Kurt heard Rachels alarm before he even wanted to. Last night they had turned on the television and found a movie playing on one of the channels. The pair watched the movie until they passed out. Rachel had set her alarm because she wanted to wake up early.

Kurt hit Rachels arm, "Turn it off."

Rachel just tried to shove her head deeper into the pillow, "No."

"You set the damn thing," Kurt groaned, "Just turn it off."

Rachel sat up and grabbed her phone to turn off the alarm. "Great, and now I have to go to the bathroom." She tossed the blankets off herself and slipped out of bed to use the bathroom.

Kurt rolled over to face Rachel and just nodded his head, "Serves you right." He looked over and saw that it seemed Maddie didnt come to bed last night. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and the door opened that was separating the two rooms.

"Good morning!" Derby said with a large smile, "Oh, you are both awake good. We wanted to get a head start this morning on practicing."

Blaine appeared behind him, "And we need two someones who will be honest about our playing."

Kurt looked sleepily over at them and groaned, "Sure. Fine."

Rachel walked out of the bathroom, "He isnt such the morning person one would think he is."

"I can see that," Blaine laughed.

Kurt pulled the covers over his head, "Rachel dont you dare open those curtains."

Rachel just smiled as she threw open the curtains, "No way, you need to wake up. Besides you are the one that told me last night that you couldnt sleep in and stay in bed forever."

"I changed my mind," Kurt said from underneath the blankets.

Maddie walked into the room, "Oh just get up. Derby and Blaine will start jumping on your bed soon and trust me that is not what you want."

Kurt pulled the blankets down, "Im using the bathroom." He stood up and grabbed his small bathroom bag. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

"Like I said," Rachel shrugged, "Not the morning person you would have thought. That and he seemed kind of down lately."

"Why?" Blaine asked walking over towards his sister,

"No clue," Rachel said, "But I want to get dressed, so boys out."

"Fine, we are getting some breakfast when you are done dressing though because I am starving," Derby said to them.

Maddie pushed him out of the room, "You are always starving. Now go wake Kyle, he is being that obnoxious sleep-in person he claims to be but truly isnt."

"I call jumping on his ass!" Derby yelled running into the room now.

"I will leave you girls to it," Blaine smiled and then looked over at the bathroom door realizing that last night maybe he said something to Kurt that he shouldnt have.

Maddie shut their door and shook her head, "I swear traveling with three boys you think would be easier than living with them."

Rachel shrugged, "Ive lived with three boys for most of my life, but I have to say I think living with three boys around the same age would get to me. You my friend are a survivor."

"I hope you dont mean that," Kurt said walking out.

"I do," Rachel nodded her head and smiled.

Maddie laughed, "You two are adorable together."

"She is my friend for a reason," Kurt said sitting down on the bed.

"You have to get dressed now," Rachel said as dug through her suitcase, "The others are apparently starving and we dont want to keep the troops waiting."

"Fair enough," Kurt said as he walked over to his own suitcase.

Once everyone was dressed they all piled into the van and found a small diner to eat breakfast at.

"So were you guys up late writing that new song?" Rachel asked taking a bite of toast.

"We were," Kyle nodded. He pointed to Blaine, "This one wouldnt let us sleep until we finished the first few verses and the chorus."

"Sorry," Blaine shrugged, "I felt inspired."

"We know," Derby groaned, "The next time you are inspired do so else where because I wanted to sleep."

"Oh you are fine," Blaine said and then he looked over at Kurt who had been quiet for most of the conversations this morning. He honestly wondered if anything was bothering him from their talk last night, but he did not want to ask in front of everyone. It seemed the conversation had already moved on now, so Blaine turned back towards his friends and went on to tease Kyle about his sisters choice of tuxedos for her wedding coming up.

Later on, they were all sitting in the hotel room. Kurt and Rachel were sitting on the floor reading over a Vogue that he had brought.

"Whoa, I thought we werent going to sing Sophomore. Its such an old song," Maddie groaned.

"We are not singing Sophomore," Blaine glared over at Derby, "He just wants it because we wrote it about him."

"I do not," Derby said, "And yes it was for me. Thank you."

Blaine rolled his eyes, "I think we should do High School Rock Out and maybe one of the songs we wrote this past year."

"Really?" Kyle asked him, "I mean, I agree, but we know some may not."

Maddie groaned, "You guys our first round is tomorrow! We need to pick two songs!"

Rachel stood up, "Oh my god! I am so leaving, Kurt do you want to go for a swim?"

Kurt gave her a look, "Why would I want to swim in a chlorine invested bowl of water?"

"Because," Rachel grabbed his arm and pulled him up, "If you want us, we will be at the pool." She took him into the other room.

Derby looked around, "What about Heaven Can Wait?"

"Oh," Blaine said as he looked through his computer trying to find the song. He grabbed his guitar and started to strum the first few lines, "Hang on."

"We havent sung that one in awhile," Kyle said looking over Blaines shoulder, "Do you think we can remember it?"

"I remember it," Maddie said as she started to write something down on the notebook she had opened.

Rachel peeked her head in the door, "Well it sounds like the four of you are now agreeing. We are off."

"Alright, bye," Blaine waved his hand as he didnt look up.

Rachel grabbed Kurts hand and pulled him out. "Come on, we are going to the pool and even if you dont set one toe in that water you are going to tell me what is bugging you."

"Nothing is bugging me," Kurt said to her.

"Right," Rachel rolled her eyes, "I am your best friend and I totally know when something is bothering you and you look like something is bothering you."

"I said nothing is bothering me," Kurt crossed his arms over his chest.

Rachel pushed the button for the elevator, "I didnt ask, I just said spill."

"Fine, the truth is that I dont know why I came out here. I just see everyone and they get along and I feel like a sixth wheel," Kurt groaned, "Happy now you know."

"Sweetie," Rachel reached over and hugged him, "While that may be part of the problem, I know thats not whats bugging you."

Kurt pulled away, "Rachel, please. Will you just drop it for now? I will tell you, but not yet."

"Alright," Rachel said as they walked on to the elevator, "Just be sure to promise me that if anything is bothering you majorly, you will tell me right?"

"Of course I will," Kurt smiled over at her.

"Good," Rachel nodded her head. They rode the elevator down and made their way to the pool. "I bet I can get you in the pool though."

Kurt lifted an eyebrow, "I totally bet you cant." He opened the door and they each grabbed a towel that was in the pool area. "I hope the sunscreen I have is enough,"

"Come on, lets grab those chairs over there," Rachel said taking his hand and they sat down on the two beach chairs. Kurt set down his bag he brought which had, a small towel, moisturizer, both of their cell phones, sunscreen, sunglasses, a book, and now two towels.

"Do you think that I am going to jump into the water?" Kurt asked lying out on the chair.

Rachel took off her shirt and then slipped off her shorts. "Its so beautiful here."

"Thinking about moving here?" Kurt asked with a smile.

"Oh no," Rachel shook her head, "I could never. I think I would miss snow to much."

"I would miss the scarves," Kurt sighed.

Rachel threw her shirt at him. She was wearing a tankini that Kurt helped her pick out. It was pink with white polka dots on it. And the bottom had a skirt on it rather than the plain bottoms. She had fallen in love with it as soon as they spotted it on the clearance rack.

Kurt was wearing his own new swimming trunks he found on the clearance rack. They were a dark blue, almost black, but you could see the blue in the sun, and they had silver linings on the sides.

"Of course you would miss an opportunity to wear any clothes," Rachel rolled her eyes.

Suddenly a guy walked over to them, "Hi." He wasnt wearing a shirt, just his swimming trunks. And you knew just from looking at him that he worked out and took care of his body. Or at least thats what Kurt was thinking in his mind.

"Hello," Rachel smiled at him.

Kurt sighed, "Oh Rachel, I think thats Finn texting you now."

"What?" Rachel said as Kurt tossed her the phone from the bag.

Kurt looked up at the guy watching them now, "Sorry, she has a boyfriend."

"Thats fine," the guy smiled, "I was actually walking over to talk to you."

Kurts face turned red and he was glad he was wearing a shirt because he could feel the red spreading. "Oh."

The guy laughed, "I take it you arent from around here."

"We are from Ohio," Rachel said knowing Kurt was going to be shy about someone flirting with him, "But we are both headed to New York next year for school."

"Wow, what are you doing here in California then?" the guy asked rocking on his feet.

Rachel sent Kurt a look telling him to take over the conversation now. "Right, we are here with her brothers band. They are doing the Band Slam contest thats this weekend," Kurt answered. "We are the groupies I suppose."

The guy laughed, "Cool. Im Mitch by the way."

"This is Kurt and Im Rachel," she smiled at him again.

"Its nice to meet you both," Mitch said, "And since my friends dared me over here, I suppose I made the right decision." He winked over at Kurt.

Kurt realized that Mitch was flirting with him. He was flirting with Kurt Hummel. He needed to wrap his mind around that.

"So you two here for long?" Mitch asked.

Kurt shook his head, "No, just for a few days, then we are headed back. We need to start getting ready for New York in the fall."

"Nice," Mitch nodded, "Well I dont suppose I could ask for a phone number to do something one night when you arent busy?"

Rachel pinched Kurts leg. "Sure. Sure," he said as Mitch handed him his phone. He put in his phone number and put his name as Kurt.

"Thanks," Mitch smiled at him, "I will hopefully see you soon." He walked away.

Rachel practically jumped on Kurt, when she saw Mitch was far away enough. "Oh my god! That was amazing! Did you see that?"

"Yes I did," Kurt said trying to push his friend away.

"He thought you were cute," Rachel teased, "And you thought he came over to talk to me." She said as she braided her hair into side braid.

"What was I suppose to think?" Kurt asked with a laugh.

Rachel just smiled, "Im going to hold this over your head forever." She sat back down on her beach chair and lay down.

"I am going to ignore you now," Kurt said as he reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of sunglasses sliding them on his face.

"Fine with me," Rachel giggled as she got comfortable in her chair, "But I still am going to tease you."

They sat sunbathing for about a half hour before Rachel decided she wanted to take a dip in the pool. Kurt stayed at his spot on the beach chair and read the book he brought with him.

"HEY DUDE!"

Kurt looked up and saw Derby running towards him, wearing nothing but his green swimming trunks. He pulled the book down and saw Kyle and Maddie talking behind him. Maddie was wearing her swimsuit, which was a bikini that was a dark red and matched her tan skin tone. Kyle had on his black swim trunks and a white shirt.

And then Kurt started freaking out in his mind, because following them was Blaine. He was wearing his own navy colored swimming trunks, which had darker red accents and a tight fitting shirt he hadnt seen on him before. Kurt kept thinking about Blaine taking off that shirt. He needed to keep reading his book.

"Dont want to swim?" Maddie asked sitting down on Rachels beach chair.

Kurt shrugged, "Like I said the chlorine does not do wonders for the skin."

Derby laughed and looked around, "Where is Rachel?"

"Over there," Kurt pointed his finger into the water to see Rachel running over to them.

"Hey guys," Rachel smiled as she squeezed the water out of her hair.

Blaine reached over and hit Derby on the back of the head, "Quit it."

"What?" Derby asked trying to sound innocent after staring at Blaines sister.

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Rachel go jump back in the water or something."

Rachel walked over and sat down on the end of his chair, "Hand me my towel please."

Kurt reached in the bag and handed her the towel, "You realize if you dont shower off that your skin will dry and you will need to moisturize often."

"I know," Rachel nodded accepting Kurts advice whether she wants to hear it or not and started to pat herself dry, "I am just taking a little break. So any more cute boys talk to you?"

"Any more?" Maddie asked with a smile.

"Oh yeah," Rachel reached over and pinched Kurts cheek, "He has already had an admirer."

Kurt pushed her hand away, "Stop it."

"You did?" Kyle asked with smile, "And did you give him your phone number?"

"I dont think Rachel could have pinched my leg any harder if I hadnt," Kurt said with a laugh.

Blaine stood there listening to the conversation. Guys were going to hit on Kurt. He was gorgeous and didnt have a boyfriend. Why wouldnt he flirt back? And why did he suddenly think it was his job to worry about them. And did he just say Kurt was gorgeous? "Are you going to jump in the water?"

Kurt was trying not to stare, but then Blaine took off shirt. And while Blaine didnt have the muscles of Mitch from earlier, he was still toned and his stomach looked adorable sticking out slightly, but only by a bit. He looked down and saw his legs too, which were of course nice as well. He pulled his book closer to his face, "No, you have fun."

"Blaine Anderson Berry," Rachel shouted abruptly and then pulled on the waistband of her brothers swimming trunks slightly.

Resting on Blaines right hip was a measure of music with about five or six notes on it. Kurts eyes widened at the sight.

Blaine pushed Rachels hand away, "Would you stop."

"That is a tattoo. What would Daddy or Papa say if they knew you had that?" Rachel exclaimed, "Wait you didnt get it when you were drunk did you?"

"No, I didnt. And Im almost twenty one years old Rach," Blaine rolled his eyes, "Besides it wasnt an over night decision."

"What do the notes stand for?" Kurt asking finding himself intrigued and yet trying not to look for to long at the spot on Blaines hip.

Maddie smiled, "Its a good one."

"Its the opening measure to Billy Joels Piano Man song," Blaine explained, "It was the first song I was proud of that I learned by myself."

"Fine," Rachel said with a huff. She turned to Kurt instantly changing the subject, "Are you going to coming into the pool?" She pulled on Kurts arm. "You went to Mikes pool party for his birthday slash graduation this year and we even played chicken. Remember we won."

Kurt shook his head of his thoughts and then looked over at Rachel, "Yes we did. And I trusted Mikes pool have the correct amount of chlorine ratio. I dont trust these pools."

"Well Im jumping in. Whos with me?" Derby asked.

"Im going," Kyle said taking off his shirt, "You coming honey?"

"Yeah," Maddie nodded as she stood up. "Babs you coming along then?"

"Sure," Blaine said.

"Ill go too," Rachel said as she followed them.

"Are you sure he is fine by himself?" Maddie asked her.

Rachel looked over her shoulder at her friend, "Hes alright. He always pulls that and then we can usually get him in the water. Course Finn just picked him up last time and threw him in. And then he wouldnt let Finn touch him for a few days."

Derby laughed, "Thats what we did with Blaine when we first got him in a pool. We had to show him a thing or two."

"No you were just a jackass," Blaine said as he ran and jumped into the water.

"Dude!" Derby yelled as he followed and jumped in after him.

Soon they were all in the water and splashing around. Blaine looked over and saw Kurt still sitting alone and reading his book. But now Kurt had headphones in his ears, he figured he must be listening to music then. Blaine bit his bottom lip, "Im going to go sit by our stuff for a minute," he told his friends as he got out of the pool. He shook his head letting the water splash out of his hair.

Blaine walked over to Kurt and sat on the beach chair next to his, "Good book?" he asked as he ran a towel through his hair.

Kurt shrugged, "Its not awful."

"Then why are you reading it?" Blaine asked him.

"I promised myself a few years ago at the beginning of the summer that I would read five books every summer. This is my second book this summer," Kurt explained, "I make sure that even if I dont love the book I try to finish it. Its just something I do I suppose."

"That sounds like fun," Blaine said relaxing by lying back on the beach chair and letting the sun dry the water off his body. "And youve read five books every summer for the past couple of years?"

"Yep," Kurt nodded, "Rachel started doing it last year now. I think its a pretty good system. Its nice to have someone to finally talk to about it with. I mean with Mercedes it was fun, but I suppose I may have more in common with Rachel surprisingly."

"I can totally see that," Blaine said with a nod. "I guess if you are anything like Rachel, then you are more than excited to go to New York in the fall."

"You have no idea," Kurt said getting excited and setting his book down in his lap, "I cant wait to leave Ohio. I mean I know my dad is still there, and Carole and Finn too, but you know its New York. I loved it when we visited last year, I dont remember seeing you though," he teased.

"Thats because we were insanely busy," Blaine said with a shrug, "I think that was when we were just starting out and it was crazy. We literally locked ourselves in my tiny apartment at the time and wrote four songs for a show we had just two days later."

"Wow," Kurt said looking over at him, "So I suppose we could have met earlier if you hadnt been so busy."

Blaine snorted a laugh, "Technically we have met before."

"I know, but you know as friends I guess," Kurt shrugged his shoulders.

"I think we can consider each other friends," Blaine looked over at him to discover Kurt had a worried look on his face as if he said the wrong thing. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Kurt sighed, "I just...sometimes its strange to me. I mean Ive had friends, but the way you and the others act around each other. Ive never had that especially with boys so Im never sure how to act."

Blaine moved, so his legs were over the edge of the chair facing towards Kurt, "Does this have anything to do why you wont get in the water?"

"Not really," Kurt said biting his bottom lip, "I really dont want to burn. I burn way too easy. The sun is not my friend."

Blaine laughed, "Well then if you want, you can stay clothed and in the shade. But I sort of understand where you are coming from. I mean before I transferred to Dalton I thought the world was just this dark place where I didnt fit anywhere. But while Dalton helped, it wasnt the big bad world we live in now."

Kurt looked over at Blaine, "I know New York is a bit more open, but its still the real world. People still whisper and stuff right?"

"Hell yeah they do," Blaine said with a smile, "But you know when you find someone to take on those whispers and those taunts with, the whole world seems like a brighter place."

Kurt wrapped his arms around himself, "You know you would make a good person to talk to when they are having a crisis."

"Oh no," Blaine shook his head, "I totally understand this and where you are coming from, but with other problems, I doubt it. I would probably be awful if some girl called and needed guy advice."

Kurt finally let out a laugh, "You do realize what you just said right?"

"Okay," Blaine smiled, "Fine, if a guy needed girl advice. But anyways, if anything is ever bothering you, you can always come to me. You have my number now and with both of us in New York next year, I think you would make a great partner in crime." He swung his legs back over the chair and threw an arm over his eyes.

Kurt glanced over at Blaine for a just a moment longer. He let himself smile as he looked upon his new friend and he lifted his book and began to read once again.

"HEY!" Blaine jumped up from his seat, "Do you have a pen and paper?"

Kurt looked around shocked for a moment before shaking his head.

"Crap," Blaine grabbed his phone from the small pile they had on the ground. He opened a document on his phone and started to quickly type out whatever was in his head.

"What are you doing?" Kurt asked him.

"Just thought of some lyrics," Blaine said as he typed, "Dont want to forget them. I used to make a nasty habit of just saying Ill remember them, but I never do." He kept typing feverously until he stopped, "And done."

Kyle and Rachel walked over talking about Chicago. "No," Rachel shook her head, "Roxie could be brunette. I would make it work."

"Sure," Kyle said as he looked over at Blaine who was reading over the lyrics he had just written down, "Oh know, you had another lyric epiphany didnt you?"

"Yeah," Blaine nodded. He stood up and showed Kyle, "How does that sounds instead."

Kyle read over the lyrics, "Dude, thats awesome. It flows so much better. How in the hell did you finally think of that? You were busting your balls last night with that line."

Blaine shrugged and let out a laugh, "Had a bit of inspiration I guess."

Kurt smiled from behind his book. He would just blame the heat if someone asked him about the red on his face.

Derby and Maddie were now walking towards them, "Food," she said as she wrapped an arm around Kyle.

"Hungry?" Kyle laughed and kissed her cheek.

"His fault," Maddie said letting him and grabbing a towel. She started to dry off, "I think if Derby could actually cook, he would be good at it."

"Kurt is amazing," Rachel said, "He totally helps everyone when they need cooking advice."

"I am not that good," Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Sure you arent," Rachel sighed, "You fixed my dads vegetable medley."

"Thats because you were making it wrong," Kurt said to her putting down his book down in his lap.

"We were doing it just as the recipe from the book said," Rachel sat down on the end of his chair again.

Kurt hummed, "And thats exactly why it turned out bad."

"You dont make recipes from books?" Derby asked him.

"Oh I do," Kurt said with a nod, "But I constantly change them to make them better."

"He does," Rachel agreed once again.

"So should we find something to eat?" Kyle asked everyone.

They all agreed and went back up to the room changing back into their clothes. Making the decision, the group decided to go out to a restaurant this time for a late lunch.

"This place looks good," Blaine shrugged as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Lets just hope we dont end up with food poisoning like they did in Bridesmaids," Rachel said staring at her brother.

"Now Rachel," Kyle said throwing an arm around her shoulders, "We wouldnt end up at a wedding dress shop would we?"
"It is a possibility," Derby laughed, "We are in Los Angeles the city of dreams."

"It is not," Blaine said as they exited the van, "And no wedding talk. While I know Kyle and Maddie love each other very much, no wedding talk."

"Mister Crabby," Derby said, "I was just teasing. Its not like its Vegas. Just wait until gay marriage is legal there. Then if you and Kurt got drunk out of your minds you two could get hitched."

Kurt froze. Why did people like Derby have to exist? Why do some people just say the things in their brains before they really think about them?

"Derby when they legalize gay marriage in all states give me a call," Blaine said and walked into the restaurant.

Kurt felt a bit of pride. And Blaine didnt say he didnt want to marry him.

The hostess smiled brightly at them, "How many in your party?"

"Erm, six," Blaine said to her.

"Wonderful," the hostess said giving Blaine an even brighter smile, if that was even possible. Kurt looked as if he was going to float away when they all walked in the door, mostly because in the back of his mind he may have a small chance with Blaine.

The group followed the hostess through the restaurant. "Awesome," Derby nudged Kurts arm and pointed at the small mural they had on the wall of the Beatles.

"Wow," Kurt said staring at it.

"You like the Beatles?" Derby asked him.

Kurt nodded, "Yeah, my mom loved them. She would always sing me their songs to get me to sleep at night when I was baby."

"Cool mom you got there," Derby said as they sat down.

Kurt saw Rachel give him a sympathy glance. He hated these looks and has gotten them ever since his mom has passed away.

Derby smiled, "So does your mom like any other awesome classic rock and roll-ers?"

"Oh um, lets see whats good here," Kurt sat down and pulled a menu over his face. He wanted Derby to just drop the subject now.

"Hey Blaine," Rachel interrupted before Derby could speak again, "What was that song you were working earlier?"

"Just one I think we should play at the finals," Blaine explained.

"I dont think we should," Maddie sighed, "Not that it isnt a good song, but we just havent rehearsed it enough. We dont want another disaster like our first show in Jersey do we?"

"Then we will rehearse it," Blaine shrugged his shoulders, "You dont put enough faith into my dreams."

"Oh I put more than enough faith into your dreams," Maddie rolled her eyes, "I joined this band didnt I?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Blaine looked down at the menu, "Now what do we have to pick from this afternoon?"