A/N: RANE CUTENESS ALERT. I do not own anything in this fic. Characters belong to Ryan Murphy and CP Coulter.
Viva La Vida belongs to Coldplay, Heaven Can Wait belongs to We the Kings, Boom Boom Pow belongs to Black Eyed Peas, If We Ever Meet Again belongs to Katy Perry and Timbaland, You Can't Win belongs to Kelly Clarkson.
Reed paced around the large room at the top of a Cleveland skyscraper, wringing his paint-stained hands. The doors opened in fifteen minutes, and his entire school was going to be there. Yeah. Entire. School. The Warblers would be there providing musical entertainment, and Logan, Charlie, and Justin had convinced the rest of their houses to come for support. He knew for a fact that Charlie and Justin would be treating this as their anniversary date, and Julian's presence would make this an even bigger media event than Hilda Van Kamp's son's art exhibition. This was a big fricking deal.
He really wished he had brought Shane along. Unfortunately for the Van Kamp heir, he had insisted that his boyfriend arrive at the exhibition with the rest of the Warblers. Reed had also forced all of his other friends to arrive at the same time as everybody else. He didn't want them warning everyone about the surprises hidden inside of the hall.
Reed had kept this art a secret from absolutely everybody. He'd forced Han to disable the cameras inside the art room. Nobody else but Shane, Kurt and Blaine had known that the artwork was a secret, and they had respected Reed's privacy. Now he desperately wished he had shared with somebody.
"I'm a failure," he muttered, staring out the window at the limos and expensive cars pulling up at the foot of the glass tower. "I shouldn't be here. I don't deserve all of this."
"Nonsense," said a familiar voice, and Reed jumped. "You are a Van Kamp, after all." Hilda stood behind her son dressed in the best couture. They were matching tonight; both were clad in blue and white (although Reed had found an opportunity to sneak his Windsor pin onto his shirt collar.
"Mother!"
"My dear, this is a big night. You cannot abuse yourself the entire time." She lifted his chin up with a finger to look in his big brown eyes. "You must radiate joy and confidence. If you're clearly depressed, the crowd will follow your lead and become sullen and anxious."
"But-"
"Smile. Chin up. Be yourself."
"I am being myself. I'm...insecure."
"Reed van Kamp isn't insecure." She sighed. "You are my son, and I have seen you at your happiest. Show the buyers the energy you painted into these pictures."
Reed glanced around him at his hard work of the past month. Bright colors and shapes met his eyes, welcoming and relaxing them. He knew these paintings better than he knew his bedroom walls.
"Dear… As much as I disapprove of the content of these paintings as something to get the attention of buyers…" she sighed at the loss of money never earned, "I must admit your talents have greatly improved with this exhibition. I'm…proud of you, Reed."
Reed smiled, hugging her. "Thank you, Mother."
She appeared to be flustered. "Oh, dear… Please, you're going to wrinkle my shirt…"
He jumped away. "I'm sorry!"
Hilda just smoothed down her shirt, moved one of Reed's curls into position, and walked towards the refreshments.
Reed took a deep breath. He was ready.
Shane bounded through the door in his Dalton uniform, searching for a curly head of strawberry blond hair. Kurt and Blaine followed him, and stopped stock still in amazement. What Shane hadn't seen in his single-mindedness in finding Reed was...
"Reed! There you are!" Shane grinned and hugged the diminutive artist who blushed but submitted to the PDA.
"What do you think?" he asked quietly.
"You look amazing!" Shane said immediately, knowing that was usually the correct answer.
Reed giggled nervously. "No, doofus, my art. Haven't you looked at any of it yet?"
"Well-" Shane took a glance around the room and he gasped. "Reed…"
"We gotta go, Little Bat! Time to perform!" The Tweedles came out of nowhere, grabbing Shane and disappearing just as quickly. Kurt and Blaine grinned at Reed, giving him thumbs up and following the rest of the Warblers to the back of the room.
Shane took his stance in the second riser of the Warbler formation, using the time to stare around at the paintings Reed had created. Across from the Warblers was a large painting of each "character" of Warblerland, each with their "costume". For example, Shane as 'Little Bat' was hanging from the top of the painting and giving Reed, dressed in little ears and a sleepy expression, a kiss on the cheek. The one next to that was an incredible likeness of one of Logan and Julian's typical lover's spats, with Logan desperately offering roses and Julian giving him a 'bitch, please don't try to win me over like that (even though I love it)' look. Another painting showed Dwight, Wes, the Twins, Charlie, and David all managing to fight over a single, chagrined goat. They were spectacular; they looked like photographs with little personal touches.
As the Warblers sang Viva la Vida, Shane noticed a small group of paintings on their side. Without turning his head, he strained to make them out. They looked like…whoa. Was that him? Reed's mom was going to be pissed… The image that had caught Shane's attention was of his head on a pillow. There was moonlight streaming onto Shane's face and his…*gulp* bare shoulders. His eyes were closed and there was a faint smile on his lips, so clearly he was asleep… Oh, he was dead… So dead… So very, very, incredibly, extremely dead… He and Reed had barely even held hands in public; they were definitely not…there yet.
As they began Heaven Can Wait, Shane continued looking around at the paintings. There was one of Charlie and Justin in a back to back action pose holding a Nerf gun and cricket bat respectively. Dwight stood on a banister, reaching for Pavarotti; Blaine and Shane having a dance-off on a piano; Kurt holding a tray of cookies above David, Ethan, Evan and Wes's heads with a sassy smirk; even Han got a painting of his silhouette in front of the bluish light of the screens. This was a beautiful collage of Dalton life. Shane was even more in love with Reed than ever before.
As soon as they finished their songs (Boom Boom Pow, If We Ever Meet Again, You Can't Win) Shane jumped down and run to find Reed again.
Dwight tugged on his sleeve. "Shane! Shane, did you see-"
"Yes! Where's Reed?" Shane looked around, bombarded by familiar faces. Dwight in an attack stance was holding his crucifix and holy water; Ethan and Evan with identical mischievous grins; Drew and Satoru fighting a fire and cracking up; Wes staring after Tabitha… Picture after picture, each one more exquisite than the last.
Reed came up to Shane, wringing his hands. "Hi… So, how are they?"
"These are amazing! My god, Reed! I don't know what to say!" Shane stared around in shock. "You're amazing. You're just…" He stared at him in awe and adoration.
Reed turned bright red and looked away, staring at his hands. "Well, I –I-"
Shane took one step closer and kissed Reed on the lips, gently but firmly. Reed started slightly but wrapped his arms around his waist. The other Dalton boys surrounded the couple, laughing slightly. When Shane finally pulled away, Reed's hand slid down to lace their fingers together, a shy and timid smile gracing his lips. Shane looked down at his boyfriend, beautiful in white and blue and glowing in the praise and attention of the people closest to them. When the light hit his hair, Shane could have sworn…
Yes, it was definitely there…
He could see a halo over his angel's head.