Something was wrong. Stephen could always tell when something was wrong because Ruth would smile a little bit wider and his coffee would be brought to him just a little bit hotter than normal. Every so often, when something was really wrong, Ruth would start walking backwards in front of him, talking quickly and loudly as he moved throughout the offices, which was exactly what was happening right now. No doubt she was trying to stop, or at least delay, him getting to the set door.
A part of him enjoyed watching her squirm as he got closer to the cast dressing rooms. There was something she was clearly holding back on telling him, so it was her own fault if she felt uncomfortable.
"A-actually, Stephen, there's something I need to tell you before you go in there," Ruth said as Stephen reached for the handle of the door. Bingo.
"Whatever it is, it can wait," Stephen responded - as close to teasing as he ever got - as he pushed open the door of the dressing room. "Right, where's the kid?" Stephen asked, centering his gaze on the boy who was nervously waiting in there, clearly overwhelmed by all of the people rushing around him. He expected to be met with dirty blonde hair and an acne ridden face. Instead he found dark, gelled curls and gleaming hazel eyes.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," the boy said, standing up and holding out his hand for Stephen to shake. Stephen glared at him, looking down at his hand before looking back up at the boy's nervous smile.
"You're not Christopher." Stephen said gruffly, recognising Blaine from his DVD. Aside for the fact that Blaine was wearing a black polo shirt and bow tie instead of his school uniform, he looked exactly the same. Blaine opened his mouth to answer when Stephen spun on his heels to face Ruth. "Why the fuck is this kid here, I said Christopher was the winner?"
"Well, that's what I wanted to tell you." Ruth said, holding out her hands in an attempt to make sure that Stephen stayed calm. It seemed like a silly gesture to Stephen that made him feel more like a child than the man in charge of the whole damn show. "We had a problem with Christopher," Ruth spoke slowly, with an appeasing, calm tone in her voice. Stephen crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
"What on earth could have possibly been the problem, I picked a winner - why isn't he here?" He wasn't an idiot that needed to be calmed; he needed answers.
"Well, it turns out that he lied to us about his age. He wasn't 16... he was 14." Stephen sighed and dropped his head to his chest. Morons. He was working with morons.
"And how come I am only finding out about this now?" Stephen lifted his hand and squeezed the bridge of his nose between to fingers. It was only 9am and he was already getting a headache.
"Well, we only found out last night when we asked him for proof of his identity. He tried to tell us he'd lost it at first, but then his Mom handed it to us. Turns out she didn't realise the rules said 16 and over." Stephen huffed and looked up at her.
"This still doesn't explain why he's here," Stephen jerked a thumb over his shoulder in Blaine's general direction.
"Well, I thought you'd rather not have to deal with solving the issue yourself, and Blaine lives so close he was able to be available at short notice." Ruth said, smiling gently towards Blaine before continuing quietly. "Play nice, Stephen. He was good enough to cancel his plans and make his own travel arrangements to get here this morning."
"Of course he was, he gets to be on The Kurt Show," Stephen said. "It's a dream come true for a kid like him; he doesn't get treated any differently to anyone else." He turned around back to Blaine who looked like he'd been leaning to try and hear what they were saying before hurriedly straightening himself and grinning, blushing guiltily when he realised he'd been caught.
Stephen walked towards Blaine slowly and shook his head.
"Well, you probably know by now that I didn't pick you to be here," he said sternly, to which Blaine nodded quickly, "so you need to listen, do exactly what you're told and keep out of my hair. I don't even want to know that you're here, understand?" Blaine nodded again. "Have you been given your earpiece?" Blaine tapped the side of his ear and nodded once more. "Ok, good. At least my staff can do something right," Stephen muttered to himself. "Now, you shouldn't need to use your earpiece, it's only there just in case. You are an extra and no more, ok? Under no circumstances do you talk to Kurt, you don't pass him any messages, you don't even let him see you. If anyone catches you so much as glance in his direction, you'll be out of here so fast it'll be like you were never here, do you hear me?"
"Yes sir," Blaine smiled and nodded brightly. Stephen practically winced at how unfaltering his enthusiasm seemed to be. Even after being told how easy it would be for him to lose this opportunity, Blaine was still gazing at him in wonder, a wide smile on his face.
"Can I please just say," Blaine said, taking a deep breath, "how big of a fan I am of the show and how grateful I am to be given this chance, sir. I promise I will not mess it up."
"We'll see," Stephen said plainly before turning back to Ruth. "It's almost time for Kurt's arrival at school, I have to get back to the office to oversee everything, can you sort him out?" Ruth nodded quickly and as Stephen left the room he could hear her directing Blaine towards the rest of the extras and telling him to blend in as much as possible. Blaine agitated him. He wasn't sure what it was about him, but there was something he couldn't quite place his finger on that he knew was going to irritate him.
Blaine took a deep breath and slung the tan bag that had been handed to him over his shoulder. This was it. He was about to step onto the set of his favourite show and maybe, if he was lucky, get to stand close to Kurt. The Kurt. There was no way he could even dream about getting a chance like this and all the hustle and bustle of the other students milling around him, waiting to step through that door to get into their first positions, faded into the background as he focussed on what was about to happen.
After a few minutes, the door finally opened and he was pushed through it by the crowd of people behind him, all eager to get to their places in time for Kurt's arrival. He gasped as he stepped into the halls of McKinley High. It was exactly how he imagined it would look in real life, except much smaller.
"Move it, kid." He heard a gruff voice in his ear and realised that he was blocking the door to get into the school.
"S-sorry," Blaine mumbled, stepping out of the way and looking up in time to see a jock that he recognised striding down the hall and pausing at the end of it, by the water fountain. Blaine watched him curiously as the jock stood completely frozen in place.
The bell suddenly rang to signify the start of the day, and Kurt's arrival at school. Blaine jumped in surprise and panicked simultaneously as the whole school sprung to life, including the jock he'd been watching. Blaine wasn't focusing on that now, though, because he wasn't in his starting position. He had been handed a piece of paper with a roughly drawn map to show him where to go, so he hurried to follow it and rushed along the hallway.
He'd been given really simple instructions. Don't interact with Kurt and blend in. Well, so far, he hadn't seen Kurt, so the first thing was done. As for blending in, Blaine was certain that he stuck out like a sore thumb rushing around as he was and he had to do something about it. Maybe if he was holding something, that would help? He quickly rummaged around in the bag he'd been given and pulled out a couple of books to hold. It made him feel a bit better; at least he had something to do with his hands now.
Blaine finally managed to find the locker he was meant to have been at when the bell rang and it happened. He saw him. Kurt Hummel. He was walking along the hallway with Rachel Berry and laughing loudly at something that she was saying. Blaine recognised that laugh. It was the laugh that he used whenever Rachel was being ridiculous and he was thinking of a million ways to tease her. It was so much more stunning in real life than it was on the television, as was Kurt himself. Nothing could've prepared Blaine for how much Kurt's eyes glistened or how perfect his chestnut brown hair was; no picture compared to the real thing in any way.
Blaine stood and watched as Kurt reached his locker and pulled out a few books, gossiping with Rachel and simultaneously checking his hair in the small mirror in his locker. He was perfect and Blaine was entranced. So much so, that he completely didn't see the jock from earlier coming towards him until he collided straight into Blaine with a gruff, "outta my way," causing him to drop his books and fall straight to the ground.
Blaine shook his head and started to reach for his books, hoping to be up and out of there as quickly as possible before anyone even noticed that he'd been pushed down. He saw a pair of feet rush towards him out of his peripheral vision and bend down to help him.
"Oh my God, those guys are such jerks, are you ok?" Blaine heard a soft, musical voice say as the other person quickly scooped up a couple of the fallen books and handed them to Blaine.
"Oh I'm fi-" Blaine stood up and froze when he saw who he was looking at. Oh God. It was him. He was holding out his hand and Blaine was still just staring.
"I'm Kurt, are you new here?" Blaine's eyes widened as Kurt smiled and cocked his head when Blaine didn't answer. He was so beautiful. Even more beautiful now that he was closer, if that was even possible. It was everything Blaine could do to not just grab him and not let go, but Blaine was certain that, that wouldn't be the best first impression to make. "Are you sure you're ok?" Kurt asked, concerned.
Blaine opened his mouth to speak and instantly remembered Stephen words. The fact that he'd been clearly staring at Kurt when he saw him was enough to get Blaine kicked off of the show, let alone what might happen if he spoke to him. Blaine felt his mouth go dry as Kurt continued to look at him, a small smile playing on his perfect lips and, before he knew it, Blaine did the only thing that came to mind that would help him now: he turned on his heels and walked - practically ran - away from Kurt, his heart pounding in his chest. Blaine could feel Kurt's eyes on him as he rushed along the hall away from him, but he didn't stop until he'd turned a few corners, making sure that he would be well hidden.
He leaned up against a wall and gasped a few times to try and catch his breath. That was quite possibly the worst first meeting ever, but at least Blaine could say that he'd done everything possible to follow their rules. It wasn't his fault that Kurt was so wonderful and immediately rushed to help him. Blaine took a last deep breath and pulled his bag closer to him. All he had to do for the rest of the week was wander around the hallways here and there, so he decided that he would do his best to avoid Kurt completely and show the producers that he could stick to their rules. He didn't realise at the time that, that would be easier said than done.