"…8… 9… 10." Kurt called out from the center of the circle. Around him, other Cheerios were stretching. After the count of 10, they all broke the stretch position and Kurt nearly jumped up from the ground. He clapped a little. "Good job, girls! We're all stretched out." He gestured for them to move closer. "Now huddle close."

Kurt cleared his throat as the girls made a tighter circle. He moved so that he was no longer in the center and they could all see each other. He grinned. All of the other upperclassmen were grinning, but most of the underclassmen looked nervous. He understood their nerves, he felt them too, but at the same time, he knew they couldn't let it show. This was his last chance at Nationals and they had to win. Being afraid wouldn't help them win.

"Well girls, we've had a great season…" he said, starting the pep-talk that the captain always gave before Sue scared them all to death. "This is my last year, and I want to close the season up better than ever. I don't want to just win. I want to do so well that we scare the shit out of every other cheer team here. I want them to not want to come back next year. With the routine that we have written for us and the talent on this team, I know we can do it. You just need to get your heads in the game. Stop looking scared. If they think you're scared, they're going to expect you to screw up, and then that's what you're going to do. So, be confident. Don't screw up. Do everything like we practiced it and we'll be good. Understand?"

All of the girls around him nodded, smiling a little wider now.

"Good." He put his hand in the middle. "On three!"

And they all followed with their hands in the middle, counting loudly, "One. Two. Three." And their hands all flew up and once, cheering excitedly, "Go Cheerios!"

And then the circle broke away and he led his team to Sue. "We're all warmed up." He informed her.

And then she proceeded with a pep-talk that scared the shit out of a lot of the girls, mostly the freshmen. By now, Kurt knew how to zone out without looking zoned out at the right times, so he wasn't the least bit shaken by her speech. And soon enough, the squad was walking towards the gym, where they were to be judged.

As they walked through the hallways of the gigantic school, he couldn't help but take in the sight of all of the squads around him. Some with better uniforms, some with more guys, some with more beautiful girls, some with stronger looking teammates, but he knew, at the end of the day, his squad would win. The Cheerios always won. It was their thing. Still, that didn't exactly halt his anxiety over the situation.

They stood at the doors of the gym room, waiting to be called out. Soon enough, they were. They all ran to position, smiles glued in place. He glued his own smile in place, trying not to let the stage fright he felt show. As much as he hated to admit it, yes, he THE Kurt Hummel, did feel stage fright. He glanced over at Brittany who met his eyes. He felt a little more settled after that.

And then the music started. He jumped up and started cheering to the crowd, the routine going perfectly. When he turned around and was facing the other half of the crowd, he swore he saw Blaine cheering for them, but that was impossible. Nationals were in Florida and there was no way Blaine made it here without telling Kurt. Still, even the thought of Blaine standing there, cheering for him, pumped Kurt up even more than he already was. Everybody was doing perfectly. Each move was in perfect synch with the music and everybody moved perfectly in time with their teammates. There was no second guessing and absolutely no uncertainty.

By the end of their dazzling, impressive display, every single Cheerio has sweat pooling down their back and dampening their hair, but that didn't keep them from hugging and celebrating their fantastic show. When Sue saw them celebrating, she stopped it at once, reminding them that they hadn't won yet. They sat and watched the remaining teams go. The competition lasted a few more hours. Periodically, they were let go to get food in small groups or to go to the bathroom.

Once the excruciating hours of watching the other squads ended, the judges had one hour to deliberate. And then what Kurt liked to call the "Loser Awards" were given out. These were basically awards for teams that could have won, but didn't. They were basically effort awards. Granted, only good teams got these, but Kurt was glad that the Cheerios didn't win one of those. He didn't want to be part of a good team. He wanted to be part of a great team.

At last, the three top teams were called down in no particular order. A team from California, a team from Tennessee, and the Cheerios were all called down. Kurt walked right behind Sue, leading his girls down to the matt, facing the crowd. Again, he swore he saw Blaine, but decided to look elsewhere in the crowd, sure that he was hallucinating. The Tennessee team was called out as third place. The crowed erupted in cheers, but the California team and the Cheerios stood anxiously, waiting for second place to be called.

"And in second place…" The announcer called. "The Orange County Foxes."

Kurt almost dropped to the ground. His knees went weak and his whole body physically shook. He didn't even hear his team get called, but he felt himself running over to the trophy with Sue and the girls. Tears were filling his eyes. The room erupted in cheers and excited noise, but he couldn't hear any of it. It was as if the world was on mute. He was so proud of both himself and his team. He was hugging girls and wiping both his own and their tears, grinning from ear to ear.

A few family members came down from the stands to congratulate their daughters. Kurt's dad wasn't there, so he was extremely surprised when he felt two hands on his shoulders. He turned around and there he was. Blaine Anderson. His Blaine Anderson. He was really there!

Kurt threw his arms around Blaine's neck and jumped into a tight hug, both of his legs popping up. His sense of hearing was back and he heard Blaine laughing as he hugged back. Slowly, they both pulled away from the hug. Blaine kissed him quickly on the lips, blushing a little, considering it was their first public kiss, but they both knew they were safe here.

"You were amazing." Blaine praised happily. "I'm so proud."

Kurt grinned and took Blaine by the hand as Sue and the girls started walking back to the bus. He pulled Blaine with him. "Thank you. I thought I saw you in the crowd, but I thought I was going crazy! Why didn't you tell me?"

Blaine shrugged, smiling softly. "I wanted to surprise you."

"You did!" Kurt giggled. "Oh god. You're amazing."

Blaine chuckled and squeezed Kurt's hand. When they got back to the Cheerio's bus, Kurt told him what hotel they were staying at, because they were all allowed to hang out in the lobby until midnight. So, Blaine met them at the hotel and hung out in the lobby with the rest of the Cheerios. He was definitely nervous about hanging out with all of those people that he barely knew, but Kurt held his hand the entire time, and although Blaine was the type of person that the Cheerios usually loved to hate, they thought of him as absolutely adorable, understanding how Kurt could like a certain side of him.

At the end of the night, Kurt kissed him again for their second public kiss, and Blaine left for the motel he was staying at. Kurt went to sleep that night with a grin on his face. Never had he imagined something so romantic happening to him in his entire life. He'd never been one for romance or pda, but with Blaine, it felt so right. He felt suspiciously close to falling in love with him.