Blaine pulled his backpack off his shoulders as he�approached�his locker, the sleeves of his zip-up Xavier High baseball pullover pushed up past his elbows while his semi-curled hair was hidden beneath the sweatshirt's hood. Prying the metal door open he shuffled through the lines of textbooks in his overly organized locker until he found the ones he needed for his first set of classes and switched them for the ones he already had in his bag. It was early in the morning, far too early for any students to be walking around the hallways, but he enjoyed the buzzing silence he knew he'd get in total peace and quiet before he was subjected to trying to stay out of ignorant arguments and quarrels. He had roamed these hallways time after time with nothing but anticipation for those few words, or that intentional shove that he was so used to witnessing.

"Hey Eli."

Blaine's eyes blinked open, he hadn't realized he had dropped his backpack on the floor and was�now�leaning against the lockers with his forehead. His�cheeks�flushed just barely as he nudged away from the cold metal, "You know, other then my mother you are the only person who insists on calling me by my middle name." He turned to face his friend, a small smile on his face as he glanced over at him, the blonde boy's lips mirroring his easily.

"You've told me that before."

Blaine�slipped his hands into his jean pockets, noticing the slight smell of chlorine mixed with the boy's usual body wash, his blonde hair still�noticeably�damp. "Practice finished already?" he asked, though his smile faltered as his heart began to speed up at an alarming rate when a hand reached out to run through his curls, slowly pushing back the hood that was hiding his hair and partially shadowing his face.�

"I hate when you cover up your hair."

Blaine's lips parted, his thoughts a downright mess, "I'm not trying to cover my hair..." he finally murmured in return, his eyes lowering once the hood was gone.

"Eli..."

The tone in James' voice was what ultimately caused him to look back up at him, the other boy's eyes softening as he finally released the curls from between his fingers at the sounds of voices approaching from down the hallway. Blaine's attention turned to the number of individual making their past the two of them, noticing the fairly familiar faces from�the�waterpolo team, they usually practiced around the same time as James' swimming team. Blaine didn't need to listen to the Senior captain to catch him making an overly obvious and loud comment about the blonde, using a string of�derogatory�words before smirking along with his friends. Heat rushed�through�his body, his fingers curling in his palm as he automatically stepped forward, "Don't you ever�talk about him like that again you ignorant - "

"Eli! Come on...let it go."

A hand grasped at his bicep tightly, the anger still swirling viciously in his head even as the much taller waterpolo player turned back to look at him threateningly. But he hardly had a second to add to his already infuriated state when he was being tugged away by the arm and pulled into an empty classroom. The door shut behind him as Blaine's chest rose and fell with uneven and angry breaths, the hand finally loosening it's tight hold.�

"You really need to stop doing that. You're going to get pummeled one of these days, worse then before. I know you think you can handle it but you're not all that big, Eli."

"I am thoroughly aware of how small I am. And I'll stop saying things when people decide to stop being ignorant."

"You and I both know that's never going to happen."

"Well it should."

"Just take a breather, I swear one of these days your heart is going to explode from all the anger you bottle up."

Blaine huffed as James put a hand against his chest and gently pushed him down into a chair. "Someone has to defend you," he mumbled, his hands moving to the cool surface of�the�desk in front of�him�and his shaking fingers spreading out against it. The swimmer pulled a second chair over and sat in it backwards so he was facing the baseball player, his arms folding over the back of his chair as he leaned his chin down on them.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I don't...really want to talk about it," he replied, hearing a sigh as James lifted his head and looked away from him.�

"You only say that when it has to do with me."

Blaine lowered his gaze once more, averting his eyes from the other boy as he raised a hand to run through his semi-curls. He tried to ignore the sound and movement of a chair sliding across the wooden floor until he felt a knee brush up against his jean leg. Finally glancing up he noted the lack of space between the two of them as his friend reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a small round object, his fingers prying it open a moment later to reveal what looked like some type of cosmetic. "I don't wear make-up, James."

"And neither do I."

"Then why - "

"I figured you might need it more then Emily."

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as James leaned closer, his finger rubbing the inside of whatever it was he had in his hand. Fidgeting from�the�closeness his hands retracted from�the�desk's surface and slipped nervously into the pockets of his hoody.�

"Stop moving so much."

"Sorry," he mumbled with a far more timid tone than he would have liked to admit. As James drew near he raised a hand to rest it against his cheek, and set the round object on the desk before rubbing his thumb delicately over�the�darkened skin just past his opposite cheekbone. Blaine drew a deep breath and allowed himself to relax from the gentle touch, thankful that his friend had stayed conscientious of how�tender�the skin was beneath his fingertips.�

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"Why do you do this? Why do you keep sticking up for me and putting yourself in positions where you know you're just going to get into fights? Why do you defend being friends with me to your dad when we both know it wouldn't be nearly this bad if we just weren't friends? Don't lie...I know you get into arguments with your dad�about�me, I've heard it before."

"Isn't just being friends a good enough reason?"

"In this case...I don't think so. I know how kindhearted you are Eli, but even this is a little much."

Blaine suddenly felt nervous again, how was he supposed to explain this to James when he couldn't even explain it to himself? But by now the blonde-haired boy had retracted his thumb and other hand from his face and was simply looking at him waiting for a response,�his�faded green-gray eyes not wavering for a split second. "I...I'm not sure, James. In all honesty I feel so confused. I just know that I don't enjoy watching people take advantage of you just because you are a reserved, compassionate, and non-confrontational individual. I think...I like you, James." He noticed�the�barely raised eyebrows of surprise, the softening look in his eyes and the pressing of his lips together in an attempt to hold back a smile.

"I thought you were straight?"

"So did I. But I'm positive that I feel this way about you...whatever that labels me as. Just...I like you, James."

"You know...I've been hoping you'd say that one day."