"So how'd the audition go?"

Blaine looked up from his coffee and pulled a face. "It went… well, I guess," he replied, before glancing back down at his coffee. Normally, he and Kurt went to the Lima Bean after school, but today, Kurt had to help his dad at the shop, for which Blaine was actually rather thankful now. He didn't know what he would've said or done if he'd had to face Kurt now.

Instead, he had asked some other friends to come, and luckily, Nick and Jeff had been more than willing to come to the coffee shop as soon as Dalton let out.

"But?" Jeff prodded.

"But," Blaine repeated, before shaking his head. "Rachel was… her typical self."

"That can't have been good," Nick remarked. The two boys had only met Rachel a handful of times, and she'd hardly talked to them on those occasions (since they were the enemy and why did Blaine and Kurt hang out with Dalton boys anyway, didn't they have enough friends at McKinley?), but they'd heard enough stories to know what she was (or could be) like.

"We… kind of didn't realise that we'd have to kiss as leads," Blaine confessed, inwardly yelling at himself, because how could they not have realised something like that?

"You didn't realise," Nick repeated disbelievingly. "Isn't that the general consensus of plays and movies of this kind, though? The two leads usually end up being romantically involved?"

"I don't know what we were thinking," Blaine muttered. "But I know one thing, and that is that I'm not prepared to make out with my sister."

"So… what are you going to do now?" Jeff asked after a few seconds of silence.

"I don't know," Blaine sighed. "Mercedes is going to audition for Maria, and then we'll just have to wait and see what the directors think is best. They do know that Rachel and I don't want to be Tony and Maria together."

"So they might put Mercedes opposite you?" Nick asked. "That's… okay, right?"

"I'm fine with it," Blaine assured them. "I really hope Mercedes is too, and the entire school knows I'm gay so her boyfriend shouldn't have to view me as a threat." In Blaine's mind, that would be the least problematic solution. "They could also put Kurt opposite either of them."

"Ah." The two Warblers smiled knowingly.

"That's Rachel's go-to plan now," Blaine added. "She pretty much told me to back down and give the part to Kurt so at least she could still be Maria."

"And what does Kurt have to say about this?" Nick asked.

Blaine sighed again. "He doesn't know yet." His mind briefly flashed back to the conversation they'd had before the audition. Even though they were technically competitors, Kurt had tried his best to make sure Blaine was ready and relaxed and had faith in himself. "He wants the part, but…"

"The question is, would he still want it if he knows what Rachel's doing," Jeff supplied when Blaine drifted off.

A small smile took over Blaine's face as he thought about the other boy. Kurt was really one of a kind. No matter how much he wanted something, he always kept in mind what the consequences would be, both for him and for others. If he felt like he was only getting the part because of Rachel's scheming, he might just refuse the role. Rachel, on the other hand, usually tended to forget about the consequences of her actions.

"It's not like I absolutely don't want him to have the role," Blaine said. Even if they would never be more, Kurt was still his friend, after all. "I just…" He groaned. "I really don't want him and Rachel to kiss."

"Because nothing's as awkward as watching your crush make out with your sister," Nick agreed.

"Or the other way around," Jeff added.

"That's the same thing," Nick pointed out, but Jeff shrugged.

"They both sound awkward in their own way."

"That's true," Nick conceded.

"And it would feel… weird," Blaine continued. "If we ever were to start dating, I'd constantly be reminded of the fact that he and Rachel kissed before we did. I hate this."

"So just tell him," Jeff suggested. "He probably likes you back."

"Of course he doesn't," Blaine scoffed. "He probably just sees me as his best friend's younger brother."

Nick actually laughed at this. "Blaine, tell me again, how did you and Kurt meet?"

"In Glee," Blaine replied, not sure what Nick was doing. "We met at auditions day."

"And where did Rachel and Kurt meet?" Nick asked, and Blaine made a sound of impatience.

"In Glee," he repeated. "They'd had some classes together before, but never talked before joining Glee club."

"Right, so both you and Rachel met Kurt at the same time," Nick reminded him. "There was no way Rachel had told him all kinds of stories about her younger brother before that time, so his first impression of you was definitely not, 'oh, it's Rachel's younger brother'."

"Besides, didn't you and Kurt hang out long before Kurt and Rachel started having somewhat civil conversations?" Jeff added.

"Okay, I get it," Blaine said. "But even if he doesn't see me as Rachel's annoying kid brother, I'm still younger than them. More immature, and all that."

"I don't know who you've been talking to, but the fact that you're a couple of months younger than Rachel doesn't make you less mature than her," Jeff told him.

"I also think you should tell him," Nick said. "You're practically attached at the hip at times anyway, so it's not like it would be that big a change."

"So like you and Jeff?" Blaine asked, causing the two boys to roll their eyes.

"That's different," Nick evaded. "I'm certain that Kurt likes you too. I can't imagine him being happy with it if you never tell him about your feelings just because Rachel is going to kiss him for a play. And maybe he won't feel very comfortable admitting his feelings to you with the prospect of having to kiss your sister."

"Alright, maybe I'll tell him," Blaine gave in. Once he was sure it wouldn't wreck their friendship, that was.

"Tell who what?"

Blaine almost jumped three feet in the air, only managing to stay on the chair because of the hand lying innocently on his shoulder.

"Kurt!" Jeff exclaimed happily. "Blaine said you were working at your dad's shop today!"

"I was," Kurt said, sitting down in the only free seat left – right next to Blaine, of course. "There was nothing to do, though, so dad shooed me out again." He smiled at all three of them before asking, "So what were you talking about?"

Blaine opened his mouth to reply, but closed it a few seconds later when he couldn't come up with any excuse. He felt blood rushing to his head and any moment now, he would just say what he was so afraid to say, and Kurt would hate and avoid him forever.

"Finn," Jeff promptly said, his eyes widening promptly.

"Yeah, Finn," Nick said, nodding furiously, and Blaine knew that there was no way Kurt would fall for that. He wasn't exactly a good liar, and Nick and Jeff were fumbling as well. "Blaine was going to tell Finn that he should audition for West Side Story after all."

Kurt frowned. "Why would you do that?" he asked Blaine. "You know he's busy with school and football and helping my dad out…"

"I wasn't sure if we had enough guys there who could sing?" Blaine offered.

"Awesome, more competition for Tony," Kurt said with a half-hearted smile. "Speaking of, how'd the audition go?"

"It went well," Blaine repeated his earlier words, but with more vigour this time. After all, he wasn't quite ready to tell Kurt about his and Rachel's sudden epiphany and his subsequent admission that he was in love with Kurt. Not at all. "I guess we'll just have to wait until the cast list goes up now, right?"

The four boys stayed in the Lima Bean for almost another hour after that, just chatting about what was going on in their lives. Sneaking glances at Kurt the entire time, Blaine desperately hoped that he would be able to tell his best friend how he felt – and kiss him, too – before Rachel would get the chance to ruin everything.