Summary: Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Rachel Berry, Nick Duvall, Jeff Sterling, and Elliott Gilbert make up Pamela Lansbury, a rock/pop band that hit it big after their first single was featured on popular tv-show Sing. A little over two years later the band is still dealing with the pressures of fame, their differing dreams, their fans, "shippers", and finding love.
Author's note: I don't have much to say about this chapter. I did enjoy writing it a lot and just slowly revealing a few more things here. Enjoy.
Chapter Eleven
"So, do you want us to go on stage and stall or are we waiting until they turn up?" Elliott asked with as much nonchalance as he could muster and Kurt had to turn away and look at Blaine to not give them away.
Sebastian who was currently on the phone with Wes made a noise and then posed the question to Wes. Kurt knew what Wes would say mostly because Wes was probably already aware that they were messing with Sebastian.
"Go on," Sebastian said, "play without them if you have to. I actually don't really care."
Kurt turned back to face him. "Good to know," Kurt said and then walked towards the entrance to the stage. He heard Elliott and Blaine follow behind him.
"How long until he realizes?" Blaine asked.
"That they've been on the stage this entire time? When we start the first song."
Their opening act was the runner up of some singing competition or another, Kurt couldn't remember which, but he was a talented singer and Kurt actually found that he liked some of his music. He'd been signed to Gingerbread Man records soon after the competition ended and the label had thought it would be good exposure for him to open for a few of their shows and this was his second one.
He had his own band backing him up but Kurt and Nick had managed to convince him to let Nick and Jeff play for him for this show instead of his drummer and guitarist. Kurt had feared that the cheers from the crowd might give away their plan, but Sebastian hadn't noticed, not even when Geoff had walked off stage without his band.
They stepped out onto the stage to cheers and hoots and whistles and Kurt had to adjust his earpieces to really block out all the noise.
Kurt stepped towards his mic and took it off the stand.
"How are you tonight, Pittsburgh?" he asked with a grin and let them cheer before he continued, "we've been looking forward to this show. We love this city."
There were more cheers.
"And wasn't Geoff just amazing? I bet you all loved that performance," Elliott said.
When Kurt glanced back at him he had picked up his guitar.
"Now Blaine is feeling a little bit under the weather," Kurt said, "so we've changed things up a bit tonight, and we're also premiering a new song. We know we'll be seeing that on YouTube later."
Someone yelled, "Kurt we love you!"
"Love you too," Kurt said and grinned.
"So here it is," Elliott said and began strumming his guitar.
Kurt lifted his mic to his lips and began to sing. It started off slow, the sound a bit more folky than any of their other music but as Jeff added the drums it changed into something else and then Nick was singing and their fans were cheering louder than ever and Kurt knew that Sebastian knew Jeff and Nick were on stage.
He walked towards Blaine who despite not feeling as bad as earlier still didn't look as energetic as usual. He pat his back and when the chorus started sang with him. As he was stepping away from Blaine, Kurt glanced towards the side of the stage and sure enough there was Sebastian glaring at them. He looked angrier than Kurt had ever seen him. So he laughed and nudged Blaine to look.
"Kurt," he whispered with a shake of his head.
The song came to an end and they launched into the next one without preamble, Kurt moving back towards his mic stand, but he didn't stay there long. As he sang he walked across the stage.
Blaine seemed to be doing the same at the other end and they walked back to each other in the middle as the song came to an end, shoulders pressed together.
Afterwards, Blaine coughed a little and Kurt grabbed him a bottle of water from where the crew always left them some.
"Thanks," Blaine muttered.
"We are loving this crowd tonight, aren't we, guys?" Elliott asked, "and I'm sure you know this next song so sing along!"
"Are you alright?" Kurt asked, "don't over do it."
Blaine nodded. "I'm fine," he said.
Jeff and Nick had switched off on the drums but as soon as they were done, Nick started playing so Kurt glanced back at the crowd while Elliott began to sing. It was always a little bit weird to see such a huge crowd of people watching them on stage and for them to be interested and enraptured in their performance. He walked closer to the edge, waving at people and trying to read the signs that some of them had brought with them.
Jeff suddenly threw an arm around his shoulders and Kurt leaned into him. They sang together and continued past the chorus onto Blaine's verse to help him out.
"Sebastian is pissed," Jeff whispered against his ear before he walked away, "think he'll quit?"
"Nope," Kurt said and grinned.
Elliott finished the song with Blaine to more cheers.
They continued on with their slightly modified set list and Kurt tried not to watch Blaine too much in concern for his cold, but couldn't help himself. Not when despite everything, Blaine was still amazing on stage. The cold didn't seem to have put a stop to him at all.
"Thank you," Kurt said after their encore, "this has been an amazing night and we can't wait until we can get back here."
He waved out at the crowd and followed Blaine off stage.
"You, all of you, are so fucking irritating! So where were you, then, on stage this entire time? You have no consideration what so ever to any of the people that work for you and try and make all of this tour stuff work," Sebastian said the moment they were off the stage.
"Your job," Kurt said, "is to keep track of where we are. Nick and Jeff made it on stage and performed and did their job, but you couldn't even find them."
Sebastian threw his hands up in the air. "Let's be clear, Princess, you've wanted me gone from day one and I know this was your doing. But it won't be so easy getting rid of me."
Kurt shrugged his shoulders. "Remember where your paycheck comes from," he muttered before walking away even when he heard Sebastian yelling at Jeff and Nick some more.
Blaine caught up to him and Kurt linked their arms together. "This was fun," he said, "poor Nick and Jeff though."
"They can handle him," Kurt said.
"You're right," Blaine said, "but we should probably call Wes and explain."
Kurt nodded. "It's not like he didn't figure it out already. How are you feeling?"
"Better," Blaine said, "but it could just be the adrenaline, you know. Any plans for tonight before we leave?"
Kurt shook his head. "I think we could just stay in the bus and watch a movie before we set out. You need your rest, after all."
"Okay."
"The lot of you make it seem like sleeping with one or two of you in the past just makes me the freaking enemy. I'm here to make your tour run smoothly, but I could do a hell of a lot to make everything go wrong," Sebastian said to Nick and Jeff, "so stop messing around! The things I could have told anyone about the two of you—"
Nick stared after him as he swept away.
"What did he mean," Elliott said, "two of us? He and Blaine didn't—"
Jeff shook his head. "I don't know. I didn't think he and Sebastian ever did anything back at Dalton and he wouldn't now."
Nick shrugged his shoulders and tried not to show how shaken he was, but Jeff like always seemed to just know. He didn't say anything.
"Come on," he said, "showers and then off to the bus. I wonder if it's possible for us to leave early."
"Maybe," Elliott said as they reached their dressing rooms.
Nick slumped against his door the moment it was closed behind him and he rubbed at his face. Of course Sebastian remembered. He really hated Sebastian. All this time he'd remembered and somehow managed to say nothing only to of course bring it up in the worst possible moment.
Someone knocked on his door and Nick considered not answering, but then Jeff was calling his name.
"Left my bag in here," he muttered, "are you okay? Nick, did something happen?"
"No," Jeff said, "no, I'm fine. Maybe I've caught Blaine's cold."
Jeff didn't look like he believed him, but he nodded. "We can get the doctor to get a look at you later."
"Yeah, I guess," Nick said and watched as Jeff collected his stuff and left.
All of their dressing rooms were on the smaller side but they each came with a small stall with a shower and after making himself jump around his room for a while, Nick took off his clothes and stepped into the stall. He lingered in the shower, letting the water flow over him as he tried to stop himself from panicking. All he needed was for Sebastian to really be gone. The thing about that was that Sebastian could easily go and blab about everything depending on the nature of the contract Wes had made him sign.
Once he was dressed a while later, he pulled out his phone and called Wes.
"Hey," Wes said, "good show tonight?"
Nick sighed. "Yes," he said.
"And I'm not going to tell you off," Wes said, "because I'm sure it was all Kurt's idea and that Sebastian probably deserved it, but please remember that you have fans and a show to put on and that whatever you do cannot get in the way of that."
"Yes, yes," Nick said, "we know that. Jeff and I were on stage the entire time. His fault he didn't realize."
He heard Wes laugh. "Yes, well, it was great to have him on the phone while I was supposed to be at a meeting."
"Sorry," Nick said.
"At least one of you is apologizing. Kurt laughed and asked me to fire Sebastian."
Nick sighed. "Can you?"
Wes made a noise of frustration. "Is he really that bad?"
"He just irritates us," Nick said, "in the worst possible way. Blaine is upset about the whole thing with Kurt and Kurt's just mad about anything to do with Sebastian. And I have a past with him. Dalton after you and David left wasn't the same. Sebastian showed up and things got bad for a while there. He seemed so nice at first and then he just took over and he just – he knows things about me and about Jeff. Probably about Blaine too for all I know. He's just – it's hard having him here making decisions and just being around. So this is me asking for you to figure something out and getting rid of him for all of our sanities. And, um, you might want to make sure there's a gag order in there too."
He waited almost with baited breath for Wes to respond, and wasn't prepared for Wes to sigh. "You and I are going to have a long conversation when I get to Ohio. Santana is working on getting a replacement. Trying to convince a friend of hers I think and actually she might be helping out some too."
"Thank you," Nick said.
"This, whatever it is, it doesn't have to do with Jeff does it?" Wes asked.
Nick felt nervous and shaky in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. "Sort of I guess."
"I see," Wes said, "I'll um, I'll talk to you in Ohio. I think I might take an earlier flight. I've just the one more meeting and I think you'll all like the result of all my hard work."
Nick let himself relax. "Kurt was telling us about it a little bit. European and possible World Tour."
"Yup," Wes said, "Paul was very happy with how Foxborough went and of course we made sure we had a leak on the info to test the waters and the response has them convinced there's an audience."
Someone knocked on his door so Nick got up to open it. He found Elliott and Sebastian there which almost made him groan.
"We're trying to head out early," Elliott said, "and Sebastian wants to apologize."
It didn't look like Sebastian wanted to do anything of the kind.
"Yeah," Sebastian said, "I guess I'm sorry."
"You guess. Wonderful."
He turned around and gathered his things. "I should go, then," he said into the phone, "see you tomorrow."
Wes laughed again. "Yeah. See you tomorrow."
He hung up and slid his phone into his pocket and followed Elliott out. Sebastian didn't say anything before he walked away probably to help the rest of the crew or at the very least supervise. Nick couldn't help but realize that he really didn't seem to understand a large part of his job which was dealing with them. Beiste had always been more concerned with keeping an eye on them than on the crew. She had practically been another part of their security as well as their manager. Never had they walked out of a venue without her with them.
Kurt was standing to the side with Jeff who was showing Kurt something.
"She has got to start watching what she says," Kurt was saying with a shake of his head.
"Who?" Nick asked.
"Rachel," Blaine filled in, "there was a blogger or journalist or whatever. Remember we met her at the last show?"
Nick had to think back. They had met so many different people lately that he could hardly even keep track but he thought he remembered a young woman that hung out with them at their last show.
"What about her?"
"She was at two other shows was doing a sort of coverage of the three shows and she ran into Rachel at the New Jersey show. Rachel agreed to talk to her and I guess asked her if she was meeting up with us backstage and Rachel said that she didn't know if we'd want to even see her."
Nick almost laughed. It was such a Rachel thing to say. The worst part about it was that she probably hadn't even noticed.
"Yup," Kurt said, "exactly the opposite of the picture we wanted to paint. This is all Santana's fault considering she didn't bother to tell us she invited Rachel to the show."
They started towards their exit and Nick couldn't help but think that it was press that benefitted neither of them. They were supposed to be playing up the idea that they had parted amicably despite everything that went on with Kurt and Rachel and of course his and Jeff's mistake which had all but been forgotten. He was sure that interview would be dug up again. It was like going in circles.
"I bet David's not happy," he said.
"Nope," Elliott said.
They made it on the bus with no hassle, going past a large group of fans that had obviously gathered to catch them as they left. Their security was holding them at bay and Nick wondered if they should stop and sign things for a few of them, but it seemed to have already been decided that they wouldn't be doing that. So he just followed them on the bus.
"Drinks," Elliott said, "we have tomorrow off and we're on this bus for the next few hours, I think we need to crack open the bar."
"I agree," Kurt said, "up for it, Blaine?"
"Sure, sure."
Nick knew they weren't going to be leaving any time soon. First the crew needed to finish loading stuff and then they could be off and the best part about it was that it wouldn't be too long of a drive. They were all eager to get to Ohio and to see their families.
Elliott passed beers around and they settled right at the front of the bus on the couches that lined each side and they started talking about the show. It was easy to let himself relax while he was with the band. He didn't need to really think about Sebastian or the past or how any of it could just come out in the open.
Instead he laughed as Kurt mentioned the signs he'd been reading out in the crowd.
"Lots of Klaine signs," he said, "they really seem to think that's a thing."
Blaine coughed and Nick couldn't tell if it was real or not.
"Niff ones too," Jeff added.
"I saw one Kelliott," Elliott added, "not that that's a thing."
Kurt snorted and he drank a huge gulp of his beer. "Well I for one think it's cute they feel like we have to be some incestuous mess of a band. Imagine if this was like it was back when were in Glee clubs."
"Speak for yourself, Kurt," Blaine said, "The Warblers were not switching partners every five minutes."
"Well," Jeff said, "except when it came for Sebastian."
They all laughed.
"I wonder how many Warblers he slept with," Kurt said, "at least it wasn't any of you."
Nick tried to hide how stiff he went by stretching.
"Imagine if he'd tried to hit on Wes," Blaine said, "oh god, he had some horrible lines back then."
"Still does," Kurt said.
They were all a bit quiet after that until Elliott broke the silence, "just how many gay guys went to Dalton?"
"With the non-bullying policy," Blaine said, "quite a few."
By the time that they were actually on the road, Nick felt a lot looser. He knew he was a bit drunk but it felt good. He leaned back in his seat and let himself drift listening to the others' voices. He definitely didn't let himself think about another night when he was slightly tipsy and definitely upset.
Author's Note: Hope everyone liked this chapter...next one coming soon.
I'm on tumblr at inawickedlittletown if you'd like to follow me there. I usually post writing progress updates there.
Hope you all enjoyed this and thank you for reading.