Summary: How did Blaine's first day at McKinley go? Let's just say there were some highs...and some lows. Klaine angst, hurt/comfort, and fluff. Contains bullying. Spoilers through Glee 3x01 "The Purple Piano Project."

Blaine grinned as he watched Kurt carry on a rapid fire conversation in French with his teacher about some sort of extra credit assignment (not that Kurt really needed the points since he was light years ahead of most of the dumb jocks in their French class). The bell had just rung, signaling that it was time to change classes before Blaine's last class of his first full day at McKinley High School. So far, it had been magical. Just getting to do simple things with Kurt like grab lunch together in the cafeteria had been thrilling and Blaine had spent the last period practically drooling as he watched Kurt carry on a dialogue with his assignment partner in perfectly accented French. The things that boy could do with his mouth...well, Blaine wasn't sure if some of them were even legal. Blaine had absorbed less than 10% of what had gone on in French class since he was simply too busy fantasizing about kissing Kurt senseless after school. Luckily, Dalton Academy's rigorous academic standards meant that Blaine was beyond over-qualified for pretty much every class at McKinley High school, which was fortunate because Blaine couldn't imagine how he would get any work done in class when he could gaze freely at Kurt instead.

Blaine looked back at Kurt who was jotting down some notes in an assignment planner that appeared to be covered in the Louis Vuitton logo. He smiled for the millionth time at the vision in front of him, before realizing that he only had four minutes to grab his lab goggles and workbook out of his locker before his Chemistry class.

"Hey Kurt, I need to grab some stuff for Chem out of my locker. I'll meet you at your locker after 6th period okay?" Blaine said as he gathered his books and headed for the door.

Kurt looked up and gave him a heart-stopping ear-to-ear grin before resuming his scribbling. "Sounds good, Blaine. Enjoy Chem. I think you'll like Dr. Buscher. See you in an hour."

Blaine quickly made his way to his locker, spinning the combination quickly (5-27-94; Kurt's birthday, of course) and grabbing his lab supplies. He grinned at the photo collage Kurt had made for his locker. Pictures of the two of them standing arm in arm covered the locker door. There were snapshots from their day trip to the lake, pictures of them dancing cheek-to-cheek at Prom, and several candids that Blaine had snapped of Kurt while they snuggled lazily on the couch, loving the look of Kurt's normally perfect hair when it was mussed up from their make out sessions. In the center of the collage, Kurt had cut out magazine letters spelling out "courage." It had become their motto, their anthem as they were determined to be together, to be happy, and to be themselves no matter what the cost. Blaine smiled as he remembered the first time he had spoken that word to Kurt, back when Kurt was just an adorable spy from a rival school. They had come so far in mere months and Blaine couldn't remember a time when he'd ever been happier than he was at this very moment, sharing every day with the boy that he loved so much that it hurt sometimes.

Blaine was rudely shaken from his thoughts by the gunshot-loud sound of his open locker door slamming against the locker next to his as he was violently shoved backwards into the bank of lockers. Before he could comprehend what was happening, he was shoved roughly to the ground, his books and lab supplies spilling out of his half-open messenger bag. He looked up to see a large African-American male in a varsity letter jacket sneering down at him. "Ahh, this must be Karfosky's buddy Azimio that I've heard so much about," thought Blaine grimly.

Blaine's whole face flushed in humiliation as students continued to stream through the hallway, giving him strange looks before walking on, no one seeming to notice or care that he'd just been thrown to the ground for absolutely no reason. "This must be what it has been like every day for Kurt," thought Blaine, feeling rage bubble up as he imagined his beautiful boyfriend being treated this way.

"Courage," thought Blaine as he began to gather his things while simultaneously trying to sound as strong as possible. "What the fuck is your problem, dude?" he asked Azimio harshly. He was kneeling on one knee while he gathered the remainder of his books, trying hard not to show the fear he felt. Blaine stretched to grab his lab workbook, accidentally brushing his hand against Azimio's leg as he reached for the book. And that was all it took to cause Azimio to lash out again.

"What the fuck?" yelled Azimio disgustedly as he felt the new guy's hand brush his leg. His foot kicked out in an attempt to knock the boy away from him, connecting harshly with the younger boy's side. "Don't ever touch me again, homo," he said to the now writhing boy on the ground. "Welcome to McKinley High, queer," he all but spat out before hurrying away before a teacher could catch him.

Blaine was curled on the ground, trying desperately to get air into his spasming chest. His left side was a wash of white hot agony, with each small gasp or exhalation of air only adding to the fire in his chest. Hot tears poured down his cheeks unabated in response to the mix of pain and humiliation over what had just happened. Just as he was finally starting to catch his breath again, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder as someone knelt down beside him.

Finn looked down in concern at Blaine, noticing that he was holding his left side and struggling to breathe. "Hey man, you okay? What happened?" Finn noticed that Blaine's books had spilled out of his bag, and began to replace them carefully while he waited for Blaine to respond.

"He...guy just...kicked...me. Azimio...I think..." Blaine gasped out painfully.

Finn's eyes widened at Blaine's response. Finn wasn't necessarily Blaine's biggest fan, mostly because Blaine had kissed his girlfriend and his stepbrother and that was just weird. And there was that one time this summer that he'd walked in on Blaine and Kurt making out in Kurt's bed...and oh god, now Finn was picturing Blaine without his shirt on and that wasn't going to help make things less awkward. He shook his head slightly to clear the image and focused back on Blaine who now sitting up and angrily brushing away a few tears from his cheek as he struggled to get his breathing back under control. Finn felt awful for Blaine in that moment. It was his first day at a new school, and this was the welcome he'd been given. Finn had promised Burt that he'd watch over Kurt when Kurt decided he was ready to come back to McKinley. Finn knew that Kurt was hopelessly in love with Blaine and suddenly realized that taking care of Kurt probably should include making sure that Blaine wasn't getting the shit beat out of him either.

"Sorry, man. That's sucks. Are you okay? Do you need me to take you to the nurse or something? Do you want me to get Kurt?" Finn asked, unsure.

"No...no, please don't. I think I just got the wind knocked out of me. I'm totally fine," Blaine lied, trying not to wince visibly as his ribs throbbed with each breath. "I...I should get to class. Thanks for helping me pick up my books," Blaine said, struggling to stand up straight as the throb in his chest increased tenfold. He took his bag from Finn and slung it over one shoulder, noticing that his hands were visibly shaking as he did so. He stuffed them in his pockets quickly.

"Are you sure you're okay, dude? Your face is as white as a ghost and it sounds like you can't breathe," Finn asked, his face wide with concern. "Why I don't I go grab Kurt and he can..."

"No," Blaine said, more firmly this time. "I'm fine, Finn. It's nothing. Don't tell Kurt anything, okay?"

Finn looked confused. "Wha-? I think he'd want to know if you are getting the shit beat out of you, Blaine."

"No. He can't know, okay Finn? I tripped and fell. That's it. Got it?" he asked, his eyes dark and piercing as he stared Finn down, waiting for him to agree to keep his cover story.

Finn held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, whatever you want. I won't say anything to Kurt. But I really think you should tell him. You don't have to be embarrassed. It's happened to all of us. I got slushied twice yesterday."

"I'll take that under advisement, Finn," Blaine responded, his voice cold and his eyes staring off into the distance. "But look, I've got to get to class or I'm going to be late. Thanks for helping me get my books."

Finn nodded his head. "Sure, see you later." Finn turned to talk toward his English classroom before turning back around to look at Blaine. "Hey Blaine, if you...if you ever need anything, let me know. If someone's giving you a lot of trouble, let me know and Puck, Mike, and I will have your back. Us glee clubbers have to stick together, you know?"

Blaine gave Finn a tight smile in response. "Thanks, Finn. See you later." And with that, Blaine hobbled off to class, trying to stand up straight despite the growing ache in his chest, his breath shuddering and a lump growing in his throat as he fought to stay under control. He couldn't run away this time. And most of all, what Blaine didn't want to do was remember.

What do you think so far? This will be just a short two part fic. You'll get more Kurt in the next chapter, and a little more explanation about the last line of this story. I'll try to post the second part tonight or tomorrow, but before I do, please let me know what you think.

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