The Great Cake Off was something Kurt looked forward to and planned for months. After an application, fifty bakers were accepted into the competition for ten thousand dollars towards a charity of their choice.

            Santana and Kurt had spent all night making as many layers of cake and batches of icing as they could before loading it all into their delivery van and driving to the event space.

            The space was already packed and busy even at six in the morning. Kurt walked up to the check in desk, smiled at the young woman, and handed over his paperwork.

            “Hello Mr. Hummel,” The woman smiled back and gave him a thick packet. “Here is all of your information and parking permits. You can unload in the dock behind the arena. You will be in booth number thirty seven.”

            “Thanks!” Kurt gave her a little wave before texting Santana the loading information. He wandered through the lines of booths and smiled at the large number thirty seven sign right under the logo for the American Cancer Society.

            Booth thirty six had a SPCA sign up and booth thirty eight caught his attention with a large Trevor Project sign.

            “Kurt?” A head of curly hair appeared at the short divider between his booth and thirty eight’s.

            “Hey Blaine!” Kurt jumped. “I didn’t know you were competing!”

            “Yeah! It looked like a ton of fun!” Blaine beamed at him. “We just got here about ten minutes ago. It’s exciting isn’t it?”

            “Definitely!”

            “Contestants, there is one hour until the start,” A man’s voice calmly stated over the intercom.

            “Well I need to help Santana bring in all the supplies before she throws a bitch fit,” Kurt motioned towards where the loading dock was.

            “Yeah, we’re still unloading all the cake and crap,” Blaine smiled and gave him a little wave before hurrying back to his station. Sam grinned at Kurt and gave him a wave before continuing to line up buckets of frosting.

            “You’ll never guess who’s here!” Kurt announced as soon as he saw Santana.

            “No,” She leaned back and gave him a strange look. “We’re not going to go easy on him just because you want in his pants.”  

            “I don’t…no…Santana,” He scowled as she opened the van and started unloading the supplies. “I don’t want to get into his pants.”

            “Yes you do.”

            “Shut up,” Kurt snapped. “I don’t even know why I’m friends with you.”

            “Because I’m fabulous and brutally honest,” She finished putting the last of the cake on the cart.

            “True,” He sighed and grabbed two buckets of frosting. “You know that I don’t ever bring anything but my A game to these competitions. That’s why we won the past three.”

            “Hell yeah!”

            The time spent preparing seemed to rush by and they we called to stand at the front of the booth. Blaine and Sam high fived at the booth next to theirs and gave them a bright smile.

            “Good luck Elizabeth’s!” Sam called.

            “Good luck Supercakes,” Kurt smiled back and got a nudge from Santana in response.

            “All right contestants!” A short, balding man in a suit walked out onto the main stage. “We have here fifty of the greatest bakers in New York City! Each one of them have chosen a charity that is important to them. They will be designing a cake that best shows what that charity means to them and to everyone they help. After the first round, ten bakers will advance to the next round. In the second round the third place cake will win two thousand dollars towards their charity, second place will win five thousand dollars towards their charity, and first place will win ten thousand dollars towards their charity. Bakers, are you ready!”

            Loud whoops came from the long line of booths.

            “You have five hours to construct a cake that is at least five feet tall,” The announcer continued. “And your time starts now.”

            The arena exploded into movement and Kurt yanked out his sketch book, leaning over it with Santana.

            “Birthday cakes,” He announced. “ACS is all about promoting less cancer, more birthdays. So, we need candles, presents, cakes, glitter, sparklers, basically a party on a cake.”

            “Hell yeah! Okay, so I can get started making presents out of the rice krispie treats,” Santana hurried to the fridge and Kurt grabbed the fondant, rolling it out.

            Thirty minutes in they were beginning to stack the cake and Kurt was carefully lying it over the cake, smoothing it out. They were able to get it five layers tall and each layer was covered in a different color neon fondant.

            “Okay, I just need to do the green and pink,” Kurt glanced over to where Santana was carefully making tiny sugar spirals to put on the presents. “It’s looking good.”

            “They’re blowing sugar bubbles,” She muttered and Kurt glanced over to Supercakes.

            The bottom layer of cake was bright orange and the top layer was white with lightening shades of orange from the bottom up. Sam was working hard on pouring white chocolate into molds and Blaine was leaning over the table, carefully using a pump to create sugar bubbles.

            “Damn,” Kurt scowled. He had always struggled with using sugar and tried to stay with cake but he couldn’t argue that it looked really, really cool.

            “It’s cool,” Santana shrugged, placing the small swirls she had made around the presents. “Ours looks awesome.”

            “Okay,” Kurt stepped back as he finished laying the fondant on the last layer. “Are you at a stopping point?”

            She nodded and wiped her hands off on her apron. A five food piece of PVC pipe was standing up from the center of the huge bottom tier. Kurt climbed on top of the step stool holding one side of the next tier the same time Santana did the same thing on the other side.

            Carefully they lowered the tier until it rested against the bottom one. They continued until the cake stood five feet tall, neon and perfectly tapered.

            He smiled up at the cake and turned to Santana.

            “Okay, we have to get the rest of this shit done!”

            She quickly turned back to making a collection of brightly colored candles to put on top. Not the best at sugar, Santana was still able to cook it and pull it into the shape of candles with multicolored flames.

            Kurt smiled and got to work on the motor to hook up to the candles and wires so that they could spin. He tried to focus on the motor but the chatter and clanking of supplies kept distracting him.

            Three hours in, most bakers already had the cakes set up and the details were the focus now. Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt saw Santana putting the beautiful, colorful candles on top of a small platform.

            “Okay, I’m ready,” she waved him over as she put the last of the long wires holding little multicolored, glittered balls into the cake along with the candles. Kurt hurried over and connected a few wires before turning it on.

            They both grinned as the colors and spheres started spinning slowly. They carefully climbed up the ladders and placed the top tier on. Kurt had to stop himself from jumping up and down as the wireless remote turned the motor on and off. The sugar flames flickered with little LED lights and spheres hanging from wires orbited the entire cake.

            “Okay, finish up the presents and I’ll work on the little glittered cupcakes,” Santana nodded and rushed to finish the presents as the announcer called one hour left.

            Thirty minutes later Kurt and Santana were placing presents and cupcakes all over the cake, making sure it looked absolutely perfect. The panic of five minutes left spurred Kurt to brush as much of the edible glitter and place small crystals all over the cake.

            Ten.

            Nine.

            Eight.

            Santana cursed as a sparkler broke in her hand as they frantically placed them all over the cake.

            Seven.

            Six.

            Five.

            Four.

            Kurt jumped as he heard an angry shout from Supercake’s booth but continued working.

            Three.

            Two.

            One.

            “Hands off contestants!”

            Kurt stepped off the step ladder and grinned at Santana before scooping her into a tight hug.

            “We kicked ass!” She sounded a little breathless.

            Kurt laughed and glanced over to Supercakes where he saw the two high five and Blaine scowl down at a ruined sugar bubble.

            “Now the contestants must move their cakes to the judging table in front of them. Starting with number one two other helpers will be assisting the bakers in moving the cake.”

            Kurt took the break to step back and look around at the other booths. The SPCA booth next to him had a cake that looked like an incredibly realistic cat sitting on a golden retriever’s head.

            Creepy.

            Supercakes cake was stunning. The cake was bright orange and faded perfectly to white at the top. On every tier there were orange and silver sugar bubbles and white chocolate stars with little sayings written on them that read “You Are Beautiful” “You Are Loved” “You Are Brave” and others including a huge silver star on top with “You Are Not Alone”.

            “Elizabeth’s!” The announcer startled him and both assistants moved to help.

            “Okay, we pick up a corner on three,” Kurt crouched down with Santana and the assistants. “One, two, three.”

            He struggled under its weight but carefully moved it to the judging table. Santana let out a loud sigh when it safely made it to the table and the audience cheered loudly.

            “Supercakes!”

            Sam and Blaine shared another high five before they all crouched to take their corners. When they started lifting, Blaine stumbled and a sugar bubble tumbled to the floor, shattering.

            “Shit!” He scowled and lifted it quicker as they moved to place it on the table. The audience cheered again and the assistants went to the next cake.

            “I swear! Those stupid bubbles were going to be the death of me,” He glared at the cake.

            “Contestants, the first round of judging is beginning. In the back assembly room there is a catered lunch for you to enjoy.”

            “Thank God, I am so sore,” Sam moaned as they all walked to the assembly room. “I need to stuff my face and sit.”

            “That’s all you ever do,” Blaine poked his friend and turned to Kurt. “Your cake was just stunning.”

            “Yours too!” Kurt smiled and couldn’t help but thread his arm through Blaine’s. “Let’s go pig out on cheap food.”

            “Oooh pizza!” Santana grinned and they grabbed plates and found a corner for the four of them.

            “So, Santana do you have…a boyfriend?” Sam looked a little nervous to ask and shrunk down at her withering look.

            “I’m pretty sure I told you I am a lesbian.”

            “Oh right! So, a girlfriend?”

            “Yes,” The dreamy expression Kurt was so familiar with spread across her face. “Her name is Brittany. We were both cheerleaders in high school and have been together ever since.”

            “That’s sweet,” Blaine smiled at her. “I remember how hard it was to be gay in high school.”

            “Well, I was made fun of once. Once,” Her eyes flashed.

            Blaine snorted and choked slightly on his sprite. He caught Kurt’s eye and smiled, a small blush spreading over his cheeks.

            It was far too adorable.

            “Contestants return to the arena.”

            “Let’s go!” Sam took all of their paper plates and tossed them. “Good luck guys!”

            “Don’t be too sad when we crush you,” Santana flipped her pony tail over her shoulder.

            “Please,” Blaine rolled his eyes but laughed.

            “Our top ten cakes that will continue are as follows,” Kurt fidgeted as he stood behind the shop’s logo. “10, 14, 23, 37, 38, 41, 43, 47, 49, and 50.”

            Santana shrieked as their number was called and Sam cheered equally loudly.

            “Choose one baker to come forward and explain what your charity means to you and how your cake emphasizes that,” The announcer was grinning widely.

            Kurt stepped forward into the main judging area where his cake was placed in a line with the others. He waited patiently for the other bakers to explain their cakes until his name was called.

            “My name is Kurt Hummel and I am the owner of Elizabeth’s bakery,” He smiled at the judges. “My mother Elizabeth, who the bakery is named after, died from lung cancer when I was eight. Cancer is something that is so prevalent and impacts every one of us.

            For my cake I wanted to bring in the American Cancer Society’s latest saying which is Less Cancer, More Birthdays. My father and I still celebrate my mother’s birthday every year but she can’t be there with us. Everyone should be able to celebrate something like a birthday. So, my cake is designed with bright festive colors, presents, sparklers, and candles. It is a party on a cake. We wanted to emphasize the importance of having more birthdays for everyone. Growing older is something we take for granted and everyone should have that chance. Thank you.”

            He smiled at the polite applause and stepped back to let Blaine step forward.

            “Hi! My name is Blaine Anderson and I am one of the owners of Supercakes,” He beamed. “I came out when I was fourteen to an unsupportive family and friends. Thankfully I had a good friend to help me through the bullying but not every young person who is LBGTQ has that.

            I chose the Trevor Project because I needed something like that when I was a teenager. Being gay in today’s society is really hard and the fact that teenagers are being bullied so badly they are being driven to seeing suicide as the only way out is horrible. No person should feel that way. I included some of the Trevor Project’s sayings to show that every person has a voice and is important. Thank you all.”

            He nodded and smiled to the judges, taking a step back to give Kurt a little wink.

            “Thank you all,” The main judge smiled at the group after they returned from making their decision. “We are now going to announce the winner.”

            The assistant bakers had come up and Sam wrapped an arm around Blaine’s shoulders, hugging his friend.

            “In third place winning two thousand dollars…Sweet Cheeks benefitting the World Wildlife Foundation!” The two blonde girls a few people down squealed and jumped up and down.

            “Second place winning five thousand dollars is…Supercakes benefitting the Trevor Project!” Sam let out a loud whoop and picked up a grinning Blaine, spinning him around.

            “And in first place…winning ten thousand dollars…is Elizabeth’s benefitting the American Cancer Society!”

            “Hell yeah!” Santana shouted, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing tightly. She jumped off to grab the huge check out of the judges hands.

            “Congratulations,” Blaine smiled brightly, fiddling with the silver metal around his neck. “You totally deserved it. Your cake was stunning.”

            Unable to resist, Kurt pulled a laughing Blaine into a tight hug. He felt Blaine relax into his arms and hug him back.

            Despite all the crap Blaine had been through for the past few weeks he was finally smiling again.

            “Hey, what are you doing for Christmas?” He asked, pulling back.

            “Oh…I was just going to stay at home,” Blaine shrugged.

            “Well, my dad is coming down since my step mom and step brother are spending the holiday with her sister. You should come eat dinner with us,” He smiled, suddenly feeling a little shy.

            “Yeah. Yeah I’d love that,” Blaine smiled back.