Much to Blaine's dismay, his duet with Nicole was still scheduled to take place. He and Kurt browsed the program for the show during the interval.
"Is Nicole even here?" Kurt asked frustratedly, trying to scan the audience in the room through the stage curtain.
"I don't know," Blaine sighed, rubbing his eyes for the umpteenth time. Why was he so tired? "And even if she is, she's not gonna sing with me – I don't really know what happened, but I doubt she wants to see me, let alone sing with me."
Kurt shrugged, turning back to Blaine. "What'll we do if she's not here?"
Blaine shook his head. "What worries me is what'll happen if she is."
The show continued without a hitch until that point. Kurt and Blaine, prompted by the autocue but adding in their own one-liners and comments, presented and performed spectacularly. However, when it came to the moment of truth, and Kurt said, "now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome out sister school Crawford Country Day's Nicole Spiron, singing with our Blaine Anderson, 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'," Nicole didn't show. Blaine was fairly certain that, if she were here at all, she'd come onstage to perform. As it was, Kurt had politely backed offstage during the applause and Blaine was left awkwardly loitering on the stage, the stage lights hot on his face.
Someone coughed.
Blaine wasn't sure what to do. He could sense the panic backstage as Wes tried to figure out how to fix the current situation.
There was a small cough from behind Blaine. He turned, conscious of the audience's eyes on him. Kurt stood there, and raised the microphone to his mouth. "Apologies, everyone, but Nicole is currently MIA, so, at the eleventh hour, I have become her replacement." Kurt smiled coyly at Blaine and Blaine's breath caught in throat. After what seemed like too long, he returned the smile and switched his mic into his right hand awkwardly before the music started.