and reaching out for Kurt's arm. He found it and hung on tightly. "Can you help me find the table? I think he's with Tina..."

                "Oh, the Glee club is having an emergency practice. Nationals aren't that far away... I was just getting lunch before I went. Come on, you can sit in on it, okay?" he said, starting to walk towards the line. Blaine let out a nervous sigh.

                "Maybe I should wait over there..."

                Kurt laughed a bit. "Yeah, right, like I'm going to let you do that," he said, tugging him towards the food. "Tell me what you want and hold onto the tray," he instructed.

                They went through the line and Kurt fixed both of their trays before leading him out of the cafeteria. Blaine had to balance the tray in one hand, but managed to do so as they got to the choir room. When they entered, Blaine heard a horrified gasp and started to turn away. No one would want him there, it was a private rehearsal... but Kurt held onto him tightly.

                "Blaine, I am so sorry, it completely slipped my mind because I brought my lunch and --"

                Blaine shook his head. "It's fine, really. Kurt found me," he said, shrugging. He hated the way that sounded. Like he was a misguided puppy that needed someone to take care of him. He functioned perfectly fine in his own home... Most of the time, anyway. He sighed a little and Kurt pulled him over to sit between the two of them.

                "Alright guys, I have some bad news," the teacher -- Mr. Scheuster -- said. "Lauren dropped out, so if we don't get one more person to join, we're not going to be able to compete," he said.

                There was various murmurs and chattering before a voice Blaine identified as a girl named Santana spoke up and said, "What about Hobbit Number Two? He knows all the numbers. He just has to stand there and look pretty."

                "I don't think that's a great idea, Santana, we don't even know if he can sing!" Rachel interjected. Blaine sighed.

                "I think if he wants to audition we should give him a chance," Kurt said, nudging Blaine a little. He felt Mike turn towards him.    

                "We could really use the help," he said to Blaine.

                He thought for a few moments as he listened to the arguements and counter-argements that were brewing both for and against him. Some people had the idea that he could just stand in the background and lip sync -- others wanted to hear him sing. Finally, he sighed and said, "I'll audition... and if nothing else you guys can have me in the background so that I won't be noticed, but I'll still count."

                Blaine swore that he could practically feel Kurt beaming next to him. Mr. Scheuster gave the go-ahead and Kurt stood up and let Blaine take his arm. "Center stage?" he asked teasingly.

                But Blaine shook his head. "Piano."

                It surprised just about everyone, but he was used to it. Piano was just one of the few things he could do quite well and took quite a bit of pride in that fact. Kurt sat him down and hovered near him. Blaine started playing hesitantly, making sure that he hit all of the keys and taking a deep breath before starting to sing.

                It wasn't like it was a special song near and dear to his heart -- it was just Hallelujah. He'd learned that it was a good audition piece, and since it had gone over well with the Warblers, he'd figured he may as well give it a shot with the New Directions.

                He didn't draw it out -- he was kind of embarrassed, actually. When he finally finished the piece, he pulled his hands away from the keys and reached for Kurt, who paused for a moment before helping him up and taking him back to his seat. The room eas eerily quiet.

                "Nice, Hobbit the Second," Santana finally said.

                "I think I've found a new duet partner!" Rachel chimed. He heard some quiet arguing ensue with whom he had learned as Finn.

                 Kurt leaned over and whispered, "That was absolutely amazing. Since when can you do that?" he asked, teasing. Mike hadn't said anything, and Blaine bit his lip.

                "I bet you can secretly actually dance, too," he finally heard him say, and a few people laughed.

                The rest of the day was a blur. Every single one of the New Directions had come up to him at some point and welcomed him into the club properly. It wasn't until the end of the day when he started to worry again. He'd gotten a lot of sympathy over the years and wasn't one to look over it so easily. He feared that maybe everyone had just been trying to make him feel better... They had, after all, been incredibly quiet when he'd finished.

                "Blaine?" Kurt said, coming up behind him and taking his hand. Blaine grabbed onto his arm and sighed a little.

                "Promise if I ask you a question you won't bullshit me?" Blaine asked, turning in his general direction as they walked to the car.

                "I never do, do I?" he asked.

                "Was I actually good?" Blaine asked tentatively.

                Kurt actually laughed, and Blaine dropped his head. "You were amazing! You blew me away. Really, that was fantastic," Kurt said, patting his shoulder when they reached the car. He opened the door for Blaine and walked around to get in the car himself.

                "Thanks, Kurt," Blaine said, smiling.

                "No problem. Let's go pick up Finn."