Aaahh thisissomuchlaterthanIplanned aaahhh! This chapter just seemed to take ages to write, and to be honest not much happens in it, but a chapter is a chapter and it shall be uploaded! :D No matter what I think of it... My beta (I only have one at the moment, *sniffle* ) assured me that I was mistaken and this chapter is in fact "very good", so I'll have to take her word for it and hope you guys agree!

Enjoy :) C xx


"Understudy?"

Blaine spluttered slightly before he felt as if he was going to hyperventilate, processing the fact that – after last night – his best friend was definitely not coming in to work today, which meant that Blaine couldn't explain and therefore made everything worse. Nick frowned at Blaine's reaction.

"Um, yes? I-I've been doing some work off-Broadway for the past few months-" He started, but Blaine wasn't really listening to him anymore. He was staring at each person in the room around him in turn, silently asking for an explanation, but they all turned their gaze away from him.

"Where's Thad?" Blaine asked suddenly, his voice thick with worry and concern and tears that threatened to fall any second. Nick stopped talking and looked about the room awkwardly, keeping his eyes low. Wes and Richard looked to the floor, thrusting their hands in the pockets. Sugar, Quinn and Mercedes, who were all sat on the floor, turned their attention to the carpet they were sat on, pulling on loose threads to distract themselves from answering. Brittany bit her lip nervously and glanced to Santana, who rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

"He called in earlier," She explained, smiling sadly at Blaine. "He told Sue that he had a 'family issue' or some shit like that, so he won't be in tonight." She glanced over at Nick, looking him up and down quickly before looking back to Blaine. "We're not meant to expect him in tomorrow either."

"Oh, San," Blaine whimpered, burying his head in his hands. "What have I done? He's never going to talk to me again, is he?" Santana stood and ushered Brittany to swap seat with her. Brittany shuffled down the sofa so that Santana could sit next to Blaine. She hugged his shoulders and let him cry softly, understanding how important Blaine and Thad's friendship was to the man in her arms.

"Okay, everybody move out," Santana glared at everyone else in the room, all of them knowing that Santana didn't like to have to give the same order twice. They all scurried out – all apart from Brittany, who moved to sit in front of Blaine on the floor – with Richard and Wes pushing a confused Nick out of the door as Sunshine, Quinn, Sugar and Mercedes murmured between themselves, shooting concerned glances at Blaine as they left.

When the door was finally shut, Santana turned to Blaine with her arms folded across her chest. "Okay, Hobbit; explain to me why you're suddenly crying your eyes out over Thad when I thought you were in love with Kurt? Shouldn't you be prancing around throwing up rainbows right now?"

Blaine could feel the guilt swelling up inside his stomach; yes, he was in love with Kurt – irrevocably so – but he had known Thad for so long that he couldn't just let this slide. He had to explain himself, and whilst Kurt understood that, it made Blaine feel even worse about the situation he had landed himself in; he had fallen in love with Kurt, but upon his feelings being reciprocated he had landed himself in between the man he loved and his best friend, who also loved Kurt. Sighing heavily, he sunk his head into his hands.

"I know, I know," He groaned, feeling a slight comfort when Brittany rested her chin on his knee, smiling up at him sadly. "I love Kurt – I seriously fucking love him so much – but Thad is my best friend," He felt Santana sit down next to him and looked up at her through his fingers. "Why does it have to be so complicated?"

"Look, Blaine, I don't know what to say; you said yourself that you love Kurt and you deserve to have that with someone. After what happened with that chipmunk ex-boyfriend of yours – I still have no idea what you saw in him – you have every right to be in love again. Surely Thad can see that?"

"But I didn't talk to him about it first."

"So?"

"San, Thad and I have been friends since we were nine years old. We've helped each other through a lot in that time and we always talk to each other about things."

"No you don't." Both Blaine and Santana turned to look at Brittany, who had been silent up until now. She was gazing at the floor, but soon turned her head to look up at the two pairs of brown eyes looking down at her.

"What?" Brittany gazed at Blaine when the word only just came out in a whisper.

"Thad never talked to you about dating Kurt, did he?" She arched an eyebrow, shrugging her shoulders as if it was deadly obvious and Blaine was being stupid not to see it. "Not until after they were already seeing each other."

"Well, that's different," Blaine reasoned. "They weren't dating, they just went on dates." He glanced between the Latina and the blonde, hopeful that they would see the same. "It is different, right?"

Santana frowned at him. "I don't think it is," She looked to Brittany, who shook her head at Blaine and therefore agreeing with her girlfriend. "He still didn't ask you first if it was okay – you and Kurt being such good friends and all." Blaine rested his chin atop of his fists, his elbows resting on his knees, and stared at the wall opposite him as he allowed this new realisation to settle into his mind.

Santana and Brittany were right; Thad hadn't spoken to Blaine first about asking Kurt out – maybe because he thought that, as they would only be having coffee together, it would probably be harmless anyway – but had done it in front of him, asking Kurt out for coffee during the 'tour' Blaine had been giving him that day. This being the first time that he'd properly thought about it, Blaine began to feel a small well of anger open up deep inside him at the realisation.

Not that Blaine could get too angry – he'd had plenty of opportunities to tell Kurt how he felt, especially after they'd moved in together.

But this was all in the past, now; Blaine needed to focus on the situation at hand – he needed to somehow talk to Thad.

"I'm- I'm going to go to my dressing room," Blaine suddenly stood, grabbing his bag as he went, taking both Santana and Brittany by surprise and causing Brittany to fall forwards slightly. She put her hands out to stop herself from falling flat out on the carpet, as most of her weight had been supported by Blaine's leg as she leant on him. "Thank you, girls."

Santana picked her girlfriend up off the floor, brushing her down slightly and making sure she was okay before she turned to Blaine, calling out just as he stepped out the room. "For what?"

Blaine turned back to her and smiled, his eyes showing much more gratitude than he could express through words. "For listening, and helping me realise what I should do." Santana and Brittany exchanged glances, silently asking the other if they understood what their curly-haired friend was talking about, before turning back to see said friend closing the door behind him as he left.

Quickly diving into his dressing room to avoid being spotted by his cast mates, Blaine pulled out his phone as soon as the door was closed. He leant against the wood, fundamentally barricading himself in his room to avoid anyone pouncing on him. Scrolling through his contacts he finally found the number he was looking for, but his thumb hesitated over the call button. Biting his lip, Blaine glanced up at the small collection of pictures he had by his dressing table, and – forgetting about the fact that he hadn't locked his door properly – he moved over to them and gazed amongst the smiling faces.

His eyes instantly fell on the picture of him and Kurt that Rachel had taken when the two boys had moved in together, both of the grinning outside the apartment with their arms around each other's shoulders. Every time Blaine saw it, it made him smile; it reminded him so much of the picture of him and his childhood friend from his ninth birthday, their smiles just as wide but without the embarrassing cake crumbs and icing all over their faces. Blaine glanced to the left and saw that very picture, cringing inwardly but allowing his smile to widen at the sight of one of his favourite ever photos. His gaze drifted over a few other pictures; ones of him and his other cast mates – namely one of himself, Santana, Brittany and a very good-looking, very toned young man, taken on the night that Santana dragged him to a strip club upon finding out he was gay – as well as ones of him and his family – well, mainly him and his brother, Cooper, but there were some of him and his parents from his younger years, before he came out to them.

His eyes landed on another picture that made him stop; it was him and Thad, taken on Thad's 21st birthday four years ago. They and a group of their other friends – some from Dalton, some not – had gone from club to club around New York, the drinks getting stronger as the night went on. This was one of the only pictures taken where the men were actually composed, able to smile properly at the camera with their eyes open – basically, one where they were all sober.

Blaine remembered the heavy weight in his hand, and glanced down to stare at his phone. The contact he had searched for earlier was still highlighted, and Blaine – not knowing whether his call would be answered – apprehensively pressed call, bringing the phone up to his ear.


Kurt snuggled down onto the sofa, a blanket wrapped his pyjama-clad body as the television opposite him filled with images of Austrian hills, the beginnings of one of the best musicals of all time making Kurt giggle happily to himself and nestle down even more. He was beaming by the time Julie Andrews appeared on a hill-top, spinning around as she sang her heart out to the skies above.

The hills are alive
with the sound of music
with songs they have sung
For a thousand years

The hills fill my heart
With the sound of music
My heart wants to sing ev'ry song it hears

Kurt had said goodbye to Finn and Rachel twenty minutes ago, running to his room and changing hastily as soon as the door was shut. A glass of red wine sat on the coffee table, the bottle left next to it, and Kurt reached forward to take a sip. He didn't often kick back and relax anymore, and even though he had his evenings alone due to Blaine working at the theatre, Kurt often spent his nights going over lesson plans, marking term papers or hanging out with Rachel and Finn, sometimes even Rory or Tina, making nights like this – where he had no work to do whatsoever – all the more significant.

Of course, Kurt would find these evenings even more idyllic if he could have been cuddling into a certain dark-haired, slightly shorter man rather than the sofa cushions, but there was nothing he could really do about that.

Smirking as Maria ran back into the convent, Kurt allowed his mind to wander – he knew this film so well already that really he only paid attention to songs, the film just being something additional to watch in between – and suddenly recalled how he hadn't actually gone out with Mercedes yet – Kurt didn't count when they had had coffee together the week before, mainly because they ran into each other and the meeting wasn't actually arranged. They had been texting over the past few weeks, even managing to phone each other a few times, but they hadn't actually gone on a night out together like Kurt wanted to. He wondered if she was working tonight – she'd already told him that her shifts could change weekly, sometimes even daily – depending on how many people were available to man the foyer… and on what mood Sue was in. Kurt leant forward and picked up his phone which had been lying next to the DVD remote on the coffee table, suddenly smitten with the idea of inviting her out.

After a few rings, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, 'Cedes," Kurt greeted her merrily. "It's Kurt."

"Oh, hey Boo!" Kurt grinned at how quickly they had assigned each other nicknames. "How are you, honey?"

"I'm great, thanks! How are you?"

"I'm good, I'm good," Kurt could tell over the phone that there was a slight smugness in her voice. "So, what's up?"

Kurt opened his mouth to ask her if she wanted to go out tonight, before glancing down and remembering that he was sat in his pyjamas. He stalled slightly, trying to think of another conversation starter. "Uhh…" He screwed his eyes shut, racking his brains for something relevant and sane that he could pass off as an excuse to be ringing Mercedes.

His eyes snapped open and he beamed to himself, silently punching the air in triumph. "I just remembered that you never told me how your hot date with Sam went the other night." When Kurt heard her snort back her laughter he sighed in relief, glad that he hadn't just made a complete and utter fool of himself. Sam was the guy Mercedes had been seeing for a while, now – Sam was the date Mercedes had mentioned all those weeks ago when she had taken Kurt to Blaine's dressing room for his 'private tour', the one that Kurt had heard all about after their first date – and it seemed that their relationship was starting to become slightly more serious.

Obviously, Kurt had heard all about Sam; he knew he was blond, had 'dazzling' green eyes and was of athletic build – Mercedes had casually dropped into conversation that he was an Olympic swimmer. Kurt knew that Sam was a little bit geeky, but Blaine had that too, and it was a quality both Kurt and Mercedes adored in the men in their lives. Kurt had yet to meet him, and hoped that – whenever he ended up going out with Mercedes – she would offer to bring him along and introduce them.

"Oh, Kurt, it was fantastic!" She crowed, Kurt jerking the phone away from his ear to save himself from being deafened. "No, that doesn't even begin to cover it! Oh, Kurt where do I begin?" She didn't give him time to answer. "Well, first of all he took me to this really fancy – expensive – restaurant, way more impressive than Breadstix…"

Kurt smiled to himself and leant back against the sofa, allowing his friend to gush over all of the details of the evening… and just how fantastic Sam Evans was.


"Hello?"

"Why aren't you at work?"

"B-Blaine-?"

"Answer my question, dammit!" Blaine clutched at his hair, using the pain as a distraction to stop himself from the fear he could hear in the other man's voice. He took a deep breath, steadying himself for his next question, his voice now softer, filled with concern. "Is it because of me?"

There was silence on the other end of the line. "What?"

"Is it because of me and Kurt that you're not in today?"


Cliffhanger! :O Let me know what you guys thought of that :)

Also, I'm going to uploading for my friend RainySunnyEnding again tomorrow, so please make sure you check out her story Tears & Cookies if you haven't already, as well as my other friends who I mentioned last time - I-might-BE-slightly-INSANE and GirlInTheBlueHoodie. Thanks, guys :) Love ya loads! :D

Until Thursday,

C xx