Just a few quick notes before you start reading. Firstly, Blaine is in the same grade as Rachel and Kurt for this fic. Being a junior was simply not an option when it came to my New York headcanons for these three. Secondly, this fic also hints to the themes of Blaine's fatherly abuse background. Nothing too intense as of yet. That's about it, I hope you enjoy!
(I do not own Glee or any of it's characters.)
Chapter 1: Heading In A New Direction
The sound of a thousand car horns beeping echoed all around and the smell of exhaust wafted through the air. People in suits rushed past, holding briefcases and talking on their cell-phones, probably all on their way to their executive jobs atop a high-rise building. Ah, the simplicity of a routine life. Both sides of the street were lined with ten storey apartment blocks, and in small nooks and crannies along the first floor the occasional coffee shop could be found. It was quaint and overwhelming at the same time, but yet to become homely.
Three young figures stood on the sidewalk. They'd just exited a classic yellow taxi and had finished hauling their suitcases out of the back when suddenly the environment around them really became apparent. Kurt Hummel was gaping in awe at the Bergdorf's down the street, jaw dropped and eyes wide open. Blaine Anderson was grinning at the comic book store across the road, and flashed a smile even wider when he set eyes upon the array of different coffee shops. Blaine always did have a dangerous addiction to caffeine. Rachel Berry could not contain her happiness and beamed her massive smile at every single aspect of their surroundings, in particular the school that the talented trio found themselves standing in front of.
Kurt, Rachel and Blaine had finally escaped Lima, Ohio. After all those years of that hellish town containing their talents, the three stars-to-be were finally breaking out and making a name for themselves in the big city. An incredibly long period of time prior to graduation, Rachel had already began organizing school options for Kurt and herself, and accommodation, and heck- she even lined up some Broadway shows she was determined to star in once there. Blaine had decided to jump along for the ride, as he wasn't prepared to leave his boyfriend's side. Not now, not ever; and getting away from the family drama for a while would be a nice retreat.
Being in New York City was like having a dream that they weren't sure was real or not. Rachel, by this stage, had moved closer to the walls of the school and dramatically reached out to touch the cement. Partly because she was indeed considering that this might just be a dream. Kurt and Blaine were staring at each other in amazement, as though waiting for each to confirm the other that it was in fact, real life.
"Well, shall we enter our new kingdom boys?" Rachel suddenly asked, waking Kurt and Blaine up from their sheer excitement overload. Kurt gave a slight nod and swallowed, with a smile that had never been wider. Blaine reached for his boyfriend's hand, and they guided each other through the grand oak doors, following Ms. Berry's ecstatic lead.
Rachel was well aware that if she wanted stardom, she had to work for it. She couldn't be tied down to anyone out of state when she was in New York, and as much as she loved Finn, he understood that as well.
It was loud inside of Burt Hummel's garage, and the smell of oil was strong. Finn was dressed in a pair of blue overalls and Rachel was sitting by his side looking longingly into his eyes. "Rachel, this is the last time I'm going to see you in a while..." Finn muttered, unable to bring himself to return the eye contact.
"I know Finn, but you have to remember that I love you, I really do. I just have to build my future." Rachel was still staring up at the tall young man. They had of course discussed this beforehand, and it was an entirely mutual break-up, but that didn't make it any less hard.
Finn stopped what he was doing, and wiped his hands on a cloth. He turned and placed his hands on Rachel's waist and pulled her tight. Now able to stare into her beautiful brown eyes, he moved his head closer towards hers and placed a kiss on her lips. Rachel embraced this, and held on for as long as she could.
No words really needed to be spoken; they both knew what had to happen. "I just want you to promise me one thing. You'll come back and visit, right? At least once every holidays?" asked Finn. He was hopelessly unable to bring himself away from Rachel, still holding her tightly.
Rachel took her head away from the warmth of Finn's shoulder, and placed her hands on top of his. She looked up at his face and replied, "Of course I will, Finn. As sure as I am of this, I know I won't be able stay away from my friends here in Lima for too long. I have to make sure that everyone remains updated on how big I'm becoming, don't I?"
She forced a smile, and held back the tears. Her eyes must have been obviously watering though, because Finn raised a hand and wiped along underneath them. Rachel just buried her head back into Finn's chest for what seemed like such a long time, until she pulled away and offered one last kiss to the man she loved. Stepping backwards, Rachel whispered, "Goodbye, Finn," and turned to walk out of the garage door.
Kurt placed a hand in his hair, checking that it was still perfectly styled. His other hand was tightly gripping Blaine's. Blaine was looking up at his own front door worryingly. He had his mother's approval to go to New York, but not his fathers. That didn't make a difference though, nothing was going to stand in the way of his dreams. He looked up at Kurt as though looking for reassurance and Kurt just squeezed his hand even tighter than he already was.
As soon as Blaine stepped through the door, he realised that the house was quiet. A clank from the kitchen rang out, the sound of a dish being put on a bench perhaps. Blaine's mother walked into the living room, spotting Kurt and Blaine and smiling as she moved towards them. She gave Blaine a hug and Kurt one too.
"Hi Mom, is uh- is Dad home?" Blaine asked nervously. Mrs. Anderson simply looked at her son with sad eyes and replied, "No, honey. He went out for a while." She looked as though she didn't have a clue where he'd gone, but Blaine didn't particularly find it a problem that he wasn't here to see him off. If Mr. Anderson had been home, he probably would have yelled something insulting about Kurt and continued giving Blaine his disapproving stares. No loss.
Blaine already had his things packed and waiting by the door. Kurt's car was parked outside, with his bags already loaded. Carol and Burt were going to be seeing him off at the airport. Blaine's mother suddenly said, "I'll miss you Blaine, you're my baby boy." She was sobbing uncontrollably and flung her arms around her son.
Blaine embraced her, and whispered, "Mom, you know that this is something I have to do. I'll miss you though, I really will." She whimpered and nodded, head still on her son's shoulder.
"Tell Dad that I said goodbye, I guess." Blaine looked hurt. He wanted his father to accept him so badly, and he knew that he'd left home before Blaine got there to avoid saying his goodbyes. Blaine just hoped that one day it would all catch up to Mr. Anderson, and he would come to his senses and finally treat Blaine like a son.
With that, Blaine gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and turned away. He regained his hold on Kurt's warm hand and squeezed it. Kurt helped carry Blaine's bags out to the car as Mrs. Anderson stood in the doorway, watching them walk down the drive. A tear rolled down her cheek as she watched her son enter the vehicle.
As Blaine jumped into the passenger seat, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw a text from Rachel. "I just got a message from Rachel, Kurt. She says that she's already waiting at the airport." Blaine read the message aloud to his boyfriend.
Kurt just giggled and said, "Wow, she's about 3 hours early. She really is excited isn't she? Well, better get to it then." He put his foot down and drove off down the street.
As the trio approached the reception desk, bags in tow, they tried even harder to take it all in, but the inside of NYADA made this worse. The school had a stylish and modern inside, with a white, cream and black colour scheme running through the decor. Kurt looked impressed. Rachel ran to the stern looking lady at the front of reception and said excitedly, "Hi- uh, hello! I'm Rachel, and this is Kurt and Blaine. We're new students here!"
The lady behind the counter reluctantly looked up at Rachel, and glanced behind her beaming smile to Kurt and Blaine. "Right, let me just find you on the list and I'll send you off." She stared back down at a different sheet of paper, and Rachel turned around excitedly to Kurt and Blaine, nodding her head and barely keeping herself from jumping around.
"Okay, all 3 of you will be in the co-ed dorms in the East Wing. Go down the corridor to your right and take the elevator to the 3rd floor. Classes take up the entire 2nd floor. You'll meet a supervisor on your dorm level that will provide any information needed for all of the entering students." The receptionist looked up, as if wishing that Rachel would take her enthusiasm elsewhere.
"Well, thankyou very much," said Rachel as she turned away and motioned towards Kurt and Blaine to follow. "This is all so exciting," Kurt said under his breath to Blaine, as they walked alongside each other towards the elevators. Blaine looked Kurt in the eyes and returned a smile. "I know, right! I can't believe it's all happening so quickly. I wonder what the other students are like..."
The trio squeezed their luggage all into the one elevator, and Blaine, closest to the door, hit the 3rd floor button. The moment the doors opened, they were met by a crowd of people in a hallway, running frantically around everywhere. They spotted a woman with glasses and a clipboard in the middle of the commotion, yelling instructions at anyone she possibly could. Rachel, Kurt and Blaine glanced at one another and gulped. Rachel slowly made her way over to the stressed looking lady and asked, "Uh- excuse me? Miss, we're uh, new students here. We we're just hoping you'd be able to tell us where our rooms are."
The official looking woman raised her head from her clipboard and eyed Rachel over. The name badge attached to her navy blouse said Elizabeth. She acted as though she hadn't heard Rachel's question and turned back to her clipboard. Rachel persisted, "Hey, excuse me? Elizabeth is it? Could you please help us out here?"
"Fine, hello. I'm Elizabeth and I'm also very busy so what exactly is it that you want?" she asked sparingly. Kurt stepped forward and stood beside Rachel, "Hi, Elizabeth. My name is Kurt Hummel and I do believe that my friend Rachel Berry just explained what it was that we were after. We'd like to know where our doom rooms are. That's Blaine Anderson over there," Kurt gestured towards his handsome boyfriend, "and if you could just let us know what dorm rooms we've been assigned to and how to get to them, we'll be out of your way immediately."
Elizabeth looked taken aback by Kurt's abruptness, but never the less looked all 3 of them over and went on to check their dorm room assignments. "Okay, Kurt was it? You're rooming with your friend Blaine over there, and you'll be in 3C. Rachel Berry, you'll be across the hall in 3D with..." she paused and tapped her pen on the clipboard, "Ms. Caroline Emmerson."
"Thanks!" Blaine exclaimed on behalf of all 3 of them, as Rachel and Kurt raced off. Blaine caught up just as Rachel was talking to Kurt about her new roommate. "I hope she's nice, but submissive. I can't have anyone overpowering me now can I? It's not like I'm worried, I mean it was inevitable that I be with someone new in my dorm room but here's hoping she's not as worthy as I am." Kurt just laughed at Rachel's comments. He'd learned to accept her overbearing ambition and take it light-heartedly.
The trio made it past the 3rd floor lobby crowd, and further down the hall they finally reached their rooms. Kurt noticed 3C written above a door to his left, and also got a glimpse of two figures standing just outside the doorway of the room next door. The boy and girl looked alike, both with mousey brown hair, and they were talking comfortably with each other. Kurt assumed that they were rooming together, and might be siblings.
By this stage, Rachel had already raced into her room and was relishing in the atmosphere of it all. Kurt opened his dorm room, thinking that Blaine was right behind him. As Kurt walked into 3C, he immediately noticed just how spacious the rooms were. "Blaine, oh my gosh. This place is luxurious!" yelped Kurt excitedly. He turned around to flash a smile at Blaine and found no one was standing behind him. "Blaine... Blaine?"
He dropped his bags inside the dorm and wandered back out into the hall, only to find that Blaine was introducing himself to the girl and boy standing outside of 3E. Blaine had always been very friendly, unable to stop himself from making friends everywhere he went. People just seemed to love him.
"So you guys are rooming here together? That's awesome! I'm rooming next door with- oh, Kurt! There you are!" Blaine stopped mid-sentence as his boyfriend walked over and stood by his side. "Kurt, this is Aaron Hellier and his twin sister Hillary. They're rooming together right next door to us!"
Kurt flashed a smile in the direction of the twins, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. What are you guys stud-" Kurt was cut off by a loud, frustrated groan. Behind him a young girl and a man dressed in white and black were walking down the hallway. The man was rolling a tray-full of luggage.
"Agh! Jonathan could you be any slower! Hurry up and get my bags to 3F, now! It's bad enough that father is actually making me room in this dump." The young lady was strutting down the hallway, dressed to the nines in designer clothing. Kurt's senses were picking up on all of the different labels. She was staring down at her phone, with no recognition of the attention she was gaining.
By this stage, Rachel had made her way out of her dorm room and into the doorway to see what all the noise was about. Her eyes were met by the obviously spoilt young brat that walked down the hallway as if she owned the place. The girl wasn't looking away from her phone, and wound up brushing past Rachel as she made her way to the room next door.
"Oops. Maybe you should move out of the way next time..." she looked Rachel up and down, "dwarf." Rachel looked aghast. The fashionable brunette now began to notice that Blaine, Kurt, Aaron and Hillary were all staring at her from the other side of the hall. "What are you looking at?" she snapped as she turned around to keep walking towards her room. With her back turned to the group in the hall, she yelled, "My name, for the record, is Evelyn Porter. Remember it, because you'll be seeing it lights one day."
Kurt's immediate reaction was to make sure Rachel was okay, but in wandering over to her side of the hall he only found that on the outside, she looked calm. That was in no way, a good thing. "Rachel, you're making that face again," stated Kurt.
"What face? What are you talking about?" Rachel looked up at her friend and gave him a cheeky grin that confirmed exactly what he'd been scared of. Rachel considered this Evelyn girl competition; serious competition at that. Her present face was a sign that there was going to be some intense schemes and spotlight-steals to be planned within the near future. Rachel had a gut feeling that weeding out the competition was going to be an inevitable occurrence at NYADA, and Evelyn was going to be her first victim. Rachel Berry had met her match.
"Maybe we should go for a walk, check the block out?" Blaine suggested. Aaron and Hillary offered to accompany them. Kurt and Rachel gave a nod in agreement.
"So you two are born and bred New Yorkers, huh? That's awesome!" exclaimed Blaine. Aaron and Hillary were both raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, so they knew their way around the city and became excellent guides for Kurt, Blaine and Rachel.
"Yep, and apparently at NYADA we're a rare breed. Most of the students there normally get accepted from all over the country. The only New Yorkers in our year are myself, Hillary and..." Aaron's sentence was finished by Hillary, "Evelyn Porter."
At the mention of her name, Rachel twitched. "Oh, so you guys know her already? What can you tell me about her? Any important details about her life, hobbies... weaknesses perhaps?" Rachel was giving the twins her crazy stare. Kurt nudged her out of it.
"Well yeah, Evelyn is an Upper East Side brat. She's gotten everything she's ever wanted and now all she wants is to become a star," explained Hillary.
"I don't know why she even has to study at NYADA. Evelyn's parents probably have enough money to write and stage an entire original Broadway production based around her without any experience at all, and people would still pay to watch it just because their family is so damn influential," continued Aaron. The two seemed to finish each other's sentences a lot.
"Hmm, egocentric and influential parents. Noted, thanks," said Rachel under her breath, as if making a mental addition to her brain's How To Destroy the Competition list.
Kurt, Blaine and Rachel were walking through Central Park with Aaron and Hillary. The trio from Lima explained how they each ended up in New York, finishing their story just as they passed a gazebo and a small orchestral group. Blaine got as over-excited as he always does, "Guys! Look! Can we stay and enjoy the music for a while, please?"
Aaron and Hillary glanced at each other and smirked. "You know, we have connections all over the place," said Aaron, "...and it just so happens that we love to stage impromptu performances."
Hillary was already over beside one of the musicians in the gazebo. She whispered something in the ear of an elderly man and a familiar tune began to play. Aaron smiled at the Kurt, Blaine and Rachel and opened his mouth to begin singing to the music.
Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it, New York, New York
These vagabond shoes are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it, New York, New York
Aaron carried the tune until Hillary made her way beside him again. They sang together, complimenting each other's voices. Hillary gestured for Rachel and Kurt to join in singing, and danced over to the two so as to wrap an arm around them. Aaron jumped on top of a bench, which encouraged Blaine to follow.
I want to wake up in a city, that doesn't sleep
And find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap
These little town blues, are melting away
I'll make a brand new start of it, in ol' New York
If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York
Blaine was belting out the lyrics as he danced along the edge of the gardens. Kurt was swinging around lamps, and Rachel and Hillary were bouncing around and in between the orchestra. Aaron skirted around the crowd of people that had stopped to watch their spur of the moment performance, and motioned for everyone to dance and sing along.
New York, New York
I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps
And find I'm A number 1, top of the list, king of the hill, A number 1!
The five talented young students began to make their way back towards one another, still standing in the centre of a group of passers-by. They were smiling uncontrollably as they joined to sing out the last verse.
These little town blues, are melting away
I'm gonna make a brand new start of it, in ol' New York!
And if I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York!
New York!
The song came to a close and the audience that had gathered gave a round of applause. Kurt, Rachel, Blaine, Aaron and Hillary joined hands and each gave a bow or a curtsy, unable to rub the smiles off their faces. Kurt and Blaine gave each other a tight hug, and Hillary squealed with Rachel. Aaron gathered everyone into a group hug as they continued walking.
Rachel, Kurt and Blaine looked at one another with such happiness that each looked as if they were floating on air. In that moment, they all realised that New York was where they were meant to be. Performing was what the trio were destined to do with their lives. No matter what challenges lay ahead during their time at NYADA, in the end they all knew that fate would play its part and lead them all to where they were born to be; the spotlight.
On the next chapter Kurt, Blaine and Rachel will meet the rest of the students in their dormitory and the resident New York queen, Evelyn will prove to be a match for Ms Berry. Aaron and Hillary quickly befriend the trio and fill them in on everything they need to know about NYADA; the programs, the performances and the people.