Disco week! Kurt and Blaine don't really interact at all in this episode ('More Than A Woman' is a fantasy sequence)... but that fits with what happens in the NEXT episode, so we're good to go!
(I do not own Glee or any of the characters, dialogue, or songs from the show. It's all just for fun!)
KURT
At the start of the week's first glee rehearsal, Mr. Schu brought the group to the auditorium.
"Three of your friends have prepared a number for consideration for Nationals," Mr. Schu explained as everyone settled into their seats. "So... let's give them our full attention!"
Kurt watched Blaine, Brittany, and Mike walk out onto the stage. He was excited to see the performance. Blaine had told him what song they were working on, but he wouldn't let Kurt come anywhere near their rehearsals. "It'll be a surprise!" Blaine kept telling him.
Blaine shimmied his shoulders in anticipation as he found his starting place on the stage, and Kurt smiled. One of Blaine's favorite things about being in New Directions was that it allowed him to work on his dancing.
The music began, and a large disco ball hanging from the ceiling started to turn as Blaine began the song.
"My baby moves at midnight. Goes right on to the dawn. My woman takes me higher. My woman keeps me warm."
Kurt wasn't a fan of disco music, but he loved watching Blaine. He looked so happy and energized as he danced and sang.
"You should be dancing, yeah!"
Blaine, Brittany, and Mike looked incredibly pleased as they finished the performance, and Mr. Schu jumped to his feet.
"Wow, guys, what brought this on?" Mr. Schu asked as he walked up onto the stage.
"Well," Blaine explained, "we knew this year's theme for Nationals was 'vintage', so we thought we needed something old but something with a lot of energy. So, we thought... disco!"
"Absolutely!" Mr. Schu agreed. "I don't know if I ever told you guys this, but, back when I was in glee club, we took it all the way to Nationals with the pure power of unadulterated disco."
Kurt did know. He remembered Mr. Schu forcing them to consider disco when New Directions had just started.
"Um, well, there's only one problem with that idea," Puck said.
"And what's that?" Mr. Schu asked.
"Disco sucks!" the group shouted.
Kurt could see Blaine rolling his eyes all the way from his seat, and he had to cover his mouth with his hand, pretending to scratch his nose, to keep from laughing.
"Disco does not suck," Mr. Schu disagreed. He turned to the trio on the stage. "Great job, guys."
Blaine came to sit beside Kurt as Mr. Schu talked about how they were getting to Chicago for Nationals.
"Did you like it?" Blaine whispered eagerly as he sat down.
"Yes," Kurt replied. "You were amazing."
"It's so fun," Blaine said.
"I'm not sure Finn could master those dance moves," Kurt said skeptically.
"Well, we could change it up," Blaine said, undeterred. "Or..."
"What?" Kurt turned to look at the other boy as Blaine fell silent.
"You don't want to do disco at all," Blaine accused.
He looked so disappointed that Kurt tried to backtrack.
"I... well, I'm not absolutely opposed to it. I mean..."
Blaine shook his head.
"No," he whispered, "it's okay. I know you don't like it."
"I like it if you like it," Kurt offered.
Blaine smiled.
"It's okay," he said, "I'm going to find a way to show you how fun disco can be."
BLAINE
The next day in glee club, Rachel was having a moment about her upcoming NYADA audition. She had a list of ten songs that she was considering, and she was bouncing from song to song, stressing about what she would wear.
"I don't want to distract the judge with too many props," Rachel worried, "so my outfit has to say it all. It has to be the whole set."
"I think you're going to nail it," Blaine reassured her.
"It just has to be perfect," Rachel replied, playing nervously with her hair. "I mean, there are millions of talented people in the world, so I need to stand out."
Rachel glanced at Kurt, who was absentmindedly flipping through a book he needed to read for one of his classes.
"If I do not find an outfit that portrays the paranoid, near-Eastern mise-en-scène, I am screwed." Rachel decided.
"What are you even talking about?" Kurt mumbled.
"Oh, stop that, Kurt," Rachel chided. "Don't pretend you're Mr. Cool Guy about this whole thing. I know how much you've been rehearsing. Have you thought about what you're going to wear?"
Kurt ignored her.
"Can you not talk?" Mercedes suggested without looking up from her phone. "I'm trying to beat my high score, and your stress is rubbing off on me."
KURT
After glee practice, Blaine went up to the front of the room to talk to Mr. Schu, so Kurt left the room with Mercedes.
"So," he asked casually as he opened his locker, "have you decided yet what you're doing after graduation?"
"Same plan as before," Mercedes said vaguely. "I've gotten two acceptance letters so far, but there may be others coming soon."
"I'm thrilled you got into Defiance College and Cleveland State," Kurt said, "but... what about NYU?"
His attempt to not-so-subtly nudge Mercedes in the direction of New York City was interrupted by a stranger's voice.
"Kurt Hummel? Mercedes Jones?"
The pair turned to see an unfamiliar student approaching.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," the student said, "but I'm your biggest fan! I've been to every last one of your performances... except West Side Story. I boycotted that one because you two weren't Tony and Maria."
"Well, hello kind sir," Kurt greeted, pleased at the compliment. He closed his locker and stepped forward to shake the other boy's hand. "I don't believe I caught your name."
"Wade Adams," the student introduced himself. "I go to Carmel High... and I'm in Vocal Adrenaline. And I know we're supposed to be arch enemies, but I swear I'm not here to spy. I want to ask your advice about something. Our coach is Jesse St. James."
"Oh gosh, let's not talk about that in the hallway," Mercedes decided. She led them into an empty classroom so they could speak freely without fear of being overheard.
"He doesn't care about any of us," Wade explained as they sat down. "All he cares about is winning."
"He's awful," Mercedes agreed.
"He's nothing compared to the kids at school," Wade countered. "Or my parents."
Kurt was glad that Wade had come here for advice. He hated that Wade's peers, and even his parents, weren't accepting of him the way he was.
"Do you know how I get through it?" Wade continued. "Ever since I was a little kid, I would play this game where I'd pretend I was a different person. The person that I dreamed of being. The real me. I even have a different name: Unique. I got so nervous I almost didn't speak to you guys today. But then I thought... 'how would Unique do it?'."
He smiled.
"And I realized... Unique isn't afraid of anything," Wade said.
"Unique sounds like a really great person," Kurt approved. "I hope that, one day, you can build up enough courage to be him."
"Actually," Wade corrected, "Unique's a 'her'."
Oh.
Kurt didn't have any experience with issues of gender identity. He wasn't sure what to say.
"That's why I want your advice," Wade explained. "Regionals are this Saturday, and I want to go on stage wearing a dress and heels... because that's who I feel like I am inside."
"Unique," Kurt understood.
"Yes," Wade confirmed. "What would you do?"
KURT
Later that afternoon, Kurt met Blaine at the Lima Bean. As they ordered and found a table, Kurt told Blaine Wade's story.
"... and he wants to wear a dress when they perform at Regionals. And heels!" Kurt explained as they sat down.
Blaine frowned and took a sip of his coffee. "What did you tell him?" he asked.
"This is Ohio," Kurt fretted.
Blaine nodded.
"But," Kurt said, "on the other hand... someone has to lead the way. He has a lot of courage. But..."
"It's complicated," Blaine agreed.
Blaine wasn't as worked up about the whole thing as Kurt wanted him to be.
"Why can't things just be simple?" Kurt pouted.
"Because everything would be boring?" Blaine suggested with a smile.
Kurt returned the smile.
"We need to do this more," Kurt said, motioning around them. "I miss coming here with you."
Blaine nodded, but didn't say anything.
"We'll have to find a coffee place in New York," Kurt mused. The thought distracted him from his worries about Wade. "Maybe we can go one weekend this summer and find the best one near NYADA!" Kurt concluded.
"I'd like that," Blaine agreed.
Kurt sighed happily and reached out to grab Blaine's hand on top of the table.
"It's going to be perfect," he said, thinking about New York. About the future.
Blaine nodded, but didn't answer, but Kurt was too engrossed in imagining what life would be like in New York to really notice. He still had to audition and be accepted to NYADA, but he was confident. At the end of the summer, he would be living in New York City. Living his dream. And, in a year, Blaine would be there too, and they could have the life together that they wanted.
BLAINE
"This is going to be so much fun on an actual dance floor," Blaine said enthusiastically. "Thanks for letting us help, Mr. Schu!"
"We need all the help we can get to persuade the others that disco is a good idea," Mr. Schu said.
"I would've never have thought that snake head here would be into disco," Sue chimed in, motioning at Joe.
Joe flipped his dreadlocks, and they all laughed.
"See you tomorrow," Mr. Schu said as he and Sue left the room.
As the adults left the room, Blaine's phone rang. It was Kurt.
"Hey there," Blaine answered as he and Joe gathered their things.
"Are you still at school?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah," Blaine replied.
"Can you get my history book out of my locker before you come over, please?" Kurt requested.
"Sure!" Blaine smiled. "History book, got it."
"Thanks," Kurt said. "See you soon!"
"I love you," Blaine smiled into the phone.
"I love you too," Kurt replied. "Bye!"
When Blaine looked up from his phone after ending the call, Joe was staring at him.
"What?" Blaine asked casually.
"It's, uh, nothing," Joe said quickly, looking away.
Blaine narrowed his eyes at the other boy, but he didn't press the issue.
"It's just..." Joe said suddenly as Blaine was about to walk out the door, "... how– or, well, yeah, how do you... how did you know?"
"How did I know...?" Blaine asked, turning back around toward Joe.
"That you–" Joe paused and took a deep breath before making eye contact with Blaine again. "That you're gay."
Blaine smiled to let Joe know that the question was acceptable, and he took a moment to consider his answer.
"I guess," Blaine said, "it's probably the same as how someone knows they're straight."
"And you just always knew?" Joe asked.
Blaine nodded. "Yeah."
He could tell by the look on Joe's face that the other boy had a ton of questions.
"You were homeschooled before you came here, right?" Blaine asked.
"Yes," Joe said. "Faith is really important in my family, and my parents wanted to make sure that I got a Christian education."
He looked nervous again.
"I'd never met a gay person until I came here," Joe admitted.
"Do Kurt and I make you nervous?" Blaine asked. He was reasonably sure that Joe wasn't homophobic, but he often found that even open-minded people could be nervous around him if they didn't know much about homosexuality.
"Not really," Joe said. "Kurt... uh, not in a bad way, but he's so different from anyone else I've ever known. But I like him."
Blaine laughed. "He has the strongest sense of self of anyone I've ever known," he agreed.
They were silent for a brief moment.
"You can always ask if you have any other questions," Blaine offered kindly. "I'm gay. It's not some big, taboo thing."
Joe nodded.
"Thanks, Blaine," he said. "I think that's all for now. I... I'm glad I get the chance to know you."
"And Kurt," he added.
Blaine smiled. "Thanks," he said, clasping Joe on the shoulder on his way out the door.
He got Kurt's book out of his locker and drove to the Hummel-Hudson house. It was Wednesday, which was the day they had scheduled to spend together each week. Every Wednesday for the previous few weeks, Blaine had come over after school. Burt was in Washington DC during the week, and Carole worked on Wednesday afternoons, so they generally had the house to themselves. Sometimes Sam or Finn would be there, but they seemed to have gotten the hint that Kurt and Blaine wanted to be home alone on Wednesdays.
"Oh my god," Kurt greeted him at the door. "I am so inspired today. I was just sketching out the design for my NYADA audition..."
He pecked a kiss to Blaine's lips before grabbing Blaine's hand and practically dragging him upstairs to his room to look at all the things he had strewn across his bed.
"I'm thinking," Kurt explained, "that I'll make my cape out of this material. Or maybe it should be something shinier?"
Blaine shook his head. "I like that," he confirmed, motioning at the fabric in Kurt's hands.
"Perfect," Kurt said, shoving a bunch of stuff aside to make a place for Blaine to sit on the edge of Kurt's bed.
"And this," Kurt said, handing Blaine a drawing, "is kind of how I'm thinking the set should look. I was thinking we should use fake candles, but they're too expensive. So we'll just have a fire extinguisher on standby..."
He sat down on the bed beside Blaine, and Blaine leaned over and nuzzled his face into Kurt's neck.
Kurt giggled and tipped his head so Blaine could kiss up his neck to his mouth.
"Mmm," Kurt hummed happily as Blaine kissed him. When Blaine pulled back from the kiss, Kurt smiled at him.
"Oh!" he remembered. "And I got a brochure in the mail about the dorm situation at NYADA..."
BLAINE
When Blaine walked through the choir room door the next afternoon and saw the dance floor, it was even better than he had imagined. As Mr. Schu explained to the group that the week's assignment was songs from Saturday Night Fever, Blaine was excited to get started.
As he and Joe helped Sue and Mr. Schu lead the group in a rendition of Night Fever, Blaine felt like he was really hitting his stride in New Directions. Disco had been his idea, and the group was going along with it. Sure, some of the students had halfheartedly protested, but Blaine could tell that they were all having fun.
It felt good to have his classmates following his lead.
"This is rigged," Kurt whined when the song was over and Mr. Schu led Santana, Mercedes, and Finn out of the room as the winners of the dance-off.
"You could probably make yourself one of those suits," Blaine offered.
"That's not the point," Kurt pouted.
Blaine smiled.
"Okay, the rest of you," Sue said loudly. "No time for standing around. We've got dance moves to learn. Let's go!"
KURT
The next day, Kurt was surprised when Becky Jackson brought him a note that said that Coach Sylvester wanted to see him and Mercedes in her office before glee club.
"Porcelain, Wheezy," Sue greeted them as they arrived, "have a seat."
They sat down.
"Traitors," Sue accused.
"What are you talking about?" Kurt asked.
"As you may as well know, I have a large portion of this school bugged and wire tapped," Sue explained. "I am already pushing the very limits of physics by joining forces with Will Schuester, and you repay my help by giving tips to the enemy?"
"Oh," Mercedes realized that Sue was talking about Wade Adams. "No, that's not what happened at all."
"Wade was asking us for advice because he wants to wear a dress and perform at Regionals as his alter-ego, Unique," Kurt explained. "And we didn't think it was a very good idea."
"It's not a good idea," Sue said. "It's a great idea."
Kurt and Mercedes exchanged a quick, disapproving glance.
"But Coach Sylvester," Mercedes argued. "This is Ohio. I don't think many people are gonna be down with that."
"Exactly," Sue agreed. "He'll tank them at Regionals. And the New Directions will coast to a win at Nationals."
"I happen to have a pair of thirteen wides right here," Sue continued, pulling a large pair of heels out from behind her desk.
"Where'd you get those?" Kurt asked, intrigued.
"They were autographed by my good friend Janet Reno," Sue said. "She wore them on the day they caught the Unabomber."
Kurt didn't really hear her as he looked at the shoes. Kurt had never worn heels, aside from trying to thump around the house in his mother's shoes when he was five years old and when New Directions had done Lady GaGa sophomore year, but he appreciated the aesthetic of the sparkly shoes.
"Deliver these unto Unique," Sue suggested. "Get him to cram his ham hawks into these platoons at Regionals, and we'll be well on our way to a national championship."
Sue stood up.
"Now, if you'll excuse me," Sue said, "I need to take approximately one thousand vitamins before the start of glee club, and I can't swallow pills with children in the room."
Kurt rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Don't forget these!" Sue said, holding out the heels.
Kurt took them and followed Mercedes out of the room.
"What are we going to do?" Mercedes asked as they walked down the hall.
Kurt swung the shoes as they walked.
"Maybe we should send them to him," Kurt offered.
"What?" Mercedes gasped.
Kurt shrugged. "It's not our decision to make whether or not he wears a dress and heels... and everyone else just comes down on him for it. So why not be supportive? It's who he is."
"But what if he wears them?" Mercedes asked.
"We should trust his judgment," Kurt suggested.
Mercedes shrugged. "Okay," she agreed as they stopped at Kurt's locker so he could put the shoes away before glee club, "let's send them to him."
BLAINE
"I'm gonna be famous," Santana said confidently at the end of the discussion of her post-graduation plans. "If it's the last thing I do."
"Okay," Mr. Schu said. "Thank you, Santana."
The teacher looked around the room.
"Let's call it a day, guys," he said. "Work on your moves for our group number, and I'll see you tomorrow!"
As the group dispersed, Blaine said goodbye to Mike and Tina before hanging back to wait for Kurt to finish talking to Mercedes.
"What's up?" Blaine asked as Mercedes left the room and Kurt bent over to pick up his bag.
"Oh, you know," Kurt said sarcastically, "drama."
Blaine smiled. "I'm sure you can handle it," he offered.
They walked out of the room together.
"Do you want to be famous?" Kurt asked as they walked down the hallway.
"No," Blaine answered immediately.
"You want to be a... non-famous performer?" Kurt asked skeptically.
Blaine shook his head as they arrived at Blaine's locker. "It's just... I know Cooper isn't that famous," Blaine explained. "Yet, anyway. But you saw what it was like when he came here."
Kurt leaned against the row of lockers as Blaine grabbed a few things out of his locker.
"I suppose," Kurt agreed. "But, you have to admit, it would be fabulous sometimes, too."
Blaine shrugged. "Yeah," he agreed vaguely.
As Kurt chattered on about how living in New York and attending a prestigious school like NYADA would give him a decent chance at achieving fame on a Broadway stage one day, all Blaine could think about was that he wouldn't be there with Kurt.
Soon, Ohio wouldn't be "home" for Kurt. Kurt's life would be in New York, and Ohio would only be in his periphery as he thrived at college in the big city. His life would be big and full of new adventures. And Blaine would be in Lima. Still in high school. Left behind.
Blaine thought about it all the time. Kurt had given him a suitcase for Valentine's Day, and Kurt used to talk a lot about what they would do together in the city when Blaine visited. Or the year after, when Blaine hoped to join him in New York. But, lately, Kurt was just talking about New York as the place he was going.
Blaine knew that it wasn't on purpose. Kurt hadn't suddenly decided that he didn't want Blaine in New York with him. It was just that Kurt's NYADA audition was coming up, so Kurt and Rachel were consumed by everything about New York and how they were going to get there. But it still hurt. Blaine had even looked into taking summer classes so he could graduate early, but he couldn't take all the classes he would need. He had to stay in Lima for another year.
Blaine was struggling with how to deal with the fact that Kurt would be gone by the end of the summer. It was so easy to forget that Kurt was going anywhere when he was tangled up in Blaine's arms or snuggled up beside Blaine on the couch or dancing and singing his heart out with Blaine and the rest of New Directions. But it was getting more and more difficult to be in denial as the date for Kurt and Rachel's NYADA auditions drew near. The more Kurt talked about it, the more desperate Blaine felt about the whole situation.
He didn't want to break up. He never wanted to break up with Kurt. But, Blaine had decided, it was time to distance himself – emotionally, and sometimes physically – from Kurt. He needed to see if he could function in New Directions, and at McKinley as a whole, without the boy for whom he had returned to public school.
So, Blaine had started by forcing himself not to hang out with Kurt all the time. They still had fun together. They still talked every day at school. They still called each other every night so they could get ready for bed together. But Blaine had made a conscious effort to make sure that he was spending more than half of his spare time doing something else. He hung out with Mike. He helped Tina with costume ideas. He did homework with Artie. He had even gone to the mall once with Rachel, which he was pretty sure had confused both Kurt and Finn. And maybe even Rachel.
Kurt was definitely noticing that something was different. His comment in the Lima Bean about not going out together as often as they used to... he wasn't suspicious, but he did notice.
So far, it wasn't working the way Blaine wanted it to work. Instead of somehow mellowing his feelings for Kurt, it was just a constant reminder that Kurt was going to be gone. There was no more denial.
"Blaine?" Kurt's voice cut through his thoughts. "Hey, you okay?"
Blaine nodded, quickly slamming his locker closed.
"Yeah," he confirmed, reaching out to grab Kurt's hand as they headed out into the parking lot.
He needed to remind himself that, for now, Kurt was still here.
KURT
"I feel horrible," Kurt said as they snuck through the door into the auditorium where Vocal Adrenaline was preparing for their Regionals competition. "We should've never given Wade those high heels."
"Look, there's still time to stop it," Mercedes said. "I mean, he wouldn't actually go out like that, would he?"
"Finn dressed up like Lady Gaga," Kurt reminded her. "And I never thought that would happen."
It didn't take them long to find Wade.
"Oh, thank god," Kurt breathed as he saw that Wade was still sitting at a vanity applying his stage makeup.
"Hey Wade," Kurt greeted. "We just came by to tell you to break a leg."
"And to make sure you're still dressed as a guy," Mercedes added.
"Not for long," Wade corrected.
"Look, Wade," Kurt replied, "I know we sent you those shoes as a good luck gesture, but... we talked it over, and you can't do this. I admit that I've worn some flamboyant designer outfits, but I've never dressed up like a woman."
"That's because you identify yourself as a man," Wade responded. "I thought you, of all people, would understand."
That bothered Kurt. Was he being unreasonable? He was conflicted between wanting Wade to be whoever he was inside and not wanting Wade to become a target for people who weren't particularly open-minded.
He made a mental note to educate himself further on gender identity.
"I'm wearing them," Wade told them.
He already had them on. Kurt wasn't sure what to do or say.
"Well," Jesse St. James suddenly appeared, "look who Schuester sent to spy on me. The laziest person alive and the pasty-faced ghost boy."
"Come on," Jesse said, leading them away from the students in Vocal Adrenaline.
"We're not spies," Mercedes argued, "we're friends of Wade's."
"Really?" Jesse commented. "All the more reason to fire him after the show."
After Jesse brushed by them and left them alone, Kurt grabbed Mercedes arm and dragged her in the direction of the door.
"Are we leaving?" Mercedes whispered.
"Of course we're not leaving," Kurt replied. "But we need to make Jesse think we're gone."
They hid until it was time for Vocal Adrenaline to take the stage.
"Oh gosh," Mercedes said nervously as she and Kurt approached the edge of the stage to watch the performance.
"I know," Kurt agreed.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer said, "please welcome to the stage... from Carmel High in Akron, Ohio: Vocal Adrenaline!"
There were a bunch of people gathered near the edge of the stage, but Kurt just shoved his way through until he and Mercedes were at the front of the group.
As the curtain rose and the song began, Kurt was very pleasantly surprised. Unique looked great. Sounded great.
It was a huge success.
Kurt and Mercedes were still talking about it on Monday after school.
"I'm still in shock," Kurt said, leaning against the row of lockers beside Mercedes as she gathered her books.
"I cannot believe Unique pulled that off," Mercedes agreed.
"There's something to be said about the power of a dream," Kurt said as Mercedes shut her locker and they walked down the hall together. "He took a risk and it paid off... but I guess that's just having a dream."
"Hey Mercedes."
At the sight of Sam, Kurt knew it was time to leave. He spun around and hurried away, hoping that Sam and Mercedes would... do something in his absence. He knew that his friend wanted to be with Sam more than she wanted to be with Shane. Mercedes never talked about Shane. Ever. She didn't talk much about Sam, either, but only because every time someone mentioned him she got all flustered and shy.
Kurt was pleased to find Blaine at his locker.
"Hey you," Kurt said happily, leaning against the row of lockers on one arm and reaching out with the other to rub Blaine's back affectionately.
"Hey," Blaine smiled at him.
"So," Kurt said teasingly, "it's the last day of disco week. How do you feel?"
Blaine laughed. "Best week ever," he winked. "And how do you feel?"
Kurt rolled his eyes.
"I knew it," Blaine said happily, closing his locker and brushing past Kurt on his way to the choir room. "I knew you'd enjoy it!"
"I didn't say that," Kurt argued as he followed Blaine toward glee rehearsal.
"You didn't have to," Blaine glanced over his shoulder to flash a huge smile at Kurt before walking through the choir room door, "your expression said it all."
(Okay, this is kinda random and has nothing to do with this story, but 'You Should Be Dancing' is one of my absolute favorite songs/performances from the whole season. It's just so FUN. I'm on Team Blaine – disco is awesome!)
I really think Blaine and Joe are – or, at least, are on the path to being – friends. They're both just really nice and they're both a little bit naïve sometimes... I just think they'd get along really well! And they both love disco! I hope they get to interact more next season!
Blaine says in the next episode that Kurt has been talking pretty much nonstop about NYADA lately, so I tried to put some of that in here... Kurt, honey, I know you're super excited about NYADA, but think of sweet Blaine! He's going to miss you so much. But don't worry, the two of you will have that talk soon enough...
Up next (on Monday!)... 'Dance With Somebody'!