[A/N: Aaaand here's another. Thank the stars I'm being even this productive! This is a two-part story primarily because it turned out so long I thought it best to break it up and post it. A few readers wanted a story with an extended role for my OC Valerie, so I hope this satisfies! I hope to post the next part sometime before next weekend, work pressure permitting! Anyhoo... Enjoy, and do leave a word if you liked it!]

Oh wow! When did things get so complicated? How could this have happened in front of my eyes and how could I not even have seen it?! How did it all even start?

But wait. Now I get it. Now it all makes sense! So that's what it was really all about!


"No."

"But why not?!"

"Because it's not my thing!"

"Don't be silly! You've never even done one before! How can you know it's not your thing?!"

"Well... coz I know, alright?"

"Aw, c'mon, Drae! It'd be so cool!"

"Romancing you? Yeah right!"

"Oh shut up! Why do you always have to think that way? It's the lead, ok, and I think you'd be perfect as Drew!"

"I don't want to be in a stupid musical, ok?! I'm a rockstar."

"And this is Rock of Ages! You loved the show!"

"Doesn't mean I ever want to be in it!"

"I give up. You're an impossible git!"

"Why thankee kindly!"

"Urrrghhh!"


Drake watched Valerie stomp away in sheer frustration after having failed to convince him to play the male romantic lead opposite her in their high school's production of Rock of Ages. He settled back on the couch, not particularly happy that he'd pissed off his sister, but glad that he'd been able to hold his own for once against her.

He sighed when Blaine pointedly took up the seat just vacated by Val.

There was that pregnant silence, the pre-cursor to every one of Blaine's paternal lectures, but this time it was Drake who chose to snap it.

"Betcha gonna tell me I was outta line with Val just now?" he sighed.

Blaine merely shrugged.

"You reckon you were out of line with Val just now?"

A frown of exasperation began forming on Drake's brows.

"Quit playing games, Dad! Just say what you have to say to me."

Blaine looked over at his son, as though measuring him up with his eyes, then asked softly,

"What's your dream role?"

Drake looked at him, frankly surprised.

"What?"

"What's your dream role? In any musical?"

Drake shrugged and shook his head, not saying anything.

Blaine didn't press him.

They sat in silence, watching the soccer game play out on the TV until they heard Kurt's shout out for dinner.

Blaine was about to lift himself off from his seat, when he heard a soft voice beside him say,

"Stacee Jaxx."

"What?" This time it was Blaine's turn to feel surprised.

"Stacee Jaxx. The ultimate rockstar. You wanted to know? Well then, that's my dream role."

Blaine frowned, perplexed.

"Then what are you waiting for, son?! Go get it! This could be the opportunity of a lifetime!"

Drake fidgeted, looking uncertain.

"I'm only a freshman, Dad. There's no way they're gonna give such an iconic role to me."

Blaine grinned, coming forward to clap Drake on the shoulder.

"Who says they're gonna give it to you? You've gotta go out there and take it from them!"


Kurt studied the boy sitting beside him with an unusual amount of interest. It wasn't usual for Steven to ask for advice. And especially not from him. And most especially not in matters such as these!

Kurt had never even known him to be interested in music before!

Yet here he was, perched on the very edge of the couch, twisting his fingers in his lap and unable to meet his eyes, begging for his help in landing a role in the school musical.

A small smile curled across Kurt's face. He was willing to bet whatever he had that there was a girl in the picture somewhere.


"Go with Guns n' Roses or Aerosmith for the audition. You've gotta give them something big. But not 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'. Not yet. Not for the audition. That would most certainly be going for overkill. But you'll still need to show them you own the stage. Every single inch of it."

Blaine paced up and down the basement as he laid out his gameplan to prep Drake before his big audition. Drake watched him from the floor, sitting with his knees drawn up to his chin.

"Stacee Jaxx is a larger than life figure and yeah, you're right, they'd probably never consider a freshman for the job. But you," Blaine jabbed a finger in the direction of his son, "Are no ordinary freshman. You are the ONLY one who can pull off Stacee. That's what we've gotta go for here. We have to blow the competition out of the water before they even start!"

Drake huffed and pulled a hand through his hair.

"So whaddya think I should sing, Dad?"

Blaine tapped his chin.

" 'Paradise City', ideally. But any other GnR/ Aerosmith/ ACDC song along the same lines ought to do fine. Take your pick, kiddo. But remember, make it as sensational as you possibly can."


Kurt pursed his lips, bouncing his patent-leather clad feet gently in the air as he mulled their choices.

"The thing about Drew is he has to be flexible. Angry young man rock n' roll to little boy pop. He's got to be able to pull off both equally convincingly. But before that, we need a little preview of your singing voice, Steven. For Drake, I'd have suggested 'I've Been Waiting' without a doubt, but... for you... I don't want you to do 'Juke Box Hero' or 'Rock You Like a Hurricane', those would be right up your street. Drew is lead, so you'll be looking to impress the producers to land it. Go for something more heartfelt. We'll try 'Every Rose Has Its Thorns' and 'Here I Go Again' and pick between the two, ok?"

Steven looked more uncomfortable than ever.


"Wait, you... what?! Since when do you sing, man?!"

Brent shuffled his feet in front of his best friend, blushing a little despite himself.

"Yeah, well, Rock of Ages was pretty cool and it'll probably be epic when we do it and I didn't want to be fighting you for Stacee Jaxx, so... Just thought I'd try out, ya know?"

Drake was still unable to believe his ears but he let out a loud guffaw and slapped his friend on the back.

"Well, I definitely hope you get it then! You'll make Drew real badass, man! I can't wait to see it!"

Brent regarded Drake out of the corner of his eyes, but he seemed genuinely excited and happy for him. It only made his heart constrict further in his chest.


Valerie marched down the hallway locker stacks, a sheet of paper clutched tightly in her fist, her eyes nearly bulging with incredulity.

"You're playing Drew?!"

Brent nearly jumped at the unexpected encounter and tried to get a proper look at the sheet being brandished in his face.

"I- I got it?"

He sagged weakly against his locker, the beginnings of a wave of euphoria spreading through his chest. This was probably the best thing to have ever happened to him in his life!

"Yeah!" Valerie still couldn't contain her outrage.

"I can't believe it! You're a freshman! And I didn't even know you sang! I was positive it was going to be Tyler. He's a senior and especially perfect for the part..."

Valerie's voice trailed away, a sappy faraway look entering her eyes.

Which was probably why she didn't notice the glower entering Brent's eyes and the set of his jaw before he slammed the door of his locker, abruptly jerking her out of her reverie and stalking down the hallway in the opposite direction for his next class.

Valerie looked on after him in annoyance, her hands planted on her hips.

It was the role of her career and wasn't it just her luck to be paired up with a kid!


"Hey, uh... Dad?"

Kurt looked up this time to find his son regarding him a trifle more hesitantly than he normally did, so he smiled encouragingly and patted the bed beside him.

"What's up, son?"

"I think I need your help with something."

Kurt's heart started beating faster. He knew Drake generally preferred going to Blaine whenever he needed any help, just like Valerie preferred coming to him. It had been an embarrassingly long time since he'd had an opportunity to connect with his son one-to-one. Mentally, he rebuked himself for it and resolved never to let it be this long again.

"Mmhmm?" he responded, sitting up to pay closer attention.

Drake fidgeted with the bedsheets.

"Look, I know you're not exactly into rock glamour so much, but I just got the role of Stacee Jaxx in the school's production of Rock of Ages and... I think I'm gonna need your help and expertise if I want to do this right."

Kurt's eyes widened in surprise.

"You got picked for... Stacee Jaxx?! Oh my God, Drake! That's so wonderful! I'm so proud of you, sweetheart!"

Drake smiled lop-sidedly, glad to hear his father's praise.

Kurt wrapped him in his arms, squeezing tight even though the teenager wriggled in protest.

"Daaaad! Leggo!"

Kurt grinned, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he finally drew back.

"Don't you worry, honey, I think I've got the perfect costume idea for you!"


Surprisingly, Valerie found, Brent was turning out to be a very good Drew opposite her Sherri. He was very easy to work with, and his emotions seemed to come to him quite naturally. Reluctantly she found herself complimenting him.

"You know, I never really thought of you as an actor, Brent."

They were sharing Red Bulls in the cafeteria in between rehearsals. Right now, Drake was on-stage, preparing for his intimate scene with the girl playing Constance.

Brent looked over at her with an eyebrow raised rather smugly.

"Guess you don't know everything about me yet then."

Val gave him a playful shove.

"Don't get so cocky!"

Brent feigned hurt.

"Cocky?! But I was only making a statement of fact!"

Val regarded him archly.

"Statement of fact, huh?"

Brent leaned back, his eyes hooded. Val leaned forward.

"Like what, for instance?"

"Like the fact, for instance, that I try to work extra hard when I'm around you 'cause you're so perfect in the role that I'm dead scared of embarrassing you."

Val was caught totally off-guard. She blinked twice, blankly, before hurriedly drawing back.

"What?"

It came out far huskier than she'd intended and for some reason she felt her cheeks growing hot.

"I think you're really talented, Valerie. You're one of the most talented women I've ever met and... I know I've never told you this before... but I've always felt a little intimidated by you."

Val had to try hard to keep her jaw from dropping. Brent and her little brother had been the best of friends from a very early age and had pretty much grown up together. So she'd never really thought much more of him than as a kid and hadn't realized that he'd noticed her at all. But there wasn't a trace of falsity in Brent's tone and his expression was equally earnest. For the first time in her life, she actually found herself looking at Brent, not just as a kid or as her brother's best friend, but as a young man in his own right, and too her surprise, she found she was rather impressed by what she saw.

Brent had had a rough childhood. His father had been a good-for-nothing alcoholic who had abandoned his mother and him when Brent had been very young. His mother had moved in with her sister in New York and after several odd waitressing jobs, had turned to drink herself. Nowadays, she was more likely to be in a stupor than out of one and Brent was being raised (sort of) extremely reluctantly by his aunt and uncle. She knew how important Drake's friendship was for Brent, and that their house was probably the only place he felt at all welcome. They had all unconsciously adopted him into their family a long time ago and she had almost stopped noticing how often he was simply there at their house and staying for dinner.

He, however, was one of those guy-guys, in severe contrast to her fathers, who was never completely comfortable expressing their emotions or talking too much about themselves, but his fondness and gratitude to the Hummel-Andersons had always been evident in his behaviour with them. He'd never let the troubled situation in his own family life create any sort of tension in theirs. Brent treated Drake like a brother and their fathers with the utmost respect and with her, he'd never been anything less than accomodating. But, Valerie was slowly coming to realize, maybe his polite reticence had only masked the growth of a certain distant fascination with her, perhaps the only positive female figure in his life, and that till now, like all teenage boys, he'd simply been to shy to articulate it.

Good God! Valerie thought to herself, did Brent like her?! But she had always considered him as a sort of second little brother herself! Could she ever treat him as something... more?

She found her eyes travelling over his physique. He was tall, though not as much as Drake, and handsome, in a rugged street-smart sort of way, with shoulder length sandy-brown curls and a never-quite completely shaved stubble. He was well-built and even though he hardly worked out, his sleeveless t-shirt stretched attractively over his shoulders and chest. His eyes, which often seemed hooded and guarded, held depths Val realized she found enigmatic and his rogue-ish lop-sided grin was one some women might have found incredibly sexy.

All of a sudden, Val felt herself getting unusually flustered and her hands were trembling slightly. She tried to cover it up by standing up abruptly and stuffing her hands in her pockets, attempting to maintain a cool exterior.

"Yeah, well, thanks. I- I mean you really needn't have. I'm... just me, ya know."

She shrugged a little lamely.

Brent flashed that winning grin at her as he got up too.

"But you're really something, Val."

He preceded her, striding out the cafeteria door and Val leaned for a moment against the table, wondering why her heart was threatening to beat right out of her chest.


"So is he bigger than me?" her brother playfully teased, glancing up from the comic book he was reading at the opposite end of the bed.

Valerie frowned in irritation.

"What're you talking about?"

"The guy you're dating," he stated simply.

Valerie struggled to keep her face impassive.

"Oh? And how do you know I'm dating anyone? I broke up with Kevin almost three months ago."

"Oh please!" Drake huffed in indignation, "You haven't stopped texting since we got back home!"

Val's fingers paused in the air above her phone's touchscreen, alarmed. Had she been that obvious?!

"You haven't answered my question. Is he bigger than me?"

Val scowled at him, more to hide her own trepidation than any actual concern.

"Why do you want to know?"

Drake shrugged non-chalantly.

"So I know how much protection I'm going to need when I go over to beat him up for harbouring unchaste thoughts about my sister like the good little over-protective brother that I am."

This time, Val caught him smack in the face with her pillow.


She felt the little stars bursting somewhere inside her brain as she came down from her orgasmic high and giggled breathlessly into her lover's bare, sweaty shoulder.

"Ok... wow! Like... wow!"

Her lover shifted himself and collapsed next to her, breathing heavily himself.

"Wow to you too!"

She turned an unadulteratedly exhilarated grin to him and scooted closer. He stretched out his arm so she could nestle against him.

"Happy anniversary, sweetheart," he whispered, tenderly kissing the lobe of her ear.

She looked up to meet his lips in a long, heated kiss.

"Two years. How did we make it this long?"

He shrugged in mock-humility.

"Maybe because I'm the best actor off Broadway and a master of disguise to boot?"

She smacked him playfully but he caught her arms and they rolled about, tickling and wrestling until they came up in an entirely inappropriate position.

"You do realize you're risking your life continuing this doomed affair with me, don't you?"

His eyes widened.

"Doomed? Affair?! I thought this was the real deal!"

Val sighed with exaggerated patience.

"Brent. I am guarded by not one, not two, but three over-protective males. How long do you think we'll be able to keep this up?"

Brent snaked an arm behind his head and looked at her with a curious expression.

"Really? Could've fooled me! So where have these three over-protective males been for the last two years?"

Val jabbed his chest with her finger.

"Only because you're a snake in the grass and have made mince-meat of their implicit trust in you!"

Brent grinned without the slightest hint of shame.

"Ah but who can resist such devilish temptation as you, my beloved?"

Val twisted her lips.

"You're lucky I came away to college early on, or you'd have had nowhere to hide your sorry ass!"

Brent reached down under the sheets and did something to make his girlfriend squeal.

"My sorry ass indeed! Watch who you're calling yellow, woman! Remember me once doing this on someone's basement couch?"

Swiftly he caught her up in his arms and flipped her over, pinning her under him and bringing his face dangerously close to hers.

Val's heart rate quickly tripled as she felt his hot breaths against her face and looked into the smouldering fire in his eyes. A familiar heat flared again between her legs. She raked her nails lightly down his back, making him shiver with anticipation.

"I love you, Valerie Hummel-Anderson, and I don't care if you have two fathers or twenty. You are mine forever and you better never forget that."

Despite the circumstances, Val gave him a wry grin.

"Oh but it's not my fathers I would be worried about if I were you, my tiger. More like my brother... and your best friend!"


"I want to marry your daughter."

Absolute pin-drop silence descended around the dinner table as Steven Brent got to his feet to make this statement as they were just wrapping up a lovely Sunday dinner. The three other men sitting around the table froze rather comically, Drake even with a spoon of pudding halfway to his mouth.

Valerie's eyes were fixated upon him and Brent was beginning to get a little unnerved by the lack of response. He shifted his feet uncomfortably, a heated flush beginning to creep up the side of his neck.

"You... what?"

Kurt's voice was soft with a dangerous edge attached to it.

"I...uh- would be honoured to be allowed your daughter's hand in marriage."

Brent forced himself to look Kurt in the eyes. He could be terrifying when pulling his anger-simmering-just-below-the-surface act.

"You?!"

Drake's voice was simply disbelieving.

"Why?!"

Brent's cold gaze found his best friend's frankly astonished one.

"Because we've been dating for the last three years and I have been in love with her for far more."

Drake had gotten off his chair and was coming round to face him. Brent couldn't quite read the look in his eyes.

"Drae..." his sister hissed, trying to caution him, but seemingly to no avail.

He and Brent were now face to face.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this before-"

He didn't have a chance to complete his sentence. Drake's punch caught him square in the jaw, completely unprepared. He crumpled as though he was made of tin-foil.