I made an oopsie! I accidentally posted chapter 4 as chapter 3, which probably confused anyone who read it before... Tuesday, September 21, at 3 pm. So apologies all around for the mix up, and enjoy the chapter!

They played rock, paper, scissors to see who would be the one to actually call Rachel.

Kurt swore that Mike had cheated. Mike swore that there was no way to cheat at that game and that Kurt should just grow a pair already.

"Says the man who doesn't have to call up Rachel Berry and concede that she is superior in all things musical theatre and then ask her to tell me all about her star turn off-Broadway as a lesbian. Thanks."

But he was perfectly nice over the phone, thank you very much.

"Hi, Rachel," he wanted to keep this as short a conversation as possible, so he didn't even attempt to make customary small talk. "Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but I need help."

"What's wrong?" Rachel's voice lowered. She was obviously not by herself and she didn't want to be overheard.

"Well, Mike and I have just been cast as romantic leads in the musical bare."

He had barely said the name of the show when Rachel exploded.

"Oh my goodness, the two of you got the roles? That's so exciting! I am so incredibly happy for you two! You are going to have so much fun playing those roles; there are endless opportunities you can explore as far as characterization goes. And now that I'm thinking about it, you two are perfect! You are going to be such an adorable Peter, and with Mike as your Jason? Try to get your director to give him a shirtless scene. Apart from the almost-sex scene, I mean. Then the audience will really understand why Peter can't keep his hands to himself."

Kurt's eyes were so wide he thought that his eyeballs might fall out. Did Rachel ever listen to herself talk?

"Um, thanks?" Kurt glared at Mike, who was laughing. "Anyway, I had a question I wanted to ask you."

"Of course!" Rachel gave a small giggle. "Sorry, I don't mean to rattle on like that. Go right ahead; ask away."

"Well, um, Mike and I are pretty good friends, and both of us are a little worried that playing romantic leads might screw things up. Then Mike remembered how you were in a show a while back where you played a lesbian, so we figured that we should call you and ask how you and the woman you played opposite kept things from getting uncomfortable."

"Oh, definitely, of course I'll help." Kurt could picture Rachel nodding as she spoke. "Janet and I became very close friends, and it was actually because of the fact that we spent so much of our rehearsals going over our more intimate scenes. I think you two will be surprised to find that it gets much easier the more you practice. You have to be completely open and honest with the other person too; don't be afraid to speak up if something feels off. Most on-stage couples form incredible off-stage friendships."

"So, basically, treat it like we would any other role and eventually it'll feel normal?"

"You got it!" Rachel sounded excited. "Just practice your kissing scenes until you're bored with it. Then it'll be so normal that you'll forget to feel awkward about it." Then Rachel went off on a tangent, saying, "And you have to let me know when your opening night is! Gavin and I are both getting ready to do a touring show, and we don't head out for another month or so."

After promising that he would keep her posted, Kurt said goodbye.

"So?" Mike prompted.

"Basically, we're supposed to make out with each other nonstop until the show starts."

"Sounds like fun." Mike shrugged. "Let's get on with it, then." He puckered his lips out so far that it looked painful and tried to lean in closer. Kurt pushed his face away.

"You're hilarious," Kurt said sarcastically.

"Well, we should probably take Rachel's advice," Mike pointed out. "She knows what she's talking about, and for all we know, it could work."

"Or one of us might be such a great kisser that the other will get a painfully awkward boner," Kurt crossed his arms huffily. "And I am not turning into Finn and doing the awkward I-just-jizzed-in-my-pants-but-I-don't-want-you-to-know dance."

"You're so pessimistic," Mike moved closer and Kurt tensed up, but all he did was sit back down so that they were side by side. "Look, I'm really excited about this show and I want it to work out for both of us. But it's not going to work if you refuse to at least try to get these scenes right. Just because you're terrified of your own hormones doesn't mean I'm going to let you give up."

"I hate it when you make a rational argument," Kurt kept his arms crossed.

"And I hate it when you get into ice queen mode," Mike shot back.

"I hate it when you call me out on my insecurities."

"And I hate it when you act like you're the only person whose insecurities matter."

That shut Kurt up. Mike had said it in a nice enough tone, but it was obvious that he was upset. And while Kurt wanted to stay pessimistic and stubborn, he knew that Mike was right. He was being a complete ass about this.

It was like they were back in high school again, where Mike was just there to sway in the background and help choreograph. His opinion didn't matter, because he didn't know much about singing and he wasn't a lead. It was in that moment that Kurt realized that Mike still felt inadequate and unimportant and was still worried that others saw him as that guy in the background who never talked. And here he, Kurt, was, being a complete asshole.

"I'm sorry," was all he said.

"I know," was Mike's answer.

For the next three weeks, they were, quite literally, attached at the hip. And, occasionally, the mouth.

They did everything together, only saying goodbye once it was time to go home for the night. Courtney gave them the same advice as Rachel, having them practice their three kissing scenes so often that both of their lips were swollen by the time she called it quits.

"I hate you so much," Kurt grumbled, holding an ice pack to his mouth and glaring over at Mike.

"I hate your mouth," Mike said, pressing gentle fingers to his own lips and wincing. "And this is so not fair; you don't have to practice an almost-sex-scene too. I think my lips are going to start throbbing if I have to do this again."

On days like this, they made sure to avoid the Starbucks where Kurt worked. The teasing would have been merciless. Instead, they would go to the one across the street and press the cold drinks against their mouths, waiting for the swelling to go down.

"Rachel forgot to mention this bit," Kurt said bitterly, poking at his lips and cheering up when he realized the puffiness was starting to go away.

"She tends to do that a lot," Mike reminded him. "She likes to make it all seem effortless and glamorous. You should know that by now."

"I do. Just let me be miserable for a minute. It hurts."

"You think this hurts?" Mike raised an eyebrow. "I'm still doing West Side Story on top of all this. Try doing that show with a swollen mouth and a gossip-happy cast. They're taking bets on what I've really been up to. Nobody believes that this all came from rehearsals."

"Aw, are they making fun of you?" Kurt pouted, looking so silly with his larger-than-usual lips that Mike started laughing. "Shut up!" Kurt slapped his arm. "But really, just tell them one of your fabricated backstories to get them to shut up. You're good at that."

"Is that permission to tell them that we had a mishap in makeup, got superglue instead of lip balm, and wound up in the emergency room?"

"If that makes you feel better, sure," Kurt smiled.

"Awesome," Mike smiled back. "I've always wanted to tell someone that story. I've just never actually been in a show where I have to kiss someone."

"You've been waiting for this moment your entire life, haven't you?" Kurt teased.

"So what if I have?" Mike asked defensively. "Well, go on then, what have you been waiting your entire life for?"

"Are we being serious now?" Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sometimes I can never tell with you."

"Yeah, dead serious," Mike nodded. "What have you been waiting your entire life for?"

They both fell silent for a few minutes. Kurt was thinking and Mike was waiting and Kurt had no idea what he was supposed to say. He could pull the predictable and downright cliché answer of: "Love, happiness, and designer clothing," but he didn't exactly feel that way anymore. He was happy right now, but he hadn't been waiting for the specific moment when someone says, "I'm happy now."

He wasn't even sure he could say anything career-related either. His life hadn't gone as he had planned, but he had learned so much from every experience that it didn't matter that this was his first big theatre job. It didn't matter that his fashion internship had ended and he hadn't gotten the letter of recommendation from his supervisor.

"I don't know," he said, feeling incredibly stupid as he did so.

"Why don't you know?" Mike pressed.

"Because…" Kurt paused for a few seconds, thinking, "because I'm not the same person I used to be, you know? But I think the only thing that has stayed constant in my life was coming to New York. That's what I waited for my entire time in Lima, and I'm happier now because I came here."

"So you're saying the most important moment of your life has already happened?" Mike kept going, pressing Kurt to elaborate.

"Well aren't we depressing today," Kurt rolled his eyes. "But yes, in a matter of speaking, it has. I mean, I came to New York for college. Then I started working here and I got involved in theatre, limited though that involvement was. Everything that has happened in my life since was all because I moved here. So I guess you could say that the moment I stepped off the plane was the most important moment of my entire life, however trivial it may have seemed at the time."

"That's a very mature way of handling things," Mike complimented.

"And now it's your turn," Kurt looked at him expectantly. "You can't have expected me to tell you all that and not make you spill your soul in return. Go on; what have you been waiting all your life for?"

Mike was silent for a while too. He looked down at his hands and tapped his fingertips together. Kurt couldn't tell if he was thinking or stalling, but he thought it might have been a combination of both.

"Contentment," was what he finally said, elaborating when Kurt raised an eyebrow in question. "Not happiness, because when you're happy you can turn into a greedy monster of a person who doesn't care about anyone else. But contentment means you're pleased with the way things are going, but you're not averse to a change. You're still accepting of new ideas and new opportunities."

"Have you achieved that yet?"

"I'd like to think so, yeah." Mike grinned. "I've got two jobs, amazing friends, and the cutest on-stage love interest in the world."

"You're making fun of my boyish good looks again, aren't you?"

"No, this time I actually mean it."

They wore matching T-shirts that said, "No UST allowed" after the first show.

The reactions the shirt got would make all the inevitable rumors about them worth it. Almost every single teenage girl in the vicinity started giggling and when Mike went to stash his sharpie back in his bag after signing all the programs, he pulled out at least six little pieces of paper, all with phone numbers written on them.

"How'd they do that?" he asked, spreading them out on the table between himself and Kurt.

"How am I supposed to know?" Kurt rolled his eyes, checking his own pockets and finding quite a few himself. "I guess they took our shirts literally. We didn't exactly take time to explain just what the 'U' stands for, you know."

"Whatever," Mike crammed all the phone numbers back in his bag, Kurt doing the same with his own. They made a beeline for the nearest Starbucks, even though their adrenaline rush meant they had no need for any form of caffeine.

"I think the first show went well," Kurt said conversationally as he held the door open for Mike.

"Definitely," Mike agreed, ducking inside and waiting for Kurt to follow. "Did you see those two boys in the front row start crying?"

"I'm pretty sure the entire front row cried at some point," Kurt remembered. "There was a kid with blue hair who looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown at one point."

They stopped their conversation to order their drinks, then picked up right where they had left off.

"I think I remember him," Mike nodded. "He was at the stage door all by himself, right?"

"He was," Kurt thought back, trying to remember that particular kid. It had been a rush of Playbills and camera flashes and it was hard to keep everyone straight after a while, but he did remember that one kid. "He was so quiet and everyone else kept pushing him out of the way."

"Yeah, that woman with the umbrella nearly impaled him," Mike gave a small laugh. "Poor kid. I wonder why he was by himself." Kurt was wondering the same thing.

"Do you think he's one of the numbers we found in our pockets?" he asked, knowing that the quiet, timid boy probably wouldn't have even considered doing such a thing.

"Probably not," Mike shrugged, stepping closer to the counter to pick up his drink. "It's kind of a shame, though, because I'm pretty sure he's going to be someone we'll remember."

"Maybe he'll come back again," Kurt said hopefully.

"We'll have to keep an eye out," Mike decided. Kurt stepped up to the counter to take his drink, then they both headed out of the shop.

"Is this supposed to happen?" Kurt asked suddenly, right as the door closed behind them.

"What?"

"Thinking about the fans afterwards," Kurt elaborated. "Are we supposed to keep thinking about them? I mean, are we supposed to pick certain ones out from the crowd and wonder what brought them to the show and why they were alone?"

"I think it happens whether you want it to or not," Mike said thoughtfully. "I mean, in West Side Story I don't really notice the fans as much, but that's because most of them don't know who I am. There are these two kids, though, that seem to always be there, especially when there's a particularly understudy-heavy show. But if they weren't always there, I probably wouldn't have noticed them at all."

"bare isn't really the same as West Side Story, either," Kurt pointed out. "This show hits a lot closer to home for some people."

"That too," Mike agreed. "I think we're going to notice people crying and being affected by the story because we are both affected by the story as well. I mean, you were McKinley's version of Peter, so it makes sense that you'll be observant and take extra notice of the fans that remind you of him."

"And how are you affected by the story?" Kurt asked. He had never before heard Mike admit that the story had some effect on him.

"You were Peter in high school and I was Jason," Mike shrugged a shoulder. "Minus the dating each other part, obviously. I mean, I was in denial about myself and didn't want to be open about it, just like Jason."

"What part of the show is hardest for you?" Kurt asked, his voice quiet. He knew what his answer would be: the part after Peter and Jason had their falling out, when Jason is outed and angry, meaning that Mike had to blow up in Kurt's face.

"The end confession scene," Mike said quickly. "I'm up there spilling my soul and crying and pleading with Eric to help me. It's terrifying."

Kurt reached out to hold Mike's hand. It was almost a reflex at this point, seeing how often Courtney had made them hold onto each other in rehearsals. Kurt took a moment to marvel over how familiar Mike's hand felt, then he squeezed it and gave the other man a small smile.

"You're very good," was all he said. It wasn't a compliment directed towards Mike's acting skills, because Kurt knew that for a scene like that, the actor had to find something deep inside himself and use it to make it work. He knew that when he was onstage as Peter, sometimes he would simply revert back to his old self, the Kurt that had been a freshman in high school, scared and alone. Mike had to be doing the same as Jason.

"So are you." Mike squeezed his hand too.

Courtney dropped a bomb on them when they came in the next day.

"We've decided to extend the show for another week," she said, grinning a very Rachel Berry-esque grin. "I've already talked to the rest of the cast, and they're all for it. Can you two get another week off? If I need to replace either one of you I'd prefer to get the new person hired today so we can start rehearsals up again tomorrow."

Kurt and Mike exchanged a glance, eyes wide and both at a loss for words.

It took a few seconds, but then Kurt said, "Yeah, hang on; let me call in."

"Me too," Mike grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him back outside the theatre, both tugging their phones out of their pockets.

"Hey, Allie." Kurt's boss picked up after the third ring. "I hate to spring this on you at such short notice, but is there any way I could take off next week as well? I've just been told that they're extending the show's run for another week."

"Kurt!" Allie sounded excited, which was obviously good. "This is so exciting! Of course you can have next week off as well. Hon, believe me, I know what it's like to get your first big break. Once you're all famous and don't need this job anymore, remember us little people, okay?"

Kurt laughed, thanked Allie at least six times, then hung up.

Mike was still on the phone, and from the looks of his face, his conversation wasn't going anything at all like Kurt's had.

"No, I know I can't expect you to keep my role open if I'm not going to be dedicated," Mike was saying, "but this is a huge opportunity, and it's only for another week."

Kurt slipped back inside to give Mike his privacy. Courtney was waiting for them, an excited expression on her face. "Well?"

"I've got another week," Kurt told her, the smile not reaching his eyes.

"But?" Courtney prompted.

"But it doesn't look like Mike's going to get the same," Kurt told her. He was surprised when she waved her hands and said, "Oh, I know."

"Come again?"

"I know," Courtney repeated. "I had to twist some arms just to get him a week. Those West Side Story people can be real dickheads when it comes to their cast taking time off. Especially since this technically isn't a vacation; it's him leaving to do another show."

"Oh."

Mike popped his head back inside, asking in a frantic whisper, "Tell me, quick, what to do. Leave West Side Story for another week here or go back to West Side Story and not do the second week?"

Kurt and Courtney exchanged a look, then Courtney stepped forward, saying, "Mike, go back to your other show. If you break a contract, that'll stick with you forever. And believe you me, people in the theatre business are a bunch of snotty uptight bastards when it comes to breaking contracts."

The door shut behind Mike, but not before he said, "Fine, I won't do the second week."

Knowing that he would be doing the show opposite someone completely new hurt more than Kurt thought it would. And he was overwhelmed with a feeling of just how unfair this really was. Mike had been the one to drag him to the audition, and now Mike was leaving and he was staying. That just didn't seem right.

Courtney obviously could tell what was going on in Kurt's head, because she said quickly, "You're going to be a part of the casting process, you know. I'd rather find someone you work well with who might not be the strongest actor or singer. In my opinion, the chemistry between the two leads is the most important part."

Mike came back inside, already ranting under his breath.

"You'd think they could do without me for two weeks, but no. They don't care that this is the only show I've had a lead in and that another week could do amazing things for my career. They just want me to come back so they won't have to shuffle around understudies or put Brian in for Bernardo next weekend."

"Mike," Courtney interrupted. "I have a question for you both. Now Kurt, you have five days to form the same chemistry you have with Mike with someone else. Do either of you have any suggestions as to who we should get?"

"Jesse St. James," Mike suggested, without missing a beat.

"I'm sorry, who?" Kurt turned towards him, gaping.

"Jesse St. James," Mike repeated, completely nonplussed. "The three of us were in the same high school glee club for a few months, and then I was his understudy in a show a while back. He's kind of awesome when he's not being a perfectionist. He's just like me, except with a bigger ego and not as pretty a face."

"Speak for yourself," Kurt scoffed. "Jesse's the pretty boy if we're comparing. You're more of the tall, dark, and handsome type."

"Great, so I'm a stereotypical bad boy and Jesse gets the girl in the end. Thanks, Kurt."

"Not necessarily," Kurt smirked. "I never said there was a girl involved at all, and you know boys are much more likely to make a bad decision and dump the pretty boy."

"Oh my God," Courtney interrupted, staring at them both. "How the Hell are you two not married?"