FicWad

I adjust the tie just one more time. Not that I don't love these uniforms, but I can feel Blaine's eyes on me, and it has me thinking something must be wrong.

"You fuss a lot." Blaine states, humor in his tone.

"It's not my fault. You're looking at me all funny."

"I'm wondering why you're so fussy."

"I'm fussy because of you." I explain, turning around to actually face him rather than talk to his reflection in the mirror.

"You're nervous."

"Blaine." I sigh, not wanting to admit it.

"Brendon." He mimics me.

"Blaine." I'm a little sharper this time, raising one eyebrow and pursing my lips.

"Brreennddoonn." Blaine drags out my name for effect, taking a few steps and closing the gap between us. He pulls on the lapels of my blazer, and shakes his head, "You look fine, and there's nothing to be nervous about. It's just a little performance."

"I'm going to fuck up." I sigh, finally admitting my worries. It's my first time performing with The Warblers, though Blaine, my cousin/best friend, is practically their leader. But he's more talented then I could ever dream of…

"No you're not. We've practiced. You know what you're doing just as much as I do." He pulls on the lapels one more time, "Is your jacket one size too small?"

"I like my clothes tight, shut up." I huff. Blaine simply shakes his head at me, and pulls me out of the bathroom. It's almost show time, and there's no room for my stage fright.

"I'll meet you there, okay?" He smiles, turning and taking off before I have time to answer. I start to make my way towards the lounge where we're performing. It'll all be fine. I'll be fine.

"Hey there, kid!" I recognize Jon's voice instantly. I twirl around, and see him coming down the hallway. "You ready?" He asks, excitement coloring his tone in the way I know mine should.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I shrug. He pats me lightly on the back.

"Don't fret it, you'll be fine." He reassures me with a smile that's a little infectious. I smile back, taking in a deep breath. With Jon by my side, it shouldn't be too bad. Thank God we're on the same part.

Too soon we're in the lounge, just waiting for Blaine. The whole room is buzzing with boys from the school, all excited to watch the infamous Warblers do their thing… but I'm new at this thing and I'm going to make a total fool of myself. I can feel my cheeks getting warm, as Blaine enters the room.

Woah.

Blaine lightly pats a boy's jacket, that so obviously doesn't match anyone else's, and walks towards the center of the room. The boy looks a little startled, taking in the scene before him. He has light brown, reddish hair, and these eyes that are to piercing, and yet totally adorable at the same time. I'm pretty sure they're green, but I'm not close enough to tell. I'm suddenly self conscious, brushing my bangs out of my face and adjusting my glasses.

Oh fuck, the song is starting. I should probably stop staring. I jump in, feeling the need to make this performance perfect, and put on the classic Warbler stage presence.

Here goes nothing.

He watches us like it's nothing he's ever seen before. We're doing our rendition of Teenage Dream, which is a total blast and has the entire room dancing. Its a rush for all of us, and I can see it in that boys face that he's not used to it.

He must be new here.

I can't help keep my eyes on him throughout the song, the beats and harmonies filling the room and making my head spin. It's exhilarating. We take down the volume drastically, and slowly start building it up, as I near Blaine with a smile on me face. The volume builds and builds until Blaine and I belt out a harmonious note, with matching smiles on our faces. It feels great to be singing with him and Jon. I feel more at home with the Warblers than I have anywhere else.

The boy is smiling now, bouncing with the music, as we start to build the song to a close.

"Be your teenage dream tonight." We sing in finality, and the room erupts with applause. And god that smile is dazzling.

It's not big mystery that I like boys, but I've never been so obvious about it before. Then again, I'm not sure if he's looked at me at all…

Probably not with Blaine standing next to me.

"Not too bad, huh?" Jon punches my shoulder. I rub it in response, but smile back at him.

"No, it was really great." I laugh, glancing over my shoulder to watch the mystery boy in the doorway. Now that the number's over, he looks a little lost and confused. Blaine steps next to me, giving me a one-armed hug, and ruffling my hair a little.

"See? Nothing to be nervous about." He glances down at my pants, and raises an eyebrow at me, "what kind of pants are you wearing?"

I shift my weight from one foot to the other before coming clean, "Their the usual ones… i just had them adjusted that's all."

"Into skinny jeans?" Blaine laughs in disbelief.

"They're not jeans… but yeah." I bite my lip. What was I supposed to say? Regular pants don't fit me right.

"You're beyond saving." He shakes his head.

"Yeah, thanks. Who's you're friend?" I ask, nodding over towards the boy by the door. Blaine turns his head to look at him, and then turns back to me.

"His name's Kurt. He's… new." He says it like he doesn't believe it.

"Oh?" I raise my eyebrows in confusion.

"He looks a little scared." Jon laughs. Blaine nods, laughing as well.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure he doesn't go here at all… if the outfit didn't tip me off, the shock during the performance sure did."

"Then what's he doing here?" I ask.

"Spying," Blaine laughs a little,"trying to see what us Warblers are up to."

"Should we kick him out or something?" Jon suggests. The thought makes my stomach twist. Surely he didn't mean any harm.

"No, no. He's harmless. I figure we'll just sit him down and have a nice chat." Blaine pats Jon's arm before raising an eyebrow, "Join me?"

I nod almost too quickly.

"Kurt!" Blaine calls, grabbing his attention. He waves Kurt over, who hesitantly begins to move toward us. Kurt closes the gap, and doesn't look away from Blaine.

"You didn't mention that you were one of the Warblers." Kurt smiles.

"Didn't I?" Blaine's voice is filled with mock innocence, "Kurt, this is Jon."

Jon nods his head, "Hey."

"Hello." Kurt smiles.

"And this is my cousin, Brendon."

"Hello." I can't help but smile like a big dork as his eyes meet mine, and I'm taken back by the colors that were invisible to me before. His eyes are the strangest mixture of green, blue, and gray. It's shocking and beautiful all at the same time.

"Hello." He smiles a little wider at me, and glances down at my wardrobe, no doubt noticing that my clothes are just a bit different from everyone else's, but then back at my eyes.

"So, did you like the song?" Jon asks, a knowing smile on his face. Kurt's smile falters slightly, but he nods.

"It was amazing."

"Here, come in here," Blaine gestures towards the back room of the lounge, "We can talk about it."

Kurt follows, his smile slowly fading. He glances at me as he walks, and I give him a reassuring nod.


"Was it really that obvious?" Kurt asks. Jon and I glance at each other, with smiles on our faces.

"Well…" Blaine shrugs, "A little bit, but honestly it was a little endearing." Kurt bites his lip in embarrassment and it's so adorable I almost squeal out loud like some kind of fangirl. Oh god.

"Don't worry about it." I say, trying to hide my reaction to his cuteness. He glances at me and shrugs.

"I just had to see what all the fuss was about."

"Understandable." Jon jokes with a cocky grin.

"So, where do you go then?" I ask, ignoring Jon.

"McKinley." Kurt informs us, glancing at Blaine. We all nod. McKinley's Glee Club is a great group, and one of our competitors, so it's nothing to be ashamed of. Why he felt the need to come spy on us is beyond me. "Okay, can I ask a question?"

"Yeah?" Blaine urges him to continue.

Kurt clears his throat, "Are you all gay?"

I cough a laugh, and Jon can't help but shake his head while laughing. Blaine smiles, "Um no. I mean, we are, " he gestures between the me and himself, "But Jon here's got a girlfriend."

"Oh, and you don't… you know." Kurt looks at me and then back at Blaine.

"It's not like that here," Jon answers the question, "We have a zero tolerance policy on bullying. Besides, who would want to bully these guys?"

Kurt looks like someone's struck a heart string. His mouth falls open slightly as his eyes drop to the table. Blaine and I exchange a glance, reading his expression like an open book.

"Jon, could you excuse us for a second?" Blaine asks. Jon nods, and excuses himself from the table. I can't pry my eyes from Kurt, wanting so badly to reach out and comfort him, but I twist my hands in each other under the table. "It looks like you're going through some stuff at school." Blaine offers, gently.

Kurt slowly looks back up at us, "I am one of the two people out of the closet at my school… which I wouldn't mind so much, but this Neanderthal has made it his mission to make my life a living hell."

The hurt in his voice is enough to make my insides squirm. Where does this guy get off? Hurting someone as harmless as Kurt.

"Call him out on it," I advise, "Stand up to him." Blaine looks over at me with a smile, knowing just how much I relate. My cuts from bullying are still fresh. But instead of some dickhead at school, my bully was my own brother while my parents stood aside. It's obvious why I spend most of my time at Blaine's now.

Kurt looks at me like he can see straight through my happy-go-lucky facade, and he probably can. It doesn't take much.

"It's just hard."

"Of course it is… trust me, I know." I bite my lip, not wanting to remember the bruises, and scars my brother gave me… or I gave myself because of him. It's all behind me now.

"I'll tell you what I told Bren, you have to have courage. Stand up for who you are. I went through something similar at my school, and I ended up transferring here. I could tell you to do just that, but I think you should stand up for yourself. I ran from it, and that's one of my biggest regrets." Blaine explains.

Kurts smile is infectious and I almost reach out to hug him then and there. Our eyes meet, and a warmth bubbles in my stomach and I can't control it.



"I feel like we should do something for him." I say, scuffing my shoes on the sidewalk as we walk back to Blaine's house.

"He needs to do it for himself… but we can help him along the way." Blaine pats my back.

"Yeah…" I drop the subject, not wanting to sound obsessed with the kid. Hell, I just met him and I have no clue if he's even interested in a guy like me. I'm not usually anyone's type. Too "emo" or too "punk", especially for the boys at Dalton. But maybe Kurt is different… hopefully.

We reach Blaine's house in a few minutes, dropping our bags onto his bedroom floor. He takes off his blazer, and plops down onto his bed. I take off my blazer, loosen my tie, and slip my shirt off, keeping the tie around my neck against my black v-neck tee. If only I could go to school dressed this way.

"You're being abnormally quiet." Blaine interrupts my thought stream. I didn't realize he was even talking to me.

"Sorry, my mind's all over the place." I admit. Blaine shrugs.

"My guitar's in the corner if you'd like."

God, he knows me so well. I walk over to the acoustic and pick it up, starting to softly strum the chords to a song i've been writing. It isn't much yet, and lord knows I'm not good at writing lyrics, but it's pretty and Blaine seems to like it. The music calms me down, and takes Kurt from my thoughts temporarily.

Maybe one day I'll play this song for him…

Hey, a boy can dream, right?