After giving his tie one last tweak, Kurt stepped out of his dressing room and headed down the corridor to the main stage entrance. Taylor was already waiting there, watching the last couple of audience members take their seats. She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of Kurt's approach.

"I've got to say, Kurt, I was a bit worried you wouldn't be ready on time when you showed up at your dressing room almost fifteen minutes late. What were you doing? You're never late."

Kurt leaned against the wall and watched one of the camera crew members adjust the position of his camera, hoping that studying this mundane task would keep his voice nonchalant. "I was just watching Blaine rehearse and lost track of time." He could feel Taylor's eyes on him but refused to look round.

"How did it go?"

Kurt, who was now replaying his conversation with Blaine in his head, trying to read more into it to try and gauge Blaine's opinion of him, replied absently, "It was fine."

He vaguely registered that Taylor was still watching him with a small frown on her face, but before she got the chance to say anything else it was time for the show to start and she had to hurry off to take her usual position. Kurt was forced to pay attention to the present when the normal opening announcement for the show was made and he was introduced. He walked out on stage, smiling at the cheering and applauding audience, and took up his position in the centre of the stage.

He went through his usual routine of the beginning of the show on autopilot, his brain disengaged from his mouth as his lips shaped the words he had rehearsed, his tone automatically light and cheerful, and his face schooled into a smile. He only became more animated when he announced Blaine as one of the day's guests, his heart leaping as the audience cheered excitedly. He announced his first guest, almost stumbling over one of his sentences as he gave a short description of the child actor's career but catching himself in time. He took his seat just as the young boy walked out onto the stage, beaming at the audience, overconfident and with the air of being pushed too hard too soon with his acting and of growing up too fast. Kurt went through the motions of pleasantly greeting the boy and indicating he should sit down before starting to discuss the boy's acting career with him.

Partway through the interview he realised he wasn't as focused as normal and he was barely taking in anything the young boy sitting across from him was saying. He kept covertly glancing at his watch to see how long it was until Blaine was due to come on. He forced himself to pay attention, to be Kurt Hummel: award-winning talk show host, instead of Kurt Hummel: fanboy with a crush.

He put more effort into the rest of the interview than he had ever done in his life. He kept his watch out of sight so he wasn't tempted to keep glancing at it and determinedly fixed his eyes on the young actor's face as he concentrated on every word coming out of the boy's mouth.

Finally, the interview was over and Kurt was announcing the release date of the boy's latest movie, speaking over the top of the applauding audience. The show cut to a commercial break and Kurt stood up, thanking the young actor for being on the show and wishing him all the best for his acting career. As the boy left the stage, Kurt collapsed back into his chair and grabbed the glass of water sitting on the table in front of him and took a sip. He felt a little drained, something he had never felt after an interview before, not even after he spent twenty minutes trying to get some sensible answers out of Paris Hilton. However, his slight weariness had nothing to do with the child he had just interviewed, but instead had everything to do with Blaine. Well, Blaine and his own incapability to get the attractive musician out of his mind.

Suddenly, the realisation that in a few minutes Blaine would be sitting in that chair opposite him and he would be interviewing him hit Kurt. His hands started to shake and sweat beaded up on his palms. He may have met and spoken to Blaine earlier, but that was different, there hadn't been any cameras pointed at them or an audience watching, nor were millions of people going to see that conversation. He hoped he wouldn't do anything embarrassing like blush when Blaine smiled at him or gape with his mouth hanging open as he performed. Though if he was being totally honest with himself, he was more worried about acting like an idiot in front of Blaine than he was about appearing a fool to millions of the show's viewers.

"Fifteen seconds," one of the producers warned him.

Kurt straightened up and set his glass back down on the table before adjusting his tie.

"Three, two, one..."

Kurt smiled at the cameras and the audience sitting beyond them. "Welcome back! My next guest shot to fame after the release of his first single, ‘Human,' which held the coveted number one spot on the charts for four weeks. Since then he has released two number one albums, played several sold-out national and international tours, and won two Grammy awards. Please welcome, Blaine Anderson!"

The audience went wild; cheering, screaming, and clapping, the level of noise increasing when Blaine walked out onto the stage. He was neatly dressed in a white button-down shirt with a deep blue cardigan over it paired with black pants and his trademark bowtie - today's one midnight blue with silver trim. His hair was gelled down as usual, though a few curls always escaped whenever he performed. He grinned and gave a small wave to the audience as he crossed the stage, the smile widening when he reached the chairs in the centre of the stage and Kurt.

Kurt had stood up as Blaine had crossed the stage and he held out a hand to the other man. Their eyes met as they shook hands and Kurt had to drag his gaze away after a second, forcing himself not to get lost in Blaine's large, honey-coloured eyes, which were fringed by some of the longest eyelashes Kurt had ever seen on another guy.

They both sat down and Kurt inconspicuously took a deep, calming breath to try and settle his racing heart and trembling hands before he raised his head to face Blaine again. "It's great to finally have you on the show," he said to him once the audience had finally quietened down. "You've been too busy to come on until now."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, the last few years have been insane. I've just been going between the studio, concert venues, and different events." He shifted slightly in his chair, grinning. "On a rare occasion I actually got to go home and sleep!"

The audience laughed and Kurt chuckled. "So, ‘Human' was released two years ago and within a few weeks of its release it shot to number one in the charts and you gained yourself millions of fans."

"Yeah, it was crazy." Blaine shook his head slightly. "I recorded and released ‘Human' during my final year of college after someone from the record label saw me perform at a small club here in New York and took an interest in me. I went from playing a mix of some of my originals and covers of my favourite songs in these little clubs to an audience of maybe around fifty people with less than half of them probably actually listening, to selling out Irving Plaza in a few short months. It was just all so surreal."

‘I remember that show,' Kurt thought. It was back when his talk show was just starting to increase in popularity. He remembered standing in the crowds with Rachel and singing along as Blaine stood on stage behind a microphone, guitar in hand, and with sweat glistening on his face making a few wayward curls spring free of the gel. It was on the tip of his tongue to mention that he had been there, had watched Blaine play his first sold-out show at a big venue, but he swallowed the memory.

"And now you've got millions of fans following your every move," Kurt said instead. "Figuratively, hopefully."

Blaine laughed and Kurt's stomach fluttered at the sound, which was as beautifully melodic as the musician's songs. "A few of my fans are a little...uh, enthusiastic, but none of them are stalking me as far as I'm aware." He paused as the audience laughed again. "It took me ages to get used to people coming up to me and asking for a photograph or an autograph and to being recognised on the streets. But I am so appreciative of every single one of my fans, whether they have been with me since the beginning of my career or just started listening to my music yesterday, I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support because if it weren't for all of you guys I wouldn't be where I am today."

The audience cheered and applauded whilst Kurt smiled at Blaine and the curly-haired man smiled at the audience members, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

When the noise died down again, Kurt shifted in his seat. "Your last national tour was completely sold-out and you packed venues across the country to the rafters with screaming fans. This must be like a dream for you. Do you wake up some days and wonder how all of this is happening?"

Blaine nodded. "It's just crazy. I never even imagined something of this magnitude happening to me, that I would have to add extra dates to the tour because tickets were just selling out so fast."

He shook his head and lifted his hands, palms facing up to the ceiling in a gesture of disbelief. "It does just feel like some wild roller-coaster dream some days."

"And your new single came out this week." Kurt leaned forward to swipe the CD off the table.

"It did!"

Kurt held the CD up to the audience and the cameras, and the studio audience cheered again. "So what's the story behind it?"

"It's called ‘Ignorance' and it's about my struggles with bullies when I was in high school. It's a fighting song though - calling the bullies out for what they are doing, staying strong, and having courage." Blaine's eyes were distant as he spoke, lost in the memories of his teenage years. "It's about fighting back against the people who try to put you down and who are prejudiced against you simply because of their ignorance. And I don't mean fighting back physically," he added, suddenly snapping out of the trance he was in, his eyes focusing upon Kurt once more. "I mean staying true to yourself and who you are because that can take a lot more courage than hitting someone." He paused for a moment and the studio was silent, everybody listening raptly to Blaine. "One thing I really regret is not standing up for myself. I let the bullies chase me away and I moved schools after struggling with them for months. I hope this song will help people who are fighting with what I did - or with anything in life really, where people are telling them ‘no, you can't do that,' or ‘no, you shouldn't be like that.'" Blaine ended his speech with a small smile and the audience applauded his words.

Kurt stared at Blaine; his words had hit him a lot closer to home than Blaine probably realised. When the applause started to die down he mentally gave himself a small shake.

"And ‘Ignorance' is the first single off your new album, which will be released on July twentieth."

Blaine smiled at him. "Yup, next month."

"And now you're going to perform your new single for us." Kurt set the CD back down on the table and turned to face the audience as Blaine stood up and headed over to the performance area where he had rehearsed earlier. Out the corner of his eye he could see Blaine picking up his guitar and his band members settling behind their instruments as he announced the name of Blaine's single, the album it was from, and that it was out now to purchase to the audience and the viewers. Then the lights dimmed and the song started.

Kurt tried to keep his eyes from going glassy and a dreamy look from slipping onto his face as he watched Blaine perform. It was hard, especially when the dark-haired musician shot him a lopsided smile and the briefest of winks during the guitar solo, but he managed not to melt into a puddle of goo and designer clothing on his chair. Only barely, but still, he managed.

Unscrewing the cap on a bottle of water, Blaine fell down onto the couch in the dressing room. He swallowed several large mouthfuls before there came a knock at the door. Getting to his feet again, he strode quickly across the room and pulled the door open to find Kurt on the other side.

"Hi!" Blaine smiled at him and stepped aside to let Kurt into the room whilst internally cringing at how he had practically squeaked out the greeting.

Kurt stood near the low table by the couch, looking a little stiff in spite of the friendly smile on his face. "I just wanted to thank you again for coming on the show and to say that your performance was great. I can see that song being another hit."

"Thanks," Blaine told him sincerely. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, wanting to say something to the other man, but unable to think of anything smart or funny enough.

Kurt looked a little unsure himself and was subconsciously nibbling on his bottom lip in a way that had Blaine averting his eyes.

"Well, I had better get going, my assistant will be looking for me," Kurt said, looking like he had wanted to say something else instead.

"Yeah, ok. Thanks for having me on the show today, I enjoyed it; I'll definitely be coming back, if you'll have me."

Kurt's smile widened and his eyes met Blaine's, their blue irises flecked with green and grey. "Of course, you'll always be welcome back."

There was a slightly awkward pause during which they stared at each other, both wanting to say something but neither exactly sure what that something was. Blaine fought with the urge to ask Kurt for his phone number, knowing it would be a bit weird to ask for the personal number of the host of the talk show he had just appeared on. Just as he thought, ‘to hell with it' and began to screw up the courage to ask for it anyway, Kurt said goodbye to him and started to walk over to the door. He paused with his hand on the door handle.

"It was nice meeting you, Blaine. I hope I get the chance to do so again."

"Me too," Blaine said, disappointment crashing around inside him as Kurt smiled at him once more and left the room.