Well, this one is shorter than the previous chapter (which was a super long one, sorry)... but there's still plenty to work with, so here we go!
(I do not own Glee or any of the characters, dialogue, or songs from the show. It's all just for fun!)
BLAINE
"I must protest!" Kurt exclaimed as Mr. Schu called his name as part of the mandatory dance rehearsal list.
"You kinda have one move, Kurt," Mike responded. "It's like this sashay and it's super distracting."
Blaine bit back a smile. As Mr. Schu moved on to arguing with Mercedes about her participation, Kurt turned to look at him and rolled his eyes. "I hate glee," he mouthed. Blaine shrugged apologetically.
"Mike Chang has offered to be my assistant," Mr. Schu explained. "And we start tomorrow. And yes, Puckerman, it is mandatory."
Blaine made a split-second decision.
"Mr. Schuester," he raised his hand, "would you mind if I drop by for a little bit? I really need to catch up with you guys."
The teacher nodded his agreement, and Blaine turned to grin at Kurt. "I love glee" he mouthed, and Kurt kicked his foot. Blaine did his best imitation of Kurt's shimmy, but he stopped abruptly as Ms. Pillsbury and Coach Bieste came through the door.
Mr. Schu explained that the two teachers would be helping with the musical, and Blaine let his mind wander to song ideas for his audition as Rachel panicked about how well the musical would be directed. Maria was a classic choice for a West Side Story audition, but Something's Coming was one of his favorites. He was pulled back into the conversation at hand as Mr. Schu explained that he had decided to pick a student director to help the two teachers.
"Mr. Schu, I'm honored," Rachel interrupted, "But Barbara was forty when she directed herself in Yentl so it's just... it's too soon."
"I hate you," Brittany mumbled. Blaine managed to contain another grin. As abrasive as she could be, there was something about Rachel that he really liked.
Kurt turned to look at him briefly, and Blaine hoped that the other boy couldn't read his mind.
"I was actually hoping that Artie would take the job," Mr. Schu admitted.
Blaine turned to look at Artie, but couldn't see the other boy's face. "Me?" Artie said in disbelief. "I've developed my whole persona around conflict avoidance."
"Come on Artie, you've made short films," Tina encouraged. "Directing is your dream. You can do it!"
There was a moment of silence as Artie struggled with the decision, but ultimately he accepted. "I'm in," he announced.
Everyone applauded, and Blaine's mind continued to whirl with plans for his audition. He had been so involved with leading the Warblers that he hadn't tried out for the musicals at Dalton, but he was excited for the opportunity to give it a try at McKinley.
"Alright," Mr. Schu said, "let me talk to our new directors for a moment and we'll start rehearsal."
Mike twisted around in his chair and extended a hand in Blaine's direction for a high five. "Taking one for the team and coming to booty camp," he said with admiration. "Good man."
Blaine laughed.
"Oh, shut up," Kurt said. "Blaine's mad at you because you insulted me."
Blaine and Mike exchanged a quick glance and Tina laughed.
"I do love the shimmy," Blaine admitted, leaning over to rest his head on Kurt's shoulder and bat his eyelashes at him.
"We should hang out sometime," Mike added casually.
"I'd love that," Blaine said. As Mike turned back around to face the front of the room, Blaine chewed his lip excitedly. He was going to fit in here after all.
KURT
"I can't believe you volunteered to do this," Kurt said quietly as he and Blaine stretched and Mercedes whined to Mr. Schu behind them.
Blaine pretended to be hurt. "What happened to 'every second of every day with you'?" he teased.
Kurt smiled at him as they walked from the bar to their positions for the rehearsal. He knew that Blaine didn't need dance practice; he was a great dancer. Blaine had come here to spend more time with Kurt and to show everyone that he was a team player, and Kurt was still having a difficult time believing that Blaine's transfer was real and permanent. He felt like the other boy might head back to Dalton at any moment.
As they began the rehearsal with the grapevine, Kurt's thoughts returned to the upcoming West Side Story auditions.
"I'm going to put my light under a bushel," he said to Blaine, "if only to shine brighter for the auditions tomorrow."
"I'm still trying to decide between Maria and Something's Coming," Blaine responded.
An emotion that Kurt knew well began to claw its way into his chest. In his excitement to prepare for the role of Tony, he had not even considered that Blaine might his competition.
"Those are Tony songs... are you auditioning for Tony too?" Kurt asked, hating himself for how threatened he sounded.
BLAINE
Blaine heard the uncertainty in Kurt's voice, and he knew immediately that he needed to choose his words carefully.
"Would that be weird?" he dodged.
"No!" Kurt said, too quickly. "No, not at all. I mean, you'd be a great Tony. You'd be the perfect Tony, actually, in some respects."
Blaine decided to backtrack.
"Well, except... I'm a junior," he hedged. "Tony is the lead, which means a senior should probably play that part."
"Yeah, that is kinda how it works, huh?" Kurt confirmed.
"I mean, I'd be fine with Bernardo or Officer Krupke as long as it was opposite your Tony," Blaine said sweetly, hoping to ease Kurt's fears.
"Kurt!" Mr. Schu's voice cut into their conversation, "jazz hands!"
"Fine!" Kurt threw his hands to his sides.
They moved on to more difficult dance moves after that, so there wasn't much time for chatting as they rehearsed. Blaine could tell that Kurt's jealousy was under control for now, which made him feel good. But part of him also reprimanded himself for giving in so easily. Tony was a dream role. He tried to convince himself that Kurt needed it more, and the team player in him acknowledged that getting the leading male role in the school musical immediately after transferring could ruffle the feathers of some of the other men in New Directions. He didn't need to play Tony.
KURT
As they gathered their things after rehearsal, Kurt saw Blaine glance at his phone and groan in exasperation.
"What's up?" Kurt asked.
Blaine was uncharacteristically irritated. "My father has decided that now is the perfect time to repair the deck on the back of our house," he huffed. "He says it's not structurally sound."
"And... you're annoyed that he's so ridiculous?" Kurt guessed.
Blaine shook his head. "No. He told me this morning that he would need my help some this weekend, but now he's decided that he needs me every day after school."
Kurt frowned. "So no more booty camp?"
Blaine nodded.
Kurt was disappointed, but he knew that Blaine couldn't just blow off his family obligation for a rehearsal he didn't even need in the first place.
"It's okay," Kurt reassured him.
"Too bad McKinley's not a boarding school," Blaine said sourly. They both laughed.
"Well, see you tomorrow, then?" Kurt picked up his bag as Blaine did the same.
"Tomorrow," Blaine acknowledged, and they parted ways at the choir room door.
BLAINE
"Kurt's audition is in an hour... you can deal without me for a few hours," Blaine tried to reason with his father on the phone. He had explained over breakfast that he needed to spend this one afternoon at school so he would be there for Kurt's audition, and the older man had agreed. But suddenly, an hour before the audition, he was calling Blaine to tell him to hurry home to help with the construction.
His father's voice on the phone told him that he better be home soon or there would be consequences.
"I'm not coming home yet!" Blaine shouted into the phone. He ended the call and turned his phone off completely.
As he tried to release some of his aggravation, he realized that Kurt was watching him carefully.
"Sorry," he mumbled awkwardly.
"You should go," Kurt responded.
"What?" Blaine tried not to project his anger at his father onto Kurt, but he had not expected Kurt to take his father's side in this.
"You can't even come to the audition," Kurt reminded him. "They want the auditions to be closed so that nobody can size up their competition."
Blaine rolled his eyes. "He's only doing this because he wants some stupid man-to-man bonding time."
"Well..." Kurt hesitated, "maybe he doesn't know how to interact with you any other way."
Blaine knew he was probably right. There was no way to know for sure what his father's motives were, but Blaine was too angry for the logic to settle into his mind properly.
"I don't care," he mumbled. "I'm not going home until after your audition."
"Yes you are," Kurt admonished. "Either you go now and face a little fallout, or you stay and risk more severe punishment."
Blaine looked at his powered-off phone in his hand and grunted in discontent.
Kurt stepped forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Blaine's lips. "I'll call you after, okay?"
Blaine nodded, and Kurt smiled brightly at him as he turned to leave.
"Break a leg!" Blaine called after him, and Kurt tripped over his feet and almost fell over as he turned to wave at Blaine one more time. Blaine could still hear Kurt's laughter as he walked away into the hallway and headed for his car.
KURT
Kurt tried to call Blaine that evening after his audition, but the other boy didn't answer his phone. Kurt knew he was probably still working with his dad, so he decided to text him instead.
Hey, I tried to call but I assume you're hard at work. I missed you this afternoon, but I'm glad you went home! I handled the audition fine without you. ;)
About fifteen minutes later, he got a response.
I'm so sorry I wasn't there. Did they love the scaffolding?
Kurt grinned. I think so! How's the deck?
Another ten minutes passed before he got another response, and this time it was a photograph of Blaine, all sweaty and standing on what appeared to be the new deck with a huge smile on his face. Kurt thought he could almost hear the sarcasm in Blaine's mind as he looked at the image. He must've been smiling because his dad had taken the photo.
Lookin' good! ;) Kurt responded.
Thanks, came the immediate response. Goodnight, Kurt.
Goodnight, Blaine. I love you.
KURT
The next day, Kurt overheard Artie telling Mike and Tina that he was on his way to a meeting about West Side Story, so Kurt rushed to a spot just outside Ms. Pillsbury's office window that he had learned from Puck was a good place for eavesdropping. He was desperate to know what they thought of his audition.
"Kurt Hummel for Tony," Ms. Pillsbury suggested after the conversation had been going for a short time. "I mean, let's talk about star quality, shall we?"
"Kurt was awesome," Artie acknowledged. Kurt tried not to squirm too much as he strained to hear what they were saying.
"No question, he owned that song like it was his prison bitch," Coach Bieste added. "My thing is... Tony is supposed to be from the streets. He's the leader of the Jets. An alpha gang member. I look at Kurt and I don't believe it."
Kurt's enthusiasm deflated a bit at those words, but he tried to stay hopeful. They had just been talking about Mercedes as a non-traditional, yet still viable, possibility for Maria.
"Well, respectfully, Coach," Ms. Pillsbury argued, "Tony's retired from the Jets. He's a poet of the urban jungle. There is a delicate wholesomeness to Kurt that's unexpected, but not unwelcome, for Tony. I mean, if I were Maria I'd love to be held in Kurt's toothpick arms on my fire escape."
"Listen, I love the kid," Coach Bieste countered, "but I want a Tony that excites my lady parts. Hummel's too much of a lady."
Kurt tried not to feel too much hope or too much defeat yet. They hadn't decided.
"Well, Artie, you know him best" Ms. Pillsbury said. "Could Kurt... could he pass?"
"I'm a firm believer in colorblind, non-traditional casting," Artie declared. "For instance, I hope to play Porgy one day. And we should definitely see who else comes in. But yeah, I'm a little worried that Kurt may be a little delicate for Tony."
Kurt leaned his head back on the brick wall. He knew that he wasn't the traditional Tony. He wasn't really the traditional anything. But he hated that being non-traditional meant restrictions. He pulled out his phone, not sure what he was planning to do, and sighed when he saw the photo of Blaine on the deck from the night before. He had made it his phone background.
Blaine fit in everywhere, Kurt thought sourly. Standing on that deck, he looked every bit the strong, straight young man that his father wanted him to be. He didn't look or sound like the stereotype.
It was one of the things Kurt loved most about Blaine. But as he sat against the brick wall outside the window, feeling like nobody was even going to give him a second thought for the role of Tony, Kurt felt outrageously jealous. The logical part of him reprimanded the emotional part of his brain for comparing himself to Blaine, but his emotional side was too worked up to really care.
He stood up and slipped back into the building as the trio inside transitioned to other director-related topics. As Kurt walked unenthusiastically down the hallway, he passed a bright poster on the wall.
His heart lurched into his throat as he stopped and turned to see one of Brittany's unicorn posters of him on the wall. Panic flooded through his veins as he ripped the poster off the wall and ran to where Brittany and Santana were taping up duplicates in another section of the hallway.
"This is not the poster we agreed on!" Kurt cried.
"The poster that you wanted gave me crippling depression," Brittany said seriously.
"I wanted something toned down!" Kurt accused. Why did everyone have to associate him with pink and rainbows and glitter?
"This is toned down," Santana quipped. "In the original the unicorn was riding you."
Kurt didn't know what to do or say.
"I don't know why you're so upset," Brittany said, "You're special. You need to embrace it. This is who you are."
Somewhere deep inside, Kurt knew that he should feel good about the compliment. But his panic shoved everything else aside.
"I'm not gonna win," Kurt said. There was absolutely no way he was going to win with a bunch of pink, glittery posters and not even enough masculinity to be considered for a leading role in the school musical.
Suddenly, Rachel appeared around the corner, and Kurt had an idea.
"Rachel! Rachel, I need you," he said desperately as he grabbed her. "I need you to come with me to the auditorium right now and help me audition for Tony again."
"Last-minute emergency audition?" Rachel said enthusiastically, "Say no more."
"And stop putting up those posters!" Kurt shouted over his shoulder and Brittany and Santana.
"Okay," Kurt said as he and Rachel hurried to the auditorium, "here's what we're going to do. West Side Story is based on Romeo and Juliet..."
"Oh!" Rachel squealed. "Oh, yes please."
They rummaged through the costume closet until they found what they needed, and spent the next thirty minutes simultaneously getting dressed and learning their lines.
The audition was a disaster.
Kurt had never been so glad not to have Blaine around as he ran from the auditorium, the laughter of his friends and teachers still ringing in his ears. He snatched his bag off the ground and retreated into a bathroom stall to have a mini meltdown and to change into the spare set of clothes he kept in his bag. Hot, angry tears stung in his eyes as he dressed. He hated Rachel. He hated Artie. He hated everyone. He hated himself.
Once he was safely in his vehicle with the doors locked he felt a little bit better.
His first instinct was to call Blaine. But he didn't want to talk to Blaine about this. Instead, he sat in his car in the parking lot until he felt like he was no longer going to burst into tears, and then he drove to his father's tire shop.
"Hey Kurt," one of the employees greeted him as he walked in. "Your dad's talking to a customer, but Finn and Rachel are over there," he motioned with one of his hands.
Rachel. Kurt almost turned and walked back out again, but instead he plodded over and flopped down into a chair. Her back was to him; he would just ignore her. Kurt stared down at his hands and wondered if there was a single part out there that was perfect for him.
"What do you want?" Burt asked as he appeared and saw Kurt sitting at the table by himself.
"Nothing," Kurt lied. "Is Finn the only son who can help out around here?"
"No, but you only volunteer to help when you want money or when you want to talk about something," Burt said sagely. "What's going on?"
"I made a list," Kurt explained. "These are the only musicals that I am a shoe-in to play the lead role in. Number one, La Cage Aux Folles. Number two, Falsettos. Number three, Miss Saigon... as Miss Saigon. But that's off the list when, and if, I ever start shaving."
"Dude, you're gay."
The words surprised Kurt. "Excuse me?"
"You're gay!" Burt repeated. "And you're not, like, Rock Hudson gay. You're really gay. You sing like Diana Ross and you dress like you own a magic chocolate factory."
Kurt could not believe his father was saying this. "Okay, why are you being so mean to me?" Kurt accused.
"What is wrong with any of that?" Burt clarified. "It's who you are."
"And I'm not saying that I'm ashamed of it," Kurt said. He left out that sometimes he did feel a little ashamed of it. Sometimes he wanted to fit in so badly that he couldn't think about anything else. Like now. "The problem is that if I want to be an actor I have to pass as straight to get the great romantic roles. And I want those roles. Every actor does. But to not get a shot at it... I mean, it kills me. I don't know if you've noticed, but no one's really looking for a Kurt Hummel type to play opposite Kate Hudson in a rom-com."
"Kurt," Burt said as he walked up to stand in front of his son, "I say if they're not writing movies and plays for performers like you, then you've gotta start writing your own. Come on, man, you're awesome. Change the rules. Write your own history."
Kurt felt a surge of gratitude that his father was so understanding and supportive. In his inner comparison between himself and Blaine, family dynamics was the one area where Kurt knew he had a major advantage.
"I'm just tired of being a unicorn, dad," he admitted.
"You know what they call a unicorn without a horn?" Burt said. "A freakin' horse."
Even in his negative state, Kurt couldn't help laughing at his father's joke. He was glad he had come here to talk.
As Kurt turned to watch his father walk away, he accidentally made eye contact with Rachel across the room. The little bit of positivity he had just absorbed from his father vanished immediately as the shame of the audition earlier in the afternoon washed over him. He turned abruptly to leave.
"Kurt!" Rachel's quick footsteps echoed in the large room as she ran after him. "Kurt, please! Wait."
He turned on her, ready to scream and disown her as a friend, but he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. The unexpected expression threw him off, and he could only manage a pathetic "What do you want, Rachel?".
"Kurt, I'm so sorry," she said. "I don't know what came over me. I–"
"You know exactly what came over you," Kurt snapped.
Her face contorted in a mixture of shame and confusion. "What are you doing?" she pressed. "This isn't you."
"What, this isn't rainbow-colored, glittery Kurt Hummel?" Kurt rolled his eyes.
Rachel let out a sympathetic breath and opened her mouth, but Kurt was not interested in being pitied.
"If you even think about trying to convince me that 'it doesn't matter' or that 'everything is going to be fine', I am going to sneak into your house and destroy your entire Barbara Streisand collection," he threatened. "I know where your dads keep the spare key."
"Maybe it does matter, but it's not everything," Rachel said.
Kurt rolled his eyes. "That's so easy for you to say, Rachel. You are, or will be at some point in your life, the perfect fit for pretty much any major female role in existence. The one and only thing that will ever hold you back is bad luck."
Rachel was silent for a moment. "I'm really, really sorry, Kurt," she finally said.
Kurt felt tears returning to his eyes as he looked at her. He knew she hadn't meant to hurt his feelings.
"Thank god I'm not actually a girl," he muttered. "I'm overly-emotional enough as it is without monthly hormonal changes."
Rachel smiled, and there were suddenly tears in her eyes again too. "I'm going to hug you now," she said emotionally. Kurt nodded, and she launched herself forward and threw her arms around his waist.
"I'm glad you're you, Kurt," she said into his chest.
Kurt thought about everything that he had been through over the past few years, and imagined some of the challenges he was going to face in the next few years. He was never going to win at anything if he couldn't just be himself.
"Thanks," he said quietly, releasing her. "I've gotta go work on my campaign posters."
BLAINE
"Hello?"
Blaine was unreasonably relieved to hear Kurt's voice on the other end of the phone.
"Hey, where were you after school?" Blaine asked, concerned. "I tried to find you but your car was gone..."
"Sorry," Kurt apologized. "It was just a really bad day and I needed to talk to my dad. And wait, I thought you had construction duty with your dad?"
Blaine smiled. "Nope. We finished really late last night."
"Where are you?" Kurt asked. "Want to come over?"
Blaine was glad that Kurt couldn't see him blushing. "Yeah, I went to get coffee in case you were there, so I'm pretty close. Are you home?"
"Yes," Kurt answered, and Blaine could hear the smile in his voice. "Come over!"
"See you soon," Blaine said.
"Bye!" Kurt sang into the phone as he ended the call.
BLAINE
Carole answered the door when Blaine arrived at the Hummel-Hudson house, and she smiled brightly when she saw him in the doorway.
"Blaine!" she reached out to request a hug, and Blaine stepped forward and let her squeeze him tightly for a moment. "Great to see you, sweetheart!"
"You too," Blaine smiled, but before he could say anything else Kurt came rushing into the room and grabbed his hand.
"Sorry Carole," Kurt apologized as he dragged Blaine away and up the stairs. When they got to Kurt's room, Kurt pulled Blaine over to where his laptop was sitting on his bed. He released Blaine's hand and they sat down side-by-side on the edge of the bed.
"Okay," he said, "ready to see my class president poster?"
"But..." Blaine started to ask why there had been pink and rainbow posters around in the hallways already if Kurt hadn't yet picked out a design, but he decided to just let Kurt show him.
"Ta da!" Kurt pulled up the image, similar to the ones Blaine had seen at school but not exactly the same.
"It's perfect," Blaine grinned, climbing onto the bed so he could sit behind Kurt and wrap his arms around the other boy's waist. He put his chin on Kurt's shoulder and examined the image more closely.
"I guess I've just got to embrace the weirdness," Kurt said. "And everyone loves unicorns, right?"
"Yeah," Blaine agreed.
"So now I've just got to print them out in the morning at school... want to help me hang them up?"
"Are you kidding?" Blaine scoffed. "Of course I do."
Blaine released Kurt and scooted back to the center of the bed so Kurt could get up and put the laptop down on his vanity.
"Oh," Kurt said as he turned back around, "and Quinn's back!"
"No way!" Blaine was delighted to hear that news. He had interacted with Quinn a bit at prom the year before, and he knew that there was a sweet, intelligent girl hidden underneath that pink hair and bad attitude.
"Way," Kurt teased. "She's even back to blonde."
"I actually kinda liked the pink hair," Blaine admitted with a laugh, "but if the blonde is indicative of an attitude shift, I'm really happy for her."
Kurt climbed onto the bed to lie down on his back next to where Blaine was sitting. Blaine grinned at him and scooted so that he could lie down and snuggle up against Kurt's side.
"I wish you could come to my audition tomorrow," Blaine sighed.
"Me too," Kurt responded.
"But tell me about your audition," Blaine said. "I feel like I haven't had a chance to really talk to you in forever."
"It was great," Kurt said. "Coach Bieste said I killed it."
Blaine grinned and kissed Kurt's shoulder. "I knew you would," he replied.
Kurt turned his head so Blaine could kiss him properly, and at almost the same time they both got a strong whiff of whatever Carole was making for dinner downstairs.
"It'll be time to eat soon," Kurt said.
"Soon," Blaine agreed as he propped himself up on one arm to kiss Kurt again, "but not yet."
BLAINE
"Blaine Anderson?" Artie's voice rang out in the auditorium, and Blaine took a deep breath and stepped out onto the stage.
"Hi guys," Blaine waved at the trio in the audience.
"Greetings," Artie responded. "What song will you be singing today?"
"Uh, Something's Coming," Blaine responded, and Artie nodded. Blaine turned his back on the auditorium as the music began. He knew he could sing this song, but this was his first audition at his new school. He wanted to be perfect.
"Could be... who knows?"
As he started to sing, Blaine's anxiety melted away and was replaced by the confidence that always washed over him when he was performing. He could do this. He could impress them with this song.
KURT
Kurt finished talking to Brittany and walked past the door to the auditorium on his way to his car. Blaine was in there. Auditioning.
He glanced around and made a quick decision to spy. He quietly pushed open the door to the auditorium and snuck up to one of the balconies, hoping that the shadows and the height would keep him hidden. He didn't want to be caught, and he didn't want to distract Blaine either.
Kurt felt a huge rush of pride as he watched Blaine audition for the trio of directors. It was still so new for Blaine to be here at all. And, Kurt thought as he watched the performance, this was the first time he had ever seen Blaine performing by himself. Just Blaine. Alone on the stage singing his heart out. It was different than all the times Kurt had heard Blaine sing in the car or when they were hanging out together. This was an audition. A real performance.
When Blaine ended the song with a long, powerful note, Artie, Coach Bieste, and Emma exploded into cheers and applause. Kurt wished he could applaud too, but he knew he needed to stay hidden.
"I so wanna give you a standing ovation right now!" Artie exclaimed.
"Thank you," Blaine said kindly. Kurt smiled at the other boy's shy little shrug as Blaine turned to walk off the stage.
"Wait," Artie stopped him. "On your audition form you said you were only interested in the role of Bernardo."
"Yeah," Blaine confirmed. "Or, um, Officer Krupke. Either one's fine."
Kurt watched the trio exchange confused glances.
"Would you mind reading for Tony?" Artie asked.
Kurt knew that what he should feel as he watched conflicting emotions flash across Blaine's face. And he did feel it, to some extent. Guilt. Guilt that he was the sole reason that Blaine hadn't checked the box next to Tony on his application. But, selfishly, he felt angry that the trio of directors was so much more enthusiastic about Blaine's performance than his own. His insecurity battled against his compassionate side and won, and Kurt turned and left the auditorium. He didn't want to stand there and watch them beg Blaine to be their Tony.
Hey, it was a cliffhanger ending in the episode, so let's leave it that way! ;)
Up next... 'Asian F'!