I'm Here For You

Summary: Rory begins to struggle with the pressure of the upcoming competition and some old problems from his past resurface. Will Blaine be able to help Rory sort out his demons and will their friendship develop into something more?

Setting: Slight AU. McKinley is still roughly the same, the events of early Season 3 have still happened. However, Rachel was NOT dissqualified from competition. And, Blaine and Kurt are NOT together (they are just really good friends).

Warnings: Contains mild self-harm. Contains male/male relationships.

Rating: M (becasue I'm not yet sure how this will end).

Disclaimer: I own nothing (except my crazy imagination).

"Okay, everybody gather round." Mr. Shue announced to the crowed room.

The members of New Directions moved from there various placements in the choir room to sit on their chairs in somewhat of a circle in the middle of the room.

Rory had hurried to get the seat next to Finn Hudson. He was Rory's only real friend here in America, other than Brittany of course. She normally ignored him at school though anyway, so Rory had taken to following Finn around like a lost puppy. Rory had only been in America for a month and most people at McKinley didn't even acknowledge his existence unless it was to harass him. He had been harassed a lot, especially by some of the hockey players. Although he was used to being abused, he still hated how he was treated here, but he knew there was nothing that he could do about it. Rory just tried to not show how much he was hurt by the bullying. He had had enough experience to know that if you showed a response it would encourage them to continue. The bullying had lessened a little once Finn took him under his wing. He was so grateful that Finn was his friend. He felt safer walking around with Finn, and that was one of the reasons he joined the Glee Club. The other members of New Directions were usually nice to him, but he still felt like he wasn't part of the group. They were all very talented and close friends. He felt like an outsider, even now his chair was sitting slightly outside of the tight circle they were in.

"We need to start practicing our vocals for the group number." Mr Shuester said as they settled down.

"I couldn't agree more, Mr. Shue. We need to be perfect guys if we want to beat the Trouble Tones and the other team." Rachel Berry announced loudly.

The New Directions were currently undertaking a Sectionals practice lockdown. They had been so busy with school elections and the Santana drama that the Sectionals competition had snuck up on them. They had found themselves one week away from competition and had no set list or choreography down. They were one hundred percent motivated to win Sectionals, so they decided to spend all weekend at school rehearsing. It was now Saturday afternoon and they had spent the morning discussing the setlist and sewing costumes. It had been decided that a Broadway duet between Rachel and Blaine would be there best bet for their opening number. The other song would be a group number, 'Don't Stop Me Know' by Queen, with an extensive dance routine. This had worried the newest, and youngest, member of the club. Rory had never been well coordinated and had discovered very quickly when he joined Glee Club that his dancing skills were pretty bad. He was comforted by the fact that he wasn't the only bad dancer though, Finn was just as bad as him.

"Has everybody learnt their parts yet? I know I only gave them to you a couple of hours ago, I hope you have all had a chance to look over them. I want to have these vocals under control before we start the dance rehearsal so we know how it will flow. Okay. Is everybody ready?" Mr. Shue gave a thumbs up to the band who understood the signal and started to play.

Rory's solo was in the second half of the second verse. One by one the Glee members performed their solo's with perfection while the remainder sung backup. Rory was nervous when his turn arose. They others had been perfect and he didn't want to let the team down. He took a deep breath and began.

Ohhh, burning through the sky yeah.

Two hundred degrees, that's why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit.

I'm travelling at the speed of light.

Rory groaned inwardly. He had hit that last note wrong. It sounded flat. He noticed the others look at him, obviously noticing his mistake.

I want to make a supersonic woman of you.

He ended and looked down to avoid eye contact with the others. They finished the song and were met by applause from Mr. Shue.

"That was amazing guys. I am so impressed, that was great for a first run. Normally you guys take a few practices to get that good."

"Are you kidding, we were almost perfect! Except for Rory's flat, but the rest of were great!" Rachel said in what must have been her attempt at encouraging the team.

It was encouraging for everybody else, but Rory felt hurt by her words. He could feel most of his teammate's eyes on him, silently judging. He looked up, and sure enough over half the groups eyes were focused on him, though they quickly looked away to make it look like they weren't starting at him. He put on his happy face which he had perfect by now to hide how hurt he was by her words.

"Okay. Everybody take a quick break. Meet back here in five minutes and we will do another run through." Said Mr. Shue

Rory quickly got up and mumbled that he needed the bathroom before making a swift escape. He waited until he had reached the bathroom down the hallway before he let his mask fall. His happy smile disappeared and was replaced with a sorrowful frown. He made his way over to the sinks and looked up into the mirror. He stared at his reflection.

God! Why do you have to mess up everything! You're the weakest link in the group. They would be better off without you. You can't even sing four lines of song right!

A single tear escaped his eye and he looked at how pitiful his reflection was. His thoughts were interrupted though as he heard the door opening. Quickly he wiped the tear of his check with the back of his hand and put his smile back on. He turned on the tap, pretending to be washing his hands.

Blaine walked in and stopped when he saw Rory. Rory smiled up at him, hoping that Blaine would buy the mask he had put on to cover his sadness.

"Hey Rory, didn't know you were in here. I thought you were still in the choir room." Blaine said.

He seemed to be examining Rory's face and Rory wondered whether his eyes looked like he had been crying. They shouldn't be puffy because he had been bawling or anything. But he thought that they might still be unnaturally red. He hoped they weren't because he didn't feel like making up an excuse to give Blaine.

"Oh, yeah. I had to...go." He looked away and moved over to the paper towels to dry his hands, turning his back to Blaine.

"Of course. Are you okay? You look a little upset."

Damn it! Blaine had seen through his mask.

"No, I'm okay. Nothing wrong, not upset." Rory replied defensively.

"I wouldn't worry about that note. I sing flats all the time. I'm sure you hit it right next time."

Rory had finished drying his hands and had turned around to face him.

"Yeah, I know." he replied simply and went to make quick escape.

Blaine stopped him by reaching out and grabbing his shoulder just has he was about to leave.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked with what Rory took as suspicion.

"Yeah. I really am. Thanks." Rory lied with a smile, hoping Blaine would believe it, and returned to the choir room.

They practiced the song two more times. Much to Rory's delight he didn't make any more mistakes and was feeling a little better about himself by the time their dinner arrived.

"Okay everybody, dig into you pizza.' Mr. Shuester ordered, 'Dance rehearsal starts in an hour and you're going to need all the energy you can get!"