2. Kurt
"Rise and shine, New York! Wake up, sleepy heads, rub your eyes and get up of that bed." Kurt shut off the radio alarm and took a deep breath.
Six a.m., the city was alive, but he felt rather dead. He crawled to the kitchen where he poured two cups of coffee. Kurt held both in one hand, knocked on his roommate's door and came in.
"Get up." He handed her the other cup once she had sat up.
"Every single morning the same verse. Seriously, is there anything else to say to wake people up or is it just Broadway Station is as lame as the people that listen to it? Next time I hear a fucking show tune I swear to God that I'll throw your clock out of the window." She took a long sip and put the cup down on the night stand. She laid back and covered her face with the pillow.
"You're so lovely when you wake up, Santana. You're the light that illuminates our shitty apartment." Kurt answered sarcastically.
"Shut the fuck up."
They had moved in together one and a half months ago. Kurt had a thing against dorms, so when he got, quoting him, "the best phone call ever, even better than yours. Sorry, Blainey, I love you" he convinced Santana to find an apartment for both of them.
He loved NYADA. He won. Finally. He loved his first day. Nineteen other soul mates. Nineteen other people he'd have to crush if he really wanted to make his way to Broadway.
"Are you still thinking of her?" Santana asked.
"She wasn't there. And she wasn't on any list either. There's nothing else I can do. She didn't answer my calls, my texts, my e-mails. I even sent her a carrier pigeon and nothing."
Rachel Berry was the first person Kurt called when he was told that he would attend NYADA that September. She didn't pick up the phone. Neither that day nor the other 43 days he tried to reach her. He thought that she would be too busy meeting the stardom, but when he first walked into "their" classroom, Kurt only found twelve Berry-like girls, but not the original one.
"Do you think she's with Finn?" Santana wondered.
"I talked to Finn last night and he didn't know anything about her."
Kurt and Santana's breakfast had become a ritual. Though they had never been the closest friends, they really enjoyed drinking their black coffee, talking about life and staring at the wall during the long silences.
"I miss her too."
Kurt frowned at Santana. "You miss Rachel?"
"No!" She kicked Kurt in his back. "Brittany. The way you miss him." Santana finished her cup and stood up.
"You have to start using fewer pronouns." He mumbled. After a pause, he continued. "The difference between us, my dear Mrs. Lopez, is that your lover trusts you and mine set me free." Kurt said those three words with sarcasm.
Santana stripped down to her underwear and went to the bathroom. "That little bastard Finned you."
"Excuse me?"
"He Finned you. He's one foot shorter but he thinks that he's some kind of hero by letting you go."
Kurt knew she was right. Blaine was excited for his boyfriend, but the whole Rachel and Finn's break up confused him. The night before Kurt flew to New York Blaine told him that he didn't want to weigh him down. And what did that mean? That he wanted Kurt to find another guy in New York? That he wasn't ready for a long-distance relationship? That he wanted to date other guys without remorse?
"Whatever." New York was making Kurt stronger. "We are not together anymore, I'm okay with it."
While Santana was showering, Kurt brushed his teeth. "Today is Brittany's first day, isn't it?" He asked with his mouth full of toothpaste.
"Head Cheerio, New Directions' leader, Senior President… that's my girl."
"I thought Becky was co-captain with you. And Tina and Artie told me that they were going to claim every single solo they've been denied all these years. And I don't think she's going to get reelected, Santana." Kurt chucked, almost choking with the toothbrush.
"Shut up, Hummel, you're jealous because she beat you." Then there was another pause. "I'm gonna go to Lima this weekend." She said finally.
Santana missed her girlfriend so bad, and Kurt could see it. She might be the number one bitch, but that blondie had really touched her heart.
"You wanna come with me?"
"I… I don't know…"
He spent ten minutes looking into the mirror. He felt tired, heartbroken, lonely… but living his dream.
The stage of the auditorium number three of New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts lit up for Kurt Hummel. It was his audition for the annual musical. They would have to write it themselves, but he wanted to get the lead role, no matter what.
There was one thing he learnt back at McKinley. If you have to go on stage and you don't feel like it, leave your heart in the dressing room and use the hole to make your voice sound louder. So he stood in the middle of the stage and faked his brightest smile.
[Cabaret - Liza Minnelli]
Kurt:
What good is sitting alone in your room?
Come hear the music play.
Life is a cabaret, old chum.
Come to the cabaret.
Put down the knitting, the book and the broom.
It's time for a holiday.
Life is a cabaret, old chum.
Come to the cabaret.
Come taste the wine.
Come hear the band.
Come blow a horn.
Start celebrating; right this way, your table's waiting.
What good's permitting some prophet of doom
to wipe every smile away.
Life is a cabaret, old chum.
So come to the cabaret!
Kurt danced gracefully, nailed every note and bowed to the audience. An audience that appreciated his talent. An audience that made him feel home.