Author's Note:

Thank you all so much for your amazing devotion and beautiful reviews. You are the best readers ever.

This episode was lackluster for me in Ohio, and I was worried about writing this chapter, but I actually am so thrilled with how it came out! And so is my beta typegirl19, who called it her favorite chapter ever, which of course means it is full of fluffy goodness. It's slightly left of canon but I'm sure you all will forgive me any not quite canon moments. So everyone enjoy :-)

Mr. Schuester was right about one thing. Having everybody home and memorializing Finn in the best way they all knew how, through song, was the best thing they could have done. It didn't change how much they missed him. It didn't change how Blaine's heart clenched whenever he saw Carole. But it helped to banish the ghosts in the room. It helped them to realize that Finn would want them to have fun, and not spend the rest of their lives mourning him.

Which was a very good thing, because Blaine didn't think he could contain his excitement for a Katy vs. Gaga week even if he tried. That was until he learned he had to be a Gaga.

"Come on Kurt, you have to help me," Blaine begged into the phone. "Tina won't do anything because she's on the Katy team, and how am I supposed to make a costume without either of my two best designers?"

Kurt finally reached the entrance to the NYADA building and pulled the door open, ducking inside from the rain. "What am I supposed to do Blaine, sew all night and overnight ship it to you?" He'd walked to school so fast he was out of breath by the time he reached the top of the stairs.

"I don't know," Blaine pouted and dropped onto his bed. "Magically send me your superior sewing skills?"

Kurt smiled fondly and leaned against the wall, giving himself a moment of respite. Blaine was truly lost without him when it came to stuff like this, the least he could do was help. "Look, get in the car and go to the fabric store. I'll text you exactly what you need to buy and where to find it and when I get home from class I'll sketch the pattern real quick and email it to you. I should have taught you enough to be able to make a decent costume from that."

Blaine sighed happily, his body settling with relief. "I love you."

"You better," Kurt smirked. "I got kicked out of the Apples for you."

"What? Why?" Blaine gasped.

Kurt shrugged. "I guess Adam could only handle being friends before you put a ring on it." He checked his watch, five more minutes. He hitched up his bag and headed down the hall. "Doesn't matter. I'm going to make my own way. I'm going to start a band," he beamed proudly.

If he'd been drinking Blaine would have spit it all over the floor. "A band? You?"

Now it was Kurt's turn to pout. "What's wrong with a band?" he asked. Blaine was always in his corner. "You told me my time was coming. Maybe this is it."

"Nothing's wrong with a band," Blaine quickly assured him. "I just never thought that was your thing. But if it's what you want to do then you should. You know I will always believe in you. You can do anything you put your mind to, Kurt."

Kurt rounded the corner to his classroom. "Well, right now I have to put my mind to theater history and Dionysus. A perfect time for me to make you a supply list. So go to the store and I'll Skype you later."

"Have a good class Kurt, don't get in trouble for texting me," Blaine said.

"Please, this professor is as old as dirt he probably doesn't even know what a cell phone is," he said wryly. "Love you."

"I love you too," Blaine smiled.

From Santana to Blaine [8:03pm]: So this very interesting thing happened today.

From Blaine to Santana [8:05pm]: Do tell.

From Santana to Blaine [8:06pm]: Oh no, no, no, Mi Amore, this is a something that cannot be told, it needs to be seen with ones very own eye.

It was only seconds before a video was sent to his phone with a message from Santana. Sit Down. Alone.

Well he was already alone in his bedroom so he curled up in the chair beside his bed and hit play. His mouth dropped almost immediately. On his screen was this goliath of a voice in the body of a god dressed from head to toe in black and sequins rocking on stage with Dani. The man drew closer and closer and the phone nearly slipped out of Blaine's hand he was sweating so much from the pure sex dripping off of this man. Then suddenly it stopped with no warning.

Blaine was dialing faster than he ever had before. It didn't even ring before Santana picked it up. "Do you like what you see?" she teased.

"Who the hell is that Santana?" Blaine wiped the sweat off his hands and, oh god, why was he sweating?

"That, boyfriend, is the newest member of Kurt's band if I have anything to say about it," Santana gushed.

But Blaine choked. "Kurt's…no..No Santana. No. You can't…" He got up and paced the room, running his hand through his hair with no regard for looks or mess. "He's…he's gorgeous, Santana. He's tall and dark and handsome and that voice, Santana he can run circles around me vocally. You cannot introduce him to Kurt!"

"Well you are about two hours too late for that, sweet cheeks. Starchild showed up for auditions and I have every intention of making your idiot fiancé see that the band needs him," Santana said.

Blaine stopped mid step. "Wait. Kurt didn't want him in the band?" His brown crinkled in disbelief. "Why?"

"His reason or the truth?" Santana asked.

"Um…both?" Blaine sat back down in the chair. It was easy to tell that this guy, this…Starchild…was an incredible talent even from the thirty seconds he'd seen. It made no sense that Kurt wouldn't want him. Unless…

"Kurt says," she drawled, "that he's too outré, whatever the hell that means. But what Kurt really means is that he thinks Starchild is so insanely talented that he will overshadow him in his own band. And he's probably right."

"So, it's not that he's…"

"Drooling over him like you are? No. I think he was too overwhelmed with his own sense of inferiority to even think about him like that." Blaine let out a breath of relief. "Well, except maybe when he was practically fucking on the floor, he made sure not to miss that." she added. "Sorry I didn't get that part on video, but it probably would have driven you over the edge anyway."

Blaine blushed bright red. "It would not have...I'm engaged Santana," he snapped, flustered. "Please make sure Kurt remembers that too."

"Starchild in the band, not in Kurt's pants. Got it," she said with gentle teasing. Her voice softened. "It's my job in life to make sure you're married off," Santana promised. "I won't let sex on a stick screw it up."

Blaine pouted. "I thought I was sex on a stick," he whined.

"You are," she placated him. "It's just his stick is…taller…and hotter…and more…outré."

Blaine said goodnight and hung up the phone. He looked at the Gaga costume he was working on, silver pants, green sparkling shirt, and he knew, more than ever before, that he had to rock this thing.

He could be outré too.

"Hey Marley, wait up?" Blaine called, jogging a bit after her with the Applause sheet music in hand. "You wanna practice a bit before heading home? I could really use a partner, I hate learning music alone."

She looked at him strangely; they'd never really done this kind of thing before. "Who do you usually learn music with?"

Blaine fidgeted uneasily. "Oh well, Kurt mostly, when he was still here. Sam but he's off doing…" Blaine waved his hand in the direction Sam had headed, "something I think we all should be afraid of. And Tina, but she's on the other team, so…"

"Why don't you just call Kurt?" she asked. "Tina said he's like the biggest Gaga New Directions had, I'm sure he could help."

"I'm…" Blaine frowned. He'd been avoiding calling Kurt. He wasn't ready yet. "Trying to work some things out in my head. And it seemed like you were having a tough time with this assignment, so I thought I'd ask. But you don't have to, if you don't want to."

"No." She shook her head and smiled. "No, I'd like to. You're such a Katy fan, this assignment can't be much easier for you."

They walked down the hallway to the choir room. "I like both, but yeah, Katy's songs are more my thing. But it's fun too, to get out of your comfort zone once in a while. And Mr. Schuester's right, if we want to win against Throat Explosion then we need to be versatile." Blaine sat down at the piano, placing the music and starting to run his fingers over the keys.

"I don't think I'm very versatile," Marley admitted quietly. She looked up at Blaine, her eyes sad. "I try, to be who everyone wants me to be. But it's exhausting sometimes. And Jake," she bowed her head, fiddling with her nails. "How do you do it Blaine? How does a Katy like you make it with a Gaga like Kurt?"

Blaine pursed his lips and looked away. Ever since seeing Starchild perform, he'd been asking himself the same question.

Kurt sat in his chair, Rachel leaving him to his thoughts. Why did everything have to be so hard for him when it felt like opportunity just fell into the laps of his friends? He got up and ran a hand over the lapel of his red blazer, placing one more pin before turning to his computer. He clicked it on and logged into Skype, but Blaine wasn't logged in. His heart dropped a bit. It had been two days since they'd Skyped. Two days since they'd really talked at all. He grabbed his phone and sent a quick text.

From Kurt to Blaine [10:14pm]: Skype?

From Blaine to Kurt [10:20pm]: Sorry. Was in the shower. Give me 5 minutes.

Kurt bit his lip nervously, not even quite sure why, but he knew as if he were right next to Blaine that something was wrong. The text was terse. No teasing, no heart filled emoticons. The last two days had been that way. Well he'd get to the bottom of it tonight. He distracted himself with sewing, finishing the touches on the left side until his computer chimed with Blaine's call. He slipped the pin cushion off his wrist and settled into his chair.

"Hey you," Kurt said, his eyes brightening immediately. Blaine was fresh from the shower, curls tight with droplets of water occasionally falling. But he looked…off.

"Hey." Blaine tried to make it sound like everything was normal and okay but Kurt knew him far better than that by now.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?" Kurt gently urged and Blaine smiled shyly. Somehow just the fact that Kurt realized there was something wrong made him feel a bit better. "I haven't really heard much from you in two days."

"I haven't really heard much from you in two days either," Blaine pointed back.

"I know," Kurt frowned, his shoulders sagging. "We can't do this again Blaine. If things are going on, if you're worried about something or I'm worried about something we need to talk about it, not disappear on each other again."

Blaine sighed, knowing full well that Kurt was right. He was just, well embarrassed was probably as good a word as any. "It's just…" he started and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's just that I'm here and you're there and…I look absolutely ridiculous in that Gaga outfit Kurt and that Starchild guy is right there and hot as hell and-"

"Wait," Kurt startled, not expecting that at all. "This is about Starchild?" His face twisted, confused. "How do you even know about him?"

"Santana showed me the video," Blaine admitted.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Of course she did." He took a breath and smiled at Blaine, a warm, loving smile at the most adorable man in the world. "Blaine, I would never, ever, look at him like I look at you."

Blaine scoffed. "Of course not, I'm no comparison, he's like Adam Lambert incarnate-"

Kurt laughed and shook his head. "No, he's not." Blaine flashed an incredulous look and Kurt conceded. "Ok, maybe he is, but that changes nothing."

Blaine wanted to argue, wanted to remind Kurt how many times they'd talked about Kurt's celebrity crushes, but he knew this wasn't really about that. "It's just, you and me, we're polar opposites Kurt, you are the biggest Gaga glee club has ever seen and I'm the biggest Katy and-"

"And that's what makes us perfect together," Kurt interrupted. "Do you really think I want to spend the rest of my life trying to out-Gaga my husband? Blaine, you are sweet and you're kind and you're sometimes bubble gum pop and sometimes soulful and honest. I would never want you to change that for me because those are the things I love about you."

Blaine visibly relaxed, his heart bursting with that heady sense of being overcome with love. "And you are one of a kind, Kurt. You are snarky and edgy and over the top and you challenge everyone around you. You challenge me every day. And that's what I love about you."

Kurt smiled and bowed his head. "Mr. Schuester really needs to stop trying to make us all something we're not."

"He's trying to expand our horizons," Blaine defended. "As artists."

"But what's wrong with knowing who you are and not compromising?" Kurt argued. "He and the rest of society tell us all the time we're not good enough, we're too different, we're not different enough. But look at Rachel. She never gave in, never tried to be anyone else. She is who she is and now she's Fanny Brice on Broadway. She's right and believe me, I hate when she is," he muttered. "But if I really want success I'm going to need to forge my own path."

"You're going to Kurt and I will be right by your side doing whatever I need to in order to help you make it happen," he vowed. Which brought him back to the matter at hand. "And Kurt? Starchild's voice may be incredible and his look may be over the top, but he'll never overshadow you. So don't give into that little voice in the back of your head. If he's going to make your band better, then he's just going to make you shine even more. So give him a shot."

"I will," Kurt smiled, then quirked a brow. "Going days without talking is a pretty stupid thing we do, huh?"

Blaine chuckled. "The dumbest. Have a good night Kurt. Sweet dreams."

"I will dream of you," Kurt promised.

"Why do I feel right now like I am a complete substitute for Kurt?" Sam asked as they walked up the sidewalk in front of the Lima Limelight.

"Because despite being the biggest Gaga McKinley has ever seen, the very first person in line for this Julie Andrews night has always been Kurt Hummel. And he may not be able to be here tonight, but we will come in his stead and be proud," Blaine announced, his chin held high.

"But did we really have to wear sailor suits?" Sam asked, looking down at his light blue pants and shirt with a handkerchief tie draped around his neck.

Blaine rolled his eyes in disapproval. "These are not sailor suits Sam, they are the uniforms from the Sound of Music and you look very handsome," he said appreciatively.

Sam grinned. "Thanks, man!" He patted Blaine on the back. "So do you, I guess."

Blaine paid, he was the one who asked Sam out after all, and they bought their refreshments before finding seats in the theater.

From Blaine to Kurt [4:30pm]: We're here. Miss you.

From Kurt to Blaine [4:33pm]: Miss you too. And Julie Andrews.

From Santana to Sam [4:35pm]: I am so glad I am not you right now. Please send me a pic of you in your sailor suit.

From Sam to Santana [4:37pm]: It's a uniform, not a sailor suit, and no way in hell. But I'll send you Blaine.

"Say cheese," Sam said quickly and snapped a picture of a grinning Blaine. He sent it to Santana.

From Kurt to Blaine [4:40pm]: Nice suit. You are like sex on a rainbow lollipop stick right now ;)

From Blaine to Kurt [4:42pm]: God Kurt you cannot just say things like that while I'm at the movies with Sam. The images in my head right now are going to kill me. Thank goodness for the bucket of popcorn on my lap!

From Santana to Sam [4:43pm]: Is Anderson blushing right now? Cuz Hummel here is bright red on the couch.

Sam looked over and didn't know whether to laugh or cringe.

From Sam to Santana [4:45pm]: Do you think Julie Andrews turns them on?

From Santana to Sam [4:46pm]: I would not in any way put it past them. The gays are weird like that.

From Blaine to Kurt [4:48pm]: I need to put my phone away before the movie starts. And before I have to run to the bathroom to avoid a very unfortunate incident.

From Kurt to Blaine [4:50pm]: Skype you later?

From Blaine to Kurt [4:51pm]: You can count on it. xoxox

"Hey, you want to join us all for dinner?" Kurt asked Elliot before returning to work. "The girls and I are gonna meet our roommate Rachel at the restaurant down the street after our shift. Which will be over in about," he glanced at his phone, "an hour. What do you say?"

Elliot smiled and nodded. "Sure. I'll just hang out here until you're done."

"Great," Kurt beamed and went back to work. Elliot tried not to appear creepy, keeping one eye on his phone and the other on Kurt, Santana and Dani, the folks he hoped he'd be spending a fair amount of time with in the foreseeable future. The three of them all got up to sing at one point and Elliot could not help but be the loudest with applause. He couldn't wait to sing with them.

Finally their shift was over and they hung up their aprons and headed out. They'd decided as soon as they'd started working at the Spotlight Diner that they wouldn't eat there unless they had to. Instead they headed down the street to an inexpensive but classy piano bar with good food and decent music.

"So what are things like for you at NYU?" Kurt asked Elliot as they walked. Santana and Dani were three steps behind lost in one another, giggling over something Kurt could probably never understand.

"It's good," Elliot answered, noncommittally. "You know, it's competitive and full of divas who don't just want to do well themselves, but want you to fail. That's why I wanted to go outside of NYU to find a place to perform. But I'm sure it's the same at NYADA."

"Pretty much," Kurt agreed. "Such is the business I guess, we better get used to it now. And speaking of business, there's Rachel." Kurt smiled as she approached and he quickly pulled her into his arms for a hug. He knew she was trying to put on a brave face, but rehearsals were hard for her. Funny Girl was something she'd always dreamed of. And Finn had always been a part of that picture. "How did today go?" he asked sympathetically.

"Eh, you know," she shrugged with a half-smile. "It's all so bittersweet. I'm learning so much and I think to call him and then I remember." She took Kurt's hand and looked past him for a minute, her smile broadening as soon as she saw the man in front of them. "And who's this?"

"Rachel, this is Elliot, aka Starchild." He bounced with excitement. "Elliot, this is my roommate and very best friend, Rachel Berry."

Elliot's eyes opened wide. "The Rachel Berry who was just cast as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl?"

"The very one!" Kurt responded proudly.

"Wow. You are just the talk of NYU, there's not a student there who's not jealous of you right now," Elliot told her.

Rachel's smile faltered for just a second, unseen by Elliot but of course not missed by Kurt. Apparently not everything about Rachel had made its way across Manhattan.

"Well thank you Elliot," she answered politely. "Fanny's been my dream since I was a little girl, so it's amazing to actually being doing it." She glanced up at Dani and Santana finally making their way over to them. "Nice of you two to join us," she teased. "Let's go inside, I'm starving. And as much as I love it, I could use some music other than Funny Girl in my life right now."

They went inside and ordered food and drinks. The music played on the piano and Kurt couldn't help but lose himself in it for a bit, imagining it was Blaine playing. They laughed and teased and generally got to know one another. Kurt had been wary at first, but now he thought that Elliot was going to fit in just fine.

Blaine had walked to school that morning, the breeze just right to make the distance disappear while the music on his IPod filled his thoughts. Now walking back after the student council meeting, cutting through the back fields of the school, he dodged the few runners still circling the track and the Cheerios loitering on the grass. He slipped his earbuds in and turned on his music, letting Katy wash over him. He'd leave the outré to Starchild. It was fun sometimes, but he was who he was and he didn't need to pretend to be anyone else.

A flash of green and red pulled his focus out of the corner of his eye and he took another step closer to one of the equipment sheds on the outskirts of the fields. He knew kids came out here all the time to makeout or more and he was never one to make a fuss, but something made him stop until he could see who it was. Then he realized exactly what was going on.

"Jake?" He pulled the buds out of his ears , staring at the now startled Jake and Bree with complete confusion on his face.

Bree smirked, straightening her skirt and leaning up on her elbows. Jake scrambled away from the cheerleader, embarrassment and fear washing over him. "Dude please…"

The words were on the tip of Blaine's tongue before he bit them back, too familiar, too reminiscent of a day in the choir room when Finn had spoken the very same words that had almost slipped. Instead he glanced angrily back at Bree and took Jake by the arm, hoping he wasn't too late. "Come on." He offered Jake no opportunity to resist.

They walked until they were out of earshot of the girl then Blaine turned on him. "Jake, please, think about what you're doing."

"I know what I'm doing," Jake snapped, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"No you don't, Jake. Not if you care at all about Marley. Because this," he gestured in Bree's direction, "it changes things. It changes you. I know it seems like it's the only solution to whatever is going on between you two but once you do it you will never be the same. You can't take it back. Kurt and I may have our happy ending but we will never get back what we had before. What I did is with us forever."

"And what did you have before?" Jake asked.

Blaine's eyes saddened, considering the question. "Innocence," he sighed.

Jake shuffled, looking back to Bree then back to Blaine. "Yeah, well, maybe I don't want innocence," Jake said. "I may not be a Katy but I can still hear her words. Cloud nine doesn't exist. Not for guys like me."

Blaine couldn't get in another word before Jake stormed off back to Bree. He took her hand and led her off in the other direction. Blaine let out a breath. Falling was the easy part. Picking up the pieces, that took a lifetime.

Kurt was exhausted by the time he returned home, a long day of dance and voice and the most boring theater history class in the history of theater history. He was still the first one home though, Rachel at rehearsal and Santana no doubt spending the evening with Dani. The package by the door cheered him up a little. It was always fun to come home to a surprise. He picked it up and shoved the thin rectangular bubble insulated parcel beneath his arm while he slid open the door. Throwing his bag on the chair and settling on the couch he looked at it and squealed. It was for him. And it was from Blaine.

He ran to get a scissor to open it carefully in case it was fragile or delicate and he quickly did the job and reached in for what was inside. His hand touched glass and he pulled out a frame. A grin so big he probably lit up the room spread across his face. It was simple, black on white lettering, but it was completely perfect.

You have to be
Unique & Different & Shine
In your own way.

~ Lady Gaga

He reached for his phone, dialing quickly, Blaine answering immediately.

"Hi!" Blaine greeted happily. "I was just about to call you."

"Well I got your gift and I just wanted to tell you how much it means to me," Kurt said, wiping his eyes. "It's absolutely perfect and now when I forget, I can just look at it and I have you and Gaga to remind me every day to be myself."

"You're very welcome Kurt," Blaine said sincerely. "And I have someone to thank too," he added with a very playful tone. "Because I got a little gift in the mail today too."

Kurt smiled mischievously and tilted his head. "Oh did you?" he feigned innocence. "Tell me what you got, maybe I can help you figure out who sent it."

"Oh, well it says it's from a secret admirer. But I'm pretty sure there's only one person who would send me a bubblegum scented rainbow lollipop necklace."

"Oh?" Kurt giggled. "And who might that be?"

"Well, you wouldn't know him," Blaine teased. "It's just the love of my life."

"Oh well he must be a very lucky man," Kurt grinned.

"No," Blaine answered, shaking his head. "I'm the lucky one."

Author's Note:

So I hope you enjoyed, let me know what you thought. The presents are on my tumblr in the Title Art for this chapter. Find me at GleekMom!