February 9, 2013

It was the morning of the competition and Blaine was pacing the green room. He was nervous that the theme of their performance would be too much for him. He didn't want to break down and cost New Directions their chance at Nationals.

"Blaine!" Tina shouted.

Blaine stopped pacing and looked at Tina. "Yes?"

"Oh my god, I've been trying to get your attention for five minutes. What's wrong? You can't possibly be nervous."

"Tina, what if I start crying? I can't do this. I can't cost us nationals. Artie should take my solo."

Tina put a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Blaine, you killed the song in rehearsals. This is no different. You'll be fine, I promise. Don't psyche yourself out."

"Alright. I'll try." Blaine closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm so pissed that my parents couldn't be bothered to show up." Blaine had asked his parents if they were going to the competition the night before. They said they had a function to attend and shrugged it off like it was nothing.

Tina pulled him into a hug. "I know; it sucks that your parents don't want to be here to support you. But it's their loss that they don't know what a talented performer you are."

Blaine nodded. Just as Tina released him, Mr. Schue walked through the door. "Alright guys, we're on in less than three minutes. Is everyone ready?"

Various forms of agreement were heard and seen from around the room. Soon after, the lights flickered, signaling two minutes until they were required onstage. Quickly everyone made their way to where Mr. Schue was standing for their show circle.

Mr. Schue looked at the group. "You guys are ready. I watched the other two groups and they had nowhere near the amount of connection you guys have to your songs."

Everyone put their hands into the middle. They shouted "To Nationals!" as they raised them up and out of the circle.

"Good luck!" Mr. Schue shouted as the performers made their way out of the green room.

The performance was a blur to Blaine. He knew he hadn't messed up, but he wouldn't have been able to tell you anything that happened on that stage. Soon, the New Directions were lined up with the Warblers and Aural Intensity waiting on the results of the competition.

"In third place," the announcer said, pausing for dramatic effect, "Aural Intensity!"

Aural Intensity collected their trophy enthusiastically and walked offstage. The Warblers and the New Directions scooted closer together, leaving Sebastian standing very closely to Blaine.

"I heard about you and Kurt. Does that mean I get a chance at you?" Sebastian whispered to Blaine.

"In your dreams, Sebastian." Blaine scoffed.

"And now, the group that will be moving on to Nationals in Philadelphia is," another dramatic pause, "the New Directions!"

Tina grabbed Blaine and hugged him tightly as they jumped up and down. Mr. Schue collected their trophy from the announcer and held it up in the air. The New Directions and the Warblers shuffled offstage.

"Congrats, Blaine. You were great." Sebastian said sincerely.

"Thank you, Sebastian." Blaine said distractedly, looking around for his friends who he had lost in the shuffle of the two groups leaving the stage.

Blaine caught a glimpse of two people he knew very well. "I have to go, Sebastian," he said as he walked towards the couple.

"Oh honey, you were fantastic!" Carole gushed, pulling Blaine into a fierce hug.

When Carole released him, Burt clasped a hand on his shoulder. "Congrats, son. You deserved that trophy."

"What are you guys doing here?" Blaine asked.

"Kurt told us about the competition and asked if we could come and record it for him. He really wanted to be here." Carole said.

"He was going to have us do it in secret, but then he called last night and said that your parents weren't going to be able to come and that we should make sure to congratulate you." Burt said.

Carole smacked his chest. "Burt! Kurt told us not to tell him that!"

"Well, I just thought Blaine should know how much Kurt cares about him."

Blaine looked down, overcome with emotion for this family who seemed to care more about him than his own. "Thank you for coming. It means a lot."

"We wouldn't miss it, buddy." Burt said, smiling.

Just then, Tina came walking over to the trio. "Hi Mr. Hummel, Mrs. Hudson-Hummel! It's so great that you came! Did you enjoy the show?"

"It was wonderful, honey. You were all fantastic!" Carole gushed.

"Thank you!" Tina looked at Blaine. "Blaine, we're about to head out to celebrate. Do you need a few more minutes?"

"No, he's fine." Burt said to Tina and then turned to Blaine. "Go! Celebrate with your friends. Just make sure you come by for dinner sometime next week so we can celebrate."

Blaine quickly hugged Burt. "Thanks! I'll be sure to let you know when I'm free." He let go of Burt and gave Carole a quick hug. "I'll see you next week."

"Sure thing, sweetie." Carole said as she released Blaine. "Oh, and don't be surprised if you get a call from Kurt soon. We sent him the video already and I know he was anxious to see how you did."

Blaine nodded. "Okay. Bye! Thank you for coming!"

Blaine turned and followed Tina out to the bus. They took seats next to each other and started to chat. Ten minutes later Blaine got a call from Kurt.

"Congratulations!" Kurt yelled after Blaine answered.

Blaine chuckled. "Thanks, Kurt."

"It's loud, are you on the bus?"

"Yep. We're on our way to BreadStix to celebrate."

"Oh, put me on speakerphone so I can congratulate everyone!"

"Alright." Blaine clicked the button that activated his speakerphone. "Everyone! Kurt wants to say hi!"

Everyone on the bus quieted down immediately.

"Congrats, guys! You were all fantastic! You killed it up there!" Kurt screamed.

"How'd you see us, Kurt? You weren't there, were you? Why didn't you say hi to us?" Brittany asked innocently.

Everyone chuckled. "No, I wasn't there, Boo. I had my parents tape the performance and send it to me." Kurt said. "But I will be there to see you guys perform at Nationals! Philadelphia isn't very far from New York. Rachel, Santana, and I are going to meet you guys there and hopefully get a room in the same hotel you guys will be in."

"Yay!" Brittany cheered, clapping her hands.

"Alright, Blaine, take me off speaker. Bye, everyone!"

Various members of the New Directions shouted goodbyes as Blaine pressed the phone back to his ear after making sure the speakerphone was off.

"You were incredible, Blaine."

"To be honest, I don't really remember performing. We were in the green room and then next thing I knew we were running offstage and we were all so excited. I don't know what happened."

"I can send you the video my parents shot if you want. You should see how good you were."

"Okay, go ahead and send it to me later. Then maybe I can show it to my parents." Blaine sighed. "Thank you so much for making sure your parents let me know they were there. It sucked thinking that no one cared enough to be there."

"I know, Blaine. I should've tried harder to make it back to Ohio this weekend."

"No! I wasn't talking about you. I know you're busy and everything. It's enough that you'll be at Nationals and graduation. I was talking about my parents."

"I know. I still wish I could've gotten to Ohio. I tried really hard to get there. I wanted it to be a surprise so I didn't tell you. I'm glad I didn't because obviously I wasn't able to be there."

"It's okay, Kurt. It's enough that you tried." Blaine said. Tears started to well in his eyes and he blinked them away. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Blaine."

"We're almost at BreadStix, so I should probably go."

"Okay. I'll send you that video. Have fun with everyone. Congrats again. You really were amazing. You killed that song."

"Thanks, Kurt. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Alright. Bye, Blaine."

"Bye." Blaine said as he hung up.