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: So, I meant and had every intention of posting this chapter on Friday...but not only was Friday my birthday but it was also one of the longest days ever and not in a good way. I have found that I tend to be particularly unlucky on my birthdays. So things occurred. There's probably a few posts about it on my tumblr if you're really curious.

So, then I meant to post last night but a friend unexpectedly showed up and then I opened the word file only to realize that the last scene of this chapter which I had edited to add a couple of things was back to how I'd originally had it and so posting this morning mostly because I won't be around tomorrow and I usually like to post on Tuesdays.

As a warning though I really truly have no idea when the next chapter will be up. I'm having a little bit of writer's block and a lot of no time to actually write but I'm sure I'll get over it soon.

Chapter Nineteen

"Now, we'd like to invite a good friend of ours up on stage," Kurt said, "she drove all this way to meet up with us and come be in this show with us. Give it up, for the fabulous Mercedes Jones."

The cheers were deafening and he laughed before he turned to see Mercedes walk on stage. She was waving out at the crowd and stopped to kiss Blaine on the cheek when she passed him before heading over to Elliott and Nick and sending a kiss to Jeff on the drums before approaching Kurt and giving him a tight hug.

"Well with a welcome like that, I should join you on stage more often," Mercedes said.

Kurt grinned at her.

"Alright, well, this song is an old one," Blaine said, "but Mercedes has informed us it's her favorite one of ours. So take it away, Miss Jones."

"Thank you, Blaine," Mercedes said and just as they'd rehearsed earlier she began to sing.

It was nice to have a female voice among them again, and Mercedes had taken all of the parts that had previously belonged to Rachel which was only fitting.

The fans seemed to love it. They were cheering and yelling out encouragements and the number of phones and cameras that were taking in the moment was ridiculous. Every angle would be on YouTube before the end of the night. Kurt would never cease to amaze.

When the song came to an end, Mercedes curtsied and she waved out at the crowd again.

"Thank you again, Mercedes," Kurt said, "it was great to have you. Wasn't it great, San Francisco?"

The fans cheered even louder.

The show went on, with Blaine feeling bold enough to pull Kurt against his side while they sang one of the slower songs. Kurt leaned into him without much trouble, their arms wrapped around each other's backs in the most natural way.

They finished their last song a while later and as the lights died down, Kurt's hand found its way into Blaine's to lead him off stage.

"You guys were fantastic," Mercedes said and hugged each of them tightly, "thanks so much for having me here."

"Of course," Elliott said, "we'd love to take you with us even."

Mercedes just laughed. "Not sure Sam would be too fond of that. I've promised I won't be touring until it is truly necessary when my new album comes out."

Santana appeared suddenly to take them back to the dressing rooms.

"We have a bit of press to do," she said, "but that was great out there. The buzz for the collaboration is through the roof."

MercedesJones: PamelaLansbury these boys do know how to do a show #PLtour #SanFran #smasheditguys

MercedesJones: Getting to sign with KurtEHummel brings back memories #newdirections

JeffSterling: what… MercedesJones was on stage with us? #starstruck #PLtour

Starchild: So can we steal MercedesJones and just make her a part of PL?

"Can't sleep?" Jeff asked.

They were on the bus again, making the drive to L.A. which meant they'd arrive there sometime in the early morning hours when no one in their right mind would be awake. At least it offered a good cover for arriving, checking into their hotel, and getting ready for the next show.

"Not really," Nick said, "I'm tired but I just can't fall asleep. I don't know."

Jeff nodded. "I think I'm still a little buzzed from tonight. I really do like Mercedes."

"Don't let her boyfriend hear you talk about her," Nick said.

Jeff rolled his eyes. He moved to sit next to Nick. "I'm not interested in her like that," he said, "you know how I feel about the idea of having a relationship right now. It would be so unfair to constantly have to leave someone behind. Kurt and Blaine are lucky."

"I guess," Nick said, "but there's a lot to worry there too, you know, like how it affects the rest of us if they fight or break up or whatever."

Jeff nudged his shoulder. "But they're happy and they're together and that is secondary to that, I think. Anyway, how are you holding up with everything?"

"Well, Sebastian still makes suggestive comments but that's not out of the norm. I think I'm doing alright, though."

Jeff nodded. "I just, I worry about you, you know?"

"Yeah?" Nick asked.

Jeff fixed him with a look. "You're my best friend, idiot, of course I worry about you."

"Oh."

"So I want to just know, why did you never tell me you liked guys too? I mean, it is girls and guys right? These are crucial things for me to know about my best friend. I mean, what kind of wing man am I?"

"I don't know for sure, I guess," Nick said and then he shook his head. "No," he said, "I do think I'm attracted to both. It's just Elliott made me think about a lot of things and I've been doing a bit of research because it's so much more than just gay or bi these days. And mostly it's just confused me more but in a way some things just make more sense, you know?"

"Not really," Jeff said, "I mean, I've never had any kind of existential crisis like this."

Nick snorted. "No, I know that," Nick said, "but haven't you ever wondered?"

"Wondered what? If I like blokes?"

"Yeah?"

Jeff looked away for a long moment. "I haven't thought about it, exactly," he said slowly, "but it's not like I can't appreciate when a guy is hot. There's plenty of them. I just – I've never contemplated taking one home or anything like that. Have you?"

Nick blushed. He hadn't, exactly. He'd never really met any guy that ever made him fantasize or think about in any other context than in the one they'd met. But he couldn't deny to himself that rarely thoughts about Jeff did sneak into his mind. It happened only when he was drunk. He'd always written them off.

"I'll take that as a yes," Jeff said and wiggled his eyebrows.

Nick punched him on the arm.

"So," Jeff said, "here's a plan. First chance we get we go to a gay club or bar or whatever is discreet and we see if we can get you some."

"You wouldn't mind tagging along?" Nick asked, "I could always have Elliott come or Kurt and Blaine."

Jeff shrugged his shoulders. "They could all come. Hell, we could even invite Dani and Santana. Make it a good and proper party."

Nick rolled his eyes. "No, I mean the atmosphere or whatever."

"Hey, I'm okay with finding out if I'm appealing to other guys."

"Course you are," Nick said.

"No one said confirmation wasn't nice," Jeff said and then he threw an arm around Nick's shoulders, "and we don't have to invite all the others. Could be just me and you if that makes you feel better. I just – I always want you to be able to be happy and I know you haven't been and it took me long enough to figure out something was bothering you."

Nick leaned into Jeff. "Thank you," he muttered against him, "I don't know what I'd do without you, Jeff."

"Be bored, most likely," Jeff said, "but we should actually try and get sleep, eh?"

"I was thinking we might be able to rent a house or apartment or something," Kurt told Blaine over breakfast the next morning, "I mean, we'll be here long enough and you know how I hate staying in hotel rooms."

They'd done that the last time they were in L.A. for an extended period of time. Or rather, Wes and Santana had taken it upon themselves to do it for them.

"That's a good idea," Blaine said, "and it's gives me an excuse to avoid Cooper and or staying with him."

Kurt laughed. "He's coming tonight, right?"

"Yup. You know, he was at some sort of event that who knows how he got invited to, and he went and said something about how he helps me with the song writing and something or other about me wanting to have a solo career. He's horrible."

"He's something," Kurt said, "but he means well, right?"

"Sure." Blaine said with a roll of his eyes.

Kurt watched him as he busied himself eating, poking at his omelet with his fork before cutting a piece to bring to his mouth. It was easy to imagine that the rest of their lives would be that way. He and Blaine eating breakfast and being together all the time like the codependent people that they clearly were.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"I'm just – I'm really happy, you know?"

"I do know," Blaine said, "and I am too."

They made small talk about the concert later that night and after paying for their food and leaving a good tip for their waitress they left the small restaurant. As much as Kurt wanted to reach over and take Blaine's hand he didn't let himself because he knew there were eyes on them.

David's plan for their relationship was to let the fans speculate through the last of their concerts in the first leg of their tour. For all that he'd been rushing them to get an answer, he seemed to just be allowing more articles that questioned the nature of their relationship.

Sure enough outside they were met with a few photographers that had likely been called there for someone else or just been hanging around on the chance of seeing someone famous. Kurt could tell because they didn't seem to react to their exit at first before they started taking pictures.

The car that was picking them up was ready and Blaine reached the door first but let Kurt climb in before he did.

"Well, that'll send them speculating," Kurt said.

"Sure," Blaine said, "not a bad thing."

They were driven back to the hotel that they'd checked into early that morning and ran straight into Elliott and Santana.

"There you two are," Santana said, "I was just about to call your phones. I have a few press things set up at Staples Center before the show so I was hoping to get all of you over there. We're still missing Jeff."

"We think he's actually just sleeping somewhere," Elliott added, "and Nick is coming down soon."

Santana nodded. "Dani and Sebastian are already setting things up with the rest of the crew. We also have those contest winners coming backstage before the show probably between the meet and greets or something. Lot's going on. Please don't aggravate me."

"Alright," Kurt said, "and when are Wes and David arriving?"

Santana made a noise. "Not until tomorrow," she said, "they had a meeting with Paul and they missed the flight which isn't a problem because now Paul is coming with them on his jet but that won't be until tomorrow morning. So where could blondie have gotten to?"

"Tried the bus?" Blaine asked.

"Course we looked in the bus," Elliott said at once, "right, San?"

"Maybe. I don't know. One of you go look, will you?"

Blaine volunteered. Elliott in the meanwhile pulled out his phone to call Jeff but it only went directly to voice mail.

"We'll do these interviews without him if we have to," Santana said, "this is ridiculous."

"So would this be a bad time to ask if we're going to be staying in a hotel for the entire time we're in L.A.?" Kurt asked, bracing himself for Santana to snap.

"Of course not," Santana said, "Whit is dealing with all of that. We're trying to keep you all together though, much easier for wrangling that way."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "We're not that bad."

"You probably not. Jeff and Nick. Nightmares."

Blaine reappeared then and Jeff was with him. Santana sighed in relief. She actually smiled when Nick came off the elevator, hair slightly damp but smiling at them.

They piled into the van that Santana had waiting for them. Santana was busy on her phone the entire time and Jeff who had been sleeping on the bus managed to escape a telling off while he snuggled into Elliott's side and tried not to fall asleep.

"Did he not even make it to his room?" Kurt asked.

"Guess not," Blaine said, "must have been too tired to."

Santana ushered them through the back entrance at Staples Center and they were greeted by Cassie and her assistants and brought into the room Cassie had set up everything in.

"We're staring with you two," Cassie told Kurt and Blaine, "because you're doing a quick little interview just the two of you."

"What?" Kurt asked.

Dani who had wandered into the room as well sighed. "Santana has a lot going on," she said, "but yes. David agreed. You're to keep acting normal and not confirm anything yet but it's the beginning of what he has planned. We're also doing one with Nick, Jeff, and Elliott. Then, one with all five of you."

Cassie had her assistant start working on Kurt's hair while she dealt with Blaine's.

"I hate the amount of gel you've put in this. We're going to have to wash it out. I keep telling you, Blaine."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't know we were going to be doing interviews," he said.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Sure, but it doesn't excuse how much gel you're using. It's practically a helmet."

Kurt giggled next to him. "Listen to her, B," he said, "she's the expert."

The assistant, a young girl named Charlotte who liked going by Charlie, was mostly just fixing up Kurt's hair and making the quiff that Kurt had done that morning a little bit taller.

"Kurt on the other hand listens to our suggestions on products to use," Cassie said, "look at how easy we have it with him." The kept tutting at Blaine while she helped wash his hair in the sink.

"Yes, I'm excellent," Kurt said.

Blaine made a whining noise.

Cassie called Charlie over to help with Blaine and while she busied herself there, she worked on putting make up on Kurt. It was never too much, but for interviews it was necessary. It hid any flaw on his skin and brought out his features in such a natural way that it was hard to spot that he was wearing make up at all.

"Going to add some mascara if that's alright with you, Kurt? Just brown."

Kurt shrugged his shoulders.

By the time he was done, Blaine's hair was completely wet and free of hair gel and between Cassie and Charlie they had the curls looking a lot more free and managed with not even a little bit of frizz which was what Blaine always feared from his hair being free of the gel.

"Your curls are so nice, Blaine," Cassie said, "you just have to know how to deal with them. Or just let me deal with them on a daily basis."

"Yes, do," Kurt added, "I love your hair."

He swooped in and pressed a kiss against Blaine's cheek as he moved to leave the room.

Kurt found Nick, Jeff, and Elliott in one of the dressing rooms with Whitney who was sitting apart from them on the phone with a notebook in front of her.

"Looks like they found a house to rent for us," Elliott informed him, "five bedrooms but one of them is probably going to go unused considering you and Blaine. She showed us pictures. Looks nice."

"Cool," Kurt said, "you know with all the travelling we do to L.A. it wouldn't be without its merits to buy a house or apartment or something out here. I was talking to my dad when we were in Ohio and you know how I basically paid off the house for them and whatever, well, he reminded me that our money shouldn't just sit in the bank."

"Smart," Elliott said, "you know, I bought my apartment for that reason. We have the money, so why not."

"Are you guys excited to get to record the new album, then?"

"Yes, definitely," Kurt said and looked towards Blaine. It was weird for it to just be the two of them on the couch.

They had made the conscious decision to not sit too close but not too far away so he was leaning against one of the arm rests a little sideways to be able to see Blaine and so that Blaine who was sat angled towards him could rest one of his legs against his knee.

"We've been working on the songs for a while now and it's only been in the last month that we've really settled on what songs are making it on and who is singing what but year we're excited to actually record it."

"And from my understanding you're not getting a lot of time to record," the interviewer said.

Kurt shook his head but Blaine answered. "We're not," he said, "it's mostly because of the tour schedule, you know. So we've been working on having absolutely everything else figured out before we even go into the recording studio so we're not bogged down on things like how the song should sound and more on knowing that part already."

"It's actually helped us a lot to sing a lot of the new songs on tour. If you go back and see the first performances of a few of our new songs and compare them to what we sing tonight for instance there will be a difference," Kurt said, "and that's just from figuring out what sounds better. Of course our producers have their own ideas on that."

The interviewer nodded. "Right," she said, "and as much as I am a geek about this stuff, I'm sure the fans want to know more juicy information. Mercedes Jones was at your show last night."

"She was," Blaine said.

"How was it, playing with her?"

"Fantastic," Kurt said and looked at Blaine.

"Yes," Blaine said, "absolutely phenomenal. She is such a star and has an unbelievable voice. It certainly brought a different energy to the stage."

She smiled. "Well, I've heard fans are clamoring to have the song you sang with her recorded."

Kurt laughed. "We have so little time," he said, "we all have such packed schedules. On the upside though, we are making the time to help Mercedes out with her album on one of her new songs."

"Yes, I heard about that! How did that come about?"

Blaine took that one, "it's funny but we've always sort of joked with her that we wanted to work with her on something. We're good friends with her because Kurt and Rachel went to high school with Mercedes so it's just a natural friendship. But it was actually our manager that set it up and we jumped at the opportunity of course."

"Who wouldn't."

"Exactly," Kurt said, "and really for us it's going to be fun. To get paid to hang out with one of my best friends that isn't in the band – it's something I'm really looking forward to."

Blaine moved on the couch and Kurt felt him press closer to his knee. He pressed back and smiled a little bit before glancing at him. Blaine met his eyes and smiled back. It was a split moment, before they were turned back to their interviewer.

"Now, I know everyone's been mentioning this lately, but I have to ask, is there actually anything going on between you?"

Kurt shrugged his shoulders.

"Come on, now, there's a lot of speculation. Especially since you two keep singing your new song to each other."

"I wouldn't say we're singing to each other," Blaine said, "as much as we're singing to our fans."

She nodded slightly and didn't push further. "Okay," she said, "so if there's nothing between the two of you, then can you tell me what you look for in a partner?"

It was an old question, one that just hadn't been asked in a long time. Kurt almost floundered at being asked.

"Um, I guess it comes down to someone being genuine and kind and definitely understanding," Kurt said.

"Yeah," Blaine said, "I'd have to agree and just add that one of the best things is feeling like you can trust someone completely and just hold conversation with them about anything. So someone like that."

Kurt couldn't help but glance at Blaine to find that he was smiling a little and that his hand seemed to be twitching to stop itself from touching Kurt. He shifted his leg to press it closer to Blaine's.

"Beautiful," the interviewer said, "and I guess that's the end of this. Thank you so much for letting me talk to you and I'm looking forward to tonight."

HummelAnderson: OMG. OMFG. Guys, this is not a drill. They are so together! AhinklfdHnjkx I can't…oh god…the way they were smiling at each other and just like the last question...ahhhhhh #how is this real life? #klaine

NiffKlainer: Wow. I don't even have words…

Klainefan: I died. This is me blogging from the dead. Klaine is so real and no one can deny it. They skirted the question on if they were together so well…that was not a no.

Kaine5eva: So they were definitely talking about each other at the end right?

HummelAnderson: watched it like five times and just…their legs are pressed up together and they're right in each other's line of sight and every once in a while they just can't help and just stare at each other. #everything is Klaine

Author's Note:

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.