Chapter 11 - Sectionals

Just looking at the Dalton coach made me realise how far I'd come.

At McKinley we'd scrounged for a bus. We'd gone around in wheelchairs and sold cakes with Chronic Lady in them – and Mr Shue had still had to beg Principal Figgins. Here I'd got up, met up with the other Warblers in the rehearsal room and walked out to see the spick and span coach parked outside the man building waiting for us. It was about twice the size of the McKinley bus, and would hold at least three times as many people – due to our Glee club being cool we actually had spectators that wanted to come and watch us. The wheels rims were shiny and polished, contrasting with the dark black of the tyres that looked like they hadn't been used, even though that was impossible.

"This is crazy." I muttered to myself as we waited for the rest of the Warblers to catch us up. Blaine stepped up beside me.

"What's crazy?"

"This. Just this." Motioning towards the bus I heard his familiar laugh.

"Well, Mr Cox does like us to travel in style." Once everyone was gathered Xavier and the rest of the elected heads stepped forward and we all began to walk together as a unit.

If I'd thought the outside of the bus was impressive - the inside was even better. Everything looked brand new, from the plush seats to the shiny TV's that were dotted every so often down the centre of the aisle. Our followers had been allowed on the bus first so we stepped on to cheers and shouts and made our way to the seats at the back that had been reserved for us. Scott and Artem were sitting together and they both gave me an extra loud cheer as I passed – I could see the new Vogue I'd bought Artem to replace the one that was now virtually unreadable sitting on his lap, the corners of the pages already thumbed. Rather overwhelmed I sat down in the nearest chair I could find and to my surprise Blaine plonked himself down next to me, giving me another grin.

"Alright if I sit here?" He asked, even though there was no real need to. I nodded silently and stared out of the window at the Dalton building – wondering what New Directions were feeling like right now. Despite the complete difference in preparation I still felt exactly the same as when I'd attended my first sectionals. Crapping myself.

"Kurt?" Turning round slowly I saw Blaine staring at me with concern in his eyes. When he looked at me like that his eyes seemed to deepen into great big pools that I felt I was going to fall into if I got too close.

"It's going to be fine." Out of the corner of my eye I saw him reach out and place his hand over mine, the sensation making me shiver so I pulled at my blazer and pretended I was cold.

"Seriously – we have the song down and we're going to rock it." I wasn't worrying about rocking it – I knew we probably would – I was worried about how I would feel about rocking it. Whether it was going to feel right me performing against the people I loved. Well, most of the people I loved.

"I know." I said in reply, trying to smile as happily as I could. Blaine shifted his position to face forward but kept his hand on mine and I looked out of the window as the engine started and Dalton disappeared behind us into the distance.

The bus had been a hive of chatter all the way to the theatre, but when we actually arrived and the large cylindrical structure came into view, the volume increased to a loud hum of noise. All the Warblers were silent – looking at each other with an expression that said 'this is it'. It was their first Sectionals in a couple of years so we all knew we had to make it count. Stretching his arms Blaine moved his hand away from mine for the first time the whole journey. His face was serious but he still managed a smile when I looked his way.

"We're here!" He said excitedly, standing up when the coach finally halted to brush down his uniform the way he always did.

"We're here."

Leaving the bus behind we walked to the building in our same united format. A couple of spectators were already arriving and shot us admiring glances as we passed. Ignoring the protocol Scott ran up to find me, sandwiching himself between me and Blaine and grinning emphatically.

"How freakin awesome is this?" He said, whilst chomping on the sandwich he was supposed to have saved for lunch. "Are we allowed backstage or is that just for your crew?" I knew why he was asking – and for once it wasn't for the free food we were probably going to get.

"I don't know. I don't know if we'll even be able to socialise with the other groups either." I hoped we would, for the sake of my nerves. I had to see Mercedes and Finn before I performed or I was going to explode.

"You have to get me there dude, please. I have to see her again." I chuckled.

"Ok, I'll try." Having Scott with me actually took my mind off the competition – just as Blaine calmed me down when I was angry, Scott helped me feel sane. Or at least saner than him.

"How're you feeling?" Scott asked Blaine, the grin on his face widening, "with the solo and all, that's gotta be a lot of pressure-"

"-I'm fine. We're all fine." I gave my friend a glance to show he shouldn't try and meddle any further and he got the picture, signalling back to Artem to tell him he was returning.

"You're gonna kick ass dude, don't sweat it!" He shouted as he left, almost crashing into another Warbler who looked at him disdainfully and shoving the last bit of his sandwich into his mouth. Turning back to Blaine I saw that his expression had darkened, probably thinking about his solo now that it had been mentioned, Now it was my turn to be the optimistic one.

"You are going to kick ass. I know it." I said, rubbing his shoulder and he smiled in thanks.

The rehearsal rooms inside the theatre could be described in two words. White and massive. When we entered a couple of the Warblers broke their uniform precision to run around it excitedly, whooping and hollering like they'd just been let out of prison. Wes and David came over to Blaine and I to offer their Head Boy their support, also acknowledging me with encouraging looks.

"We should be asking Kurt about Sectionals – he's the only one that was there last year." David said with a grin, making me flush.

"Well we didn't exactly have a hard time – up against a group of young offenders and a deaf school. This year should be much harder."

"I can't believe you didn't quiz those McKinley girls about the song they're doing!" Wes added, raising his hands in the air in mock horror.

"I can't believe I missed them coming…" As David drifted off into dreamland my thoughts went back to New Directions. I wonder if they'd arrived yet…

"Do you think I'll be able to go and…?" I trailed off, wondering if I was allowed to even say it. The three boys smiled at me.

"We won't tell Xavier if you don't." Grinning back in thanks I scooted out of the room and into the corridor.

I didn't have to look very far to find them – it seemed Finn and Mercedes had had the same idea as me and were also trailing the long white passageways. When we saw each other we slow-mo ran together, like in a cheesy film, and crashed into a massive group hug.

"Kurt!"

"Finn! Mercedes!" Gaga it was good to see them. Both of them had scrubbed up for the occasion – Finn was even wearing a new cologne that smelt delightful – I was going to have to ask him what it was later.

"I'm so excited! Are you nervous!" I was glad to see Mercedes was smiling – I'd been worried she would take performing against me hard, but she seemed just as optimistic as Scott had been.

"A little. I'm more nervous about seeing you than performing myself." My cheeks reddened and Finn slapped me on the shoulder.

"No way! Although we are going to be pretty awesome. There's not a Journey song in sight."

"No Journey songs?" The two of them laughed at my wide eyes.

"And get this – Rachel didn't get any solos." Holy Marc Jacobs. Maybe I had left the group at the wrong time.

"What are you guys doing?" I paused, wondering whether I should give away any secrets, before remembering whom I was talking to.

"Um, just 'Hey Soul Sister' by Train. Blaine has the solo." A long whistle rang out from Finn's lips and I smiled.

"S'definitely gonna be tough this year."

"Well I hope you guys do really well – I'll be cheering you on."

"Oh Kurt!" Mercedes grabbed me into another hug, waving her hands in front of her face to stop her makeup from running and I laughed.

"We should probably go now, we kinda sneaked out when Mr Shue wasn't looking." She said when we eventually let go.

"Me too. Well, when Xavier wasn't looking." Mercedes and I turned to leave but I felt a hand on my shoulder and spun back round to see Finn looking at me seriously. (Something that didn't happen very often.)

"Dude, I'm really, um, happy that, um…I'm happy that you're happy." He mumbled, his cheeks tingeing a beautiful pink colour. Unable to stop myself I pulled him into a hug – his large body crashed ungainly into me, one of his shoulders hitting me in the face – but I didn't care.

"Thanks. I miss you though,"

"I miss you too." Happiness flowed through me and when we broke away I was grinning my head off – we waved each other goodbye and walked down the corridor with a new sense of enthusiasm. Despite the fact that only one of us was going to win – we both new we would try our absolute hardest.

The auditorium was huge. I was pretty sure it was the biggest space I'd ever been in – almost as big as the concert halls I performed in during my daydreams. Nearly all the seats were full, something I had not experienced for a while, but I could spot the Dalton crew a mile off – all of them looking like children of some huge twisted family. We weren't allowed to sit with them as we had to be able to leave quickly and quietly, but we were allowed to acknowledge them. David and Wes pumped their hands in the air to make them all whoop and holler, causing Xavier to cast the two a steely glare and force them to sit down muttering quietly to themselves. I perched myself on the edge of my seat between Stephen and Blaine, excitement bubbling in my veins as I looked out at the huge stage. We had The Hipsters to watch first, but then we'd be up there.

"How're you feeling?" Stephen asked me, attempting to disguise his obvious nerves.

"I'm good. You?"

"Yeah. Just never done this kind of thing before…"

"Once you're up there everything will be fine." I smiled comfortingly – surprised at how I was being the one keeping everybody calm and he nodded in thanks. Glancing over at Blaine I saw he had zoned out completely, lost in his own little world running through lines and steps. His brow was etched with concentration and he looked completely adorable, so adorable that I didn't want to break him out of it, so halted what I'd been about to say and turned to watch the curtains slowly open and the show begin.

The Hipsters were good. I think they surprised everybody – I knew I'd been expecting some wailing version of a song nobody had ever heard of, but they were all in tune and even managed a few dance moves despite the Zimmer frames. I was so engrossed in their performance I didn't notice the other Warblers getting up until Stephen tapped me on the shoulder.

"Kurt – we have to go." I glanced up, still not quite registering his words, but suddenly realised and jumped up to follow him. We walked through the corridors to backstage briskly, the sound of our footsteps bouncing off the walls and echoing ominously.

As soon as we reached the wings we were ushered to our starting positions on the stage, the curtains having been re-drawn so we could only hear the bubbling chatter of the audience. Somehow not being able to see them increased the anticipation. Feeling my hands begin to shake I allowed myself a glance at Blaine, who was standing to the side of me centre stage. He was looking directly forward at the curtains, his chest rising and falling deeply and the sight of him calmed me slightly. I was going to do this for him. Even if he never realised it, even if it meant nothing to him, I was going to sing my heart out and I was going to do it for Blaine.

All of a sudden the tannoy boomed out announcing our performance. The audience fell to a deathly hush and slowly the curtain drew open to reveal them. Oh Gaga. I tried fervently to pick out New Directions or Scott and Artem but before I had the chance to the opening harmonies started and we were on. When Blaine issued his first note something in my heart jumped, I looked over and saw the concentrated expression had disappeared completely to be replaced with a glorious smile. As he began the first verse he began to move slowly forward so we were almost level with each other, walking over to David who was already dancing out of the strict choreography we had orchestrated before suddenly spinning round to sing

"And so I went and let you blow my mind" directly to me. Holy Marc Jacobs I hadn't been expecting that. I tried desperately to hide the shock on my face, stumbling over my words slightly as Blaine turned back to the audience like nothing had happened. He looked on fire – completely immersed in the song and loving every minute of it. As the song progressed he continued to look at me, making my heart race, so I focused my thoughts directly on the next step, the next line, staring out into the vast audience. Completely by chance I caught the gaze of Rachel, who was sitting next to Finn proudly watching on. I saw her motion for me to smile and obeyed – Finn looked like he was enjoying the performance but Puck, to my intense amusement, had a face like a slapped arse. When we were near the end I allowed myself one more glance at Blaine and saw him across the other side of the stage, working the crowd like a pro. He really was beautiful when he sang – he was beautiful all the time but when he sang he just looked so happy. Just to be around him was more than I ever could have asked for. All too sudden we moved into our final positions and the final note rang out over the auditorium.

For a second there was complete silence, and then the room erupted. People were standing up everywhere – all the Dalton crew were whooping and hollering – I even heard a 'Go Kurt!' from somewhere and found Scott and Artem jumping up and down like lunatics. We had rocked it.

Off stage the energy buzzed around like an electric current – everyone was high as a kite. Wes, who had been standing near me, slapped me on the back emphatically and Stephen gave me a very manly hug, all of them whooping excitedly and congratulating everyone. When my eyes caught Blaine's we both rushed towards each other, slamming into a fierce embrace that almost knocked us both over.

"Oh Gaga, oh Blaine" I mumbled to myself, not really able to form coherent sentences. Blaine spun us around, laughing excitedly and I dug my face further into his neck, savouring the smell.

"You were great Kurt! You rocked it!" I felt him try to pull away slightly to talk to me but I didn't want to let go, clinging onto his body tightly so he laughed again.

"I was great? You rocked the entire house!" I replied breathlessly, looking into his eyes for the first time. It had been a while since I'd been this close to Blaine, his lips were shiny from him just licking them and I felt myself going dizzy from the adrenaline and the sight of them combining.

"We did it. We did it together." Pulling me back in again I sighed loudly, not really caring if the other Warblers were watching.

It was incredibly hard to come down from the adrenaline high to watch New Directions, especially when I wanted so badly to appreciate their performance. They were brilliant – Sam and Quinn stole the show with their duet and Mike and Brittany had everyone staring open-mouthed. Even Finn managed to keep in time with the steps and Rachel didn't try to steal the show at all. The change that had gone through the group since they'd left was amazing – I couldn't help but look at Lauren, filling the spot where I would have stood, where I would have sung my heart out, but now she had the opportunity to shine just as I had.

When the cheers for New Directions had died down and the lights went up, all of the choirs headed backstage to wait for the results. I stuck by Blaine, still a little star struck by our rather intense show of affection earlier, but when I saw Artie and Tina rushed over.

"You guys were awesome!" I exclaimed, giving Tina a hug and Artie a hi-five. I could see they were both still majorly hyper – you would struggle to find someone that wasn't.

"So were you! Oh wow that was amazing!" I was going to say something else, but was suddenly caught completely off guard by somebody assaulting me from behind. Scott practically jumped on my back, letting out a loud whoop that had nearly everyone staring at us. Unable to hold his weight I stumbled forward and he laughed, pulling me upright again.

"That, was, freakin, AMAZING! Dude you rocked so hard the roof nearly went off!" He was so pumped he could barely get his words out – I saw Artie giving Tina a confused look and her laugh, having experienced my best friend's excitable temperament before.

"And when Blaine did that twirl thing oh man!" He tried to copy a dance move Blaine had done in our performance, failing spectacularly and crashing into Mercedes who had just come over after spotting us across the room.

"Ah crap, stupid feet, I-" When he looked up to see who he'd hit he froze, his face flushing bright scarlet.

"Oh!" Jumping upright he brushed himself down and Mercedes giggled. "Hi there."

"Hi Scott."

"You look…" As he struggled for words I looked over to Blaine, who was chatting to Wes and David but glancing our way every so often.

"Please go out with me." Mercedes' eyes widened.

"What?"

"Please. Coffee, a movie, anything. I don't care. But I can't stop thinking about you." My heart glowed with pride as the two of them gazed at each other, unable to comprehend fully what was happening.

"Yes." Scott looked confused.

"Yes what?"

"Yes I'd love to go on a date with you."

"Really?" Mercedes nodded and a huge grin spread across his face. Grabbing me roughly and crushing me to his chest he pumped his fist.

"Hell yes!" Everyone laughed, including Mercedes who looked the most bashful I'd ever seen her and I saw Blaine shake his head in amusement.

"Scott, what are you doing here? This area is for performers only." Suddenly the excitement was quashed by Xavier appearing, not impressed to see rules being broken. He stalked over commandingly as he spoke but Scott seemed unphased.

"Oh suck it Xavier!" He exclaimed, before turning away to pick up Mercedes' hand and kiss it. Man I loved that guy.