The new boy arrives in Monday.

He's quite small, thin boy with piercing blue eyes (Blaine knows that they're blue even though the boy won't look anyone in the eyes) and a bit too big jacket hanging loosely on his shoulders. The jacket is dark blue and looks like it's wool, and by the way his shoes and a bit too big black scarf match with it, it's clear that this boy knows how to dress himself. He has a big, black suitcase with him, and a bag that seems to be full of clothes, books and something that looks like make-up (Blaine almost raises his left eyebrow interrogatively but decides against it). The boys, - Kurt's -, front hair is styled into a kind-of quiff and Blaine kind of thinks that he's a very, very beautiful boy.

Blaine offers his hand and smiles when the boy takes it shyly.
"I'm Blaine Anderson, and I'm on your floor so I thought I could as well show you places and help you unpacking and stuff", he says and Kurt looks at him slowly, before nodding with a barely-even-there-smile.
Blaine smiles back.

It appears that when Mr. Schue said that Kurt Hummel doesn't speak, he was actually serious. No matter how hard Blaine tries to keep up a conversation, talk about the weather, the place, the teachers, food, anything, the boy remains silent, biting at his bottom lip. Eventually Blaine stops trying, just leads the boy to his room and volunteers to help him unpacking. The boy looks at him for a long while from his bed, and Blaine can't help but squirm a little.
"If you'd rather, uh, keep your space, you can do it alone, of course, I totally understand, I just thought
that I could help", Blaine babbles rather helplessly, and he can almost see a small smile playing on the boy's lips as he nods slowly.

As the boy rises from the bed, walking towards the small closet in a corner of the room (the one opposite the window) Blaine can't help noticing that he's a bit taller than he is (most of the people are) even though he looks so small. He guesses it's because he's so thin and delicate. He guesses that Mr. Schue was right about the thing of him not eating too.

They spend the evening in a rather awkward silence, and once they're done unpacking (Blaine is amazed at how many clothes he has been able to fit in such a small space) Blaine sits on the boy's bed, unsure and awkward and playing with his fingers. He doesn't want to leave yet, because he promised to Mr. Schue that he'd take care of Kurt… So he asks Kurt if he wants coffee.

Kurt nods. Blaine sighs in relief.

It smells too clean in the small cafeteria, and they sit in silence in a small table made of a clean white wood. Kurt plays with his spoon and takes careful little sips of his coffee at times, keeping his eyes locked in the grey wall.
"It's not as good as it's outside, huh?" Blaine says playfully, earning a little shrug from Kurt. He continues playing with the spoon, refusing to meet Blaine's eyes and focusing on the coffee instead.
It's quiet for a long while. Blaine sighs. The clock ticks. Kurt's spoon makes contact with the material of the mug and creates a little sound.

In the halfway of the second hour Blaine stops trying. It's tiring and frustrating and Kurt just wont talk to him - it's pointless to try to talk and his throat is a bit sore anyway so he stops in the middle of a sentence and drinks his coffee instead. It's bitter and cold and burns, and Kurt still won't look at him.

He's not sure if Kurt will ever look at him. He hopes he will. There's something in those eyes he's already addicted to, the blue fire behind them, tamed but not killed, and there's something in him that makes him look like he's constantly screaming "I'm still fighting". Blaine really likes his eyes.

He likes his face, too. He's got a sharp nose and delicate cheekbones, dark eyelashes and his skin looks so impossibly soft - just like his lips. His cheeks have a little rosy tint in them and Blaine finds himself counting the shades in his eyes before he can stop himself.
He's supposed to act like Kurt's goddamn friend, someone he's able to lean on when he cries (even though Blaine hopes that Kurt would never cry he's not naïve enough to actually believe that he'd never cry, because everyone cries in here. Except Santana. When Santana feels bad she makes everyone else feel bad, too. He can't really remember seeing Santana cry.) and still, here he is, thinking about what Kurt's lips would taste… He slaps himself mentally and forces a bright smile onto his face.

He walks Kurt back to his room in silence, says hesitant "goodnight" and waves awkwardly. Kurt doesn't answer but nods a little.

Blaine walks to the dining room the next day with black bags under his eyes and curly hair untamed.

He's not entirely sure what it is, but something in the new boy is strangely familiar, and so, so, so interesting. If they were normal people in a normal high school, Blaine would do everything humanly possible to become his friend… But they're not, and there must be hard things the boy dealt with in his life, so he can't possibly be too careful. So Blaine keeps his distance, and sits on the chair on the other end of the table, smiling and waving at the new boy as he walks past him.
Kurt barely looks at him.

Santana and Brittany are talking about something, but Blaine can barely hear them. Kurt is sitting next to Puck, his eyes glued to his plate as if it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen in his life. He's playing with his spoon, again, looking rather absent-minded, and Blaine makes a mental note when he realizes that Kurt hasn't eaten anything. He's not making a big deal out of it, though, which makes Blaine a bit curious. He's just casually swirling in spoon in the milky mash in front of him, like not eating was more normal to him than eating, and, trusting to the way he can see each one of his bones, he supposes that's the way it is.

Blaine tries to talk with Mercedes, he does, but finally she sighs and looks at him sternly.
"You're not listening at all, white boy. You're staring at that new boy and not listening to me and it's a bit frustrating, you know".
"I'm sorry", he mumbles, flushing just a bit. Mercedes sighs, mumbling something about "young love", and the flush on Blaine's face just deepens, and he looks away quickly.

Because there is something he just can't pinpoint, something in Kurt's tired appearance, in the dim blue eyes and bruise-like black bags under his eyes, something that screams "please save me" and "I don't need your help" at the same time. The signals he's sending are mixed and Blaine shakes his head slightly.

"So, how are you all?" asks Ms. Pillsburry, the woman arranging the group meetings. She's a small, woman with ginger hair, large eyes and kind personality. Blaine, personally, likes her a lot, and has gotten to know her quite well during the years he has spent in Dalton. Some of people don't like her, though, and Blaine can still remember the deep disgust radiating from Santana when the two of them met for the first time. They did not stand each other the slightest and it caused a bit trouble for a while but eventually, a bit by bit they learned to stand each other, and nowadays Santana is one of the people looking forward to the group meetings.

"Santana? Let's start from you", she says and Blaine focuses on Santana's voice, ms. Pillsburry's notebook and Kurt's nose. The light flickers in Kurt's chestnut hair, in his blue eyes and - oh fuck. Blaine slaps himself mentally - or oh, okay, seems like it wasn't as mental as he thought, because the skin of his left arm is tingling and the people on the room are staring at him. Blaine can feel the blush creeping up his neck, and mumbles something that he hopes sounds like an excuse.

From the corner of his eye, he catches the smile on Kurt's face before it changes back into the neutral expression.

The rest of the hour goes like that. Blaine listens to their conversation with one ear, thinking about a lot of things but nothing really at the same time. He can see Kurt drawing on his notebook, his pen moving quickly and his brows furrowed in concentration. The notebook is pink and black and cute, something he'd imagine someone like Kurt owning.

He's dressed like yesterday, in casual but fashionable clothes. He's got black, skinny jeans and a knee-long sweater, a scarf and ankle length black boots. His hair is made perfectly and his eyes are a bit shinier than they were a moment ago, but it might be because of the sunlight, too… Or it might be because he's doing something he enjoys.

The bell rings, eventually, and Blaine collects his things slowly. Kurt is one of the first ones to rush out of the room, his bag still half-open as he walks out of the door. Blaine sighs a bit, reaches down to tie his shoes - and sees Kurt's notebook. It must have fallen from his bag when he rushed out, and Blaine reaches for it.

He really didn't mean to open it, but as he walks out of the room with his bag and books the notebook kind of opens itself - and well, wow. It's full of unfinished drawings, planned outfits and things like that, and he just simply can't close it. He keeps flipping through the pages, taking in the colours and delicate outlines and - oh. There's a portrait. And wow, this boy is talented. The couple in the picture look real, and Blaine guesses they're Kurt's parents. They're smiling and look happy, and Blaine finds himself smiling too. There are a few portraits, more like sketches, and Blaine giggles a bit when he finds a surprisingly accurate drawing of Santana, the expression on her face so bitter that he almost flinches… Then there's a drawing of Mrs. Pillsburry, one of Puck and - oh.

That's his face.

It looks like a photo, and it seems more finished than the other ones. His eyes look like they're already coloured, and his hair seems like it's halfway ready, the shades of brown and black looking way better on paper than in real life and Blaine kind of really hopes he could draw like Kurt. The picture is smiling and he finds a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, too. His skin looks prettier in the drawing, smoother than in reality, and he looks more… adult. His jaw is more defined than the one he sees in the mirror every day, his cheekbones higher and more delicate and Blaine wonders if this is how Kurt sees him. He wonders why it's so important to him to know how Kurt sees him.

He closes the notebook, involuntary, shoves it into his pocket and hurries after Kurt.

He doesn't get the chance to give it back to Kurt until lunch.

Kurt is sitting in a corner with a book on his lap and a untouched plate in front of him. His eyebrows are furrowed, again, and his long, slender fingers are tracing patterns across the pages of the book. He's so beautiful, and Blaine slaps himself a bit, again, because he has no right to think like that. At all.

"Hi", he says. Kurt looks at him quickly, nodding a bit and clutching his book a bit tighter. "I, um, found your notebook".
Kurt lifts his eyes from the book, slightly more interest in his eyes now, head tilted to the side and looking at Blaine interrogatively. Blaine shoves a hand into his pocket, taking the notebook out carefully before handing it to Kurt. He nods as a "thank you" and Blaine mumbles a quiet "you're welcome", but doesn't leave.

"I know I shouldn't have looked, but I just have to say that you're amazingly talented at drawing", he says, trying to not sound creepy (oh really, Anderson, as if you could say that without sounding like a creepy stalker). "I, uh, I'm going to go and get food now. Would you like to join us there?" he says, pointing vaguely towards the longest table. Kurt shakes his head a bit, still smiling.

When Blaine looks at Kurt minutes later, he's still smiling.

There's an incident a few days later.

Blaine has finally convinced Kurt to sit with him in the dining room, on the chair opposite of him. He's nervous the whole time, and no matter how hard Blaine stares, Kurt doesn't eat. He even tries to give Kurt his cookie (everyone loves cookies!) but Kurt doesn't take it, smiles just sadly and plays with his spoon a little more. Blaine keeps talking, not even caring how Kurt doesn't answer. There's maybe no words, but his eyes smile sometimes alongside with his lips, and Blaine smiles too.

And okay, it's going good, and Blaine isn't even sure what happens until it does and it's Santana. It's always Santana, and she kind of shoves Blaine backwards as he gets up and he collides with Kurt, who stumbles backwards and falls on his back, his eyes widening. Blaine huffs a bit, and tries to smile it off, offering him his hand, but he just kind of stares at it before whimpering softly, and Blaine's heart stops.

Because then Kurt's gone. Just like that, running out of the room and to the hallways, and Blaine wants to scream. He gives Santana the dirtiest glare he can before running after him.

It's already dark when Blaine finally finds him.

He's in a small storeroom at the end of the hallway, curled up into a small ball and sobbing quietly. His breath is ragged and he's trembling, and Blaine can feel his heart breaking at the sight.
"Kurt", he whispers quietly. The other boy sniffles quietly and lifts his face. His eyes are red and his face is wet, and Blaine has to mentally tie himself to the doorframe to stop himself from reaching forward and hugging him so tightly he'd never be sad again. This is a boy who just got a full-on panic-attack from a touch, and Blaine really doesn't want to push him, not after this (or not at all).
"Hey. You're okay. C'mon, it's okay, I can walk you back to your room if you want to?" he says, kneeling down and trying to sound as gentle as he can. Kurt nods barely visibly, relaxing a bit and getting up. He nibbles at his finger before offering his hand to Blaine and oh, okay, that was a surprise but he takes it anyway, grasping it lightly. Kurt gives him a shy, teary smile and grasps back.

He walks Kurt back to his room, holding his hand tightly because it looks like Kurt kind of craves for some contact, while still being frightened of some kinds of contact… Blaine supposes it makes sense. This is comforting touch, the one in the dining hall was more scary and Blaine wonders if Kurt dealt with bullies or something like that in his past. He grasps Kurt's hand a bit tighter at the mental image, because no-one is allowed to touch this precious boy with wide and innocent blue eyes in a bad way, never, never again, and Kurt looks at him with a confused expression as he grasps his hand again.

It's almost eleven o'clock already, the hallways are glowing and Blaine stops in front of Kurt's room's door. He's feeling awkward, his legs are sore and he could really use a bath or a hot shower right now, but he collects all the remaining pieces of self-control and opens the door for Kurt.

He's just about to turn on his heels and walk around, but decides against it when Kurt makes a move to shut the door.

"No, wait", he says, not entirely sure what he's doing, and not really caring, either.

"Look, Kurt. I know you're going through hard stuff right now - no, don't worry, no-one told us what happened to you and I totally respect it, you can tell us when you feel ready or not tell anyone at all -, and I know that it might feel like the end of the world - but you know, speaking to someone actually helps." Blaine says softly. The boy doesn't look at him. Blaine can feel his heart beating, loud thump, thump, thump in the silent hallway.
"I know it sounds like a cliché, but, I didn't talk much when I came here, either. I- my family wasn't really a supportive one and they really didn't like the fact that I'm gay", he continues softly, swallowing thickly at the mention of his family. "And, uh, I really didn't feel like talking either. I just, what I'm trying to say, I know that we just met and this might be a lot of think about right now but please, if you feel like talking, please come to me. I really want to help you. I want you to help yourself."

Kurt says nothing, his hand gripping at the door with his eyes locked on the dark wood. His eyes are soft in the yellow light and he's halfway inside already. Blaine can tell that he's listening, though.

"Please think about it", he pleads. "I really want to be your friend."

Kurt closes the door.