Author's Notes: Chapter Two, yay! Thanks again to Tanya - my beta reader. Enjoy!

"Let me get this straight, Kurt wasn't even supposed to be auditioning for the musical but he still got the chance to give a killer performance in front of Carmen What's-Her-Name and sing with a total hottie? Good going Hummel."

It was just beginning to go dark outside the loft in Bushwick and Rachel and Kurt had just finished giving Santana a detailed summary of their day.

"OK first of all, it's Carmen Tibideaux and second, he wasn't a "total hottie"." Kurt stated matter-of-factly from where he stood in the kitchen, "Rachel, where did you put the pop tarts?"

"In the cupboard next to the refrigerator." Rachel answered, "And yeah right Kurt, I was there, I saw the way you were looking at him."

Kurt turned abruptly to face the two girls, "Oh God, was I really that obvious?"

Rachel laughed, "What does it matter if you were? From where I was standing, he was just as obvious."

"Was he now?" Santana enquired.

Although Kurt was sure that this wasn't true, something about Rachel saying it put a smile on his face. He placed the plate of pop tarts on the coffee table and sat in the arm chair opposite the girls - who were sitting on the couch.

"He wasn't." Kurt assured Santana, "It was a romantic song and I'm an excellent actor, what can I say?"

"Then why have you been grinning like an idiot since this afternoon?" Rachel questioned as she broke a pop tart in two; keeping one half for herself and passing the other to Santana.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

This statement received two exaggerated eye-rolls. Kurt merely sighed, "Jeez, why aren't we discussing your audition in excruciating detail? Since yours is the one that actually matters."

"Whatever," Rachel said, "All I'm saying is, if I get Maria, I sure as hell wouldn't mind Mr. Anderson being my Tony."

The next week passed just like any other week at NYADA. Kurt kept an eye out for Blaine - how he'd never seen him before, he didn't know. But this week he spotted him on a number of occasions, but at each occurrence, neither boy was really in the position to stop and chat, whether it was that one of them was about to go into a class or was running for a bus.

Though he'd never admit it to Rachel or God forbid - Santana, Kurt couldn't seem to get Blaine out of his mind. He kept replaying their performance of Come What May in his head; looking for signs that Blaine had recognised the chemistry between them on that stage. Kurt had to keep reminding himself that it was only a performance, and it was an emotional song. It could very likely be the case that Blaine was just a good performer and was only displaying emotions that he felt necessary to present through the song. Yes, that was all it was.

But even though Kurt was thinking logically about the matter, there was still a small part of him that was thinking illogically. When the song had ended, Blaine had looked at Kurt in the same way Kurt was looking at him. That, was something he was sure of.

By Friday, the cast list was up for West Side Story. Kurt's classes finished at lunch on a Friday and so he didn't see the list in person. Rachel, however, came home that afternoon, practically glowing. Kurt was not at all surprised to learn that she had landed the leading roll of Maria, for no one sang her audition song; My Man, quite as well as Rachel Berry - well, except for maybe Barbra Streisand.

"Oh, and guess who got Tony?" Rachel asked presently - the pair were in the kitchen making coffee, "Blaine! To be honest, after the performance you two gave, I never really doubted he would get it."

"Oh really? That's great!" Kurt was pleased with this news. Blaine was a talented performer and Kurt was happy to have been there to help him with his audition.

"So," Kurt said as he sat down at the kitchen table and stirred his coffee, "What do you want to do to celebrate? Shall we go to Callbacks?"

"Yes, great idea! But only if you get up and sing something with me this time."

"Pass."

"Oh come on! You know you want to. It can be your "congratulations" gift to me."

Kurt raised his eyebrows, "Rachel, if I started getting you "congratulations" presents every time you succeeded in the musical theatre world, I would not be able to afford food, let alone the tuition at NYADA and the rent for this place." He gestured to the spacious apartment.

"Good point," she agreed before taking a sip of her coffee.

At that moment, the front door of the apartment slid open, and in strolled Santana.

"You would not believe the day I've had. I think I've got a stalker."

"A what?" Rachel and Kurt said in unison.

"Yeah, you heard me right. A stalker." Santana repeated as she came over to the kitchen, placed her bag down on the counter, and opened the refrigerator. "OK, so the other day, after my dance class, I went back to the changing rooms to find that someone had taped a rose to my locker. And I didn't really think much of it. I mean, so what? Someone's got a crush on me. Wouldn't be the first time and hey, who am I to judge? I'm hot and I'd probably be offended if I didn't have a secret admirer from time to time."

"The stalker?" Kurt reminded her.

"I was getting there." she snapped as she sat on the counter top and began eating some beef jerky. "Anyway, so everyday for the past week I've found a number of roses waiting for me some place, either in the mail box outside or I'd be in the diner downstairs and Victor - he's the bar tender, would bring a bunch over to my table, saying that someone had left them for me. I thought it was kinda weird but also kinda sweet, you know? But today, I got to work to find that the whole place was covered in roses. Gunther went nuts. He kept finding more; under the bar, on chairs and even in the cellar, they were everywhere." She took a deep breath and bit off another piece of beef jerky. "So yeah. I think I've got a mystery stalker slash admirer who keeps sending me roses. How are you guys?"

Kurt and Rachel just stared at her; still trying to get their heads around the information they had just received.

They were silent for a few seconds until Kurt spoke, "Santana, this is kind of serious. Someone knows where we live and they're tracking your every move. How are you not more freaked out?"

Santana shrugged, "If they were some crazy serial killer they would have murdered us all by now. Besides, I'm pretty sure it's this guy that comes to the diner everyday and always asks for me to be his waitress. He's harmless. I'm gonna speak to him tomorrow anyway, and tell him to cut it out or he can expect some bad things from me."

Rachel and Kurt didn't seem completely satisfied with this answer but couldn't really think of anything else to say about the matter. And Santana didn't really look that worried.

"Rachel got the part in West Side Story." Kurt informed Santana; effectively changing the subject.

To which Santana replied - "Well obviously. We going to Callbacks?"

"We are." Rachel answered.

Santana nodded before turning to Kurt, "Did your boy get Tony?"

"He is not "my boy"." Kurt snapped, "But yes, he did."

Santana could only laugh as she jumped off the counter top and walked out of the kitchen, "I'm gonna go shower."

"Don't use all the hot water!" Rachel yelled after her, "There are other people who live here, who enjoy the privilege of showering with hot water too, if you weren't aware!"

"Yeah yeah." Santana responded before closing the bathroom door.

Two hours later, the trio were almost ready to head to Callbacks when there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Kurt called as he made his way over to the front door, for he was already dressed and was just working on a new outfit for his internship.

He opened the door to see a boy hunched over, breathing very heavily, and holding a bunch of tulips.

"Blaine?" Kurt said.

"Oh thank God this is the right apartment. Finally." He sighed and leant against the door frame.

"A-are you OK?" Kurt asked worriedly.

"Oh, yeah yeah I'm fine. Someone from school told me you lived in this building but I had no idea which apartment, so I've been knocking on random doors for the past half hour. And let me tell you, this place has a lot of stairs. But anyway, I've found you now." Blaine finished his speech a little breathlessly and handed Kurt the flowers. "These are for you."

Kurt took them, rather confused, "Uh, wow thanks. They're gorgeous. But why are you giving me flowers?"

"Well," Blaine said, "you've probably heard already, but I got the part in the musical. And I know I wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't for you coming to my rescue at the audition last week. So they're just a small token of my gratitude."

Kurt was in shock. The boy had been running round his apartment building for the past half an hour just to give him a bunch of flowers?

"Oh right, well thank you. You shouldn't have gone to all that trouble though. I mean, I didn't help out that much. You still would have killed the audition without me." Kurt laughed nervously. "Well, do you want to come in for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure OK. Thanks." Blaine stepped through the doorway; his eyes went wide as he took in the interior of the loft. "Whoa, this place is huge!"

"Yeah, kinda." Kurt laughed as he made his way to the kitchen, and began looking for a vase for the tulips.

"Do you live here by yourself?" Blaine enquired, still looking around the apartment in awe.

But before Kurt could answer, Rachel came bustling out of her bedroom.

"Kurt, have you seen my -", she paused when she spotted Blaine standing in the living room. "Oh hello," she said politely.

"Hey," Blaine replied, "Rachel, isn't it?"

"It is." Rachel confirmed, "And you're Blaine."

"I am indeed. You got the part of Maria in West Side Story, right?"

Rachel nodded happily.

"Well, it's a pleasure to officially meet you." Blaine came forward and held out his hand.

Rachel shook it. "Likewise."

Just then, Santana came hobbling out of the bathroom, one shoe on, and the other in her hand.

"So are we going, or what? Because I look way too hot to only be seen by you two losers right now and-" she also stopped when she noticed Blaine. "And who's this?"

Kurt stepped out of the kitchen quickly. "Santana, this is Blaine." He gestured to Blaine, "Blaine, Santana."

Blaine smiled nervously at the girl who was eyeing him suspiciously.

"Ah, so you're the famous Mr. Anderson."

Kurt gave Santana a hard look. Blaine looked confused.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. Santana was looking at Blaine. Kurt was looking at Santana. Rachel was smiling at Blaine, and Blaine just looked at the floor.

Blaine was the one to break the silence. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't know you guys were on your way out. I should probably go. But it was great to meet you all." He smiled at them all before turning to go.

"You should come with us!" Kurt burst out, "We're only going to Callbacks. To celebrate Rachel getting Maria. So, you might as well come and join in with the celebrations, seeing as you got Tony and all. I mean, only if you want to. You've probably got other plans…" Kurt trailed off.

"No, I'd love to." Blaine smiled enthusiastically, "So long as I'm not intruding or anything."

"No you aren't," Rachel chimed in, "You should come along!"

"Yeah, it's about time we had another guy to hang around with." Santana said, winking at Kurt.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

Callbacks was the place to be on a Friday night, and so by eight o'clock it was buzzing with NYADA students. Some people stood at the bar, others were dancing and there was always someone on stage singing.

Kurt, Rachel, Santana and Blaine sat in a booth near the back.

"Oh come on. Since when did Santana Lopez pass up on an opportunity to show off in front of an audience?" Rachel was saying presently.

"Forget it, Berry. I'm not singing with you."

"What if I let you pick the song?"

"No."

Rachel gave a heavy sigh, "Ahh well, you can't say I didn't try. Kurt, it looks like you owe me five dollars after all."

Santana's head snapped up, "Five dollars for what?"

"Oh, well I bet Kurt five dollars that since you haven't sang in like forever - you must have lost that star-power you were famous for at McKinley." Rachel sighed again, "I mean, all you do is dance nowadays, so I figured you wouldn't sing with me 'cause you're afraid you've lost your touch. I guess I was right, so Kurt owes me five dollars."

"Hold up." Santana said quickly, "I am not scared. And for your information, I could still kick your ass singing any song, just like I did everyday for three whole years when we were in high school."

Rachel leaned in towards her and looked her straight in the eyes, "Prove it."

"Ugh, please." Santana snorted before knocking back the rest of her drink, standing up and heading over to the stage.

Rachel stood up smiling and followed Santana; leaving behind a laughing Kurt and Blaine.

"Are they always like this?" Blaine asked.

"Pretty much." Kurt replied, "I mean, they get on surprisingly well most of the time. But anytime things get a little bit competitive, all logic goes out the window. I shouldn't judge them, I'm just the same. That's what makes the three of us such good friends I guess." Kurt chuckled, before taking a sip of his drink.

"I take it you all went to the same high school?" Blaine wondered.

"Yep. William McKinley High School, Lima Ohio." Kurt shuddered.

"That bad, huh?"

"Let's just say that being the only "out" gay kid at a school like that didn't exactly work in my favour," Kurt sighed.

"Ah, I can relate on that one." Blaine said. "People are idiots."

"I'll drink to that." Kurt laughed.

The pair brought their glasses together before drinking.

"Wait," Blaine said suddenly, as he brought his glass back down to the table, "Did you say Lima Ohio?"

"Yeah," Kurt answered, confused. "Why?"

"That's so weird. I went to Dalton!" Blaine exclaimed.

Kurt only looked more confused.

"Dalton Academy?" Blaine pushed.

Kurt's face finally showed some recognition, "Oh! You mean the all boys private school?"

"Yes."

"The blue and red blazers?"

"Yes."

"The glee club was the errr…. the... the war… The Warblers!"

"Yes!" Blaine almost shouted. "I was in that glee club! You were in glee club at McKinley?"

"Are you seriously asking me that question?" Kurt said, because really, who did Blaine take him for?

Blaine laughed. Kurt decided he liked Blaine's laugh very much. It was a comforting sound that made Kurt want to tell jokes all night, just so he could hear it again.

"Oh, looks like they're up." Blaine said, looking away from Kurt and nodding towards the stage.

Kurt turned to see Rachel and Santana take the stage and begin their famous rendition of Whitney Houston's - So Emotional.

The crowd adored them as they danced and weaved through the tables, grabbing the attention of everyone in the bar.

The room broke out into wild applause after they had finished their performance and some people even stood up.

"Wow," Blaine said, dumbstruck as he watched the two girls bow graciously, "All three of you are crazy talented! No wonder you guys took Nationals last year."

Kurt smiled, "Well we had our fair share of drama, I assure you."

"Really?" Blaine enquired.

Kurt went on to tell Blaine all about The New Directions, (the competition dramas, the romance dramas). He ended up talking about his high school life in general and he even confided in him about the bullies who he had to face at McKinley.

He went on to learn a lot about Blaine's high school experiences too; about his friends and The Warblers and how he actually transferred to Dalton because he got bullied at his first school.

Dalton sounded like a good place to go to school, Kurt decided. The glee club there was actually popular - according to Blaine, and there was a zero tolerance policy for bullying of any kind. If things had been different and Burt and Carole could have afforded it, Kurt wouldn't have minded going to Dalton. He would have missed his friends at McKinley like crazy of course, but at least he would have met Blaine - someone who understood what he was going through - and then maybe his high school years wouldn't have been so bad.

The boys talked for hours about everything and anything. Kurt soon noticed how easy it was for him to talk to Blaine. It felt like he had known the boy forever, and he just didn't know much about him yet. They didn't notice the hours ticking by or the bar gradually emptying, and before they knew it, Callbacks was closing up and Rachel and Santana were waiting for them at the door.

The trio bid Blaine good night outside of Callbacks and he took his own cab back to his dorm building (which was on the NYADA campus).

In the other cab, Kurt was unusually quiet.

Santana noticing this said, "Did you have a good night, Hummel?"

"Yes." the boy replied, smiling to himself, "Yes, I did."

Rachel and Santana shared a knowing look.

"Oh, and you two killed that song by the way." Kurt said as an afterthought.

Santana sighed, "Well we didn't win Nationals for making a mean crème brûlée, now did we?"

Kurt and Rachel laughed.