A/N: You ever hear of the term "suspension of disbelief"? Yeah, use it at the end of this chapter. Sincerely doubt it would ever happen in real life, but I felt like doing it. Usual disclaimers apply, usual beta pimpage of GLee68 here.

xXxXxXx

Chapter 35

"We'll do it," Kurt stated.

Mr. Schuester was surprised, not only to see him back at rehearsal after breaking down, but also to hear that he would do the song. He thought for sure Kurt would decide that he wouldn't be able to handle it, and he had spent some time looking at the Rent songbook and coming up with other options for their sixth number.

"Th-that's great, Kurt," he said incredulously. "Are you sure? Are you going to be able to handle it?"

"I am going to MAKE it happen, Mr. Schuester." Kurt was vehement. "I need to do this," he said a little more softly.

Mr. Schuester looked carefully at Kurt. Kurt met his concerned gaze and nodded slightly.

"I need this," he repeated. "Blaine and I just had a long talk and I think this is going to help me get over some things. I hate to do this on a competition stage, but I assure you, I will do you proud."

"You do me proud by just existing, Kurt, but I'm sure you will do just fine. Blaine, you're okay with this as well?"

"Absolutely, Mr. Schue."

"I just have one request, though, Mr. Schuester. Blaine and I need to rehearse this in private." Mr. Schue looked like he wanted to interrupt, but Kurt held his hand up. "I promise you there is nothing untoward going on here. It's just that, while I know I will have to perform it in front of people, I don't want to push my emotional limits in front of people right now. Will you trust Blaine and me to handle it?"

Mr. Schuester nodded. "I understand. Just make sure you let me know what you need as far as accompaniment and staging and we'll do it."

"Thank you." Kurt went back to his chair next to Blaine and sat down, snuggling into Blaine's arms as he reached out in comfort and support.

For the rest of rehearsal, they worked on getting the harmonies perfect for Seasons of Love and working on the whole round effect on Will I? The Glee clubbers laughed as they kept screwing up their entrances and losing where they were in the song, but eventually everyone found their way.

After the meeting broke up, Blaine and Kurt walked hand in hand to the car, and Kurt began the drive to drop Blaine off at home.

"Sooooo…" Blaine started.

"Yes dear?" Kurt prompted.

"Valentine's Day is next weekend."

"Are you back to liking it again? I know your general opinion of it at the end of the day last year was a giant raspberry." Kurt smiled as he remembered Blaine's emphatic "yuck" and the general look of distaste on his face.

"That's because last year, I was a total idiot. I'd like to think I got my shit together and it could be a happy time again."

Kurt grinned. "So… I'm your shit that you've gotten together?"

"Kurt, you're putting words in my mouth again."

"Among other things."

"Kurt, I'm scandalized!"

"You love it."

"No argument there. But back to the subject at hand. Can I take you out for Valentine's Day?"

"Weeeellllll," Kurt dragged out. "I don't know. I might have something more important to do. I noticed some pilling on my favorite sweater the other day. I may have to get out my sweater shaver and perform a fuzzballectomy on it before the problem becomes too severe."

"Kurt…"

"And I think I may have to run my electric toothbrush through the UV sanitizer that night. My oral hygiene is very important to me, you know."

"Yes, you have a beautiful smile when you actually let us see it, but Kurt?"

"And my Nintendog is just about to have puppies. I should probably keep an eye on that, too…"

"KURT!"

"Yes sweetie?" Kurt asked devilishly.

"You are absolutely INFURIATING sometimes, d'you know that?"

"It's all part of my charm."

"So… will you?"

"Will I what?" said Kurt, enjoying the hell out of being difficult.

"AAAARRRRGGHHH!" Blaine screamed. Kurt would have doubled over laughing had he not been driving. As it was, it was a bit of a challenge to contain his mirth enough to drive safely. He decided to put poor Blaine out of his misery.

"Awww babe, you know I'd love to go out with you on Valentine's Day," Kurt assured him. "But I get to plan it!"

"Forget it," said Blaine through his fingers, his face now in his hands. "Invitation withdrawn."

Kurt ignored him. "I'll see you at my house at 6:30 on Saturday?"

"YES," Blaine groaned, letting Kurt get the best of him once again.

Kurt flashed his million dollar smile as he pulled up to Blaine's door. They shared a short but sweet kiss, and Blaine got out of the car.

"I love you, Blaine," Kurt said in a sing-song voice.

"I love you too, you little brat," Blaine mumbled back.

xXxXxXx

"Dinner theatre! Kurt, this is AWESOME!" Blaine raved as they pulled up at their destination on Valentine's Day. "What's playing?"

"Tonight is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

"Cool! It's one of my favorites!" Blaine did a very Kurt-like bounce in his seat. Kurt tried to stifle a laugh at the sight, but he failed.

"What are you laughing at?"

"You. I love how you can always make me smile."

"I try my best!" Blaine quickly got out of the car and went around to Kurt's side to open his door for him. Kurt offered his hand to Blaine as he got out and Blaine used it to pull him into his arms. "I hate car rides. They keep me from holding you for far too long."

"Blaine, we were in the car for MAYBE 10 minutes," Kurt pointed out.

"Your point? Still too long."

They entered the theatre and presented their tickets. They were escorted to a small private table near the front slightly off of center.

"Wow, Kurt, this is a great table! This is going to be totally awesome!"

"You are going to LOVE it, sweetie, I just know it!"

A server came to their table. "Hi, my name is Jamie, and I'll be your server this evening. Can I start you off with something to dr… " she trailed off as she noticed Kurt and Blaine's hands intertwined underneath the table. They weren't being conspicuous, but they weren't trying to hide anything, either.

"Is something wrong, Jamie?" Blaine asked politely.

Jamie's face scrunched up, and she said, "No. What do you want?" in a harsh tone.

Kurt and Blaine were a bit taken aback. "I-I'll have a d-diet coke," Kurt stuttered, surprised at the 180 degree change in attitude.

Blaine added, "I'll take a water, thank you."

The server turned and stomped off toward the kitchen. The kitchen was nearby, so they could hear a raised voice and dishes being slammed on a countertop. Blaine and Kurt looked at each other in confusion, wondering what in the world was going on.

"That's kind of unprofessional," Blaine commented. "Gordon Ramsay or Robert Irvine would have a fit if anyone in their kitchens blew their tops like that."

Kurt smiled. "I knew I shouldn't have introduced you to cooking shows."

"You have to admit, both of them are AMAZING chefs, not to mention total BAMFs."

"BAMFs?"

"Bad-ass motherfuckers," Blaine said in a whisper so the other patrons couldn't hear him.

"Oh, um, yeah, I've totally noticed that," Kurt blushed. "I don't know how Robert Irvine gets his upper arms through the sleeves of his t-shirts."

"I know, right?" Blaine agreed.

Jamie arrived back at their table. "Here's your drinks," she said rudely. Blaine's water sloshed all over the table and his shirt as she set it down roughly. "Oh, sorry 'bout that," she said, not sounding a single bit sorry at all.

Kurt was livid. He had worked hard on making this Valentine's Day date perfect, and this waitress was ruining everything. Blaine sensed that Kurt's temper was starting to get the better of him and he quickly said, "It's okay, it's just water. It happens to the best of us."

Kurt took that moment to look up and he saw a flash of fire in her eyes. He knew that this would not be the last of her. "Um, Blaine, honey? I think we should ask for a different server. I'm pretty sure the water incident was on purpose."

"I bet it was just an accident, Kurt. Let's give her another chance, okay?"

Shortly before the show began, an emcee came out onto the stage. He explained how the show would work. In order to accommodate a three course meal and not disturb the actors during their performance, they would split the normally two act play into four shorter acts, and they would serve one course during each of those intermissions. Located on their tables were menu cards with their table number written on them; they would choose an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert from the choices printed on the cards.

"Blaine, just so you know, I'm allergic to anchovies, so if you eat the Caesar salad, you won't be able to come anywhere near me until it wears off. So make your appetizer choice wisely."

"Oh really? Damn. I love Caesar salad. I guess I'll just have to eat it when you're not around. How about the turkey wrapped asparagus – is that safe?"

"Absolutely. Go for it!"

Kurt chose a house salad for himself. For dinner, Kurt decided on the rosemary chicken and Blaine eagerly marked his choice of a sirloin. Kurt was hardly surprised; whenever Blaine had the option, he always went for the red meat choice. For dessert, they were both in agreement: death by chocolate cake. Their server came by for their menu cards, but she didn't even look at them as she ripped them out of Kurt's hand, giving him a paper cut as she did so.

"OUCH," he said, looking at the slice in his palm. "That's a deep one."

Blaine frowned. As much as he wanted to believe that the server was just having a bad day, he was beginning to think there was something fishy going on.

"Are you okay, baby?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Luckily I'm right handed and the cards were in my left hand, but dammit, that hurt."

Blaine took Kurt's injured hand and lightly kissed the cut. "All better?"

Kurt's face softened in a small smile. "It is, thank you, love. But I better run to the restroom and clean it with some soap. Who knows what's on those menu cards."

Blaine looked at his phone. "Okay, sweetie, but you better hurry. The show starts in about five minutes and I don't think they'll let you in once they begin."

"I'll be quick," Kurt assured him, and he kissed Blaine's curly head as he scurried off to the restroom.

Had Blaine been looking up and not checking his phone, he would have noticed a scowl from a certain dour attitude waitress from a few tables away.

Kurt slid into his seat just in time as the house lights went down and the stage lights came up. They rejoined their hands and settled back to enjoy the show.

Some time later, the lights came up, and both Blaine and Kurt started talking at once. They laughed at each other's eagerness, and Blaine gestured at Kurt as if to say, you first.

"I was just going to say that it took just about everything in me NOT to sing along with them!"

"That's so funny, 'cause I was thinking the exact same thing," Blaine gushed. "This is SO GOOD!"

The house lights had been brought up about halfway: not enough to blind the patrons who had been sitting in the dark for awhile, but enough so the servers could do their job of bringing around the appetizer course. Though they were near the front of the theater, Blaine and Kurt appeared to have been served dead last, even though the tables around them had been enjoying their food for at least ten minutes by that time. Their plates had been unceremoniously dumped in front of them, their waitress disappearing quickly. They weren't even asked if they'd like their beverages refilled.

"Jeez, I hope this girl isn't expecting any sort of tip at the end of the meal," Kurt muttered. "This is getting ridiculous."

Blaine rubbed his hand on the top of Kurt's, which was sitting on his knee. "It's okay, baby. The important part is that you planned this amazing night and I love it and I love you. Okay? Nothing else matters."

Kurt smiled lovingly at Blaine. "Okay. I love you too, you know."

"I know."

The lights were brought down, the curtain went back up, and the boys lifted their forks to eat. Just as Kurt was about to put a bite of salad in his mouth, he caught a whiff of something and he stopped abruptly.

"DAMMIT," he swore under his breath.

"Kurt? What is it?" Blaine whispered.

"She brought me a Caesar. Why do I have the feeling she overheard me telling you of my allergy and brought this thing to me on purpose?"

"I'm starting to think that, too, but there's nothing we can do about it right now. Here, you can share with me," Blaine offered. Kurt nodded slightly and pushed the offending salad all the way across the table, being careful not to touch it too much. Since his fork had touched the salad, he and Blaine had to share Blaine's fork to avoid cross-contamination. Blaine's asparagus was so good he had wished that he had ordered the same thing.

The second mini-act ended just as Joseph finished singing "Close Every Door." Kurt had tears in his eyes as the song was very emotional, and the actor who had performed it was incredible. The servers streamed out of the kitchen to quickly bus the tables so they could serve the main course.

Jamie arrived at their table and noticed that Kurt hadn't eaten the salad. "What's the matter, honey," she said, quite condescendingly. "Wasn't it good enough for you?"

Fighting to control his inner rage, Kurt merely said, "No. I was served the wrong salad. I am highly allergic to Caesar dressing. Had I eaten it you would have had a medical emergency on your hands. May we have drink refills, please, when you serve the main course?"

"But of course, Sir," she said very sarcastically. She whipped out two hand towels and used them to grab their plates in one hand and their glasses in the other. Their eyes followed her back to the kitchen, their jaws almost on the floor.

"I think we've just been told we're contagious and she doesn't want herself contaminated by our gayness," Blaine said, FINALLY getting the picture that Kurt had figured out from the start.

"She's ruining EVERYthing," Kurt said tearily.

Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice shouting from the kitchen. " – FAGGOTS!... girly one wouldn't touch his food… too hoity toity to eat a damn SALAD… probably rubbed their AIDS all over their glasses… NOT going back out there!" their server screamed.

"Oh HELL no," Blaine seethed. "She has gone too fucking far now." He jumped out of his chair, nearly knocking it over, and stormed toward the back of the theater.

"Blaine?" Kurt called. "Blaine! Stop!"

Blaine grabbed the sleeve of a server who was on his way back to the kitchen. "Excuse me, I need you to send your manager out to the lobby immediately. This cannot wait," Blaine commanded the young man. He then slammed open the door of the theater and went to wait for the manager and, Kurt hoped, calm down a bit.

Kurt slowly got up from his seat and made his way to the theater doors, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. There was no point in being cautious, though; everyone had already heard what had happened and stared at him as he passed by the seemingly endless rows of tables.

By the time Kurt reached the lobby, the manager had already arrived, and a furious Blaine was already giving him a rather large piece of his mind.

"All my boyfriend wanted to do was give me a wonderful night out, and he was succeeding until this homophobic little witch started dropping her hate all over our table! She INJURED him! And she could have KILLED him by giving him the wrong salad! Has she not heard of anaphylaxis? And why is she even working HERE of all places? Is she not aware that a large amount of men in musical theatre are in fact GAY? Why the HELL would she choose to work where there is a larger population of us?"

"Blaine, honey," Kurt broke in. "Calm down. You're going to make yourself hyperventilate." Blaine had worked himself up so much he was panting to catch his breath.

"Blaine?" the manager asked. "Is he the one…?" Kurt shot him a look and he stopped talking. Kurt merely nodded his head and turned his attention back to Blaine.

"Let's go back inside, okay? We were enjoying the show up until now. Let's at least finish watching it, and then we can go home. I'm sure the manager will do everything he can to make sure the rest of our evening goes as it should."

"Absolutely," the manager assured them. "After I go fire a waitress, I will be attending to your table for the rest of the evening. I am so sorry, boys."

Blaine really didn't want to go back in, but Kurt's eyes pleaded with him to give it another shot. Blaine nodded and Kurt put his arm around Blaine's waist. The two walked in silence back to their table and sat down. With only two minutes left 'til the curtain, they didn't expect to get their food, and they didn't really even care about it anymore, but the manager must've gone right to the kitchen and collected their meals as soon as they left the lobby because he was right there with the food and fresh drinks.

They picked at their meals as the third mini-act played in front of them, but they had lost their appetites by then. Which was truly a pity as the food was really quite good. They shoved their plates away, and Kurt pulled Blaine's chair slightly in front of him. He gave Blaine a shoulder rub in hopes of calming him some. The finale at the end was something else, and Kurt didn't want Blaine to be in a bad mood for it. Blaine sank into Kurt's touch and Kurt felt the knots in his shoulders loosen slightly. The poor boy is going to work himself into one helluva tension headache, Kurt thought.

As the show broke for its final intermission, Blaine turned and rested his head on Kurt's shoulder. "Thank you, baby. You always know what to do to settle me down. But how are you so calm? At first, you were the pissed off one."

"One of us has to stay somewhat sane at all times," Kurt said with a slight grin. "Since you took it upon yourself to go kick some butt, it was up to me to be normal this time."

The manager arrived at their table to clean up their dishes from the last course. He noticed that very little had been eaten. "Was your meal unsatisfactory?" he asked.

Kurt offered the manager a small smile. "It was delicious. We just really weren't all that hungry anymore, considering."

The manager nodded. "I totally understand. The… situation… has been dealt with, and you will not experience such appalling service here again. Again, I'm really sorry."

Kurt waved off the apology. "We get it. Thank you."

"I'll be right back with your desserts."

True to his word, the last course arrived almost immediately. Blaine was still looking a little weary, but Kurt scooped up a bite of the gooey concoction before him and offered it to Blaine.

"Open up, honey. Death by Chocolate cake can cure just about anything," he claimed.

They fed each other bites of the cake, agreeing that the chocolaty goodness was enough to make them both feel a little better.

The final act of the show began, and Blaine was relieved that this mixture of heaven and hell was soon going to end. He would've given nearly anything at that exact moment to just leave, go home, and curl up with his beloved and let the world go on without them. Just before the finale began, though, a curious thing happened. The emcee for the theatre stopped the show and stepped out onto the stage.

"Sorry to interrupt, folks, but we have a special treat for you this evening. One great thing about a local production of a show versus a large touring company or a stint on Broadway is that here, we can do whatever the hell we want with a show. And tonight, we've decided that we want to do a bit of audience participation. Earlier this week, our director got a very interesting phone call from a young man with an idea. When he had gone through his spiel, we were very excited to put his idea into motion. So, to perform as Joseph for the finale of our show, we'd like to invite Mr. Blaine Anderson to the stage."

Blaine's head whipped around to stare at Kurt with wide eyes. Kurt was grinning proudly at Blaine, urging him to go up to the stage.

"Wha- ? But HOW?"

"Just go, honey, I'll explain later."

Very nervously, Blaine cut through the tables and walked up on stage. He hadn't noticed before, but the audience was applauding and cheering for him.

Someone off stage came out to place Joseph's headpiece on Blaine's head and handed him a microphone. The director was standing off to the side and noticed that Blaine was shaking with nerves.

"You'll be great, kid. I've heard you sing, you will do the role justice."

"How?" Blaine gasped.

"Kurt played me a recording of you and him singing together. You're both very talented."

"Can I make a request? I'm actually used to singing with him. Would it be too weird if I asked if he could sing the Narrator for this?"

"Sure, why not?" she agreed. "From what I could tell, he'll do just as well."

Blaine caught Kurt's attention and waved him up to the stage. Kurt joined him and asked, "What's wrong? You're not going to bail, are you?"

"No, I'd be an idiot to. But the director has agreed to let you sing the Narrator's part with me. Will you? Please?"

"You know I'd do just about anything for you, Blaine."

"I know. Just the fact that we're here on stage is proof of that, let alone anything else you've ever done for me."

Kurt grinned widely, "It's just what people who love each other do. Now, break a leg, baby!"

Blaine nodded to the director that they were ready, and the conductor of the orchestra cued the musicians to begin playing.

Blaine began to sing, a little wobbly at first, but grew more confident with each line he sang. When Kurt joined him on the harmonies, he almost forgot he was even on stage and only had eyes for Kurt.

Give me my colored coat, my amazing colored coat
Give me my colored coat, my amazing
Colored
Coat!

They sang the last line together and brought their arms up in the air. The audience reacted to them with thunderous applause. Blaine thought to himself that the acoustics in that theater must be amazing because there was no way a crowd of that size could have produced so much sound. Kurt knew that it was because they were impressed as hell with his man and it had very little to do with the sound quality in the theater. They stepped offstage while the main cast ran through their curtain call. At the end, the real Joseph and Narrator grabbed Kurt and Blaine and pulled them to center stage to take their own bows. After a several minute standing ovation, the applause finally began to die down and the audience filed out of the theater.

The director came up to the boys and congratulated them on a job well done.

"So this was a surprise?" she asked.

"It was a total surprise for him," Kurt said, "and somewhat of a surprise for me. It was my idea to get him up there, but it didn't occur to me that he would drag me up with him."

"Color me impressed. If that's what you guys do with no rehearsal at all, I'd love to see what you two can do with some practice under your belts. Feel free to audition for one of my productions at any time." She offered them her card and then disappeared backstage.

"That was magical, Kurt. I felt like a star up there. I don't even know how to thank you," Blaine said with awe in his voice.

"I don't want any thanks, sweetie. I just want to know that you enjoyed yourself, and from the flush of your cheeks and the dreamy look in your eyes, I have my answer. You were absolutely phenomenal, Blaine. I don't know how you fit all that talent in your short little body."

Blaine stuck out his tongue at Kurt. "Quit dissin' on the vertically challenged! And hello? I wasn't the only one up there, you know. We kicked that stage's ASS tonight! Oh my GOD we sound awesome together!"

"We already knew this."

"Yeah, but now people who count know this! Do you think we should try out for a show sometime?"

"I think we should go home, chill out, and think about this some other time when we aren't on an adrenaline high and can think rationally. We're going to be graduating soon, and then we'll be preparing to move to New York. Don't you think we have enough on our plates right now?"

"Still, Kurt, it's exciting to think about, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, I'd be crazy not to be flattered! Come on, let's get out of here."

They moseyed out to the parking lot, swinging their clasped hands between them.

xXxXxXx

A/N: So I have definitely come to the conclusion that season 3 is going to kill me. If you've been following the spoilers, November 8th is probably going to do it LOL If I disappear, please check on me - I might need CPR or something.

I'm in a really cranky mood tonight. And my review counts are pretty low. One has nothing to do with the other, but perhaps you'd like to cheer me up by reviewing?