A/N: I don’t even have an excuse, really. Exams, holidays, boyfriend... and then I finally finished this chapter over a month ago, and kept putting off updating it. But here it is, finally, and chapters will be a lot more regular from now on.

Disclaimer: Come what may, I will never own Glee.

Chapter Thirteen: My Life Would Suck Without You.

Rachel had called a Glee meeting – one that seemed to involve only the five members that weren’t part of the popular crowd – and Blaine was feeling a little left out. Though he knew it was his own fault that he wasn’t in the club, it still sucked that he had to hang around by himself while all his friends were holed up in the choir room. He’d ended up standing outside the choir room, playing a game on his phone and hoping that this wouldn’t take too long. Rachel had apparently been very intense and serious when asking them to meet her. Of course, with Rachel, that could mean anything from her declaring that she needed help deciding what song to sing next week, to an announcement that she had a terminal illness. She was dramatic, but her heart was in the right place.

Oh, it sounded like they were done. Shoving his phone into his pocket as all but Rachel came hurrying out of the choir room, he fell into step next to Kurt, who looked worryingly serious. Mercedes called Tina, and Blaine raised his eyebrows. He’d seen this happen a couple of times: half the members of the Glee club on the phone to each other, even when some of them were right next to each other. It was probably a sign that they really were the generation of technology. He could kind of see why adults judged them so harshly.

“What’s happening?” He asked Kurt quietly, knowing that this sort of weird group phone call only happened when something serious was going on. Or if someone’s outfit was awful. Although that was serious, just in a different way.

“Rachel’s totally suspicious of Puck and Quinn.” Kurt told him, before grabbing Tina’s phone to get in on the conversation.

Yeah, okay, that was pretty serious. She was bound to tell Finn, and he was likely to snap and leave Glee for good. And they’d all worked so hard for Sectionals that they couldn’t lose now simply due to relationship drama. Even if it was fairly major relationship drama.

“I say we lock Rachel up until after Sectionals. I volunteer my basement.” Kurt said, in a tone that was a little too enthusiastic about the idea.

“We can’t, we need her to sing!” And the fact that this was the only problem Mercedes could see with this plan was quite concerning.

“Damn her talent.” Kurt seemed pretty disappointed. Well, with Rachel out of the picture, Kurt would probably get more solos.

 “When did Mercedes tell Brittany and Santana?” He muttered with confusion, hearing their voices, though he couldn’t really work out what they were saying.

Kurt shrugged. It was just one of those things that happened, obviously. The gossip in this school had a tendency to spread. It was a relief that the girls were both good at keeping secrets. Or, at least, their friends’ secrets.

The three of them suddenly stopped walking, looking momentarily baffled. “What?” He whispered to Kurt, not wanting to interrupt the conversation.

“Santana and Brittany are... sexually involved.” Kurt whispered back.

Blaine tried not to picture this and was, thankfully, successful.

The phone conversation wrapped up with what sounded like an agreement to try to keep Rachel from discovering the truth. Considering her almost-psychic ability in being able to work out that he was gay, Blaine wasn’t sure this was going to work.

Maybe she was psychic.

---

Finn was beating up Puck. Again.

He’d stormed in and started hitting him without warning, shouting about how he knew the truth and he was going to make Puck pay. The rest of them were standing well back: most of them were concerned that they’d get hurt if they tried to pull the two apart. The others considered that Finn had the right to be angry. And considering he was hitting him really hard, getting in the way was probably a bad idea. Quinn had made a feeble attempt to intervene, but Finn had just kept on yelling. She was now standing back with her hand pressed to her mouth, looking shocked.

Miss Pillsbury had scurried off the second she’d realised what was happening, presumably to get someone who could help. Probably Mr Schuester.

The forty seconds it took her to fetch him were the longest of Kurt’s life. Everyone was helpless and silent, swapping looks with each other and cringing back every so often.

Upon her return with Mr Schuester, Kurt could practically feel the relief in the room. The further shouting that ensued caused less relief. Finn wanted the truth, and they all knew what was going to happen when he got it.

This was all Rachel’s fault, and he couldn’t keep himself from glaring at her. It was less than a week until Sectionals. She couldn’t have at least saved it until after the competition? This was pure Rachel Berry selfishness. For once, she couldn’t even pretend that she’d been thinking of Glee club. As she tried to deny her involvement, he rolled his eyes.

“I’m done with all of you!” Finn bellowed, turning and stalking out. They all jumped as he kicked a chair on his way. Well, that was more like Finn: taking his anger out on inanimate objects.

Quinn was crying. Puck looked guilty, Rachel remorseful, everyone else worried.

This was ridiculous.

And now they’d lost Finn, and there went their chances at Sectionals.

Kurt shook his head at Rachel as she moved as if to go after Finn, and her face fell as she nodded. “I’m- I’m really sorry, everyone.”

“We can’t go to Sectionals with only eleven members. Well done, Berry.” Santana snapped at her, looking ready to go “all Lima Heights” on her.

Rachel glanced around at them. “I’ll find someone to fill in for Finn. All we need is someone to stand in the back and sway. Puck can do Don’t Stop Believing. It’ll work out.”

“It’d better, because if it doesn’t, it’s on you.” Mercedes warned her.

Looking around, Kurt wasn’t completely sure that Rachel was right. Their confidence was shaken. Maybe if they had more time to prepare for Sectionals without their male lead, they’d be okay, but it was in just a few days.

This was all going to go horribly wrong.

---

Blaine twisted around in his seat, eyes scanning the seats behind him in an attempt to find the New Directions. They were at Sectionals, finally, despite Finn not being there. Jacob Ben Israel was filling in for him, which was a terrible replacement, but it was the best they could do at such short notice. Blaine almost wished he’d volunteered, but the idea of singing in front of so many people was a terrifying thought, when he’d only ever sang in front of his family and Kurt. Well, and his neighbours, but that was when he’d sang with Cooper. And anyway, singing in front of a huge auditorium full of strangers was a lot different from singing in front of the people you’d grown up knowing.

Seeing the New Directions, he waved. Kurt waved back, as did Tina. The others all looked too nervous to respond. Quinn and Puck both looked uncomfortable and guilty. Well, Puck didn’t actually look guilty, but Blaine gave him the benefit of the doubt and presumed he was feeling it.

Turning towards the front as the first show choir was announced, he settled back to enjoy the show. His mom, sitting next to him, smiled at him. He hoped she wouldn’t be too bored, considering she didn’t exactly have a musical ear.

The Jane Addams Reform School was up first, and they were fairly good, he’d have to admit, though the New Directions were a lot better. He clapped along with everyone else, turning around at the end of their set to see how the New Directions were reacting. Huh. That was weird. They all looked freaked out. Did they think that this group was better than them? Catching Kurt’s eye, he gave him a questioning look. Kurt simply shook his head. When he next turned around, during the interval, they had all gone, presumably to their room to go over their numbers one more time. Although considering their worried expressions...

He left his seat to grab a glass of water, checking his phone, concerned about Kurt. Maybe it was nothing, or maybe something had happened, though he couldn’t imagine what.

His mom raised an eyebrow at him when he got back. “You okay, baby?”

“Yeah, fine.” It was probably nothing. Or they were just worried about being Finn-less. Damn Finn and his position as the male lead. Wasn’t Puck a good enough replacement? Although considering how good Rachel was, they really did need someone who was an incredibly strong singer to duet with her.

The Haverbrook School for the Deaf went next, and he couldn’t help but cringe slightly in his seat. Sure, they deserved to have the chance to sing, but did their teacher really think putting them in a competition was a good idea? They were unlikely to win, after all. But maybe it wasn’t about winning, and they just wanted the chance to perform in front of an audience.

Their rendition of Don’t Stop Believin’ was definitely winning the crowd over, including his mom, who was dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief. It was sweet, he had to admit. The New Directions didn’t seem to think so, though, he realised on glancing over at them again. Something was seriously wrong.

As the second intermission began, he slipped out of his seat and hurried over to the New Directions.

“What’s wrong?” He whispered, sliding into the seat that Rachel had vacated about halfway through Haverbrook’s performance.

“They’ve stolen our set list.” Mercedes replied in a low but still very indignant voice, and the others nodded in confirmation.

“Which group?” Blaine asked, shocked.

“Both. And I Am Telling You, Proud Mary – in wheelchairs, too – and Don’t Stop Believin’. That was our set list.” Artie explained, a deep frown on his face.

Blaine gaped at them for a moment. “How did they get hold of the set list?” That was probably a dumb question, but he couldn’t see what any of them would gain from leaking the list.

Mercedes shot a dark look at the Cheerios.

“We don’t know yet.” Tina bit her lip. “We have no idea what we’re going to do when we get on that stage, we’re down by one performer, and one of us leaked the set list.”

He could see why they weren’t optimistic about their chances.

“Rachel wanted to meet us, we should go. Hopefully she’s got a really good plan.” Mercedes said, though she didn’t look confident.

Blaine nodded, standing up with them. “I’m gonna go grab a coffee.” He gestured vaguely in the direction of drinks, slipping out of the row and heading back to his mom to ask her if she wanted one. She seemed sort of relieved to see him. She’d gotten a lot more protective of him after the Sadie Hawkins incident. She sometimes liked him to send her texts to update her on his continued existence. It was sweet, really, and at least she cared, unlike some parents.

As he waited in line for coffee, his phone went off to signal a text. He opened the message. It was from Kurt. Finn’s here! We’re saved.

Oh, great. Like Kurt needed any more reasons to be in love with Finn. He was glad that they had a chance of winning now, but the idea of Kurt singing Finn’s praises even more didn’t exactly appeal to him.

Settling back into his seat at the end of the intermission, he smiled on hearing the first notes of Don’t Rain On My Parade, a song he knew well. Rachel, he guessed, and grinned upon hearing her voice, turning to look at her as she entered from the back. She obviously knew the song well, because she sounded really good. Glancing over at the other show choir directors, he felt smug on seeing that they looked a tad apprehensive. That’s what they got for cheating.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want was a great choice, and was very appropriate for the situation, he realised. It was hard to work out if the judges were impressed, because they looked a little bored. The teenagers were obviously enjoying themselves, though, even if there was a palpable tension between certain members. Of course, that may only have been obvious to Blaine because he knew what was going on.

As they finished off with Somebody To Love, he clapped loudly, feeling proud of them. They’d scraped together a set list with barely any time and managed to totally wipe the floor with their competition. Hopefully the judges would share his opinion.

---

This was it. Judgement Day. Kurt stood on the stage with the rest of the New Directions, peering into the audience to see if he could spot Blaine. The bright lights glaring down at them made it hard, but he managed to pick him out, sitting in the audience and – Kurt was pretty positive – bouncing up and down in his seat and looking nervous. He picked out his dad, too, who looked a lot more positive and nowhere near as nervous. Well, he had the advantage of having no clue what was going on backstage.

Glancing around at the rest of the club, he had to smile a little. They’d come so far, from the five wannabes dancing around the choir room, to the six original members belting out Don’t Stop Believin’ on the stage, to the twelve of them who had grown so close together that they’d met up in secret to sing together because they’d missed it so much when they’d been split up, to now. Standing on the stage at Sectionals. And despite the fact that some of them were quarrelling and probably never wanted to speak to each other again, they were all united in how much they wanted to win this competition, and in their love for the music.

They hadn’t stopped believing.

As Rod Remington opened the letter to read out the results, he clung to Mercedes’ hand, thinking “please please please”, though he wasn’t sure who he was aiming the words at. There wasn’t a god out there that he believed in. Maybe it was just the universe he was talking to. After all, it owed him – and the rest of the club – for all the crap they’d been through so far.

Here it came. He held his breath, shaking a little.

“In third place is Haverbrook School for the Deaf.” Rod announced, with a charming smile. There was a few seconds of confused quiet before the coach of the choir seemed to catch on, and signed to one of the members of the choir to go and take the trophy.

Just Jane Addams and the New Directions, now. They’d either gotten second or first. This was good news, then.

“And the winner is...” The longest pause fell, everyone hushed and waiting. Rod knew how to play to his audience, obviously. “The New Directions.”

They’d won.

The 12 of them exploded with happiness.

They’d made it. Through everything that had happened. Through Mr Schue’s drama, through Coach Sylvester trying to destroy the Glee club, through Coach Tanaka scheduling the football practise at the same time as Glee, through April Rhodes and the trouble she’d caused, through Mr Schue leaving them to start Acafellas, through Quinn’s pregnancy and the drama that followed, through crush drama, the hairography mess, and their set list being stolen. They’d made it, and they’d won. They were officially better than two other show choirs, even when they’d had to write their set list and choreography literally last minute. It did help that Finn had come back. Kurt glanced at him, butterflies fluttering in his stomach as Finn grinned at him. This was the second time Finn had been the knight in shining armour. And with the plan that had started to take shape in his mind, there were going to be many more times with Finn being his knight in shining armour. His hero.

Shaking his head a little to dispel these thoughts, Kurt stared into the audience. He searched out Blaine, and grinned hard at him, receiving an animated grin in return. Nearby in the audience, Burt was clapping hard, and looking as proud of him as he had been the day Kurt had won the football competition. And that meant the world to Kurt.

As he celebrated with the others, he’d never been more proud of himself.

---

“Kurt! You did it!” Blaine flew at him and hugged him tightly, having found him outside with the others.

“Well, not single-handedly, but yes.” Kurt responded, hugging him back for a moment and then letting him go, presumably because some of the Glee guys were shooting them odd looks. Blaine wouldn’t have been surprised if they all thought that the two were dating, but he didn’t care. Let them think what they wanted. Kurt seemed to have a different frame of mind, though, as he stepped slightly away from Blaine and then cast Finn a look. Right, of course. Because god forbid that Finn would think that Kurt was taken.

“Congratulations.” Blaine told him with a bright smile, and then looked around at the rest of the Glee club and repeated the sentiment.

“So are you Hummel’s boyfriend, or...?” Puck asked him bluntly.

Rachel smacked Puck gently on the arm, which thankfully saved either boy from having to respond. “Kurt and Blaine are just good friends.” She told him sternly.

Puck rubbed his arm and opened his mouth to say something.

“Well done, Glee club!” Emma appeared from nowhere, a huge smile on her face. "I hope you're all proud of yourselves, because that was amazing. And you did it without resorting to cheating, which is the most important thing. You all really deserved to win that trophy.” She gestured at the trophy, which Artie was currently clutching. “Now, we really need to get home. Come on, Gleeks!”

Blaine caught Kurt's eye. He'd been planning to tell him on what he'd decided while watching them perform, but maybe it could wait. “I'll see you on Monday!” He told him with a bright smile, before turning and burrowing through the crowds to go find his mom.

It’d just have to be a surprise.

---

The first Glee club meeting after Sectionals was in session. And, incidentally, the first Glee club meeting with Mr Schuester since the whole mattress debacle.

“Well, we have a few things we'd like to show you, Mr Schue. First-” Finn announced, before stepping aside to reveal Artie holding the trophy. The first place trophy. Kurt couldn’t prevent a grin from stretching across his face.

“I am so proud of you guys.” Schue began, before realising that they were all staring over his shoulder and not paying him any attention.

Blaine was standing in the doorway. “Um. Hi. I... I'd like to audition for Glee club.”

“So you can sing!” Rachel exclaimed triumphantly, rushing over to him. “I knew it! I can always sense these things.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Yes, Rachel, you're wonderful." He walked over to Blaine, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. “Are you sure?” He asked quietly, knowing that Blaine wasn't too excited about the idea of being bullied.

“Yeah. I'm sure.” Blaine told him, with a smile.

“Well, you've arrived at a good time, Blaine. We've just won Sectionals - fair and square, a unanimous decision by the judges, and they didn't even know about all the shenanigans going on behind the scenes - and we're going to start preparing for Regionals. Vocal Adrenaline, they're one of the show choirs we're up again, are really good, and we have to beat them. So, Blaine-”

“Uh, wait, Mr Schue, we have something we'd like to show you first.” Finn interrupted.

“Much as I'm sure we'd all love to hear Blaine sing...” Rachel sent Blaine an apologetic look, before turning to Mr Schuester. “Since you weren't able to see us perform, we put together a special number just for you.” Rachel told him.

“Well, I can audition later, or something.” Blaine offered, a people-pleaser as always.

“He's just going to let you in anyway, whether you’re actually good at singing or not.” Santana told him, rolling her eyes, though her words had less bite now that they all knew how much she loved being in Glee club.

Kurt spoke up. “I can vouch for how good of a singer he is. Come on, let's do this.” Darting off to grab a seat for Blaine, he pushed him into it so he could watch the performance too, while Finn gave Schue a seat.

They all hurried to get into position for the performance. Their teacher looked delighted at the idea that they’d spent all this effort on arranging this song for him.

“Guess this means you’re sorry...”

The choreography was pretty fast-paced. They’d amalgamated moves from several of the performances they’d done, knowing that Schue would recognise them and appreciate the thought they’d put into this.

“’cause we belong together now, yeah, forever united here somehow, yeah.” Kurt couldn’t help glancing over at Blaine, since the Single Ladies dance was one he knew well enough to be able to stop concentrating for a moment. “You got a piece of me, and honestly, my life would suck without you.” Without really thinking about it, he pointed at Blaine on the word “you” and watched his friend’s eyes light up, before moving swiftly to continue the routine.

Nobody could deny that they sounded really, really good, and Mr Schue seemed to be appreciating it.

“My life would suck without you.”

Their small audience clapped loudly, both smiling widely.

“Thank you, you guys. That was- that was incredible.”

Kurt cared more about what Blaine thought. As Schuester continued to wax eloquent about how amazing they were – which they all already knew, obviously – he drifted over to Blaine. “Enjoy it?”

Blaine stood up, grinning. “That was brilliant. And – that was the Single Ladies dance I saw, right?”

Kurt preened inwardly and nodded.

Blaine hugged him suddenly, whispering “And my life would suck without you” into his ear.

Kurt returned the hug, and couldn’t stop himself from smiling.