Chapter Three

Coincidence Galore

The after school Cheerios practice was uneventful. Santana and Brittany bragged about their second row seats the entire time while the rest of the cheerleaders complained about their third, fourth, fifth, or sixth row seats.

"I told him to get them at exactly five. What does he do? Buys them right at five oh nine. Too late to get any decent seats." Susie shook her head. "What about you, Kurt? Did you get a ticket?"

"Yes, I did. Front row center." Kurt smiled softly as he imagined himself staring up at Blaine. He'd finally get to see those hazel eyes in person. Possibly even at the meet and greet.

Mercedes slung an arm over Kurt's shoulder. "He was the first ticket buyer. You know what that means, ladies."

Susie and Jane gaped at him. The other Cheerios overheard and quickly jogged over to him.

"You get to meet Sebastian Smythe?" Jane said jealously.

"Yeah," Kurt replied, not as elated as he was before.

Mercedes added, "He'll probably meet Blaine Anderson, too."

Brittany smiled. "Is he that guy you have in your locker? The one with the black Doritos for eyebrows?"

"Yes," Kurt said tersely. He didn't like being surrounded by the girls unless they were complimenting him on his kicks or his singing voice. Talking about Sebastian Smythe was making him slightly queasy. Or maybe it was the Auntie Amy's cookie he'd shared with the Unholy Trinity at the mall during lunch. He should not have gotten his fourth of the cookie with frosting.

"Tina and I are going," Quinn said happily, adjusting her skirt. "I'm sure that we can hang out before and after the show, Kurt. You can tell us what happens at the meet and greet. Are you going, 'Cedes?"

"Yeah," Mercedes said, smiling. "I bought tickets for Sam and me."

"Ooh, sounds like you guys are getting pretty serious." Susie laughed.

Kurt sighed in relief when the topic switched to Sam and Mercedes' relationship.

His relief didn't last for long. He was just about to exit McKinley High when he was promptly grabbed from behind and pulled back inside. Kurt dropped his bag on the ground and turned around, mentally preparing himself for a fight.

Dave Karofsky looked back at him, his expression unreadable.

"What do you want?" Kurt asked angrily. His hands curled into fists.

"I need to apologize to you," his assailant responded.

Kurt didn't drop his fists. "Then do it."

Dave sighed, letting go of Kurt. He took a step back and straightened up. Just the sight of his foe attempting to clam himself made Kurt want to attack. Yet he remained firmly planted on the spot, still guarded.

"I'm sorry," Karofsky suddenly cried, "for everything that I did. Shoving you into lockers, throwing grape slushies in your face, tossing you into dumpsters..."

As he listed the offenses he'd made, Kurt felt his armor cracking. He dropped his fists and watched the expression on Karofsky's face change from apologetic to absolutely pained.

Finally, he croaked, "I'm sorry for kissing you."

Then the football player began to cry. Kurt hesitantly reached forward and patted his shoulder. The mere act of comforting him seemed to work.

"You're a good man, Kurt Hummel," Dave whispered.

For the first time in his life, Kurt attempted to smile at him. "You're on your way there."

"I am," confirmed Dave. "I'm...I'm transferring schools. A fresh start would be best right now."

"It really would." Kurt nodded.

Blaine finished off his cover of "Cough Syrup" and smiled at Pierce and Sebastian. They were sitting in the front row, scrawling the names of the VIP pass holders with Sharpies. The three of them had begun the job the day before, but Pierce wanted Blaine to rehearse more. The manager had guessed that Blaine wasn't yet primed for a full house performance, and was planning on gradually adding audience members during his rehearsals to get him comfortable.

"Can I help?" Blaine asked.

"Grab a Sharpie and a tour date." Sebastian held up a stack of VIP pass holders names, printed neatly on tiny white squares with the tour date in bold capital letters at the top. They were paper clipped together so that none of the dates could be lost.

Blaine glanced at the first square on the top. "Ohio," he muttered, searching for the bag marked especially for Ohio pass holders. When he did find it, he pulled out all of the passes onto the arm of his chair. He pulled out the first pass and glanced at the last name on the list.

"Apply this spray on the writing afterward," Pierce advised Blaine, shaking an aerosol can in his face. "That way it doesn't come off."

"Why wasn't this done beforehand?" grumbled Sebastian as he attempted to cram STEPHANIE BIRKBY on the white portion of New York's seafoam pass.

"We can't afford to fix any manufacturer's error," Pierce replied. "Well, at least, I thought we wouldn't when I ordered these."

Blaine scrawled CHANDLER CAMBRIDGE on an Ohio pass and sprayed it. The words looked as glossy as his hair gel. After a minute of waiting for it to set, he shoved the pass into the correct bag and began to write on another.

He was nearly finished the Ohio passes when Pierce shoved his laptop under Blaine's nose. "You have to see this," Pierce urged.

The photos on the screen depicted the big ticket selling websites. On Ticketmaster, in big red letters over the Ensnared tour link, it said SOLD OUT. Screenshots of eBay and Craigslist depicted tickets that were originally fifty dollars were now going for two hundred dollars. Then, an article on a website talking about how quickly the tickets had sold out. Blaine's heart soared.

Sebastian edged closer to Blaine to see the screen.

"Holy-" Sebastian started.

"I know," Pierce said in a hushed tone. "Isn't it amazing? We've got scalpers asking for quadruple the amount they paid for."

"Completely overwhelming," Sebastian murmured.

"I can't believe he had the nerve to grab you," Santana said, shaking her head. "I would've gone all Lima Heights on him in an instant."

Brittany, Quinn, Kurt, Santana, Mercedes, and Tina were hanging out at the Lima Freeze. Sugar and her flavor of the week, Todd, were sitting in the booth right behind them so that she could join in on the conversation whenever she wanted. Rachel was on a date with Finn.

They were all sharing small amounts of ice cream in sundae dishes. They passed them around like they would with popcorn on movie nights. The girls didn't care for calorie counting that day, although he did notice that Tina and Quinn were eating sparingly than usual.

After making a mental note to bring it up to them later, Kurt took a dainty spoonful of peanut butter ice cream from the dish that had been placed in front of him. As he did, the door to the Lima Freeze opened. A blonde boy in a private school sauntered up to the front and ordered a turtle sundae. His glasses were stylishly dorky. To top it all off, Kurt detected the boy humming "Music of the Night" while he waited for his ice cream.

Santana followed Kurt's line of vision to the boy.

"Wanky," Santana stated, smirking. "Go over there and talk to him."

Kurt's cheeks turned bright red. "I can't," he whispered.

"I will shove you up there myself," Quinn said, who took a big scoop of ice cream to thwart Kurt's mental note. "He's cute, Kurt."

Todd recognize the boy almost immediately. He piped up, "His name's Chandler. He's my cousin, and he's as straight as a rainbow."

"Go, then," Tina urged. "You're obviously attracted to him. Maybe he'll be attracted to you, too. Take a chance, Kurt."

Kurt pushed himself out of the booth and headed to the front. When he approached the boy, he smiled warmly and introduced himself.

KURT HUMMEL, Blaine wrote on the last Ohio pass. Instead of the usual seafoam green, it was a dark navy pass. Every pass holder who had been the first to buy tickets for their show had a different color than the rest. New York's first ticket buyer was getting a lovely sunshine yellow pass in contrast.

After spraying the name, he dropped it into the bag and tied up the top. He was taking too long. Pierce and Sebastian were on their fifth bags, respectively.

"Take five, Anderson," Pierce called out. "Then run through 'Tumult' again."

Blaine stepped outside for some fresh air. As he walked, he found himself humming. By the time he'd crossed the street, he was singing under his breath. His favorite song in the world, "Teenage Dream".

He'd been spotted. Several women were craning their necks from outdoor patios at restaurants, trying to hear him sing a Capella. He sang a little louder, just for the observers.

He had started off singing for fun, almost an unconscious act. He was enjoying it when he'd been spotted. Then he sang louder and straightened up for the people who were watching him.

Just like what he was going to do. What he was doing.

Selling out.

He remembered a conversation he had with Cooper when he was younger. Before he'd been called back to reprise his role in Doctor Who, Cooper was booking shows left and right. Right before he'd left to be on 90210, Cooper had kneeled next to Blaine and had given him some very valuable life advice.

"Don't die," Cooper said, chuckling slightly. "And no matter what, don't ever let go of your dreams for anything. Never sell out or skip steps to get to where you want to go. You need to earn your dreams."

Then, as if he hadn't said anything particularly interesting, Cooper straightened up and patted Blaine on the head. He didn't come back for two whole weeks, and by then Blaine had written that quote all over his duotangs that he used for school.

"You're overreacting," Blaine whispered to himself after the song was done. By then, the observers were shaking his hand and snapping photos of him on their phones. He glanced at his watch and found that he was ten minutes late. He waved good-bye to the crowd forming and sprinted back to the theater.

Or was he?