Summary: Blaine sent a message with his first song. Hopefully he does the same with the second. And the third? He just wants to get through that one.
Notes: Song lyrics were changed to fit the narrative
Washington DC
Finn opened the door to Burt's DC apartment only to hear Puck and Kurt going at it. "Guess Kurt found out where his dad went."
Rachel nodded as they each took a breath, preparing to enter the fray. "It's probably for the best your mom called and gave us a heads up."
"Still, I'm sorry our night had to end early."
"Me too, although it might be for the best." She looked to the floor, not necessarily agreeing with what she said but remembering how she felt the morning after the Schuester wedding. There could be no walk of shame to Blaine this time.
Finn took her hand and gave it a squeeze "Come on, let's get in there and get Kurt calmed down so Mercedes can watch her man perform with Blaine and the Warblers...and you can see Sebastian. Don't worry, Rach. I know better than anyone that it's impossible to stay mad at you forever."
Julliard: Twenty Minutes Earlier
After getting his phone from Sebastian, and everyone took off to get into their places, Sierra finally let herself relax. Coming up with eight tuxedos similar, but not exact to Blaine's white-tie and tails on such short notice had been more nerve racking than her last Paris Fashion Week Show.
But the Senior Warblers would definitely be the best dressed at their Prom.
Before returning to her seat she made a call to check on Isabella. It was the first time she ever left her daughter with strangers but Santana and Brittany had highly recommended Shelby's Care Center. Then once she met Shelby and her daughter, Beth, she felt even more at ease despite the fact Shelby would actually be at the concert. Sierra was just ready for everything to settle down and she could get Rosa back full-time. Yes, she was her nanny but she was FAMILY to the Motta/Andersons and she had had no problem with Rosa spending so much time there whilst everyone was in NYC, especially getting ready for tonight's after-party.
Of course, then her mother had to go and...it didn't matter. Someone had to come support Sebastian and evidently Isabella was having a marvelous time with Beth, so she should stop worrying and enjoy the rest of the evening.
Unfortunately, the moment she left the staging room she ran into the one person she was trying desperately to avoid.
"Excuse me" Burt Hummel said before stopping short and staring at the ghost in front of him. "I'm…I…I…wow. I'm sorry to stare but…"
Both Blaine and Sebastian explained the situation to her although neither had a clue of what, if any, the fact had to do with Kurt's actions toward them. "I look similar to your late wife."
"Perfect clone is more like it, except for the French accent."
"Well, then, if you will excuse…" Sierra began to leave but Burt didn't move and it was impossible to pass without bumping into him again. "Mr. Hummel."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Russo, is it?"
"Smythe. I am in the process of a divorce and am returning to my family name, not that it matters."
Burt gave a nod as he took in what she said. He silently wished they could come to an agreement where this woman would talk to Kurt. Maybe it would break whatever spell she had on his son. While she might look like his Elizabeth, the aura she exuded was all Smythe…a 180 degree opposite. "You're right, it doesn't matter. I just wanted to apologize…"
"You do not owe me an apology. Any and all apologizes should be directed toward Sebastian and Blaine. And while that might sound rude…"
"You're protecting your brother" Burt sighed. "Unfortunately, I have a lot to learn when it comes protecting those I love, especially from themselves."
Rather than trying to justify his son's actions, as there were none, the former Congressman just wished her a pleasant evening and walked away, allowing Sierra to head to her seat. Since she had taken her parents' tickets, she was close to the front. However, by the time she reached her row, the audience was on its feet cheering the end of Blaine's first number so she didn't interrupt anyone.
"Everything ok?" Shelby asked as she sat down. The two had gotten along so well Sierra asked if she would like her extra ticket. Since Shelby's original ticket had her sitting with Rachel and her Dads and Rachel was in DC, she readily accepted.
"Isabella evidently had a little trouble settling to sleep but Beth climbed into her crib and sang her Let It Go from Frozen. They both went down quite easily after that."
"Beth? As in my daughter Beth? She hasn't gone to bed quite easily since she turned four. It usually takes two stories and three good night songs. You and Isabella might have to move in with us."
"If I don't find someplace soon, I might take you up on the offer. Wait, what the hell is he doing on stage?"
As Burt began to speak, the lights on stage went down, leaving only him and Blaine visible due to spotlights. This allowed for arrangements behind the scenes to take place, including Sebastian and the rest of the guys to take their places. Even with diminished lighting the others could see that Wes was not the only one in the loop this time.
"You knew Blaine asked Kurt's dad to introduce this song…a song he's dedicating to Dalton?" Trent whispered as they settled on the risers.
"Yeah, he had me call Noah to make sure someone got Kurt's reaction. But, I've got no idea of what he's going to say so shhh…" They had obviously missed something because the audience was laughing.
"No, seriously, this 16-year old kid walks into my shop and tells me I need to talk to my son about sex. I can't image the courage it took him but as I got to know Blaine I learned that courage was a word that was extremely important to him and he credited Dalton Academy for giving it to him."
"What I didn't know, until recently, was what he went through before he enrolled at Dalton."
Burt didn't elaborate but those who knew about the attack were stunned. He wouldn't mention it without Blaine's blessing…would he? Hiram and Leroy specifically remembered Burt being present when Blaine said he wanted to be known as a performer not a performer who survived a hate crime.
Hiram grabbed his husband's hand and leaned closer "Look at your boy up there. He didn't flinch. He had to have known Burt was going to hint at something." Surprisingly, Leroy just patted his hand then put his index finger to his lips…his smiling lips.
Someone had some explaining to do, but later. The audience was applauding and he had missed what was said.
"…besides helping families with legal expenses to fight school districts who are not providing a safe learning environment for their students, the newly named DA Safe School/Safe Family Fund will add two additional missions. The first will be to assist schools establish meaningful zero-tolerance bullying policies. It's one thing to say you have one, it's another to put it into practice."
"The second is actually a little closer to my heart as it addresses one of the biggest regrets of my life. After being told my son was having issues at school, instead of going home and talking to him, I yelled and told him to join a team. No excuse, but I lost my wife when my son was eight and at the time talking about feelings wasn't my thing. If it was, maybe he would have told me about the constant bullying, even death threats. So, the second mission will work to increase recognition for signs of bullying, in schools by staff and at home by parents."
Burt stopped for applause, giving Hiram a chance to get his husband to give him some information. "Is this all from that little YouTube charity Blaine asked you to work on?"
"It's not a little YouTube charity. While Blaine wasn't looking it raised almost 3 million dollars and if he wouldn't have diverted the money raised here tonight to scholarships it could have been closer to five. Blaine never planned on running something like this so we're taking it over."
"We?" Hiram asked.
"Not we…we" Leroy answered and then looked back to the stage.
"For his next song, Blaine would like to pay tribute to the place that inspired all of this…these missions, all the good works that will be accomplished, come from the tenants set forth by Dalton Academy. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce Blaine Anderson and When We Were Young.
The spotlight on Burt shut off but somewhere behind the orchestra a screen must have dropped because a giant picture of Dalton appeared.
Sebastian took a deep breath, getting ready for their appearance. He loved this song and couldn't believe Blaine finished it only a couple of days ago, even with all the NYADA, Hummel, Schuester crap happening.
Shit…he needed to pay attention and stop thinking about how amazingly talented his boyfriend was.
But if by chance you're here alone
Can I have a moment
Before I go?
'Cause I've been by myself all night long
To tell you about someplace I used to go
The picture of Dalton turned into a slide show with not only Dalton, but its students, past and present.
It was just like a movie
It was just like a song
My God, this place will always remind me
Of when we were young
A spotlight appeared showing off Sebastian, Trent, Jeff, Nick, Thad, Beat, Wes and David, looking impeccable in their tuxes and giving a soft backing harmony. In the audience, Sierra felt a soft squeeze on her forearm. When Shelby smiled and motioned toward her hand, she had to laugh. She hadn't realized she was gripping the arm of the chair that hard.
Let me show you photographs in this light
In case it is the last time
That we might be exactly like we were
Before we realized
We were sad of getting old
It made us restless
It was just like a movie
It was just like a song
The next picture to appear shocked most of the audience. It was Blaine when he first arrived at Dalton, complete with bruises, stitches and the cast on his arm.
I was so scared to face my fears
Nobody told me that you'd be here
After that lyric a picture of Blaine with Beat and then one with Wes appeared, paying homage to his best friend and to his mentor. Sebastian knew Beat was fighting turning into a blubbering mess but smiled as the as the usually stoic Wes wiped a tear (as Blaine had secretly hoped).
Let me show you photographs in this light
In case it is the last time
That we might be exactly like we were
Before we realized
We were sad of getting old
It made us restless
It was just like a movie
It was just like a song
When Blaine finished the chorus, the full lights came on. Sebastian and the guys went from singing a soft background of Ahs to a repetition of When we were young. However, they were no longer alone as Doug led out the rest of the Warblers in their Dalton uniforms.
It was just like a movie
It was just like a song
My God, this reminds me
Of when we were young
Blaine sang the hell out of the last young only to have the Warblers join in again with their When we were young. However, this time it wasn't just the Warblers on stage. In the audience, men who must have ranged from the ages of 20 to 80 stood and began walking toward the front.
Two men in the audience each received the message being sent…one on his own, one with the help of another.
The one receiving the message on his own was the Cello Brothers' father. He had been the most vocal critic of what was happening at Dalton after his sons had been dragged in to give a deposition against the former Head Master. He had planned to go to the Dalton Days meetings next month and demand whole sale change. If not, he would not only pull his sons but would make sure the school suffered irreconcilable damage to its reputation.
He learned tonight if he tried he would not only lose, his sons, who were currently singing on the stage, would most likely never forgive him.
The man needing help to get his message was Dalton's current Head Master, Wes Montgomery, Sr. He had stood in awe watching all the former Warblers join in. With all the crap he had been fighting with the Dalton Scandal being in the news again, it felt like a vote of confidence.
He was sitting in an aisle seat and had received several pats on the shoulder as people passed but now he felt a small hand take his. It looked over to see the beautiful blonde his son had introduced as his long-distance girl friend the night before at dinner. "Quinn?"
"I'm not supposed to tell you this but I don't care. This might have been Blaine's idea but Wes made it happen. He loves Dalton but loves you more and couldn't be prouder of everything you've done since you took over as Head Master."
The Senior Montgomery rarely showed emotion but pulled the girl into a hug. He had questioned the relationship working with Wes at Columbia and Quinn at Yale. After this he didn't care how much it cost him in monthly train passes, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure his son didn't screw this up.
It was just like a movie
It was just like a song
When we were young
Between the extended applause and getting over 100 past and present Warblers off the stage, Blaine was a little afraid his special guest might be getting restless. But he had been the one who offered to perform…hell, he had been insistent. If it took extra time, it took extra time or so Blaine told himself.
Five minutes later he was ready to crawl out of his skin when he finally relaxed, seeing the two people who would introduce the closing song walk to the microphone.
"Good Evening, I am Niles Olsen, the Head of the Music Department as well as the teacher of Music Composition at Dalton Academy."
"And I am Adela Bello, Head of the Foreign Language Department and Istuttore di Italiano, Spangnolo e Latino. While it was a no brainer Blaine would continue with his music studies upon his return to Dalton, I was quite surprised at his desire to switch from French to Italian. When I asked why, he told me he believed a greater understanding of many languages was vital to writing music and so I agreed despite wishing he would just wait for college. As many of you might have guessed, patience is not one of Mr. Anderson's virtues."
"When time came to put together a plan for Blaine's Senior Graduation Project, Signora Bello and I were tasked with combining our projects into one." He left off where Blaine missed time in classes and wasn't playing any instruments due to recovery from his hand injuries. Mr. Olsen never asked, none of the teachers at Dalton did, but he was the one who saw the daily struggles his student went through.
It was heart wrenching to watch.
"At the time, his Italian was basic but unlike most students, he wrote better than he spoke. That's why Mr. Olsen and I proposed Blaine write a song in Italian for his project. We were expecting Mary Had A Little Lamb set to Brahms's Lullaby. We should have known better."
"So, besides being the final number of the evening, this is literally Blaine's final." Mr. Olsen turned back to Blaine "But only for Signora Bello. After your last five songs, you're already getting an A from me."
Blaine shook his head. Though the audience laughed and applauded it was clear Signora Bello wasn't as pleased. If for some reason Blaine stumbled, she would be the bad guy. And since Mr. Olsen and Signora Bello were currently a couple, that wasn't good for a lot of different reasons.
The glare she side-eyed at her boyfriend only proved Blaine right. "The song will be sung in three parts to demonstrate Blaine's speech. The first will be completely in English by Blaine, the second in Italian by a native speaker and the third will be a duet between the two."
Sam walked onto the stage with his acoustic guitar and sat directly behind Blaine. "Accompanied by Sam Evans, the Julliard Student Orchestra and a guest performer to be announced, this is The Italian Song."
I found a love for me
Darling, just dive right in
And follow my lead
Well, I found a love, beautiful and sweet
I never guessed you were the someone waiting for me
'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love
Not knowing what it was
I will not give you up this time
Darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own
And in your eyes, you're holding mine
Baby, I'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms
Barefoot on the grass, we're listenin' to our favorite song
When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath
But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Andrea Bocelli"
Notes:
Ok, here's a contradiction that had me going WTF. The second to last episode of the series 6x12 "2009" had a scene where Emma called Burt to school to tell him she saw Kurt looking at pamphlets on suicide and he went home and…yelled at Kurt, telling him he had to "join a team"! This was so opposite to EVERYTHING Burt was depicted to be especially Season 1, which was in this time frame. I might not be a Kurt fan but the scene where he came out to Burt was PERFECT.
Istuttore di italiano, spangnolo e latino / Instructor of Italian, Spanish and Latin (Google Translator)
When We Were Young: Adkins, Adele; Jesso, Tobias 2015
Perfect (Duet with Andre Bocelli): Sheeran, Edward; Guazzone, Marco; Rusconi, Anna 2017