“YOU WERE AMAZING!” Mercedes all but screeched after entering his dressing room. It was after the show and most of his friends from Lima, as well as his parents, had flown in for the opening night. They were now crowding into his tiny dressing room behind the stage. Mercedes just about hugged him to death, cutting off most of the air in his lungs. 

“Um… ‘Cedes.. can't… breathe…” 

“OH, sorry!” she said, immediately releasing him. She smiled as the others entered the room, and happily congratulated him on his first successful show. 

When his parents came into view, he immediately rushed over to hug them. “Congratulations Kurt, you were amazing up there!” Burt said, hugging his son tightly, “Were so proud of you!”

“Thanks for coming, I know you just saw me a month ago but...” Kurt said, trailing off.

“Of course we would be here! Theres nothing that couldve stopped us from coming to see your opening night!” Carole exclaimed as she pulled him into a soft hug. It was refreshing after the bone crushing one he got from Mercedes. She was smiling at her stepson when let him go. 

“Well, regardless, thank you,” he said as he turned to the rest of his friends who were in the room. “Thank you, all of you, for coming tonight. It means a lot to me.”

“Of course,” Tina said, smiling happily at him.

“Wouldn't miss it for the world, Hummel,” Santana threw in nicely, causing a few heads to turn in her direction at her lack of snark.

“Drinks back at our place!” Rachel suddenly screeched, earning an echo of cheers from the group of friends and an odd look from the parents of the group. Overall, the group was about to head out when Cody rushed back into the room, carrying a huge bouquet of roses.

“Oh good, you haven't left yet!” he said sighing, “Someone told me to send these your way.” he handed Kurt the roses before quickly exited the room. “See you Sunday!”

Kurt just stared at the empty doorway for a moment, then blinked once before turning his attention to the bundle of flowers in his arms. He looked to see if there was any note, and sure enough, there was a little white card sticking up in the middle. He plucked the note from its stand and unfolded it.

You were amazing up there tonight. Hope to see you again sometime soon.

He flipped the card over in search of a name, but nothing was there. He frowned as he admired the flowers. 

“Who are they from?” Tina asked as she peaked over his shoulder to look at the card.

“I'm not sure, actually,” he replied as he slid the tiny card into his pocket for safe keeping. “Probably just a fan.”

“Okay, well, if everyones ready, I took the liberty of preparing a few cars to take us back to the penthouse, so let's head outside!” Mercedes announced, beginning to walk towards the doorway as the crowd followed. Kurt followed the group, keeping a tight hold on the roses that were in his hand. When the girls and him piled into the town car, he took the liberty of rolling down the window to wave to the fans as they drove by. Before they were out of sight though, he could have sworn he saw a head of dark curls watching him leave.

~

The next morning, Kurt was greeted with a headache and a blast of sunlight. He squinted as he opened his eyes to the light and saw Rachel standing there with her hand on her hip and an annoyed look on her face. “Do you have any idea what time is is?” he groaned, burying his head into a pillow.

“Do you know what time is is?” she shot back. She was greeted with a pillow to the face, but thankfully she caught it before it hit anything else in the room. After tossing it back onto the bed, she came up to the edge and began dragging him off the bed by his feet. “Get uuuup! We are having a girls day and I have something special planned you later today! You're going to love it!”

Without much effort at all, Rachel had him on the floor, cursing various words into the carpet. She held out her hands for him and he graciously took them as he got to his feet. “You know, that kind of wake up call has been working effectively since high school,” he told her as she smiled. 

“Get ready to leave soon! I have the entire day planned, starting with breakfast with the girls at Charlie's,” she said simply as she excited the room, but not before yelling over her shoulder, “And wear something sexy!”

He rolled his eyes when those words came out of Rachel Berry's mouth, they was never a good sign. He sighed as he began to attend to the mass of sheets tangled into a ball on top of his bed. Once the sheets were neatly made back on his bed, he went to take care of the headache that was still killing his head. Heading over to his bathroom, he quickly popped an aspirin and gulped down a glass of water, hoping the pain in his head would subside eventually. When he glanced back up at his reflection, he almost laughed. He was still dressed in what he came home in last night. His skinny jeans were still tightly hugging his thighs and his army green jacket was still on his shoulders. His hair, surprisingly was in decent condition, considering he assumed he was out like a light the second he hit the bed after the round of drinks with everyone the previous night. His headache, thankfully, began to fade a little and it put him in a happier mood. After brushing his teeth thoroughly, he left the bathroom in search of something to wear. 

Most of clothes werent exactly casual, since it made things easier for him back when he was interning at Vouge. Sadly, school had become too much to juggle with the internship and he had to leave his position. Luckily, he was pretty close with the editor, Isabelle, and they kept in touch from time to time. He was even invited to go to Paris with her for fashion week next year if he was interested, and that made him fanboy internally at the thought of it. Taking a quick look in his closet, he decided on something from the new line that Vouge had been working on (another gift from Isabelle), and his favorite boots. Before he changed, something tiny fell out of the pocket of his jacket and he picked it up. It was the note from last night, the one that had been on the bundle of roses that were now sitting in a vase by his beside table. He read the card once again, admiring the handwriting on the it. Hope to see you again sometime. The thought intrigued him, and he wondered if he would ever meet the person who sent him the lovely flowers. 

“Come on Kurt!” Rachel yelled, “If we want good seats, we gotta go now!”

He shook himself out of his thoughts for and began changing out of his jeans and jacket into what he had chosen. He decided to put the note in his pocket before he left the the room, quickly glancing at the mirror and hoping he hadnt kept Rachel waiting too long. He knew all too well how impatient she was.

About a half an hour later, he, Santana, Rachel, Mercedes, and Tina were seated at Charlie's for breakfast. The little pub was in the heart of Midtown, a little far from their home, but well worth the time in traffic. The food there was better than any upscale restaurant on the Upper East Side. Unfortunately, the downside was, it was always insanely busy, day or night. Rachel was right, the place was already pretty crowded for how early it was and they had cut it close with getting good seats. Fortunately, once the waiter saw that there were two broadway stars AND a famous singer among the group, they were seated happily and given the best service. The waiter had just finished taking their orders and was about to leave before she leaned over the table on Kurt's side and smiled shyly. “If you don't mind, can I bother you for an autograph? My daughter and I went to see your show last night and she was really sad that she didn't get a chance to talk to you after the show.”

Kurt blushed and smiled widely. “Of course! Who should I make it out to?”

She handed him a notepad and a pen from her jean pocket, smiling. “Cassie.”

“Alright,” He said, writing out a cute little message before signing his name with a smily face. “Here you go!”

“Thank you so much! Your food should be out shortly!” she said happily as she walked away from the table.

Mercedes elbowed his arm and he turned to see her smiling widely. “Damn Hummel, she didn't even ask for my autograph! Soon you'll be more famous then me!” 

“Don't hold your breath,” he said laughing, “It was just one fan.”

He turned his attention to Rachel, who's face was scrunched up, almost annoyed she didn't get any recognition at all. “Don't pout, you'll get wrinkles,” he told her, earning a glare. “I'm going to use the restroom, be right back!”

He got up from the rather large booth and headed to the bathroom in the back of the pub. 

Back at the table, conversation began to stir.

“Is he gone?” Tina asked as Rachel peered around the corner of the booth. After a moment she turned back and nodded. “He's gone.”

They all sighed, all of them itching for details. The previous week, Rachel had called the girls up after her surprise visit from Blaine, but Kurt had been in the house when she got on the phone, and since then she hadnt been able to give out too many details to everyone without the fear of Kurt overhearing. “So, what's the plan here?” Mercedes asked. "I'm getting tired of Kurt pretending not to care while I have to listen to Blaine complain about Kurt not talking to him.”

Rachel hummed in agreement, “Yeah, both of them have been a real pain in my ass about each other."

“Which, by the way, thanks for letting me in on the details. I had to hear it from the the fangirls," Tina interjected with an annoyed look on her face. 

They all smiled guiltily. “Sorry.”

“So…?” Mercedes asked again, “What's the plan?”

Rachel began talking as quickly as she could, making sure to throw a glance back at the restrooms every now and then to watch for Kurt. When she finished, they all nodded and smiled at what she had just told them. “That's so sweet!” Tina said.

“He'll have to give in, he'll love it,” Mercedes added.

“What will I love?” Kurt asked, suddenly reappearing in front of the booth. They all froze, except for Rachel who had simply smiled and said, “Your surprise later of course!”

He raised an eyebrow at her before turning and looking at the others. They just smiled and did the same as Rachel. “You really will.”

Before Kurt had the chance to ask any other questions, Debby, their waitress came back with their food. Soon enough, the conversation was long forgotten by the girls who were chatting about the latest scandal on their favorite tv show. But the question stuck in his head. What was this mysterious surprise?

~

The rest of their day was filled with more shopping than Kurt himself could handle, and that was CERTAINLY saying something. He was sure he has at least seen, been in, or bought something from every shop on the stretch from Midtown to the Upper East Side. Nevertheless, in all the time he had lived in New York, he was pretty sure he had never walked as far as he did that day . They eventually did stop for lunch at a small bakery on the outskirts of Midtown, and it was a relief to take a break from all of the shopping (which was something he thought he would never say to himself). Unfortunately, that didn't seem to stop the girls from dragging him all over the place afterward. When it neared seven oclock that evening, he noticed all of the girls began had become a little antsy. He noticed that Rachel and Mercedes had been taking phone calls non-stop for the past two hours, insisting it was important and that they would be right back. 

Finally, after hours of shopping, they all sat down in a park bench somewhere to get some solid rest. Only then did one of them finally say something. “Hey Hummel, you trust us, right?” Santana asked with a smirk on her face that made Kurt feel slightly uneasy.

“Um… I guess…?” he replied cautiously, raising an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”

From around the corner, a black limo pulled up, stopping right in front of them. Before he had a chance to react, Tina pulled a blindfold from her purse and tied it around his eyes. “No reason!”

The four girls quickly shoved him inside and  before the limo took off into the busy streets. Still blinded by the bandana, he felt around him for someone's arm he could smack. “What the hell was that for? Why am I blindfolded? Whats going on?”

“Sorry, we can't answer any of questions! We have instructions to get you there and thats it.” Rachel said simply. Her voice seemed to come from his left and he desperately reached around for her arm to smack. “Resorting to violence wont to get you anywhere.”

“Says the one who smacked Finn until he told you what Quinn said about you,” he mumbled. She ignored him and let the the of them sit in silence for the ride. Kurt sighed, wondering how long they had been in the car and where the hell they were going. 

Soon, after what felt like eternity, the car came to a stop and he heard Mercedes thank the driver. Someone grabbed his hand, most likely Rachel, and helped him out of the car. As his feet hit the pavement and the sounds of cars passing and music filled his ears, he wondered for the hundredth time where exactly their destination was. The girls wasted no time dragging him to wherever they were going. Someone opened a door, and the sound of music playing over speakers entered his ears. The place sounded huge and rather crowded, but it was hard to think straight over all the sounds of music and voices of people that surrounded him. 

He was still being dragged to wherever he was going, weaving through people as he felt his shoulders being bump into others. They came to a stop, and he paused to listen to what was going on.

“Names?” asked someone from in front of him.

“Berry, Lopez, Cohen-Chang, Jones, and over here is Hummel,” Mercedes said to whoever asked the question. “He put us on that list especially for him.”

The man was quiet for a moment, and the other ambient sounds filled the space. “Youre good,” he replied. “Hey, make sure he watches his step. Im not sure why you have him blind folded though….”

“Will do,” Santana said, and his blindfold was suddenly ripped off, the lights blinding his eyes. He closed them for a second to let them readjust just as she starting pulling him towards the stairs above them. “C'mon it's about to start.”

The five of them passed the security guard, heading up the stairs without giving any further explanation. He quickly glanced around the the area below him as they climbed the staircase. Were they in a bar…? When they finally got to the top of the stairs, they turned a corner, and it finally made sense. Before them was a full arial view of the stage below them. Crowds of people were around the stage, listening to the artist playing on it. The blond girl on stage, Sabrina, he thought her name was, was playing guitar and singing to a song he had heard the other day on the radio. The four girls pushed him towards the front row seats on the balcony, urging him to sit down and watch. He complied, listening to another portion of the song before turning towards the girls. “What are we doing here?”

“You'll see," they said in unison, and all he could do was turn back and look at the stage again. He felt the odd sensation of people watching him again, the same feeling he had when he was in LA. He turned slightly and saw a group of teen girls watching him from the other side of the balcony, smiling and waving. He smiled back at them, giving a confused wave before he turned back towards Sabrina on stage. He wasnt sure where they had recognized him from, the play or his paparazzi encounters in LA. Come to think of it, there had probably been other times with paparazzi that he didn't know about… Before he had the chance to overthink it too much though, Sabrina had wrapped up her song.

“Thank you New York! Youve all been awesome! The man of the hour will be out shortly!” The crowd cheered as she turned to to leave the stage, but not before she glanced up in his general direction and… winked? She left the stage leaving Kurt to wonder what the hell had just happened. 

“Um, what… is that what you wanted me to see or..?” Kurt asked, trailing off curiously.

They ignored his question, shaking their heads and chatting amongst each other, leaving Kurt to let his eyes to wander. The man of the hour… he mused as he looked around the crowded theater once more. His eyes wandered back to another group of fans who seemed to be watching him with smiles. It was like everyone knew his face. And wait, were those girls wearing Blaine Anderson t-shirts…?

Wait…

Man of the hour…

Fangirls watching him…

Blaine Anderson t-shirts…

Oh god.

The crowd began to scream once again and his head shot over to the stage. Sure enough, there was a figure walking across the stage, barely visible in the darkness of room. Moments later, the lights flipped on, and there stood Blaine Anderson in the flesh. His unmistakable curls were nestled on the top of his head, and a bright smile showed on his face. He wore black jeans, black converse high tops, and a white t-shirt. Kurt couldn't help but think about how hot it mustve been up there with all the lights, which was odd because that just wasnt the first detail he shouldve been noticing. His jaw dropped, and he let out out a shaky exhale as he watched Blaine wave at the crowd of screaming fans.

“Hello New York!” he said into the mic, earning him a roar of cheers in response. “Howre you doing tonight?”

He was greeted with another roar of responses. “Awesome! I want to start off the night with a new song I wrote, how does that sound?”

The crowd roared again, and after a moment, he raised his hand to calm everyone down. “Okay, well, theres a bit of backstory with this song, let me tell you. As some of you may or may not know, this is sorta my big reveal tonight. I just signed with Warner Brothers for my first official album!”

The crowd screamed with cheers, louder then the first few times, and it took a little more time to calm them down. “I know, it's exciting!” he exclaimed. “I was asked to write my first song not too long ago, maybe a little over a month? Let me tell you, I had no idea what to write about. But then, inspiration hit me head on, literally actually. I met someone, someone who I care for deeply and someone I messed up with big time. So this song is an apology for all of the mistakes I've made with them in the past couple of months. So this is for you, you know who you are.”

Kurt felt like he couldnt breathe as Blaine began to sing.

Im so glad you made time to see me.

Hows life? Tell me how you are?

I havent seen you in a while.

Youve been good, busier than ever,

We small talk, work and the weather,

Your guard is up and I know why.

Because the last time you saw me

Is still burned in the back of your mind.

You gave me everything and I left you there.

Kurt was surprised to see Blaine take a guitar that was handed to him and begin to play along.  He knew that Blaine was good on the piano, but he had no idea he played guitar too… His train of thought was derailed when Blaine somehow managed to lock his hazel eyes with Kurts blue ones from below. 

So this is me swallowing my pride,

Standing in front of you saying, "Im sorry for that night,"

And I go back to that day all the time.

It turns out freedom aint nothing but missing you.

Wishing Id realized what I had when you were mine.

Id go back, turn around and make it all right.

I go back to that day all the time.

These days I havent been sleeping,

Staying up, playing back myself leavin.

When days passed and I didnt call.

And I think about the times, all the beautiful times,

I watched you laughing from the passenger side.

Realized I loved you after all.

You gave me all your love and all I gave you was "Goodbye".

So this is me swallowing my pride

Standing in front of you saying, "Im sorry for that night."

And I go back to that day all the time.

It turns out freedom aint nothing but missing you,

Wishing Id realized what I had when you were mine.

Id go back, turn around and change my own mind

I go back to that day all the time.

I miss your blue eyes, your sweet smile,

So good to me, so right

And how you talked to me for hours

during those lonely times

Maybe this is wishful thinking,

Probably mindless dreaming,

But if we loved again, I swear Id love you right.

Id go back in time and change it but I cant.

So if you're not there I understand.

But this is me swallowing my pride

Standing in front of you saying, "Im sorry for that night."

And I go back...

It turns out freedom aint nothing but missing you,

Wishing Id realized what I had when you were mine.

Id go back, turn around and make it all right.

Id go back, turn around and change my own mind

I go back to that day all the time.

All the time.

When the song was over, the crowd cheered loudly and Blaine smiled widely. “Thank you! Thank you!" 

The rest of the show felt like a blur to Kurt. All he could think about was talking to Blaine, about what he would say when they inevitably spoke again. When Blaine finished his last song and left the stage, Kurt just about bolted towards the stairs before an arm stopped him. “Wait!” Rachel yelled. She thrusted a lanyard with a Performers pass clipped on the end. “You're going to need this.”

He took it from her, yelling a thanks over his shoulder as he ran downstairs towards the crowd of people. He weaved in and out of the crowd in the bar area, desperately trying to find his way to the side entrance of the stage. When he eventually did get to the stage entrance, security stood in his way. “Who are you?” The security guard asked. 

Before Kurt had the chance to respond, a flash of blond hair came into view. “Don't worry, he's with me!” Sabrina appeared, taking a hold of his arm and dragging him past security. She lead him down a hallway which he assumed led him backstage. 

“You know who I am?” Kurt asked her with a confused look. 

“Of course I do! I had to hear my uncle talk about how he was going to get you back all last week!” she said, taking him down another hall lined with dressing room doors.

“Wait- Blaine is your uncle?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “How…?” 

“It doesn't matter now, you can ask me later,” she said, opening a door to one of the dressing rooms. Kurt entered, but she hung back by the door. “I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of you soon!” And with that, she closed the door and left him alone.

The room was small, holding only a desk, a mirror, and a small couch in the corner. There was a clothing rack in the corner as well, which held an extra set of clothes, probably for after the show. He turned back to look at the mirror, where a small picture caught his attention. He went over to it, sitting down in the chair and taking it off the corner of the mirror. It was a picture similar to the one that had been on his mirror in LA, only in this photo, their lips were locked. They looked happier then ever. He smiled, trancing his fingers over it before turning it over. Written on the back, the words, best day ever and the date were nearly inked, and Kurt took a moment to just stare at the script. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the note from the flowers, comparing the handwriting. The letters were written in almost exactly the same the curtly handwriting as on the photo. So he was the one who sent the flowers…

“Kurt…” he heard someone breathe out from behind him and he glanced up at the mirror to see Blaine standing in the doorway.

Kurt smiled at the reflection. “Hey Blaine.”