Are We Damned? ~ Glee

Epiphany

"Congratulations on your win at sectionals, guys!" Mr. Schuester said, standing in front of the whiteboard, marker in hand. "Now, it's time to talk about where we're going next. We don't have to start working on our set for regionals just yet, so I was thinking... How about another musical?"

"Please be Funny Girl..." Rachel said.

"Or Chicago," Kurt said. He looked over at Blaine, had fallen asleep with his head on Kurt's shoulder.

"Neither!" Mr. Schuester opened his marker and wrote something on the board. "Bare."

"What's Bare?" Sam asked.

"It's an off-Broadway show from the early 2000s. It's about a school production of Romeo and Juliet featuring struggles of sexuality, drug use, mental health, teen pregnancy... I think it's a very important show," Mr. Schuester explained. He picked up a pile of scripts and passed them out. "Auditions start next week."

Had Blaine been listening, he would have been excited about the show, not because it was one he had heard of, but because of what the show dealt with. He could relate to it quite a bit, at least struggles with mental health and sexuality, two things he'd been having trouble with quite a bit recently. But instead, he was asleep, stuck in a nightmare that felt almost too real to him:

Walking through the hallway was hard enough with everyone staring. The insults made it worse, but even worse than that, the whispering. Blaine didn't know what they were talking about, if it was even about him at all, but he was sure it was. The football team stood in front of them, including Finn, Sam, Puck, and Mike, the ones that had claimed to be his friends before. He didn't understand what the issue was, just because he liked boys he should be targeted? The group yelled insults at him, which he tried to just ignore - it wasn't worth his attention, they were only trying to upset him, don't give them what they want. He was shoved into a locker, and he wasn't sure what hurt more - the physical pain, or the fact that he was pushed by Sam, his former best friend. He should have known to stay in the closet, the same thing happened at his old school, everyone turned against him when they found out his secret. He ran home, doing everything he could to avoid someone from school seeing him. When he arrived, he immediately heard even more insults, this time from his brother, Cooper, who was previously the only family he had left. The last family member he came out to. He should have learned after what happened with his parents... He wished he kept his secret forever, but that wouldn't be fair to Kurt, would it?

Kurt shook Blaine awake. "Hey, are you okay?"

Blaine opened his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine... Just stayed up late doing homework," he said, looking around the room. "Where is everyone?"

"They left a few minutes ago." Kurt handed Blaine a script. "This is for the next musical. Auditions are next week. Interested?"

Blaine flipped through the script. Based on what he saw, he was interested in the show. He wanted to audition, of course. "I'll think about it." He closed the script and left. 

Blaine loved Kurt more than anything, he always had. He wanted the world to know, but he couldn't say anything. He was able to be open about who he was at Dalton, nobody could do anything there. It was the perfect place for him, he felt truly at home. But Kurt came along, and he left that behind for him. Back to a public school, one that had made Kurt transfer due to bullying about his sexuality. Blaine had the same experience at his first school, that was why he transferred to Dalton. He had been fairly popular before, but once they learned he was gay, everyone turned against him. Once he told his parents, his father's abuse only got worse, and his mother did nothing about it. So he switched schools and moved in with his brother. He wasn't out to Cooper, he couldn't risk losing him as well.

When he got home, Blaine fully read through the script and listened to the soundtrack. The show expressed his feelings almost too well. He wanted to see it come to life, his story, but could he bring himself to audition? He convinced himself that if he did get a part, everyone would know the truth, everyone would turn against him...