For a whole five days, everything was well. He steered clear of the Undesirables, trained like a mad man under Coach Sue and went through most of the songs in his library trying to find the perfect one for his audition.

Then he got jumped.

And he had more or less been expecting it, but that didn't mean he enjoyed the production.

Entering Glee Club with a limp while Santana laughed at him already wasn't his idea of the greatest day, but he couldn't imagine, as he sat down groaning, how bad it would get.

So bad that just a few minutes in the choir room made him long for the gym, even if Cheerio practice had ended with him trying too hard in a straddle jump and having to live with the embarrassing consequences.

He thought that would be his lowest point, but the actual worst part of his day started with Brad shuffling around music sheets. Then the lights went out and a stage light clearly brought over from the Auditorium shined on Blaine singing. Or, well, vocalizing right at that moment. He didn't start to sing until the music had already picked momentum. At which point he extended a hand towards Kurt, the other pressed to his chest, and the ex-Warbler had the gall to croon:

I hear a million voices in my head

Telling me the things I should have said

And Kurt could tell exactly what was going to happen and he didn't like it one bit.

I don't know why I let you go

Oh, I learned the hard way

Tell me it's not too late

Now my arms are open wide

They're hanging forever there

Waiting forever for you

Blaine even did that little side-step the Warblers were so fond of!

I won't give up on you this time

'Cause I ain't holding on, for nobody else

It's gotta be you

Maybe with time you'll see that

I can give you all the things you missed

Oh, no, no

Now my arms are open wide

And I ain't holding on, for nobody else

It's gotta be you

The boy pointed straight at Kurt like anyone could have misunderstood who this embarrassment was meant for.

You don't have to answer right now

Baby, go and take your time

'Cause I'll be here

I don't want nobody else

Nobody else but you

Oh, it's gotta be you

He ended the verse on his knees in front of Kurt, blinding smile and arms spread like he was just waiting for Kurt to jump straight into them.

Santana scoffed, "Ugh, desperation."

And he could only cover his mouth with a few fingers and snort, because...

"You didn't 'let me go', I dumped you! Maybe go on urban dictionary and figure out the difference, Blaine, because not all the time in the world will make me rethink that decision."

He could have gone on, but at that point, Mr. Schuester entered the room trying to seemingly juggle with a few sheets music and a few Spanish tests and Kurt made the executive decision that leaving Blaine gaping on his knees was better than trying to drag on their private mess in front of his teacher.

Mr. Schue clearly agreed, because he started talking like finding teenage boys panting on the ground was just par for the course (which, in a show choir- well.), explaining that some of the girls had their own personal project for the week and he wanted to see everyone else put on the table something personal when-

In stormed Puck, dressed like a goodwill punk, scratching on an electric guitar so hard it was a wonder it hadn't broken before he slammed it on the floor in front of everyone.

It had been a sudden and almost scaring experience, made all the more surreal by the fact that in all the commotion Blaine hadn't managed to properly climb on a chair and was now hanging onto one seemingly for dear life with an expression that had rapidly morphed from shocked to almost fearful, as he was effectively the one closest to the ball of rage that Noah was expressing through a terrifying rendition of School's Out.

The only positive outcome of the whole mess was that everyone found themselves so unsettled by Puck's performance that Blaine's hopeless serenade didn't even become part of the weekly round of gossip surrounding New Directions, buried as it was by all… the rest. In fact, it seemed almost trivial after Puck suddenly going incommunicado for several days and Brittany and Santana being seen making out with black leather outfits in the choir room, the Auditorium, the janitor's closet, Ms. Pillsbury's office, and under the bleachers… All in the span of two days.

The girls then explained to Kurt that the first day it had been performance day, and then they had just wanted to finish marking the territory… according to Brittany. According to Santana Josh Miller (Jr, not the owner of the burrito stand in the mall, though for what reason Brit had felt the need to specify Kurt didn't want to know) had bet against Lucy (the freshman redhead who tried for the Cheerios with a full tumbling routine and an uncanny fascination for Santana) that no way would Brittana manage to do it under the bleachers with Coach around.

The moral of the story was that the three girls split 50$ and Miller should shut his cakehole (Santana's words).

All this was great. Because it distracted him from the fact that the most important performance of his life was coming up in less than 36 hours and Rachel Berry had been trying to ambush him for the past 72 with very significant looks, which were her main means of communication since she had started saving her voice for the audition.

Then, deflecting her with sudden turns in the middle of the corridor and very-loud and all-encompassing cheerleading chatter with his teammates wasn't enough.

She waylaid him at his locker and started talking.

He raised a hand,

"Don't tell me Liza's-"

"She's fine, I'm worried about you! I've been rehearsing for Don't Rain on my Parade since I was two and I haven't heard anything about your song!"

"Yeah, Rachel, I think that's because you haven't talked to me since it was confirmed that I was back on the Cheerios."

"I've just said that I think dividing your attention at such a crucial point of our path to NYADA isn't the way to go. But I understand that after your and Blaine's spat you needed something to distract yourself even though this audition should have been enough but the point I'm trying to make is that you were my friend first and we're going to New York together and it's less than 24 hours until the most important moment of our teenage years and I can't believe you haven't ranted to me about the Phantom of the Opera even once!" Kurt let Rachel regain her breath, then grabbed her by the shoulders, looked her straight in the eye and decided to ignore all the wrong things she said to concentrate on the worst,

"I'm not singing the Music of the Night." He waited patiently as she seemed to have a mini-freak-out, guided her through a few breathing exercises, wrapped an arm around his most-longlasting frenemy's shoulders and smirked, just a bit, as he led her toward the cafeteria for a slightly honeyed tea.

"NYADA's not gonna know what hit them."