"If you're sure that this is normal for birds like Pavarotti," Kurt frowned, "I guess I'll trust your judgement. I'm just worried."

"Kurt, calm down," Blaine shot him a tired smile, accompanying it with a squeeze at Kurt's elbow, "I know you've been really stressed lately but Pavarotti is perfectly healthy and everything is fine. Don't stress out about your audition later today either, you're going to nail it."

"Hey Blaine," Terry interrupted them, brushing up against Blaine's side as his hand grazed against the back of Blaine's.

Blaine didn't reply, glaring at him as Terry recoiled backwards in confusion.

"Uh, Blaine?"

Blaine tightened his grip on Kurt's elbow and marched them both forward, not sparing a look backwards as Terry stared after them. It didn't matter that technically their date hadn't happened and thus Terry had no idea how he had insulted Blaine's best friend, Terry still thought those things about Kurt and Blaine didn't want to waste any time hanging around a guy who could so easily insult the person Blaine felt closest to in the world.

He also didn't want Kurt to have to deal with anymore hatred, especially not after the amazing shows of friendship he had displayed in the last few days.

"Who was that?" Kurt asked, his voice sounding curious instead of cold for the first time since he had started asking the familiar question.

"Nobody worth talking to, believe me. Move over to the right for a second."

"Huh?"

Blaine pushed Kurt to the side as Michael (Blaine had finally found out his name about a month ago) came barrelling down the corridor, his bag swinging out dangerously and just missed hitting Blaine in the side. Apparently Michael had been late four times in the last month and would get a detention if he was late again, Blaine remembered the conversation well. It had been the one and only time Michael had apologised for bumping into him.

"Nice save," Kurt said, "I don't see why everyone has to push so much, if you want to get to class earlier then leave early. It's that simple."

Blaine nodded his head in agreement, still pressing Kurt closer to the wall as the group of students (James, Lewis, Derek, Sam and... Patrick?) appeared from around the corner, laughing and joking about Lewis's German teacher as they brushed past them.

Blaine had talked to the first four, but he didn't have any overlapping classes with Patrick. Maybe he could try seeking him out tomorrow, it's not like he had anything else planned.

Still no Sebastian today, Blaine noted as the laughter of the boys faded and he nudged Kurt over to the stairs, not that he had been expecting him to be there.

He was really starting to wonder if Sebastian had left for good. What did that mean for the normal time line if Blaine never escaped the time loop and made it out to Wednesday?

"Blaine, can I talk to you about something?"

"Uh sure," Blaine said, jolting out of his thoughts, "Let's just get somewhere a little less crowded."

Kurt and Blaine pushed past the crowd of students, descending down the stairs as they made it to the bottom corridor. Judging by Blaine's watch, they had about three minutes until class started but that wouldn't be a problem. He already knew what Kurt was about to say, and exactly how long it would take to say it.

"Listen Blaine," Kurt said, the tight grip on his bag strap was the only thing that gave away his nerves, "I know we've sort of talked about it but my auditions at four today and I'm really nervous."

"Kurt," Blaine stepped forward to pull one of his hands loose, squeezing it gently with a smile as he tried not to let the exhaustion show in his eyes, "Listen to me, you're going to be incredible. The Warblers would be insane not to choose you so don't over think it. All you have to do is walk in there and be your usual confident self and you'll blow them all away. Don't cry for me Argentina is an amazing song and I can assure you that I'm really looking forward to seeing it in person later today."

"Wait," Kurt blinked at him incredulously, the corners of his mouth starting to tilt upwards into a hopeful smile, "Does that mean you're coming to see my audition?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Kurt squealed happily as he leapt forward and threw his arms around Blaine's neck.

"Thank you so much! I know I'm probably over reacting and I might not even get the solo at all but you're the best friend I have here and I'm so nervous because I never even got the opportunity to try out at McKinley but now with you here I'll know that there's at least one person in the audience rooting for me and-"

"Kurt!" Blaine laughed, hugging Kurt back tightly, "Relax, you're going to be fine."

The bell rang loudly above them and Kurt pulled back, slightly breathless as he straightened his blazer and reached up a hand to fix his hair with a touch of embarrassment.

"Thank you for this, I... I should probably let you go to class. I'll see you at lunch?"

"Definitely," Blaine beamed, enjoying Kurt's enthusiasm, "We can talk about any other last minute problems then."

"Good, great."

Kurt bit on his lip to hide the huge smile Blaine could see tugging at the corners of his mouth; his hands had flown back to clutching at his bag strap but this time out of excitement.

"I'll see you then."

"Bye Kurt," Blaine grinned widely, soaking up all of Kurt's happiness.

Kurt turned on his heel and hurriedly began to walk away, glancing over his shoulder to smile at Blaine again as he turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

Blaine rocked back on his heels, enjoying the feeling of having gotten something completely, unmistakeably right.

He'd had no idea that agreeing to go to Kurt's audition would revoke such a reaction, he knew it had been important to Kurt but he hadn't realized that it had been important to him that Blaine was there as well. A small surge of guilt drifted through Blaine's head as he remembered the countless times he had turned Kurt down over the seventy-eighty days or so.

Blaine had had a good reason, but Kurt hadn't known that. On some days Blaine hadn't even bothered to give a reason why he wasn't coming and had just avoided Kurt for the day in his quest to hunt down another person in need of help so he could find a way out of the time loop.

What must Kurt have thought on those days when he couldn't find Blaine anywhere, when he walked into the Warbler practice room only to find an empty spot on the couch. Was he disappointed? Hurt even?

Blaine hadn't been a good friend, but all that was over now. Kurt wouldn't remember the times Blaine had let him down and for that Blaine was profoundly grateful. He was going to make things right, he would go to Kurt's audition and then celebrate or console him afterwards and later that night brainstorm other ways to escape from the Tuesdays. He would go to Kurt's audition over and over again if it made Kurt happy, he would spend the day supporting him and being around him and cheering him on just to make him smile. The idea of Kurt walking into the room and catching Blaine's eye before breaking into that bright scrunched up smile made something squirm pleasantly in Blaine's stomach.

Today was going to be different; it was going to be a good day. Blaine could feel it in the air.

***

"-And now for our sixth performance, junior member James will be singing Grenade by Bruno Mars, please hold all applause until the end and show all signs of respect. Thank you."

Wes sat back down and with a nod, gestured for James to begin.

The opening notes began to blare out of the sound system set up for the occasion but Blaine payed no attention, lost in thought as he played with the edges of his phone.

Kurt was supposed to have been here by now, he went missing at lunch and didn't reply when Blaine had knocked on his dorm room, but Blaine had just assumed that he had been taking a walk to calm his nerves. He had only begun to suspect something was amiss when after Jeff had finished performing his audition and respectfully accepted the applause, he'd hurried over to Blaine's side, sinking down into the seat next to him as he leant over to whisper urgently.

"Where's Kurt?"

"What?"

"Kurt's not here, he's not outside waiting with the other guys and I thought that he'd decided not to try out but he's not in here either and I thought you would know."

"What do you mean he's not outside? Of course he's going to audition, it's the only thing he's talked about for weeks."

"Well I don't know where he is, but when Wes asked all the people auditioning to go and wait in the other room he wasn't one of them. Do you think he's sick?"

"He was fine this morning," Blaine whispered back, reaching for his phone as he tried to ignore the growing sense of unease, "I'll try texting him, he might have backed out because of nerves."

Jeff nodded in understanding, leaning back in his seat with a worried expression as he turned his attention back to face the next singer.

That conversation had been ten minutes ago and Kurt still hadn't replied to his text, by now Blaine was wracking his brains to try and remember every mention of Kurt's audition from the Warblers he had talked to over the last three months of Tuesdays. He couldn't remember any comments, positive or negative about how Kurt had gone and the lack of information was starting to make him nervous. Why hadn't he picked up on it before? Had no one mentioned Kurt's audition because he hadn't auditioned at all?

James's song seemed to be coming to an end, his voice a little too breathy on the higher notes which made Wes frown as he leaned over and shared his thoughts with David and Thad.

Blaine had stopped paying attention to the other singers, he had stopped paying attention to the council and the rest of the Warblers as he bit his lip and churned possibilities of Kurt's disappearance around his head.

Maybe he had had an accident and tripped going down the stairs and was now laying somewhere in a crumpled ball of pain, unable to move or call out for help.

Maybe Kurt had bumped into some homophobic jocks who had tracked him down to Dalton and decided to beat him up.

What if right now Kurt was being kidnapped and Blaine was just sitting here, in Warbler's practice as a boy he hardly knew belted out some slightly off key end notes to Bruno Mars' Grenade?

That was impossible, he had seen Kurt after his date with Terry and spent the whole night in his room and Kurt hadn't once mentioned being kidnapped throughout the day.

Had he been bruised? Walking with a limp or looking as if he had recently been attacked or fallen down the stairs?

Blaine frowned in concentration, picturing Kurt that night as he opened the door to study Blaine's clothes.

No... he had seemed fine then, he had moved easily enough and even though he had been crying-

Of course!

Blaine sat up straight, remembering Kurt's red eyes and messy pyjamas. He'd mentioned a bad day, something bad that had happened over and over again throughout all Tuesdays that Blaine had apparently missed.

How could Blaine have been so oblivious? How could he have forgotten how upset Kurt had looked?

Was it something to do with his family? Did he get into a fight with Rachel? Was it... boy problems?

Blaine's hands tightened into fists, scowling as he pictured some faceless guy making Kurt cry. How dare that jerk ruin what was supposed to be an amazing day for Kurt, he'd been so excited this morning and now because of one idiot, what was supposed to be Kurt's moment to shine was going to be ruined.

Blaine couldn't believe how self centred he'd been, after Kurt had been crying (possibly over a guy who would never deserve Kurt anyway), Blaine had come up to him and accidently rubbed his date in Kurt's face, making Kurt's day at least ten times worse.

Blaine was officially the worst friend ever.

James finished singing to a smattering of applause as Blaine jolted out of his thoughts and quickly clapped as well.

He needed to find Kurt, he wasn't going to sit here through another five songs while his best friend was crying in his dorm room or crumpled at the bottom of some stairs or stashed away in the boot of someone's car.

Okay, Blaine said firmly to himself, you really need to stop with the kidnapping theories.

Wes was asking Thad to go and get the next singer as Blaine stood up cautiously, trying not to attract unwanted attention to himself. He exchanged a glance with Jeff who nodded in reply, understanding immediately where he was going as Blaine slipped his phone into his pocket and slowly straightened up.

A few curious eyes turned to look at him, questions forming on their faces when the doors were pushed open and Kurt walked into the room.

Blaine froze where he stood, Jeff gasped next to him as everyone in the room seemed to turn in unison to face the new intruder.

"I'm sorry for being late," Kurt said, his voice slightly shaky as he stood with his hands held behind his back to give off the image of confidence, "But I was having a personal crisis and needed some time to prepare myself."

"Kurt..." Blaine said softly, the name falling from his lips almost without his control.

Kurt didn't turn to look at him and instead stood centre stage, dressed in a sombre yet fashionable black suit as he held his head high with perfect posture. He looked as if he was putting up a shield, he was wearing his normal clothes as a way to keep everyone out but Blaine could see the dried tears on his face and knew it was all a way to protect himself.

Kurt was in pain.

Something had happened and it had been big enough to make him cry and now he was here, standing in front of the Warblers with that determined, brave look on his face that made Blaine want to pull him into his arms and hug him.

Blaine hurt to look at the other boy, something in his chest was thudding painfully but he couldn't tear his eyes away, worried and at a loss of what he should do. He wanted to hug Kurt and make everything okay, but the other boy had raised his shields. His clothes said 'don't touch me' in a way that warded off everyone, including Blaine.

"Kurt," Blaine said again, slightly louder so as to attract Kurt's attention, "What's wrong?"

"It's Pavarotti. Pavarotti's dead, I suspect a stroke."

Whatever Blaine had been expecting, it hadn't been that. As if it was a montage, every Tuesday morning flashed past in his mind where Kurt had anxiously inquired about Pavarotti's health and Blaine had laughed off his concerns. Why had he just assumed the bird would be fine? Why hadn't he advised Kurt to take him to a doctor?

The Warblers seemed to be stunned into silence, nobody making a sound as Kurt ducked his head to keep himself under control.

"O-oh my God Kurt, I'm... I'm so sorry," Blaine eventually stuttered out, reeling and feeling completely useless.

Kurt loved Pavarotti.

It was an undeniable fact that everyone in the room knew. Kurt himself had admitted that he wasn't much of a pet person, but the bond he had struck up with the yellow warbler was both touching and adorable. Blaine remembered the conversations he'd had with Kurt where the other boy had expressed fear over the Warblers being upset with him if something happened to the bird and suddenly the urge to hug him returned.

"It's okay," He wanted to say, "They know how much you love him. They know it's not your fault."

"I know it's really stupid to be upset about a bird but... h-he inspired me with his optimism and his love of song. He was my friend," Kurt said, glancing up again to look the Warblers head on.

"It's not stupid," Blaine thought to himself, still frozen in place as he watched the pain flash across Kurt's face, "Nothing you do could ever be stupid."

"I know today was solely reserved for auditions and trying to find another soloist for regionals, but instead of my prepared song of 'Don't cry for me Argentina', I'd like to sing something else. This is for Pavarotti who was taken long before his time."

Kurt pulled a cassette tape out of his pocket and handed it to a nearby Warbler who walked over to the CD player solemnly. Blaine sank back down into his seat, still wishing he could do something to help Kurt but let the other boy take over. If Kurt wanted to sing then no one was going to stop him.

Blaine recognised the first opening notes of the classic song, but it didn't click into place for him until Kurt slowly opened his eyes, raising his head as he began to sing.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

"How can anyone be so beautiful?" Blaine thought to himself, still stunned and confused as Kurt's voice washed over him.

Kurt had been right when he'd said long ago that listening to him sing in the car was nothing like watching him perform. This... this song, Kurt's voice and the emotion behind it... it was breath taking. Blaine couldn't look away and he could almost feel the awe of the Warblers gathered around him as they watched Kurt sing.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life,
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Was everyone seeing what Blaine was seeing? Or had they been able to see it all along?

The Kurt standing before them now was a pure representation of the boy that Blaine had wanted to be his best friend, this was the boy who made Blaine feel brave, who made him feel special and important. Kurt had suffered so much for only seventeen years of living, he had gone through things that Blaine couldn't begin to imagine and yet he had come out the other side stronger and more determined than ever. Who could have done that besides Kurt Hummel? Who could have gone to a school like McKinley year after year and not given up? Blaine had always known that Kurt was so much stronger and braver than he could ever hope to be, but standing in front of the Warblers, letting them all see how much he was hurting and not being afraid to admit it...

It made some kind of strong emotion surge up through Blaine, something he couldn't understand but knew he had felt before.

He's so beautiful.

The thought floated around Blaine's head as he tried to make sense of what he was feeling. The Warblers were joining in now, singing along softly to the beat of the song as Kurt made his way carefully around the room. Blaine followed him with his eyes, unable to look away for a second as the thoughts seemed to rush through his head and his heart beat began to speed up.

Kurt was his best friend, he understood Blaine in a way that no one else ever had and as Blaine was starting to suspect, in a way that no one else ever would. He was compassionate and strong and so intelligent, he could make Blaine laugh when he felt as if he was on the verge of losing control and would drop everything to come help him if he needed it. Being with Kurt made Blaine feel safe, he made him feel brave enough to confront Kurt's bullies and risk being hit even after only knowing him for a week.

"Did I do that?" Blaine thought to himself with a sense of bewilderment, "Did I really skip school to risk being hit in the face after only a week of knowing him? Why would I do that? I couldn't even face my own bullies."

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Kurt was silently crying now, his voice was still strong and didn't shake on a single word but Blaine could see the way the tear dribbled across his cheek and down his chin.

He's so beautiful.

Blaine couldn't make sense of what was happening, something had changed; something momentous had occurred but Blaine had no idea how to explain it. All he knew was that Kurt was his best friend and he felt a connection with him that went beyond words. Kurt made him happy with his presence alone, he made Blaine feel better without saying a word and the idea of living in a world where Kurt didn't want to be friends with him or replaced him with someone else scared Blaine more than anything else.

Kurt was incredible.

He'd always known that, acknowledged it in an offhand way but he'd never given it much in depth thought. He'd always been so busy, so distracted with everything else that he hadn't bothered to step back and look at how amazing Kurt really was.

But now he was here, singing in front of the Warblers and showing everyone the most vulnerable, hurt parts of himself that he wasn't ashamed to hide.

Kurt Hummel was the most beautiful thing that Blaine had ever laid eyes on.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Kurt was staring out the window now, looking at something only he could see as the song slowly drew to an end. Blaine's eyes traced his face, the rest of the Warblers, the rest of the room, even the rest of the world disappeared. The only thing Blaine could see was Kurt.

Blaine could hear his heart pounding in his ears, throbbing in his chest as if it could sense that the person it belonged to was standing in the room, so close and yet too far.

"Take it," Blaine wanted to tell him, "You can have it, I think it belonged to you from the moment I saw you but I was just too much of an idiot to realize."

"You were only waiting for this moment to arise," Kurt sang softly as the music faded away, "You were only waiting for this moment to arise."

The humming slowly came to a stop, the choir room silent as every person sat still and waited for Kurt to speak.

Kurt closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, turning to face the Warblers; he gave them a small smile and tucked his hands behind his back in an effort to keep his perfect posture.

"Thank you," He said.

"That was beautiful Kurt," Wes said, his voice soft as if he didn't want to disturb the calm sadness that had swept over the room, "On behalf of all of us I'd like to thank you for sharing and I'd also like to say that we're deeply sorry for your loss. Pavarotti was a good friend to us all and we're sad to hear of his passing."

Wes leaned back in his seat, a tired look crossing his face as he smiled at the gathered Warblers.

"I think that in light of what has happened, we will disband the meeting for now and continue the rest of the auditions the same time on Thursday. Someone please inform the rest of those auditioning about the change in time and we will continue in two days. Meeting adjourned."

Wes gave a sharp rap of the gavel to the table as the Warblers slowly got to their feet, each speaking in hushed voices as they picked up their bags and made their way out of the room. Kurt wiped at his face, brushing away any stray tears as he made his way over to the sound system to collect his cassette before leaving the room as well.

Slowly the choir room cleared out, leaving Blaine sitting on the couch as Thad hurried off to inform the still waiting boys about the change of events and Wes and David made their way out through the opposite door, talking together in a quiet whisper with their heads bent close to hear what the other person was saying.

Blaine remained silent, lost in thought as the sounds of chattering boys faded away and the door swung closed after the last Warbler.

It felt as if the world had shifted underneath his feet, as if the Earth had twisted off its axis to point in an entirely new direction and now everything around Blaine was foreign and strange.

He wasn't concerned though, he didn't give much thought to how he had never realized it before because he could finally feel his anchor, that safety net that told him he was free to fly as far as he wanted because it would always be there to catch him. He could feel that presence, directing him where to go and letting him know that everything was going to be alright because he wasn't alone.

He was in love with Kurt.

He was in love with his best friend and he probably had been from the moment he saw him.