I don't think there's really anything I need to say before this one... happy reading! :)

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters, dialogue, or songs from the show. It's all just for fun!)

BLAINE

"I miss Mercedes," Artie admitted to no one in particular as Mr. Schu prepared to start the day's glee club.

Tina started to cry, and Blaine felt horrible for the whole group. He didn't know Mercedes particularly well yet, but for the rest of New Directions this was more than just losing a member of their show choir. They felt betrayed and missed their friend.

"You know what, girl Chang?" Santana said, "If you cry every time someone gets a hangnail it kinda starts to lose its effect."

"It's not a hangnail," Tina argued, "Mercedes was one of glee's original members. I feel naked in here without her."

"Yeah, well get used to it," Puck chimed in. "Because without her singing for us we're gonna have to perform naked for the judges to vote for us at Sectionals."

As the students argued about who was to blame for Mercedes' departure, Blaine wondered what he could do to help. He was sad about the group's loss, but he was also a little frustrated at their lack of action about the whole thing. They were so worked up about losing a member that they had no plan for replacing Mercedes or finding other new members.

"Sorry I'm late!" Rachel said brightly, breaking Blaine out of his thoughts as she hurried through the door, "I was putting up posters for my–" she saw Kurt scowling at her, "for my campaign."

"Did you airbrush out your jowels?" Kurt asked angrily.

"No!" She snapped.

"Look, stop it everybody!" Finn stood up, "So, we lost a singer. So, they canceled the musical."

"Wait, what? No, no, no, no, you can't cancel my musical!" Rachel cried.

"Sue cut the funding," Mike explained.

"The point is that right now we shouldn't be turning on each other," Finn announced.

Blaine was happy that someone in the group was trying to encourage the others. "I agree," Blaine stood up, hoping to help Finn make his point. "I can only speak from my experience with the Warblers, but no show choir is just one person. It's a team. When we lost a Warbler we just replaced him with another one."

"Which is easy when your waiting list has a waiting list," Finn retorted. "Dude, I know you're a big deal at Dalton or whatever, but we don't wear blazers here. So have a seat; I'm trying to give a pep talk."

Hearing someone else mention his old school caused a surge of homesickness to wash over Blaine. He still hadn't been back to visit Dalton. It had been a little over a month since the start of school and his transfer, and he wasn't sure if he was ready yet to set foot in the hallways of the school that he missed so much.

Despite his emotions about the subject, Blaine had tried to be open about the Warblers since he had transferred. He thought that talking about it casually might help de-mystify the other group for his new classmates and make him seem like less of a threat. But Finn continued to throw his past as the leader of the Warblers in his face at every opportunity.

Blaine resisted the urge to roll his eyes or walk over and punch Finn in the face. "Didn't you just say something about us not turning on each other?" Blaine accused as he sat down. The look on Finn's face was almost as satisfying as if Blaine had actually punched him, and Blaine couldn't decide if he felt more satisfied with having the final word or more hurt that Finn continued to be so unkind for no reason.

"No, you can't cancel my musical, okay?" Rachel wailed. "I was considering changing my name to Maria!"

"The musical is not canceled!" Mr. Schu reassured the group. "As for Mercedes, yes. That is a huge loss for us, but we will deal with replacing her later. Right now we need to focus on putting on this musical."

"How?" Tina asked.

"We sell ads in the program," Mr. Schu explained, "I figure we can get ten, maybe twenty bucks a piece for them."

"So we only have to sell about two hundred." Quinn said skeptically.

"Well, I think it's a brilliant idea!" Kurt said confidently. "And I volunteer myself to spearhead the charge. That'll give me a great opportunity to bust out my Banana Republic Mad Men collection."

That seemed to satisfy the teacher. "Okay, alright!" Mr. Schu said. "Let's break off into smaller groups to figure out who's going to canvas which parts of the city. And guys, I don't care what Sue does, or who leaves us. Everyone in this group's dreams are gonna come true this year. Let's do it!"

"Hey Santana, ready to help out the team?" Finn said loudly as they all stood up.

"Yeah, of course," Santana replied. "Why?"

"Just checking," Finn responded.

Blaine frowned. What was Finn's problem? Blaine suddenly had a mental image of somehow managing to force Finn out as captain and stepping in to lead the group, and he was intensely glad that mind-reading was impossible.

BLAINE

"Wanna help me finish the program so we can show people when we're out seeking ads?" Kurt asked as they walked out of the choir room.

"You've already started?" Blaine wondered.

Kurt shrugged. "I talked to Artie last week and he didn't think he would have time, so he let me design it."

"Sure," Blaine agreed, and Kurt led the way to one of McKinley's computer labs.

When Kurt opened the file containing the program cover, Blaine frowned.

"This is West Side Story, Kurt..." he said carefully.

"Which is why everyone will be expecting grungy letters and ladders," Kurt replied smoothly. "This design demonstrates that our interpretation of West Side Story might be a little different without having to directly say it... the same way that a new hairstyle signifies a change without using any words."

"I adore you," Blaine laughed, reaching out to squeeze Kurt's knee.

"I'll print a few," Kurt said thoughtfully, "so people can take them around to show potential ad-purchasers."

When they had finished printing and assembling the prototype programs, Kurt and Blaine headed for the parking lot.

"I'm going to head over to my dad's shop and see if maybe he wants to buy some ad space," Kurt said.

"I think I'll stop by the Lima Bean on the way home and see if they're interested," Blaine mused.

"I'm sure there aren't any ulterior motives involved in that idea," Kurt smiled at him. "See you tomorrow."

Blaine brushed his hand across the small of Kurt's back before he turned to walk to his car. "Bye."

KURT

Kurt drove to his father's shop and waved hello to the familiar employees as he walked in to find Burt.

"Hey Dad," Kurt greeted his father beside the car he was fixing, "I wanted to show you my program for McKinley's production of West Side Story. It's inspired by my favorite 1920s musicals."

Burt glanced at the program, but didn't take it out of Kurt's hand. "Sounds great, Kurt," he said. "Some reason you're showing this to me right now?"

"I was hoping that you might be interested in purchasing some ad space to help save the show," Kurt explained as his father turned to walk over to grab a tool.

Burt stopped walking and turned to look at Kurt. "Save the show?"

"We lost the funding," Kurt explained. "We're hoping to sell enough ad space to cover the cost of the show. They're only ten dollars each. And I've already talked to the Lima mortuary society about buying a couple and we need about two hundred."

"No," Burt said firmly.

"No?" Kurt echoed.

"This is Sue's doing?" Burt asked, but it sounded more like a statement than a question.

Kurt nodded.

"Listen, Kurt," Burt said firmly, "I will not allow that woman to take away something that is so important to you kids." He stepped forward and took the program from Kurt, flipping through its pages as he continued to speak. "You leave this to me," he said. "And you tell Blaine and the rest of your friends not to worry either."

"I– okay," Kurt agreed.

"Now go have fun with Blaine or do your homework or something," Burt said, turning to set the program down by some tools.

"Thanks, Dad," Kurt said warmly.

"This is important to you, Kurt, so it's important to me," Burt said, "now go!"

"I would hug you but you're exceptionally dirty today," Kurt grimaced. They both laughed, and Burt pretended to chase him for a hug so he would run out of the shop and leave the other man to his work.

As he exited the shop, Kurt pulled out his phone to text Blaine.

Are you still at the Lima Bean?

The response came as he was climbing into his car.

Yes. Why?

Impromptu coffee date? Kurt suggested.

Yes, please! Blaine replied. See you soon!

By the time Kurt arrived, Blaine was sitting at a table against the wall with both of their coffees. There was a sheet of paper on the table too.

"They bought an ad," he smiled as Kurt joined him.

Kurt returned the smile. "My dad wasn't happy to hear that the funding had been cut... he said he would 'take care of it'."

"Oh, cryptic," Blaine teased.

They took simultaneous sips of their drinks, and Blaine shook his head playfully as he set his cup down.

"Hey," he said, "I was thinking... you know how I wanted to do Last Friday Night with the Warblers this season?"

Kurt nodded. "I admit, as much as I am in heaven having you here, I have dreamed of what could've been... I have a thing for handsome private schoolboys singing Katy Perry."

Blaine smiled broadly. "Well," he said, "I've been messing around with the arrangement and I think we could do it in New Directions."

"Oh, really?" Kurt teased. "And how long ago did you do that?"

"My first week," Blaine admitted shyly.

Kurt laughed and Blaine chewed on his lip briefly.

"And..." he added, "I may have been working on it with Mike a little bit."

Kurt tried not to smile too much. "And?" he urged Blaine to just come out with it.

"I want to do it this week," Blaine admitted. "In glee."

KURT

"Okay everyone, very exciting news!" Mr. Schu announced at the start of the next glee rehearsal. "Due to the collective spirit of this club, particularly the hard ad sales work of Kurt and the generosity of the entire Hummel-Hudson household, it's my pleasure to announce that we have raised the money to do West Side Story this year!"

Kurt basked in the attention for a moment as everyone applauded and voiced their approval.

"Blaine, you actually had something you wanted to say, right?" Mr. Schu added.

"Yes, I do," Blaine confirmed as he stood up and walked to the front of the room. Kurt could tell he was both nervous and excited.

"I just wanted to acknowledge that we've all had a really rough week what with Mercedes leaving," Blaine said kindly. "So, I prepared a little something to show what Mr. Schu just said – that the magic is still here. So this is to remind us of what glee is all about, which is just... fun."

Kurt was happy to see Blaine's confidence returning. He had been a little shy since joining New Directions, but as he was growing more and more comfortable with the group he was starting to open up again.

Blaine and Finn had been butting heads more often lately, and Kurt was interested to see how that would work out. He had considered stepping in on Blaine's behalf, but had decided against it. One thing Blaine had been wonderful about Kurt had first come to Dalton was giving advice while simultaneously allowing Kurt to find his own way. Blaine was one of the most capable people Kurt knew, so he had decided to let Blaine and Finn work things out on their own.

Blaine turned and pointed at the band, and Kurt smiled as the other boy started to dance to the opening music. Blaine had not yet voiced to Kurt his opinion on New Directions' dancing. But, based on the fact that Blaine was always dancing lately, Kurt thought he was probably enjoying the opportunity to stretch his dancing abilities.

"There's a stranger in my bed. There's a pounding in my head..."

As they sang and danced around the room together, Kurt thought about how much he had missed this when he had returned to McKinley without Blaine. And, he realized, this was the first time Blaine had ever led New Directions.

When the song ended, most of the other students seemed to share Kurt's enthusiasm for the way New Directions sounded with Blaine's voice leading the way.

"You guys, that song is amazing! I think we should do it for Sectionals!" Rachel exclaimed.

BLAINE

"So, no concerns about showcasing any other voices this year in the competition?" Santana retorted, standing up.

"Oh, come on Santana," Mr. Schu chided. "You were featured last year at Sectionals."

"Yeah, I know," Santana replied as she approached Blaine, "And we won."

Blaine bit back the urge to correct her. New Direction had, in fact, tied for first place at Sectionals the year before. With the Warblers.

"Oh, no, you know what? I get it," Santana continued. "Since Mercedes is gone this year it's going to be the Blaine and Rachel show. Yay! You all know it's true."

Silence.

"Noted," Santana said, "Good to know."

She patted Blaine's back briefly and turned to leave the room.

"Thank you, Santana," Mr. Schu said as she disappeared.

Blaine was starting to understand the problem. From some of the other students' points of view, Blaine had swept in at the start of the year to steal the spotlight. It bothered Blaine that they weren't taking the time to get to know him well enough to know that he didn't want that. He wanted to be part of a winning team and he wanted to enjoy singing and dancing together.

He wasn't sure what to do about it except to continue trying to be as nice as possible to all of them in the hopes that they would come around.

"Just to clarify, New Directions didn't exactly 'win' last year at Sectionals," Kurt piped up from his seat at the back of the room.

"Yeah, well, neither did you," Finn snapped.

Blaine and Kurt locked eyes briefly, and they were both fighting back huge smiles as Blaine moved back to sit between Kurt and Finn and grabbed one of Kurt's hands.

KURT

"Okay, Blaine, can you sing that bit again?" Artie asked. "It's easier to hear you when Rachel's not here... even when she's not singing it's like I can hear her mind analyzing everything. It's so distracting."

Blaine laughed. "Sure."

Kurt, who was sitting in the front row of seats in the auditorium watching this portion of the rehearsal, smiled at Blaine as he sang.

"Today, all day, I had the feeling a miracle would happen. I know now I was right," Blaine sang.

"For here you are," Kurt joined him from the audience, "and what was just a world is a star tonight."

"Thank you, Kurt," Artie scolded, "but the point is to hear Blaine without anyone else."

Kurt shrugged, and Blaine gave him a thumbs-up before Artie turned back around to look at him.

"By yourself," Artie instructed.

Blaine sang the lines twice more, and Kurt was reasonably certain that Artie was about to ask him to sing it once more when Rachel returned to the stage with Santana.

"Alright, Blaine, I think that's all for you today," Artie said. "Good work!"

They high-fived as Blaine moved to hop down off the stage to sit beside Kurt. Artie, Rachel, and Santana began rehearsing A Boy Like That, and Kurt leaned over to speak quietly to Blaine.

"Getting excited about the big opening night next week?" Kurt inquired.

"Right now?" Blaine said. "Yes. Lying in bed at night letting all my worst fears consume me? No."

"You're amazing," Kurt scolded. "And you know it. It's going to be perfect."

"Don't get me wrong, I love Rachel, but I wish you could play Maria," Blaine turned to grin at him. "Or... Mario?"

"Mario is Italian," Kurt corrected.

"I didn't know you were an expert," Blaine teased. Kurt ignored him.

Kurt's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he shimmied down in his seat so he could retrieve it. He could feel Blaine's eyes on him as he straightened back up and examined the phone.

Hey, Kurt and Finn, can you two come by the shop on your way home?

"I've gotta go," Kurt said to Blaine. "Dad wants me and Finn at the shop."

Blaine nodded. "I should probably go home and do my homework at a reasonable hour for once, anyway."

"Text or call me if you get bored," Kurt winked as he stood up.

"Okay," Blaine agreed. "See you tomorrow."

KURT

Kurt was mildly alarmed to find Finn and Carole at the shop when he arrived.

"Is Dad okay?" he asked as he hurried over to where they were standing.

As if on cue, Burt suddenly appeared from inside the shop. "Hey boys," he said, "thanks for coming."

Kurt was suspicious as Burt led them into his small office and the four of them sat down at a little table in the corner.

"So..." Burt looked briefly at Carole and then back at the two boys, and Finn fidgeted nervously.

Finn glanced nervously at Kurt and then back at the two adults. "Oh god, you're not p–"

Kurt brought his booted foot down on Finn's toes so hard that Finn yelped in pain and turned an accusatory gaze on his step-brother. Kurt glared back at him, daring him to finish the sentence.

"Oh my– no, it's not that," Carole stammered.

"I'm gonna run for Congress," Burt announced.

There was a moment of silence as Kurt and Finn absorbed the news.

"Woah," Finn said.

"Can you even get on the ballot at this point?" Kurt asked.

Burt nodded. "We can't get my name on the ballot, but we can organize a write-in campaign."

"Congressman Hummel," Finn said distractedly. "Cool."

"I've gotta get back to work in a second," Burt said, "so for now details will have to wait, but we wanted to tell the two of you first before anyone else."

Kurt nodded. He could feel the shock of the announcement settling into his chest, but it was coupled with some excitement. There would be so much to do. So much that his father could do for Ohio and the entire country if he was elected.

"We'd love for you both to be involved," Burt said.

"Of course, Dad," Kurt said automatically. Finn opened his mouth to agree, but Kurt shushed him with his hand. "As long as I get to be your campaign manager," Kurt added quickly.

Burt laughed. "Deal."

They were all silent for another moment until Burt stood up.

"Alright, then," he said. "There's going to be a lot to think about, so let's plan on a nice dinner out soon where we can talk about it, huh?"

Kurt and Finn nodded.

"Thanks, you two," Burt said, his eyes lingering on Kurt.

"Go get 'em, Dad!" Kurt smiled at him, and stood up to follow the adults out of the room.

He went straight to his car and drove straight home, excited to call Blaine and tell him the news. He ran up the stairs to his room, tossed his bag on the floor, and flopped down onto his bed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Blaine's number.

"Howdy," Blaine answered in his best Southern accent.

Kurt laughed. "Hey," he said excitedly, "big news!"

"Yeah?" Blaine said. "Let's hear it."

"My dad's going to run for Congress against Sue!"

"Wow," Blaine sounded as shocked as Kurt had felt half an hour ago.

"I know," Kurt agreed.

"Wow," Blaine repeated. "That's awesome, Kurt! But wait– would you move to Washington?"

Kurt smiled. Of course Blaine's first worry was that they would be separated. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "But I doubt my dad and Carole would want to make the move permanently so I'm sure we'd still have the house here."

"Good," Blaine approved.

They spent the next hour chatting on the phone. About how Kurt would decorate his father's office in Washington if he made it. About what they would do if they ever came face-to-face with the President. About potential campaign slogans and logos and what Burt should wear to seem both well-groomed and down-to-earth.

"Wait," Kurt said eventually, "didn't you have a bunch of homework?"

"You said I could call if I was bored," Blaine reminded him.

"Yeah," Kurt replied, "but I called you."

"I've drawn a gorgeous vine all around the edges of my math homework," Blaine offered proudly.

"I'm hanging up on you now in an effort to encourage good grades," Kurt teased.

"Yes, sir!" Blaine acknowledged. "And congratulations on having a future Congressman as a father."

They both laughed.

"Goodnight, Kurt," Blaine said through his laughter.

"Love you," Kurt replied, and he ended the call.

BLAINE

"Dude, your dad's gonna be on TV!" Finn announced as if the realization had just dawned on him. "He's like... famous."

Blaine, leaning on the armrest of the otherwise-unoccupied couch, rolled his eyes.

"This is northwestern Ohio," he said.

"Hey," Kurt scolded from the chair beside the couch. He threw a handful of popcorn at Blaine, and Blaine casually ate the few pieces that didn't fall to the floor as he motioned for Kurt to get up and come sit with him.

As Kurt reached the edge of the couch, Finn spoke up again.

"Do you think–"

"Shhhhh!" Kurt suddenly waved an arm, cutting Finn off mid-sentence as Burt's face appeared on the television screen.

"There he is!" Rachel squealed.

Blaine reached out and grabbed Kurt around the waist, gently pulling the other boy down beside him to snuggle on the couch as Burt began his segment. Kurt met Blaine's eyes briefly, and Blaine felt warm and content as he absorbed the excitement in Kurt's expression.

They were all completely silent as they listened to Burt's speech about the importance of encouraging kids to be creative and the value of the arts.

"Yeah, Burt!" Finn hollered as the segment ended. Rachel applauded, and Blaine kissed Kurt's cheek as Kurt squirmed happily in his arms.

"On behalf of the Hummel family," Kurt said ceremoniously, "I thank you all for your support."

Blaine dipped his head down to press a few gentle kisses to Kurt's neck until Kurt dodged and moved in for a real kiss. Finn made a noise of disapproval, but was quickly silenced by a smack on the arm from Rachel.

"We're going to make out now, Finn," Kurt said lightheartedly, "so feel free to leave."

"I hope Mom and Burt catch you," Finn mumbled, and he turned off the television as Rachel pulled him to his feet and they disappeared up the stairs.

"Even if they leave the studio right this second," Kurt said as Blaine returned to kissing his neck, "it's a fifteen minute drive home."

Blaine hummed his agreement and reached up to gently pull on the hair on the back of Kurt's head to ask him to tip his head back. As Blaine kissed along Kurt's jaw line, he both heard and felt Kurt let out a happy little sigh, and he tried not to think about it too much.

To his surprise, Kurt suddenly pulled away and grabbed Blaine's face in his hands so he could crush their lips together.

"I wish I could kiss you like this in public," Kurt whispered against his lips.

"What?" Blaine pulled away slightly and tried to remember how to speak when Kurt's face was only inches away.

Kurt blushed. "I don't know," he backtracked.

Blaine sat back a little more so he could really look at Kurt's face.

"When we win Nationals," Blaine said seriously, "I am going to kiss you in front of everyone."

He held up a hand as Kurt opened his mouth to protest. "Not on stage," he clarified. "But somewhere."

Kurt looked like his brain had stopped working completely.

"Okay?" Blaine realized that, although he didn't mean it as a threat, it might've come out sounding more forceful than he intended.

Kurt nodded instantly, and the movement seemed to bring him back to life.

"For now, though," Kurt said, reaching out to grab a fistful of Blaine's shirt to pull him closer, "I don't want you to stop kissing me until we hear my dad's car in the driveway."

KURT

"Yeah," Kurt said, "Santana and Brittany."

"Wait," Burt said, "so everyone's abandoning New Directions? I thought you were all friends and stuff?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "That's what we all thought, Dad," he replied. "But apparently what we are is a bunch of egomaniacs."

"Well," Carole said, "maybe this will be a nice chance to make some new friends!"

Kurt didn't feel like arguing, so he just smiled at her. "Hopefully," he said.

Burt took a drink of his water and changed the subject, "Let's talk about this Congress thing... so anyway, I know this happened really fast. I figured you might have some questions. I mean, I have some questions..."

"Yeah, um, if we win what happens?" Finn asked. "Do we just move to Washington?"

"Well, it'd be maybe half-and-half," Burt said. "You know, Kurt's gonna be in college and, you know, you're gonna be technically an adult too. You know, like a football scholarship or, I dunno... gonna need a lot of help at the tire shop."

"Like, running it?" Finn asked in disbelief.

"Only if that's something you want," Carole stressed. "This should be good for all of us, not just Burt and me. But for now, we need to support your dad."

Burt noticed that Kurt had stopped talking when the subject changed to the run for Congress.

"Pretty quiet over there," he said to Kurt.

Over the past few days, Kurt had started to imagine what running for, and potentially becoming a member of, Congress would be like for his father. Burt already worked so hard at the shop, and now he would have to add traveling to campaign and heated exchanges and all kinds of things that weren't exactly ideal for a man who nearly died of a heart attack a year earlier.

"I want you to do this, Dad," Kurt explained. "But think about the stress. I mean, you were just in the hospital. Almost dead. And Sue's going to make your life a living hell."

"I know she will," Burt said, and there was a hungry gleam in his eyes. Kurt understood the desire to push a bully back into his or her place, but...

"She's going to have a field day with this whole having a gay son thing," Kurt added sadly.

"I'm proud of you Kurt," Burt said loudly. "Don't care who knows it. And yeah, I almost died. But a thing like that makes you really realize what matters. And when things are in the dumps like this we've gotta stand up and fight, right? You understand. You taught me that!"

They were interrupted by Sue, who deposited an massive pile of meat, cheese, and bread on the table and announced that she was going to push back against Burt's pro-arts stance with a pro-special education platform. When she finally left, Finn couldn't take his eyes off the plate in front of Burt.

"Anyone mind if I just dig in?" he asked.

Burt nodded his approval, and Finn started to eat the huge burger. Kurt met his father's gaze across the table.

"Kurt," Burt said forcefully, "I'm going to be fine. There's good stress and there's bad stress, you know? This? This is the kind of stress that you live for."

Kurt glanced at Finn, happily eating the massive burger, before looking back at his father.

"Say something," Burt demanded.

To Kurt's surprise, he felt tears stinging in his eyes. "I'm just irrationally worried," he managed.

Finn stopped eating and turned a nervous gaze on Kurt as if he was planning whether or not to escape before Kurt could start crying properly.

"Oh, honey," Carole said, "Your dad's not going to do anything he can't handle, okay? Especially not with you and I there to keep him in line, right?"

Kurt nodded.

Their food came at that moment and the conversation shifted to lighter topics, but Kurt felt a little better. He was no longer the only person in Burt's life who could take care of him. It was going to be okay.

KURT

"Hey, your dad is planning to be gone a lot next week, right?" Blaine asked casually over the hum of the cafeteria.

"Yeah," Kurt confirmed. "He and Carole are going to do some campaign stuff. You should see the clothes I helped them pick out; they deserve to win on style alone."

Blaine nodded approvingly. "Well, if you're bored, my parents agreed that you can stay at my house all week if you like."

The invitation was a pleasant surprise for Kurt. He had never spent more than one night at a time at the Anderson house. He knew that it was a struggle for both of Blaine's parents to really accept their son's sexuality. So, inviting "the boyfriend" over for a week was, in Kurt's mind, a good sign.

"I don't know," Kurt pretended to hesitate, "I'm really looking forward to some brotherly bonding time with Finn."

"Whatever," Blaine shrugged, a huge smile on his face. "I'll just hang out by myself while my parents are out of town from Friday 'til Monday next weekend."

"Wait," Kurt was suddenly yanked out of the light mood by a realization, "but that's when we're putting on West Side Story!"

Some of the joy drained out of Blaine's eyes too. "To be fair, they planned this trip to Miami long before school even started," he sighed.

"I'd love to stay with you," Kurt returned to the previous subject, not wanting Blaine to have to dwell on his parents' absence any more than he probably already was.

Blaine grinned. "Thanks."

"See you after school for glee," Blaine smiled as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. He grabbed Kurt's tray in addition to his own and disappeared into the crowd.

KURT

"Hey you," Kurt said happily as he sunk into the chair beside Blaine in the choir room. "How was your afternoon?"

"Fine," Blaine smiled at him. "Better now."

Before Kurt could respond, Rachel was suddenly shoving him over away from Blaine.

"Woah, what– hey!" Kurt was forced all the way into the next seat, and Rachel occupied the chair where had had just been sitting.

"It is imperative that Blaine and I be as comfortable as possible together in order to maximize our chemistry on stage," Rachel explained when Kurt turned a disbelieving glare her way. Blaine smiled widely and threw his arm over her shoulders.

"You two are so annoying," Kurt mumbled halfheartedly.

When Mr. Schu came into the room, Blaine pulled his arm back and they all turned their attention to the teacher.

"Alright, guys," Mr. Schu said, "one week from today is opening night for West Side Story!"

The room erupted into a hum of applause and excited chatter.

"Awful lot of empty chairs in here," Mike said sourly when the noise died away.

"This is a disaster," Rachel added. "This is not the way that senior year glee club was supposed to be."

"Look, guys," Mr. Schu said. "I know this is gonna be hard. This isn't how I pictured starting out this year either."

"Then I guess we've got our work cut out for us," Finn suddenly appeared with the new student Kurt had heard was staying with Brittany.

"What happens when the Pope dies?" Finn asked.

"Heaven, you'd think," Kurt quipped.

"You get a new Pope," Finn ignored him. "There's always new talent to be found. Always a new voice, right Mr. Schu?"

"Yeah," the teacher agreed.

"Well, everybody," Finn said, "I'd like to introduce my friend Rory Flanagan. He's interested in joining the glee club."

"Can this kid even sing?" Quinn voiced the concern of everyone in the room. Kurt remembered Sugar Motta's audition on the first day of school and prayed that they weren't in for another embarrassing audition.

"I sing at Mass every Sunday," Rory explained. "I love American music. If you don't mind, I'd like to dedicate this song to my family, who I miss so much."

Rory was a talented singer, much to everyone's delight. When he finished his song, they gave him a standing ovation.

"Welcome to New Directions, Rory!" Mr. Schu said as the applause died away.

"Thank you, Mr. Schuester" Rory smiled. "Thanks, everyone."

"Hey," Mike leaned back to look at Blaine, "now you're not the new kid anymore."

The smile on Blaine's face made Kurt want to melt into the floor with joy. When Rachel hopped out of the way to run and talk to Rory, Kurt stepped over and nudged Blaine's shoulder with his own.

"You'll fit right in," he echoed Blaine's words to him nearly a year earlier.

There was a flash of something indistinguishable in Blaine's eyes, and Kurt barely had time to move quickly enough to catch Blaine as he threw himself into Kurt's arms and squeezed him so tightly that he could barely breathe.

I love how Santana gets all upset and argues that she deserves to be featured because they "won" at Sectionals last year when she sang Valerie... no, Santana, you actually tied for first place. WITH BLAINE. So that's probably not the best example to use in an argument about why you, rather than Blaine, deserve a solo. Anyway...

Up next: 'The First Time'!