Hey guys... this is my very first fanfic, so I'm pretty nervous about it. I haven't written anything in a very, very long time and I'm not sure why I felt like it, all of a sudden.

I'm sure the characters are pretty OOC but maybe you'll like my little story anyways. I'm not a native speaker (and horrible with the evil comma) so I'm sure you'll find some mistakes. If they're terrible and disrupt your reading flow let me know and I'll fix them!

I'm excited to become a more active member of this community and hope to get done with the next chapters soon.
Thanks to all the great authors out there, that made me want to try it myself.

Oh and of course: I don't own anything!

Dalton Academy was a good place.

Kurt was pretty sure of that after about a week. That's how long it took him to get rid of the constant fear while walking from and to classes or to go have lunch. Instead of hiding of stupid jocks that were out looking for trouble he saw smiling faces that actually wanted to meet and get to know him.

Of course they were still teens and Kurt was sure that there was plenty of gossip about him and the reasons for his transfer in the middle of the school year floating around the school. But he could live with that. That was nothing he wouldn't do too. In fact Kurt knew he was a giant gossip queen – and he loved it. But what he didn't get at Dalton was constantly harassed, verbally and physically abused or threatened for his life.

So yeah – Dalton had been good to Kurt. He had spent the last two months studying and trying to catch up. There was a reason tuition was steep and many of the graduates went on to Ivy League schools after being done with Dalton. The teachers demanded a lot – A LOT, but on the other hand they had been so very helpful from day one on. It seemed that they were always willing and happy to help. Never did Kurt have the impression he'd be a burden or that anyone would be judgmental about him and his past at McKinley.

But what he did truly miss was home. Not his old school or Lima – but home. The feeling to belong
somewhere, to be able to see his family and friends whenever he wanted and ramble about his day, the latest movie he saw or that ridiculous hair color that lady at the mall had. Family dinners most evenings and the pat on the back by his dad when he went off to another frightening day at school.

He tried to call as often as he could and he was surprised to see, that his dad never even said a word about his phone bills, since he had to change his plan about three days after his move.

Mercedes hadn't asked – but told him to call her at least three times a day. And when Mercedes wants something, you'll better give it to her. He had learnt that the hard way.

But he had realized that there were a bunch of things he would just have to get used to in order to adjust to Dalton. And to adapt he wanted. Not necessarily by wearing the uniform wherever he went, but to make new friends, keeping up in his classes and by not being homesick every waking minute.

So far so good though. He got along fine with his roommate Brad, who was a year younger than him and who gave him extra closet space, cause Dalton sure wasn't equipped for the wardrobe of one Kurt Hummel – and that was just the few things he actually took with him!

Brad was a quiet kid and also fairly new to the school. Since he was pretty shy, he had had a hard time making friends and ended up pretty happy to get a roommate. Kurt enjoyed feeling like he could help him with some of his homework or just by generally being nice to him. It made it that much better to have to share a room, and he actually liked it too, to have someone to chat to at night after the stress of the day fell off him.

What made the Academy to much better though, were Blaine, Wes and David.

Blaine wasn't only the cutest boy Kurt had ever seen (in real life at least), but a very decent guy and an amazing friend. That much he'd already known before he even transferred, but now Blaine had been going out of his way to help him adapt.

Kurt had never felt so comfortable with someone after such a short time. Not only did Blaine seem to be interested in what he thought or said, but actually seemed to get it - something he unconsciously had always missed with most of his McKinley friends.

He had developed a crush on Blaine pretty much the minute he had seen him, but fortunately there hardly ever was any weird awkwardness between them – on the contrary he had managed to build up a meaningful friendship - which he had always seen as the perfect base for a relationship anyways.

He wouldn't lie to himself though. Of course he debated if Blaine liked him that way too – like… all the time. But more than that, he thought that he just liked his presence in his life and knowing that he had someone that liked him just the way he was or even precisely because of the way he was. Blaine had been amazing and even though he wondered sometimes what had happened in his past Kurt was careful not to push for too much information.

Blaine was not like him in that area.

He didn't share very quickly and although he was a spectacular listener, he wasn't that great of a talker himself.

It was fine though – he let some stuff about his family slip whenever it seemed to fit into their conversation and Kurt felt like he knew the 'Blaine- basics', like his favorite book, film, musical and color as well as just the general info about his family.

They just never had that relationship changing conversation that went deep into the night and left them closer than ever before. So far it had never really come up and Kurt had been reluctant to approach it head on. Stuff like that had to happen organically.

And it wasn't like he thought Blaine desperately needed to share with him. It would be more for his own benefit anyways.

He was sure that Blaine had people he'd share with.

Wes and especially David seemed very close friends to him and appeared to be able to read him without words – something Kurt still needed to work on. Blaine had perfected his 'I'm fine' smile and Kurt sometimes was just too engrossed in his own, very exciting (school) life to notice.

Life had calmed down for Kurt, even if it was just a bit and he wanted it to stay that way. He was looking forward to day-to-day life at Dalton and making sure his dad knew that spending their entire honeymoon savings on him hadn't been a waste.

For now though he had a very tiring time ahead to worry about. Finals were just around the corner and time was running out to catch up and get done all that reading that had piled up on his desk. The others weren't fairing that much better though, and that seemed to ease Kurt's worries at least a little bit.

Wes and David were rarely seen outside the library and Kurt felt like he hadn't seen Blaine for what felt like a week.

In reality of course he had just seen him last night at Warbler practice, but they all had scrambled apart quickly to get done with their homework or finish other assignments that had been on the backburner for far too long.

"Good morning Brad!" Kurt said when he came out of the shower and back into the room he shared with the other boy.

"Hey Kurt! How's it going? Are you planning on going to breakfast or were you planning on skipping again?"

"Nope, I'll be joining you in a second if you don't mind waiting for me."

Dalton's uniform had sped up Kurt's morning routine significantly. And so they both left for the dining hall were Kurt quickly scanned the room and spotted Wes and David who were already engrossed n their food and what seemed to be an animated discussion.

"Morning guys!" Brad and Kurt greeted the others after they had gotten their food and took their seats at the table.

"Oh hey! You have impeccable timing. We were just talking about the best excuse for Mr. Thomas' class. Wes forgot his homework again and I think Thomas would buy the old – but very proven 'my dog ate it' line. Don't you agree? I mean I don't think I've ever seen anyone, who was as clueless as him." David snorted.

"Well you have a point, but I think Wes could do better. I mean if he's gonna get in trouble anyways; he might as well make it worth his while with some amazing, epic story. Something about zombies … or zombies that got abducted by aliens and how he had to save the planet."

Kurt looked on amused by Brad's lit up face while he added:

"Or… you know… you could always just finish your assignment. Its 8 am in the morning and isn't Mr. Thomas' class not until like 3?"

"Oh Kurt, you just haven't gotten used to the Dalton way yet. Look at young padawan Brad and all of his constructive ideas" jokingly mocked Wes.

They continued to share more and more fun excuses and Kurt started to get why the truth sometimes just didn't do it, especially with someone like Mr. Thomas who was too slow for his own good most of the times. Conversations with his Dalton friends were always so easy and although he usually wasn't a big fan of mornings he enjoyed this time before classes as a nice and relaxing way to get started – almost as if he'd still be at home, bantering with Finn.

Time always flew by, especially, when he was with his fellow warbler friends and so Kurt wasn't surprised to see that it was almost time to head to his first class - math wasn't his favorite class, not by a long shot, but Wes had been a god sent angel, cause not only did he actually understand what was going on, but in addition to that he was a terrific teacher and Kurt could actually relax while sitting in Mrs. Durham's' class now.

While he was trying to decide if he should get another muffin for later he suddenly spotted Blaine who rushed to the line with, what looked like a very meager breakfast meal. After paying he looked up from his tray and roamed through the room. He stopped when he saw Kurt's tentative smile and small wave before he made a beeline to the table where some of his closest friends were sitting.

The others looked up when Blaine placed his food on the table, hurriedly put down his beat up messenger bag and took a seat.

Kurt noticed for the first time, that Blaine's hair wasn't it usual flawless self but instead seemed a bit uncontrolled and chaotic. It looked as if Blaine had tried to tame his curls but gave up after being only half done. He didn't mind though; he was actually wondering what it would look like, would Blaine decide to not glue it together for once.

"Oh hey buddy! How's it going? I was wondering where you were this morning, since I normally have to literally drag you out of your bed." David finished up his plate and started to pack up his things.

"Morning guys. I had to finish up something in the library and I thought I would have better chances to actually do that when I would beat you to the shower. Morning Kurt" Blaine added with a smile while he heartily bit into his scone.

"Weren't you there just last night to 'finish' something up?"

Wes asked while making his very favorite and oh-so-annoying air quotes, before Kurt even had a chance to reply Blaine's morning greetings.

Blaine's attention shifted back to his two best friends while he looked like he tried to inhale his breakfast and simultaneously taking out a paper out of his bag and starting to reading it over and then answered:

"Yeah Wes, I was. You should know that the Dalton Academy for boys is a very prestigious school that will give us all an excellent chance of a lifetime of a proper education that will bring us very far in life."

Kurt snorted at Blaine's perfected 'dean voice' and his cocky smile but didn't forget that he still hadn't elaborate on whatever he had to do in the library.

"Anyways, as much fun interrogation time with you always is, I really have to go to class now."

And with a look at his watch he added: "And I'm sure you actually should too, right?"

"Not so fast dear sir, you haven't even had any of your juice. Relax for a minute, take a load of; we're not even close to being late. And I hope you know to ask for help when you need it. My genius skills certainly are not limited on Kurt and his horrendous knowledge of the wonders of mathematics."

"I know, I know – you excel in everything you do. You keep reminding me on a regular basis."

While Wes showed him his proudest smile and stuck out his tongue towards Blaine, David settled his hand on Blaine's shoulder to keep him at the table and said quietly:

"No seriously Blaine, let us know if we can do anything to help you. I mean I really don't even know what exactly you've been working on."

Kurt was always amazed by how fast these guys were able to switch moods from silly and sarcastic to serious and heartfelt. With a sigh Blaine collapsed back into his chair. He ran his hand through his hair before he seemed to remember that he shouldn't in order to keep it glued in shape and dropped it back into his lap.

"It's this annoying paper for my world history class. We're doing WW1 and it's supposed to be super long. I mean you know Mr. Andrews – he demands quite a bit. So I've been doing the research or at least was trying to. The books he stated as required reading are taken which meant that I had to track them down in other towns. To be honest Mr. Andrews is an idiot and all of his assignments this semester have been totally fuc.."

"Mr. Anderson!"

Blaine immediately shrank together while Mr. Thomas stopped at their table.

"I'm certain you've been at Dalton long enough to know acceptable behavior?"

"Yes sir, I'm truly sorry."

"Come by my office after class and we'll talk about a suitable punishment. And now, gentlemen, I think it's time for you to go to class."

With a smile he added:

"Oh and I'm looking forward to reading your assignment, Mr. Hunt."

While Mr. Thomas walked away Wes sighed and the boys gave Blaine sympathetic smiles.

Before they could say anything though, Blaine had already gotten up and started to put away his things.

Kurt felt bad for him. He looked tired and a bit run down and he felt bad to just notice Blaine's dull eyes and dark circles under them. He got up and caught up to Blaine.

"Hey Blaine, wait up."

Blaine turned around and expectantly looked up to Kurt.

"I was wondering if you'd like to meet me later so we can study together. At least you wouldn't be by yourself and who knows… maybe I'll surprise you with my vast knowledge of all world wars…"

Blaine had to laugh at that and showed a true smile – the first one today, Kurt noted.

"Sure… that would be very nice actually. I'll let you know once I've been to Mr. Thomas' office."

They both met up with the others in the hallway and made their way to their respective classrooms.

Blaine ended up by himself in his French class - most of the times he regretted to not have taken Spanish like most of his friends, but today he truly welcomed it.

He took his seat in the very back of the room and slumped down in his chair trying to hide from his teacher and hopefully most of his fellow students. French came easy to him, so he cherished this time to relax and hang back before the rest of his crazy day would be crashing down on him.

Blaine let his hands run through his hair as he tried to get rid of the oncoming headache he had been feeling since the night before when he was sitting in the abandoned library trying to get his facts for that ridiculous assignment together.

He knew he always had some difficulties dealing with stress at Dalton. It wasn't like he was a bad student or that he wasn't studying throughout the school year… he sometimes just felt like there was too much weight on his shoulders and usually around final time it seemed to get to him. But since this happened on a very regular basis, he didn't worry about it. In fact he wanted his friends to not worry about it either. He sure knew about his weaknesses better than anyone and he knew that he just had to work through these couple of weeks and he'd be just fine. Just like always.

And now there was Kurt. Sweet, troubled and adorable Kurt who probably would worry ten times more than Wes and David, if that was even possible. Blaine was looking forward to spending some time with him later though. Kurt was always such great company and he loved how hanging out with him seemed to make Kurt better, stronger and at times even forget about his awful past at his old school. Now he would just have to convince one more person that he was doing ok.

Unfortunately time flew by and soon Blaine had to leave his momentary sanctuary and face the evil world – or social studies. He met up with David who was waiting for him by the door.

"Hey. How did French go? Did you miss us like always? Crying just a little bit, about how much you want to be like the cool kids and take Spanish?"

"Yeah, yeah… something like that."

Blaine's headache hadn't eased a bit and it was starting to take a toll on him. Of course that didn't go unnoticed by his best friend. And since they were such good friends, he also knew how much Blaine hated it to have a bunch of mother hens around him; especially during warbler meetings and other events where they would all get together. So instead of pissing him off before the Warblers were even involved he decided to slide some ibuprofen over his desk that he always carried on him. Migraines made sure he never forgot to restock.

Blaine gave him a thankful and maybe a bit relieved smile before taking them dry.

The rest of the morning went by in a blur and the guys found each other back in the dining hall.

"Where's Blaine?" Wes asked David upon his arrival to their usual table.

"He didn't want lunch. I think he went to lie down."

Kurt was busy loading up his tray and didn't see the worried look that Wes gave David but said instead:

"Ah, that's too bad. I have a free period after lunch – I can just bring something over to him and make sure he's alright before I have to get to my next class."

"I think that would be great Kurt! I'm sure he'll particularly like having you around" David snorted at Wes cheeky expression and trotted over to a free table.

Kurt made sure to get some of everything, especially some fruit, bread and juice. He wasn't sure what exactly was wrong with Blaine, but he thought that he'd be able to pick something he'd like.

Back to their table Kurt greeted some other Warblers and joined his friends for lunch. When Brad arrived a couple minutes later they started to talk vividly about the upcoming Warbler practice and their ideas for songs and solos. He didn't notice how quite his two other friends had gotten and their silence was only broken a few times, when they softly whispered to each other.

The dining hall slowly cleared out and Brad suddenly realized he was running late for an appointment he had with one of his teachers. While he scrambled out of the room Kurt waved the others good bye and made his way to the dorms and to Blaine.