Out

Chapter: An Introduction

Date: July 30, 2014

Disclaimer: I do not own this fandom nor make any profit from the writing of this fiction.

Warnings: Contains slash (no flames), angst, violence and some slight, non-graphic non-con.

All his life, Kurt Hummel had known that he was different. As a child, he had wanted to dance like a ballerina, host tea parties, wear tiaras and if the mood suited him, he liked to dress up in his mother's clothes and pretend he was just like any other girl in the world. He did not want to learn to play football, baseball, basketball or wrestle, play in the dirt and destroy things like other little boys did. As a child, he had known that because of his differences to other males his age that his father had had trouble connecting to him, but he also knew that his father had tried his best to see past that and love him like he was any other boy. The real trouble Kurt had with being different had not come until it came time for all little boys and girls to go to school and begin shaping their futures. In the town of Lima, the hierarchy into which one fit began to build itself in this first year of elementary schooling and Kurt's uniqueness had set him apart from his peers in an unusual and unwanted fashion.

It had not been too bad because they were too young to truly understand such prejudices then; but about the same age as when Kurt's mother had passed due to terminal cancer, the children in Kurt's age group had begun to get a clue and began to express their thoughts quite vocally. It was just name calling at first and nothing too degrading, like Princess, Fairy, Fancy, and Girly-boy. Even though it had been rather tame, the intent behind it had still hurt and sent the effeminate boy home to his father in tears. At least until he realized just how much more of a burden it was putting on his father's already hard-working shoulders. It was at this young age that Kurt began to understand just how different he was to other kids and what that would mean for him in terms of Lima, Ohio culture.

Within those first few moments of meeting him on the first day of school, Kurt had been considered an outcast amongst his peers. It was depressing and painful and lonely, but Kurt had weathered through it because no matter what, his father was there supporting him as much as he was able even if he did not always understand. Burt Hummel had worn feather boas, learned to sip delicately from his tea cup, remembered to always put his pinky finger out before setting down a glass and wore cheap, plastic tiaras just to see a smile on his son's lonely face. That same smile that reminded him of his dearly departed wife. He would admit, but never where his son could hear, that Kurt's differences sometimes made him angry and wish he had a 'normal' son. However, all he had to do was look at that boy, his boy and know that no matter how 'abnormal' the child was, he could never love him less or hold him responsible for being exactly who he was. Overall, it was the world outside their home that had the most issues with accepting Kurt's differences.

It was no different when Kurt made it to high school at William McKinley High School (WMHS). The names became more derogatory but repetitive and the bullies remained the same but bigger. The most notable change had been that his tormenters had also become his attackers. At first, Kurt had figured that such assaults were unacceptable, after all the law even said so, but when he informed the teacher, the principle and even the resource officer, no one had cared. Thus, Kurt returned to his usual method of dealing with his bullies, he ignored them while holding his head high. In his first year at WHMS, he found that the teachers were apathetic which had translated to the students as well and that most of the officers that staffed the local police stations held positions in the school hierarchy that meant they bullied the lesser students as well. Kurt was on his own at school even though he had made some casual acquaintances that would only acknowledge him if none of the 'elite' were about to see them associating with the 'fairy.' After all, the current mentality of the WMHS students was 'As long as it's him and not me.' He hoped going into sophomore year would be better since there would be a new batch of students to confuse the Neanderthals that believed themselves to be superior to Kurt just because their sense of fashion reflected the fact that they would never leave the miserable town of Lima; stuck just like their parents, never becoming anything better than where they came from.

It looked as though his second year of high school was going to go about the same as the year previous, except something notable had changed and thus, Kurt's first crush was born. He had never thought that he would have looked at any of the males in Lima with anything other than derision and disgust (except his father of course). However, one Finnegan Hudson had seemingly changed over the summer into something more than a Neanderthal as he actually let Kurt put away his bag and Marc Jacobs jacket before giving him the flavor of the day. It became stronger later when he was outed to the school and the jocks began tossing him in the dumpster on a daily basis. The tall teen would actually hold his things until Kurt managed to get himself out of the dumpster and returned them to him before running off for class. Kurt was by no means a fool though, because that could get him more than just pee balloons and his lawn furniture nailed to the roof of his house.

Even though Kurt had his first crush, the most he did was make moon eyes at the jock in question. He did not talk to Finn unless it was in relation to their History assignments, the only class they shared, he did not make any active attempts to see him throughout the day, he did not attempt to approach the jock outside of school and no matter what the circumstances he never touched jock in any way. He did not have a death sentence and he understood that Hudson was as straight as they came. He accepted this and just used the experience as yet another motivator for making it out of Lima for the more accepting streets of New York City, New York. Just like he accepted the fact that he was at the very bottom of McKinley's social hierarchy.

Cheerios Footballers Hockey Players Basketballers Baseballers Skanks Swimmers Delinquents Teacher's Pets Disabled kids (physically or mentally) Geek Squad Nerds Emo Wannabes Jewfro (kid is a category unto himself in all aspects) Performing Arts kids Glee Kurt.

One day, Kurt Hummel promised himself, he was going to leave Lima, Ohio behind as nothing more than a bad dream.

Finnegan Hudson, he prefers Finn, was a late comer to Lima and to Ohio in general. His father had died not long after he was born in the Gulf War and his mother had needed a better place to raise her son than the city streets of Chicago, Michigan. She managed to get a transfer, but the only out-of-city position was also out-of-state, but her job was paying for the move and she took it. So while Finn only knows the life of Lima, he was not a native and in elementary school the kids had teased him about that fact. Later on in middle school, that had not mattered and was actually kind of cool. Then Finn hit puberty about a year or two ahead of the rest of his peers and had grown to tower over his classmates. For the first time in his short life, the pre-teen was picked on by the other students and it was for the fact that he was different from the rest of them. However, once again as he transferred from one level to the next in terms of schools, things tipped back favorably in his direction.

In high school, the basketball coach spotted him first and had personally asked for Finn to consider joining the camp that summer and try out for the team the following fall. Overnight, Finn Hudson had become one of the coolest kids in school and he had liked the perks that came with it. He was a catch that every girl in his year wanted and though he dated many of them for short periods of time, he was never able to be confident enough to get passed feeling up her chest unlike his best friend, Noah 'Call me Puck' Puckerman, whom had been boning chicks since middle school and he discovered that taking a piss was not all his penis was good for. Since he was not doing all that great with the ladies and he wanted to make his mom worry less about him, he had tried to focus on his grades so that he could have a solid future ahead of him. Unfortunately, the tall teen's ability in the realm of academics was painfully lacking.

Since academics was not going to be his ticket, Hudson threw himself into training with his best bud in order to prepare them for football camp starting three weeks after the beginning of summer break. After football camp, Finn went on to basketball camp in order to prepare him for after football season and found that he was fairly decent at both sports. He dreamed that with a bit of experience and practice he could go pro and then his mother would definitely not have to worry so much about his future. Finn also noted the social classes that were the foundation of McKinley High and resolved to do everything he could to remain at the top of the ladder. His single experience of being fodder for others had been more than enough to deter him from wanting to do anything that would put him back near the bottom. Thus, he went with the culture of WMHS without argument and with active participation in the subjugation of the bottom rungs. His only rule was that he could not harass girls because of his respect for his painfully single mother.

It also became more important that he did not harass girls when he hooked up with the perfect girl at the beginning of his sophomore year: Quinn Fabray. She was strictly Christian and she was not in any hurry to seek out Finn's sexual prowess or lack thereof. She was the perfect girl to lose his virginity to; however, she would not let them get any farther than a bit of making out and while Finn had wanted to at least be able to feel her boobs while they did so, she gave that privilege only rarely and strictly when he had 'earned' it. His getting together with the Head Cheerleader of the Cheerios also gave him enough leeway that when she said that bullying others was wrong, he did not have to actively participate in any of it. It did have a downside though, as the teasing came back with the guys calling him pussy-whipped. He preferred the teasing to being on the other side of their bullying and he was always able to shut them up, with the exception of Puck, with the fact that none of them had girlfriends. The part of that downside was that one Kurt Hummel developed a crush on him and though he was naïve about many things and slow in almost all others, Finn had seen enough girls make that face at him to recognize it when Hummel had it on his. Each time he saw it, it made his skin crawl with revulsion and he really wished he the guy would get a clue and let go. Finn was not gay, did not want to be and could not understand why someone would want to be. It was gross. That was what he had learned growing up in Lima, but he had never learned such close mindedness from his mother.

Given the circumstances of their situation, Caroline 'Carol' Hudson had done the best she could by her son. As a woman, it was hard to teach a boy how to be a man, but she had done what she could. She had inspired him with tales of his father and his bravery when he was young and as he got older, she tried dating again. She did not do it just to give him a male figure to look up to, but because she was ready to move on as well. She was lonely and she wanted to be loved and fulfilled in a way that her son's love could not do. Then after the last man cheated on her with a woman half her age and she lost her job, she stopped dating. At first it was because she was too busy finding another job in a small town in order to provide for their small family and then it was because she had to work long hours in order to make enough to continue to provide for their still small family. With all the time that she spent working, Carol did worry extensively about her son.

She worried about the trouble he could get into being at the Puckerman's house all the time, about the fact that she was missing out on so much while he was finding himself, that his grades were barely passable, about what his future had in store for him and the list went on. She is his mother and it was her prerogative to worry about the child she had carried for nigh on ten months before birthing him into this world. However, she could admit that when he joined sports and stopped getting into so much trouble with Puck that she worried less about him, but she never could never stop worrying about her child every time he stepped out the door into the world outside. She just hoped that her best had been enough and that she had given him all the tools he needed to find himself and become the honorable, independent man she envisioned and hoped he could be. It was all she could do now.

No one and nothing would stand in her way of becoming a star. It took fortitude, hard work, talent and the willingness to crush your competition and she had all of those traits in spades. It was here, in her high school years, that she had to prove to herself that she had what it took to make it to the big leagues, to be a Broadway legend. Ever since she was little, she had had the talent and the determination to win at all costs. She was born to be a star and she refused to let anything, anyone stand between her and her dreams. Even her two gay dads knew that she was destined for great things and they told her so often. Some may call her spoiled, but they were just jealous that their child did not have the talent and ambition that she had displayed since she was in diapers. Everything her dads did for her was because they knew that she would make it out of Lima, Ohio to the star-spangled streets of New York. She would become a household name, a brand name and instead of people laughing at her or slushing her face with a variety of flavors of corn syrup, people would want to be her. That would come later though. She needed to prove to herself first that she was ready to take that next step. She needed to conquer high school and the first phase of her plan was research. She was just a freshman after all.

That was exactly what one Rachel Berry did and it quickly became evident that if she wanted to make all of her hard work come to bounteous fruition she needed to do three major things in her four years at WMHS. The most important obstacle to her climb to the top was another freshman named Kurt Hummel. He was a countertenor, something which today's society had not truly seen, except in Opera perhaps, for some time. His uniqueness would make him stand out to those that could truly appreciate music and his features would make him perfect for Broadway due to his capacity to play both male and female roles if he so chose. He had to be taken out first because competition was a no-no, she would be the only talent worth considering here.

The opportunity showed itself after she found herself taken with Finn Hudson, a guy that was at the top of the freshmen tier and a shoe-in for top tier of the social circle when allowed to play sports the following year. She had also heard him singing in the boys' locker room when she had been trying to find a bathroom to wash cherry flavored slush off her face and just knew that he would complement her perfectly when she needed a capable male partner. Due to her status she could not approach him without repercussion, but she did watch him from afar and those around him so that she could find a way to approach him when she saw him. Kurt Hummel was making moon eyes at another guy and even though she had two gay dads who had told her horror stories about being gay in small towns, she told Jacob ben Israel, the kid in charge of the school blog that everyone seemed to refer to as Jewfro due to his ridiculous head of hair. By the next day it was all over the school and seeing the looks that Finn shot the countertenor, she knew that her work was done. That should effectively demoralize the boy for a while and with the increase in bullying it should keep him sufficiently kicked down while she rose to the top. She was only slightly remorseful that the increase in bullying escalated from light shoving to full-fledged locker checks and dumpster tossing, but as she believed, one must be willing to crush their competition to make it to the top. Rachel Berry was more than happy to crush Kurt Hummel in order to obtain the spotlight.

The next opportunity came right at the end of her freshman year: Mr. Ryerson had to go!

William Schuester was the Spanish teacher for McKinley High and he did not have a clue as to why he had taken up the position. His second language had been French in college and his focus for his teaching degree had been early education. Yet, here he is teaching at the secondary level and in a language that he had no true appreciation or knowledge of. He had wanted to work with young children because he honestly loved kids and the joy that they brought to people's lives. It was why he wanted children of his own so badly. He and his wife had been married almost a decade, pretty much straight after high school, and they had yet to have children. He had even thought that there was something wrong with him, but he had had himself checked out at his yearly physical and his doctor had assured him there was no reason, on his end, why he could not have children. After that, he had started to resent his wife just a little bit because he had always known that he was her second choice, her safe bet and she could not at least give him a child after all the sacrifices he has made for her. Despite his resentment, he still loved her even as he caught on to the fact that Miss Pillsbury had a crush on him and if he wanted to be honest with himself, he had a crush on her too. This realization of his wondering eye and his simmering resentment of his wife is what pushed him to take on the glee club.

Do not misunderstand him, he liked glee club as it reminded him of his youth and he would enjoy seeing others enjoy the things that he had when he was younger; however, he needed space from his demanding and frustratingly high maintenance wife as well as a distraction from his crush on Miss Pillsbury. He truly wanted to take over the glee club, though and make it even better than his. He had loved his glee experience but he believed that it could have been better and he wanted to share that vision with the students at William McKinley High School. It might even bring back his love for teaching that he had lost over the years due to the lackluster involvement of the students in learning over their place in the social structure. He supposed that was why he ignored the jocks at the dumpster even though he knew what was going to happen next as well as the slushies that marked random students in the hallway. The culture of WMHS had not changed since before he attended and he knew it would continue long after no matter what he tried to do to stop it. It was the mentality of most of the teachers, he had noticed. However, there was nothing he could do because Figgins would do nothing that would jeopardize the money that the jocks brought into the school even if the football team had not won a game since he was a student. Most importantly though, he could live with status quo as it was as long as he could keep his job and hopefully keep glee club alive.

A/N: Hey everyone. This is my first Glee fanfiction and I hope you will give me your honest thoughts about it. I hope you have enjoyed the first chapter so far and I hope to have the next one out within the next week or so.

Cheers!

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