By the time Friday had arrived, Kurt was a bundle of nerves. He somehow had managed to almost constantly practice his audition piece without Blaine hearing him once and he started questioning how he was going to sing in front of a whole show choir when he was too nervous to even sing for his roommate. Who also had turned into his best friend in a matter of less than five days. Kurt was pretty sure he'd been referring to Blaine as that in his head after day two or three.

But there was also the problem that Kurt had spent the same amount of time developing an almost worrying crush on that best friend. And he was pretty sure he wouldn't have survived it if Blaine had heard him and told him he should rather not audition. Kurt was almost certain that much like his sense for fashion, his voice was a gift but the doubts at the back of his mind were making him even more nervous.

Other than that, though, Kurt's first week at Dalton had gone better than he could have ever hoped for. He'd really made friends with Nick and Jeff and his classes were so much more challenging than anything he'd ever had to sit through at McKinley. Some of the teachers here were nightmares as well, but sitting through one or two horribly boring classes when the rest of them was inspiring and even fun was much better than fighting all day to stay awake and not accuse everyone surrounding you of incompetence.

And then there was rooming with Blaine. When Kurt returned from classes he didn't just return to an empty house anymore, doing his homework in the loneliness of his room until his dad would get back from work, only to get up and cook dinner while Burt was busy with the newest Buckeyes game. It wasn't that they never talked at all, but it tended to be a rather isolated, forlorn life.

Now, most days when he came back from a really exciting class he would find Blaine sitting at his desk or on his bed doing homework and they'd chat about their teachers and classes and Vogue and books and Broadway and whatever else would come to mind, they'd even do their homework together. Kurt most certainly wouldn't forget the day they'd sat together on his bed brooding over his Calculus assignment anytime soon. He still hadn't overcome the phase where he'd blush every time Blaine so much as brushed his shoulder in passing and even though Kurt had started getting used to his presence and relaxed a bit, he was far from being able to ignore the butterflies that erupted in his stomach whenever Blaine was close. Sometimes he doubted that he ever would be.

It was great having someone to come home to, so to say, and despite how nervous he tended to be around Blaine, as soon as the sound of his even breathing filled the room, Kurt would inevitably fall asleep soon after. Something about sleeping in the same room as Blaine just made Kurt feel safe and warm and comfortable. Scratch that, Blaine was making Kurt feel safe and warm and comfortable. And giddy and ecstatic and - to his utter embarrassment and slight shame - even aroused, at times. Like two days ago, when he'd walked in on Blaine dressed in nothing but a towel, searching for his shirt. Most unhelpfully, the image of Blaine's naked, dripping wet chest showed the tendency of burning itself on the insides of his eyelids whenever he closed his eyes to try and get some sleep. But other than his own embarrassing urges, Kurt had nothing to complain about and Dalton felt pretty much like a paradise on Earth compared to McKinley.

Except for the fact that he would probably die from nerves before he even got a chance to audition for the Warblers.

"Jeez, Kurt, calm down a tad, would you," Jeff mumbled next to him, putting his hand on Kurt's leg in a futile attempt to get it to stop moving. "You'll make us all go insane, too. If I had known you'd stress yourself so much I'd have asked Wes for an earlier audition for you. Or Blaine would probably have done that before I'd even have thought about it." Rolling his eyes, Jeff returned his hand to his side when he realized his efforts were pretty much in vain.

"I don't think I'm ready, Jeff. Or, actually, I think I'm going to die. Has anyone ever literally died from stage fright?" Kurt asked, tail and ears twitching anxiously in a nervous rhythm, his eyes wandering up and down the hallway every few seconds as if he was waiting for his executioner to arrive.

"Dude, you'll be fine, I'm sure. Blaine wouldn't let you run into the open knife," Nick laughed from his spot next to the window, where he'd been leaning against the wall.

"I'm sure he wouldn't. But he never even heard me sing," Kurt uttered under his breath, so quietly his friends almost didn't catch it. Almost.

"Wait, what?!" they asked in unison, eyes practically popping out of their heads.

"But how is this even possible?" Jeff's expression was so incredulous it would have been hilarious if Kurt hadn't been so distracted by his nerves.

"You're roommates and I'm pretty sure you've been practicing your audition piece incessantly ever since you and Blaine picked it out at the beginning of the week. How?" Nick questioned almost at the same time.

"Well, I've just been practicing when Blaine was gone for Warblers practice or a tutor assembly or something," Kurt mumbled, a little ashamed of himself for even having come up with strategies to avoid Blaine hearing him sing.

"I'd be impressed if that wasn't so dumb," Jeff said, expression blank. Kurt curled in on himself, his legs wrapped protectively around his legs. He knew he was being an idiot but hearing it like that always made him feel horribly vulnerable. He was so busy trying to crawl into himself and forget the world that he didn't even notice Nick hitting Jeff over the head and hissing at him to stop being such an ass.

It was only when he felt someone sit down next to him that Kurt looked up from where he was staring at his knees to find Nick at his side. Nick smiled at him, gently and ever so hesitantly placing a hand on Kurt's shoulder as if he was afraid he'd shy away and run if he moved any faster. Which was probably not even that far from the truth.

"It's okay, Kurt. It's okay to be nervous and you're not an idiot. I almost died of nerves when I auditioned for the Warblers. But I'm sure you'll be good. Either way, no one is going to be mean to you in there," he said, glaring at Jeff during his last sentence. Jeff had the decency to look sheepish. It made Kurt chuckle and relax enough to sit back in a normal posture.

"It's fine, Jeff. I know I was behaving like an idiot. I just never sang in front of anyone but my parents and it's nerve-wracking. What if I'm not as good as I think I am?"

Nick gave his shoulder another pat. "Just go in there and do your best. There's nothing else you can do. And I promise everyone in there will be more considerate than Jeff here." The only response Jeff deemed worthy of that side blow was sticking his tongue out at his friend.

Calmed slightly by their antics, Kurt took a deep breath and actually felt his anxiety lessen a bit. The effort went to waste though when Wes stuck his head out of the door and called his name down the hallway. With shaking legs, ears and tail twitching and fur standing on end, Kurt made his way towards the heavy doors and stepped through them, Jeff and Nick shouting encouragements behind him. Kurt didn't really hear any of it, his whole mind taken over by the buzzing in his ears. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the assembled Warblers, holding out the recording for his back-up with a trembling hand. David took it from him with a reassuring smile and Kurt closed his eyes, taking one last deep breath in preparation.

When the first notes filled the room, he opened his eyes, his gaze immediately drawn to Blaine. He wore the most dazzling smile and while it caused the butterflies in Kurt's stomach to break out into a wild dance it also soothed him in ways he couldn't explain. His tail stopped twitching behind him, curling peacefully around his legs and his ears turned to the source of the music, eagerly awaiting his cue. With a soft smile on his lips, Kurt started to sing.

Circus of silence, down at our feet...

Within the first two lines, Kurt lost himself in the music and stopped thinking about how nervous he was or who he was performing in front of. He just sang with everything he had. He hadn't even noticed he'd closed his eyes until they opened again upon the last sorry. Maybe that was a good thing because he'd never have imagined what awaited him when he looked at his audience and it surely would have tripped him up:

Every last Warbler was standing, huge grins on their faces and clapping enthusiastically. But none of their smiles was as bright - or proud - as Blaine's. Kurt almost couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes from its radiating beauty when he heard someone approach him from the side, but when he finally did it was to find Wes standing next to him, wearing a huge smile of his own.

"Well, congratulations, Kurt. You're officially a member of the Warblers."