The Wounded Silence

Exhaustion had started to set in for Blaine after the fifth hour of going over the same song and dance moves again and again. He couldn't understand what kept going wrong, from what he could see, the number was perfect each time. But the producers disagreed.

He figured they must be stressed due to it being opening night tomorrow, but it was no reason to work them all to the point of collapse.

He smiled as he thought back to when he first found out he had the job. He couldn't believe his luck. He had been struggling now for two years as a jobbing stage performer, and although he was lucky in the fact that he always seemed to get parts in Broadway shows, they were always the small parts of a large ensemble. He never had the chance to shine by dancing and singing on the back row of about fifty people and he didn't get paid nowhere near as much as what his friends thought he did. Most of the time, he lived pay check to pay check, hoping he would have enough money for food and bills for the next month.

Three months ago, he had heard that the guy currently playing Marius on the huge smash hit Broadway show Les Miserables , was leaving, so naturally, Blaine auditioned.

All throughout school people had told him that he was talented, and that he was something special. He had believed in himself, he thought that one day he would make it, but sometimes… life didn't quite turn out the way you planned. He was twenty three years old with no sign of ever making it to the top, until now….

At the audition for Les Mis, he sang his heart out. He had never put so much effort into an audition before in his entire life. He was crushed when at the end of the audition, a stern looking middle aged man told him he hadn't got it. He was very blunt about it and Blaine's whole spirit had been dampened as he walked out of the theatre back to the tiny but cramped flat he shared with his best friend Sam Evans.

It was just a few hours later he received a phone call that changed his life. That same man who had filled him with disappointment earlier that day was now his beacon of hope. Blaine listened as the man told him he hadn't been right for the Les Miserables show, but if he was interested, they would like to cast him in a brand new musical as the lead role.

Of course Blaine had jumped at the chance.

The show was titled 'When I Knew You' , and he would be playing Tony Carter, a troubled young man who falls into a seedy life of alcohol and gambling, sleeping with a number of woman along the way and fleecing them for everything they own to pay for his lifestyle. He screws over every girl he meets in both senses, leaving a number of broken hearts in his wake. Then he meets Felicity Hart and falls completely and utterly in love with the sweet girl from Ohio. He falls so hard for her that he's blind to the real reason she walked into his life, he stole everything from her sister Melissa a while back and Felicity is out for revenge. 'When I Knew You' turns even darker with Felicity killing Tony the day they were supposed to get married and then right at the end of the show, her sister who was still deeply in love with Tony returns and had no clue of her sister's revenge plans murders Felicity in a fit of rage.

It was a dark , twisted tale with no happy ever after that appealed to Blaine right from the start. It was different to anything else out there and as a performer, it was the type of role he lived for. The whole production was wonderfully written, with new , original music all the way through. It was to be housed in one of the most famous theatre's on Broadway , and had already generated interest from the media and critics. Blaine knew this would either make him or break him, and by the looks of things…. It was all going to work in his favour. At least he hoped it would . When he told Sam the good news , his friend had laughed all day, saying how ironic it was that he would be playing a womanizer. This was a sore subject for Blaine.

It wasn't that he didn't want a girlfriend, it was just that he never had time. In fact, he hadn't dated anyone for three years. He had been asked out plenty of times, but nobody had interested him enough to take time away from the stage and his dream of making it. He didn't view the world the way Sam and his other friends did. He had the mind set that there was no point in dating anyone if you knew it wasn't going to go anywhere. And he was fed up of everyone around him making such a huge deal about it. He was only twenty three, he didn't have to rush into anything. Sam had the opposite approach to Blaine, at school, he had dated every single cheerleader. And not only cheerleaders, everyone else as well. Sam had a bad habit of rushing in and 'falling in love' after two dates, and as much as Blaine loved his friend for his ability to love so fiercely and quickly, it was also one of his downfalls. Right now, Sam worked as a male model and was dating some model chick with the same name as his. Blaine didn't like the girl , he thought she was shallow and conceited, and he was almost positive she was cheating on Sam with about five other guys. Sam knew this as well of course, but decided to turn a blind eye. And if that was 'love' and 'dating' then Blaine was glad he hadn't found anyone to share it with yet. He had already made the mistake of throwing away his virginity with some dancer girl in a show he was in when he was nineteen. Their relationship had soon fizzled out afterwards, and he vowed to never sleep with another girl unless he loved her. Maybe he was old fashioned, maybe he was unrealistic about love, but it was the way he was and he wasn't going to change for anything or anyone.

Blaine jumped as his director started yelling at him to get on with the song. He shook himself out of the daydream and launched into the song again, still feeling completely worn out. This number was his favourite in the show though, it was the song on the morning of Felicity and Tony's wedding day, and Felicity has just told Tony straight out that she is going to kill him. As she's holding a gun to his head, he starts singing. It's an emotional number and by the end , he's on his knees pleading with her to shoot him. He is hurt so much by the fact that the one woman he loves doesn't love him back that death would be an easy option.

As Blaine sung, he noticed his co-star start to wobble. It had been a long day and the pressure was enormous on all of them to make this work. It was rare that new shows on Broadway made an impact and they all had too much to lose for this not to work. At first, he didn't think anything of it, he just put it down to every one of them feeling shattered from the rehearsals. It was only when he was on his knees at the end of the song looking into her eyes that he realised she really didn't look too good. She was pale and her face was covered in a sheen of sweat. He cried out as just at the point her character was supposed to pull the trigger, she fell backwards instead. Blaine managed to catch her before she hit her head, but she was out cold. She had fainted. The producers called for an ambulance and everyone anxiously waited for news. An hour later, they all got the news they were dreading. She wouldn't be able to return to the role. She was exhausted and would be put on strict bed rest for the next two weeks. And to deliver another blow, she didn't want to return to the role when she was better either. She wanted her understudy to have it.

Blaine watched as the producer phoned the understudy, and by the time he had hung up… he knew something was seriously wrong. It turned out that the understudy had got wind of what had happened and she didn't want to do the role either. She was too worried in case the same thing happened to her. Blaine groaned, wondering what the hell they were going to do. This was the last thing they all needed before opening night. If they had to cancel the show, Blaine didn't know how he would handle that. He had worked his ass off for this part, and to have it hanging in the balance terrified him.

He looked around sadly at the stage that was already all set up for the show, then walked over to the producer. He was just about to ask what the hell they were going to do when they heard footsteps behind them, echoing on the stage.

Blaine's breath caught as a beautiful girl walked up to them. She was dressed all in black, and as she got closer, he realised she was one of the theatre staff. Her black t-shirt had the theatre's name emblazoned on the front. Her long brunette hair was in a braid dangling over her shoulder, and she had the biggest brown eyes he had ever seen. She looked at Blaine somewhat shyly, then at the producer.

"Hi…I'm Rachel Berry. I…. uh… I couldn't help overhearing what happened. I was at the front of house when word got back to us that both the lead female and her understudy have dropped out. That's pretty shit."

Blaine tried not to laugh at her perfect summary of events, while the producer glared at her angrily.

"Yes. It's shit all right. Now if you'll excuse us Miss Berry, we have to figure out just how we are going to clear this 'shit' up."

Rachel glanced at Blaine again, then back at the producer.

"I'm just going to say it straight out and cut all the politeness…. I can play Felicity."

Blaine was completely stunned as his producer laughed out loud, looking Rachel up and down in amusement.

"You…. you can play Felicity? You have got to be screwing with me."

Rachel shook her head .

"No. Not at all sir. I know the part. I adore musical theatre and the only job I have been able to get is selling tickets at the front of the house. Nobody has ever taken a chance on me and I know I can do it. I took the liberty of copying sheet music and scripts a few weeks ago, and I know the part of Felicity well."

Blaine pursed his lips together, trying not to laugh. This girl was something else. She stole the script? Well this was a turn up for the books.

"You are crazy young lady. I can't just give the part to some girl who is stealing our scripts and music. I'm sure something else will turn up. Now get out of here before I think of seeing what the punishment is for theft of our scripts and music."

Blaine watched as Rachel went from looking scared, to disappointed. He knew that look all too well. It was the same look on his face every time he had failed to get a part he wanted. Although, it must have been even worse for her, she was stuck as a ticket seller. She had never even made it on to a Broadway stage. He shuddered at the thought of not being able to do what he loved.

"Can you sing?"

Rachel and the producer looked at him in shock as he asked her the question. She nodded her head enthusiastically as she looked back at the producer, her eyes full of hope.

"Look, just let me try out. Please. I can do this…. Every day for the last three weeks I have sneaked in to the back on the pretence of cleaning or something, just to watch you guys rehearse." Blaine raised an eyebrow at this news. How come he had never seen her before? Surely he would have remembered her. She was gorgeous. "How about the song where Felicity meets Tony and he starts to fall for her? Let me perform it for you and then if you still think it's a ridiculous idea, I will back off."

The producer looked like he was about to protest again. Blaine was curious to see if she could do it. The song she was talking about, 'A Man Like You' was hugely trying on whoever played Felicity. It happens just after she meets Tony at the casino where he is happily gambling away money that isn't his. He catches sight of her, and is instantly enthralled. He chases her for a date and she sings him this number about how she could never date a man like him. Of course, the act of chasing her and working hard for her makes Tony fall all the harder and by the end of the song, he is putty in her hands. There are a lot of high notes in the seven minute song, and it's a physically tiring performance as she insists she can't possibly be with him, and runs away at every turn. If this girl could perform that song, then she could easily do the whole show.

Blaine made his way to the middle of the stage, gesturing for Rachel to follow, then he looked at his producer and shrugged.

"We have nothing to lose by letting her try out. We might as well let her have a go while we figure out if there is any other option."

The producer sighed heavily as Rachel smiled at Blaine gratefully. The smile felt like a bolt of electricity going through him, he didn't think he had ever seen a smile so pretty.

"Fine. Let's get this over with then."

The producer walked over to the side of the stage and motioned for the orchestra to start the song. For the first time in weeks, Blaine felt nervous. He had no idea why. He had performed this song over and over again in the last few days. He didn't even have to do much in this one apart from act like a love sick puppy and follow her around throughout. Looking at Rachel right now, he knew he wasn't going to have to act that hard during this. If one smile could take his breath away, then it would be easy to pretend like she was everything he had ever wanted.

As she started singing, he was completely floored. Her voice was stunning. He couldn't believe it. He managed a quick glance at the producer who was also staring at her in astonishment. She was word perfect, note perfect and just…. Perfect.

In the middle of the song where 'Felicity' has to run her hand slowly down 'Tony's'' chest before pushing him away, Blaine completely froze for a moment. He managed to get his composure back just about, and at the end, when the producer told Rachel she could have the part and ran out to tell everyone the good news, Blaine grinned at her, his heart still racing from her touch.

"Congratulations. You really do know the part."

She nodded and smiled shyly.

"I'm a bit of a theatre nerd. I live for it. I can't believe he's just given me the part. Oh my God. Is this real? Is this really happening?"

He chuckled at her shock, nodding his head as he watched her dazed expression.

"It's all real."

She squealed with excitement and ran over to him , throwing her arms around his neck in a hug. He gasped at first, then reluctantly put an arm around her back gently. He didn't know why he was so terrified to touch her, he would have to be making out with her on stage every night from now on. He gulped at the thought. What was wrong with him? He hadn't acted like this with the other 'Felicity' .

"This is all thanks to you. He wouldn't have let me sing if you hadn't of persuaded him."

He shrugged and stepped away, wondering why the hell his cheeks felt hot.

"You shouldn't thank me just yet. Any second now, he's going to walk back in and demand you start rehearsing the show from the beginning. He is going to make you rehearse so hard until this show opens tomorrow night that you will be wanting to kill me, not thank me."

Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she grinned. She really did have the prettiest smile.

"For somebody who has been trying to catch a break on Broadway since I left school, being rehearsed to the point of exhaustion for a main part in a show sounds like heaven to me. So I really do mean the thanks. Besides, I get to kill you on stage, I don't want to do it in real life as well."

They were both laughing as the producer walked back on to the stage, informing them that they were to run through the show from the start straight away.

Blaine watched Rachel run back stage while he took his place centre stage for the opening number. He was scared, excited and nervous all at the same time. He couldn't figure out if he was looking forward to the kiss scene or dreading it. All he knew was that he felt funny.

This show had taken on a whole new meaning for him now that he would be playing opposite Rachel Berry.