AN: Spoiler Alert - Europe still exists ;)

Chapter 24: Just Dance

Blaine

The weeks after they returned to Ohio passed in a blur of vocal and dance rehearsals and before he knew it he was boarding a plane to New York, where this years National Show Choir Competition was being held.

Kurt looked paler than usual and was clutching his hand tightly as he had never been on a plane before, but he assured Blaine he was more excited than scared. He traded Kurt the window seat and Mercedes sat down on his other side.

Fortunately, Kurt's nerves passed fast and soon he was babbling excitedly, giving Blaine a running commentary of what he could see outside. They had no turbulences for which Blaine was glad because he wanted Kurt's first flight to go smoothly.

Once all they could see outside was the sky and Kurt got bored looking outside, they shared Blaine's ear plugs and listened to music for the rest of their two hour flight until the plane started to descend and Kurt pressed his face against the window as Manhattan came into view.

Because they were arriving at LaGuardia, they had an amazing view of the island and Blaine was bouncing up and down excitedly as well, because he had never seen New York like this in real life either.

Because no one really cared for Glee club in their school they had only had three rooms for the thirteen of them so he and Kurt both volunteered to room with the girls. Kurt went with Rachel, Mercedes and Brittany, while Ms. Corcoran put him with Tina, Quinn and Santana, after someone had complained about Brittany and Santana being allowed to share a room when none of the other couples were allowed to stay in the same room. Finn, Puck, Mike, Sam and Artie were forced to take the remaining room and he and Kurt were both relieved they didn't have to stay with them.

Because of their strict rehearsal schedule leading up to Nationals, Ms. Corcoran gave them the afternoon off to explore the city but they had to promise to only leave in groups of at least three.

Together with Mercedes and Rachel, they walked down Broadway till the reached Time Square were they took turns posing for pictures on the red steps in front of the TKTS ticket booth.

He wanted to surprise Kurt with tickets for Wicked, but when he saw how much even the cheapest cost, he knew it wasn't really in his budget. Tickets for Billy Elliot were on sale however, and Blaine got two for the evening, after clearing it with Ms. Corcoran.

They spent the rest of the afternoon just wandering around Midtown, Kurt proudly holding his hand the entire time. Blaine loved that they could do that again without attracting any stares but he had to admit that New York was a bit loud and chaotic for his taste and that he much preferred L.A over it. But Kurt was smitten and so he knew he would learn to love the city over time if it made Kurt happy like that.

They returned to the hotel in time for dinner, after a quick walk through the southern part of Central Park, after which he told Kurt to put on something nice.

Kurt squealed, threw his arms around Blaine's neck and smashed their mouths together when Blaine picked him up and showed him the tickets, earning them a 'wanky' from Santana who was 'hanging out' with Brittany in Kurt's room.

Unfortunately, they couldn't stay behind to get their playbills signed after a in his opinion flawless performances because Ms. Corcoran had told them to return to the hotel as soon as the show was over, but Blaine still counted the night a full success, judging by the way Kurt kissed him in front of his hotel room when they returned.

The next morning, they all packed up their costumes – designed by Kurt and Tina – and after a quick breakfast they left together for the venue where the competition took place.

He knew that if they got lucky they would be allowed to perform three times, first to get into the top ten, then to get into the top three, and ideally once more to determine the winner.

Even Blaine was nervous when they were getting ready for their first performance of the day because he had never performed in front of such a big audience either, but he knew they were well prepared and hoped for the best.

They started their first set with Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance' performed by only the Glee girls in their own version of crazy dresses, before he and the boys performed Michael Jackson's 'Man in the Mirror' while the girls changed into their outfits for the group number.

They had decided to take a risk when Blaine had shyly confessed that he was an aspiring songwriter, and he felt honored that Ms. Corcoran had decided to use his song for their closing number.

He and the other glee boys quickly took off their jackets backstage while the girls already filled the stage, each of them in a colorful t-shirt, with a large bold L on it. As soon as they opening notes of his ode to high school 'Loser Like Me' rang out on stage, they filled their spots between the girls and Rachel started them of with the first verse.

He and Kurt had worked together on the lyrics while he had composed the music, including everything that had ever happened to one of the members of ND and when he looked out into the audience he could see that some people had already picked up the foam Ls they had distributed in the audience before their performance and were waving them in the air.

It had always been his dream to write music, but seeing so many people enjoying his hard work, really cemented it for him that this was what he wanted to do in the future. He just didn't know yet where he would pursue his goals.

To no ones surprise, they advanced to the second round, and Ms. Corcoran took them out for a small celebratory lunch during their break.

They were the last to perform that afternoon and used the time to run through their performance once more. The theme of the second round was duets and Blaine and Kurt had both been floored when they had been told they could perform their very first duet again as long as they used the PG version. Rachel and Mercedes provided the second duet with 'Out here on my own', and Blaine pulled Kurt into a bone-crushing hug as soon as they left the stage.

The announcement for top 3 wouldn't be made until the next morning, so they all returned to their hotel for a late dinner and Blaine quickly called up his dad to let him know what was happening.

They were woken up the next morning by Rachel banging on their door, and Blaine grumpily followed her to her room, where the rest of ND was already waiting, most of them still half asleep as well.

Five minutes later they were jumping around like crazy however after they had each taking a look at the National's homepage where it was announced that they had advanced to the top three where they would be fighting Vocal Adrenaline and some other Glee club for the title.

For the second time in two days they quickly ate breakfast before heading back to the venue, Kurt nearly cutting off his blood circulation with how hard he was clutching Blaine's hand.

"You know I don't even care anymore if we win or not. Just getting this far is amazing. With the Warblers we never even made it past Regionals while I was at Dalton," he told Kurt on their way to another warm up. "Let's just get out there and have fun."

They had decided to go with another group number in case they got into the top three, with the theme being anthems, and had chosen another Michael Jackson number.

The day before they had watched some of the other choirs perform, but decided to stay backstage this time until it was their turn to perform 'Black or White."

In the end they came in second, and while he and the Warblers had never had any issues with Vocal Adrenaline he understood why the rest of New Direction was so happy they finally defeated their archenemy.

That night, Ms. Corcoran took them out to a karaoke bar to celebrate being the second best show choir in the Nation, after they promised they wouldn't try to get alcohol. As always that wasn't an issue for Kurt, and he was still high on adrenaline that he declined Puck's offer to get him drink with his fake ID as well.

If they had expected a warm welcome back at school they were sorely mistaken, as most of the other students didn't seem to have even realized they had competed, but Jacob Ben Isreal had the guts to mock their second place, writing that McKinley could have only one National champion as a nod to coach Sylvester's Cheerios.

But none of that mattered. They had performed with the best glee clubs of the nation and had made it to the top three. No one could call them losers anymore in his opinion.

Kurt

Kurt was still all smiles even days after they had returned from New York. New York had been everything he had imagined it would be, though he had to admit he hadn't actually seen much of the city. But he had enjoyed the bright lights, and the open atmosphere where no one even batted an eyelash when he and Blaine had shared a kiss in public.

At the moment he was looking through various fashion magazine in search of the perfect tuxedo. Burt's friend from the tux rental shop had promised to give them a discount and Kurt kept his fingers crossed that he would find something at least remotely stylish.

He looked up when there was a knock at his door. "Can I come in?" Burt asked and Kurt told him to come in.

"So I wanted to talk to you about your birthday in a few weeks," Burt started once he was seated on Kurt's desk chair and Kurt's face fell.

"I'm going to get a job and start looking for an apartment as soon as school is over," he immediately replied, because he knew that once he was eighteen he couldn't rely on the Hummel's generosity anymore.

"Hey, none of that," Burt interrupted before Kurt could continue and he snapped his mouth shut. "I told you this your home as long as you want it, and I was just going to make sure you know I expect you to stay here until you graduate. Eighteen or not, you are family now and family sticks together, okay?"

Kurt's face brightened and he let himself be pulled into a hug. "Thank you, Burt. You have no idea how much that means to me," he told the man who was more of a father to him than his own had ever been.

"I can get a second job and pay you rent," he offered as soon as Burt released him because he knew the Hummels were only getting money for him from the state until he turned eighteen.

"Oh no you won't," Burt replied and his tone of voice told Kurt there was no use arguing. "Save your money for college. You are a smart kid so I'm sure you can get a scholarship but you'll still need some extra cash, especially if you want to go to New York."

Kurt knew Burt was right. New York seemed amazing, but it was also one of the most expensive cities. He would probably still be paying off his student loans by the time he turned forty if he went to college in New York.

For now he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, because he hadn't even finished his junior year and was months away from applying to colleges.

"So Blaine tells me, Cooper invited you to spend the summer with him?" Burt asked, seated again, and Kurt nodded. "You wanna go?" Kurt shrugged.

"Maybe not the whole summer, but yeah I think so. Cooper seems to think he could get me some kind of job there, and like you said I need to save money for college."

"Well, I have no objections, but I do insist you don't leave straight away. I don't know if Blaine told you, but every year after school lets out we are going camping, and as part of the family you have to come with us, whether you like camping or not," Burt joked and Kurt assumed Blaine wasn't the biggest fan.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world," Kurt told him honestly. He had never been camping before and he didn't really see the appeal, but he was touched that Burt wanted to include him in a family tradition.

"You do understand that I won't let Blaine go off with you for the whole summer, right? Maybe, a few weeks but not the whole time. What kind of dad would I be if I let my seventeen year old spend the summer with his boyfriend in another state? I don't think that brother of yours is much of a chaperon," Burt winked and Kurt quickly averted his eyes because he didn't want to lie to Burt, who was certainly right about Cooper. "That's what I thought. But I didn't get a call from the police or anything, so let's pretend I never asked. I think I'm better of not knowing some things."

Kurt nodded eagerly because he would tell Burt the truth if he asked, even if it meant getting his brother into trouble or him and Blaine.

"Alright then. I'll let you get back to your magazines. We'll stop by Enzo's tomorrow to see what he has and I want to talk to you and Blaine before prom," Burt said as he was leaving Kurt's room, and Kurt cringed because it really hadn't been that long since the dreaded 'talk'.

Fortunately, Blaine took his mind of things for a while when Burt was downstairs preparing diner and if their hair looked a bit ruffled and their lips were red from kissing, no one mentioned it.

Blaine

Thankfully the pre-prom talk with his dad had been rather painless. He and Kurt had both assured his dad that if they didn't take advantage of their motel rooms while they were on the road he really didn't have to worry about prom. Besides, it was only their junior prom and he was certain that cliché only applied to senior prom.

Because Enzo from the tux rental shop was friends with his dad, they had gotten first pic and after spending three hours trying on tux after tux, even Kurt had found one that was acceptable.

He thought they both looked very handsome, especially with their light pink carnations pinned to their lapels. His dad had signed up to be a chaperon during the dance and at first he hadn't been too happy about it, but it did sooth his nerves a bit, if he was quite honest.

He and Kurt had agreed to meet Rachel, Mercedes and their 'date' Sam for dinner at Breadstix before heading to the dance, and after his dad had snapped what felt like hundreds of pictures of them they were finally allowed to leave.

Brittany, Santana, Mike and Tina were at the restaurant as well, and they pushed some tables together so they could all sit together

"I still can't believe I got nominated for Prom King," Mike mumbled, but Blaine wasn't too surprised. Mike was on the football team and one of the few people at McKinley who was generally nice.

Finn was running with Quinn, as they were apparently dating again, and Puck had teamed up with Lauren Zizes, but unfortunately he didn't believe she had much of a chance, running against Cheerios Quinn and Santana. She definitely had his vote though, because who knew what Karofsky would be up to now without her help.

After dinner, they piled into a limo, Santana's dad had rented for her, and drove off to the school. He and Kurt stayed in the middle of their little group to make sure they got inside safely, and he breathed out a sigh of relief once they arrived inside unharmed: Showtime, he thought.

Burt

Burt Hummel had not signed up as chaperon to embarrass his kids or be a pain in their asses. He was just afraid he would have a second heart attack if Blaine went off to a dance on his own – after what had happened after his first school dance.

Dalton didn't have a prom, but hosted an annual winter dance together with their sister school Crawford Country Day, but as Blaine hadn't had a date when he attended and with the dance being hosted at Dalton, he hadn't been worried then.

His son looked happy though when he and Kurt arrived with a group of their choir friends, and Burt relaxed a bit when he saw the matching smiles on his boys' faces.

He kept a close eye on the other students, glaring at everyone who even dared to look in Kurt and Blaine's direction disapprovingly and his heart skipped a beat when he saw his son square his shoulder and hold out his hand to Kurt.

It wasn't even a slow dance, but still all eyes were on the couple, and Burt hoped no one would say anything and ruin prom for the boys. The loud girl from the boys' glee club took over the stage then for a slow song and Burt waited with baited breath for the boys' reaction.

Kurt was whispering something into Blaine's ear, and then his son shook his head and pulled Kurt closer. He was so proud of the boys in that moment, a treacherous tear running down his face.

He was happy his son had found someone who made him happy and who made him face his own demons, even if that meant having to watch him grow up in front of him without being able to stop it.

He was pulled from his musings, when that crazy cheerleading coach pushed the high school principle in front of him.

"What's going on?" he asked, hoping nothing was wrong. "Figgins here has the results of the vote for Prom Queen and King and thought he would just read out the results. I thought you might be interesting in reading them," coach Sylvester spat, and Burt scratched his bald head confusedly. He had no clue what was going on, but still pulled a piece of paper out of the envelop.

His hands started shaking the moment he saw what was written there. 'Majority of votes for Prom Queen through write in votes: Kurt Anderson.'

"If you don't want me to sue this school for real this time, you will crown whoever girl got most of the votes," he got right up in the principle's face who looked scared. 'Good', Burt thought. He should fear the wrath of Burt Hummel, if he dared to publicly humiliate one of his boys.

"But, I," the principle stuttered but Burt didn't let him finish. "The media would have a field day with this," he threatened and principle Figgins' face fell.

"Santana Lopez, it is," he muttered and Burt wondered if anyone at the school knew that the head cheerleader was playing for the other team as well or if they were just more accepting of Lesbians. The two girls hadn't been really secretive about their relationship during Kurt's party but maybe that was because only the Glee club had been around, he mused before turning to coach Sylvester.

"Thank you for letting me know," he told her. "I didn't do it for Porcelain. Since my reign here, not once has a non-cheerleader taken the crown and I intend to keep it that way," she replied, but her soft smile told him that she had done it to protect Kurt. He gave her a curt nod, a small smile on his face as well.

"I guess it's a good thing then, Kurt never joined the Cheerios," he told her before he spotted that kid with the Mohawk lurking around the punch bowl.

Half an hour later, Santana Lopez got crowned Prom Queen, and the quiet Asian kid Prom King. They looked awkward, sharing their first dance, but at least he had saved Kurt from heartbreak.

There was some whispering, but no one dared to speak up and Burt hoped that whoever was responsible for the write in idea would keep his or her mouth shut out of fear of getting into trouble.

As far as he was concerned, Kurt would never hear about that, because he had been hurt enough by the people he went to school with. He would not let some stupid high school idiots ruin the boys first school dance together.

Once the dance was over, he drove the boys back to his son's car which was still parked in front of Breadstix and after reminding them to be home by two and to call if they had been drinking he let them go to Santana's after party.

As soon as the boys had driven off, he walked into Breadstix and sat down opposite Carole. "I hope you haven't been waiting long," he told her after kissing her on the cheek.

Carole shook her head. "I only dropped Finn off here a couple of minutes ago myself. I just hope he'll behave himself, especially now that he is back together with that Quinn girl. One pregnancy scare before I'm even forty was enough," she added with a sigh.

"Finn's not a bad kid, he just needs some guidance," he remarked. "Speaking of which. I wanted to invite you and Finn to join me and the boys for our camping trip. I already looked into in and I could rent a cabin for the five of us," he told his girlfriend.

Carole beamed at him before her expression sobered. "What about the boys though? Don't they hate each other?"

Burt shrugged. As far as he knew they had talked it out and Blaine had given him his blessing.

"They'll have to find a way to get along. Especially if we want to stick to the plan."

He wasn't getting any younger and he knew he wanted Carole in his life. He was just hoping the boys would take it well, when he and Carole made their announcement.

"I think it will be okay. They want us to be happy," Carole agreed before she asked him about prom.

He quickly filled her in, including the story about Prom Queen because he was certain he could trust her to keep the secret, before they both went their separate way to make sure their kids came home on time.

They had taken advantage of spring break, with Finn spending many nights at Puck's and his boys in California, but had agreed not to have sleep overs when the kids where home before talking to them, and this was not a conversation Burt looked forward to having. Because if he knew his son, he would probably try to tell him he should be allowed to have sleep overs with Kurt as well if Burt was having them. And that was definitely not happening.

He wasn't stupid. He was certain they had shared a bed when they had been traveling and though he believed them when they said nothing had happened, he didn't want it to become a habit. After all, they were still only juniors in high school and as long as they were living under his roof he was making the rules, whether they liked them or not.

Once he arrived home, he went upstairs and sat down in front of his computer to confirm his booking. Kurt's eighteenth birthday was two weeks after school ended and he knew his son was planning a party, so he reserved a cabin for them at Caesar Creek State Park for the first week of June. Before he turned off his computer, he sent a quick email to Cooper, letting him know that he was okay with Kurt coming to L.A any time after that.

By the time one o'clock came around, he barely managed to keep his eyes open and so he went to bed hoping he could trust the boys to come home on time without him waiting up for them.

He woke shortly after three o'clock and a quick look into Blaine's room confirmed that they were back and both in their own rooms. He went back to bed with a smile on his face, because not only did they not end the evening in the emergency room, but his son was smiling in his sleep.