Chapter 6:

Blaine was restless that night. He tried to sleep, he really did, but Scott and Kurt were clouding his mind, and no matter how much he tried to force the thoughts away, they stayed planted at the front of his mind. He felt nauseous, sick. The more he saw both faces in his mind, the more he felt like he could barely breathe. He felt like his head was going to explode, and with every thought, his heart clenched. He had to stop hurting over Kurt. Scott caused him enough pain that left him permanently damaged, and he definitely didn't plan to go through the same pain, regardless of the fact that he knew he was beginning to have feelings for Kurt. You need to start pushing him away. He ignored the increasing rate of his heart at the mere thought of avoiding Kurt.

Before he knew it, the alarm that the school had put in each room at the beginning of every year was blaring. He groaned and attempted to cover up the noise by pressing the pillow over his head. He heard Kurt rustle around and yawn. Finally, the alarm stopped blaring, and he heard the bathroom door close. He attempted to get out of bed, but only managed to slither until the upper half of his body was dangling outside the bed, and before he knew it, he accidentally bended further down, losing his balance, and fell to the floor face first with a grunt. He didn't lift his head from its place on the floor, feeling like it weighed a ton, and reached for his pillow absentmindedly, pulling it down to cuddle against it.

He heard Kurt exit the bathroom, but he still didn't lift his head. He heard Kurt's melodic, slightly concerned voice, "Blaine? Are you okay? What are you doing on the floor?"

Blaine simply grunted as a response and turned around to look at him. He felt his breath leave him at the site. Kurt was in his uniform and looking as dashing, beautiful and gorgeous as ever. How is it that he manages to rock that uniform, when most of us look like shit in it?

Kurt gasped when he saw Blaine's face, "Blaine, you look terrible-"

"Gee, thanks." Blaine muttered, cutting him off. He flung his arm over his eyes to block out the sunlight pouring into the room through the blinds.

"You know that's not what I mean. I just mean that you look sick. Your skin is pale, your eyes are red-rimmed, and there are purple circles around your eyes." He said in concern. "Did you sleep last night at all?"

"I'm fine," He answered, not saying that he hadn't had a second of sleep because his gorgeous face was clouding his mind.

"You're clearly not fine, there's obviously something wrong-" Kurt protested, bending onto the floor, only to be cut off by Blaine.

"Would you just drop it? You're talking too much and my head hurts, so you're not exactly helping. Stop acting like you care and just leave." He bit out, doing his best not to flinch at Kurt's hurt face.

Kurt added weakly, looking down at the floor. "You know I care-"

"Well the feeling isn't mutual, so do me a favor and leave." He bit out, trying to hold himself as much as possible so he wouldn't break when he saw the even more hurt look on Kurt's face. I seem to be the one who always puts that expression on his face, huh? He just needed Kurt to start hating him, so it would make it easier for Blaine to forget about him, because Kurt was just so caring and selfless even though Blaine did nothing but hurt him. You're not thinking about Kurt's feelings when you act like an asshole. You're selfish. You're hurting his feelings for the sake of not getting hurt again.

Kurt visibly flinched at his last comment, stood up slowly, and whispered shakily, looking as if he was about to cry, "Why are you being mean? I'm only trying to help."

It's now or never, Blaine. You need to make him hate you.

"I don't fucking need your help! How many times do I have to tell you that? I don't care about you. You're nothing to me. We kissed, like, twice! Are you so desperate for someone to love you, that you thought I cared about you because I kissed you? You're a sad-"

Kurt had had enough. "Stop it! Just stop it! All you've been doing since the moment I arrived was throwing rude, hurtful comments at me! Are you listening to yourself, Blaine? In case you were wondering, it doesn't make you a stronger person when you say things like that to me, to anyone. I spilled my heart out to you. I told you things I never told anyone. For a moment there, I thought you actually cared about me, that you told me to tell you what happened to me so that you could make me feel like I mattered, like I wasn't a person without feelings that people kept hurting. But now I know that you're just a sick, heartless bastard that pretends to act strong and tough, when I know you're nothing but the opposite on the inside!" Kurt practically yelled, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "I'm done with you. I'm going to the Warden right now and I'm requesting a new room. Fuck you, Blaine."

And before Blaine could even wrap his head around what happened, Kurt left the room, banging the door behind him.

Blaine was shaking, trembling with the heart ache he was feeling. He sat motionless on the floor, staring at nothing in particular with tears streaming down his face fast.

This was what you wanted, wasn't it? You wanted him to hate you, didn't you? Well congratulations, because not only does he hate you, but he's leaving the room. Leaving you.

Kurt's heart was physically aching as he ran from the room to nowhere in particular. He ran till he hit a dead end. His loud sobs were echoing through the walls. He slid down the wall, shaking and trembling from fierce sobs.

After what felt like ages, his sobs slowly subsided and turned into whimpers, that soon turned into shaky breaths. His head was pounding against his skull from all the crying.

Crying seems to be all I do, these days. He laughed bitterly at the thought.

He was determined for the tears to stop for good. Blaine has made him cry enough, since he's been here. It's okay though, you're moving out of the room. Now you won't have to see his face every day. His heart clenched painfully in his chest at the thought of Blaine. As much as he thought he hated him at the moment, he couldn't deny that being away from Blaine made him feel odd. Oh shut up, Kurt. You've only known each other for a couple of weeks. You're being overdramatic.

He shook his head, slowly stood up and walked in the direction of the Warden's office.

Once there, he knocked tentatively.

"Come in,"

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

He took in the high ceiling, expensive paintings on the wall, the mahogany furniture, and couldn't help but think that even though this was a reform school, it looked beautiful.

The Warden was sitting behind a large mahogany desk on a leather chair. She looked up, took in his red-rimmed eyes, and tear stained cheeks, and motioned for him to take a seat on one of the seats in front of the desk.

"What happened, Kurt?"

"I came here to request a change of roommate."

She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, and the side of her lips pulled up in half a smile. "And why, may I ask? Has Blaine been giving you trouble?"

"Yes, I can't stand being in the room with him anymore." He said hesitantly.

"Did he physically hurt you?" She asked, emphasizing on the 'physical'.

"W-Well… N-No, but-"

"Well, Kurt, as much as I'd love to fulfill your wishes, I cannot change your roommate unless you were physically harmed by him." She said with a raised eyebrow, leaning back against her chair with her arms folded.

"Ma'am, please. I-I-I just can't stand to look at him a-anymore." He felt his eyes beginning to fill with tears. He couldn't be in the same room as Blaine, he just couldn't. Not right now, at least.

She sighed and leaned forward to clasp one of his hands. "Look, Kurt, I honestly can't put you in a different room. No student is to be in a single room, it's a rule. And there aren't any students who still don't have roommates. So I just can't switch your room. Emotional pain isn't included in the rules of room change, unfortunately." She said with a sympathetic smile.

"But, wasn't Blaine alone before I came?" He protested desperately.

"Look, Kurt… I'm not saying you have no right to be upset, or anything, since I don't exactly know what happened. But you're actually not the first person complaining about him," She said sheepishly.

He looked up with a questioning stare.

"Blaine has a history of, what can I call it… breaking hearts, if I may say. Ever since his old roommate Scott committed sui- um, since his old roommate Scott... stopped being his roommate, he's been given special permission to have a single bedroom due to the circumstance, until we found someone suitable to fill in for Scott."

Kurt's head was swimming with questions. Why had they thought I was suitable? What happened to Scott? Why does everyone talk about Blaine like he went through the most tragic thing ever?

"Ma'am, if I may ask, what happened to Blaine?" He asked, instead of the nagging question of 'What happened to Scott?'. He felt like it wasn't his place to ask about something that seemed so 'personal'.

"Well, I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you that he's been through more than most of the students at this reform school. As you know, Blaine's… gay. That hasn't exactly been something that was getting him any positive reactions. And I'd honestly love to tell you everything, but it's not my place."

Kurt huffed annoyingly.

The Warden smiled a little, "I'm guessing more than once person has said the exact same thing?"

He nodded and looked at the floor, going back to the main topic. "So… I'm stuck with Blaine?"

"I'm afraid so. Although if he physically hurts you, you come straight to me, and we'll switch your room right away, alright?" She said with a hint of doubt.

Kurt nodded once again and got up from his chair and made his way to the door. He stopped short when he heard the Warden say, "Kurt, about Blaine, keep an eye on him for me, would you? I'm afraid of what he might do."

He didn't turn around and continued storming angrily down the hall without looking back. Why's everyone on Blaine's side, when all he's done was hurt me? He's a heartless bastard, and yet everyone seems to treat him like he's made of glass.

He was so absorbed in his angry thoughts that he ran smack into another body and fell to the floor, his body pressed against the other. He scrambled to get up, and started hastily apologizing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going! I'm so sorry, I'm so so-"

"Woah, woah. Calm down, I'm fine." The stranger chuckled.

Kurt looked up at the sound of the boy's friendly laugh. He felt his cheeks turning a deep crimson when his eyes locked with the green ones of the boy. He had light brown hair that was falling on his forehead, almost covering his eyes. He had a gorgeous smile with a set of perfectly white teeth. His features were sharp, and he was tall and a little on the bulky side. His eyes were glimmering, staring at Kurt with what he guessed was kindness.

Blaine's eyes are prettier, though.

Kurt mentally berated and scolded himself at the thought of Blaine. Forget about him.

The boy extended his arm, interrupting his train of thoughts, and Kurt hesitated about shaking his hand. The boy seemed to realize his hesitation and pulled his arm back, letting it dangle at his side. "I'm Tyler,"

"Kurt," He said, blushing because of Tyler's gaze.

"What group are you in, Kurt?" He asked, gesturing to the hallway, as if telling Kurt to follow him, and started walking. Kurt hurried to catch up, and picked up the tag hanging on his neck to check his group name. "Um… I'm in A,"

"So am I!" Tyler said excitedly, glancing at Kurt from the corner of his eyes, making Kurt blush for what seemed to be the hundredth time in the past 5 minutes. "Are you headed there now? We can go there together." He offered.

"Um, sure."

The walk was nice, Kurt thought. It was nice forgetting about Blaine for a while. Kurt learned that Tyler was at Dalton for pulling a Grand Theft Auto when he was drunk, explaining the whole story in detail, making Kurt laugh. When Tyler had asked him what he was in for, he had looked anywhere but at Tyler's eyes, hoping to send the message that he'd rather not talk about it. Thankfully, Tyler got the message and changed the subject right away, throwing in a few flirty comments here and there, confusing Kurt, but still making him blush. How many people were gay at this school?

He kept cracking a few jokes as they made their way through the door, and Kurt was genuinely laughing.

He didn't notice Blaine staring at him with a pained expression, and a raged expression towards Tyler.

Kurt and Tyler sat down next to each other, not paying the others attention, other than the occasional 'Hey' that he exchanged with the boys he knew that were in his group. Tyler excused himself to say Hello to the people he knew that were in the corner of the room, leaving Kurt to look around. He noticed Blaine stand and sit at the farthest chair from Kurt, seemingly oblivious to Kurt's eyes on him. He sank onto the chair dejectedly, not taking his eyes off the floor. Kurt felt a stab in his heart at Blaine's appearance. His hair was messier than usual, his uniform put on sloppier than usual, with the tie hanging loosely and his sleeves rolled messily until his elbows. Suddenly, he looked up and his eyes locked with Kurt's.

He felt his insides squirm at the intenseness of Blaine's gaze. He felt like his eyes were pouring into him, drowning him, choking him until he almost couldn't breathe. He tried to look away, but it was like Blaine's intense hazel eyes were magnetic, and he simply couldn't look anywhere else.

Thankfully, Tyler sat back next to him which made Blaine look down with a defeated expression. Kurt still hadn't acknowledge Tyler when he said his name. He couldn't take his eyes off Blaine, even though he not only told himself to avoid him, but to forget him entirely. And here he was, unable to go through the simplest task of not looking him.

It wasn't until Tyler waved a hand in front of his face that he snapped out of his trance and turned to the green-eyed boy.

A lady that looked like she was in her mid-forties walked in right at that moment, taking a seat on the chair next to Blaine. She whispered something in his ear, and he shook his head solemnly, and her eyes darted to Kurt's for a second.

Suddenly, she clapped her hands and called out to the boys in the room, telling them to take a seat on the chairs that were arranged in a circle. She looked at the file in her hands, and glanced up at Kurt. "You must be Kurt,"

Kurt nodded, trying his best not to look at Blaine, who had his elbows on his thighs and his head in his hands. Why did she have to sit next to him? It's going to make it harder for me to avoid him when they're sitting so close to each other.

"Well then, Kurt, why don't we start with you? Tell us about why you're here." She began.

Kurt flinched, squirming in his seat, avoiding all of the eyes that were on him. "I, um, I-I..."

"Come on, you tell us why you're here, and I or the boys will tell you why they're here, too."

Kurt swallowed hard and looked down, refusing to say anything. He heard the lady sigh and adjust the glasses on her face, glancing down at her file. "I already know why you're here, honey. I just want you to say it out loud. It'll make you feel better, and it's a standard procedure to anyone new who joins the group."

Kurt started to feel sick. The memory of Blaine holding him safely and closely while Kurt told him about his past exploded all around his mind. The eyes of the entire room, except for Blaine's, that were on him weren't exactly helping, either.

His head snapped up almost painfully when he heard the unmistakable voice of Blaine. "Just skip him for today, Mrs. Clary." His eyes looked at Kurt for a fraction of a second, then back to the ground.

Mrs. Clary pursed her lips and directed her attention to the rest of the group. "Okay, boys. I want you to pair up into groups of two and talk to each other about what your goals are after you get out of the reform school."

The room filled with voices, and Tyler turned to him with a kind smile. He touched Kurt's hand for a second before moving it away, making Kurt blush. "Want to be my partner?"

Kurt smiled, "Yeah, sur-"

"Kurt?" He heard Mrs. Clary call for him.

"Yes?"

"You're going to pair up with Blaine,"

Both Kurt and Blaine jumped up form their seats, both of them exclaiming 'What?' incredulously. They both began to protest, but Mrs. Clary shut them off by raising her hand firmly. "You are pairing up, no matter how much you both hate each other. Now, Tyler, go pair up with Trent over there."

Tyler nodded dejectedly and shot Kurt a smile before walking over to Trent and engaging in a conversation.

She turned to Kurt and Blaine again, "Now, go to the corner of the room and do what I told you all to do." She said firmly, leaving no room for discussion.

The two boys walked to the corner of the room, turned to each other, but kept a big space between them. None of them was looking at the other, each had his eyes roaming around anything, suddenly finding the furniture around the room interesting.

"Boys," Mrs. Clary called from her seat from the other side of the room sternly, staring at them pointedly.

Blaine ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Um… So I guess we need to do the exercise thing?" He asked awkwardly.

But Kurt wasn't listening, he was suddenly bombarded with questions in his head. Questions of what happened to Blaine, why he acted like this when Kurt had a feeling he was the complete opposite on the inside. Questions of why he was so determined to keep Kurt far away from him.

He looked up at Blaine sharply and blurted. "Do you hate me?"

Blaine looked taken aback by the sudden question, actually taking a step back, almost losing his balance. "T-That's not w-what we're supposed to be t-talking ab-"

"Answer me, Blaine. Answer me truthfully." Kurt interrupted, shocking himself at his boldness, and stared intensely at Blaine, taking a few steps closer until he was less than a foot away.

Blaine looked down until he felt Kurt's hands lift his chin up so his eyes met Blaine's. "Look at me when you answer." He said, trying to avoid the electricity he felt when he touched Blaine.

"I-I…" Blaine seemed to be suffering under Kurt's gaze. His eyes starting to fill with tears, but he didn't dare turn away or blink. They were both in their own bubble, forgetting everyone else in the room.

"Do you hate me? Is that why you keep pushing me away and throwing rude comments at me? Is it some sort of defense mechanism?" He asked once again.

Blaine was silent for a moment. He blinked, and the tears that were pooling in his eyes slowly trickled down his face. Kurt felt a pang in his heart at the site.

"No, I don't." He heard Blaine whisper almost inaudibly.

Just when Kurt was about to say something, Blaine darted out of the room. It wasn't until his eyes turned from their gaze at the door Blaine had left from, that he realized the entire room was quiet and staring at him.

Kurt stoof there for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. He was suddenly hit with the urge to find Blaine. It wasn't fair that Kurt kept suffering when Blaine never explained anything to him, and just kept lashing out at him. He couldn't help but feel that inside Blaine's head, Blaine actually did care about him. That Blaine didn't mean it when he would hurt Kurt. Maybe he needs someone to hold him the way he held me. The curly haired boy that he just saw was not the asshole he knew. The way his eyes were wide with tears, burning with an intense and unreadable stare. Kurt felt like it was longing, but he guessed it was just his imagination. He wanted to know the real Blaine, the one that was under the hard exterior.

He wanted to solve the mystery that was Blaine Anderson.

So he decided to take his chances, and followed Blaine.