A/N: Okay I'm seriously veryyyy sorry about not updating for stupidly long AGAIN. I really wanted to but a combination of clubs starting again and evil homework has prevented me from being able to write as much as I'd like to, as well as I procrastinate stupidly often. So, instead of promising I'm going to update later this week or whatever all I can say is that I will update this story as often as I can. It won't take a month/months or something too stupidly long like that but sometimes it might take a couple weeks or so and as much as I'd like to update sooner I don't think I have time. So yeah, sorry about that! :(
Also, sorry about if the chapter's not as good as past ones; the editing was a bit rushed since I am literally updating this just before I go to bed and I'm kind of half asleep. If I fall asleep at school tomorrow I blame FanFiction!
In happier news this chapter's super long to make up for my absence and it includes the mashup I've been sitting on for a few months (if Glee's performs any of these songs this season (which I'm not watching yet so please don't spoil it for me) remember: I thought of them first!) so, without further ado, please enjoy! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. If I did there'd be a hell of a lot more Klaine, Brittana and guest-staring Lord Tubbington.
"Kurt you'll be great, now stop worrying your pretty little head about it" Rachel told him firmly as the group sat in the hotel's main hall in the front row. Mercedes was sitting next to them murmuring lyrics under her breath while Brittany was cuddling into Santana's side next to Kurt.
"Thanks Rach" Kurt smiled weakly. His hands were sweating feverishly and he felt sure his pounding heart could be heard through his top, but still he tried to keep hold of his nerves as the rest of the hotel guests came down from their rooms and the pool. It was evening now and after spending the whole of the afternoon rehearsing even Rachel had to admit their performance had no flaws. Although this boosted Kurt's confidence somewhat since she was usually their biggest critique, now that the stage was mere metres away from him and they would be performing in under an hour, it was as if all confidence he'd ever had had been drained from his body.
The hall they were sitting in was a bit smaller than their school's gymnasium but although the stage was smaller in size it was outfitted with a spotless grand piano, band equipment and good quality lighting which put McKinley's to shame.
"When are we going on?" Mercedes leaned over to ask Rachel.
"Last but we need to be heading backstage during the second to last performance. In total there are seven other acts: a magician, a little girl singing, two boys dancing-"
"We get it Rachel; there are seven other acts" Kurt said in a distracted voice, his eyes busy scanning the growing audience with increasing trepidation. Why had he agreed to this? Yes Kurt had sung in front of larger audiences, namely past Sectionals, Regionals and Nationals with the New Directions, but never before had he done anything but sway in the background singing backup, having fun yes, but never having control over whether the performance was a disaster or not. Now though, was a completely different matter.
Yes the stakes weren't nearly as high as the show choir competitions but it was as if it was the moral of the performance was what mattered, not the material gain they'd have if they won. Kurt wanted to prove that he was good enough to carry a solo (or a duet), be successful and hopefully even win. In his mind the success of this performance was linked to the chance of maybe getting more solos in the future, a prospect which he'd been dreaming about since the beginning of Glee Club. And despite his nerves Kurt knew he wasn't going to let himself ruin his first standout moment in a long time and that, as well as his friends' comforting smiles and hugs, was what made his heart stop racing quite so much and his palms start to dry.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" A tall, skinny employee dressed in a cheap-looking suit strode out onto stage holding a microphone and smiling broadly. "I'm Tim and I'm your host for this evening's talent show; are you guys excited?" A collective murmur rose from the audience so Tim, smiling even more, took that as a yes.
"Fantastic!" He said happily "We've got an amazing show for you tonight; eight hopeful acts are competing for the chance to go jet-skiing and swimming with dolphins, all expenses paid by the hotel of course! Not only that but they will receive vouchers to the finest restaurants in all of Barbados so their holidays can be spent having a once in a lifetime cuisine experience! I hope you have a nice evening and without further ado I shall introduce the first act to the stage: Sir Accio!" There was scattered applause as Tim exited the stage the same time as a portly middle-aged man wearing a red bowtie and glasses entered, carrying with him a table and a bag.
Kurt closed his eyes after the first few minutes of the act; although "Sir Accio" seemed nice enough it was obvious he was nothing but an amateur magician, and to be frank Kurt rather wanted to catch up on his sleep.
Ten minutes later a sharp elbow jabbed into his ribs and Kurt let out a soft groan as he opened his eyes to see Rachel scowling down at him.
"You fell asleep!" She said sternly. "We're going up after the next two acts so for goodness sake keep your eyes open!"
"Fine" Kurt muttered, sitting straighter and brushing out the creases in his shirt.
Luckily for his attention span the next act was a lot better than the first; two teenage boys just a couple years younger than the group street dancing. Admittedly it wasn't Kurt's kind of thing but he could appreciate their dancing talent and the loud music helped bring him back to full alertness.
"Next up, fresh from America, Ohio-" Kurt exchanged a startled glance with Rachel; they weren't meant to be up yet so who on earth was Tim talking about?
"-Are a small number of the Dalton Academy Warblers! So please welcome them to the stage" As everyone else in the audience clapped Kurt and his friends looked up at the stage, their jaws slack and their eyes wide as five teenage boys dressed in blue blazers with red piping came onto the stage, all grinning confidently.
"Mercedes!" Kurt hissed, pinching his friend by leaning around Rachel. "It's Jeff!"
"I know" Mercedes murmured in reply, her eyes never leaving the stage.
"Okay what the hell is going on?" Santana asked from behind them, suspicion evident in her voice.
"I'd like to know that too" Rachel added.
"We'll explain later-"
"Hi guys, we hope you like our rendition of an awesome song by an amazing singer!" The shortest of the boys, with a suspiciously familiar head in Kurt's opinion, spoke into the microphone, grinning almost painfully wide.
And with that the audience's whispers lapsed into silence as the boys started singing acapella, introductory notes to a song that Kurt had dreamt about last night...
"Mercedes..." Kurt murmured, a thought crossing his mind that both terrified and confused him. "Could it-"
"Be quiet Kurt, we need to scope out the competition!" Rachel said in a low voice, her eyes trained on the Warbler boys in a way that reminded Kurt of a hawk eyeing its prey.
So he sat silently in his seat, watching as the shorter boy started singing.
"You think I'm pretty
Without any makeup on
You think I'm funny
When I tell the punch-line wrong
Kurt's mouth, if it was, possible, dropped even further as the familiar, velvety smooth voice registered and he immediately knew just from the first few lines of the song who the lead singer was. He was the boy Kurt and Mercedes had heard singing Teenage Dream on the airplane, yes of that Kurt was certain; there was no way he'd forget such a voice like that overnight. But not only was the lead singer the mysterious "Hair Gel Head" from the plane, he had the face of the attractive boy from the pool earlier. The one who'd dive-bombed straight in front of Kurt and then rendered him practically speechless as Kurt watched him swim back to his friends, who, Kurt realised, must be the boys standing behind him now.
The fact that who he'd thought had been two completely different boys was the same person immensely scattered Kurt's line of thought. Nonetheless what his brain was yelling at him, he paid no attention to it and instead focused all of his attention on the beautiful boy onstage who was singing to the audience with a smile on his face and a gleam in his hazel eyes.
I know you get me
So I let my walls come down
Down
Before you met me I was alright
But things were kind of heavy
You brought me to life
Now every February
You'll be my Valentine
Valentine
Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I will be young forever
Just before the chorus, something happened which caused Kurt to freeze in his seat; the lead singer looked out into the audience and their eyes locked, blue-grey on hazel.
It was almost as if the sight of him made the boy's face brighten since now he was smiling so genuinely and broadly it would put dental adverts to shame.
The hazel-eyed boy started singing flirtatiously as he pointed at Kurt and began to dance towards the front of the stage. With every dance move that brought him closer Kurt felt each rational thought in his head fly out of it, leaving behind a speechless bliss as he watched on, his mouth hanging open.
"Any particular reason your jaw is on the floor Porcelain? Anything to do with Hobbit Two staring at you like you're a piece of meat?" Santana asked, smirking. Not even hearing her, Kurt continued to stare in awe at the lead singer as the boys onstage launched into the chorus, both still gazing at each other.
You make me
Feel like I'm living a
Teenage dream,
The way you turn me on
I can't sleep,
Lets run away and
Don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
My heart stops
When you look at me
Just one touch,
Now baby I believe
This is real
So take a chance and
Don't ever look back,
Don't ever look back
As the five boys onstage sang through the second verse, Kurt's admirer still singing lead, he felt his legs turn to jelly and what little colour he had in his face left it as he realised they had to go on very soon-
"Kurt, we need to go get ready!" Rachel whispered urgently. "Come on or we'll miss our cue" It took the combined efforts of Rachel and Mercedes to get Kurt out of his chair. As the group made their way around the hall to backstage Kurt saw a flash of confusion cross the lead singer's face as he went to look at Kurt and saw his seat empty.
"I want to go sit back down!" Kurt protested as his friends pushed him up the steps and into the small dressing room backstage, ignoring his cries of protest as they went.
"How are we supposed to beat that?" He mumbled as the feeling to his legs started to come back, as well as the overriding sense of panic he'd had earlier. As the Brittany and Santana reapplied their lip gloss Mercedes pulled him into a hug.
"Don't you dare go doubting yourself Boo! No matter how good those preppy boys are we're gonna kick some ass" she said with a confident grin after pulling away.
Kurt smiled back weakly but even his best friend's encouraging words couldn't make him be deaf to the amazing vocals coming from behind that curtain.
I might get your heart racing
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight"
"I know that I'm a good singer... It's just, I've never sung in front of so many people before... And after that group I can't help doubting myself a little bit" Kurt said honestly. Whatever Mercedes was about to reply with was cut off by a stage assistant handing them all microphones and quickly going through with them where all the spotlights were and where they should stand on stage.
Once she left them to go make sure the lighting cues were ready for them to go on, the sound of applause erupted from the audience, as well as many cheers and whistles. Needless to say this made Kurt feel even worse.
"Thanks for that amazing rendition of a Katy Perry masterpiece guys!" They could hear Tim say happily from onstage.
"We'll beat them Kurt, I know we will" Rachel whispered as the Dalton boys exited the stage from the other side.
"Not to mention burn them to the ground" Santana added darkly, her eyes fiery with determination and anticipation for the performance ahead.
"Last but by no means least, also from Ohio in America- oh, what's this we have here? Another show choir? Well, well, well I for one am always up for some friendly competition! So, without further ado, please welcome to the stage a small number of the New Directions!"
Rachel flounced on first, with Kurt and Santana behind and Mercedes and Brittany at the back.
The second Kurt stepped foot on that stage he felt his nerves begin to calm; at least nobody could see him yet since the lights were down, as planned, until the actual singing started.
Kurt took center stage with Santana, with the others standing closely behind them, Rachel closest to Santana while Mercedes and Brittany were further right, on Kurt's side.
Taking a shaky breath as the introduction to the mashup began playing, Kurt closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself properly before his cue sounded and he opened his mouth to sing.
"Skies are crying I am watching
Catching teardrops in my hands
Only silence has its ending
Like we never had a chance
For a moment Kurt hadn't even realised that he was in the spotlight and all eyes in the hall were staring at him; it just felt so good to be onstage again, doing what he loved that for one precious moment he forgot everything and just performed.
As he sang he looked mournfully out into the audience before Santana took up the lead.
Santana:
I'm talking loud, not saying much
I'm criticised but all your bullets ricochet
You shoot me down but I get up
A rush of determination and confidence surged through Kurt as he belted out the chorus, his voice distraught as he struggled to hold back tears. The sad part was he wasn't even acting; suddenly it was as if all he could think about was all those times he'd been shoved into a locker, taunted, treated like dirt; and also how he knew it would just happen again this year as if nothing had changed.
Yes he was still enjoying performing, he always would, but he couldn't help but feel as if, while he wrote this mashup, his conscience had been telling him something, something he desperately needed to do in order to be happy.
Kurt:
You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
The others' harmonies just made the song that much more beautiful and heart-wrenching as they, as a team, started to build the crescendo of the song. The differing melodies of the two songs pushed together worked surprisingly well and, despite his contrasting emotions, Kurt couldn't help but be proud of how well he'd done with the song and how amazing it was sounding so far.
Kurt, Brittany & Mercedes:
Like I'm made of glass,
Like I'm made of paper
(Santana & Rachel: Fire away, fire away)
Santana:
You shoot me down but I won't fall
All:
I am titanium
Now was the time for one of the highest notes of the song and although Kurt was nervous he knew he could do it. Smiling triumphantly, he sang it with the sweetness of the angel but with the pride and dignity of a lion, knowing that someday he'd win, that he'd be at the top. It might take until he got out of Ohio, but one day he would beat those close-minded bigots too ignorant to see that that nobody deserved to be treated as he, and many others in the world, was treated at school.
Kurt:
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
(Santana: Titanium)
All:
Like a skyscraper
Santana:
As the smoke clears
I awaken and untangle you from me
Ghost town, haunted love
The true difficulty of the song was coming up after the next chorus and Kurt was beginning to feel nervous even as adrenalin rushed through him, causing him to stride around the stage with the purpose of the world as he owned the song that was rightfully his.
Kurt:
Raise your voice
Kurt and Brittany:
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But I'm standing on my feet
Kurt:
You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Kurt, Brittany & Mercedes
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
(Santana & Rachel: Fire away, fire away)
Santana:
You shoot me down but I won't fall
All:
I am titanium
Kurt:
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
(Santana: Titanium)
All:
Like a skyscraper
All five of them were standing in a line now, as equals, as friends. Yes the Dalton Academy boys had been exceptional but their weakness had been they had depended too much on their lead singer instead of working as a unit, as a show choir rightfully should. Yes they had their fights now and again, more often or not with Santana, but at the end of the day they all genuinely cared about each other.
Kurt felt Mercedes give his hand a quick squeeze for comfort as the group launched into the trickiest part of the song.
All:
Go run, run, run
Santana:
Cut me down
But it's you who'll have further to fall,
All:
Go run, run, run
Kurt:
Yeah it's a long way down
But I am closer to the clouds up here
Kurt glowed as the first tricky part passed with flying colours, each voice in the group shining in their own way, before belting out the highest notes of the song with a confidence he hadn't had in a long time.
Kurt:
You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Kurt, Brittany & Mercedes
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
(Santana & Rachel: Fire away)
All:
I am titanium
Kurt and Santana:
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
(Rachel, Brittany & Mercedes: Titanium)
All:
Like a skyscraper
Kurt:
Like a skyscraper...
As Kurt held his last note it quivered and trailed off, leaving the room in a stunned silence as the audience stared up at him, gawping.
The applause was deafening.
Kurt covered his ears with his hands, giggling giddily, as every single person in the hall got to their feet, everyone cheering for more as the group took their quick bows before leaving the stage.
"You were amazing!" Rachel squealed, running into Kurt's arms in a flying hug.
Laughing, he held the excitable girl for a moment as his reply got muffled in her hair.
"No we were all amazing"
"I'd have to agree with that" Kurt and Mercedes jumped at the familiar voice and turned around to face a grinning Jeff. The rest of the Warblers, including the lead singer, stood behind him, looking at the group curiously.
"Thanks, uh, Jeff right?" Kurt mumbled sheepishly, feeling his excitement quickly ebb away into after-show nerves.
"Correct" Jeff smiled, reaching out a hand to shake his. Trying to ignore the short brunette boy's stare directed at him, Kurt shook the blonde's hand, smiling weakly back.
"Aren't you going to introduce me?" A voice which Kurt for one knew all too well came from behind Jeff and he flushed, his gaze now directed at the floor as the lead singer stepped forward, his hand outstretched also.
"Hi, I think we've already met..." Blaine grinned, "Kind of at least. But I'm Blaine, and you are...?"
Mercedes opened her mouth before Kurt could say anything. "Single, a hundred percent single"
Everyone except Blaine and Kurt chuckled at that and they just blushed.
"Ignore her" Kurt smiled genially this time, reaching out his hand to shake Blaine's Blaine... I don't think I'll be forgetting that any time soon. "My name's Kurt"
A/N: Yay for Kurt facing his fears! :)
The mashup of mine was made up of Skyscraper by Demi Lovato and Titanium by David Guetta feat. Sia. They're both great songs in their own way so I highly suggest you check them out.
Thanks for reading, I hope my mashup wasn't too awful.
Please review, follow and favourite as you see fit and I will update soon(ish)!
Next chapter: Results of the talent show, and the New Directions and Dalton Academy Warbler antics begin! :D