A rough hand shoved him into the lockers. Damped laughing echoed in Kurts head while he grabbed his left shoulder in pain. He sighed and turned around to his locker to close it. That some people shoved him and called him names wasn’t a big thing. He was used to it now. Nobody did anything to prevent it anyway. But ofcourse did it still hurt. Literally.

With the books clamped to his chest he started to walk through the hallways to his next lesson. In the classroom sat Mercedes in the back row and waited for him. She gave him a big smile when she saw him and Kurt settled beside her.

“I haven’t seen you today!” she said and put her arm around his neck to hug him.

Kurt smiled but the smile disappeared fast when she embraced him hard and he felt his pain in the shoulder again. He frowned and let a quiet “ouch” leave his mouth.

Mercedes winced backwards and stared at him.

“Are you okay?” she said worrying.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” he said and sighed before he locked his gaze forward.

Mercedes looked at him for a while with concern in her eyes before she also turned forward when the teacher came in.

This was his life. Almost everyday were the same. He spent a long time in the morning to fix his hair and choose a proper outfit. After that he drove to school and tried to get to his first lesson without getting a bruise or his books scattered on the floor. Then he made it through the whole day and drove home, worked with his homeworks and then slept, only to wake up to an almost similar day some hours afterwards. So it was pretty boring. But soon he would be out of here and in New York, if everything went like he wanted. He just had to be patience.

At lunch the whole Glee-club sat together at a table. Rachel talked about everything and nothing. Couldn’t she keep her mouth shut for just one second? Seriously, how could it be so much to talk about. Quinn sat with a small mirror to be sure she looked fine while Santana and Brittany talked continuous. They all had their Cheerios-uniform, but even if they were in Cheerios right now they also were loyal with the Glee-club. Because it didn’t matter if they denied it, he knew that they all loved being in Glee-club.

Tina and Mike sat near each other and smiled, giggled and rubbed their noses against each other. He couldn’t stop himself from looking at them and dreaming about doing that with someone. Being able to look someone in the eye and know that they love you exactly as much as you do. To have someone to lean on. To have someone, that’s completely yours. They didn’t know how lucky they were. But he can’t do more than be patience. Everything was about being patience. He would probably have to wait a pretty long time before he got his first boyfriend. But to his delight there were many gays in New York so if he were lucky it wouldn’t take too long before he met someone.

“Uhm… Kurt?”

Tina looked at him with a strange glance. Kurt blinked rapidly and caught himself with staring at them, having his head in his palms and the elbows resting on the table. He straightened up and took away his elbows from the table while he looked around and saw that the others in Glee-club looked at him too. There was a long awkward silence before Mercedes broke it.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” she asked for the second time this day.

“Uhm… I-I… Yes, I…I’m fine.” He stuttered and grabbed his fork and scooped in salad in his mouth hastily.

“No you’re not. Stop lying.” Mercedes said with a stern tone in her voice.

Kurt gave her a innocent look and swallowed the food.

“I’m not lying. I’m fine. Really. Nothing to worry about.”

Mercedes gave him a suspicious glance and decided to forget it, at least for now. She knew it was something. Something was going on in that boys head, and she wanted to know. But she can’t force him, unfortunately.

The rest of the Glee-club started with whatever they were doing before again. Rachel started talking, Quinn studied herself in the mirror and Kurt was careful to not look at Tina and Mike again, or start dream away about boys.

“Okay guys! We’re only two days from Sectionals now! How do you feel about that?”

Will Schuester stood in front of the teenagers and looked at them, one by one.

“I think we are well prepared Mr.Schuester” Rachel said with a bright smile while she looked around.

The others nodded in agreement.

“Which choirs are we competing against again?” Puck said confused.

Everyone sighed and looked tiredly at him.

“How many times do we need to say that to you? Seriously, you asked this MORNING?” Kurt said.

“We’re meeting Dalton Academy Warblers and The Hipsters” Will answered calmly.

“Ah, the gay school and the school for old ladies and men. We will easily beat them.” Came from Pucks mouth.

“The boys are not gay only because it’s a private boy school…” Kurt said with a small anger in his voice.

“I didn’t say that. I just said that the school was gay.”

Kurt just snorted and crossed his arms agains his chest.

“Hey! Guys! There’s absolutely no time for fighting. The last thing we need is hostility.”

“I can’t help that he is so sensitive.” Puck answered.

“What!? I-I’m not SENSI-“ Kurt said a bit offended before Mercedes slapped him easily on his left arm and looked at him with a strict gaze.

“Ouch” Kurt said quietly and stroked his arm while turning to Mercedes. When he saw how Mercedes looked at him he sighed and rolled his eyes before gaving Puck a last angry glance and then focusing on Mr.Shuester again.

“We will perform last this year, so let’s give the judges a good finish!” Mr.Schuester said aloud and with a big smile on his face.

The others joined his positive attitude and shouted out thing like “Yeah!”, “Let’s beat ‘em!” and “Go New Directions!”. When everybody had finished and went quiet Puck suddenly exclaimed:

“Hell yeah! Let’s kick som asses!”

Everybody laughed loudly. Kurt smiled. He loved his Glee Club, even if he sometimes felt to yell at some of them. But they were like a family, and in families you sometimes fight and don’t want to talk to each other, but even if you do you still love each other no matter what, even if you don’t want to.

When Glee Club was over Kurt went through the door that led out to the hallway. When he just was about to go through the entrance he remembered his homework in history for tomorrow. He sighed loudly and jogged the way to his locker. He struggled with his lock and opened it fast. He found his historybook that he was looking for and put it in his bag.

“Tell me.”

Kurt turned around quickly and saw Mercedes stand beside him.

“ You can’t scare me like that!” Kurt said horrifying.

“Just tell me. Please. I’m worried.”

Mercedes ignored his statement and looked at him, now with a small vestige of sadness in her eyes.

Kurt sighed and looked around like someone would come and help him out or something. But it was empty in the hallway, they were the only ones left.

“I…It’s just…”

Kurt didn’t know what to say. Because he didn’t know what it was either, actually. He closed his locker very slowly before he looked at Mercedes again.

“I don’t really know what it is. It’s just… sometimes… it feels like my life is so boring. Almost nothing have changed since I started in high school. My days are the same, nothing thrilling happens in my life. And lately I have dreamed a lot about a boyfriend. And I mean, more than usual. And I know it will come to me, that I need to be patience. But sometimes it just feels like that is the only thing I do. I keep have patience but nothing ever happens. It feels like I don’t get anything out of it. I want to explore new things, find new tracks. But it feels like I’m stucked in this spot and can’t get out of here.”

Kurt could see that Mercedes didn’t know what to say. She remained silent a few seconds more before she opened her mouth.

“I believe that almost everything happens for a reason. And I think the reason for this is because life wants you to appreciate the adventures you’ll get later when you leave this school. Or maybe even earlier, who knows. You can’t get everything that’s lovely in life now. Some things have to wait, and I’m sure that when you meet that someone that you’re looking for it will be worth the waiting. If nothing happens now it only means you have more experiences left for later, right?”

Kurt smiled and let a small laugh leave his mouth.

“You always sound so wise, you know that?” Kurt said and Mercedes smiled back.

“Well, one of us have to be the smart one.”

“Ey!”

Mercedes laughed and hugged him.

“Just kidding Kurtie. See you tomorrow!”

Mercedes waved and walked away. Kurt kept smiling. Why did he have such good friends?

“Oh, and remember that when you wanna talk I’m right here for you to listen, got it?” Mercedes said and looked him in the eye.

“Noted.”

Now the time was here. The whole Glee Club stood outside the bus that will take them to the Sectionals. Kurt couldn’t stand still because of his excitement and he really wasn’t the only one who were nervous.

Everybody got on the bus with laughing and smiles. The mood of everyone was on top, they sang cheering songs and just had fun. Kurt sat beside Mercedes next to the window. He leaned against the hard glass and felt how he shivered at the cold touch. He watched the trees and houses fly by while they began to approach the auditorium where they would compete.

The butterflies started tickle in his stomach while they got off the bus together and looked around. Kurt inhaled the fresh air and smiled for himself. He had longed for this since the year started and he was so looking forward to it. They walked in together and a happy young woman showed them their dressing rooms. The boys went in to their dressing room while the girls went in to the other one. Kurt started taking of his vest and shirt so his chest became bare and suddenly he saw how Finns body froze to his left.

“Dude… what have you done?” Finn said astonished.

Kurt just turned to him and raised one of his eyebrows while he looked at Finn with wondering eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Kurt said.

“Your bruise. It’s pretty big man…” Finn answered, still completely still.

Kurt saw how the other boys started to pay attention to him and looked at his shoulder with big, surprised eyes.

Kurt tried to turn his head as much as possible to look at it by himself, and when he saw the big, brown bruise over almost his whole shoulder his eyes got big. Was it really so big? That must be the worst bruise he’d ever got. He slightly poked his shoulder and he was relieved when it didn’t hurt. Sure, it was a really big bruise, but it didn’t hurt so much.

“Oh… that…” Kurt said after almost a minute in silence.

“It’s…it’s not something bad, it don’t hurt so much. You don’t have to worry.” Kurt finaly said and tried to smile a little bit.

“If you say so...” Finn answered and shrugged before he got back to changing.

The other boys joined him while Kurt almost were done. Maybe he had time to fix his hair quick before it started…

Some minutes later they all sat in the auditorium to watch the other groups. First out was The Hipsters. They all knew after their performance that at least that choir wouldn’t be a big threat for them. Kurt was relieved by that, it made him feel a little bit more confident.

After The Hipsters the speaker called out that it now was The Warblers that would perform. Everybody became silent and turned their eyes towards the dark stage with expectation. There was a few more silent seconds before he heard the music start. Or he thought it was music at first before he heard that it was voices and remembered that they were an acapella-choir. He was pretty amazed already, even if this just was the intro. A short guy with dark hair that he was sure had a lot of gel stepped forward so he stood in front of the choir. The guy started singing and at the same moment all the boys began to dance. His eyes got big during the performance. They were really good. And the boy that sang the lead had a really nice voice, it felt like sweet honey that ran through his ears. When the performance was over everyone stood up and clapped their hands while they whistled and shouted. Kurt stood up as well. Now he was really nervous. The Warblers were really good and soon he was going to stand on that scene and try to top that. The butterflies that flied around in his stomach earlier came back now and tickled him more than ever before.

Everyone in New Directions rose from their chairs and headed to the door that led backstage.

“Uhm… Mr.Schue? I need to go to the restroom a quickie.” Kurt said.

“Okay, sure Kurt. Just don’t take too long, the pause is over in fifteen minutes.”

Kurt just nodded while he headed to the restrooms. He went through a long hall and the restroms were just around the corner. He was just going to turn right when someone walked into him.

“Woups! Oh my god I’m sorry.”

Kurt heard a soft voice that came from the persons mouth and the second after he saw who it was that had walked into him. It was the boy from The Warblers, the boy with the dark hair that sang the lead. Now when he was nearer he could see that he had hazel eyes that were warm and welcoming. He had dark, triangular eyebrows. He had never seen someone with triangular eyebrows before. The boy laughed like he was embarrassed and Kurt could see his perfect, white teeth. His smile was big and made him narrow his eyes. The boy wore a blazer with a red Dalton-logo on it. He also had a dark blue and dark red striped tie that was tied around his neck and white shirt.

“It’s okay” Kurt said with a smile.

The boy smiled to him before Kurt opened his mouth again.

“You guys were really good” he said.

The boy continued to smile, but it got bigger and now you could see his teeth again.

“Thanks. I haven’t seen you perform yet, so you’re in the New Directions, right?” he answered.

“No, no… I’m in The Hipsters you know.” He said with irony in his voice and smiled to the boy in front of him.

The boy laughed and looked embarrassed again as he looked down at the floor before he met Kurts eyes again.

“Well, good luck then.” He said and smiled to Kurt.

“Thanks, I’ll need it, I’m so nervous I’m afraid that I will forget the lyrics.”

“Know the feeling. Just take a deep breath before and have fun, everything will go fine!” the boy answered calming and smiled like he had done during their whole conversation. He gave Kurt a light tap on the shoulder while he looked Kurt in the eyes.

When the boys hand touched his shoulder he felt a jolt shiver through his body. The hand was warm and soft and made him in some way relax a little bit. Kurt didn’t know what to answer after that so he just smiled. When the boy took away his hand Kurt missed the touch directly. He didn’t know why but he had felt so safe and he liked the boys welcoming warmth.

“I need to go back to the auditorium now, but it was nice to meet you…”

The boy looked questioning at him and narrowed his eyes.

“Kurt.”

Kurt extended his hand to shake hands and smiled widely to the boy.

The boy smiled as big in return and shaked Kurts hand.

“It was nice to meet you, Kurt” The boy said with emphasis on his name.

“And it was nice to meet you too…” Kurt answered and looked as questioning as the boy had looked at him before.

“Blaine. Blaine Anderson.” He answered.

Blaine. Kurt tasted the name. He liked it. It was different and for some reason he loved to say the name. The name was so soft and it was like you were singing the name.

“I hope I’ll see you again Blaine Anderson.” Kurt said and Blaine nodded in response.

“Yeah, I hope that too.”

They gave each other one last friendly glance before they parted. Blaine headed back to the aduitorium while Kurt finaly could go into the restroom. He was sure he had taken too much longer than he thought he would because of the unexpected encounter. But that didn’t matter so much to him right now, because he was glad that he met Blaine. It was something about the boy he just liked and he really meant it when he had said that he wanted to meet him again. He really hoped they could become friends.

When he returned from the restroom the others already stood behind the big curtain that hid the choir from the rest of the auditorium. Will had his arms crossed against his chest but when he saw Kurt he dropped them at his sides.

“Kurt! Finaly! I told you to not take too long. You don’t need to fix your hair more than once you know.” Will said.

“No, no… That wasn’t the reason I went to the restrooms. And a boy from The Warblers happened to walk into me and we stood and talked for a while.”

“I don’t care why, just… be better in time next time, okay?” Will said with a sigh.

Kurt just nodded and walked over to his position. Rachel that stood beside him gave him a questioning glance but Kurt ignored it. He didn’t have time to explain to everyone why he had taken so long. So when Kurt didn’t say something to answer Rachels glance she looked forward again and inhaled. They heard the speaker say that it now was time for the New Directions to perform. He bit his lower lip. This was it. If they failed now they would not have a chance to make it to New York and nationals. He thought about what Blaine had said and took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. Just go out there and have fun Kurt, he thought to himself. He heard damped claps before the curtain went up and the lights switched on. They started to sing and directly when he stepped out in the light he forgot how nervous he was. He forgot the audience and that they had to be really good if they wanted to win, it felt like it only was him and his Glee-club, like when they rehearsed. The first song went amazing, so did the second one. In the third song he had some lyrics that he would sing in the middle of the song and everything went fantastic. His voice didn’t disappoint him and when they all ran of the stage while the audience stood up and clapped for their life they all smiled. They looked at each other with big smiles and Mr.Schuester laughed happily and said that that was the best performance they had ever did.

And then they stood there close together. To the left of them stood The Warblers and beside them stood The Hipsters. Kurt felt like he had forgotten how to breath and the butterflies were back. In any moment he would know if they won or not. He looked to the left where The Warblers stood and they looked exactly as nervous as him. At the exact same moment Kurt found Blaine in the crowd of boys he turned his head to his right and met Kurt’s gaze. Blaine looked so nervous that he almost looked worried over something. He gave Kurt a small smile before he looked forward again at the judges. Kurt swallowed and did the same as Blaine and locked his eyes on the judges.

“So we have a result.”

The women that stood in front of them had blond hair and smiled widely. She waved with an envelope in her hands before she finaly opened it.

“And the third place goes to…”

Kurt couldn’t breath.

“…The Hipsters!”

Kurt breathed out. The Hipsters looked very happy, even if they came last. The choir leader took the small trophy and held it up in the air for a while before they left the stage. Kurt took Mercedes hand and held it tight. They gave each other a nervous look before they looked at the judge again.

“And the winner that will compete in regionals is…”

Kurt clamped Mercedes hand hard and he thought he would explode. Couldn’t she just tell them who it was that had won? He hated thrilling silences.

“…The Warblers!”

Screams. Disappointed faces. The Warblers hugged each other and he was happy for them. But he just felt so empty and hollow right now. Did they not even make it to regionals? He looked around. Everyone looked so sad. All of them had looked forward to competing in nationals this year. And they didn’t even make it to regionals. God. They sucked.

“Together with New Directions!”

… Wait, what? Did he hear right?

“It looks like we have a shared first place! Congratulations! Both The Warblers and the New Directions goes to regionals!”

He looked around again. Everyone looked shocked. It took a few seconds before they realized what the judge had said and when they did that they started to jump and scream. They did it!

Kurt looked slightly to the left where The Warblers still stood, but now they had calmed down and just looked very happy. Blaine turned right and Kurt could see how happy he was. Blaine smiled so widely that you barely could see his eyes. Because why wouldn’t he? He didn’t know how long they looked at each other, but he didn’t have the urge to look away. So he just stayed in Blaine’s eyes and smiled. And in some way Blaine’s smile got even a little bit bigger.