Kurt Hummel felt like he was floating. Not in a drug induced sort of way, as if he’d ever touch the stuff, but in a sort of bliss. It had been about three weeks since he and Blaine had found each other again. They made a habit of getting coffee after school almost every day. This was the first time Kurt had ever really had a social life and it was fun! Having had years of practice, he was able to keep up with his challenging courses rather easily, despite the fact that he was spending much less time on his homework.

That evening at Warblers rehearsal, Kurt walked in to set up for the meeting. As the other Warblers filed in, he greeted the few that actually bothered saying hello. Wes Montgomery took his seat next to him at the front of the room. Kurt was proudly the only junior member of the Warblers to have ever made it onto the council.

“Alright, everyone, settle down.” Wes said with a bang of his gavel. “Unfortunately, fellow Warblers David Thompson and Thad Harwood cannot be here tonight, so this meeting will be run by Kurt Hummel and myself.”

“Yes,” Kurt added cheerfully, “today we discuss our set list for sectionals. We’re up against some great schools this year so we must give it our all.”

“Glad you’ve got such confidence in us, Kurt,” Emmett spat from the back of the room.

“Easy,” Wes warned.

“I know he is,” Emmett Adams mumbled.

“Now, we have our opener more or less picked out with Kurt leading us through-” Wes continued.

“I still call bullshit on that,” Collin grumbled from his place next to Emmett.

“-But we still have our eleven o’ clock number to solidify.”

“I think we should just let Kurt pick what song he wants to sing,” Jeff said from the couch with a flashy grin. Several of the other Warblers made sounds of agreement.

“Whoa, wait, are you kidding?!” Emmett protested, pushing off the wall. “This is bullshit!”

“Junior Warbler Emmett, you will watch your mouth during my session!” Wes snapped.

“No, this is garbage! Hummel shouldn’t be the only one to ever get solos. We work just as hard as him and we never get any credit for it.”

“But Kurt has led us to Nationals in past competitions,” Nick added.

“Yeah?” Collin piped in. “But maybe one of us could too! I know I may just be the percussionist of this group, but I can do a lot more than the stuff you guys have me doing.”

“We want recognition!” added Arthur, a freshman.

“So what are you saying, Emmett?”

“I’m saying that we’re done being your backup singers. We want a chance to shine too!”

Emmett signaled to his friends. Collin started up on his always-impressive percussion, creating an intro for the other boys to sing over. The other Warblers began to harmonize with one another, joining in with a chorus of “ahh” and “jinga”.

Taking his place at the front, Emmett began to sing:

Come on, can't I dream for one day
There's nothing that can't be done

Emmett advanced on Kurt, clearly trying to intimidate him and get his point across.

But how long should it take somebody
Before they can be someone

Cause I know there's got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I'm feeling like it's now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical, the typical

Ah. Kurt thought. Now I get it. “The Typical”. He doesn’t want to be the typical back-up singer with no glory. Cute.

Collin moved forward next, having Jon pick up where his beat boxing left of.

I've lived through my share of misfortune
And I've worked in the blazing sun
But how long should it take somebody
Before they can be someone

Huh. Well that was new. Kurt had no idea that Collin could sing or that Jon could beat box, for that matter.

Can I break the spell of the typical, the typical, the typical

Emmett stepped back up again, bringing in the bridge and singing with more passion and emotion than Kurt had ever seen.

Because it's dragging me down
I'd like to know about when
When does it all turn around

Yeah I know there's got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I'm feeling like it's now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical

The typical, the typical, uh huh
Of the typical

I'm just the typical

The Warblers clapped loudly at the unexpected performance. The performers looked at Kurt expectantly.

“Well, that certainly was impressive,” he said. “I wish you worked as hard on our actual numbers as you did on that one.”

“Why you fucking faggot!” Emmett lunged at Kurt. It took several members of the glee club to hold him back.

“Order! Order!” Wes shouted, banging his gavel, “Emmett, Dalton has no tolerance for that kind of language!”

“No. No, it’s alright, Wes,” Kurt interrupted, walking around the table to look up at the dark haired boy. The Warblers still held on tightly to his arms.

“Emmett, if you had let me finish I would have said that I have some thinking to do and that I would consider your proposal.”

“Consider?” he spat. “That’s hardly better than a flat out no.”

“Look, Adams, I’m trying to be nice here. I’ll have an answer for you by tomorrow’s meeting.”

“Uh, meeting adjourned,” Wes blinked, watching Kurt storm from the room.

“Can you believe that?” Kurt was still fuming that afternoon in the Lima Bean. After leaving practice, Kurt had texted Blaine, asking him to meet earlier than they had planned. Blaine had eagerly accepted.

Kurt took a sip of his Grande nonfat mocha, enjoying the burn on the way down.

“Well, maybe you should listen to them?” Blaine said with a shrug.

“I beg your pardon?”

“No need to beg, Kurt,” he said slyly. Kurt gave him a dead-pan look and Blaine cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Uh, what I’m saying is, what’s the harm in letting one of them take the spotlight?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, Blaine. Except for the fact that I’ve led them to victory before! Why change a good thing?”

“Well, maybe they could lead you to victory too?”

“Ugh! You sound just like them! Maybe you should meet Emmett for coffee from now on!” Kurt growled, turning his body away from Blaine and crossing his arms defensively across his chest.

“Hey, don’t be like that! I’m not saying that you should never have a solo ever again. That’s the opposite of what I want. Hey, will you at least look at me?”

Kurt glanced sideways at him, still not turning to face him. Blaine looked at him pleadingly with those beautiful golden eyes.

Damn him and his good looks, Kurt silently cursed.

“I’m simply saying that maybe you can make a compromise? You know, two solos and a duet or something? That might shut them up for a while?”

“That’s actually not a bad idea…” Kurt sighed, turning back to him. Blaine smiled brightly.

“Hey ladies.”

Blaine’s expression changed from calm to a deer in headlights in a split second. Puck dragged a chair over to join their table. “What’s shakin’?”

“Hey Puck,” Blaine groaned. “Kurt, this is Puck. Puck, Kurt.”

“Sup man?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” Kurt stiffened.

“So, Anderson, I need your help with something.”

“No, I’m not helping you sneak into the girl’s locker room, Puck. We could get suspended.”

“Eh, wouldn’t be my first time. But listen, I need you to help me come up with a song to sing to Quinn.”

“Quinn?” Blaine gawked.

“Yeah, dude. I really like her, but she won’t give me the time of day anymore!”

“Well, you did knock her up.”

Kurt choked on his coffee, “Sorry…”

“But that was last year and I do actually care about her and stuff. So, I was thinking I could sing something to her, you know, guys in glee always do that sort of thing!”

“What did you have in mind?” Blaine asked skeptically.

“Well, I was thinking about doing I’m Sexy And I Know It. That way she’ll finally realize how hot I am and she’ll date me.”

Kurt snorted.

“Can I help you with something, princess?” Puck snapped.

“Easy, Puck.” Blaine warned.

“Singing a song like that will get you nowhere,” Kurt explained. “Girls like songs with emotion and compassion, not sex.”

“And you would know this?”

“As an honorary girl, yes, I would,” Kurt huffed.

“He’s right, Puck,” Blaine added. “Quinn isn’t the type of girl who would go for a cheap trick like LFMAO.”

“Alright, fine. So tell me, lady,” he said turning to Kurt. “What sort of song did you have in mind?”

Kurt smirked at him.

Sectionals came upon them quickly. Blaine sat in the audience with the New Directions, scanning the crowd for any sign of the Warblers. They would be going on last, after the Warblers had sung. The curtain opened and the third competitors, the Perry High Hell’s Angels, took the stage. They danced around in matching red outfits to an upbeat number from the top forty hits list. It Blaine set on edge. He was worried that the New Directions hadn’t rehearsed enough. This was Blaine’s first competition after all. His hands started to sweat. It wasn’t as if he had a solo or anything, he had his band for that. That and Rachel Berry would never let him have the spotlight, which bothered him a bit. Maybe that’s what Kurt had been talking about…

Kurt. He was looking for Kurt.

“Blaine,” called Finn, who was being pulled away by Rachel. “We have to get ready in the green room. Let’s go!”

Blaine nodded with one last glance around the room. No luck. He would have to try to find him afterward. He followed Finn and the rest of the team backstage when a flash of blue and red by the side wing caught his eye.

“Hey, I’ll meet up with you guys in a second, I forgot something.” Blaine veered away from his team and headed to where he knew the Warblers would be assembling for their number. He searched the blazer-clad boys for the boy he found himself falling fo-

Whoa. No, no, no, no, no. Blaine, you do not go there, he thought to himself.

And then he saw him. Standing behind the group of Warblers, Blaine saw a tall boy with chestnut hair, counting heads. As if he had heard his name, Kurt turned and looked directly at Blaine with a gorgeous, heart-stopping smile. Blaine smiled back weakly and turned away.

Oh.

Maybe he did have a little thing for Kurt. But it was to be expected, right? Blaine hadn’t seen Kurt in years and now that he finally got to see him, strange feelings were bound to stir up, right? But he couldn’t actually have a thing for Kurt; he was dating Brittany for Christ sake!

Brittany. The New Directions! He was supposed to be in the green room with them warming up. Blaine looked back at the Warblers to see that Kurt was still staring. Even from Blaine’s distance, he could see the blush creep onto his pale skin. Blaine liked making Kurt blush.

Kurt mouthed a “Good luck” to Blaine from across the stage with another dazzling smile. Blaine’s stomach suddenly became a new home for a million butterflies.

Gotta learn to control that…               

Blaine wished Kurt luck as well and watched as the Warblers filed onto the stage.

The Warblers did very well in their performance, slightly rattling the cage of the New Directions. Just as Kurt had promised, he let three guys share a solo during one of their numbers. Their harmonizing talents were unbelievable. For the final number, Kurt rang true with an incredible finishing song that resulted in the entire room breaking into applause.

The lights flickered in the green room to let them know to take their places. The New Directions took their places on the stage. Blaine felt sick. He didn’t know why he was so worried. His eyes scanned the massive group of people in the audience that had come to see them. There, in the middle of them all, was a small sea of blue and red blazers and there, in the dead center, was Kurt. He was looking right at him. All at once, his jitters vanished and the song began.

The New Directions performance was fantastic, the crowd rising to their feet as Rachel led them on with her jaw dropping vocals. As soon as the music ended, everyone headed off stage and hugged and laughed as they waited for the final verdict.

They didn’t have to wait long and soon they were making their way back to the stage to hear the results. In third place were the Hell’s Angels. The judge let the final result hang for added suspense before revealing that both the New Directions and The Warblers had won. The McKinley group jumped and screamed and celebrated, taking one of the enormous trophies and running off stage with it.

Blaine felt like he was on fire. He had never felt so good about something, not even soccer! But he worried. He knew how hard Kurt had been working with the Warblers and after taking Blaine’s advice and letting someone else have the spotlight, they still had not totally won. Kurt was probably fuming…

“Blaine!” Blaine turned just in time to be tackled in a hug from Kurt. His heart dropped to his stomach and then shot right back up into his throat. “Congratulations!”

“You’re not mad?” he said, his voice slightly higher than he wanted.

“Mad? No! It’s a competition, Blaine, and we both made it to the next round!” Blaine smiled at him. That had always been one of Blaine’s favorite things about Kurt; just when you thought he was going to zig, he zagged. “By the way, that lead singer of yours is really talented.”

“Who, Rachel? Yeah she is, but don’t let her hear you say that. Her head is big enough as it is.”

“I heard that, Anderson. Don’t make me set my boyfriend on you. He’s twice your size.” Rachel said joining them. Rachel reached out her hand for Kurt to shake. “Hi. I’m Rachel Berry; New Directions captain and future Broadway legend and star.”

“Kurt; current Dalton Academy Warbler councilman, valedictorian, and future fashion icon.”

“Oooh, I like this one, Blaine,” she said, grabbing his arm. “Come on, the bus is leaving soon.”

“I’ll only be a minute, Rach,” Blaine mumbled, never taking his eyes off Kurt.

“Okay, but if you make us late for our reservation at Breadstix, Santana will murder you,” she warned, skipping off.

“She’s interesting.” Kurt gawked at her retreating figure. “And she’s really dating someone?”

“You don’t even know the half of it. Oh! Speaking of dating, Puck took your advice on singing to Quinn.”

“Did he now?” Kurt smirked, crossing his arms approvingly, “He’s smarter than he looks. What song did he end up going with?”

“Just The Way You Are, the Boyce Avenue version.”

“Good choice. Girls love that song, no matter what.”

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” Blaine asked, “Same time, same place?”

“Oh, sorry, I can’t tomorrow. I have a huge Advanced Chemistry exam that I have to study for.”

“Wow, Advanced Chemistry and Advanced Calculus. Okay, well how about we meet up this weekend then? It would be nice to get out of the house and you out of those dorms, right?”

“Yo, Anderson! The bus is leaving,” Puck bellowed from the stage door, “Get your ass over here and help me carry this god dammed trophy!”

“Saturday morning?” Kurt said hopefully.

“Saturday morning.”