Blaine stared at him for a moment. "Seriously?" he asked. "Did she – oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"I wish I was," Kurt replied, frowning at his phone. "She went to see coach Beiste today after the Maria-off. I bet she did it because she's unsure of whether she'll get the part, but…"

"There should've been something else she could've done instead," Blaine finished for him. "Especially since she's already in practically every club in school."

"She doesn't need this," Kurt agreed. "So why would she do this?"

Blaine's face fell. He hated that he couldn't help Kurt somehow; it wasn't like Rachel would listen to him. "Come on," he said, "let's get out of here."

"Where are we going?" Kurt asked, confused. He still followed Blaine out, though.

"I don't know," Blaine replied. "Why don't you decide?"

o-o-o-o-o

It was a necessary measure. She hadn't wanted to, but she had to. Surely Kurt would understand that. There was no way she would get the role of Maria – or rather, she wouldn't be the only one to get the part – and she needed something to put on her application for NYADA. She would make Kurt vice-president and then they'd both have something. Now, she only needed to get some ideas for her campaign, and she'd be all set. Beating Brittany should be easy, and Rachel was sure that there were heaps of people who didn't like the hockey guy.

She was brainstorming in the kitchen when the front door opened, and Rachel looked up in surprise. Normally, neither her fathers nor Blaine were home so early.

However, there were just footsteps running up the stairs, and about half a minute later, they came downstairs again. Rachel got up from the table as quietly as she could and peeked into the hallway. Thankfully, it was only Blaine.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

Blaine turned around, shooting her an annoyed look. "Out," he said. "I don't think I'll be back in time for dinner."

Rachel glared back. "You can't just do that."

"Since when do you have any say in what I do?" Blaine shot back. "I'm leaving now, Rach. I'm really disappointed in you."

He turned back around and walked out of the door, closing it behind him.

He was disappointed in her? Rachel huffed. Yeah, right. If anything, he should be applauding her persistence in making her dreams come true when others (like Blaine himself) made them near impossible to reach.

o-o-o-o-o

"Thanks again for doing this," Kurt said for what had to be the fourth time since they'd exited the Lima Bean. They'd driven to Blaine's house first, where Blaine had dropped off his own car, before moving on to the mall.

"Really, it's no problem," Blaine repeated, smiling. "Besides, I know how well retail therapy lifts your spirits."

Kurt rolled his eyes, but strolled on, dragging Blaine along to all the stores he wanted to hit. Blaine was well aware of the fact that his feet would be dead by the end of this – he'd had two years of practice by now, yes, but he wasn't a pro like Kurt just yet – but it was all worth it. Kurt was worth it.

Blaine really sounded like a sap in his head.

They talked about all kinds of things, though mostly about musicals – there were a couple of shows being performed in various community theatres nearby and the boys still hadn't quite made up their minds about which one (or ones) to attend. Sometimes, Kurt would try to make Blaine try on some clothes as well, and every now and then, Blaine actually did so. He usually didn't buy anything, though, unless Kurt seemed to love the particular item.

They purposefully avoided the subjects of Rachel, the school musical and the class presidency the whole time. Blaine was, for once, glad that he wasn't a senior, so he wouldn't have to choose between voting for his sister and voting for his best friend.

When Blaine arrived back home a few hours later, he quickly greeted his dads before storming upstairs to his room. He would go and confront Rachel, but she would be totally obnoxious about the matter, he was certain. Rachel just wasn't always very good at taking other people's feelings into consideration when she did things. Besides, knowing Kurt, he would want to confront Rachel himself at school tomorrow.

o-o-o-o-o

Rachel had been itching to go over to Blaine's room to ask him where he'd been and what he'd meant before leaving, but she was glad that she'd managed to contain herself. Her brother was obviously just upset, and he would get over it soon enough. They couldn't both be the mature sibling, right?

The first few hours at school, she walked around with her back straight and a smile on her face – after all, a class president needed to be confident and nice. The same, incidentally, went for Maria.

Then, Kurt confronted her, and no matter how hard she tried, he didn't want to listen to reason – if one of them got cast in the musical, so would the other. It was either that, or neither of them could get to be in it. What was left for Rachel then? Kurt mentioned her various other clubs, which, admittedly, Rachel hadn't been a part of anymore since the start of the school year, and he continued talking about making a difference for other kids like him, which Rachel thought was an awfully dirty move on his part. Was Kurt really going to use Rachel's own brother against her?

And was this what Blaine had been talking about yesterday? Rachel took a deep breath. Well, sacrifices had to be made in order to rise to greatness. She just wasn't so sure anymore about what sacrifices were too big to make.

o-o-o-o-o

Not too longer after that, Rachel and Mercedes were called towards Ms Pillsbury's office to hear the directors' verdict. Rachel was very relieved by the news of the double-casting, although, of course, she would've been even happier if she'd been the only one to get the part. At least she didn't need to listen to both Kurt and her fathers telling her off for wanting to dissuade Blaine from going for the role of Tony anymore. That was, of course, if Kurt was still willing to talk to her.

Then Mercedes asked if they'd double cast any of the other roles too. Ms Pillsbury replied, "We're double casting Tony as well."

Turning to Rachel, Mercedes asked, "Tell me something, Rachel. Were you better than me? Can you tell me honestly that you were better than me at the Maria-off?"

The truth was, of course she couldn't. As she'd told Finn right after the song, Mercedes had done an amazing job. The other girl seemed to deem her silence enough of a response.

"So why are you doing this?" she asked the directors.

"We want to give all of you equal opportunity to shine," Artie replied.

"Even though I was better at the Maria-off?" Mercedes asked. "And I know that you think Blaine would make a better Tony than Kurt."

"Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine don't mind being double cast, so why – " Rachel started, and Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Because A, they're too good friends not to let the other have the part, and B, they're too busy making heart eyes at one another when the other isn't looking to notice even if neither of them were cast."

Rachel stared at her for a moment. They made heart eyes at each other? Meaning that Kurt – okay. Rachel had a lot of work to do, it seemed.

"So you want to deny Kurt the chance of shining in a musical just – " she started, but Mercedes interrupted her.

"That's rich, coming from the second person who went from being his campaign manager to his opponent for the senior class presidency," Mercedes shot back. "Besides," she continued, now looking back at the directors, "even if you want to cast both Kurt and Blaine as Tony, you wouldn't need to double-cast Maria as well."

"Well, as said, we want to give you both an equal opportunity to shine," coach Beiste said.

Ms Pillsbury added, "Besides, this way, you'll have more time in between performances to rest up and improve." She looked incredibly happy about this, and Rachel did her best to smile back, if only to show that she did support this idea.

"How will the performances be divided between us?" Mercedes asked, still not looking too happy about the arrangement.

"We're adding a week," Artie replied. "You'll each get two matinees and four nights, and we're sure you'll both do the part justice in your own unique ways."

"I'll consider it," Mercedes said. The directors looked rather relieved to hear that, even though Mercedes made her way out of the office quickly after she'd spoken.

o-o-o-o-o

"So," Kurt said, "are you ready to walk over and have a look at the casting list?" He smiled brightly, but Blaine knew that he was nervous.

"I'm ready when you are," he replied. He'd heard snippets of what had happened regarding the role of Maria the day before, and both boys' fate was in the hands of Rachel and Mercedes. "I think I'll ask if I can be Bernardo instead if you get the part," he added in an afterthought, and Kurt grinned.

"You'd have to kill Mike, and I'd have to kill you. And you'd probably be playing opposite Santana." He laughed at Blaine's face. "I suppose that'd be my second choice as well, though I doubt they'll let me be Bernardo when they already thought I was too delicate for Tony."

"Well, come on then," Blaine said, grabbing Kurt's arm and hoping that that was okay. It was nothing they hadn't done before, but not in a crowded school corridor. "Let's go and check."

Mike and Santana were already celebrating their casting in front of the notice board, it seemed, but they moved away when Kurt and Blaine approached. They only needed half a second to glance over the list, and then they smiled at each other. Without even thinking about it, Blaine pulled Kurt into a fierce hug, both of them grinning at he did so.

They'd both got the part.