"I'm just saying, Rachelle and Phineas on Showchoir! are adorable together." she squealed in delight. "Don't deny it."

"They're idiots for giving up their futures for each other… I prefer the Ken and Blake storyline."

"Isn't it hard for you to watch?" the blonde asked, knowing Kurt had experienced emotional and physical abuse from his peers like Ken in Showchoir!

"Sometimes. I'm more excited because Hollywood has finally written an out and proud character for teens to look up to. Not to mention Chad Connor seems pretty amazing." Kurt referred to the actor who played Ken.

"And hot." Lily added dreamily.

"That too." The boy smiled softly, an unusual expression for him.

"Where do you want to sit?"

The friends entered through a set of large doors at the top of the room, where they could see forty or fifty foam chair dispersed around the room with low tables in between them.

At the bottom of the room, there was low stage, with a group of twenty or so boys in identical, monogrammed jackets; clean collared shirts; tailored pants; and polished black shoes sitting on the edge

Kurt thought that they looked stylish and felt the urge to compliment them- something that he had not done since he arrived at Green Meadows.

"You can pick." The boy shrugged, since he no longer had to look around the room to find the safest seat to sit in. Now he only had to look around for people he recognized or place where he would have the best view of the stage, since he no longer had to check for large jocks in bright red letterman jackets, who hurt others to alleviate their own pain.

"How about over there," Lily pointed to a chair to the middle of the room on the side. "You can sit in the chair and I can sit at your feet, so you can play with my hair?"

Kurt agreed, as he remembered how he used to help his glee club mates and cheer squad mates with their hair before shows. He remembered playing with a cheerleader and glee-mate Brittany's hair when they had extra time. Brittany spoke a lot of nonsense, but she had a heart of gold and danced on a level of her own.

Kurt bit his tongue and tried to focus on the conversation that he was having- he didn't want to think about what the people back at school thought of him now or how things ended between them.

Kurt sat down in the chair. The blonde crossed her legs and sat down and leaned against his legs. He lifted up his friend's hair as she handed him a couple of ponytail holders. He set them on his leg and ran his fingers through Lily's hair. As he did, all of his worries went away. It was a benign ritual unlike the cosmetic rituals he used to do every night that were a form of OCD. This was simply relaxing.

"I used to pull it out, you know. You can see that it's messed up at the roots. I'm the only girl I know whose used hair growth formulas." The girl chuckled dryly. "I frequently have bald spots and no eyebrows. It started after my anxiety spiked, not long I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. My mom started yelling. God, there was so much yelling. She gave me hair growth products because she didn't want her debutant ugly."

"You're not ugly." The boy told his friend truthfully, but the words were awkward in his mouth. Few words that weren't cynical sounded natural in his mouth anymore.

"All of the boys thought that I was a slut- and I was- but it was because I didn't know what else to do. They all told me that I was sexy, but I just wanted to be told that I was beautiful." The girl looked around the room, nervous to see the reaction on the boy's face. "Was that too much to ask for?"

The boy released his friend's hair and leaned down to hug her from behind.

Lily snuggled into the nook of Kurt's neck.

"I hope that we're friends when we get out of here." she said whispered.

"We wouldn't be friends in the real world," Kurt replied, his voice bitter but not rude. He spoke the words because they were true- and they both knew it.

"I know. But it would still be nice to know another person who knew me during my breakdown and still likes me."

The friends looked down to soak up the words, when they heard a

"Hello everyone." A man in a white hospital coat said in a microphone at the front of the room. "I'm Doctor Blue. As most of you know, we have guests today. They are the Dalton Academy Warbler's and they are here to sing for us. We have also invited to join us for movie night. So, please put your hands together and join me in welcoming them."

The chestnut haired boy clapped, his blonde friend clapped, and most of the other patients, as well as the doctors and nurses who were looking on.

"Hi, everyone! We're the Warblers and this is Bad Romance ."

"Oh... my... GaGa..." The chestnut haired boy mumbled.

"What?" The blonde haired girl asked.

"A group of boys are shamelessly singing Lady Gaga!"

The girl shrugged.

"I think it's because you just moved here from San Francisco that you don't understand this, but guys singing a song traditionally sung by girls is a big thing in Ohio!" The boy yanked just a little harder than necessary on the stands of his friends' hair in his fist.

" Ouch! "

A curly, raven-haired boy step forward from the group to introduce the next song. "Our next song is When I Fall by the Barenaked Ladies."

"I look straight in the window,
try not to look below
Pretend I'm not up here,
try counting sheep
But the sheep seem to shower
off this office tower
Nine-point-eight straight down
I can't stop my knees.""

The curly- haired Warbler stepped back and an Asian Warbler stepped forward.

"I wish I could fly
From this building,
from this wall
And if I should try,
Would you catch me if I fall?"

The song finished and some of the audience clapped.

"I love that song." The blonde turned around and twisted her hair as her friend released her hair. "Daddy used to play it all the time when I was little. He loved that kind of music."

Kurt nodded. "We used to sing classics in my Glee Club, but never softer stuff like that. Except that one time this jock Puck knocked up the cheer captain and sang her the song Beth. I think that was when we realized that he wasn't a total jerk."

"Glad that you guys liked that song... It's a solemn song, so now were going to lighten up the mood with..." The black curly haired boy paused dramatically and grinned. "Katy Perry's Teenage Dream."

The curly haired boy opened his mouth and began to sing. Kurt couldn't find the words to describe what he was feeling as small smile appeared on face and his muscles ached, since he hadn't smiled in so long.

The curly haired boy looked towards the chestnut haired boy as he sang.

"He's looking at you!" The blonde haired girl exclaimed to her friend in a hushed voice.

"He could be looking at you," The chestnut haired boy replied, liking, but not being used to the concept of another boy looking at him.

"No, I know when a boy is looking at me... And he's def. looking at you." The blonde told her friend.

"He's looking again!"

"Then smile!" The blonde instructed.

"I am!"

Teenage Dream ended and a boy of average height and boyish looks stepped out of the middle row. The chestnut boy supposed he was a freshman.

"Uh, hi... This song is about this boy who wants to tell everyone in his life about his closet romantic relationship with his best friend, but it's not exactly what his best friend wants. It's called Role of a Lifetime ."

The freshman opened his mouth:
"Everything's an act,
When you're pleasing everyone.
And he assumes that role
To such renown.
He plays a perfect part,
Straight from his heart
Knowing the risk he takes
And hoping that the house
Is not brought down..

The role of a lifetime is living a fantasy.
The trauma that you struggle to erase.
Thoughts battle words over deeds
A war with such casualties.
All played out behind a smiling face."

"They are singing Bare: A Pop Opera !" The chestnut haired boy exclaimed to his friend.

"I love the lyrics." His friend agreed.

"No, they're singing Bare !" the chestnut haired boy exclaimed again, but the blank expression that he received in response frustrated him.

It was times like these that the chestnut haired boy wished that Rachel were here. His step- brother's girlfriend was often annoying, obnoxious, and lacked social skills, but she knew musical theatre, and he enjoyed watching musicals and singing with her. He could tolerate her. Maybe, it she didn't think that he was entirely crazy after everything, he would talk to her if he ever left Green Meadows...

" Bare is a story about these students coming of age at a Catholic boarding school. The main character Jason doesn't want anyone to know that he is gay. Meanwhile, his roommate and sometimes lover, does, because his room ate Peter knows who he is. It's both controversial and tragic; not to mention that the music is amazing."

The blonde clapped with the rest of the room for the freshman after he finished the song.

"Well," The black, curly haired boy said, we have one more song for you. Then, well join you for movie night." He said and pointed to a cart full of beverages and snacks being rolled into the backup of the room. "This last song is called Part of Your World ."

The chestnut haired boys mouth dropped and his friend giggled as the song began.

The song ended and the group bowed and the group orderly filed out of their lines.

The chestnut haired boy stood up and offered the blonde haired girl a hand. The girl accepted the hand to stand up but pulled it from the boy's before anything of the Green Meadow's staff could see.

The girl nudged Kurt in the side and pointed to the curly brunette grabbing a water bottle and fist full of Skittles off of the table of snacks and beverages put out for everyone in the room for the movie that the hospital was about to play.

"Go over and talk to him!" the girl ordered.

The chestnut haired boy nervously made his way across the room and stopped at the water bottles, next to where the curly haired boy stood.

Kurt took a deep breath and prepared the words that he would say to ensure that his words wouldn't come out garbled. The chestnut haired boy had a sharp wit, but he didn't want to make a fool out of himself. Besides, didn't even know what the curly, blacked haired boy (with piercing haze eyes that he could see once he was up close) would think of a patient in Green Meadows. "I just wanted to tell you that the song selections were great. I especially liked how the Warbler's sang Role of a Lifetime. Bare is one of my favorite musicals."

God, the chestnut haired boy thought, I sound like Rachel. He's going to hate me.