Born This Way

Kurt stood in front of the black Bentley, worrying the strap of his school back as he surveyed the suddenly menacing public institution. Blaine stepped next to him while he tucked his keys into his own bag. He followed Kurt's gaze, and for a moment, the two simply stood there.

Blaine broke the silence.

"It doesn't look too bad," he said with a shrug.

"Looks can be deceiving," Kurt answered, shaking slightly and showing no trace of the confident diva he usually portrayed.

Blaine draped his arm across Kurt's shoulder, pulling him close in a sort of hug as they both kept their eyes on the school. "Come on," he said in encouragement. "Finn said the football team hasn't slushied anyone since that Thriller half-time show. He also said he and Karofsky have had a few conversations, and the jocks have even stopped hurling insults, now."

"That's because they only had the glee club as targets, Blaine. Throwing me, a gay kid - two! - back into this mess will definitely rekindle old… feelings." As they reached the steps leading to the building, Kurt stopped and turned to Blaine. "I can't believe I've dragged you into this, I mean it's bad enough risking myself, but - "

"I was not going to let you go through this alone." He turned and they started up the steps. "You know I can hold me own, so just in case… and you know I put a lot of faith in moral support."

In front of the door, Kurt stopped and turned to Blaine again. Looking into the other boy's eyes, he seriously said, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Blaine smiled and held open the door. Kurt took one last deep breath and entered the building.

A quiet fell. It wasn't altogether, but it was considerably quieter. Kurt tried to ignore the sideways glances as he used to, but he'd forgotten how they made his skin crawl.

Blaine could see how uncomfortable Kurt was, so he took his hand.

Complete silence fell in the hallway as Kurt met Blaine's eye. All at once, he felt calm and protected, and his smile matched his boyfriend's. He hardly noticed when they passed Azimo, even when he coughed, "Homo," quite audibly.

=

Kurt entered the auditorium and flopped into a seat near the stage with a sigh., and Blaine took the seat next to him. It had been a long day. Most of his friends had found him in the halls. His ears were still ringing with the girls' happy squeals and his shoulders were aching from the guys' congratulatory pats.

Rachel and Mercedes had found them first and engulfed them both in huge hugs. Sam had said hi when he saw Kurt and had shaken Blaine's hand - Kurt was surprised to learn the two had met before. Puck, Brittany, Artie, Tina, and Mike had all greeted him, and Finn had given Kurt a hug and said it was good to see him in the McKinley halls.

At lunch, Rachel told Kurt and Blaine to go to the auditorium instead of the choir room for glee club, and Kurt, having been away and not knowing what they were rehearsing, didn't question it.

Suddenly, the house lights dimmed and the stage lights grew to a glow. Kurt saw the McKinley's jazz band on stage. When Brad followed Mr. Schue onstage, Kurt began to catch on.

The teacher stepped downstage, and addressed the boys directly. "Blaine, we've heard a lot about you from Rachel and Mercedes and even Kurt, and we'd be honored if you were interested in joining our glee club. Kurt - " As Will turned to the other boy, the students of the club trickled onstage, bearing an end of a table or a chair or two. " - We've really missed you, buddy. We were discussing how to welcome you back and came to the conclusion we should do what we do best - sing. This particular song, while rather relevant, is a bit, well… vulgar. But I've been assured - "

"By me!" Rachel spoke up briefly, pointing to herself.

"And me!" Mercedes hissed, but winked at her friend in the audience.

" - that it's one of your favorites."

The students onstage had all found seats and seemed to be contemplating their shoes.

"You're a very important part of New Directions, Kurt."

Brad began playing a tune quietly and the students looked up.

"We're so glad to have you back."

Behind Schue, the students began looking around and chanting softly. Kurt couldn't quite make out the words.

"In a way, it's almost as if you never left. New Directions isn't just a glee club, it's a family. And you can't get rid of a family very easily."

The chant had grown and Kurt nearly leapt into Blaine's lap in excitement.

"La vie boheme…"

"However, we all felt the lack of your presence in the club, and it did have an effect on us - "

"I don't even really like you, and I missed you. Just sayin'," Santana said, breaking out of character and stepping upstage for a few seconds. She quickly returned to her chair between Brittany and Puck.

"La vie boheme…"

"The long and short of it is, Kurt, we're really glad you're back."

Kurt caught another of Mercedes's winks.

"La vie boheme…"

"So, without further ado, enjoy the show."

"La vie boheme…"

Will took a few steps upstage, then began to sing.

"To days of inspiration, playing hooky, making something out of nothing. The need to express to communicate. To going against the grain, going insane, going mad."

He'd continued moving backward and integrated with his students, who had all risen during the introduction. Finn and Puck stepped up front and center.

"To loving tension, no pension -"

"To more than one dimension," Mike sang as he danced in front of them.

"To starving for attention," Rachel appeared at Puck's side, clinging to his shoulder and pulling out all her diva moves.

Tina and Lauren appeared next to Finn.

"Hating convention, hating pretention."

"Not to mention, of course - " Schue broke through the middle.

"Hating dear old Mom and Dad," everyone sang in a soft harmony.

"To riding your bike midday past the three-piece suits," Mike and Finn sang as they mimed riding motorcycles and crossed at centerstage.

"To fruits! To no absolutes," Sam shrugged, off to the side.

"To Absolut!" Puck sang from the other side of the stage, holding an invisible glass.

"To choice," Quinn stepped in front of Puck.

"To the Village Voice," Mercedes called.

"To any passing fad!" Brittany, Santana, and Quinn all rang out from further upstage. Sam, Lauren, and Mike stepped forward.

"To being an us for once - " Everyone joined in.

"Instead of a them! La vie boheme!"

Kurt and Blaine stood at the edge of the stage, watching the performance.

"La vie boheme!" the singers repeated.

Kurt caught sight of Brittany in Santana's arms, playing with the brunette's darker hair. He played along with the song and cleared his throat quite loudly. Santana's head whipped around to him and she said, "Hey, mister. She's my sister."

There was a short, staccato musical interlude, then all shouted, "Wine and beer!"

The three former cheerios had found their way onto the table and were moving in sync. "To handcrafted beers made in local breweries. To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese. To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo. To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou." The three hopped down as Rachel, Sam, and Mike spun downstage.

"Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion. Creation, vacation - "

All heads turned to Schue as he sang, "Mucho masturbation," with a shrug.

Kurt let out a laugh and saw his friends were actually really enjoying the song, their smiles and laughter genuine.

Tina and Mercedes side-stepped across the stage. "Compassion, to fashion, to passion, when it's new."

"To Santag!" Schue shouted from stage left.

"To Sonheim!" Rachel answered from stage right.

"To anything taboo!" Brittany and Santana taunted from behind the table.

Finn, Sam, and Artie came forward, their arms around each others' shoulders. "Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunningham, and Cage."

Puck joined them. "Lenny Bruce!"

Quinn jumped out from behind the boys. "Langston Hughes!" she sang before running back upstage.

"To the stage!" Rachel burst through the middle.

"To Uta!" Lauren called, punching the air.

"To Buddha!" Sam responded with a shrug.

Mike, Artie, and Puck added, "Pablo Neruda, too!"

Most fell back to the table or their seats as Lauren, Sam, and Finn stepped forward. "Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow to blow off Aunty Em!"

Kurt simply couldn't stay still any longer. He grabbed Blaine's hand and darted to the sidestage stairs, his boyfriend in tow.

"La vie boheme!"

Just as they stepped onstage, Blaine nearly collided with Santana and Brittany, whose lips were firmly attached to each others'. "Sisters?" Blaine asked.

Both girls looked to him. "We're close," they said with a shrug.

Blaine answered with a mirroring shrug, then pulled Kurt into a ballroom hold. They skipped out into centerstage and sang with flawless harmonies, "Brothers!"

Sam, Rachel, Mike, and Santana joined the two boys. "Bisexuals, trisexuals, homo sapiens, carcinogens, hallucinogens, men, Pee Wee Herman. German wine, turpentine, Gerturde Stein, Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa, Carmina Burana."

The others had climbed onto the table and joined in.

"To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy. Vaclav Havel! The Sex Pistols! A, B, C!"

The boys dropped out and the girls continued to sing, "To no shame, never playing the fame game."

Puck staggered out in front of the group downstage and they caught him before he fell. "To marijuana!" he sang.

Others from the table jumped down and joined the group. "To sodomy, it's between God and me -"

Santana, the last on the table, yelled, "To S and M!"

"La vie boheme!"

The volume of the music fell again, and the singers returned to their chant. They grew closer together at centerstage. All looked around surreptitiously as they sang.

Suddenly, Mike and Brittany jumped onto the table and sang loudly, "To dance!"

Rachel hopped up after them and flipped her hips as she danced down the table. "No way to make a living, masochism, pain, perfection, muscle spasms, chiropractors, short careers, eating disorders!"

The boys sang, "Film!"

Mercedes and Quinn broke away from the pack and jumped downstage. "Adventure, tedium, no family, boring locations, dark rooms, perfect faces, ego, money, Hollywood, and sleaze!"

The girls countered, "Music!"

Kurt, Blaine, Sam, and Mike all spoke out. "Food of love, emotion, mathematics, isolation, rhythm, power, feeling, harmony, and heavy competition!"

Everyone sang, "Anarchy!" as they jumped across the stage, on or off of the table, over or under each other. Schue, Lauren, Puck, and Finn threw arms across each others' shoulders and stood in the middle as they sang, "Revolution, justice screaming for solutions, forcing changes, risk, and danger, making noise and making pleas!"

The chaos onstage died down as everyone addressed the auditorium, united in song. "To faggots, lezzies, dikes, cross dressers, too!"

Quinn, Tina, and Artie fired off in quick succession, moving across the stage speedily.

"To me!"

"To me!"

"To me!"

The others picked up the tune, pointing sporadically. "To you and you and you, you, and you. To people living with, living with, living with, not dying from disease! Let he among us without sin be the first to condemn la vie boheme!"

The chorus continued the background tune of the repeating, "La vie boheme," as Schue pondered, "Anyone out of the mainstream - is anyone in the mainstream?"

Santana stepped in front of him and sang, "Anyone alive with a sex drive - "

"Tear down the walls!" Finn took over from stage left. "Aren't we all?"

Kurt had leapt onto the table and now belted out, "The opposite of war isn't peace!" He pulled Blaine up with him.

"It's creation!" they sang together.

"La vie boheme!" all sang together again.

With a final chord and their line, "Viva la vie boheme!" everyone thrust their fists into the air.

When the last notes of the song had died, everyone turned to each other, applauding. Kurt and Blaine hopped down from the table; Puck, Quinn, Mercedes, and Tina dismounted the chairs they'd been standing on.

"Guys, that was amazing," Kurt said, hugging anyone he could get his hands on.

"Thanks for joining in," Schue commented. "You kicked it up a notch there."

Kurt smiled at his teacher. "Thank you so much for the warm welcome." He looked he friends - his glee family - over. "I can't tell you how much it means to me."

At the back of the auditorium, in one of the doorways, stood Dave Karofsky, having followed the transfer students and witnessed the whole performance. Without a word, he turned and left.