Smiling was second nature to Kurt Hummel. Every morning he would pull the corners of his mouth up into a smile. It was painful at first—almost as if Kurt had ‘liar’ written across his forehead. But after years of classmates yelling obscenities at him, being thrown into dumpsters, and the beatings, it was easier. Kurt spent so much money on make-up to hide the black eyes that the football players would give him on the weekly basis. The only thing that mattered to Kurt was his father, Burt. And if Burt saw those bruises, well, Kurt didn’t want to think about that. So Kurt plastered on a fake smile and went about his daily routine, hoping Burt would continue to think he was okay.

Kurt was sitting on the couch, feet tucked under, the new issue of Vogue sitting in his lap. It was the first day of Kurt’s junior year and he already hated it. Brandon Parker, the quarter back of the Harding football team, had already slammed Kurt hard into a locker.

Kurt was so lost in the pages of Vogue he almost didn‘t hear the front door opening.

“Hey, Dad,” Kurt said, not lifting his eyes from the magazine.

“I have good news, Kiddo,” Burt said, sitting in the recliner across from Kurt.

“Hmmm?” Kurt idly acknowledged, flipping the page.

“We’re moving.”

“We-we’re moving?” Kurt choked.

“Yes, we’re moving,” replied Burt, smirking. Kurt leaned forward, his hands on his knees, excitement and happiness evident on his face. Burt felt as though his heart would burst from his chest.
“I talked to the school board about your transfer. They said that they’ll send the papers to McKinley High tomorrow.” Kurt’s grin grew.

“When are we moving?” Kurt asked, vibrating with excitement. Burt had to stop himself from laughing. It was wonderful to see Kurt truly smile again.

“As soon as we have everything packed. John and Andrew will be over when we’re done to help pack the truck.” Kurt jumped off of the couch, launching himself at his father.

“Thank you,” Kurt whispered, holding back tears. Burt grunted, patting his son on the back before leaving to start his own packing.

Once Kurt was alone in his room, he finally cried. Soon he would be free of Brandon Parker and the other football players.
_____________________________________________________________

The next day, Kurt went to school, as usual, the difference being the smile on his face was real. The day was typical—thrown into a dumpster before lunch, and being shoved into a locker, this time harder than normal. But Kurt wouldn’t let that get him down. He would be out of this hell-hole in less than a week. He could finally start anew.

Kurt started to daydream about McKinley. Would it be anything like Harding? Would people be more open-minded, or would they be as homophobic as the students and facility here? He was debating on how he would start at McKinley as he was leaving the building. Should he go full Kurt Hummel or slowly ease himself into the fashion icon that he is?

He was pulled from his daydream when he was lifted off the ground and slammed back down onto the pavement. He was in the parking lot. He was concentrating on his day dream so much that he didn’t realize how close to his Navigator.

“Rumor has it you’re moving, faggot,” Brandon Parker said, kicking Kurt in the side as he tried to get off the ground. Kurt groaned, the pain shooting up his spine as he slid a few inches.

“Where did you--?” Kurt started, looking up at Brandon, but all the air was pulled out of his lungs when Brandon kicked him again, this time right in the chest. Kurt fought the urge to groan. Brandon had pushed him around for long enough, he wouldn’t let him win this time.

“Is it true?” Brandon hissed, pushing Kurt back with his foot, making him roll over onto his back. Kurt went with it; the pain subsided a bit when the pressure of lying on his side was released.

“Does it matter?” Kurt said, gritting his teeth.

“Of course it does,” Brandon whispered, “No one here liked you. We’ll have a party once you’re gone.” Brandon laughed, leaning over Kurt. “Besides, I want to give you something before you do leave.”

Kurt’s eyes widened in fear. He knew what was coming. Brandon lifted his knee, almost to his chest, and then slammed it down on Kurt’s leg. A loud crack echoed throughout the nearly empty parking lot. Even if there were more cars, Kurt doubted that anyone would help him.

Kurt clamped his jaw shut, trying to keep the scream in his throat. There was no way he would win, but he considered it a small victory if he could keep quiet. To show that he is better than Brandon

The silence only seemed to anger Brandon as he kicked Kurt in the side again. The kick had so much force behind it, Kurt thought Brandon was trying to kick through Kurt. He counted each kick. Thirteen. With each kick, Kurt felt his ribs crack just a little more. His whole body was shaking with the effort to stay quiet.

Brandon grabbed Kurt’s wrist, pulling him off the ground. With his free hand, Kurt wrapped his arm around his torso, as though trying to hold himself together. He tried not to put pressure on his broken leg but Brandon pulled his arm behind his back, making Kurt’s whole body twist, giving him no choice. As pain shot up Kurt’s leg, Brandon pulled his arm harder, snapping his arm. From the pain in his leg and his arm, he couldn’t stop the scream that came out of this mouth.

The pain was so intense, he fell to the ground. If anything happened after that, Kurt didn’t know.
__________________________________________________________

The drive to Lima was only about an hour. The longest hour of Kurt’s life. He had a big, bulky cast on his left leg and one on his right arm. The doctor had said to use Icy Hot on his ribs to ease some of the pain during the drive.

Burt’s friends, John and Andrew, helped him pack their stuff. Kurt had to threaten their lives to allow him to pack his room. Burt agreed after Kurt tried to attack John when he reached for Kurt’s closet door. Since Burt wouldn’t let Kurt go back to school, he took his time packing his room. He made sure all of his clothes were hung up and put into a special box. His skin care products were all in one box, his movies and books in another, all organized alphabetically. His pictures of his parents were wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in yet another box. Kurt had everything packed within two days.

Kurt was so excited the day Burt, John, and Andrew finally finished packing everything he could barely concentrate on his carefully thought-out design schemes he could put to use once they reached Lima. He would actually have something worthwhile to do.

They had finally reached Lima—the “Welcome to Lima” zooming past. The closer the town got, the more nervous Kurt became. He was supposed to start school the next day and had no idea what to expect, so he planned on spending the rest of the day unpacking and figuring out what he was going to wear for his big first day.

“I don’t know if I told you,” Burt said, breaking the silence, “But, Andrew, John, and I figured we would run the garage out of Marion until we could find a place here in Lima. Once we do, I’ll open another branch up here.”

Kurt nodded. “So you’ll commute every day?”

“Yeah. Andrew and John agreed to open the shop, and I would close.” Kurt hummed, saying he understood. After the first day and a half of doing nothing, Kurt realized how hard this move was going to be on Burt.

The rest of the drive to their new house was silent. Burt backed the U-Haul truck into a drive way in front of a small white house. Andrew and John parked their Saturn on the street, planning on driving back the next day.

Slowly Kurt got out of the U-Haul, using his crutch to ease himself down. Andrew, John, and Burt started to unload the van, while Kurt made his way inside. The house was just the right size for the two Hummels. There was a small porch in the front with only one step. There were two stories and from what Burt had told Kurt, there was a finished basement that had its own bathroom. Kurt had already told Burt that he wanted that room. Burt had no objections.

Kurt walked through the house by himself. The front door opened to a hallway. The only door way on the left lead to the living room while on the opposite side of the room was a door that lead to the basement. Connected to the living room was the kitchen. The only doorway on the right lead upstairs. Upstairs, there were two bedrooms and a bathroom.

Once he finished the tour, Kurt made his way slowly back downstairs to his room. He hadn’t gone down yet. He wanted to save that for last, and down a flight of stairs, up two flights, then down two just wasn‘t a good idea. As he descended the stairs, he noticed how large his room was. He would have so much room, even after all of his things where brought in, to sing and dance around the room. Kurt smiled, sighing quietly. He couldn’t want until he could dance again.

His dad had already brought quite a few boxes down already, so Kurt set to work. He unpacked everything except his clothes; he wanted to wait so he could pick out his outfit for school the next day. Burt bought Kurt a desk chair so he could move around his room freely with out his crutch.

The Wicked soundtrack was playing from Kurt’s iPhone. He sang along, hitting every note with perfect precision. Burt, John, and Andrew had unloaded everything from the truck already. They still had another trip to make back to Marion for more of their things, but they all agreed to wait until the next day to finish. Burt and Kurt had all the necessities. They both had a bed, toiletries, and clothes for the next day.

Charlie, another friend that worked at Hummel Tires and Lube in Marion, was running the shop for these two days, leaving them plenty of time to finish the move. Luckily, Andrew, John, and Charlie understood why Burt had to take three days off. They understood that Kurt needed out of Marion, and they let Burt do what ever he needed to do to keep his son safe. That was something that Burt couldn’t thank them enough for.

Burt was worrying about Charlie when he heard Kurt singing.

“Close my eyes and leap!” Kurt sang, “It’s time to try defying gravity! I think I’ll try defying gravity! Kiss me goodbye, I am defying gravity! And you won’t bring me down!”

Burt smiled as Kurt’s voice rose with the song. It had been a long time since Kurt sang this song and truly meant it. Burt wasn’t the best at understanding musicals and theatre, but he knew his son. Kurt knew this new start was truly a blessing. Most kids didn’t have parents who could afford to move. When Elizabeth died, Kurt and Burt promised that they would do what was best for the other. Burt knew that Kurt was hiding what was really going on at Harding, which is why Burt wanted to get Kurt out of there so badly.

Hearing Kurt sing like he used to was enough to know that this move was for the best. Burt Hummel would do anything to protect Kurt.
______________________________________________________

Kurt woke up an hour before his alarm was set to go off. He had settled on an outfit last night, though ‘settle’ wasn’t the word Kurt would have used. Because of his casts, he really didn’t have much to choose from.

He tried to go back to sleep, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t. After lying in bed for a while, he decided to get ready. Taking his time seemed like a lovely idea.

He rubbed soft circles into his cheek bones, prolonging his moisturizing routine by massaging his face. He could feel himself calming as the fresh scent of mint filled the room. He dressed in silence, his outfit, slightly baggie jeans and a button up shirt, making him cringe. He felt out of place, even in his bed room. Although he spent the first few days with two casts in sweats and t-shirts, he didn’t leave the house with the exception of getting in and out of the moving truck. Sweats and t-shirts were unacceptable out in public.

But no matter how strange he felt in something so plain, he had a really good feeling about today. He wasn’t going to let anyone put him down.

Kurt was ready forty five minutes before he originally planned to leave for school. He hoped he would be allowed in early. Because the move was so sudden, Kurt didn’t have time to research the school. The only information he had was the address.

“Dad!” Kurt called, “I’m ready to leave whenever you are!” Kurt started a pot of coffee as he waited.

Burt came down the stairs five minutes later. Kurt wordlessly handed Burt a cup. They sat in silence as Burt woke up.

“Ready, Kiddo?” Kurt nodded, grabbing his bag and his crutch, and followed Burt out the door.
______________________________________________________________

“Here’s your schedule, a bell schedule, and a map of the school,” said Mrs. Martian, McKinley High’s secretary. She offered Kurt the papers as she smiled sweetly, which Kurt returned.

“Thank you,” Kurt replied, walking out into the hallway. The homeroom bell wasn’t due to ring for another twenty minutes. Mrs. Martin wrote Kurt a note giving Kurt permission to walk the halls, instead of having to stay in the cafeteria to wait for the bell to ring.

He found his locker which was right across from his homeroom. He had his own, unlike at Harding. He placed his jacket in the locker, and then turned to his schedule. English, Algebra II, Drawing, Lunch, French, History, Chemistry, and Sewing. There were room numbers listed next to each class. The first three classes were easy enough to find, McKinley’s set up was simple. Two floors, with all the 100 room classes on the first floor, 200 on the second, the numbers going in order. Kurt had no trouble finding his first three classes, so he figured he would try to find his other classes after lunch. There was little chance Kurt could find all seven classes before the first bell. Even with his almost empty messenger bag, he was having trouble walking so much. Doubling back, Kurt decided to go early to homeroom.

The room was empty. He didn’t know if the teacher had assigned seats or not, so he sat in the first seat in the first row. He could move easy enough if he had to. The wait wasn’t long. Kurt was checking his phone when the bell rang signaling the students that they could go to homeroom.

Homeroom flew by, as did Kurt’s second period. He didn’t have any problems with English, so he let his mind wonder until he noticed the girl sitting in the seat a row over from him. She had bright pink hair, pinned back messily. She placed a hair tie around the bottom of her shirt, so her lower back was showing, a tattoo of someone’s face just above her pants. When she shifted, as if she knew someone was staring at her, Kurt moved his gaze to the chalk board. The teacher had notes messily scribbled on the board. Kurt hurriedly jotted them down, trying to keep her attention off of him.

After class, she left quickly, not even looking at Kurt. He breathed deeply in relief.

Algebra II was simple enough. Kurt kept his eyes on the teacher, trying to take in everything the teacher said instead looking around. He didn’t want another incident like with the pink haired girl.

Drawing was different. Kurt only took it to take up space in his schedule. He hoped that the teacher would be fine with him just drawing clothing designs; he didn’t have much talent with drawing otherwise. His train of thought was broken when someone sat down next to him. He looked up from his drawing pad to see a girl smiling down at him. “Hi! I’m Mercedes,” she said. “You must be Kurt.”

“Yes, how’d you know?” Kurt asked as she pulled her pad out of her bag. A very stylish bag, Kurt thought.

“It’s third period,” she said, shrugging. “If there’s anything new, more than likely, everyone will know by third period.” Kurt registered that in his memory bank.

The teacher was lenient, so Kurt and Mercedes talked most of period. She was in the schools Glee Club. She had a boyfriend. But she wouldn’t say who he was. “We’re not open about it just yet,” She said, “We’re afraid it won’t go over well.”

Kurt laughed, “I know how that is.” He really liked Mercedes. She was easy to talk to and she was still kind to him after he spoke, something that normally didn’t happen to Kurt.

“Do you?” she wondered.

Kurt took a deep breath. He didn‘t want to tell anyone he‘s gay until he was settled into the school. He wanted to transfer to be as easy as possible. But Mercedes was just so easy to talk to and she seemed pretty open minded. “I’m gay,” Kurt said. “All of my relationships don’t go over well.” Kurt held his breath, waiting for her to get up and leave or make a scene.

But Mercedes wasn’t fazed. She didn’t even blink, but she kept talking to Kurt like she did before he told her. Kurt didn’t really register what she was saying. He was shocked. Mercedes was the first person to ever treat him like an equal, besides Burt. It was strange. Kurt didn’t have any friends at Harding, no one stayed around once they found out Kurt was gay. Sometimes it wasn’t because the person he told was homophobic. They were just scared of Brandon and the other jocks. Kurt learned early not to expect much from people. It was the price he had to pay from living in a small town in Ohio.

“Want to sit with me at lunch?” Mercedes ask as she and Kurt packed their bags when the bell rang. “I sit with the Glee Club. We’d be more than happy to have you at our table!”

“Sure,” Kurt said, following her out of the room. He followed Mercedes the short distance to the cafeteria and to a table near the back of the room.. He sat down at the end of the left side of the square table so he could stretch his left leg.

“Kurt, this is Rachel, Artie, Tina, Brittany, and Santana,” Mercedes said, pointing to everyone.

“Nice to meet you,” Kurt said, grinning. He pushed his bag under his chair. It pained him to have his designer bag on the floor but he didn’t have anywhere else to put it. His casts were really starting to piss him off.

He stood up to get his lunch, but Mercedes stopped him. “I’ll get your lunch for you,” she said, “You’ll be standing in line for forever.” Kurt didn’t have time to tell her no before she took his money. “I’ll be right back.”

“A salad, please? With Light what-ever,” Kurt shouted after her. His day was odd enough, he didn’t need fried food to add to that list. Kurt sat in silent awe until Mercedes came back. “Thank you,” Kurt said, smiling warmly at her.

“Any time, hun,” Mercedes replied, taking the seat next to him.

The others started talking, mostly about Glee Club. Kurt just listened as he ate. Their conversation got more in-depth, so Kurt’s eyes started wondering around the room. Just like Harding, and probably every other school in existence, the lunch room was split up into cliques. He didn’t even bother looking at the jock table, he knew what he would see. In the same corner that the Glee table was situated, there sat the girl with the pink hair. She was leaning back on two legs of her chair, the back resting on the wall. She said something funny, making the group she was talking to break out in laughter.

The boy sitting next to her threw his head back so fast because he was laughing so hard he almost fell out of his chair. The group cracked up again. Kurt watched in awe. The boy was gorgeous. His black curls glistened as he shook. His fawn colored skin was almost glowing. When he opened his eyes, the golden brown hue took Kurt’s breath away. When he ran his fingers through his curls, Kurt had to pull his eyes away.

Every so often, Kurt’s eyes would drift to the boy. Kurt sighed inwardly as he just watched, his mind clear of all thoughts except how beautiful this boy was. The boy was so alluring, Kurt almost didn’t hear the bell ring to go to fourth period. He watched the boy stand up, and Kurt noticed his cloths for the first time. He had baggie, dark pants on, a chain going from his belt loop to his wallet in his back pocket. He had a band shirt on, which band, Kurt didn’t see. He was too preoccupied with the fact that he had just thrown his arm around the girl with the pink hair. Disappointment clawed at Kurt’s inside as the boy passed. A lip ring glittered on the right side of his lips, an eyebrow piercing on the left. This boy was the complete opposite of what Kurt wanted in a guy. Normally, Kurt would be disgusted by him.

Kurt ran out of the cafeteria before anyone had the chance to talk to him. The rest of the day, Kurt thoughts were taken over about that boy until finally he got home and went to bed.
_____________________________________________________________

Fingers clawed at Kurt’s back, nails digging deep. A loud moan echoed through the room. A mouth attached to his neck, teeth biting, lips sucking. Kurt sighed in contentment. A burning sensation suddenly started filling is lower stomach. Small bursts of pain shooting up his spine, pleasure following suit.

“Move,” Kurt whispered. All he needed was more friction. Finally, he moved, pulling out slowly, the burning subsiding as he pumped back into Kurt. Kurt arched his back, giving him the leverage to hit his prostate. Kurt moaned, sliding with him.

The heat pooled in his stomach, giving Kurt the sweet release he had been aching for. The boy followed right after. He fell back, Kurt lying on top of him. Their sweating bodies sliding together, the boy’s lips moved, but no sound came out.

“What, sweetheart?” Kurt said, running his hand across his face. Instead of feeling the prickling sensation of his facial hair, he hit his pillow. “What?” Kurt shouted, jolting awake.

He just a sex dream about a guy he didn’t know. He didn’t even know his name. A dream about a straight, no-named guy who he had no chance with. This just reached a whole new level of torture.