I'm sorry it's taken so long. Life caught up with me. Thankyou, as always for your patience, reviews, alerts and favourites.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. If I did, Chord would be staying.

The lead up to sectionals was fairly uneventful. The Warblers practiced the routine so many times that they could do the choreography in their sleep. Blaine sung the same lyrics over and over again until he was pitch perfect and had to stop himself from reciting the lyrics in normal conversation. Due to Blaine's incessant staring, he had caught Kurt looking wistfully at him a few times, no doubt wishing he was in Blaine's position.

Blaine felt incredibly guilty for the advice he had given Kurt the day of his audition. Throughout the week Blaine had noticed Kurt shrinking into a shell which Blaine didn't know he had. Kurt was becoming quieter, he was withdrawing. His witty comments and sarcastic remarks were almost non existent. He kept up polite conversation but never initiated it. Although Dalton had a uniform, Blaine had encouraged Kurt to accessorise however he wished as administration didn't mind students adding a scarf or broach or any sort of accessory. However, Blaine hadn't seen Kurt add any flair to his uniform. He was turning into the mould of young man that Dalton turned out year after year. Kurt was closing the door of the cage that Blaine was trying to force open. Blaine relished in the alone time that he shared with Kurt in their dorm room. This was when Blaine saw the real Kurt. Kurt would change into his normal clothes, read fashion magazines, watch Project Runway and make bitchy comments about the contestants, have endless conversations with Blaine about life and school and anything at all. Blaine had considered bringing up Kurt's strange behaviour but couldn't bring himself to ruin the happy moments that he and Kurt shared.

While Blaine was developing his relationship with Kurt, Aidan was having no such luck. Blaine returned to his room the night before Sectionals after a marathon practice session to find Aidan storming out, a frustrated expression on his face. Blaine entered his room and found Kurt throwing his things around the room, apparently cleaning up.

'Do you want to talk about it...?' Blaine asked, setting his satchel down and placing his hand on Kurt's shoulder.

'He's just so stupid. I told him I wanted to take things slow. I told him what had happened at McKinley, shouldn't he understand that I'm not ready for an extremely physical relationship yet?' Kurt sighed as Blaine wrapped his arms around him, 'I just don't know, Blaine. Is there something wrong with me?'

Blaine looked his best friend in the eyes, 'Kurt, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. If he can't understand you and see how special you are then he's not worth your time.'

Kurt buried his head into Blaine's shoulder, 'what if I never move on from what happened? What if I never feel ready?'

Blaine sat Kurt down on his bed, using the sleeve of his blazer to wipe the tears from Kurt's eyes. 'You will, Kurt, trust me. It won't be like this forever, once you find the right person you'll be more than ready.'

That person is me, Blaine's internal voice screamed, I'm right here! I don't care how long I have to wait, you're so worth it. Please notice me, the voice turned pleading and Blaine fought back tears.

'You are absolutely worth waiting for, any guy would be lucky to have you, don't let him convince you otherwise,' Blaine ended by pulling Kurt into another hug, resisting the urge to kiss him on the cheek or run his hands through the other boy's hair.

'Thanks Blaine,' Kurt whispered as he pulled away.
Kurt stood, straightening his uniform and wiping his tears. 'Sectionals tomorrow, are you nervous?'

Blaine gulped, he'd forgotten all about Sectionals and the 5 hours he'd spent in the practice hall making sure he had all the choreography perfect and every word memorised, 'a little,' he said, fidgeting with his tie and looking at the floor.

'Don't be,' Kurt said, sitting down next to Blaine and swinging an arm around his shoulders, 'you're amazing, I see it, the Warblers see it, the audience will see it and so will the judges.'

Blaine smiled at Kurt, his brain still processing the fact that Kurt thought he was amazing. Snap out of it, Blaine, the voice in his head chastised, he was trying to make you feel better, don't read too far into it. Blaine sighed as Kurt hugged him, obviously still not convinced of Blaine's cool facade.

'You should get some sleep anyway, Blaine,' Kurt said, pulling away once again, 'falling asleep on stage would be a bad idea.'

Blaine nodded in agreement.
Fifteen minutes later Kurt had turned the lights out and was asleep. Blaine listened to Kurt's slow, peaceful breaths and turned to face him as he tried to drift off to sleep.

Blaine sat by himself on the bus to Regionals. Aidan had forced Kurt to sit with him on the bus so that they could 'discuss their problems'. Blaine didn't mind sitting by himself, he normally did to focus himself and mentally prepare for the performance but after the minimal sleep that he'd had the previous night Blaine had been looking forward to sitting next to Kurt so that he could rest his head on the taller boy's shoulder and drift off to sleep. Blaine sighed and settled down lower into his seat.

'Pssst, Blaine,' Wes said, leaning over his seat.

Blaine looked up to see Wes and David practically climbing over their seats to talk to him.

'This isn't going to work, Wesley,' David said, getting up and moving into the seat next to Blaine.

'Fine,' Wes pouted, moving out of his seat, 'make room.'

Blaine groaned as Wes moved past both him and David and forced himself into the small space next to the window.

'So, Blaine,' David started, 'are you ready?'

Blaine sighed, it was business as usual as far as his friends were concerned, 'of course, you know me.'

'He's distracted, David,' Wes said, looking at David and starting one of the annoying conversations where both boys pretended Blaine wasn't there.

'I know, Wesley,' David said, shaking his head, 'sad, isn't it, considering this performance could make or break his love life.'

Both boys sighed as Blaine rolled his eyes.

'What are you talking about?' Blaine asked, slightly intrigued.

'Well Blainers,' Wes said, putting his hand on Blaine's knee, 'think about it. If you perform well today and win it for us, little Kurtsie will be so charmed by your voice and sweet dance moves that he'll be falling into your arms in no time.'

'He's seen my sing before though and there's the little matter of his boyfriend...'

'Oh Blaine,' David said, placing his hand on Blaine's free knee, 'he's never seen you in performance mode. I must say, many a Warbler, even young Wesley and I, have considered tapping that while watching you perform. As for the boyfriend...'

Blaine's interested was piqued.

'...let's just say Wesley and I have overheard a few nasty words being thrown back and forth. It doesn't look like they'll be a couple for much longer.'

Blaine was conflicted between feeling bad for Kurt and rejoicing at the fact that Aidan might not be around for much longer.

'So just focus on your performance, Blaine,' We said, 'the Warblers haven't placed at Sectionals in years and we were hoping that this would be our year.'

Blaine nodded and sank down into his seat humming Hey Soul Sister to himself, giving Wes and David their cue to leave.

The Warblers were all sitting around their dressing room, nervous energy causing several loud sing alongs, wrestling matches and someone had even procured a tennis ball and which initiated a very violent game of catch. Not keen on being transported to the hospital before he could even step out on stage, Blaine slipped out the door and decided to go for a walk to calm his nerves.

'Blaine,' a female voice called out.

Blaine turned, confused when he saw the brunette lead of New Directions walking towards him.

'Rachel Berry,' she said, extending her hand.

Recalling the name from Kurt's many stories of New Directions, Blaine smiled and shook her hand, 'I'd have thought you'd be preparing for your big performance, Rachel.'

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes, 'apparently I've been overused and we wanted to be more versatile rather than winning this year. They went with Satan instead.'

Blaine sympathised with Rachel. Although he didn't like to show it, he was incredibly fond of his lead vocalist position and was glad no one had tried to take it away from him. 'That's awful, well good for us actually. Without an incredible talent like yours competing against us we might actually have a chance at winning.'

Rachel's eyes lit up at the compliment and she smiled, 'don't count on it, Blaine. I'm still actually in the New Directions, even from a background position, I'm far superior. Not even your golden voice and excellent dancing can rival my oooh's, aahh's and cute swaying.'

Blaine laughed, he was starting to like Rachel, 'what can I help you with, anyway?'

Rachel's smile suddenly turned into a concerned frown, 'I was wondering if you knew what was wrong with Kurt.'

'Something's wrong with Kurt?' Blaine asked worriedly.

Rachel nodded and led him over to a couch towards the windows in the foyer, 'I was speaking to him before and he just seemed out of it. There was a faint red rim around his eyes too so I figured he'd been crying.'

Blaine sighed, poor Kurt, 'I heard that he was fighting with his boyfriend on the way over.'

Shock crossed Rachel's face, 'wait, aren't you his boyfriend?'

Blaine shook his head and smiled sadly, 'I wish. He's going out with a charming asshole by the name of Aidan.'

'Oh, I'm sorry Blaine,' Rachel said, looking genuinely sorry, 'when he told me that he had a boyfriend I figured it would be you considering the amount of time you spend together and everything I've heard about you.'

'We're just friends. I'd rather that than nothing though so I can deal with it, even if I am forced to hear about how lovely Aidan is all the time,' Blaine looked down into his lap and started playing with his hands.

Rachel put a comforting arm around his shoulder, 'I know how it feels. Trust me, he'll figure it out eventually.'

Blaine smiled at her. He really liked Rachel.

'Anyway, Blaine,' Rachel said, removing her hand from his shoulder and fixing her bangs, 'I'm having a party tonight to either celebrate our win or drown our sorrows at our loss. I would be delighted if you could attend. Kurt will be there,' she added on.

Blaine considered it, he hadn't been to a proper party since he moved to Dalton. It would be nice to go to a party where he wasn't forced to call his mother to pick him up from the side of the road as he'd been kicked out because none of the guys there wanted to 'catch the gay' from him.

'I'll be there, Rachel,' Blaine said with a smile, despite his initial sadness at the forgotten memory.

Rachel clapped her hands and stood, helping Blaine up, 'Noah's getting us drinks and there will be plenty of food so just bring yourself. I'll tell Kurt to give you my address.'

'Awesome,' Blaine said, pulling Rachel into a hug, 'thankyou, by the way.'

'No problem, Blaine,' Rachel said, returning the hug, 'I like you better than the other guy anyway.'

Blaine laughed and bid goodbye to Rachel as he walked back to the dressing room to prepare himself for the performance.

Reviews are, as always, appreciated.

Next: Party, party, party. Under the influence of alcohol, who knows what could happen...