Summary: There's a lot more going on than just a simple concert.
Reminder: Blaine is 18 at this time
Note: This is a story about Blaine and Sebastian but this chapter has no Blaine and Sebastian.
Artie watched as the concert's director and his assistants scrambled at the announcement of the surprise performer (Oscar Isaac sings and plays guitar? Holy Shit!). Yes, films were his ultimate goal, and he had directed two McKinley musicals, but watching behind the scenes of a live, unscripted production was chaos he never considered. It being streamed live to both Julliard's Website and Blaine's YouTube channel only contributed to the frenzy.
He looked out into the audience to find Sugar. She was practically bouncing, along with Kitty and Alice on either side of her, fangirling over the appearance of the Star Wars actor. To be fair, so was his mother. She arrived earlier that day as Al Motta's date. He was happy his mom was dating but the fact it was Al Motta concerned him on many, many levels…besides the whole he's a supposed mobster despite all signs he was handing everything over to Cooper.
First of all, he really liked Sugar and she was finally unattached from both Rory and Nick. Would it be creepy if a mother and son were dating a father and daughter? And speaking of creepy, there was the rumor Sue Sylvester had a thing for Sugar's dad and that could make his life all sorts of a living hell. He had enough to worry about considering the last time he asked Sugar out, her overprotective/psychotic cousin Blaine had her suggest horseback riding. AND now, there was this Brody guy in the mix, who was just as bad and might actually become her brother. AND that didn't even factor in the afore mentioned Cooper who was the boss of guys who could hurt him in ways…
"Dude!" Sam whisper-yelled, trying to get his attention. "What's the problem?"
He hadn't realized how far in his head he was, which must have been pretty far considering he didn't notice Sam join him. "What are you doing here?" Artie whispered back, trying not to distract those he was observing.
"I'm done except for the last song." A quick scan of the audience gave him an idea on what was distracting the wanna-be director. "Don't worry about Sue" who had shown up unexpectedly and was currently sitting three rows behind Blaine's uncle. "She doesn't have a thing for Robert."
"Rob…oh, yeah" Artie found the whole Al/Robert thing extremely confusing but since he was still firmly in the Mr. Motta zone, it wasn't an issue. "How can you be sure?
"Miss Holliday told me. Sue wants another kid, but this time it's going to be a boy. Yeah, I know, you can't control that shit, but this is Sue we're talking about. Anyway, you know how she claims Michael Bolton is Robin's father?" Both boys giggled loud enough to earn a death glare from a production assistant. "Since the baby is supposed to be a boy she's worried about the hairline. She didn't want Robert, she wanted his junk."
Artie slapped his hand over his mouth so fast his eyes watered from the pain. He then motioned his head as a sign to Sam to help him navigate away from the show's production. As much as the behind the scene work fascinated him, he knew he wouldn't be able to focus. "Seriously?" he spat out once they were in an area where they could speak freely. "I thought she'd want Cooper."
"Oh, she did but Holly told her to stay the fuck away from her man. Then when she found out Robert and Cooper were only related by marriage, her target changed."
"OMG, please tell me she's not after Blaine because that is all kinds of wrong and Seb would kill her, well…he'd know who to call about the body…"
"Dude, NO!" Sam swore he threw up a little in his mouth then pointed to the silver-headed man sitting next to Blaine's mother. "Tina said it spread through McKinley pretty quickly that Anderson Cooper was related to Blaine's mom. Speaking of Tina, she completed her mission."
"To find a guy who could dance like Mike or Jake and was willing to join the New Directions? Who? How?"
Sam pointed to the audience again, this time to the little red-headed Cheerio sitting between Sugar and Kitty. "Alice's twin brother, Allistar. He's wanted to join for a while but she kept telling him he couldn't because he can't sing, only dance."
"So, Mike the Junior not Mike the Senior. That's perfect."
"Yeah, he and Roddrick are really good friends and between him and Tina they convinced him to join."
"Why would Alice tell him he couldn't?"
"They get a lot of shit being on the Cheerios together is my guess. You're going to have to find out."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because I stepped down as Captain" Sam said like it was the most obvious thing in the world "And Mr. Martinez appointed you and Tina co-Captains as it should have been all along."
"Sam…"
"Nope, done deal. There're only two things we have to talk about. One, I have a challenge with Blaine I need you to uphold and two, I think I found the third song for our set list."
Artie was in such a whirlwind, he followed Sam's lead and faced the stage. Oscar Issac was taking his bows and everything was being set up for the next performance. Unless there were anymore surprises, it should be the final one before intermission and he could get more answers then.
Sam on the otherhand was perhaps the calmest he had been all week. Like he told Artie, the only thing he had left was to play guitar for the final number which would be The Italian Song. Blaine could play it in his sleep but was so nervous about singing with the surprise guest (in Italian) he asked Sam to do it.
It didn't help that his Italian teacher was here from Dalton and this performance would act as Blaine's final.
The only problem Sam had was he didn't have a tuxedo, at least he thought he didn't. Neither he, Blaine or Sebastian realized Santana had gotten a clause into their Vogue photoshoot contracts that allowed them to keep all the clothes they wore…which made sense since they had all been expertly tailored.
Which meant, backstage, his Calvin Klein tux was hanging for him to change into later.
He couldn't express how proud of/impressed by Santana he had been throughout this whole week. Yes, Blaine had gotten her in the door at Vogue with an internship in the advertising department and day/background modeling. However, it only took her four months to impress not only Anna Fucking Wintour but the CEO of Baby (and soon to be Teen) Dior enough to receive a job offer as her Executive Assistant.
And yes again, the CEO was Sebastian's sister but she was also Sebastian's sister. There was no way this was a favor for her brother because Sierra Smythe had the reputation in the fashion industry for having no tolerance for bullshit. She wasn't quite Anna Wintour, but then again, no one was.
Guess all those jokes they made about Sebastian and Santana being so similar actually worked out in her favor.
And Santana being so good at her job had worked out in his.
When his family arrived earlier that day, Sam took them all to Time Square and pointed out the Calvin Klein underwear billboard. He thought he was being subtle, giving a point of reference to bring up the topic later, however…
"Blaine's fa…(Stacie stopped herself from saying fairy godmother, remembering it was a secret) godmother should put one of your pictures up there. Your tummy is way more muscly than that guy's."
His parents knew it didn't work like that but his face must have given away Calvin Klein made the offer. The last thing he expected was for his mother to breakdown in tears and his father to pull him into a bear hug, repeating constantly how proud he was. The twins were a little freaked out by the behavior so the three of them claimed fatigue and how they had to get back to the hotel for a nap before Sam's big night.
Once Stevie and Stacie were down, Sam confirmed his Vogue photoshoot had gone so well he had been made several offers including the Calvin Klein billboard. He also admitted the two things holding him back. The first was his admittance to NYADA. It was something he never expected and didn't want to waste the opportunity. The other was his past as a stripper and how it could affect those he loved, especially the Munchkins sleeping in the next room.
"Ladies and Gentlemen" Sam stopped the flashback as soon as he heard Mr. Barnes at the microphone. Unlike Artie, he knew this was the final song before intermission and he hoped it was as good as he remembered. "Tonight's concert has been quite different from years past, especially with our Present performer, Thomas Nye, unable to go on. So, I'd like to start by thanking Oscar and Leslie for coming running when asked. Also, Thomas' sophomore classmates for stepping up at the last minute. While he might have been our official Present, I think it's pretty clear what a difficult decision the committee had as everyone considered is extremely talented."
"I'd also like to give my unending gratitude to all of you for contributing this evening. Your generosity has more than covered Thomas's medical bills and all rehabilitation he might need. Any money we raised over our goal was to go to Blaine Anderson's Nonprofit. However, he has asked for us to cut off the contribution at $25,000."
A rumbling went through the crowd, some feeling they had been tricked. "Instead, Blaine asked for funds above and beyond the $25,000 be donated to the DFC Memorial Scholarship Fund. Because of this, any student participating tonight…singers, musicians, staging crews…all will be receiving $3000 in tuition grants…"
The crowd rose to its feet in applause as those both on stage and back celebrated. While many wouldn't understand why Blaine would give up so much money for his nonprofit, it made sense to anyone in the know. The YouTube channel was part of his plea deal for community service. It was only meant to raise money on monetized videos. Until Leroy Berry straightened things out, the nonprofit attached wasn't ready to handle something like this.
Giving the money back to Julliard for scholarships made the most sense.
As things calmed down, the Sophomores from earlier as well as Blaine came out from back stage and arranged themselves on a set of risers that had been set-up behind Mr. Barnes. "We have one last performance before intermission. It is the second of the two pieces Thomas Nye was able to submit prior to his accident. Now, I'm guessing you, as well as Thomas, are wondering Thomas is a classically trained cellist and composer. What's with the singers? His friends…"
"Mostly Blaine" one of the guys on the risers shouted out earning a chuckle from the audience both the singers assembled and the audience.
Mr. Barnes smiled and started over. "Alrighty then. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce Rise…composition by Julliard Present Thomas Nye, and I am guessing words and lyrics by Julliard Future Blaine Anderson with contributions from members of the Julliard Class of 2016."
Have you ever felt like you woke up
On the wrong side of your heart
Has it ever felt like it's broken
Like the world tore it apart
Have you felt so weak,
You could hardly stand
Like if you ever fell
You could never tell
If you'd ever get back up again
I know it's hard to do,
But I think you can make it,
Cause I know we can take it,
Baby we will...
Rise
Sam remained stoic, wanting Artie to form him own opinion of the song. Instead he thought back to something from earlier in the week. For some reason, Blaine got a feather up his ass and replaced the Dalton tribute of Somewhere Only We Know with an original. No one had an issue, except for one problem. Originally, the performance was to be Blaine and a string quartet with the Warblers coming in for harmonies toward the end. This song required a full band and Sam had said all along it was inappropriate for him to play on the Dalton tribute, but he was more than happy to teach it.
And just like with Let's Hurt Tonight, everything was off.
Before they knew it practically the entire music department of Julliard was at the rehearsal hall trying to figure out the problem. Finally, one of the professors noticed something. None of the Julliard musicians had a problem with Who Knew, Sebastian's Heart or The Italian Song…or, the songs written without Sam's input.
Sam wrote the guitar portions of the new song and Let's Hurt Tonight. Well, maybe wrote wasn't the correct word. Due to his dyslexia, he didn't read music. He played by ear, and when he wrote, it was basically him cutting and pasting into the recording equipment Blaine got him. The professor hypothesized (his new favorite word) that when Blaine added Sam's contribution to whatever he was writing, something got lost in translation. The two of them had a musical symbiosis (ok, maybe THIS was his new favorite) where they understood what the other was thinking. Unfortunately, if this was true, it didn't bode well for any future as the next Lennon and McCartney.
Although, he should probably think of another songwriting duo to compare Blam to because evidently Sebastian had developed a sudden (and extreme) dislike of everything Beatles.
Yeah baby we will,
Rise!
We are young we are the dreamers
We will fly when the world will not believe us,
We will rise above the ashes
Before this whole life passes us by
You and I, we will rise!
The song ended and the 30-minute intermission was announced, so Sam looked to Artie to gauge his feelings. His smile told him he was right on the money but there were still a lot of questions. "The song is great but how is it Diva Throughout the Decades? And, yes, I understand there are hundreds of Blaine is a Diva jokes but I don't know the National Judges would get them."
"Last year was Vintage and the only vintage we did was Dashboard. We already have Adele and Katy Perry so we have diva performers covered. I was thinking more along the lines of what happened at the Diva-off."
Now Artie was really lost. "I don't get it."
"Dr. Carl and Mrs…Miss Pillsbury said the performances were equally good but the Warblers killed it with the other stuff…did our routines, used our band, got Mercedes to perform with them. It gave them an attitude, a swagger, something we desperately need right now."
"It would be funny, even if only we and the Warblers got it."
"Plus, you know everyone is going to give us shit about how we're not supposed to be there in the first place. How we lost to the Warblers at Sectionals."
"And then Mr. Schue got people he knew on the Show Choir council to give us a second chance and an easy Regional." The new co-Captain let out a sigh, remembering some of the things he had read on the Show Choir websites. "While the Warblers got the Bracket of Death."
"That's the real reason I like the idea of Rise so much. We need to rise up from the tire fire, or ashes, our former advisor made of the New Directions. Not only to prove to everyone else we deserve to be there, to prove it to ourselves."
Artie smiled and then noticed the rest of their group headed toward them. "Are you sure you want to resign as Captain?"
"Very"
"Fine, then can you at least give me a clue to what this challenge you have with Blaine is?
"Nothing much, just Sugar having a solo."
Meanwhile…
"What do you mean? He's making money hand over fist on this thing while singing original songs."
"Money for charity, he isn't selling anything. And we checked the professional organizations. He is registered with ASCAP and BMI but as a songwriter and producer, not singer."
"There's got to be something you can do."
"I'm sorry, Will. Blaine Anderson is not a professional singer and we have no reason at this time to prevent him from performing with the Warblers at Nationals."
Notes:
Allistar and Alice are basically Mason and Madison from Season 6. When I added Alice in Chapter 5 (she and another Cheerio replaced Blaine when he went back to Dalton) I chose the name because it started with an A and nothing else. Getting the Alice/Allistar "twins" is a happy coincidence.
Rise (Glee): Criss, Darren 2015
Since this takes place in 2013, making money from YouTube was supposedly easier and you didn't have content makers needing support.
ASCAP: The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
BMI: Broadcast Music Inc