This is a chapter I've been really excited to write. This is the first part of the spring musical performance, and lots of stuff goes on that'll probably make you squeal. Or at least, I sure hope it does. After all, I'm still getting used to this writing stuff. Credit goes to Mandy Moore and Switchfoot, two artists I really adore who performed Only hope in the A Walk to Remember movie. Part 2 up soon!
Well, this was it.
The big night that Blaine'd been waiting for for nearly a month and a half now.
It was a chilly, early spring night in Ohio. And it was also the opening night of The Stone Cage, the musical event of the year that no one seemed to show up to.
Blaine was thinking about the show all day long in class. He became very anxious and excited all at once, nervously drumming his fingers on his desks, or bouncing his knee, tapping his pencil repeatedly. His teachers would call him out and ask him to stop making such noise, but all Blaine could do was smile and nod, returning back to what he was doing after a few seconds. He sat with the glee club kids at lunch and discussed how great of a show it would be. Blaine couldn't help thinking, though: what if he messed up? What if he forgot his lines, or songs, or tripped on stage? He didn't want to disappoint his new friends and make a fool out of himself.
But Blaine knew the glee kids would be supportive no matter what. Even his other friends pumped Blaine up for the whole day and promised that they would come watch, front row and ready. This made Blaine feel much better, and all the more nervous.
And now, standing backstage with the rest of the glee club, 5 minutes to go until the show started, Blaine couldn't believe he was doing this. A month and a half ago, Blaine was just a somewhat-shy, quiet kid who was lost in his own world. Now, he was sharing his gift of song and music with the world. Or, you know, the McKinley auditorium. Either way, it was still a huge deal for Blaine.
"Hey, Blaine?" asked Tina, who suddenly appeared by Blaine's side and interrupted his thoughts. "Can you zip me up, please? Thanks."
Tina turned around, removing her long, dark hair from her back and pointing to the zipper on her dress from over her shoulder.
"Sure," Blaine said happily. All of the glee kids crowded around and huddled like they were sharing a huge secret. Will Schuester was there, too. Everyone was in costume, the girls wearing classic 1900 style dresses that reached the floor in different colors, with their hair either twisted up into a bun or hanging loosely. The boys wore suits, blazers and dress pants with bow ties and hats. One look at them and you'd think they came out of a history text book.
"Okay gu- hey, wait a minute, had anyone seen Kurt?" Will began, but then cut himself off. Everyone looked around, including Blaine.
"Hi," came a high pitched voice from behind them. Everyone turned, and there was Kurt.
Blaine practically froze at the sight of him, because for the first time, Blaine noticed that Kurt was absolutely gorgeous.
He wore a black button down with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, a black belt, and black pants with shiny black dress shoes. Around his neck, running straight down his torso was one, long, white tie. His hair was slightly tousled, something you rarely saw on Kurt. His cheeks were a little rosy, like he was running and he needed to catch his breath. His eyes shined brighter than before, and Blaine couldn't understand why he was seeing Kurt like this only now, as they were about to go on stage. Kurt gave everyone in the group and apologetic smile, and Blaine couldn't breathe.
"I'm sorry I'm late," Kurt said, moving closer to the huddle, "I lost a part of my costume and I had to change in the bathroom."
"Get in here, dude!" Artie called, and everyone shifted to make room for Kurt. He ended up squished in between Mercedes and Puck, who were on the opposite side of Blaine. Blaine didn't even hear Will talking. He just kept his eyes on Kurt, even though Kurt wasn't paying any attention to him.
"Okay guys," Will said, clapping his hands together. "This is it- the big night. I'm really proud of you guys, you worked really hard and it's gonna be a great show. Have fun!"
Everyone cheered and clapped, placing all of their hands together in the middle of the huddle and crying "NEW DIRECTIONS!" before scurrying off to their places back stage. Blaine didn't even notice everyone move. He kept his eyes on Kurt, and when Kurt came up to him, he thought he would have fainted right there on the spot.
"Good luck, Blaine," Kurt whispered when he heard the audience's chatting die down from behind the curtain. "I know you'll do great."
"Yeah," Blaine breathed. "Thanks."
Will called from back stage. "Kurt! Come here, only Blaine is supposed to be out there!"
Kurt nodded and quickly ran to where Mercedes and Rachel were crouched behind a few boxes off stage. Blaine shook his head and gulped, trying to forget about Kurt right now. Now was not the time to be thinking about how incredible he looked, now was the time to think about Henry Arthur and his struggle for love.
Blaine stood, scratching the back of his head, running his hands through his curls and breathing calmly and deeply. He listened to Will's voice as he quietly paced around on the dark stage.
"Good evening, everyone," Will spoke into the mic with a proud voice, obviously a smile on his face. "New Directions would like to welcome you all to The Stone Cage. We've worked really hard on this and we've had a lot of fun doing it. Please remember to turn your cell phones off, and we hope you enjoy the show!"
There was some applause before Blaine took one more final breath and the curtain opened, revealing a full-fledged audience, almost every seat taken. Blaine smiled to himself, suddenly all of the nerves going away and replaced by confidence.
The show opened up with a musical number, starting out with Blaine and later, the whole cast (except for Quinn) joining in.
Over all, the show was going pretty amazing. Blaine looked into the audience and saw Nick, Wes, David and Jeff all sitting in the front row- or near the front row- as promised. They all gave him wide smiled and thumb up when they caught his eye. Blaine secretly gave them a wink. Blaine also saw his mother and his younger sister sitting in the audience, grins stretched onto their faces and never looking more proud. Blaine was glad that he did this, glad he took a chance on something and got out of his box.
The show wasn't really that long, maybe only an hour and a half or so. So far, everyone seemed to remember their lines and songs perfectly. It was about the middle of the show when Blaine's life changed forever. One of the most perfect moments in his life becoming even more perfect.
Tina, Rachel and Kurt all had a scene to themselves. It was the part where the three spirits were thinking of a test suitable enough for Henry to pass. A test honest and true enough that love could conquer, as corny as that sounded. But it was written in the script, and now was being told on stage. Blaine watched all three of them (mostly Kurt) from behind the curtain, as did most of the rest of the glee club so they knew when to come back on stage.
"Mabel, Felix," Rachel said, in a more high-pitched, girly sounding voice. "Whatever are we to do? Henry isn't going to be able to pass a test like this if all he has is the way he's acting right now."
"Ah, Violet," Tina shook her head and gripped her long skirt, "I'm afraid we are not aloud to help him. It would be against the rules."
"But my dear, surely we could do something to at least clear his mind, make him a little less...a little less..."
"A little less as grump and whiny as a six year old?" Kurt said, sighing and placing a hand on his hip. There was laughter from the audience.
"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Tina as she paced around the stage.
"Do not worry, my dear Mabel," Kurt smiled to her and took Tina and Rachel's hands, walking close to the stage and straight into the audience. Blaine shook his head and blinked when he noticed he was staring at how straight and lean Kurt's back looked.
"I have the perfect solution to help our dear friend Henry," Kurt said.
"And what's that? We can't do anything to change his mind. We're just three spirits," Rachel whined. "It's no use. This is harder than we thought it would be."
"Fear not, ladies," said Kurt, "I shall cast a spell made out of song on this lonely old town, and on the cabaret, and Henry Arthur. Maybe this will help him realize what's truly in store for him."
Then, a piano started up and Tina and Rachel moved back, giving Kurt the stage.
There's a song that's inside of my soul
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold
But You sing to me over and over and over again
Blaine immediately perked up. He remembered this song. This was Only Hope, Kurt's only solo in the entire show. This was the song that Kurt was singing the very first time Blaine heard his voice all those weeks ago.
So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands
and pray to be only Yours
I pray to be only Yours
I know now you're my only hope
Kurt slowly paced around all over the stage, never breaking character and keeping eye contact as he sang. Blaine was captivated, frozen in awe. Kurt's voice sounded like a bird. It was beautiful, perfect.
Sing to me the song of the stars
Of Your galaxy dancing and laughing
and laughing again
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that You have for me over again
So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope
The way the spot light shone on Kurt's pale, flawless skin, how it seemed to light up his white tie and darken his black clothing, his eyes shining bright and a smile playing at his lips...Blaine couldn't take his eyes off him. He was sure he looked like an idiot, his mouth slightly opened and his eyes hypnotized, but he really didn't care. The world could blow up and Blaine wouldn't have cared. Blaine heart was beating wildly in his chest, a bird trapped in a cage. He gulped back a lump in his throat, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering faster and faster until Blaine thought he'd throw them all up.
I give You my destiny
I'm giving You all of me
I want Your symphony
Singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs I'm giving it back
The perfectly high pitched note was echoing through the auditorium, bouncing off the walls and accompanied by the piano and violin's, provided by the school band. Blaine wanted nothing more than to go out on that stage and listen to Kurt sing for the rest of the night, but he knew he couldn't do that right now.
So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.
The crowd busted out into applause when Kurt finished singing. Some even gave a standing ovation. Blaine watched the expression on Kurt's gentle face, how it changed from his character Felix casting a spell, to a surprised, proud, relieved youngster. Blaine thought he even saw Kurt bite back a giggle and suck his lips in to hide his breaking grin. The lights dimmed down so that it was completely black, and when the lights came back on, Kurt, Tina and Rachel were gone, replaced by Sam and Finn.
Blaine didn't know what he just witnessed, There was something about how Kurt moved around on the stage, how his tie moved from side to side when he walked, how his voice sounded almost angel-like and how Kurt responded to the audience. But with all the buzz and commotion going on in Blaine's head, he only had one thought
I love you.