Again guys, I am SO SORRY! I went to see Glee Live on Tuesday so that's all I've been able to think about, but I have these next few days off, so will try and bash out a couple more chapters. Thanks to everyone that's stuck around :D

Also if any of you English peeps are going to the evening Darren Criss show on the 5th July, keep a look out for me! I'll be wearing a dungarees dress, an AVPM tshirt and knee high socks :D On and I'll be with my sister who apparently looks exactly like me.

Liz xxx

Chapter 38 - Regionals

Queuing up to get on the coach for regionals was a lot more of an enjoyable process than it should have been. Ever since our victory over Damien, Scott and I had been crowned kings of Dalton, and as a result had people following us around nearly everywhere we went. At the moment my adoring fans were currently being kept away by Wes so I could have some quality time with my boyfriend.

"Are you nervous?" I asked, nudging Blaine's hand so he looked away from the tinted windows of the coach and back to me. "You look nervous."

"Nah." He smiled, but it was only half of one. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Well tell me about it. I'm here." I linked our fingers and gave them a squeeze, trying to get proper eye contact and just about succeeding.

"Yeah. For the first time in about four days."

"Hey" I countered back, slightly annoyed but not wanting to push it too much. "Now you know what it's like for me when you have Head Boy stuff."

"It sucks."

"I know." I did feel bad that Blaine had almost been excluded from the story – especially as he'd been the one to actually confront Damien about conceding. Somehow I had been given the credit for that, and despite me trying to set the record straight several times my pleas had been ignored. I wasn't sure if that was because of the animosity some of Blaine's housemates had begun to inexplicably show towards him, but didn't want to dwell on it.

"Hey." I said after a brief pause, pulling on my boyfriend's arm so we faced each other and I could rub his biceps. "You are going to rock this. Everyone is going to love you and we are going to win." I stared deep into the pools of hazel I loved so dearly, projecting my words telepathically again until finally I got the reaction I wanted.

"I love you."

"I love you too. Now come on. We have a coach to catch." I pulled Blaine along with me as the line moved forward a few steps and heard him chuckle under his breath.

Once we boarded the coach, like before, our spectators had already been seated. As I inched my way down the corridor the boys in front of me stopped and I saw a log jam had been created by some students gathering round a pair of seats. On closer inspection that involved a bit of neck craning I found the source and grinned.

"And then Damien just looked at us. Like we were crazy. But you could tell he was scared." Scott's voice boomed out, retelling the story that everyone wanted to hear. I was pretty sure the version he was now divulging was quite a way from what had actually happened, but wasn't going to spoil his fun. After our victory my best friend had let slip the L word when talking to Mercedes, so he was also celebrating the formalising of his relationship too.

"Santana didn't really fight a monkey did she?" Turning round I saw Nathaniel sitting in the seat next to me, a slightly nervous look on his face. I suppose I would be like that if she'd come onto me.

"Of course not. She was just exaggerating." I smiled, patting him on the shoulder and trying to sound like I knew for certain, before spinning back round to my boyfriend.

"Come on." Grabbing hold of his hand I found an alternative walkway and took us to the back of the coach. When we reached the back seats I slipped in to the one by the window and held my arms open.

"I'll give you a head massage." Smiling, Blaine crawled into the seat next to me, resting the back of his head on my shoulder so I shifted slightly and began to run my fingers lightly across his head the way I knew he loved. As the coach doors closed and I felt him begin to relax I felt my muscles also unwind. It was just nerves. I knew it was. Just nerves.

When we arrived at the venue I gave Blaine's shoulder a gentle shake. It seemed a shame to wake him from his position, curled up against my body with one of his hands slipped underneath my blazer, but he stirred in the most adorable way and I smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"We're here." As my boyfriend rubbed his eyes and tried to sort out his hair I straightened my tie and thought about what was to come. I was looking forward to seeing my McKinley friends again, but this time there wasn't much chance of us drawing. One of us was going to have to win - unless Sue Sylvester pulled out all the stops and surprised everyone with Aural Intensity's show.

As I hopped lightly off the coach I held out my hand for Blaine's and he took it gratefully, still half asleep. Noticing Scott surrounded by his crowd of fans I sent him a wave, before then spotting Gabriel and pulling us both Blaine and I over to him.

"Hi," I said - feeling for all the world like a mother with their tired son, "thanks for coming again."

"Hey, no problem." He replied, looking upbeat.

"But you gave up a date with Eli! That's not fair!"

"Kurt. I can go out with Eli anytime. This only happens once." He smiled and I flashed him a look of thanks. "Looks like the show's gonna be good too."

"It will be - especially with this guy leading us!" I held up the hand that was intertwined with Blaine's and he laughed, giving me a gentle shove.

"Stop it."

"You must be pretty nervous." Gabriel commented. "I would be."

"Yeah, but I've done this sort of thing before." Blaine seemed to have regained some of his energy and spoke with conviction.

"And you have Kurt to cheer you on."

"Exactly." My boyfriend looked at me, smiling and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips. I grinned as he went to give me another one before suddenly having a brainwave just before our mouths touched.

"Hey!" Blaine drew back, looking rather shocked, but I ignored him, turning to Gabriel. "You gave up a date with Eli right?" My friend seemed confused.

"Yes..."

"So that means he's free today..." I waited for him to twig, but was faced only with a blank face. "Invite him here!" Both boys looked at me like I was crazy. "What? It's perfect! We can just sneak him in with us - you get to hang out and we all get to meet him!"

"Kurt, we don't really need any distractions." Blaine began, seeming wary of my suggestion.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to get in the way of anything."

"Nonsense." I dug into Gabriel's pocket making him squeal in surprise and pulled out his phone. "Call him. Now." Glancing briefly to Blaine for approval Gabriel dithered for a couple of seconds, before begrudgingly opening his phone and dialing a number.

"Yes!" As he walked off to make the call I looked at Blaine, who was shooting me a disapproving look.

"You're loving this matchmaker thing aren't you?" He said incredulously. I smiled, giving him another quick kiss.

"Of course. Come on, let's go inside."

The Regionals venue was much bigger than the Sectionals one, and as a result the competitors were placed right at different ends of the building. There was no way I was going to be able to meet up with anyone until after everyone had performed. With this disappointment I settled for sending Mercedes a good luck text and getting myself changed into my costume. I say costume - for some reason the Warblers had felt it necessary to create special ties and blazers for the event, that we would only put on at the venue. According to Stephen it was superstition, but I felt it was to give everyone something to do instead of just standing around waiting to go on. Xavier, who after much pleading and persuading by the council (greatly opposed by me and several others) had decided to rejoin our crew, was standing by the door ordering everyone about. As Blaine and I passed he gave us both a steely glare and I returned it with one of my own, shielding Blaine with my arm so he wouldn't notice.

As we stood by our pegs undressing I noticed my boyfriend's hands shaking slightly as he fumbled with his tie. Normally I would have used this opportunity to gaze at his wonderful physique, but I found myself desperately searching his eyes instead.

"Blaine?" Suddenly he stopped. I found myself frozen too, wondering what had happened.

"Where's my tie?" The question seemed innocent at first – I didn't quite understand it. But then I glanced upwards to our pegs – mine holding my brand new tie and Blaine's…empty.

"What?"

"It was there a second ago." Blaine was staring blankly around, unsure of what to do. I felt my hands still hovering over my shirt collar and had to tell myself to start looking. Turning around quickly I began searching the nearby floor, incase it had accidentally fallen or been knocked. There was nothing around.

"Did you move it or something?" I was trying not to accuse, but it wouldn't have been surprising given his funny state of mind. Blaine shook his head.

"No. It was here, then I went to speak to Wes. Now it's gone." Suddenly Earl came over, looking concerned.

"Are you guys ok? He asked, looking at me.

"Blaine's lost his tie." I replied. The Wildeian boy's eyebrows furrowed.

"What? We were only given them a couple of minutes ago."

"Yes, but mines gone." My boyfriend sounded stressed, his tone clipped and harsh. I held out a hand to graze his arm but he shoved it away.

"You can have mine…" I suggested quietly, hurt by his aggressive reaction.

"Soloists have their own ties. The only person that could give me his is Steven."

"Well I'm sure it's round here somewhere." Now taking on the role of leader Earl pushed me to search with him again, but I was shaken. This wasn't like Blaine at all. It was worrying, especially with where we were.

"Hey!" Suddenly my boyfriend seemed to spy something. I looked up eagerly but to my horror saw him storming across the room to something entirely different. Xavier.

"HEY!" The Darwin Head Boy looked annoyed, but his expression quickly turned to shock when Blaine grabbed hold of his collar and shoved him against the wall.

"Woah man! What the hell?"

"Where's my tie? I know you took it!" Blaine's voice was filled with anger and hate – I immediately dropped everything and rushed over.

"What! I never took anything! Jesus!" When I reached the pair Xavier's face was bright red, Blaine's hands pressing down on his throat. I grabbed hold of my boyfriend and wrenched him away.

"Blaine!"

"LIAR! YOU'VE BEEN OUT TO GET ME FROM THE START!" The words echoed around the room, everyone else now standing silently watching. Somehow I managed to pull together enough strength to drag my boyfriend kicking and screaming away, Xavier gratefully taking in deep breaths and complaining in a hoarse voice to the Darwins that immediately came to his aid. (Funny how they had stood back when he was being attacked.)

"Blaine!" When we reached the corridor outside our dressing room I pushed him against the wall, pinning down his shoulders so he couldn't struggle. For a couple of horrible seconds he tried to fight back, before dejectedly slumping down in defeat.

"What is going on?" I couldn't understand – what had happened so suddenly? This wasn't the Blaine I was used to. This wasn't my boyfriend.

"Oh Kurt." Suddenly I felt weight on my arms and struggled to hoist Blaine back up to his feet.

"Blaine, oh my Gaga."

"I don't know what's happened. Everyone's turned against me."

"What?" Pulling us both upright I looked deep into Blaine's eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone. Ever since I lost my planner and started being late to things everyone has been on my back, criticising everything I do. People are ignoring my rules and I swear Wordsworth is going to collapse if I'm not careful." Jeez. This really was a situation.

"Oh Blaine. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you."

"I thought we promised to share everything after the prank war?"

"Yeah I know, but you were so happy and I thought I could cope with it. But I can't." Leaning forward into me Blaine buried his head into my shoulder and I hugged him tightly.

"It's going to be ok. We'll sort everything out…"

"It's Xavier." At his next words I paused, pulling back.

"What?"

"I know he's doing it. He's had it in for me for weeks. He's manipulating everyone so they'll hate me." I sighed.

"Blaine… Are you sure?"

"Yes! Why else would this be happening?"

"Are you sure it's not just a bad coincidence? This can't all be down to one person."

"Well someone is plotting against me, and Xavier has just the right twisted self-centred mind to do it." Sighing again I kissed Blaine lightly on the nose. I hated to see him like this, but making wild accusations wasn't going to get us anywhere.

"I'll keep a look out. But right now we need to concentrate on finding your tie and owning this performance, instead of trying to kill members of our group." Sighing in reply my boyfriend ran his hands along my shoulders, as if the movement helped to calm him down, before giving himself a shake and returning back to the dressing room.

"Everything ok?" Earl asked when we both entered. Everyone was staring at us, apprehension in their eyes.

"Yeah, just a bit of meltdown." I replied quietly. "Blaine needs all the support he can get."

"Right on. We found his tie by the way. Somebody must have given it back to Xavier by mistake." I saw Blaine glance back at me, his expression telling me all I needed to know about his conspiracy theory, and groaned inside.

"Great."

"Oh, and Gabriel came by. Told me to tell you that Eli can't make it. He's sorry." Smiling bravely Earl left to get ready and I rubbed my forehead frantically with my palms. Well this was going to be fun.

Our performance was fantastic. Steven knocked his ballad out of the park – everyone gave him a standing ovation so we had to wait a couple of seconds before starting the next song. Blaine came onto stage and it was like nothing had happened. He was a completely different person. Watching him bounce around the stage I fell in love with him yet again, his joyfulness, the sheer energy that radiated from his pores and the heart that was so visible in the way he sang. I wanted the performance to never end, but sadly it had to, and I knew as soon as we left the stage another of my boyfriend's amazing talents. Acting.

Sitting together in the stalls for New Directions' performance we had our fingers laced together and my head resting gently on his shoulder, but I could still feel the tension there. Especially when Xavier was sitting just a row in front. When Rachel came on stage and began to sing my eyebrows furrowed as I tried to work out what song she was singing, before I realised.

"They're doing original songs." Blaine looked at me, worried. This was bad. Rachel finished and the rest if the group sang a song about being losers, standing together. Somehow it seemed ironic compared to us and my stomach tightened at the thought of our dreams ending.

"HEY!" Mercedes rushed over to me in the green room, her eyes alive from the leftover adrenaline. We'd all made our way over quickly but my heart had been heavy. "You were amazing!" She engulfed me in a hug and I had to let go of Blaine's hand, worry coursing through me as I pictured him running off and decking Xavier in the face. Thankfully though he was still there when I resurfaced.

"You didn't tell us you were doing original songs." I said, trying to make my tone as light as possible. Mercedes bit her lip.

"Yeah, sorry. I wanted to, but Mr Shue made me promise to keep it underground. It was our big secret weapon."

"Too right it was." Blaine added, a small smile on his face. "You knocked us right out of the judges memory."

"No! Don't be silly. You were fantastic – I loved the song choice."

"That was Kurt's idea." My boyfriend gave me a nudge and I blushed.

"Where is Rachel? I need to have words with her about that solo, it was far too good."

"Um, I think she's talking to Finn. Those two have had a few issues recently." Mercedes looked like she was going to continue (which I was desperate to hear about – any gossip was better than the real stuff going on in my life) when suddenly she spotted something behind me and screamed.

"SCOTT!" After that she was gone, running over and crushing her lips into my best friend's. It was kind of funny seeing them kiss – like watching your siblings but also incredibly cute. Scott kept saying 'I love you baby' over and over again which only made her more hyper and I laughed, before spotting Gabriel next to them looking more than a little shocked.

"Hi." I said with a smile as he came over.

"You were brilliant." Gabriel said, looking at me first then Blaine. "You too."

"Thanks." My boyfriend replied, interlocking his fingers with mine again and pulling me close. "You guys were lucky to get backstage."

"I know. Scott has many tricks."

"Nothing will stop him from getting to Mercedes." I said laughing. The snog show had now developed into something that was making some of the Warblers step away. "What happened to Eli then? You said he was free!"

"Yeah, I know. When I cancelled on him he made other plans. He was gutted though he really wanted to meet you."

"Ah man, sucks. Another time then."

"Of course." Suddenly I noticed Xavier approaching and knew we had limited time.

"Quick! You'd better leave before he blows his top." Turning round Gabriel immediately jumped in fright – he ran over and gingerly tried to pull Scott away before shouting at him so he looked around confused and was dragged off.

"Marc Jacobs…" I muttered, snuggling into Blaine as I saw Tina and Artie making their way over and prepared for a new conversation.

The stage lights were like homing beacons. Even though the spotlight was on every Warbler, I felt like it was focused on me, pointing out every hair out of place, every droplet of sweat that had begun to pool on my forehead. Blaine was next to me, his face stern and posture tense. His hand was squeezing mine so tightly I felt I might burst a blood vessel and his skin felt clammy. Looking out into the crowd I tried to see through the glare to any of my friends but could only see some blurred faces. New Directions stood to our left and Aural Intensity at the end, Sue Sylvester somehow managing to look completely cool – as if she was certain of winning. The woman announcing the results looked like she'd been sampling the bar a little too much – in any normal situation I would have made a joke, but now I was trying desperately not to be sick.

"Let's just skip to who won." She slurred, shakily opening the golden envelope that held one of our dreams. New Directions, or the Warblers…

"The winner is… New Directions!"

For a second everything went quiet. It was like I had been plunged underwater, the sound coming in slowly and swimming round in my ears. I heard Rachel shriek in delight, engulfing Finn who made a muffled sound. Santana was shouting something about Lima Heights coming good and Mr Shue was pumping his first in the air. I turned around to the rest of the Warblers and saw silence. Nobody was speaking. I was about to turn to Blaine when I heard a shout from the crowd and saw Scott celebrating his girlfriend's win. He was frantically being pulled down my other Dalton boys, who all looked furious, but as he sat down he flashed a look of sympathy to me that showed he was still thinking of us. I suppose it would have been win win for him. Somebody stalked across the stage in front of us and for a second I thought it was Xavier throwing another hissy fit, but then a punch echoed around the room and the announcer smacked to the floor. Rachel gasped behind us melodramatically and Sue dusted her hands off, satisfied with her work.

"What?" All of us looked at her, dumbstruck, before she proudly walked off the stage and left us wondering what to do.

New Directions had won. The Warblers had lost. We were out of the competition.