Blaine was picking out a new song on his guitar when Scott burst into the apartment.

"Don't you knock?" Nick exclaimed loudly from where he was lying on his stomach on the couch flicking through a textbook. "I could have been dancing around the apartment in my underwear!"

Scott dropped down onto the couch next to Blaine. "Do you ever do that?"

"He did one time not long after we moved in here," Blaine gave an exaggerated shudder at the memory. "Thankfully, he hasn't done it since I threatened to film him and show it to every potential girlfriend."

Nick scowled at him.

Scott was grinning. "What was he dancing to?"

"One of Blaine's Katy Perry records," Nick mumbled.

"After all those times he teased me for being such a big fan of hers," Blaine said happily, his smile widening at the look on Nick's face.

Nick sat up, tossing his textbook aside. "Ok, I think we have laughed at me long enough." He looked over at Scott. "Why were you so desperate to see us that you couldn't even wait long enough to knock and for one of us to let you in the apartment? And how did you get into the building?"

"I have a key," Scott reminded him, holding up a set of keys on a small key-ring. "A friend of mine at NYADA is in a performance at the college tomorrow night and she got some tickets for me, so I wondered if you guys wanted to come?"

"Which friend is this? Have we met her?" Nick asked.

Scott nodded. "Yeah, it's Melissa. You met her a few months ago."

Nick smiled. "I remember her! Yeah, I'll come."

"Great! What about you, Blaine? I have another extra ticket which I was going to offer to Jeremy, I know he's not busy."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, sure I'll go."

Scott stood up. "Great! Well, I have work I'm supposed to be doing, so I'll meet you guys outside the auditorium at NYADA at 7.30 tomorrow night and I'll let you ask Jeremy, Blaine. See you tomorrow!"

The walk from the subway station to NYADA felt long in the near-freezing temperature. Blaine tugged the beanie he was wearing further down over his ears which felt like they were slowly turning into blocks of ice as he and Nick approached the NYADA campus.

"Do you have any idea where the auditorium this is being held at is?" Nick asked, huddling into his coat.

Blaine started to shake his head until he spotted a sign post on the path ahead. Hurrying over to it, he peered up at the buildings listed, searching for the name of the auditorium that Scott had texted him earlier.

"This way," he told Nick after spotting the auditorium on a sign.

Nick followed him down a path which lead deeper into the college's campus. They walked quickly, both eager to get to the auditorium as soon as possible to get out of the cold. They soon rounded a corner and the auditorium came into view. Groups of people were heading inside and a few small clusters of people stood shivering slightly outside.

"Nick! Blaine!"

Scott and Jeremy waved them over to where they stood just to the left of the auditorium doors.

"Hey, guys!" Scott greeted them cheerfully as Jeremy greeted Nick before kissing Blaine.

"Enough of that," Nick grabbed the back of Blaine's coat and began tugging him towards the doors. "Let's go in, I'm freezing!"

Slapping Nick's hand away, Blaine followed him inside; slipping his hand into Jeremy's when his boyfriend fell into step beside him.

"Have you been working on your set list for next Saturday?" Jeremy asked as they stepped into the rapidly filling auditorium and followed Nick and Scott down one of the aisles.

Blaine smiled at the thought of his upcoming performance. "I've chosen most of the songs I want to play and I've been working on a new song lately that I hope to have finished in time to play on Saturday as well."

They came to a stop behind Nick and Scott who were consulting the tickets and examining the numbers on the row of seats next to them.

"Do I get a sneak-peek of the set list?" Jeremy asked.

Blaine shook his head. "Nope, I want it to be a surprise."

Jeremy pouted and Blaine stuck his tongue out at him before shuffling along the row of seats behind Scott until he reached his one.

"So, what exactly is this performance we're seeing?" Nick asked as they sat down.

"It's an original short play written by and starring the second year students featuring songs from Broadway productions," Scott replied, settling back in his seat.

Blaine sat up a little straighter. "Sounds interesting. It could be fantastic if done properly which, knowing NYADA's standards, it will be."

The auditorium steadily filled around them and soon the lights dimmed and the performance started. Scott's friend Melissa was one of the first out on stage along with a shorter dark-haired girl with an incredible voice who Blaine was sure he had seen before somewhere. He stared at the girl as she continued to belt out a verse of 'Don't Rain on My Parade' whilst some of her fellow performers danced behind her. He was positive he had seen her before, and recently, but he couldn't think where.

The song ended to thunderous applause and some more people came on stage as a dialogue part of the show was acted out. Blaine found himself becoming more impressed as the show went on, he had always known that the students of NYADA were excellent at performing as the college only accepted the very best, but the talent of the people on stage was blowing him away. Judging from the dead silence of the rest of the audience, he wasn't the only one completely captivated by the performance.

As the scene continued, Blaine found his attention being repeatedly drawn to a slender young man upstage. He had a beautiful voice, higher than most males, which Blaine could only describe as angelic. He was wearing a hat that put his face in shadow so Blaine, frustratingly, couldn't see what he looked like. He couldn't wait for him to sing and hoped he had a decent solo as Blaine could tell he would be an amazing singer. He almost groaned out loud when the scene finished and the guy with the angelic voice left the stage along with several others.

A couple of songs and several scenes later, some of which included the guy with the beautiful voice though annoyingly he had still only really been in the background so far, and the opening notes to 'Not The Boy Next Door' filled the auditorium and the young man he was so desperate to hear sing stepped forward into the light and Blaine's jaw dropped.

It was Kurt. He had removed the hat he had been wearing earlier and changed his costume and Blaine recognised him instantly; now he knew why his attention had been drawn to him whenever he had been on stage. Kurt began to sing and Blaine couldn't do anything but stare speechlessly at him. He knew his mouth was probably hanging open in awe and he was barely breathing, but Kurt's voice. He sounded beautiful, like nothing Blaine had ever heard before. He had a voice that Blaine knew he could listen to for hours without ever getting sick of hearing or would ever not feel breathless listening to. Kurt performed a completely flawless rendition of 'Not The Boy Next Door' and though a few others came out to join him on stage towards the end of the song, he might as well have still been alone on stage for all the attention Blaine paid to the other performers.

Blaine couldn't have dragged his eyes away from Kurt no matter how hard he tried as he watched him effortlessly hit the high notes towards the end of the song. Kurt looked like he belonged up there on the stage: acting, singing, and dancing looked completely natural and effortless for him and he was absolutely captivating whilst he performed.

The song ended and Blaine continued to stare dumbstruck at the stage for a few seconds before he joined in enthusiastically with the tumultuous applause.

"Wait a second," Nick whispered as the applause died off and another scene started on stage. Nick was frowning at the stage. "Isn't that-?"

He broke off suddenly and Blaine shot him a quick, confused look. Nick shook his head, indicating Jeremy with a nod of his head, before turning his attention back to the stage. Feeling more puzzled, Blaine faced the stage again, forgetting all about Nick when Kurt began to talk again.

Blaine sat frozen in his seat as he watched Kurt, hand-in-hand with the short dark-haired girl who Blaine now knew was who he had seen with Kurt at the subway station one day – the one who had inadvertently told him that the blue-eyed young man he saw regularly on the subway was called Kurt – bow along with the rest of the performers. He beamed down at the applauding audience, his nose crinkling up adorably with the extent of his smile. Blaine kept his eyes on him until the curtain went down, the lights came back on, and people began to start leaving the auditorium. He sat staring at the spot where Kurt had been standing until Nick nudged him and he snapped back to his immediate surroundings.

He followed his friends as they slowly made their way out of the auditorium, shuffling along behind other audience members. Nick, Jeremy, and Scott raved about the show as they walked, but Blaine didn't join in. He was only dimly aware of the conversation his friends were having and the presence of dozens of other audience members around him, his head was still filled with the sound of Kurt singing, his mind holding onto the image of him on that stage.

"That was Kurt!" A voice hissed in his ear.

Blaine jumped. They had finally exited the auditorium into the large entryway and Nick had held back to walk beside him, allowing Scott and Jeremy to move away ahead of them.

"Uh-" Blaine cleared his throat. "Uh yeah, it was."

Nick's eyes searched his face for a moment. "He is an amazing performer; his voice is just- wow."

Blaine nodded dazedly.

They reached the corridor leading through to the backstage area and dressing rooms. Scott and Jeremy were standing half-way up the corridor with Melissa, praising her performance. Nick placed a hand on Blaine's arm to stop him outside the corridor.

He hesitated, licking his lips. "I saw you during Kurt's solo. I saw the expression on your face, the way you were looking at him."

He paused and Blaine stared at him, not knowing what to say and unable to think of anything other than Kurt on that stage.

Nick shot a quick glance down the corridor where Jeremy and Scott were still talking to Melissa, Scott waving his hands around as he spoke. "Good thing Jeremy was too absorbed in the show to see your face when Kurt was singing, because-" He broke off, watching Blaine hesitantly for a few seconds. "You have a big crush on Kurt, Blaine whether you have realized that yourself or not, and you really need to do something about it." He smiled at Blaine, just a brief, small upturn of the corners of his mouth, before he turned and walked away down the corridor to join Scott and Jeremy leaving Blaine staring after him, his mind reeling.