"I'm just saying I don't know if we should do it today! The bass section is still a little iffy on the tempo, and Blaine only JUST got over a cold-"

"He's fine Wes, relax! Blaine, tell him you're fine." Blaine only had time to raise his disheveled head before Thad proclaimed, "See? He's fine! Oh come on Wes, we're ready for this, and even if we're not who cares? It's for fun!"

"For you maybe, but SOME of us take this kind of thing seriously."

"Only is 'some of us' means you and 'taking it seriously' means totally freaking out unnecessarily."

Blaine flopped back in bed for the remainder of his ten minutes, listening with amusement to the two Warblers bicker like an old married couple.

Classes went as classes always did- hard, but not hard enough for him not to be able to pass a few notes and laugh at Mr. Pluntz's latest attempt to hide his balding head.

At noon he headed down to the senior commons for the performance. He was pretty used to performing by now, but on a lark (haha songbird pun) he had dressed himself up a bit. Maybe going a bit overboard on the head gel, but the end result had been worth it. All day people had been saying things- "Hey lookin' good Blaine!","Haha, glad to see you finally tamed the monster that is your hair.","Dude, what gives? You gotta date or something? Details!"- but perhaps the best complement came from his English teacher Miss Pawlenty.

Outwardly she was the definition of dower, but she had a wicked sharp wit, and the few who managed to earn her respect never took it for granted.

Blaine had walked up to the desk to hand in a paper-three days early, just for her- and she looked up, gave him a once over and said, with the tiniest hint of a smile,

"You look good today Mr. Anderson. Quite…dapper."

Dapper. He had liked that word. It was rare enough to be unique, but not so rare as to be not understood. If you heard a man being described as 'dapper', you know what kind of a man he was. A Cary Grant, sweep you off your feet and look good doing it kind of guy.

And he looked dapper? Hm. Maybe he should make an effort more often.

With that that thought to boost his confidence he made his way to the commons, taking the long way because hey- he was dapper. He was in no rush.

But then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, expecting more comments about his hair or a good luck for the performance, but he was greeted with a face he had never seen before.

"Excuse me, I'm new here. What exactly is going on?"

There was a part of his brain that new this statement could not be true-new students received their uniforms even before they got their required textbooks- but he didn't really care. This boy- Kurt he had said- was talking to him, and something about his voice, his face, his very presence, made Blaine want to smile. So he did.

"The Warblers! Ever now and then they throw an impromptu performance in the senior commons. Tends to shut the school down for a while." He kept smiling, aware that with every word he spoke, he was turning on a level of charm he didn't know he had.

"So wait, the Glee club here is...kind of cool?"

"The Warblers are like, rockstars."

So yeah, the last bit may have been a bit pompous- especially when you didn't know the backstory to that little nickname; a horrendous affair involving a late night study session and entirely too much sugar- but it didn't matter. Blaine could tell that this boy-like Miss Pawlenty- was easily impressed, but completely worth the effort.

And he had the Dapper Power on his side. He could do this.

"Come on," Blaine grabbed the younger boy's without hesitation. "I know a shortcut."

The run was awkward- holding left hands while running is not recommended- but he didn't want to let go. And when Kurt mentioned with a nervousness that bordered on adorable that he stuck out like a sore thumb, the urge to touch him further took over.

"Well next time don't forget your jacket new kid. You'll fit right in." He added with a wink. "Now if you'll excuse me."

And he began to sing, simultaneously praying to every god of charming and dapper he knew that he could pull this off. Really pull if off.

He smiled, and twirled, flirting as much as was physically possible for someone who was trying to sing a Katy Perry song, and every time he saw Kurt's face alight with happiness he felt something warm surge in his chest.

The song ended and soon his peers were bombarding him with congratulations. He kept a steady eye on Kurt though, noting with delight how he clapped frantically, frozen to the spot.

It didn't matter that the boy was so obviously a spy for another show choir, didn't matter that the odds of the two seeing one another on friendly terms were slim at best- it didn't even matter that he knew about as much about this boy as he knew about guy who delivered pizzas to on campus dorms. He had made a decision, right there in front of God and Katy Perry.

If being dapper was the way to get Kurt, then dapper he would be.