Set sometime after Big Brother in season 3.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee.
Most students find themselves counting down the minutes to the final bell on a friday afternoon, and students at McKinley are certainly no exception. In fact, Blaine was pretty confident that every student in his german class was counting down the last five minutes, and they were lasting for an infinity.
Kurt, on the other hand, was not watching the clock ticker further towards the end of his life, but that was mainly due to the fact that there was no clock in the boys locker room. He'd had games last, but he was in a much happier mood than normal – his parents were taking Sam to visit his parents, so Kurt was having Blaine over for the weekend. Plus Blaine's brother Cooper was filming in Westerville, and was coming to Lima to take the boys out on Saturday evening.
When the bell finally rang, Blaine was the first out of the classroom, and he made his way to Kurt's locker. He waited dutifully for the blue-eyed boy – his blue-eyed boy – and met him with one of his cheery grins as he saw him emerge from the swarm of teenagers.
"Blaine!" The boy smiled. Blaine loved that smile.
"Hey, Kurt! How was your afternoon?" Blaine joked, nudging his boyfriend lightly in the ribs. He knew Kurt had games last on a friday, and he was all too aware that sport and his eccentric, fashion-crazy boyfriend didn't really mix – like ice cream and baked beans as Mercedes had explained it to him. Kurt nudged Blaine in reply and set off down the corridor towards the choir room. The smaller boy ambled along beside him.
"Are you looking forward to the weekend?" Blaine enquired.
"It's going to be great!" The older boy smiled, looking down into the hazel eyes. "Carole took me shopping for food supplies yesterday, but I don't think she caught onto the fact that you'd be eating rather than Finn, despite the fact that I picked out all your favourites." The ex-Warbler smiled at Kurt.
"I brought some of our favourite DVDs. Cooper had 'borrowed' a couple, but I found them in the attic." Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Your favourite DVDs." He emphasised. Kurt may enjoy the Harry Potter series, but he always found musicals a much more entertaining watch. His boyfriend, on the other hand, seemed to be able to quote his way through all eight movies backwards.
"They're so epic that they should be everybody's favourite movies." The smaller boy defended, dragging his boyfriend through the door of the choir room. "Sam would agree!" He added, catching sight of the blonde-haired boy who looked up at the mention of his name.
Before the boys had a chance to debate (they never argued) further, Mr Schuster entered the room, and everyone took their seats.
"As you are all aware we are three weeks away from nationals. I thought today we'd run through all our numbers, and decide on the weak points to focus on for the remaining time." Mr Schuster paused for breath, and Rachel was ready to pounce in.
"I think that is a splendid idea," she continued. "I think we should start with the group number, since Finn and I have perfected our ballad already." Santana rolled her eyes at Sam, who smirked. Rachel didn't seem to notice.
"The group number it is." Mr Schuster interrupted before Rachel had a chance to continue. "Ok guys, let's warm up!" He beckoned the kids to the front and sat himself down.
Mr Schuster watched the group with awe. He remembered seeing so many of these kids shuffling around the school a few years ago. Tina with her stutter, Mike who always had his head in a book, Rachel who was always alone, Kurt who always looked sad unless he was with Mercedes, even Finn who thought little about his studies.
See nobody tells me how its going to be, nobody's going to make a fool out of me
Watching them bounce around the room, smiles upon their faces, singing their hearts out, he felt a pang of nostalgia. For many of them this was their last competition, their last few weeks at the school, and he was sad to see them go.
Yeah, you think that you know me, know me. That's why I'm leaving you lonely, lonely.
As Blaine burst into his solo he thought about the Dalton boy. He'd seen his file and he was still amazed at how confident and proud the boy could be after everything he'd been through. He was there for Kurt when most of them weren't, and Mr Schue was entirely grateful for the happiness the boy had brought to their glee club.
You don't know a thing about me, yeah, you don't -
Mr Schuster was drawn from his thoughts as the ex-Warbler stopped mid-phrase and froze, still standing at the top of the staggered seating area, eyes glued to the door.
"Carry on, Blaine." encouraged Rachel, looking up at the Warbler.
"Yeah, carry on, Blaine." Mr Schuster didn't recognise the voice.
The band stopped playing, and the other New Directions turned to look at the door. Mr Schue turned his gaze to the door. A tall man with dark brown hair was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed, and looking at Blaine, slightly bemused. Mr Schuster hadn't seen him arrive, and by the shocked faces of the other members, he suspected they hadn't either.
"Sorry, can we help you?" asked Mr Schue, standing up and heading over to the door.
"I'm looking for Cooper Anderson." the man replied, turning his gaze to Mr Schuster. "I saw in the newspaper he ran a little acting class here." The other members of the glee club turned to look at Blaine, who was still standing, staring at the man.
"I'm afraid it was a one off. He isn't a permanent teacher here." replied Mr Schuster. "I think he's in Westerville at the minute." He turned his head to Blaine for confirmation. Blaine didn't reply. Kurt nodded his head.
"Well, that's too bad." smiled the man. "Thank you for your help." And with this he turned and left.
Mr Schuster and the other New Directions remained silent, and turned to look at Blaine, clearly seeking some kind of explanation. But that was not going to happen any time soon, for the school was suddenly submerged in a blackout, sending the New Directions into a confused and anxious chatter. Brittany, who was not a fan of the dark since Lord Tubbington used it to have his secret gang meetings, let out a gasp and reached out for Santana's hand. Santana stepped closer, knocking over a chair in the process. The large bang caused everyone to fall silent. Through the air thick with tension Kurt heard some quiet muffling. He realised it was coming from where Blaine had been standing, and quickly followed the sound. Before he could get much further, however, he walked into the side of the piano, wincing at the blow, and was stopped as Sam put out a hand onto his arm.
"The power will come back in a minute." he reassured. "You'll only hurt yourself if you move about." Kurt knew Sam was right, but he was also worried about Blaine. He was about to shake off Sam's hand when a door closed, and the lights came back on.
"Just a powercut." reassured Mr Schuster. "Let's get back to rehearsals.
Everyone seemed to let out the breath they were holding. Everyone except Kurt, however, who noticed that Blaine was nowhere to be seen.
More is on the way...
The song lyrics are from Mr Know It All by Kelly Clarkson.