Day 4: I Choose You
A/N: Set during Ep. 5:20, "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project" as Blaine is performing in June's showcase.
"Trust is a choice. I choose to trust and to love you through everything."
Kurt's words rang in Blaine's head throughout the evening. The showcase had been a rousing success, judging by the applause of the audience and their calls for an encore. Taking a quick sip of water, Blaine rushed back to the stage, leaving June and Kurt behind. When he turned to face the room, he saw Kurt standing behind June, his lips bowed into a smile but his determined eyes as hard as stone. The expression on the older woman's face told Blaine that she had probably just dropped some cutting remark and that Kurt was having none of it.
Blaine knew in his heart what to do, and he had no qualms about it. Screw June and her veiled threats.
"You are more important to me than anything." Blaine had spoken those words to Kurt on the stairs yesterday. Now it was time to prove that they were true.
"Thank you, thank you all so very much," he announced, settling the crowd. "Before we end tonight, I would like to give a very, very special thank you to my benefactor, June Dolloway, the woman that taught me that talent is worthless unless you can really back it up with passion. And so, I'd like to use that passion to pick my last song, because there is nothing I am more passionate about than my fiancé. So, um, Kurt? Would you like to sing this last duet with me?"
Kurt's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in surprise, a little "Oh" escaping his lips. He wasn't the only one surprised – June looked completely and utterly stunned. For his part, Blaine's smile was brighter than it had been all evening.
He stepped forward from the stage, crossing the room purposefully as he continued. "If you all came here to get me know me tonight, there's no better way than seeing me with my one true love." As he finished speaking, he stopped in front of June, reached a hand around her, and pulled Kurt up to the stage with him – where he belonged.
Their duet of "American Boy" was incredible, charming the entire crowd. By the end, even June had lost her scowl and was dancing along.
June invited Kurt, Blaine, and their friends to an after-party to celebrate the success of the show. As the group began to leave, Kurt caught Blaine by the arm, holding him back and calling out that they'd be along in a moment.
Kurt stepped toward Blaine, sliding his hands up his fiancé's arms and looping them around his neck. "You were amazing tonight, as always," he said softly.
"Thank you, Kurt. I liked the number I did with you the best, you know," Blaine answered, preening at the compliment with a shy smile on his lips.
Kurt shook his head affectionately. "You know that was a crazy thing to do, right? If June hadn't approved, she could have ruined a lot of future opportunities for you," he chided.
Blaine tightened his hold on Kurt, pulling them flush together. There was a flash of something fierce and true in his eyes. "Kurt, I meant to what I said to you. You are more important to me than anything. No matter what, no matter where, I choose you," he promised, his voice husky with emotion. "I will always choose you."
Kurt had been right that day on the steps of the brownstone. Trust was choice that they would have to make every day. They would slip up, and they would be scared, but so long as they chose to trust and to love each other through everything, there was nothing they couldn't do. Together.
A/N: Inspired by the prompt, "I Choose You" by Sara Bareilles.