Blaine's renewed enthusiasm for music spread. The Warblers convinced Blaine to play for them while he waited for Kurt to arrive, and the list of requests grew as more and more Warblers joined them, long enough to keep him playing long after Kurt showed up. Any other time the flattery of their desire to have him play for them would be all he needed to sit with them through the evening. It wasn't how he intended to spend a spring afternoon at Dalton with Kurt visiting. The sun streaming through the grand windows taunted him with the reminder of how much he wanted to see Kurt's skin bathed in all that natural light. How close it was to reality if they could just be alone.

Kurt laughed when Blaine cast another furtive look at the door. "You inspired them. It's sweet."

One more song and then he'd make his excuses. He'd give himself five more minutes of social obligation.

Blaine craned his neck at what he thought was his name spoken in the hallway. He shook it off and kept playing. He must've misheard.

"You're going to let him waste himself on a cheap cabaret."

Blaine's music stuttered. Kurt tilted his head toward the hallway. "Do you want me to spy? If so, you have to keep playing piano."

"Hunter's always picking a fight." Trent waved dismissively. "It'd be more noteworthy if he wasn't. Go back to the music."

Proving Trent right, the sound of Hunter's half of the argument reached them again. "Do you realize how much money we could make?"

"It's the definition of low-rent," Wes calmly responded, audible in the common room for the first time. "Your proposition doesn't fit with our image."

"But a fucking cabaret..."

Trent sighed at the interruption to his solo.

"Wes will smack down whatever nonsense he's going on about. Not suffering fools is, like, his superpower," Nick said reassuringly to Kurt as Kurt dropped all pretense of not listening in.

"This makes no business sense," Hunter continued with a scowl in his voice.

Wes appeared in the entryway. "Blaine, try not to play anything that's going to kill the mood. Sound carries."

Hunter stormed in after him. "Must be nice to be the hottest slut around. Everyone bends over backwards for you."

"And pays you for the pleasure of it!" Trent said with a snap. The other Warblers laughed, Jeff elbowing Trent's side for going for such an obvious punchline.

Usually sharing secrets brought people closer together, but confessing his Broadway dreams to Hunter clearly hadn't endeared him: Blaine could tell that Hunter felt nothing for him. The attention-loving, people-pleasing part of him – which admittedly made up a very large portion of the whole of him – couldn't comprehend how someone like Hunter didn't want to be friends with him when Blaine tried so hard to be someone everyone liked.

Blaine reminded himself that it wasn't personal: Hunter was always barking orders at the other Warblers and wheedling with the council. Warblers stepped out of his way in the halls. Blaine didn't understand how someone could either not notice or not care about his negative effect on others.

Hunter continued to press his issue. "The council should be involved in this decision."

Wes's judgmental eyebrow arch could rival Kurt's. "If I want an opinion, other than the driver's, I'll consider it." He turned to Blaine. "Can you do Madonna?"

Wes loosened his suit jacket and tore intoPapa Don't Preach.

Alongside him, Kurt clapped gleefully at Wes was sassing Hunter through song, although Wes looked directly a Blaine when he said "what I need right now is some good advice." Hunter left before Wes finished.

Kurt's eyes followed Hunter's retreat while Wes took a bow. "He's up to something."

"Some people don't like music." Blaine didn't understand how that could be, but he'd heard people say that and he tried not to doubt their ability to understand their own likes. "Sound carries, like Wes said."

"I know what scheming looks like, Blaine. You may believe the best in everyone but I know a kindred spirit when I see one. We're always up to something, and his something involves you."

"I'd rather be involved in your plots." He nudged Kurt's side playfully. "I think Wes gave the perfect final performance for the day." Blaine cast a pointedly longing eye at the door.

Kurt grinned. "I can come up with something then."

***

The spirit of Kurt's No Touching Below the Waist rule was kept mostly intact when Blaine straddled Kurt's lap on Kurt's bed, with his knees sometimes bumping Kurt's hips when he got too distracted by what their mouths were doing, but it felt a little like cheating. Even more so than all theotherways to make him moan Blaine explored without a single move below the belt. It'd be so easy for Kurt to let his hands slip down Blaine's body, beyond the invisible lines they drew.

He grew tired of waiting, and cold showers, and mixed signals as he repeatedly, accidentally broke his own rules in his rush to be as close as possible.

Kurt tended to have pretty good tabs on what he wanted, given that it was such an extensive list: a resume that wasn't laughably short or filled with lies, a chance for the show he spent years working on to be seen and appreciated, Blaine. Blaine in general and Blaine in every spare moment of time and Blaine in years to come, if Kurt could be so lucky. And Blaine in his bed, like this moment, carefree an beautiful and without any defenses up, sharing as much space as Kurt allowed.

Waiting for Blaine to make a move led nowhere: he'd edge Blaine's hand as low on his hips as he dared but Blaine never moved beyond where he had express permission to be. If Kurt jostled them anymore the touching he was after would be accidental and there would be apologies and worries from both of them about overstepping but notprogress. He didn't want to just shove Blaine's hand down his pants and hope Blaine was willing: he wanted permission and Blaine no doubt wanted permission and no one wanted to push. So Kurt forced himself to be as still as possible and hint instead. He even tried Blaine's How to Seduce Someone Techniques (TM, probably) in hopes that Blaine would recognize something. He didn't need to think about cheesecake to convey desire, which presumably made the looks more convincing. The sex he wanted to have was so tantalizingly close.

He had to say something. All the coy looks and indiscrete moans couldn't convey exactly what he wanted, that's what words were for.

Breaking away from Blaine drew a breathy gasp from Kurt even though he was the one to initiate it. Stopping was hard for them. One would linger and lean back in and the other would follow. They lost whole afternoons that way. Kissing Blaine was addicting and Blaine didn't help – he never willingly let Kurt go unless commanded to do so.

Kurt paused a moment to regain his voice. "Do you ever want more?"

He had an active imagination and a goal-oriented personality; his own want shouldn't have surprised him.

Thoughts about them together came to Kurt more and more. Enough that thoughts started to look like plans. Very detailed plans that led to a less-embarrassing-than-foreseen trip to the convenience store for supplies. Nothing said "I don't know what I'm doing" like actually looking at the options for what seemed like ages, but Kurt was nothing if not determined to be successful. Next time, once they ran out, he'd make Blaine go with him so they could giggle and browse and fantasize together.

Intentionality mattered to Kurt. His strict hands above the waist rule suited his desire to take this step together completely aware of what they were doing by breaking it. Every time he was alone with Blaine the thought crossed his mind.

"We'll wait. We'll wait as long as you want," Blaine promised, which wasn't really an answer. "I won't pressure you. I need more than that from you. I want so much."

"But if you didn't have to . . . Wait, what?" Kurt cut himself off from his original line of thought as curiosity piqued. "Like what?" the sentiment was generic enough, but Blaine didn't just say sentimental nonsense he didn't mean. Flattery seemed like an impending possibility; he could derail his intended conversation for a moment.

"Well . . ." Blaine eased himself out of Kurt's lap with one last playful kiss to Kurt's cheek. "Everythingis cheating, isn't it?"

Discontent with the distance Blaine tried to give, Kurt kept their momentum going and swung a leg over Blaine's lap. Blaine huffed with little laugh as he moved his hands to Kurt's waist to help him get settled. They swayed under the transfer of weight. Kurt brushed his nose against Blaine's encouragingly.

"I want to bring you flowers on opening night. I want you see your curtain call and know when you blow a kiss it's meant for me. I want to be there for your first award. I want to see everything you do. I want you around to keep me grounded. So I know I'm here for a reason. Before I met you my world was black and white. You made it Technicolor."

"Blaine . . ." Flattery worked wonders on him every time, but Blaine's heartfelt confession appealed to more than just his vanity. Kurt felt loved. Grateful. Lucky. He loved Blaine for being the kind of person to make a relationship bucket list. For letting Kurt see his earnestness. Kurt intended to proposition Blaine when he initiated this conversation. Blaine made it so easy to follow through.

"I want you," he murmured against Blaine's cheek. "It's not about beating Will to the punch or finally have this experience over with. You're sweet and charming and I want you, Blaine. I want to do this with you. Please don't say no unless it's on your own behalf."

"Kurt, I -" Blaine's voice caught. "How could I not want another way to be close to you?"

"So..." Another Eskimo kiss for courage since Blaine confessed once he found the little nudging touch to be incredibly sweet and 'the perfect epitome of their relationship.' "Can we close the space?"

"As close as you want," Blaine swore.

Kurt pushed himself off of Blaine's lap.

"Um. I was hoping it'd be in the opposite direction?" Blaine's forehead wrinkled at the suddenly wide berth between them.

"I didn't get up to startputting onmore clothes." Kurt tugged Blaine into standing with him.

Blaine let himself be led. "Give me boundaries."

Kurt considered.Start gentle. Go slow.Blaine knew how to be careful and respectful and that wouldn't change. "Don't be anyone but you."

"Never pretend for you," Blaine promised as he surged forward, his hands on Kurt's face to guide them. Kurt parted his lips and let Blaine overwhelm his senses.

Blaine undid the watch clasp and kissed Kurt's wrist as he handed it over. They continued like that with Blaine removing accessories and articles of clothing and Kurt setting them aside with less and less care as they progressed until his vest and collared shirt were in a pile on the floor. Blaine barely needed to reach for the buttons before Kurt had it off and he was left in a plain white t-shirt and skinny jeans.

"Oh, there you are." Blaine rubbed his thumb over the thin sleeve, the last of the layers.

"Here I am." Kurt swayed coyly in agreement, leaning further into Blaine's touch. They were almost touching everywhere. He couldn't help the giddy smile that broke through.

"Tell me you want to see me naked," Blaine breathed against his lips.

Kurt took his own steadying breath. He had years of practice strictly containing his desires, carefully censuring his actions so he wouldn't be so damnedobviousall the time. Just as carefully he let them go. They both deserved honesty.

Kurt only took a moment before pulling back just enough to look into Blaine's eyes, down to his mouth, and back. "All of you. I want to see all of you."

He tugged on Blaine's shirt until Blaine moved his arms up out of the way. Blaine wasn't all that keen on being helpful while focused on Kurt's belt and figuring out how to unbuckle it. Kurt would explain it to him in a moment, once he got over the cute furrow on Blaine's forehead as Blaine ran his fingers along the full length of the belt with no clasp in sight. Despite Kurt's fumbling and Blaine's focus elsewhere, Blaine's pants were much easier.

The sight left Kurt dumbstruck. "I think your underpants are fancier than mine."

He covered his mouth but a nervous giggle squeaked out from between his fingers. He didn't foresee this, hadn't even entertained the idea and sorted out how to respond. No one outdid him on fashion, but where Kurt valued quality Blaine clearly valued style. And sex appeal. And not a lot of fabric. The skimpy briefs cut across the cheek and low on his hips and were practically neon in their brightness. They were so blatantly for show, for someone like Kurt to look and admire and forget all else.

Blaine coaxed Kurt into uncovering his mouth. "Buy different, fancier ones later if that's important to you," Blaine responded with just a hint of a whine at the halt in their progress. "Or, if you're that jealous, take mine off."

Kurt couldn't help another high laugh, shaking off his false start. "I like your pragmatic approach." He wasn't sure if he wanted to compete in a fancy underpants one-upmanship, as entertaining as it sounded in theory; Blaine's were blatantly sexy in a way Kurt didn't see working on himself nearly as spectacularly as they did on Blaine. Blaine had fantastic legs and Kurt could see every compact inch of them, as well as the jut of his hipbones. Without thinking Kurt reached out to touch before he caught himself hovering over the seam.

"Do it," Blaine breathed.

Kurt skimmed a thumb along Blaine's hip. "I'm decidedly not upset." Why compete when he could admire? There wasn't all that much fabric, which just made it that much easier to try and touch every square inch.

Blaine rocked forward into a kiss that was more about closenessnowthan precision. "Please get naked." Blaine whined as his hands snaked back around Kurt's belt to figure out how it was clasped.

Kurt stilled Blaine's hands. He undid his belt himself. Kurt hooked his thumbs into his skinny jeans. "May I?"

"Let me help. Please." Blaine's eyes were so earnest.

Kurt was tempted to acquiesce. He appreciated the asking and that Blaine wanted to enough to ask. It's not like he was asking for much, or that he ever did. But Kurt wanted the control. The intentionality. He wanted to be able to look back and know with absolute certainty he acted on his own desire instead of just allowing it to happen to him.

"Next time," Kurt promised. "We'll get there."

"Next time," Blaine repeated in a fond voice Kurt thought of ashis. "Sounds perfect."

He had time to thinkI'm nakeddumbly before Blaine pulled him into a searing kiss.

"Is this okay? Tell me if you're not okay," Blaine pleaded between kisses. Blaine's hands ghosted along Kurt's waist down to his hips and back.

"So much better than okay." Calm wasn't the right word. He felt sure.

"You're beautiful," Blaine whispered as he pressed against Kurt.

"Oh god." Kurt writhed. He could feel Blaine everywhere. He rested his hand once again on the skimpy material at Blaine's hips that left very little to the imagination. Kurt had done very well on nothing but imagination, and he was officially over it. Blaine bare against his skin would be like heaven. He looped his thumbs through the waistband. But first . . .

"I bought condoms. We can use yours, I'm not invested in using mine over yours, but they were part of my planning ahead."

Blaine's grip tightened. "That's so hot," He breathed against Kurt's neck.

"I just said you don't have to humor me," Kurt laughed. He twisted in Blaine's arms to pull the box out of a nightstand anyway. "Not in so many words, but the sentiment. We can use yours."

Blaine plucked out a foil packet. "You thought about us when you picked them out?"

"Yes."

"I stand by what I said." Blaine guided Kurt to the edge of the turned- down bed. Blaine touched lightly as he rolled the condom onto Kurt. Kurt tried not to squirm as his mind echoed Blaine's earlier statement: that's so hot, that's so hot. His eyes fluttered close until he couldn't stand not seeing his boyfriend's expression.

Blaine kissed the tip with a loud "mwah!" Kurt was torn between giggling and moaning and the sound that came out was a high pitched combination of the two. Blaine grinned before slowly repeating the motion.

Kurt sank back to allow Blaine more room on the bed and grappled behind him for the other necessary condom.

Blaine kept teasing kisses to his stomach and thighs while Kurt tried to read the instructions on the packet one more time, the words not sinking in when he couldn't focus on anything butBlaine's mouthon him, soft and tentatively exploring and so distracting, until finally Kurt whined, "honey, I want to do this right!"

"I wasn't planning on letting you do it wrong?" Blaine petted at his thigh. "Come here. Closer, I mean."

Kurt propped himself back up, which proved more difficult than expected becausewow, what a rush to the head. Blaine offered a hand to guide Kurt and Kurt felt ridiculous but Blaine looked so adoring. And naked.

"We're doing this together, right, so . . . Everything'll be fine." He wrinkled his nose at Kurt, squinting and trying to be cute. Succeeding, of course he was succeeding.

Kurt grabbed the packet he was fumbling for – so much easier when he could see what he was trying to grasp – and opened it to gingerly pulled out the condom. He kept the foil with the directions in his other hand. He knew how it was supposed to work - he'd seen Blaine do it just moments before – but Blaine was so careful with him and Kurt wanted to treat Blaine with the same care, which meant checking the instructions for the tenth time in a row in case they had somehow changed on him.

Blaine plucked the foil out of Kurt's hand and tossed it aside, guiding Kurt's hands through rolling it on so easily.

"Perfect," Blaine murmured.

Kurt stared at his hands on Blaine's body and mouthed "perfect" back at him.

"You're allowed to be nervous." Eyes wide and earnest as always. Kurt could feel the tremor between them that wasn't caused by his own unsteady hands.

Blaine had a tendency to say what he needed to hear.

"Love you, this . . . both are really working for me." Kurt responded breathily. "Everything will be fine," he repeated back at Blaine.

They tumbled together to lie horizontal onto the bed, scooting higher up and beckoning for the other to follow. Kurt hadn't realized how hard he'd been working to keep his hands to himself (or at least to agreed upon areas) until he didn't have to anymore. They let themselves be as close as possible. His hips swiveled of their own accord.

His unsure movements recalled his first foray into dance: His dance skills were abysmal and yet his first ballet class at NYADA filled him with wonder at the few small things he could do, what his body was capable of if he asked it to be. The tantalizing potential. A glimpse of what it could be. He remembered the hyperawareness of his muscles. Of his breath.

His question of what Blaine's face looked like during sex didn't have one simple answer, like a snapshot in time easily captured and categorized as the definitive truth, where you know one answer and it's done. It was the shifting moment by moment reactions of gasps and moans and, yes, nose scrunching. The soft look of wonder never left Blaine's features either. Even if he hadn't requested Blaine not pretend for him, he would have to believe it: Blaine rehearsed adoration seven times a week with him and Kurt wasusedto those looks and yet his heart still skipped beats.

Blaine offered so much and they were only skimming the surface. One brief stretch of time until they couldn't stand waiting anymore wasn't enough. (Kurt was very good at waiting but that time was coming to an end.) A lifetime wasn't enough. He wanted his hands everywhere at once.

Blaine was overwhelming in the best possible way. As practiced as he was at waiting for what he wanted, Kurt couldn't stretch their time anymore.

Ceremonies, in general, were brief. It was the time after that stretched onward. Blaine kissed along Kurt's front while Kurt's hands traced down his back. He attempted to kiss every inch of skin. Kurt murmured in content as he relaxed into his bed.

"Don't get too sleepy." Blaine's voice came out husky. He tipped Kurt's head down to steal a kiss. "Please?" And another. "I don't want you to leave me just yet."

Kurt was not out of breath so much as a moment before but still coming back down. All he managed to get out was a shushing noise and bring up a finger in a loose gesture ofquiet.

Blaine kissed at the finger held to his lips.

Kurt pet at Blaine's curls until he settled into the crook of Kurt's neck, half-draped over the rest of him, their legs twined together. Kurt felt so pleased, so ridiculously smug, that the intimacy didn't end.

"So this is why everyone else is so unproductive," Kurt said when he trusted himself to string together that many words. "I thought I was special."

"You still are." Blaine didn't hide his besotted look. Kurt loved that. They were both hopeless. If he's going to fall so hard it's good to have company. Kurt let his eyelids fall shut. Let Blaine clean up and pull the sheets over their tangled bodies.

"Can you imagine we almost swore this off?" Blaine asked.

He knew they weren't talking about sex. Not exclusively. Not love in the generic sense, either, because they hadn't given up on emotion entirely. Desire, maybe. Feeling physically loved. Kurt hummed to acknowledge Blaine was heard.

He didn't think he would have this. He was too assertive or not assertive enough and he stopped looking a while ago and who would want to stick around long enough to develop the level of intimacy he felt with Blaine? Who got the chance to fall in love and gain a best friend in the process?

Blaine traced patterns down his side to pull Kurt's attention back. "Do you feel different?"

"Do you?"

There's no bite in the question. There might have been if someone other than Blaine was asking, if he wasn't snuggled against someone who loved him. Who just thoroughly exhausted him and left him feeling sated. He got that the question was about virginity and if this moment was it or if it was lost long before, to Will Schuester or his sexual awakening or merely time passing until he was no longer innocent.

Virgin was a label others applied to him. He didn't use it to describe himself – it came with too much baggage. So when he stopped being something he never really thought he was required some mental reconfiguring. Did he feel different? Unequivocally. Because he was in love. Because Blaine made him feel amazing. Because Blaine took such care with him and his too easily bruised feelings and carefully guarded body.

"Yes," Blaine admitted after a moment's consideration, soft and shy. "I do." Kurt was glad he tempered himself. Blaine sounded like he could shatter.

"Maybe it's an ending. But it's a beginning too. I've started something with you. This doesn't feel like a goodbye to anything. Except maybe loneliness and you helped with that a while ago." Kurt had plenty of ceremonies around goodbyes – he liked getting them right – but this ceremony wasn't one of those. Maybe it was the loss of his virginity and maybe it wasn't, but this momentmattered.

"You're the best thing. The absolute best thing in my life."

Kurt smiled giddily against Blaine's skin. He's nowhere near first for Blaine but he matters too.

***

Kurt pulled back when he started to drift off. The sleep-like, floaty, Blaine-induced feeling had to wear off eventually and waking up freezing and miserable didn't appeal to him. He slid out of bed to retrieve sleepwear. Kurt had an unease with nudity that wasn't entirely centered around modesty and embarrassment, or the cold that started to seep in. Crises could come at any time: When the next one hit he was going to be wearing clothes.

"No, hey," Blaine protested with a whine at Kurt's movement. He pushed himself into a seated position, sheets pooling around his waist. "I'm in your bed. You can't leave me."

"Do you want something?" Kurt gestured to the drawer, lifting a pair of blue flannel pajamas for Blaine to see.

The panic from a moment before dissipated. "Oh. I'd love that."

Kurt set the pajamas he pulled out for Blaine on the bed and started to slip into his sleep pants.

"Let me help. Please." Blaine touched at Kurt's hip before sliding his hands down to the waistband.

They set about putting each other back together. Blaine held onto Kurt's waist while Kurt pulled on a nightshirt. He reverently smoothed down the fabric. Kurt buttoned up Blaine's top. Transformation from sexy to adorable complete. "Perfect."

"You can't just say things like that."

Kurt sleepily settled back into bed. "I can do whatever I please. That includes thinking you're perfect. You could try to change my opinion but it would take a lot of work, and for what payoff?"

Blaine pulled Kurt's arms around him. "I can't think of a single thing that would be worth it."

***

As ideal as staying in Kurt's bed forever sounded, Blaine had to return eventually, worried about lingering too long when his life was at Dalton. He whistled at Pavarotti and checked the cage's food and water levels. Pavarotti ignored him. His room was otherwise still, just as he left it, andlonely. His room felt oddly unlived it given that Blaine wasn't gone that long. He waited for being at Dalton to settle back into feeling normal again.

"I see you've been off playing house." Sebastian pushed the door the rest of the way open. He danced his fingers up the doorframe. "Or shack."

Blaine beamed. "I love it." He missed Kurt's room already. Kurt's bed. Time away felt like penance. He'd be so good if it meant he could go back to Kurt.

Sebastian leaned, unimpressed, in the doorway. "Yeah, I bet you do."

Blaine kept smiling. Sebastian was just jealous.

"Hunter was looking for you."

As much as he didn't like how Hunter didn't like him, Blaine had no desire to stay in the empty room.

The Warblers stood gathered around the piano, waiting patiently for Blaine and the music to return. Nick whooped when he entered. At the sound the other Warblers turned to welcome him warmly as well.

"Are you taking requests?" Trent asked as he steered Blaine toward the piano bench. "We need some Destiny's Child to wow my audience."

Hunter stayed more reserved at the back of the group with his arms crossed in front of him. "Speak of the golden goose. How's our star?"

Blaine blinked in confusion; the complimentary names set him on edge when he knew Hunter felt no affection toward him. Hunter didn't seem to be mocking him – not yet – but the sickly sweet tone didn't seem genuine either. Or match his body language. Everything about him set off Blaine's internal warnings, and had ever since Kurt raised his own suspicions about Hunter.

"Glad you're here for this," Hunter continued. "Who wants to see our Blainers on his rise to fame?" Hunter waggled his phone at the crowd, video already queued up. Warblers crowded around him obediently, although a few stole curious glances at Blaine in the process.

When Blaine followed the crowd he recognized the video from an interview session with Artie, who had entered the rehearsal space earlier that week declaring, "I need content, bitches." Blaine he hadn't seen the final video, but he trusted Artie to do a good job and he was pleasantly surprised at the Warblers' interest in his pursuits outside of Dalton. As far as Blaine knew, no one had any.

Sebastian snorted when Kurt appeared on the screen after Artie's brief introduction to the show. "People pay to listen to that voice? That crosses the line from self-confidence into delusion."

Blaine's anger flared. Blaine shot a mean look at him that he knew he learned from Kurt. "Don't be like that. There's nothing clever about being rude, so just stop."

His own image appeared in the video. He cringed at his flaws, minimized in his own mind for the sake of functioning but so plainly there for all to see. And yet he couldn't look away, hoping in spite of all of the glaring flaws he made himself proud.

"You look so nervous!" Thad cooed as the video image of Blaine waved at the camera. Blaine ignored Sebastian's chuckle when he said something too trite in Artie's interview.

"You took a second job?" Nick asked with disbelieving painted across his features.

"If you need more money I bet Sebastian would keep you busy," Trent sassed. He offered a self-congratulatory smirk for his joke.

Blaine never understood how Trent could tease or condescend for letting Sebastian pay him when they all exchanged sex for money. There was no romance there – had never been romance between them except inside Blaine's head – just a constant losing struggle to avoid being taken advantage of once he realized that's all it was. It wasn't funny to him. He thought Trent's rebuff of Hunter calling him a pampered whore had been about more than a punchline.

"You'd leave us? You don't want to be a Warbler anymore?"

"I didn't say that." Blaine held up his hands in protest. His people pleasing came out in full force at the first sign of conflict. Sebastian would laugh even more if Blaine said on stage he felt like he finally did something right.

"I thought the music was just for fun."

"I don't get it. You have everything you could need here. Just let that be enough," David said.

"I can't imagine putting myself out there like that for the whole world to see," Jeff said from Nick's side.

"A whole theatre of people sitting there judging you! And small factions of the internet, of course."

The unrest of the other Warblers didn't deter Hunter. "Nothing wrong with wanting to see your name in lights, right, boys? He was meant for more than the rest of us. And now the rest of the world knows it."

Blaine shot a grumpy look at Hunter for the unhelpful endorsement. Wes watched the scene unfold without saying a word.