A/N I'm so happy you are loving this story. I just wanted to let you all know that the end is nearing. I think there will only be another three, maybe four chapters after this one, depending on how long each of them are.

This chapter is short, but sweet!

New York

The New Directions were working so hard that last couple of weeks before Nationals, Kurt barely had any spare time. Between all of his homework (he was still trying to catch up on all the work he missed when he was in the hospital), working on his dancing, and helping his Dad out at the garage a couple of nights when they were short handed, he hadn't seen Blaine since they kissed good bye outside the courthouse two weeks ago. They'd talked on the phone every night, and texted between classes. But he was starting to miss his boyfriend's arms hugging him.

They were scheduled to fly out to New York on Friday morning. It was Thursday night now, and Kurt was bouncing in the kitchen as he fussed over dinner. Blaine was coming over to wish him luck and say good bye until they returned Monday afternoon. When the door bell rang, Kurt almost knocked his Dad over to answer it.

And there he was, as handsome as ever, wearing khakis, a black polo, and a Burberry tie. Kurt all but leapt into his arms, hugging him so tight.

"I missed you so much!"

The curly haired boy laughed, and held him just as tight. "I missed you too! And now you're going away for an entire weekend without me!"

The two finally separated after a pointed cough from Burt. "Nice to see you again, kid. How you been doing?"

Blaine laughed and shook Burt's hand. "I've been good. It's finals week at Dalton, so I've been just as busy as Kurt, studying."

They went inside, and Kurt dragged Blaine into the kitchen, where he quickly took advantage of being alone with his boyfriend by kissing him soundly on the lips. The shorter boy chuckled softly and returned the kiss. "I missed you so much."

After a few more sweet kisses, they parted, and Blaine helped Kurt finish dinner. The pasta with seafood was pretty much done. They just had to get the breadsticks in the oven and make the salad. Kurt had prepared a strawberry-lemon ice for dessert.

As they all sat down to dinner, talk invariably turned to New York and Nationals. Blaine already new what songs they'd be performing, he and Kurt had talked about it over the phone many times. The darker boy also knew how disappointed his boyfriend was that he wasn't able to really sing for the competition. There had been some discussion prior to Regionals of Kurt having a solo at Nationals as well if they won. Blaine had learned from Finn that Mr. Schue had already picked out a possible song for Kurt, although he didn't know what it had been.

After dinner the three boys sat in the living room, talking about school, and Finn's continuing relationship woes. All too soon it was time for Blaine to say good night, as Finn and Kurt needed to get to bed early to be ready to catch their flight the next morning.

Finn had patted him on the back before heading upstairs to his room. Kurt walked him to the door. They kissed again.

"I'll miss you every minute you're gone."

"I wish you could come with us."

"Me too. Maybe..."

"Maybe what?"

"Nothing, we'll talk about it later. One more kiss for luck!"

Blaine placed a tender kiss to Kurt's cheek, then slipped out the door.

…

Kurt was on an adrenaline buzz. He'd just flown for the very first time in his life, and now he was in the city of his dreams. They had checked into their hotel (an actual four star establishment, some anonymous donor had paid for), and had been given permission to spend the afternoon sight seeing, as long as they stayed in groups.

Kurt, Finn, Rachel, and Artie were checking out the theater district, with Kurt and Rachel gushing over all the billboards showing all the shows they both loved. They took dozens of pictures in front of famous theaters, and squealed in ecstasy when they bumped into the current Elphaba from wicked.

She had smiled and been very kind to pose for pictures, and was surprised when Rachel told her that she and Kurt had done a diva off to Defying Gravity. There was a brief awkward moment when the sweet lady had asked Kurt to sing for her.

Kurt explained that he was recovering from an injury to his throat, without going in to detail. The lady had kissed his cheek, and given him her email address, with orders to send her a video of him singing when he was recovered. She'd then hugged each of them and blew kisses as she took her leave.

Kurt was slightly more somber after that, but a trip to Tiffany's quickly brightened his mood.

Later that evening, all of New Directions met for dinner at one of the restaurants at the hotel, all giggling and sharing their experiences. They all went to bed that night full of excitement and nerves for the coming competition.

...

Saturday morning, Kurt woke with a mild fever. He tried to hide it, but as the morning progressed his lack of balance became more noticeable. Mr. Schue had found a doctor among the audience, who were already filling the auditorium. After a discreet conversation in regards to Kurt's recent issues, the doctor had examined the pale boy. All the Glee kids waited anxiously in the hallway. When the doctor came out, he reassured them.

"He's fine. Just a minor flu. I've given him something for the fever and pain. It will kick in before the first choir takes the stage. Just make sure he rests as long as possible before going on stage, and as soon as he's done, have him get straight back to bed."

They all sighed in relief. The kind older man had then wished them luck, and confessed that he was actually from Ohio himself, originally.

They kept Kurt in bed until it was time to head backstage. And that was when they ran into the last person any of them had wanted to run into, Jesse St. James. Rachel of course was the first to spot him. Kurt noticed her stiffen, saw the crushed look on her face. He glanced over to the arrogant former lead of Vocal Adrenaline, and soon each member of New Directions was scowling at him. As if he felt their collective focus on him, he turned in their direction.

"Well well, look, it's No Directions. Rachel, looking as frigid as always. Probably why Frankenteen there looks so frustrated."

Kurt snorted. "Such big words, I'm impressed, considering how much VA payed some Asian genius to do all your homework for you."

"My god, is that Hummel? What happened to your voice? Sounds like you swallowed a seal."

Puck got up in the bastards face before the jackass could notice the shudder that passed through Kurt. "Back off, Jerk face, or I'll put my fist down your throat and see how well you sing after."

Before St. James could respond, Mercedes and the girls led Kurt away. The boys remained behind to make certain the prick knew to stay away both Kurt and Rachel. Once in the dressing room, they all huddles around the two, making certain that each of them were okay. Rachel said she was fine, that his taunt just wanted to make her win even more. Kurt just sat with his eyes closed and blocked everything out, trying to go over his dance moves in his mind.

…

When they were announced, they took their places on stage. They'd decided that Kurt would sit out the first song, along with Artie, Tina and Quinn. The others did a good version of the Beatles' Drive My Car. They all took the stage for their original song Light Up the World. It was going well, but near the end, Kurt stumbled as a wave of dizziness hit him. He recovered, but he knew he'd probably just blown their chance to win.

Their final song was a duet between Finn and Rachel. Everyone had been shocked when Finn of all people had said he'd written a song for competition. Pretending was surprisingly good, and they'd all been happy when Mr. Schue had added it to the set list at the last minute. The audience was loving it, and it might have been enough to overcome Kurt's misstep in the previous number, if Finn hadn't gone and started kissing Rachel on stage.

…

They ended up finishing in twelfth place. They were all upset about it, and there had been some unpleasantness between Santana and the happy couple that evening back in the hotel. Kurt just smiled. Despite not being in the top ten, and despite the incident earlier with that jerk St. James, Kurt was actually happy watching his friends arguing and shouting at each other.

This was the New Directions he was used to. The fighting, the back stabbing, the dating drama. He loved it, because he knew that no matter what was going on IN the club, no one OUTSIDE the club was allowed to bother them. They were all there for each other. Santana noticed the happy smile on his face and seemed to read his mind.

"One big dysfunctional family, huh?" She smiled. The others looked at her, and then at the smile on Kurt's face, and they understood. The arguing ceased, and for a moment they just looked at each other, and then burst out laughing. They hugged each other, then went to their respective rooms.

…

They had one more day in New York. Kurt had a surprise waiting for him when he woke up Sunday. Four tickets to that days matinee performance of Wicked were delivered by a bell hop, with a note that read: Always Defy Gravity, love Elphaba.

…

A/N Next chapter, more Warblers! And a lot more NIFF and KLAINE!