The next morning was awkward to say the least.

Kurt and Blaine barely said a word to each other as they got ready for school. After a quick shower, Kurt had waved Blaine into the bathroom so he wouldn’t have to wait while Kurt did his long moisturizing routine.

Kurt had missed his flawless skin while he was in juvie. He had been allowed to spend two days with his dad before they started the 5-hour drive to McKinley Academy and his skin was already improving. Not perfect yet, but on its way.

Blaine had just washed his face, brushed his teeth and quickly walked back out. He was amusing Kurt slightly, because whenever Blaine looked at him he blushed. Kurt had a feeling it was because of what Blaine had said at the end of last night. He could still hear it in his head…

“Co-ck.”  

Kurt shook himself. He should not be thinking about that or Blaine would be the end of his willpower. Kurt had no idea what he would do if the boy said it like that again, especially if he was in closer proximity. 

Or shirtless, with his defined arms and abdomen, the prominent V shape that disappeared into his pants… Kurt felt his heart speed up at the very thought.

Ugh! What was wrong with him? He had known Blaine less than a day. He shouldn’t affect him like this.

“No,” Kurt said to himself. These kinds of thoughts couldn’t be allowed. Blaine was his roommate for God’s sake. He very adorable, nerdy, kind, totally hot roommate.

“Stop it.” Kurt said louder this time, pointing a scolding finger at himself in the mirror. “Stop.”

“Stop what?” Blaine suddenly asked as he appeared in the doorway, putting gel into his hair. He was wearing a short-sleeved checkered black and white collared shirt, grey pants, and black oxfords. Kurt couldn’t help but admit that he had some sense of style.

“Nothing.” Kurt said to quickly, tearing his gaze away from Blaine and opening a bottle of lotion.

“Okay… Well…” Blaine said awkwardly toeing the ground, “I’m going to breakfast. It’s in the cafeteria where we had lunch… You better come quick if you want to beat the rush.”

With that, Blaine hurried out of the dorm before Kurt could respond, the door slamming loudly behind him. Kurt heard a muffled, “Sorry!” Then the fast sound of footsteps walking away.

He smiled again at Blaine’s nervous and stumbling behavior, slightly touched that he would still think to give him guidance.

Kurt quickly finished his moisturizing routine and styled his hair, then rechecked his appearance in the mirror. He was wearing dark skinny jeans, a loose white undershirt, an open dark green jacket rolled up to his elbows, and dirty white converse. 

Kurt sighed, thinking of scarves and broaches and colorful pants. Then snapped himself out of it. This what he had decided. Besides, these clothes were more comfortable. Not that it meant much.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The sudden loud noise made Kurt jump. Then he quickly walked out of the bathroom and over to the dorm phone to pick it up. “Dad?”

“Hey buddy.” His dad said on the other line. “Is Blaine there?”

“No,” Kurt said with a sigh.

“You two aren’t having problems are you?” When he didn’t respond his dad continued, sounding exasperated. “Kurt, I told you to be nice to him. He sounds like a good kid and-“

“I’m not being mean to Blaine, dad.” Kurt said, “But he told me that I need to get to breakfast soon if I want to beat the morning rush, so can I call you after school?”

“Sure. Have a good day at school. You have to tell me all about today and yesterday later okay?” His dad said and Kurt smiled. Talking like this reminded Kurt of how it used to be. When he had lived in his own house, used his own shower, ate the food he wanted, and dressed the way he liked.

“I will. Thanks dad.” Kurt said, his voice cracking slightly as tears entered into his eyes. He could call his dad any time he wanted now. He could say good morning, good afternoon, good night, or call just because he wanted to every single day.

“Kurt? Are you okay?” His dad asked concernedly.

“Ya. I am just glad we can talk like this again. I know it isn’t the same as being together but it’s something and I’ve missed you so much.” Kurt said, letting the tears fall.

“I missed you too buddy. One phone call a week wasn’t enough was it?” Oh God. It sounded like he had made his dad tear up too…

“No.” Kurt said letting out half a sob as he laughed at the same time.

His dad chuckled too and said, “You still want to go to breakfast?”

“Yes. You know how I get with lines.” 

“Could never forget. Talk to you later.” 

“Bye dad.” Kurt said and he heard his father hang up. He stood there a moment listening to the silence in the phone, and then set it back down onto the receiver.

His checked the time and saw 7:15. His dad was probably already at the shop. Sitting in his creaky swivel chair and muttering over documents or talking animatedly with a costumer about their car troubles. 

Kurt smiled to himself, but he also felt a pang of longing. He missed throwing on his old, dirty overalls to go in and help his dad at the shop. He even missed the smell of a leaking gas tank and the layer grease covering the engine of an old beater. He missed it all.

He had locked his old self away after about a month in juvie. A gangly, pale-skinned boy with a high-pitched voice was already an easy target. And Kurt’s old personality automatically clashed with almost every boy in the place. He had gotten into fights a lot that first month and lost every time.

After awhile another boy, Drake, had pulled Kurt aside and told him he had to change if he wanted to get out of juvie in one piece. He had to stop the sarcasm and pride. He needed to stop retorting back to insults and take them as jokes. He needed to work out. He needed to learn to throw a good punch. He needed to change everything. So Drake had whipped him into shape and taught him to fight.

 After Kurt’s three tormenters (Mason, Ben, and Tony) stopped walking away unscathed they laid off the physical attacks and went verbal full force. That had been the biggest challenge for Kurt. Taking the hurtful and horrible things they said to him and only throwing back light jibes. It became a sort of game after that. How far one side could go before the other loosed its temper and started swinging.

And that had been Drake’s biggest challenge because he had a temper to beat the best of them. Drake had become Kurt’s almost constant companion. They weren’t exactly friends at first because Kurt had been slightly terrified of him. Not only was he a criminal, he was big and burly and pierced all over. It just wasn’t a good first impression. But after a while he didn’t take the insults to Kurt as well as Kurt had…

After about a year Kurt actually started considering Mason, Ben, and Tony his friends. They insulted and shoved each other constantly, occasionally getting into a small scuffle or fight, but there had been camaraderie about it. Enough that the other kids had even started to fear Kurt, a thought that still shocked him. 

People had feared him. He hadn’t liked it.

He even missed them… Though not nearly as much as Drake, who still had a year when Kurt left. He was in for beating someone into a coma when he was 16, and apparently the other boy had almost died.  Drake would turn 18 the day after Christmas and spend the rest of his time in prison. Kurt couldn’t help but wonder if they would be able to keep in touch.

But they hadn’t been friends with him. Not really. They had been friends with a false persona, a mask that Kurt and Drake had come up with. Even Drake hadn’t been friends with the real him. They hadn’t become all that close until Kurt stopped having to try so hard to hide who he really was, when it had become more natural and easy.

But he was still in there; he was still proud, sarcastic, fashionable, and loving. It just didn’t show much anymore. Kurt knew the adjustment back to himself wouldn’t be easy, so he had made a truce with himself about halfway. That way, he had decided, if either side showed it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

Kurt glanced at the clock again as his stomach rumbled loudly to see it was 7:20. He had been reminiscing for five minutes. Time to go.

He made his way down to the cafeteria to see it was almost a quarter of the way full and still had a mercifully short line. 

Kurt sat down at a table by himself about two minutes later with a bowl of fruit, a glass of milk, and a large stack of wheat toast. He ate slowly, still thinking about the friends and family he’d had to leave behind.

Then- Bang!

Kurt’s head snapped up at the sudden noise to see Blaine had slammed his breakfast trey down onto the table. He raised his eyebrows in surprise at the smaller boy. Why was he sitting with him?

Blaine seemed angry or frustrated with something as he sat down and dug into his oatmeal, ignoring Kurt completely. Kurt watched him a few moments before he began eating his own breakfast again. They ate in silence for a while before Puck joined them and began asking Blaine something about Glee club.

Kurt raised his eyebrows again at this. Puck was in Glee? He hadn’t seen that coming. 

Puck then turned to Kurt and asked, “So how’s dorm life with our friendly school hobbit?”

Kurt grinned at the look on Blaine’s face before saying, “It’s fine.”

Puck nudged him slightly and said, “It has to be heaven compared to juvie. Right?”

Kurt shrugged as he took a bite of toast and said, “I suppose so.”

He glanced over at Blaine to see him stock still, staring at Kurt with wide eyes.

Shit.

“You were in juvie?” Blaine squeaked, his voice raising an octave. “Why were you in juvie?”

Puck scoffed and asked, “What? You didn’t know?”

Blaine shook his head, his eyes still glued on Kurt, the shock in his gaze being joined by nervousness and slight curiosity.

Kurt bit his lip and said, “Yes, I was in juvie. For a little over a year actually.”

Blaine tilted his head to the side as he studied his face and Kurt hoped his expression wasn’t giving anything away.  “But why?” 

Kurt shrugged and lied, “I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

“No way! Really?” Puck asked, looking at Kurt with a newfound admiration.

Kurt just tapped a finger lightly on his lips a few times and continued eating. But he could feel Blaine watching him and knew that the other boy had seen through the half-witted lie, not that Kurt had expected anyone to believe it in the first place.

Kurt racked his brain for a change of topic, “Why were you so angry before?”

Blaine blinked adorably a few times before asking, “Huh?”

“When you sat down earlier,” Kurt said motioning to Blaine’s trey, “You were mad about something.”

“Oh…” Blaine said, his face reddening slightly, “That was nothing.”

“You were mad?” Puck asked as two twins sat down at either side of the circular table. Kurt noticed that they were identical except a large pink scar running across one of their foreheads.

“No, I-“ Blaine began but was cut off by the twin with the scar.

“Blaine was mad? About what?”

“I think he was about to answer before you rudely interrupted him.” The other twin said, sounding annoyed.

“It wasn’t rude!”

“Oh really?”

“Really. It was just… inquisitive.”

“An interrupting inquisitive. Hence the rudeness.” The twin said making an obvious gesture.

“Hence nothing! You hideous-“ The other began.

“Shut up!” Puck suddenly said, cutting them off. “Wow. Way to make a first impression guys.”

To their credit, they both looked down meekly before the one with the scar said, “Sorry. I’m Trey Greyston and this is my twin Aric. You’re Kurt right?”

Kurt nodded, beginning to miss how peaceful and empty his table was five minutes ago, “Pleasure.”

“That’s gonna be one ugly bruise.” Aric said, gesturing to Kurt’s face.

Kurt shrugged and said, “I’ve had worse.”

Trey suddenly leaned forward eagerly and asked, “Is it true you pushed Karofsky down the stairs?”

Blaine choked on his oatmeal and yelled, “You WHAT?” 

 “No!” Kurt said assuringly to Blaine, turning to the Trey and asking, “Who told you that?”

Puck laughed, pounding Blaine on the back as he fought for breath and said, “Wow, that escalated quickly. I heard he just gave him a black eye and dumped a slushy over his head.” 

“Well, yes, but that was all. No stairs were involved!” Kurt said with his hands in the air. Then he pointed to the darkening bruise on his cheekbone, “He got me back though…” 

Puck, Trey, and Aric were all smiling at him and Kurt couldn’t help but grin back. Then he noticed the hard look on Blaine’s face, and realizing why he added, “Blaine, he was the one who tried to throw it at me. I just knocked it out of his hand and it sort of hit him instead. I laughed at the look on his face, we got into a quick fight, and we both walked away with bruises. That’s it.”

“Oh.” Blaine said, his face softening and his hazel eyes turning back to his oatmeal. 

“Well I’m glad I didn’t believe you pushed him down the stairs,” Aric said pompously.

“You ugly liar!” Trey said angrily, “You are the one who told me that’s what happened!”

“Did not!” Aric insisted.

“Did so!” Trey yelled back.

Kurt would have told them to shut up but he saw a small smile creeping up onto Blaine’s face as they argued and decided against it. 

Because he could handle the bickering if it made Blaine smile.

Not including breakfast, Blaine’s second school day with a roommate went much like the first. Kurt finished the math extra credit problem in class, was late to the majority of his classes, swore all the time, and was rude to the teachers. Blaine knew that if he kept it up he would land himself in detention, but Kurt didn’t seem to care.

Blaine spent an hour after school in the library talking the Greyston twins through their English paper. After tutoring he went Glee, then back to the library to finish his homework. He went back to the dorm around 8:30 and saw that Kurt wasn’t there. Again.

Blaine muttered in annoyance after he finished his shower and saw that Kurt still wasn’t there. Was he going to have to cover for him again tonight? He hoped not. He hadn’t enjoyed lying to their dorm monitor Josh the first time.

Blaine grabbed A Tale of Two Cities and buried himself into it, praying Kurt would show up before ten.

Then at about 9:15 the dorm telephone rang. 

Ring! Ring! Ring!

After the initial shock from the loud noise Blaine quickly got up and answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi Blaine.” He heard Mr. Hummel say across the line. “Is Kurt there?”

“No, sorry. I don’t know where he is.” Blaine said.

“Déjà vu, huh?” Mr. Hummel asked, sounding amused. 

“Uh-huh.” Blaine said frowning; he didn’t think it was funny.

“Listen Blaine,” Mr. Hummel said sounding unsure, “I know this is random but I need your advice about something.”

“Okay…” Blaine said, feeling slightly nervous.

“Do you know Finn Hudson?” Kurt’s father asked.

“Yes, he is in Glee club with me. Why?”

“I am dating his mother.” Mr. Hummel said in a rush, “But Kurt doesn’t know Finn is at McKinley yet and I am just hoping he doesn’t recognize him before I get the chance to tell him.”

Blaine raised his eyebrows. Kurt’s dad was dating Finn’s mom? Why was he telling him this? “What exactly do you need my advice about Mr. Hummel?” Blaine asked, confused.

“Do you think they will get along? From what Finn tells me Kurt isn’t exactly… approachable right now.”

Blaine took a deep breath. How would he know? 

“Umm… Well… Kurt seems to be getting along with Puck fine…  Plus Finn and Puck are good friends so… Maybe?” Blaine said.                                                                                                       

“Maybe?” Mr. Hummel asked, sounding a bit crestfallen. 

“I don’t know, sir. I think it really depends on Kurt…” Blaine said. Then realizing what he just indicated added, “Not that Kurt is bad or the problem or anything. No! It’s just-“

“Don’t worry Blaine,” Mr. Hummel assured him, “I get it.”

Blaine sighed in relief and he heard Kurt’s dad laugh at him across the line. He smiled, Blaine really liked this man.

“Mr. Hummel. Can I ask you something?” Blaine said tentatively.

“Sure. Shoot.” Kurt’s dad said.

“Okay… Umm… This probably isn’t any of my business but…” Blaine paused to gather his resolve and glanced at the door to make sure Kurt wasn’t coming in the room, “Why was Kurt in juvie?”

“Ahh.” Mr. Hummel said, his voice becoming darker, “He won’t tell you?”

“No.” Blaine said, hoping he hadn’t crossed a line, “He won’t tell anyone.”

Mr. Hummel sighed sadly and said, “Kurt has been through a lot Blaine and I think it’s going to be a while before he opens himself up again… I don’t want to tell you anything he doesn’t want you to know.”

“You’re right, sorry sir.” Blaine said hurriedly. Why had he been dumb enough to ask in the first place?

“No, its fine. I just don’t want Kurt mad at me now that I finally have him back… Sort of.” He added. “And enough of this sir nonsense. Call me Burt okay?”

“Okay. Sorry Mr. – Burt.” Blaine said.

“Mr. Burt? I don’t think I like that anymore than sir.” Kurt’s dad teased, his voice becoming amused again.

Blaine groaned and Burt laughed at him again. “Oh and Blaine?” Burt asked.

“Ya?”

“If you want to get anywhere with Kurt you have to start small.”

“What do you mean?” Blaine asked.

“Work in layers. Start small, like with his favorite color or something.” Burt advised.

“His favorite color?” Blaine asked, amused in spite himself.

“Okay maybe that was a bad example…” Burt said, laughing.

“So…” Blaine began, trying to resist the impulse to reference Shrek, “Do you want me tell Kurt to call you back?”

“That’d be great, Blaine. Thanks.” 

“No problem. Bye Mr. Hummel.”

“Blaine, I told you-“

“Burt! Burt. I meant Burt. Sorry.” Blaine rambled, “Bye Burt.”

Kurt’s father laughed again before saying, “Bye Blaine, thanks for everything,” and hung up.

“Anytime.” Blaine mumbled as he set the phone down on the reciever. It was funny. He just had more of an intimate conversation with his roommate’s father over a phone call than he’d had with his own parents the whole summer. 

Bam! Blaine jumped and spun around as the door slammed open and Kurt rushed inside, shutting it quickly behind him.

Somebody rattled the door handle, but Kurt quickly locked it. Then whoever was on the other side pounded against the wood and yelled, “What? Running away to Anderson are we?”

“I’m cocky!” Kurt yelled back, clenching his fists. “Not stupid! I’m not going to fight you and five of your friends, Karofsky. And maybe if you lost a few pounds you’d actually be able to catch me!”

Karofsky slammed against the door, but Kurt leaned against it to hold it in place. “This isn’t over Hummel!” 

“Oh really?” Kurt said, his voice heavy with sarcasm, “I thought that it was!”

“Well it’s not!” Karofsky yelled unnecessarily. Then, well a final pound on the door, Blaine could hear him trudging away. Kurt sighed in relief and brought up a hand to his face, coming away with blood.

“What happened?” Blaine asked, rushing forward to see a small but deep cut on Kurt’s chin. Though it was nothing compared to the large bruise Kurt had gotten from his fight with Karofsky yesterday. It was now an ugly purplish-black and looked twice as painful.

“I was hanging out on the roof and they found me. ” Kurt explained, still breathing deeply from running.

“You were on the roof! Why?” Blaine asked as he walked away to his dresser.

Blaine opened the top drawer and was rummaging through it as Kurt said, “I was doing homework… Anyway they found me and chased me halfway across the school.”

“But you’re not supposed to be on the roof!” Blaine said disapprovingly as he found what he was looking for, “It’s against the rules.”

“Blaine,” Kurt said, rolling his eyes, “That’s not the p-“ Then he snorted as he saw what Blaine was holding. “Really? You have a first aid kit?”

Blaine shrugged self-consciously as he handed the kit to Kurt, who took it skeptically. 

“It’s not like I have surgical tools in there!” Blaine said, “Just Band-Aids, bandages, icepacks, and antibiotic.” 

Kurt opened up the first aid kit and his smile got even bigger. “Scooby Doo Band-Aids? Really Blaine?”

“I’ve had it for a long time okay?” Blaine said, snatching the kit back away from Kurt. “If you are just going to tease me about it then-“

“Sorry.” Kurt said, still smiling, “I know you’re just trying to help.”

Blaine gave the kit back to Kurt suspiciously eyeing the other boy’s grin. Kurt made sure he had a good grip on it, then said, “Rank Rou, Raine.”

Blaine made a wild grab for the kit again but missed as Kurt laughed and ran into the bathroom. Blaine sighed in frustration but could feel the slight smile creeping up onto his face. 

Blaine walked over to the bathroom doorway to see Kurt was cleaning the blood of his face and asked, “So how did you get the cut?”

“I took a wrong turn on the way back and got a little lost for a while. I’m not sure where I was but it was really dark and I ran into something… I think it was a shelf but I’m not sure.” Kurt explained as he put on the Band-Aid.

Kurt grinned at himself in the mirror for a few seconds before saying, “You’ll forgive me if I don’t wear these Band-Aids during school right?”

“Oh they are not that bad.” Blaine mumbled accepting his first aid kit back and walking away to put it in his drawer.

“Would you wear one to school on your face?” Kurt asked him as he searched through his clothes for pajamas.

Blaine opened his mouth to say that yes, he would. But closed it again when he realized no, he probably wouldn’t. 

When he didn’t respond, Kurt just grinned at him knowingly and disappeared into the bathroom to change. Blaine had to admit Kurt did look slightly comical with the combination of a shiner and a Scooby Doo Band-Aid, but he kept it to himself.

Josh checked in at 10 and shortly after Blaine noticed that Kurt had taken out his math and was rapidly writing. He watched him a few moments then asked, “How do you do math do fast?”

“What do you mean?” Kurt asked without looking up.

“You write so fast when you do math… like it is easy or something.” Blaine said uncertainly, because the math homework in AP Calc was usually pretty hard and Kurt had missed three weeks of lessons.

“I took regular Clac last year while I was in juvie.” Kurt said in monotone, “I tried to get into Calc 2 when I came here but they insisted I take AP instead. So I’ve basically already learned all of this.”

Blaine considered asking Kurt another question but remembered what Burt had said about starting small. That reminded him. “Your dad called again. I told him I would tell you to call him back.”

“Okay. I will call him once I’m done.” Kurt said, still scribbling away in his math notebook.

Five minutes later Blaine finished A Tale of Two Cities and rather than starting another book, he decided to just go to bed. It had been another long day. Blaine switched off his lamp and was pleasantly surprised when Kurt flicked off the overhead light without Blaine having to ask.

Blaine settled into bed and was even more surprised when Kurt said gently, “Goodnight Blaine.”

“Goodnight.” Blaine said automatically. Kurt gave him a small smile before turning back to his math and writing feverishly again. Blaine let out a contented sigh and smiled to himself as he closed his eyes. Progress.