Episode 1: Never Been Kissed

Blaine was running late again. How was it that whenever there was a Warbler performance on campus he was the last to know about it?

He just finished descending the last staircase that lead to the shortcut to the common room where they were supposed to perform when a delicate, terrified voice from behind him stopped him: "Excuse me?"

Blaine turned around to face a young teenage boy, round his age, who looked absolutely terrified in his designer black trench and red tie. His skin was almost translucent, and his dark brown hair was immaculate to the point of perfection. His face looked as if they've been under severe and rigid moisturizing routines, and by the aura that emanated out of the boy, Blaine did not find that hard to believe.

"I'm new here."

Although he was definitely suspecting that there was something more to the boy than he said, Blaine extended his arm in greeting without hesitation, saying, "I'm Blaine."

The boy smiled when he saw that Blaine was welcoming, and said, "Kurt" Then he looked around with a wondering stare at all the commotion that arose around them – dozens of boys were making their way to where Blaine was headed, and Kurt asked, "What is going on here?"

Blaine looked at Kurt as though he seriously lost his mind. Surely, the new kid has heard of the Warblers? They were practically the best in all of Westerville! But since he was new, Blaine decided to try and act nice, "The Warblers!" he said with pride, "the Dalton Academy's glee club? They give impromptu performances every once in a while."

Kurt's eyes widened and Blaine noticed for the first time that his eyes where these electric blue shade, the kind you expected to see in the sea if you went to Hawaii, or something. They were mesmerizing. "The glee club is cool around here?"

Blaine smiled at him, seeing something beneath those perfect cheekbones and that scared look that predominated Kurt's features beforehand, and said enthusiastically, "The Warblers are like rock stars! Come on, I know a shortcut!"

Then, without even knowing why he did so, Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him along. They ran across the vast and numerous hallways which were ever-so-familiar to Blaine's eyes. But as he watched the new kid, he saw that awe and wonder flooded his eyes, and he smiled privately, recalling his first days at Dalton.

And then they reached the common room. Kurt mumbled something incoherent about sticking out; Blaine smiled at him reassuringly and stepped into the midst of the rest of the Warblers. Kurt gave him a questioning look, Blaine, muffling a snicker, just winked at him and nodded to his friends to begin.

Wes and David, his best friends, being seniors and therefore heads of the Warblers, signaled the rest to start.

There started a low hum, and Blaine saw Kurt's eyes widening with wonder as he recognized the tune, and smiled as he began to sing.

You think I'm pretty

Without any make-up on

You think I'm funny

When I tell the punch-line wrong

I know you get me so I let my walls come down

D-a-own

Blaine had to stop himself from laughing and concentrate on the lyrics as he saw how shocked Kurt was that he was singing an acapella version of a Katy Perry song.

Before you met me

I was a wreck

But things where kind of heavy

You brought me to life

Now ever February

You'll be me Valentine, Valentine

As the words came out of his mouth, Blaine found himself somehow singing directly to Kurt. The new boy whom he had met merely five minutes ago. Blaine found this very unnerving and, beside him, Wed and David looked with confused expressions from their prized lead to where his eyes were staring and saw a terrified young boy whom they didn't know and then looked at each other, still making the appropriate sounds for the song.

You make me feel

Like I'm living a

Teenage dream

The way you turn me on

I can't sleep

Let's run away

And don't ever look back

Don't ever look back

While Blaine was getting into the song as usual, Wes closed up to David and raised his eyebrows. David merely shrugged, having not seen Blaine since their last class together, and due to the fact that Blaine was almost always late for their impromptu performances in the common, he could not have known who the heck the new kid was and what sort of strange new feelings Blaine – the hopeless romantic, yet somehow perfectly masculine, diva of the Warblers – could have already managed to develop towards him.

My heart stops

When you look at me

Just one touch

Now, baby, I believe

This is real

So take a chance

And don't ever look back

Don't ever look back

I might get your heart racing

In my skin tight jeans

Be your teenage dream tonight

As the rest of the Warblers continued to harmonize the instrumental part of the song as they've been practicing for two weeks now, Blaine observed Kurt fully. Kurt's facial expressions were moving so rapidly it was hard to determine what his main feelings were: there was obviously wonder at the sheer adoration that the rest of the boys expressed towards the Warblers, watching them hooting and clapping vigorously as they sung; then there was appreciation of the room which came across his face as adoration for old style; but then his face came back to the wonderment at the fact that there was no laughter at the fact that a glee club composed entirely out of teenage boys were performing a song by a female that was clearly directed at a man. It was then and there that Blaine discovered that something more that was clearly missed upon their first meeting. Holy crap, Blaine thought, he's me.

Naturally, being the lead of the Warblers ever since his freshman year, Blaine had never missed his queue. So now, after observing all this, he merely had to listen for two beats, get in the mood and wail when it was his turn and continue singing. And while he was doing this, he noticed how taken Kurt was by his performance, and smiled slightly. And then it was time to end the song:

I might get your heart racing

In my skin tight jeans

Be your teenage dream tonight

The room erupted in cheer, and Kurt was the one clapping the hardest, looking flushed from excitement at the sight of such a performance.

After freshening from the performance, Wes, David and Blaine spotted Kurt standing near the doorway, looking at everyone but them. They noticed that several other boys looked at him with odd expressions, not fully understanding who he was or what the hell a boy dressed like that is doing amidst all the uniformed school-boys. Wes smiled knowingly at Blaine and gestured to him and David to follow suit.

Wes went up to Kurt, with Blaine and David at his flanks, and tapped him gently on the shoulder. Kurt jumped slightly, looking up, terrified, at Wes; but seeing Blaine behind him, who gave him an encouraging small smile, he gave a small smile at the Asian teenager who extended an arm, and said, "Hey, welcome to Dalton Academy. You don't seem from around here."

"I'm Kurt, I'm new."

Blaine chuckled and said, "Kurt, it's all right if you've just come to look around."

Kurt's eyes bulged in their sockets, causing all three to chuckle, and then he blushed and lowered his head, "Fine." He drew a breath and continued, "My name is Kurt Hummel, I'm from Lima's McKinley High School's glee club, New Directions. I came to spy on you. Can we just get to the beat-down?"

The three of them stared at each other, not quite expecting this amount of hostility and bluntness from such a delicate looking boy.

Blaine stepped forward and rested his hands on Kurt's shoulders, about to comfort him.

What neither of them expected was the warmth that suddenly engulfed both Kurt and Blaine. Kurt felt as though suddenly someone has switched on the heater inside of his body, and all of his worries that seemed to whirl in a blizzard outside just quieted for the brief second when Blaine touched his shoulders. For Blaine, it was as though he had just stepped into a cozy room, where a fire was waiting for him, inviting him in.

Blaine let go of Kurt's shoulders and looked into the terrified boy's eyes.

"We are not going to beat you up. What gave you this awful idea?"

Kurt just shrugged. "That's what the idiots in our glee club would've done. Or, at least, the other glee clubs we've come up against would've done to us."

Wes looked at David, who looked at Blaine, who continued staring at Kurt. Then, recollecting himself, Blaine went on, "Come on, let's sit down and talk it over, ok?"

Blaine and Kurt were now seated at the Dalton's other common room, the one designated for studying, which was at the moment unoccupied, sipping scalding lattes, courtesy of Blaine.

What neither of them knew was that they were being observed by about five other Warblers, situated right outside the window, peeking inconspicuously.

Kurt had just finished telling Blaine that he was being bullied by a really big, annoying, and stupid (Blaine had to laugh at Kurt's addition) football player, and was basically living in a hell back at McKinley.

Blaine listened to all this very attentively, and sighed. His first assessment of Kurt was exactly right – he was him. Kurt was experiencing exactly what he had had to go through back in the days before Dalton. He closed his eyes, trying not to stare in to the terrified eyes that made him want to just go over there and hug Kurt so tightly as to express how much he felt for his fright, and then sighed.

"Well, as far as I can see it. You have two options."

Kurt looked expectantly at Blaine.

"You can either come here – where we have a non-bullying/harassment policy, but that will cost you quite a bit."

Kurt's eyes, which lit at the thought of coming to Dalton, dimmed slightly when the subject of payment.

"Or you can put a stop to this."

Kurt's face was all puzzlement, "How?"

"Confront him. Call him out. Prejudice is just ignorance, Kurt."

Blaine rose from his seat and went up to Kurt, whose eyes began to brim with tears, and knelt beside him. He took his hands, and Kurt looked down at him.

"If you need anything, anything, call me, ok? Or text me."

Kurt nodded and Blaine just gave his hand a tight squeeze.

From the other side of the window, out in the Ohio cold, there were five chuckling Warblers: Wes, David, Reed, Nick and Jeff were rolling on the grass outside the Main building of Dalton campus.

"I knew it!" breathed Wed, "I just knew it."

David was the first to stop laughing. "Wait, this puts a problem in our way, though."

The other looked at him, not understanding.

"With Blaine's head wrapped around Kurt, how the hell is he supposed to focus on Sectionals and beat Kurt's school? Maybe Kurt really is a spy?"

Blaine couldn't concentrate the following day at school. All he could think about was how Kurt was going to confront that bully of his, and his mind kept straying back to Lima, even though he's never been there in his entire life.

He tried telling himself that he was this worried just because he's already been there. But as the day progressed, he found himself not only staring at his Blackberry but also doodling on his notebook, and all the doodles that he's done so far have been of a pair of eyes under absolutely matriculate groomed eyebrows.

In the middle of History class, he just gave up on listening to the teacher and stared at the fifth pair he drew that day, and came to the realization – I need to talk to Kurt.

Just then his Blackberry vibrated and a text message from Kurt appeared on the screen: - Help! Come to McKinley ASAP – Kurt.

It hasn't been an hour since Kurt has sent Blaine the urgent message that Blaine showed up at the gates of William McKinley High School. Of course, he came in his Dalton Academy uniform; he just came out of class. So when he walked up the steps of what looked like the Main building, students who were either rushing to or from class kept eyeing him suspiciously, wondering what in the world would a prep student be doing in a public school.

And then he found him, seated in on the lid of a toilet seat in the boys' bathroom, the door open, hugging his knees to himself and crying.

When Kurt saw Blaine, he got up and hugged him, unable to speak.

Blaine calmed him down and sat him back on the lid.

"What happened? Did he hurt you?" he would kill that bully, whatever-his-name-is.

"No."

"Then why was your text so urgent? Why are you crying?"

Kurt was breathing very quickly and looked up at Blaine with ashamed eyes. "He kissed me."

Blaine looked confused.

Kurt breathed deeply and said, "He kissed me after he shoved me and I yelled at him to stop picking on me."

Blaine nodded and motioned to Kurt to get up, "Come on, let's find him. What did you say his name was?"

"Korofsky, and I didn't say it before."

Blaine chuckled, embarrassed, "Right."

Blaine and Kurt walked up the steps to the Junior building. Blaine still wondering why on earth have a Main building if you divided them into grades anyway, when Kurt nudged him and held on to his arm. Blaine looked up and saw a massive teenager, who looked more like an adult, coming down the stairs towards them, wearing a WMHS jock jacket.

"That's him," Kurt whispered, frightened.

Blaine breathed and stood in front of the boy.

The boy looked from him to Kurt and then jeered at Kurt, "This is your boyfriend, Kurt?"

Kurt paled, Blaine blushed slightly, remembering his recent pining, but quickly recovered and said, confidently, "Hey, I'm Blaine. Korofsky, right?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering whether we could talk."

Korofsky took one good look at Kurt's frightened face and at Blaine's determined one and before walking away, said, "I gotta go to class."

Blaine wasn't going to let him off that easy. "Kurt told me what you did."

At this Korofsky turned, paling, but he said, as nonchalant as possible, "Yeah? What's that?"

Kurt looked at Blaine, who nodded, and said, "You kissed me."

Korofsky hushed him and began stalking off.

Blaine walked after him, saying, "Hey, it's ok! We know it might be a little confusing, but we can help! You're not alone."

I really hope it won't come to singing, Blaine thought bitterly, this guy could take me easily.

Just as that thought crossed Blaine's mind, Korofsky launched at him. Hissing malevolently, "Shut up! You have no idea what you're talking about! If I ever hear anybody talking about me at this place you're dead meat! You hear me, poser?"

But then, Kurt made an unexpected move. He shoved Korofsky off of Blaine, yelling, "Stop it!"

Korofsky, either shaken with what he had just done or by Kurt's reaction, let go of the situation and just walked away.

To alleviate the mood, Blaine tried sarcasm, "Well, he's not going to come out anytime soon." But to his amazement, after that act of bravery, Kurt simply crippled and sagged onto the metal stairs.

Blaine sat next to him, looking into Kurt's face. He was amazed to find tears in his eyes again, and cursed himself for coming and bringing up the situation again, but then remembered that Kurt had asked him to come. So, gently, he asked, "What happened? Why are you so upset?"

Kurt sighed and smiled bitterly, "Until today I haven't been kissed."

Blaine stared at him.

"At least, when it counted."

Blaine nodded, and tugged Kurt with him. When Kurt gave him a questioning look, he said, "I'll buy you lunch."

At Breadsticks, the ultimate hangout in Lima, Ohio, Kurt and Blaine sat across each other, eating lunch, courtesy of Blaine.

Blaine had a hard time not staring at Kurt's tear-stricken face as he slowly chewed his spaghetti and meatballs. So he made Kurt ramble about his glee club, New Direction, while he was pondering over Kurt's hair, wondering what the hell was he doing to keep it in such a perfect condition; then he went over to stare at his eyebrows, marveling at how persistent Kurt seemed to be at grooming himself; then he turned to his eyes. Those eyes that struck him since they had first met on the staircase at Dalton.

"… and then there's Mercedes."

Here, Blaine noticed that Kurt had shown some affection towards the girl named Mercedes. Till now, he just gave out arbitrary facts about the various members, excluding his semi-stepbrother, Finn, and the Coach, Will Schuster. But when he came to Mercedes, his face warmed up in a kind smile. "And who is Mercedes?"

Kurt looked up at Blaine, seeing his encouraging smile, Kurt just sighed fondly and said, "She's just about the cutest thing alive. A diva, like me."

Blaine chuckled quietly.

"She's black, of course, so she's practically the next Aretha Franklin."

"That talented?"

"You have no idea. But since Rachel is the next Barbara, nobody would let her sing as much solos as she would like. Which makes rehearsals that much more interesting."

"That's quite a group you've got there."

Kurt just smiled sadly.

Blaine did not miss the sadness, "But…?"

"But there's always the issue of me being the only out gay at school, which naturally puts me on a different level from the others – both girls and guys. I can't sing with the guys, 'cause either they're not as accepting as Finn, who has no choice because of his mom, or Mr. Schu just thinks that our voices would clash. And I can't sing with the girls since they always think I'd steal their thunder."

"Which you will?"

"Without a doubt." Kurt smiled triumphantly, but that smile didn't last for long. "But that's not what's getting me down."

"It's that Jock, right?'

Kurt nodded.

Blaine extended his arm and touched Kurt's hand that rested on the surface of the polished table between them. Ignoring the fact that the hand was probably the softest thing that he had ever touched, Blaine looked into Kurt's eyes and smiled encouragingly. Kurt smiled a little, and then his face became confused.

"Why are you helping me like this, Blaine? I mean, sure, I'm grateful and all. But don't you have classes or something? Homework? Warblers practice?"

Blaine looked at him, honestly wondering how much the boy really cared about all that he missed just to help him out, and smiled. "Well, you really remind me of myself before I came to Dalton. See, a bully used to make my life a living hell, and instead of confronting him, like I told you, I ran."

Kurt raised one perfect eyebrow in wonder, and Blaine had to resist the urge not to sigh at his perfection, and continued, "Yeah, I know. Hypocrite little me. But seriously, Kurt, if you need anything, let me know."

His hand still hadn't left Kurt's.

Back at Dalton, the Warblers were held in an emergency meeting. Wes and David had called everyone into the common room, and now that they were all assembled, Wed began.

"Ok, Warblers, we all know that Sectionals are in a month from now, but I think we may have small problem. A spy."

All the Warblers' ears were now pricked.

"We all know that in order for us to win Sectionals we have to be phenomenal. Now, our competition this year are The Hipsters."

Reed groaned, "Again? Those old people never give up, do they?"

There was a murmur of agreement that was silenced by a look from David.

"And the McKinley High New Directions."

Jeff's brow furrowed. "Hang on, isn't that the school where that new kid said he was from? They guy Blaine is totally crushing on?"

There were a few chuckled, but when Wes nodded, they all stared.

"Exactly. Blaine is right now in Lima due to an urgent text from Kurt, the kid we caught spying on us. Now, we're not sure if he was a real spy or not, but until we figure it out we can't take any risks."

Just then, Blaine walked into the room.

"What's this? How come I didn't know there was an emergency meeting?"

Wes sighed, "Because the meeting's about you. I think I speak for all of us when I say, Blaine, we don't want you seeing Kurt anymore. Until Sectionals is over and we've beaten both the Hipsters and New Directions, we can't afford the risk of him being a spy in their favor, no matter how adorable or cute he is."

Blaine just stared. "Are you even listening to yourself?" he burst. "Kurt texted me today because he was bullied by this idiot who seriously scared the living crap out of him! I wouldn't have gone to Lima had it not been a real emergency!"

Meanwhile, in Lima, Ohio's William McKinley High School, Kurt Hummel was trying to recollect his thoughts from his lunch with Blaine at Breadsticks. He was sitting in the Choir room, the one place he knew for sure that David Karofsky would never visit – either out of fear of being caught there by his fellow Neanderthals or that he didn't even know this room existed. Kurt wished it was the latter.

He's been taken with Blaine ever since he saw him perform "Teenage Dream" during his Dalton espionage-gone-faulty, as he liked to call it, though Puck and Sam would probably not even understand what the hell he meant. Just then, Finn walked into the room, wheeling Artie in front of him, followed closely by Puck, Sam and Mike. And then realization hit Kurt like a bucket of ice – he was crushing over Baline the same way he had over Finn and Sam not too long ago. Granted, Blaine was gay – progress! – but that didn't mean he was necessarily into him as much as Kurt was. Besides, he knew the guy for barely three days, he should let it go.

He then noticed that the entire glee club was already assembled, and Mercedes has taken her usual place beside him, smiling kindly. It was the day before the girls' male-group performance, and Mercedes would not say a word about what songs they were going to do. Typical.

At Dalton, Wes and David were looking at each other meaningfully while Blaine was talking. He was retelling them everything he had gone through while assisting Kurt with his Karofsky situation, and then the lunch at Breadsticks. When he had come to the details, Wes put up a hand.

"Dude, I understand the appeal. Well, not really…"

David snorted.

"But anyway, stop it! He's going to cost us Sectionals with the amount of whatever-it-is he has over you! Snap out of it!"

Blaine buried his face in his hands, "I can't! I think I've fallen in love."

David and Wes looked at each other again, and together they sighed.

After a few minutes of ramblings by Mr. Schu, Kurt's ears pricked when he heard the following lines, "Coach Beiste has quit."

There was an uproar from the footballers of the club, and Kurt raised his eyebrow at Mercedes who gave him a what-the-hell look. Then when they discovered what had really happened – the boys, and Tina, pictured Beiste while cooling off – Kurt had to stifle a giggle and Mercedes excused herself to the bathroom.

When practice was over, Finn huddled up the guys, including Kurt, and asked, "Ok, who's the idiot who told Schuster?"

Sam and Mike raised their hands. Puck made to jump at them, but at Artie's warning glare, he stayed put. Kurt was confused.

"Puck?"

Artie just shook his head.

Finn breathed deeply and said, "Ok, listen. We need to find a way to get Besite back, she was the one good thing that ever happened to the Titans."

Kurt raised his hand, "As much as I find this surprising, I agree with Finn. We need something drastic to get Beiste back, have you seen how little slushee facials we've had since you guys actually started getting good?"

There was a murmur of agreement.

"So, as much as I want to do Diana Ross," Kurt here ignored Artie's groans and the rest of the boys' confused looks at they still didn't know who Diana Ross was, "I think we should do something that expresses how you feel about Beiste. Finn, go."

"She's bad-ass."

"Puck?"

"Totally adorable."

They all gave him strange looks.

"Sam?"

"Pretty ok."

"Artie?"

"She rocks."

"Mike?"

"Mmm… she's better than Coach Tenaka, that's for sure."

Kurt sighed, not as helpful, but he had a pretty good idea of what the girls would choose – considering that it was going to be Rachel's choice – and therefore had devised the perfect mash-up that would also help the guys, gain them a win over the girls and would help him in further assessment of Blaine. "Ok, before we go into songs, would anyone object to me bringing a friend to watch?"

They all stared.

Finn approached him, gently, "Kurt, do you have a boyfriend?"

Kurt blushed and punched his arm. "No! And he's just a friend. Do you guys mind?"

Smirking to each other, the boys had given their consent to allow Blaine coming to their performance.

"Now, I think we should perform a mash-up by Stop In the Name of Love and Free Your Mind. Any objections?"

Artie looked pumped, the rest looked confused, and this was good enough for Kurt.

Blaine's phone vibrated in his pocket.

The guys & I R doing something awesome. 2morrow, 4 o'clock. You in? – K

Sure! Where? – B

Auditorium, just ask main office. DON'T MAKE EYE CONTACT! – K

Blaine chuckled sadly and closed his phone, trying to bring his mind back to algorithms.

Kurt peeped from backstage at the expectant girls, Mr. Schu and Coach Beiste in the audience seat, but saw no sign of Blaine. He sighed and turned back to the rest of the boys. Smiled, and said, "ok, boys, let's go.

The curtains opened and the music began to beat, just as a uniform-clad teenage boy slipped into the row just above the teachers, unnoticed by them or the shocked teenage girls up front.

Here we go!

Stop! In the name of love!

Before you break my heart!

Just as Artie and Puck had begun their solos, Kurt saw him.

Sitting there, legs crossed, staring at him intently was Blaine, the Warbler. Kurt blushed deep scarlet, causing both Mike and Finn to give him a weird stare, they tried to understand what was going on, but since Mike wasn't a good singer as he was a dancer and Finn wasn't a good dancer as he was a singer, they both had to concentrate.

Before you can read me

You've gotta learn how to see me

I said

Stop! In the name of love

Before you break my heart

Stop! In the name of love

Before you break my heart

Think it over

Free your mind and the rest will follow

Be color blind, don't be so shallow

Then it was Sam's turn to solo, and the boys began descending upon their audience. Kurt, determined not to let Blaine see how affected he was that he actually showed up, even though he was fashionably late, began grinding playfully against Mercedes' knees, causing her to roll over, laughing.

Blaine, seeing this, thought about what Kurt has said about Mercedes earlier that week in Breadsticks and smiled fondly. The underdogs who got trodden came together. But then he noticed something more. Even though Kurt was a boy, and he was singing with the rest of the New Directions' male ensemble, he wasn't truly a part of them. They didn't reject him obviously, the one Blaine identified from Kurt's descriptions as Finn, the massive footballer, kept throwing him odd looks at his exuberant behavior but said nothing; the rest simply didn't acknowledge his presence there and merely focused their entire performance on impressing the husky female Coach, their director and their girlfriends.

At this, Blaine's smile tightened, and at that moment he vowed to do whatever possible to make Kurt feel welcome wherever he went.

Kurt noticed Blaine throughout the entire performance, even though he attempted at focusing on Mercedes, and noticed that even though Blaine smiled the moment they descended the stage, his smile became cold as the song came to a close and they circled Coach Beiste.

Kurt cursed himself and hoped that he would be able to try something else to make Blaine his friend.