Sunday passed slowly. The Danvers went off to church in the morning but Blaine refused. He wasn't overtly religious and maybe he would have gone, except that he felt like they'd be judging him for his sexuality.

After they arrived home he joined them for lunch, which ended up being a strained meal. It was clear that Elaine and Michael had no idea what to say to him now. It was just his luck – he was finally reunited with parents who been missing him for thirteen years and now they didn't want to be in the same room with him because he was gay.

He wondered if this meant they'd be sending him home – he perked up at the thought, but tried not to let it show.

"So, Blaine," Julie said, taking a bite of her sandwich. "You got a boyfriend?"

Michael's fork clattered to his plate, having been in the process of spearing potato salad. Blaine was too afraid to look up from his own plate, unsure of what he would see in Michael's eyes.

"No," he answered quietly.

"Have you had one before?" Julie pressed. He gave her a side look.

"No," Blaine answered her softly. "Why?"

"Just wondering," she chirped. "My friend Kurt is single, you know. He's in desperate need of a boyfriend."

Blaine was blushing now, staring down at his plate. Julie was trying to set him up, and right in front Elaine and Michael. It was nice to know at least she didn't agree with them.

"Does he know you're trying to set us up?" Blaine asked, a real smile crossing his face.

"No." Julie shrugged. "But you're hot, even if you are my brother. And I'm pretty sure I've got his type pegged, so..."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Blaine murmured. "I can find my own dates though."

"Suit yourself," Julie said. "Kurt's picking us up in the morning though, so you'll get to meet him."

They fell silent again, and Blaine hurried through the rest of his lunch. He volunteered to help Julie clean up, anything to get away from the silence from his parents.

"Do they hate me?" he asked Julie quietly as he scrubbed at a plate.

"I don't think so," Julie replied softly. "They've never been in this position before, Blaine."

He nodded. Blaine knew it could be hard for some parents to accept.

"I'll be in my room," he said, handing her the last dish, freshly scrubbed. He dried his hands and disappeared into his bedroom. Blaine wasted no time in grabbing his mp3 player (something he'd almost left behind at home, but was glad he'd brought along since his phone had been confiscated), putting the ear buds in his ears and turning it up, effectively shutting out the world.

*

Morning came early. He'd had to fight Julie for the shower, unused to sharing. She'd thrown a fit but he'd won with parental mediation. He rushed through his usual routine, washing his face and gelling down his hair.

Blaine slipped into the outfit he'd picked out (McKinley colors, why not?) and was ready to go when Julie banged on his door and told him Kurt was outside.

"Oh, man," Julie said, grinning when she saw him come into the living room, his satchel on his shoulder. "Kurt's gonna love you."

Blaine blushed, not sure what she meant by that. Still, he had more important things to worry about, like starting a new school and not being behind in his classes and maybe staying on track with graduation.

He and Julie headed outside when the horn honked again, and Blaine stopped short when realized a black Lincoln Navigator was parked in the driveway. The very same one that had been dropping Julie off the day that he, Jeff, and Nick had come to spy.

Which could only mean one thing – Kurt had been driving that day, meaning Kurt was the beautiful boy he'd seen with the legs that had gone on for miles.

Kurt stepped out of the car as Julie approached.

"Finally," he said. "I thought I was going to have to come get you."

"Sorry," Julie replied. "I come with baggage now." She gestured to Blaine, who was still stopped in the middle of the yard, staring. He flushed again, realizing that Kurt was looking at him now. He forced himself to move forward, joining them.

"The prodigal son returns," Kurt murmured, holding his hand out to shake. "Kurt Hummel."

"Blaine Ander – Blaine," He stumbled over his name. He'd never get used to using Danvers as his last name. Never. He shook Kurt's hand quickly and let go. Kurt's hand was the softest he'd ever felt, and up close he was even better looking. Blaine knew he'd better get himself under control lest he do something stupid, like start babbling about how pretty he thought Kurt was.

"It's nice to meet you, Blaine Ander-Blaine," Kurt teased lightly. Blaine was beginning to think his face was going to be permanently red. "We should get going."

"Okay," Blaine whispered, heading for the backseat, and opening the door for Julie to climb in. He was surprised to find other people in the SUV, a tall brunette boy and a petite brunette girl. Kurt got back in as well, and it was the sound of his door shutting that propelled Blaine into the SUV. He shut the door quickly and put on his seatbelt.

"Blaine, this is Kurt's brother Finn and Finn's girlfriend Rachel," Julie introduced as Kurt put the SUV in gear and headed off for school. "Finn, Rachel, this is my brother Blaine. Try not to be idiots."

He could feel Finn and Rachel's stares and he shifted uncomfortably.

"I know you!" Rachel exclaimed. "Lead singer of the Warblers, right?"

Blaine smiled sadly. "I was."

"You guys totally almost beat us last year," Finn added.

"I'm trying to talk him into joining glee," Julie interjected. "I think he needs to maintain a creative outlet."

"You've been hanging around Kurt too long, Jules," Finn replied.

She lifted her chin up in the air. "Yeah, well, those who get slushied together spend way too much time cleaning each other up in the bathrooms."

"Slushied?" Blaine asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yeah, sometimes the jocks throw slushies at us," Julie told him. "It sucks, but you get over it."

Blaine thought it was interesting that that little detail had been left out of her McKinley stories the night before.

"So I assume everyone's seen my story on the news?" Blaine looked at Julie, who nodded.

"Yeah," she answered softly. "We even had an assembly about it."

"Great," Blaine muttered.

"Well, this is going to be interesting," Kurt spoke up. Blaine looked out the windshield to see a group of reporters hovering outside the school grounds.

No one from Blaine's family had consented to an interview and Blaine knew it had to be driving the media wild. So for Blaine to be here, going to his first day at McKinley, they probably thought they could get him to say something. He sighed.

"Sorry," he murmured.

"Principal Figgins won't let them on school grounds," Julie told him. "They've tried before."

Kurt drove carefully through the crowd into the school parking lot. Blaine was grateful for the tinted windows of the SUV as they went passed the reporters, some of whom tried taking pictures. Kurt parked in a way that let him and Julie get out of the car where the reporters couldn't see, and they all slowly gathered in a group.
There were stares and whispers as other people walked by them, everyone seeing Blaine and recognizing him. Blaine sighed.

"I have to get to the guidance office and get my schedule," he said, desperate to get away from all the prying eyes.

"I'll take you," Kurt offered. "I have first period free."

"I thought we were going to rehea-" Rachel began to protest, but stopped at a look from Kurt. "We'll see you later, Blaine. Think about joining glee club."

She and Finn walked off holding hands.

"You should get to class too," Blaine told Julie.

"I can take you to the guidance office," Julie replied.

"Kurt can take me," Blaine said, trying not to blush at the idea of spending a few moments alone with Kurt. It'd been a while since he'd had a crush, and oh, he had it bad for Kurt. "You need to get to class."

"Spoil my fun," Julie muttered, stalking off. Blaine gave Kurt a tentative smile, and the two of them fell in step, heading inside.

The hallways were typical school hallways, drab but pepped up with posters and things. They were noisy and crowded and Blaine thankfully noticed less staring this time.

"So," Blaine spoke up, feeling like an idiot. He had no idea what to say.

The bell rang and there was a frantic surge of students heading for their classrooms. They moved out of the way, standing still until the hall was empty.

"Listen," Kurt said suddenly, "you can tell me it's none of my business, but I just have to ask... are you okay?"
Blaine stared at him for a long moment.

"No," Blaine finally answered. It felt good to get that off his chest. "I'm not. I'm not sure I know how to be anymore."

"If you ever need anyone to talk to..." Kurt trailed off, cheeks turning pink. Blaine couldn't help the smile that came to his face.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Ah, here we are," Kurt said, pausing outside a series of large windows. "Miss Pillsbury's office."

Blaine turned to knock. Miss Pillsbury looked up and waved him in. "Thanks, Kurt."

"I can wait until you're done, if you want," Kurt offered quietly. Blaine shook his head.

"You should go rehearse with Rachel." Kurt nodded and touched his arm lightly before walking away. Blaine stared down at his arm where Kurt had touched the skin. It tingled and Blaine was pretty sure he was never washing that part of his arm again.

*

Blaine was actually smiling by the time he headed for his French class. Miss. Pillsbury had agreed with him and after looking over his transcripts and the available courses at McKinley, they'd come up with a schedule that would let Blaine meet the requirements he needed to graduate at the end of the year. He'd be the youngest senior in the class, but he didn't care about that. He did need one additional fine art credit and Miss Pillsbury had said he could use glee for that, as many of the kids in the club did. He was even going to be taking Driver's Ed after Christmas break, something he'd never thought he'd get to do in high school. Sure, the Danvers had to sign some forms, but Blaine was pretty confident they would.

He headed into French, brushing passed the other students and went inside. The teacher took his slip with raised eyes and then handed him a textbook, putting him in an empty desk. To his shock, Kurt was one of the first ones in the classroom, taking the empty desk behind him.

"You're in AP French?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," Blaine answered. "I was a senior at Dalton, so Miss Pillsbury tried her best to duplicate my schedule so I can still graduate on time."

The other students were taking their seats now and Blaine could feel the stares again. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Blaine hated that. He wasn't a science exhibit.

The teacher got everyone's attention. Thankfully she moved right into the lesson and didn't call any attention to the new student in her class. She broke them into pairs, putting Kurt with Blaine since they already knew each other, to work on an assignment. The stares stopped and Blaine got to sit next to Kurt and whisper to him as they worked. He'd never been so happy to conjugate verbs in his life.

*

The rest of the day passed in similar fashion – he would go into a class (some of them with Kurt and Rachel and Finn) and hand his slip to the teacher. That way he avoided saying his name and having to speak unless he was spoken to. His classmates pretty much left him alone, keeping a wide berth, as if somehow being kidnapped was contagious. That was just fine with Blaine.

He made his way to glee club, glad to be almost done for the day. He ducked into the choir room and everyone fell silent. The teacher glanced at him and his eyes widened. Blaine handed him his slip and the teacher nodded. "Everyone, this is Julie's brother, Blaine."

Julie bounced in her seat and waved and he couldn't help but smile at her. Kurt was sitting next to her, rolling his eyes at her.

"I'm Mr. Schuester," the teacher continued. "Normally, we ask everyone to sing something on their first day, but if you're not feeling up to it..."

"No, no," Blaine said. "I can sing something." He got a reassuring smile from Kurt as he debated his song choice. "Can I?" he gestured to the piano. Mr. Schuester nodded and Blaine sat down, pressing his fingers lightly on the keys and began to play.

He let himself drift through the song, "Cough Syrup" by Young the Giant, playing his feelings.

The room was silent when he finished the song.

"Wow," he heard Rachel murmur. Mr. Schuester was grinning.

"That was amazing!" he crowed as Blaine stood up, cheeks turning red with embarrassment and pride. He took a seat next to Julie, happy for the first time in days. He could feel Kurt's eyes on him as Mr. Schuester launched into rehearsal mode.

Maybe McKinley wasn't so terrible.