"Welcome," Wes says.

Blaine looks around. Wes, David, Thad, that other beatbox Warbler, Nick and Jeff are waiting for him. "Wheres-" "Kurt is waiting for you in the common rooms," Jeff answers before Blaine can finish his question, "With Trent."

Ah.

"Wheres your family?" Thad questions, "We need to discuss some things with them."

Blaine shrugs. "Dont know. Probably at the headmasters office. What do you guys need to discuss with them?" "Nothing to worry about, just the usual," Jeff says.

"Anyway, lets go see Kurt!" David suggests. They all lead the way.

"Kurt, your boy toy is here," Nick whispers, not knowing that Blaine heard him. Blaine blushes deeply.

"Nick, hes not my- oh hi Blaine."

The other Dalton boys grin. "Trent, you should come with me and Jeff to the dorms?" Nick suggests. "Why? So I can be the third wheel?" Trent says.

"Trent, we insist on you coming with us," Jeff says, "Do it, or well have to ambush you." "But I- oooooh," Trent finally understands, "Youre right, Jeff. I dont want to be ambushed."

"Guys…" Kurt whines.

But all the others are already gone.

"P-Please, ignore them," Kurt blushes, "They are just happy that youre here. I mean, I am too, but I react differently to this kind of… things." Blaine laughs it away, but his heart and mind is racing like crazy.

"Anyway, hows life?" Kurt asks, "And sit down if you want to. Its free." He gestures for him to sit down.

"Life is life. I honestly have no idea what is going on." "Well, right now youre sitting next to me in a Dalton Academy for Boys common room and were about to talk about your life, you being here and attending the school."

"Thanks for the heads up, I really needed it," Blaine says sarcastically.

"Thats what Im for," Kurt winks and Blaine tries not to blush. He fails miserably. He finally manages to say "Want my heads up?" without stuttering.

He mentally high-fives himself for doing that.

"Sure," Kurt says and Blaine starts.

"Good, we eventually left McKinley. Most of my friends secretly followed me. I mean, it was a secret until Brittany started bawling. She told me shes gonna miss her narwhal. My dad allowed me to throw a goodbye party at our house. After that I talked about it with my family and Mercedes, who stayed, and packed my things-" "Wait, youre boarding?" Kurt interrupts, but quickly waves it away, "Sorry, please continue."

"Thanks, anyway… the iron lady-" Kurts about to open is mouth to say something, but quickly shuts it. "- uh, the iron lady made some eggs and Coop drove all of us to this place and here I am. Not that much of a story, to be honest."

Blaine can see that Kurt wants to ask something.

"Questions?" he says and Kurt nods way too quickly.

"Again, youre boarding?" he says. Blaine grins.

"Ah well, that. Ive been looking for an excuse to leave that house for longer than two days for quite some time. The circumstances werent optimal, but I got what I wanted."

Kurt seems puzzled. "I dont understand," he says, "Why would you leave your family? Leaving mine was one of the hardest things that has ever happened to me. The only reason Im boarding is because of the scholarship I need and want. In order to get that one, I have to board."

"I assume you and your family have a good relationship?" Blaine says bitterly and Kurt seems to understand. "Ah."

"Yeah, ah," Blaine starts, "We were happy, but then my mom died – she just collapsed at dinner one day - and my dad became this distant thing in my life. And then I came out… Didnt work out. He met the iron lady, my stepmother, a few months later. I assume that she saved me because my dad softened after that."

He looks up and he is surprised when he sees that Kurt is still listening. Most people quit after the first three words. The glee guys, for instance.

But Kurt seems to care.

"Then my dad had this stupid heart attack. I basically had to nurse him all the time. Luckily, the iron lady was there for me. I miss my mother every day, but the iron lady already sees me as her son, so I already see her as my second mom."

Kurt interjects again. "Excuse me, but… the iron lady?"

Blaine chuckles. "Thats how I call her. When my dad met her at one of those parents nights, she looked so dead. So stone-y. Her eyes were empty and there was absolutely no emotion. It was like she was made of steel, made of iron."

"That is debateable," Kurt says, "I mean, I saw her entering the building with you."

"Yeah. I think she helped my dad, but my dad also helped her," Blaine shrugs, "Dont know and dont need to know. If theyre both happy, Im happy too, I guess." He claps his hands together. "But enough about me, Hummel!" he says happily, "I want to know your story too!"

Kurt shakes his head in rapid fire. "Idonthaveone!" he says.

"Oh, come oooooon," Blaine pretends to whine, "Everyone has a story. Tell me, or Ill ask Wes and David."

Kurt immediately stops shaking his head. "Fine!" he says and starts, "My dad is mechanic. He has his own garage Hummel Lubes & Tires here in Westerville. My mom is the sweetest thing ever. Shes a nurse, because she wants to help people. I came out when I was fifteen and the both embraced me and told me they knew."

Wow.

"And I didnt notice, because they never told me that I was wrong or abnormal every time I played with my dolls or made bracelets. They wanted to make sure that I was happy. Sadly, people at school didnt like that," Kurt suddenly looks very uncomfortable, "I was doing fine till some douchebags decided to beat me up at a dance."

Blaine covers his mouth in shock. "Jesus, Kurt, are you okay?"

Kurt smiles. "Am now. Anyway, my parents pulled me out of school and my family started collecting money. I went to Dalton and met some awesome people who strengthened me." He gazed in wonder to the door that led to the dorm rooms.

"They look like a couple of idiots and I must say, they are a couple of idiots," Kurt laughs and to Blaines surprise, Blaine laughs too, "But they helped me. When I arrived at Dalton I was broken and lonely. I felt guilty because my whole family had to pay up and I regretted leaving my parents behind. But worse of all: I was afraid.

The boys eventually found out why I was afraid and they helped me big time. Wes and David told me that this other guy in the Warblers was also hella gay, their words, not mine. They basically dragged me to the Warblers room and introduced me to Trent. Trent and I share a room, by the way. Uh, Trent introduced me to the other Warblers who matter."

"Who matter?" Blaine asks.

"Blaine, have you seen all those guys?" Kurt exclaims, "There are so many Warblers here. Im surprised I know all of their names. By the Warblers that matter I mean Wes, David, Trent, Nick, Jeff, Thad and John." Blaine assumes that Kurt means the beatbox Warbler.

"Wes was my buddy and David is Wess best friend. Trent was hella gay and my roommate and Nick and Jeff were our neighbours. Thad and John were just always with them. The other Warblers are nice too, of course, but were not that close."

The idea is foreign to Blaine. The New Directions are family, even though they fight quite a lot. He cannot imagine his life without them.

Suddenly, one of the many doors open and Jeffs appears. "Are you guys done making out?" Kurt splutters something and Blaine just blushes.

"I see that as a yes," Jeff grins, satisfied, "Then come on, Thad and John bought some extra consoles and Wes has hacked their Playstation, so we can all play at the same time."

He leaves and Kurt and Blaine can hear him running away. Blaine, still red, follows Kurt and sees his parents and Cooper talking to some people. Cooper catches his eye, looks at Kurt and whistled. He gives him a thumbs up.

Blaine wants to smash his head against a wall.

The iron lady and his dad see him too. The iron lady blows a kiss and his dad smiles, or at least, he tries.

Even though Blaine kind of loves his new family, he cant wait to start anew at Dalton.