"I can't believe you don't report him Kurt." Tina said, looking over Kurt with concern as the boy dusted off his jacket. Karofsky had just pushed him into the lockers - again. It was painful enough on it's own, both physically and emotionally, but it was also humiliating that he did it in front of so many other students - students who seemed completely oblivious or supportive of the abuse.

"You think I haven't Tina?" He stated, pulling his briefcase strap up onto his shoulder and forcing himself not to wince at the weight it was putting on a bruise there from another locker shove that had occurred before. "I get told it's his word against mine and unless a teacher witnesses it they can't do anything."

Tina frowned, following alongside Kurt as they made their way to Glee. "What about all the witnesses, myself included, to what just happened there?"

Kurt sighed, "Those other students don't give a damn what happens to me, and as for you, I won't ask you to get involved in my problems. This is just something I have to deal with on my own."

Tina continue to frown, glancing worriedly at Kurt as they walked into the choir room where everyone, Puck included now, was already gathered.

While Puck regaled everyone else with tales of his time in juvie, Kurt was not impressed. He clearly didn't belong with these people who found tales of jail so intriguing and exciting. It was absolutely barbaric.

The competition for sectionals was announced. They would be competing against a seniors group as well as a group from an all boys school. Once that little tidbit was announced, Santana was quick to make a gay joke. Once again, Mr. Schuester let it happen.

To make matters worse, Mr. Schuester decided to have yet another boys versus girls singing tournament, immediately redirecting Kurt to the boys when he tried to beeline for the girls. Kurt was clearly out of place with the guys who began talking about which classic rock song they should do - songs that while Kurt appreciated on an artistic level, were not usually complementary to his vocal range. Once again, he quietly sat back and let everyone else talk around him.

He had been good about ignoring Blaine for the past few days. Whenever Blaine had tried to broach the topic of friendship with Kurt, Kurt quickly redirected him to just "Do the work". After the first few tries, Blaine had gotten the message and they just quietly worked alongside one another with the minimum amount of conversation between them, though Kurt would feel Blaine's eyes watching him at times.

Even when it came to work they were supposed to complete together, Kurt had managed to evade Blaine's push to talk. All their time working in the library and in class together previously had made it easy for each of them to quickly determine what parts of an assignment they would work on without having to talk more than necessary.

Kurt had expected Blaine to freak out on him in the beginning when he was shutting down his attempts to talk to him. He didn't know anyone else who had gotten away with being rude to Blaine Anderson like he was. Though apparently, Blaine was getting out his fair share of freaking out on several members of the hockey team.

The rumors were that Blaine, having overheard them talking about what a freak he was in the washroom while unbeknownst to them, Blaine was in a stall. Over the course of the next couple days, each of the culprits, in turn, had shown up with shiners or had a toilet face wash, all courtesy of one Mr. Blaine Anderson.

So Kurt was just lucky that Blaine was probably at quota for harassing others that week.

Another shove into the lockers and a face off with Karofsky who actually named his fist "The Fury" as he threatened Kurt led Kurt into Mr. Schuester's office.

"... It's getting to you." Mr. Schuester spoke, looking at Kurt with one of his trademark 'I'm so concerned' faces usually reserved for Rachel's regular diva events.

Of course it was getting to him. It never hadn't gotten to him - he was just good at hiding it, holding his head up high, shoulders back, walking with pride. The problem was now that his shoulders were too bruised to hold up high, and it seemed like the more confidently he tried to walk, the more negative attention he garnered.

And it wasn't hard to find fault with Mr. Schuester now that he was given the chance, blasting him about letting the homophobia slide and criticizing his lessons before abruptly leaving the office. Mr. Schuester had no right to decide now to take an interest in Kurt when he had been ignoring him and the insults he had faced in and out of Glee club for the past year.

Clearly to try and appease Kurt, Mr. Schuester announced at the next Glee club meeting that the competition between the boys and girls would now have a twist - role reversal. It was a clear attempt by Mr. Schuester to try and garner favor with Kurt, and Kurt was happy to take advantage of the situation, immediately taking charge with the boys.

If only they were willing to follow his lead on it though. After Artie and Puck both insulted Kurt when he was trying to give the boys some creative direction, Kurt left the room. Maybe he should just go spy on their sectionals competition like Puck had suggested.

So the next day, after searching up what the Dalton uniform looked like and trying to match it as best as he could with his wardrobe, he was walking to his car with the intent to go snooping at Dalton - admittedly also out of curiosity. According to the website he visited, Dalton also had a zero tolerance policy when it came to bullying and he wondered that that looked like in action.

"Hummel... Kurt... can we talk. Please?" A familiar voice spoke up behind him as he walked, and he kept up his brisk pace in the hopes that Blaine would get the clue and leave him alone.

Instead the curly haired boy grumbled behind him and reached over to grab his coat, effectively stopping Kurt in his tracks with a yelp as he found himself physically restricted.

"What the hell Blaine?" Kurt snapped as he turned in spot to face Blaine, not caring if anyone was watching, though most people were off in the courtyard or the cafeteria for lunch, and the group of stoners nearby were, well, too stoned to seem to notice.

"Why the fuck won't you talk to me?!" Blaine snapped right back, releasing Kurt's coat and spreading out his arms as he questioned Kurt.

"You made it pretty clear that you weren't interested in talking to me more than necessary - so excuse me for making things easy for you!" Kurt huffed, about to turn to return to his quest of trying to get to his car to get to Dalton, but Blaine's hand reached over and grabbed him by the wrist before he knew what was happening.

Kurt glanced at the hand on his wrist and then back at Blaine, about to give Blaine another piece of his mind before the boy interrupted him. "Come talk with me. Please. If you don't like what I have to say then you can fuck off and I won't try anymore shit with you."

Kurt arched an eyebrow, and then gave Blaine a simple nod. The easiest way out of this situation would just be to give Blaine a moment.

Blaine led Kurt away from the school and to Kurt's car, which Kurt was thankful for since it would make transitioning from the conversation he was about to have with Blaine, to Dalton much easier.

They got in and as soon as they were settled in the car seats, Blaine held his phone out to Kurt. "Put your number in it."

Kurt looked at Blaine with clear confusion and Blaine pushed his hand forward a little more with insistence.

"Alright..." Kurt took the phone and entered in his information. As he put in his name and number, he took a deep breath. The car had filled with Blaine's scent already - cigarettes, raspberries, and cinnamon, and Kurt wondered how it was that he had come to like that scent so much that smelling it again felt comforting.

He held the phone back to Blaine who immediately typed rapidly into the phone until Kurt's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to see that Blaine had texted him with the message 'Now we are officially friends.'.

Kurt's right eyebrow went up and he looked over at Blaine. "Are you serious? You think having each other's numbers makes us friends?"

Blaine sighed and looked down at the phone in his hands, "Well I'd make it facebook official if I actually had a facebook account..."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Honestly, who doesn't have a facebook account..."

Blaine shrugged a little and looked up from his lap and back towards Kurt. "Let me buy you lunch. Please? I just... I can try. I want to try anyhow."

Kurt hesitated, looking at the boy who was pleading with him now. Blaine Anderson... was pleading with him. Kurt looked down at the makeshift uniform he had fashioned for his trip to Dalton and then back to Blaine who was staring at him with such genuine sincerity. The puppy dog eyes and slight pout of his lower lip had the intended effect, tugging at Kurt's heartstrings.

"Well shit..." Kurt mouthed, and then pulled his seat belt over his chest and clicked it into place, "Fine. But I'm picking where."

Blaine's grin covered the bottom of his face and he put on his seat belt. Kurt didn't miss the little bounce Blaine made in his spot when Kurt agreed to lunch with him. Honestly, how could he say no to those eyes? And if nothing else, at least he could have bragging rights as someone who got Blaine to say please.

Kurt drove them to a little sushi restaurant downtown, and Blaine, as he said he would, paid for lunch. They sat and talked, well, Kurt talked mostly, and Blaine listened intently.

"... So I was going to see if their zero tolerance policy actually worked. I can't imagine a place where bullying didn't happen everyday..." Kurt noted, pausing to take a bite of his lunch.

Blaine watched him steadily as he went through the story about how he had been alienated in Glee, and how the male Glee members made jokes about him, and had decided to check out Dalton. While Kurt ate, Blaine decided to give his input.

"I ran away... from my last school, because of bullies..."

Kurt's eyes went wide, looking over at Blaine in surprise. Seeing Kurt's expression, he nodded to reaffirm what he had just said and Kurt swallowed his bite to talk.

"You... YOU.. were bullied?"

Blaine nodded and squirmed in place, clearly uncomfortable about what he was admitting to. "I ran away, and I regret it. I should have confronted them, called them out."

This was a lot to take in, but it made some sense. Blaine Anderson bullied others so he didn't get picked on at McKinley because he didn't want to be the victim anymore? Sure he took it to an extreme level, but it did explain why he tended to target the other bullies in school.

"So you think..." Kurt started, though trailed off, looking at Blaine to finish off his words, trying to imagine Blaine as the bullied rather than the bully.

"I think... No. Fuck it. I KNOW you should speak up. Teach them to respect you. Refuse to be the victim anymore."

He smiled weakly at Blaine. Blaine who was clearly more than his reputation allowed for. Kurt was immediately glad he had gone out for lunch with Blaine instead of going to Dalton.

"Here... you're... uh... tearing up a little." Blaine handed him a napkin and Kurt dabbed at his eyes, having let his thoughts about Karofsky's bullying float up within him.

"Prejudice is just ignorance Kurt. I think you're a lot tougher than you give yourself credit for and you have a lot more courage than you know." Blaine continued, poking and looking at the remains of his lunch instead of making eye contact with Kurt.

"Jesus Blaine..." Kurt sniffed and shook his head with a chuckle. "You're just full of surprises."

A little twitch of Blaine's mouth turned into a full grin and he looked up at Kurt. That look, those twinkling hazel eyes behind a curtain of curls and complemented by that smile - that look was all it took to remind Kurt of why he had been considering a crush on Blaine.

"Come on... let's get back before we're late." Kurt noted, leading the way back to the car with his new friend Blaine.

It didn't take Blaine long to take advantage of his newfound cellular link with Kurt. Inbetween sending Kurt pictures of things that Blaine clearly found amusing (Kurt never suspected that Blaine found those cats on the internet so entertaining), and EXTREMELY inappropriate jokes (he made sure to delete those in case anyone ever went through his phone), Blaine sent him texts to remind to have courage.

It was while Kurt was reading one of those reminders to be courageous that Karofsky roughly shoved him into the lockers, sending his phone flying to the ground. Instead of just letting it happen, Kurt found the courage within him to chase after Karofsky and confront him in the locker room.

And he wished he hadn't.

Kurofsky was a closeted homosexual. He had stolen Kurt's first kiss, at least the first kiss that mattered - one with another boy. After Karofsky had run off, Kurt stayed in the locker room, trying to calm his nerves, stop the random tears from flowing, and feverishly wash his mouth out over and over again.

He couldn't get Karofsky's taste out of his mouth. He tasted like cheeseburgers, just like Brittany had said boys did, but also pepperoni and Doritos. It was enough to make Kurt gag.

It was Blaine who found him in there, frantically trying to brush his teeth with his finger.

"You didn't show for French and I knew you were around... so I left and I found your phone on the hallway floor..." Blaine murmured, setting the phone down on the counter by Kurt and watching him with a blend of confusion and worry.

Kurt trembled a little, and spit out the water in his mouth. "Th.. thanks."

"What the fuck happened?"

"I... tried to confront Karofsky... and he... he..." Kurt grabbed the edge of the counter with white knuckles as he tried to push the memory of what had just happened away, but all he could see was Karofsky's face on his and he went white as the feeling of being sick washed over him.

Blaine's eyes were narrowing, and Kurt could see the anger in his eyes, but he willed himself to finish, to at least have one person know what happened in case Karofsky tried to silence him somehow.

"He... Karofsky... he did something worse than anything he's ever done before." Kurt got out. He didn't want to out Karofsky to Blaine, that didn't seem right, but he could at least let Blaine know that Karofsky had crossed a line.

Blaine's hands rolled into fists and before Kurt could shake anymore words out of himself, Blaine was running off, the locker door slamming behind him.

Oh god.

Kurt grabbed his phone and tried to race after Blaine realizing what he had done.

Blaine considered Kurt his friend, and Kurt was probably his only friend in the school. Blaine dealt with bullies through violence. He was going to retaliate.

When he got to the hallway, he didn't see anything immediately, but heard something instead. A deep scream, followed by a chorus of smaller screams and yells. Kurt ran down the halls, following the sounds to their source and finding a wall of students encircled around Blaine and Karofsky.

Blaine had pulled Karofsky out of his class and was punching him over and over in front of the circle of students who were either cheering on the fight, not that it was much of a fight being so one sided, or watching in still shock. Even the teacher seemed to be in shock, quietly telling the students to stop without any authority or notice by anyone else.

Kurt tried to get through the circle of students, but found himself barricaded. All he could head was the slapping sound of fists against flesh and Karofsky begging for Blaine to stop. The sound of Karofsky's head bouncing off the wall each time Blaine punched him was sickening, and knowing that he had caused this made Kurt deeply guilty.

Finally, two other teachers from nearby classes managed to push through the swath of students and pull Blaine off Karofsky.

Along with all the other students, Kurt was pushed back down the hall to keep the area clear for the paramedics who came to take Karofsky away and the police who had come to arrest Blaine. Finding himself unable to do anything but be part of the crowd, Kurt pulled out his phone and sent Blaine a text message.

COURAGE.

The excitement about the fight was still palpable during Glee club, and Kurt sat quietly, worried about Blaine and what would happen to him, and guilty about ultimately being the reason Karofsky was in hospital.

He left Glee club as soon as Mr. Schuester and Puck were pulled out by Figgins, telling the rest of the group that he wasn't feeling well. No matter how much he checked his phone, Blaine hadn't responded to his texts, and not knowing made his heart ache.

"Monsieur Hummel!" Mademoiselle Bouvier called after him as he walked down the hall intent on leaving.

He looked back to her and greeted her politely.

"As you may or may not know, Monsieur Anderson is suspended until further notice."

Kurt quirked an eyebrow up. Well that was news at least, and much better than being incarcerated.

"Since you have worked so closely with him in French, and because no other teachers can think of a better candidate, I was hoping you would be willing to bring him his coursework from French and his other classes until he can return to school." She looked at him eagerly.

He nodded. Of course he was the only candidate to bring things to Blaine. Even if someone else in one of his other classes might have, they would have been too scared off of him after what he had done in school today.

"Wonderful! I have his address here..." She handed him a paper. "... And here is his work for the next few days..." She handed him a heavy folder. Clearly she had hoped for the best in asking Kurt to do this because she was prepared.

"This can't be the right address..." Kurt mused, looking at the paper he was given.

"I assure you... it is." Mademoiselle gave Kurt a wink, as if she knew something he didn't, thanked him for his assistance, and went back to her classroom.

Blaine's house was located in Lima's richest community. It was the biggest house in the midst of the biggest houses.

In fact, calling it a house would have been wrong. Blaine had an estate, a manor, a mansion.

Kurt nervously parked in the driveway... although it wasn't really a driveway. It was one of those paved circles that you always saw in front of mansions in the movies. He wasn't sure if he could even park in it, but he didn't know what else to do. Kurt had grown up modestly in comparison to what he was seeing here and didn't know the expectations.

Gathering the work Mademoiselle Bouvier had given him, Kurt walked up to the front door and rang the bell, hearing the echoes of the musical chime within the house. After a moment, a petite little old woman, reeking of cigarette smoke and with a cigarette hanging from her lips, answered the door, looking at Kurt suspiciously.

"Hello..." Kurt greeted her, only to be cut off by a quick rush of foreign words from her and the door being slammed in his face.

"What... the..." Kurt stammered in a whisper to himself, completely confused by the brief interaction.

He was about to walk back down the steps when the door opened up again, this time with a middle aged woman coming out. "Sorry.. sorry... my mother tries to be helpful... Can I help you?"

Kurt smiled at the woman and noted her dark hair, carefully put up in a bun, and olive skin. "Hi there... Are you Mrs. Anderson?"

She nodded and as she looked towards Kurt, Kurt could see that her eyes looked glassy, almost milky. She had aimed her head towards his voice, but was she even seeing him?

"I'm Kurt. A friend of Blaine's from school. I have his work..."

"Kurt!" Mrs. Anderson said brightly and opened the door the whole way, "Please! Come in! I've heard so much about you!"

"Oooo... kay..."

Kurt stepped into the estate and held his breath. It was like just out of a movie. "Oh.. wow... this place is amazing."

Mrs. Anderson made a little chuckle, "Yes... much more than we need, but Blaine's father insisted..."

The way she said Blaine's father instead of her husband made Kurt tense up a little. He wondered if the man he had seen arguing with Blaine now on two occasions would be here.

"Blaine tells me you work at the hospital."

She clicked her tongue a little and then shook her head, "I used to. I can't anymore... my eyesight... I was an administrator there. I just stay at home now."

"Oh. Sorry.." Kurt started and she waved at him dismissively.

"Don't worry about it. Blaine is upstairs. Terrible day for him... sometimes... sometimes I don't know what to do with him." She sighed and went to an adjoining room where Kurt could hear her start to speak in another language with the woman, Blaine's grandmother he guessed, in their native tongue.

Kurt slowly ascended the stairs, taking in the grandeur of the home and picking up on all the little details from the etchings in the banister to the way the stairs were made out of marble, real marble.

He should have asked for more specific directions from Blaine's mother, realizing that the upstairs was huge, but thankfully he heard the sound of a piano and decided to follow the noise to it's player seeing if they could direct him to wherever Blaine was.

Except when he got to the room, he had to hold his breath in a silent gasp. The player was Blaine. His back was to Kurt and despite the bandages around his fingers, he was still managing to play a familiar song, and sing along with it.

"You make me... feel like I'm living a teenaged dream..."

Kurt stood like a statue in the doorway, listening and giving himself a pinch on the thigh to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Blaine had a voice that was like what silk must sound like if it could sing, and he could play beautifully.

The room must have been Blaine's, but it wasn't at all like Kurt would have expected. There was a full sized piano in his room, as well as an electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and even a harp. Blaine Anderson played a harp?!

Blaine had a large bed, an ensuite bathroom, and posters for bands and even musicals. Most of his walls though were built in bookcases, all filled with books and nothing else. Kurt thought that Blaine probably had more books than their school library did. Blaine had his own, personal, large screen TV, and a computer desk in the corner.

When Blaine finished off, Kurt managed to clap to show his appreciation for the music and also let Blaine know that he wasn't alone.

The curly haired boy looked back, probably expecting his mother or grandmother, and went wide eyed when he realized that it was Kurt standing there.

"Shit..."

Kurt walked over quickly, putting a hand on Blaine's shoulder, "I didn't know you could sing! And so well!"

Blaine's eyes went from Kurt's hand and up to Kurt's face, taking in a small, stilted, breath. "I... I've taken lessons since I was little..."

Kurt beamed at Blaine and looked around for a place to sit, settling finally on the edge of Blaine's bed where he also placed the folder of work from school. "I brought your work from school."

Blaine was clearly nervous, his eyes darting between Kurt, the door, and the piano. He looked like he had been caught in some indecent act and Kurt found that he was actually enjoying Blaine's discomfort. This must have been what it was like for Blaine when Blaine was bugging Kurt about porn. This feeling of giddy playfulness one got from making someone squirm.

Finally Blaine stood up from the piano bench and joined Kurt on the edge of his bed, on the other side of the folder. Kurt looked at the bandages on Blaine's hands and shook his head, "I can't believe you did that..."

"He won't be coming out of the closet anytime soon..." Blaine responded, opening the folder to glance down at the work that laid within.

"What...?" Kurt took in a sharp breath. He was sure he hadn't told Blaine about the kiss.

"When I was hitting him... he said it quietly so only I could hear... but he asked me if it was because he kissed you..."

Kurt looked down at the floor, biting his lower lip gently as the feelings of shame from earlier washed back over him.

"Hey... what's wrong?" Blaine asked, looking up from the papers to see Kurt taking a deep interest in the fibers of the carpet.

"I just... before today, I had never been kissed, at least one that mattered anyhow..."

Kurt could feel the folder being pushed aside and feel the warmth of another body close to his as Blaine sat beside him. It suddenly hit Kurt that he was in Blaine's bed, with Blaine. This is where Blaine must... hoo boy. Too many emotions for one day.

"Kurt...?"

Kurt lifted his head and looked at the boy beside him.

"Please don't tell anyone I live like this... or anything... my reputation..."

Kurt nodded, "I get it... you have an image to keep up."

Blaine smiled and nodded, and then, to Kurt's surprise, wrapped an arm around Kurt's shoulders.

Kurt tensed from the touch. It was the second time today he had been touched so intimately without giving permission. But, with Blaine, it didn't feel so invasive, so awful, and the tension left as soon as it came.

"I shouldn't have told you... I wasn't thinking... you put him in the hospital..." Kurt murmured softly, eyes glued to Blaine's bandaged hands.

Blaine made a tutting sound and pulled Kurt gently against him, forever ridding Kurt of the thought that Blaine was homophobic. "He's fine. I wasn't that hard on him, and he isn't going to press charges anyhow."

"Are you serious?"

Blaine nodded, "He wouldn't want to risk talking about the fact that he kissed you... that that is what prompted it..."

Kurt sighed and Blaine hugged him a little tighter to the point where Kurt could hear Blaine's heart beating at a rapid pace. He still must have a lot of adrenaline from the fight. "You still shouldn't have done it."

Blaine shrugged. "He shouldn't have kissed you then."

"While I appreciate the grand chivalrous gesture, it doesn't help you look less like a neanderthal." Kurt grinned as he said it, playfully elbowing Blaine in the side.

Blaine chuckled, and then pulled away from Kurt just a little, moving his free hand under Kurt under his chin so that Kurt could feel the rough texture of the bandages. Blaine tipped Kurt's head up by the chin just slightly, so they were face to face, centimeters apart, and Kurt could smell the spicy scent of Blaine's breath as it fell on his face.

"Blaine...?" Kurt whispered out, his eyes scanning Blaine's to try and figure out what Blaine's intentions were. Those hazel eyes were looking into Kurt's so deeply, as if Blaine was trying to find something in Kurt's eyes. Kurt felt frozen, not sure of what was going on, but not wanting it to end either. He felt himself trapped in Blaine's gaze.

Then, Blaine pulled back and Kurt was left taking in a deep breath and watching Blaine scramble backwards on the bed and pull the folder of homework with him.

It took Kurt a couple more seconds to get the shakiness out of his breath. He wondered what the hell had just happened. He wondered what he was supposed to do now. He kept wondering until Blaine's voice broke his thoughts.

"Can you help me with my work?"

Kurt shook his head to get himself back into the present and then nodded to Blaine, "Yes... Of course..."

He joined Blaine at the head of the bed and went over the algebra homework he had been sent home with, thankful he had already taken and passed that course, and trying to not remind himself that he was in Blaine's bed... and it seemed like Blaine had been thinking about kissing him. Was that what been going on?

So much for not forming a crush on Blaine.