The Stranger's Son

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…Chapter Four… Something's Coming

The idle chatter that had surrounded the rehearsal room immediately subsided the moment Blaine entered. Kurt could hardly contain the awe he held in that moment for Blaine with the respect the Warblers were showing him. Except everyone in the room was looking at Kurt.

Three of the Warblers were sitting at a desk at the front of the room, one of them with a gavel in his hand. He looked the most serious of them all. His eyes were still on Kurt when he spoke, "Blaine, we're glad you could finally join us but you know the rules. We can't allow any new members to the club this close to sectionals."

"Relax Wes," Blaine assured, "This is Monsieur Hummel, our new French teacher. I invited him to look in our auditions today."

The change in Wes was immediate, "Ah bonjour Monsieur. And welcome to glee club. Will you be escorting us to sectionals?"

"Oui!" Kurt replied cheerily, "It will be my pleasure to. Now let's see what you've got."

"Please," a friendly darker boy invited, "Take a seat. Nick Warbler, you're up first."

The boy named Nick got up looking a little nervous. Kurt took a seat closest to the door, as the CD started and recognized the first notes of Coldplay's Yellow as it began to play. Two minutes in and there was no doubt that Nick's voice was amazing. All trace of nervousness had left him the moment he had begun singing and when he finished Kurt took no hesitation in applauding him. It was clear that Nick really wanted the solo.

Next up was Thad, a sophomore Kurt remembered from his previous French class, followed by a blonde boy named Jeff who Kurt recognized too; he was the student who had complimented his beret earlier. The Warblers were all just as fantastic as each other and Kurt couldn't make up his mind about who deserved the solo, because so far, he wasn't sure who he had liked best; he was amazed by all the performances he had seen. And Kurt loved voicing his opinion but he was glad he didn't have to make one this afternoon.

A round-faced boy who reminded Kurt a great deal of Neville Longbottom – his name was Trent – was up next but he announced that he was withdrawing from the auditions after "some thinking." Kurt couldn't blame him—he'd probably be tempted to withdraw too if he was made to go on after performances like the ones he had just seen. But then again, Kurt knew his own voice and range were perfect. God knows, he was the type of performer who made others nervous to go on after him.

As another student of his – Sebastian Smythe – got up to perform, Kurt found himself wondering when Blaine was going to get up. He knew the boy was good, knew the Warblers loved him and that it was his solo that had won the Warblers the championship last year. So he couldn't see why anyone would not want to see him perform after learning all of that. And yes, that was the only reason he was excited to hear him sing. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself.

Although all the performances so far had been exceptional, Kurt didn't think much of Sebastian's voice. It was okay but definitely not solo worthy. In fact there was no way that voice could win the Warblers any competition. The only solo Sebastian would be worthy of was in front of an elderly audience at a nursing home—and then only if they took to his meerkat face.

Kurt's feelings of course, had nothing to do with the fact that the whole time Sebastian had sung he had only had eyes for Blaine. Kurt couldn't tell if Blaine was annoyed or flattered by the flirting—his reactions shouldn't mean anything to Kurt anyway—but Kurt was immediately distracted by the fact that it was now Blaine's turn to sing.

"Blaine?" Wes asked, "We don't have any record of the song you'll be singing today."

But Blaine just shrugged, "I'm sure you'll recognize it the second it starts playing."

Well, Kurt didn't know about the Warblers but he certainly knew the song Blaine had chosen within the first two seconds. Something's Coming. It was only from none other than West Side Story, a show inspired by his favorite nineteen twenty's musicals. Only—one thing was incredibly off.

He'd never heard it sung this incredibly before.

In fact, all Kurt could think about was that Blaine was the most perfect Tony he had ever heard. And Kurt had seen and heard a lot of Tonys. All of a sudden Nick, Thad, Jeff… they failed in comparison to the way Blaine was singing now. He was so expressive; there was so much passion in his voice. The others had sung because they had wanted a solo. Blaine sung because it was like he was born to. At the end of his performance, students rose giving him a standing ovation, cheering both enthusiastically and proud. And though Wes had told them they would have to wait till tomorrow to hear the council's decision, it was clear who the solo belonged to.

Wes knocked the gavel down thrice—actually a bit too enthusiastically, Kurt thought—and though the Warblers had been quite enthused over Blaine's performance, rubbing his hair and patting his back, the moment Wes' gavel hit they had become silent and went filing out of the room.

Kurt wasn't sure where they were going or what was going on so he half stood, half sat where he was but like in his class before, Blaine pretended to distract himself in order to stay behind and approached Kurt all smiles.

"So what did you think?" Blaine asked; he was still unambiguously riding off the high of his performance. But Kurt was still too amazed to form a proper sentence, "I thought it was—well you were… I mean, um, where is everyone going?"

Blaine had an easy explanation waiting, "The Warblers are like rock stars here. I don't know if you noticed but a lot of students hang around after school. They stay back just to see our final performance every day. But, you know, it would mean a lot to me of you gave me some sort of idea as to how I went back then."

Kurt tried not to laugh, "You mean the reaction everyone just had to your performance wasn't any indication? Blaine, you don't need my approval or my advice. You killed that solo. I would pay to see that."

Kurt had to stop himself from continuing before he said anything that Blaine might take the other way. Oh, but if he could capture the look on his face right now – Kurt expected a smug look but Blaine was humbly pleased. It was nothing short of drop dead gorgeous.

"Coming from you, that means a lot." Blaine said. Then he paused, "Or are you just saying that because you're my teacher and are meant to encourage me?"

The comment caught Kurt off guard, "N-no not at all. I really liked it. And, you know, as your teacher I should only be honest with you. And I honestly think that no one deserves this solo more than you do. Now let's get this star Warbler to that last rehearsal before all of Dalton breaks into a panic!"

Yep, there was no doubt about it. Blaine was very pleased. "Do you need help carrying your stuff?"

Before Kurt could respond, Blaine had already picked up all of his French books leaving behind one very familiar looking manila folder. Kurt caught Blaine's expression and swiftly made to hide it but the look on Blaine's face was evidence that it was too late. For someone who had been so enthusiastic and happy mere seconds before, it was surprising how fast his expression had changed.

"What are you doing with that?" Blaine asked; his voice was low and unsteady.

And after giving Blaine the whole spiel on honesty Kurt thought the truth would be best here. "Principal Saunders gave it to me. After the little shenanigan in your car today I went to see him to see if I could excuse myself from being your teacher and his passed this on for me to read and"—

Kurt trailed off; it was clear Blaine wasn't listening to him. He eyed him curiously. Blaine looked hurt yes, but even a little broken. "That's supposed to be confidential." he muttered. And although Blaine knew he was being a hypocrite after making plans to steal Kurt's iPhone, he couldn't contain the feelings that were suddenly threatening to explode from within him. "God, I'm such an idiot! Now I can finally see why you're being so nice to me. But don't for one second think you've got me all figured out, all right? If you think you can read a couple of papers and understand shit about me, then you're wrong. It doesn't work like that. You don't know anything about me! You will never understand."

He wasn't sure why he was reacting so strongly but before he knew what he was doing he had thrown Kurt's books onto the floor, picked up the manila folder and flung it into the air.

Kurt just stood there stunned. "Blaine!" – But the boy was already walking out of the room.

"Please know, I don't judge you at all, I—"

"Make your own way home," Blaine ended, obviously pissed, leaving Kurt to the mess in the rehearsal room.

~.~

"This is perfect!" Sebastian concluded, "He's going to come running after you now."

Blaine and Sebastian were standing by the BMW; Sebastian had realized Blaine wasn't himself during their last performance and, more importantly, that Kurt wasn't there so he convinced him to tell him what was wrong.

Blaine shook his head, "You don't get it. I was angry, Bas. I threw all of his stuff onto the floor and just left him there. I'm in half minds to go up to Principal Saunders now and demand why he thinks it necessary to show new teachers my file. But there's another part of me that just wants to bring Alex into this—he'd give the school a piece of his mind."

Sebastian may have been a shark, but really he was a shark wearing a fluffy pink boa and though he'd never admit it out loud – particularly because he didn't believe in all that feelings crap – he cared about Blaine. "This has really got you down, hasn't it?"

Blaine just stood there with his face lowered. He did not say anything.

"C'mon – I'm taking you out tonight."

Blaine waved his hands lazily in protest, "I don't know, Bas. I've got a shit ton of homework to do and I promised Dad I'd be home tonight so we could catch up on The Bachelorette and" –

"Ssh," Bas insisted, placing his index finger against Blaine's bottom lip, "Just relax. I am taking you out, okay? It's only five right now so go on home, change out of your uniform, get something to eat and tell your Dad I'm picking you up at nine."

Blaine sighed. He really wasn't in any mood to go anywhere. He just wanted to crawl into his room and disappear. But maybe Bas was right. Maybe what he needed was to get out. If nothing else it would set his mind back on the path of seducing Kurt. If that was even an option anymore. But if anyone knew how to get him back on that path, it was Bas. So he looked into the boy's eyes and nodded. Sebastian patted him on the shoulder, "I'll see you tonight," he said.

"See ya."

"Oh and Blaine?" Sebastian added as he made his way over to his shiny car, "Bring that fake ID of yours."

~.~

It had been fifteen minutes since Blaine had thrown his file into the air and walked out of the room. And for those entire fifteen minutes, Kurt had done nothing but stare at the mess on the floor. He was too lost in thought; Blaine's previous words ever present in his mind.

"You don't know anything about me! You will never understand!"

But he wanted to. He closed his eyes and bit his lip. What a messed up situation, Kurt thought. As a teacher, he was sworn not to get so involved with any of his students. But maybe this didn't count. Because, and for however briefly it was, he had known Blaine outside of Dalton's walls – before he had even stepped into the school and signed on as the boy's teacher. He had fantasized about him in his goddamn shower for crying out loud before he had even known his name. But the fact of the matter was none of this gave him any reason to further invest in his… interest. He had to let it go. He had to start treating Blaine the same way he would treat any other student – especially if he wanted to keep his job.

Okay so for starters – what would he do if any other student had flung his property as rebelliously as Blaine just had? Detention, probably. But Blaine hadn't acted out entirely without reason. He'd had the right to be upset. And Kurt would have to consider in that factor to this equation. So the question now was - what did he do?

He was still stuck for an answer but he thought picking up Blaine's photos was a good place to start. It was after all the first thing he had been introduced to when he first opened the folder. He noticed that while all the photos were school shots of Blaine, they only had one significant difference: the boy seemed to grow fabulously sexier in each one. Kurt blushed, willing himself not to fall into another inappropriate daydream.

Kristin Chenoweth's voice suddenly snapped Kurt out of his reverie and he realized his cell was ringing.

"H-hello? Kurt speaking?"

"Kurtsie, Kurtsie, Kurtsie," disapproved the female on the other line, "We've been through this. Seriously lame way to answer the phone dude. LAME."

Kurt sighed, "What can I do for you now, Holly? I won't be able to cover you for a while, you know that. It's thanks to you I have a full time job and I wasn't even looking for it."

"I know right? Which is why I should be the one asking what I can do for you."

"Huh?"

"I concede. I owe you big time."

"Well you can start by picking me up from school. My car broke down on the way here and unless I call a cab, I've got no way of getting home."

"You don't need to ask me twice! I'll be there in half an hour. And keep your phone on you so I can call you when I get in. I don't want any of the staff recognizing me at Dalton. I just don't want to have those conversations right now, you know? I mean, talk about awkward…"

Kurt agreed and after hanging up resumed recollecting Blaine's file.

~.~

Holly arrived within twenty minutes. Kurt had used the time planning out a rough map for his next few classes when she called. He couldn't be more grateful to get out of Dalton. It had been a ridiculously long day, he was still tired from the previous night, and he spent much too much time here after the bell had gone.

"Man, am I glad to see you."

"Most men usually are," Holly winked, "Lovin' the beret by the way. You always dress so fabulously, I'm so insanely jealous. C'mon throw your stuff in the back. I'm taking you out for that coffee I promised you."

It was six o'clock by the time Kurt and Holly reached the Lima Bean. The ride hadn't seemed very long as they had spent the time laughing and joking with each other after singing several Broadway duets together.

"Don't even think of paying," Kurt warned Holly as he made their order. "Thanks to you, Louis Vuitton will be seeing my face soon enough."

"Sounds like a date I'd want to be on. Speaking of dates – how's the love life going?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Why are women always so interested to know if I'm dating someone or not?"

"Calm the farm boy," Holly suggested leading them to a table right in the center of the shop with their coffees, "It's only so we know whether or not we have the green light to hook you up with someone."

Kurt quickly swallowed the large gulp of coffee he had taken in just to make sure he could squash any ideas she was having. "No – no more setting me up. I've learnt my lesson. If I want to meet someone, I can't rely on my girlfriends to hook me up. Things can't get any more confusing than they already are."

"You're telling me," Holly mumbled, clearly confused herself and that's when Kurt caved. He told her everything. He left out what he had discovered in Blaine's file though but made it clear that Blaine hadn't acted out without reason.

"So let me get this straight. You had a one night stand with your student's dad, and then said student started flirting with you, only to suddenly change his attitude and become a model student, except now he's pissed at you, after taking you on a rendezvous to the school's glee club, because you knew something about him he hadn't realized you did?"

Kurt shrugged. "I guess." Holly had actually summed it up pretty well. "It was more like he wasn't comfortable with me knowing." He took a few more sips of his coffee; Holly had finished hers while he had been explaining everything. She eyed him quizzically, "Can I ask you something?"

Kurt nodded.

"Why do you even care?" she said.

"About what?"

"About the fact that Blaine's upset. Unless…" She took one look at Kurt's face and it was suddenly very clear to her. "Oh my God – you have a crush on him!"

"W-what? No, I don't!"

But she was smiling cheekily at him.

"Holly! I don't!"

And he wasn't getting anything past her. She winked at him as he tried to hide behind his coffee which caused Kurt to break, "What does it matter anyway? I'm his teacher, I've slept with his dad and I would lose my job."

"Maybe. But only if you got caught. And like, he's eighteen, it's not like it's illegal. Plus, I thought you said he was Blaine's step-dad."

"Yeah, he is."

"Then that's nowhere near as gross."

Kurt looked at her curiously, "Are you suggesting that I actually go there?"

"Well say you didn't have all those factors in the way. You would go there, right?"

Kurt just sat there only managing to open and close his mouth in horror. Finally he managed to say, "No. Completely out of the question. It's just… no."

Holly shrugged, "You know what you need? A rebound! You need to find someone else to get over this Blaine kid…" She trailed off lost in thought but then her eyes grew wide and she broke into a massive smile. "Say – what are you doing tonight?"

"I'm going home. I have to prepare for my next classes. I wasn't expecting a full time job today when I strode so casually into Dalton, tired and a still a little hung over."

"Bo-ring!" Holly sing-songed in two syllables, "Come out with me!" But before Kurt could disagree she had already gotten up and was making her way back to the car.

"Holly – wait!"

She turned around and rolled her eyes with a smile on her face and her hands on her hips before running back to catch up with him and then dragging him away from the Lima Bean.

"No Holly, I can't," Kurt said unable to understand how women were so datable when they never listened to a word you said, "Classes aside, I have episodes of Project Runway to catch up on too."

She made a face to say she was upset but clearly she was being sarcastic. "Getting turned down for TV? Really, Kurt? Do I mean that much to you?" She paused but Kurt wasn't sure what to say to defend himself. Apparently Holly really didn't mind, "What if I said we were going to Club Q?"

At this Kurt softened, "You'd come to a gay bar with me?"

"Fo'sure! What's not to like about gay bars? Not only will they perfectly fail to stare down your top but the men there—will actually get up and dance with you."

She took one look at Kurt as if she only just realized who she was talking to. "Oh well—they might try to make a pass at you, but that's kinda your thing, isn't it?"

Kurt shook his head trying to force away his smile, "Okay, I'll come. But take me home first. There's no way I'm going clubbing in the same outfit I've been wearing all day."

"The horror!" Holly said, again sarcastically, but for someone who praised themselves as the master of sarcasm, Kurt didn't notice.

"I know, right? I'm glad we have so much in common."

"You mean other than the fact that we both love cock?"

"Holly!"

"What? It's true. You know it. I know it. But I don't know if I'm a real big fan of taking it up the –"

"OH-KAY!" Kurt interrupted, "This is becoming really awkward, really fast. So let's hurry up and get me home or we'll never make it there tonight. You really have no idea how long it takes for me to get changed."

~.~

A/N:Thank you for the love, this story has received it has been amazing! As always, I would love to hear from you. Please review!