Kurt had been worried about the possible fall-out from the alcohol induced magic at the ball, but they seem to have escaped unscathed. The guests went home and raved about the Hollywood level pyrotechnics, making anyone who hadn't attended instantly jealous and ensuring that the next Anderson hosted event would be standing room only. Blaine had been able to convince his mother that the stars and fireworks had been a surprise he and Kurt had planned. She seemed a little dubious at first, but since there was really no other logical explanation she soon gave in and enjoyed giving coy "no comment" responses when people asked about who they had hired to do the work.

Flush with the success of the ball and her triumph in the designer gossip war Helen had plunged headlong into plans to redecorate the mansion, contacting decorators and finding charities that would benefit from the donation of the older furnishings.

With the worry about the party past, Kurt was left to focus on an even more concerning problem: Blaine. Kurt had accepted that Blaine only wanted to be friends after the whole kiss debacle, but Blaine wasn't making it easy for him to keep his resolve. Blaine has always been somewhat touchy-feely and Kurt had grown comfortable with the clasped hands, the shoulder touches, and the light hugs, but now it was like everything was in overdrive. Whenever they were in a room together Blaine seemed to be touching him. If they were sitting together then inevitably a thigh was touching. If they were standing next to each other a hand was around his waist. If they were reading together in the library then toes were tucked under his leg. The worst part was that Blaine didn't even seem to be aware that he was doing it, so Kurt was having a hard time bringing up the subject.

The situation was definitely starting to get to him. At work he had put together a list of perspective models for a new client who had asked for some "Liam Hemsworth types" and had been embarrassed to find he had actually submitted the headshots of models who were definitely more "Blaine Anderson types". At home he found himself staring after Blaine with a stupid smitten look on his face and had even worked an entire evening on new design sketches only to look the next day and find that his sketch pad was full of drawings of Blaine.

He was so frustrated and confused he could scream.

Rachel was the only distraction from his bewildering state of affairs. Not long after the ball, while on a shopping trip to replace her horrible summer wardrobe, she had decided to confide in him.

"I'm thinking about moving to New York," she blurted out while rifling through a rack of retro-style dresses. "You were right about needing to pursue your dreams. My talent is too big to be limited to just charity productions and karaoke bars, too big for Chicago. Broadway is where I belong."

"Wow Rachel, that's…amazing."

Rachel stood on her tip-toes and threw her arms around his neck to hug him close. "Thank you so much. You don't know how much it means, to have someone who believes in me."

"You're one in a million and those Broadway producers won't know what hit them." Kurt pulled back a little. "Have you told Blaine and Helen yet? Or Finn?"

"No," she sighed, her downcast eyes searching the floor. "Every time I try I chicken out and change the subject. Do you…do you think you might tell them for me?"

"Absolutely not. You've got to tell them yourself. You might be surprised."

Weeks later she still hadn't gotten up the courage to say anything to her family, but she and Kurt met regularly to brainstorm potential audition songs and he had seen her practice a few different dance routines so often he could probably dance them himself.

Then, something happened to force her hand. Kurt was having lunch with Artie when the other man mentioned that the owner of the theater company he worked for was investing in a Broadway musical. The show was just in the beginning stages and was in the middle of casting for a workshop version which would hopefully eventually end up on Broadway. The lead parts had been cast, but auditions for the chorus were being held in New York and Chicago the following week.

Kurt didn't want to get Rachel's hopes up, but thought that going through an audition while still in Chicago would be good for her. After all, if it turned out she couldn't handle the pressure involved it would be better to find that out before she moved to New York.

When he told her about the audition the determined look on her face said it all. Rachel Berry was going to be at that audition come hell or high water.

5 days and about a hundred repetitions of 'Don't Rain On My Parade' later Kurt accompanied Rachel to the auditions for moral support. As they waited in line to submit her headshots and bio, Kurt could hear her giving herself a little pep talk.

"You're a star. You know it and now it's only a matter of minutes before they know it too. You're going to shine so brightly they'll offer you the job on the spot. You're a star," she whispered over and over as they made their way to the front of the line.

Rachel was at the head of the line when the man at the door stopped her, announcing that they had reached their limit for people and were accepting no one else in for the open auditions.

"Please, you don't understand," Rachel implored, clutching her paperwork in her hands, "I need to be at this audition. I've wanted this since I was 3 years old. Please, just give me a chance. You won't regret it."

Kurt could see that the man was about to refuse. He couldn't bear to see Rachel's hopes dashed before she even had a chance, so he thought for a minute, trying to figure out the best way to get them inside. He concentrated for a moment, turning his head slightly so that no one could see his eyes.

"Hey Jerry," a voice rung out from inside the theater, "We miscounted, so we have room for one more."

Jerry impassively held out his hand to Rachel, asking for her paperwork. She handed it to him and he indicated with a flick of his head that she should go inside. Before heading in she turned to Kurt with a tremulous smile and threw her arms around his neck for a quick hug. As she let go he reached down to attached a tiny gold star shaped pin to the collar of her shirt. "Break a leg, Rachel. They're going to love you."

She smiled at him gratefully and disappeared inside.

3 hours later the first round of auditions were over and Rachel had, amazingly, made it through to the second round. She had a half hour for lunch, so she and Kurt decide to head to the café next door for something light. As they left the building, a voice stopped them.

"You really should be more careful about the expressions you make when you sing. You close your eyes too much and make faces that are so overly-dramatic they belong in a Lifetime movie of the week." Rachel gasped in outrage at the criticism and spun around to give the speaker a piece of her mind, but was unable to get anything out before he continued. "I'm only telling you this because you're really talented. Not as talented as me, of course, but I'd hate to see you miss out on roles because of something you can change. You should be flattered; I don't waste my time giving advice to people who don't have potential. It's too valuable."

Rachel was a little mollified at this and Kurt could tell she was intrigued by the man.

"I'm Rachel. Rachel Berry," she said tentatively, reaching her hand out in greeting.

"Jesse…St. James."

Rachel made it through the second round of auditions and had been asked to come back for the final round the next day. As they headed home she sped through a minute-by-minute recap of her experience. As Kurt listened he realized that a lot of her stories featured Jesse St. James, who was one of the featured actors already cast in the production.

"So, Jesse seems to have made a big impression, huh?"

Rachel was quiet for a moment. "I love Finn. I really do, but…I can't deny that I'm drawn to Jesse. His talent is a great match for mine and if I'm going to be a star I'll need a leading man who can keep up with me, like Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. Jesse speaks to the artist inside of me and he understands, you know?" Kurt nodded giving her a sympathetic look. "Does this make me a bad person? Going after my dreams, even at the expense of those I love? I just don't know if Finn will understand. I don't know if he's ever wanted something even half as much. What if my moving to New York ends my relationship with Finn and I ruin his life? Losing me could do that to a person."

"Sometimes you have to risk it all to get the things you really want."

"I guess," she agreed. She looked out the car window for a minute before turning back to him with a serious look. "So when are going to take your own advice, huh?"

Kurt had no response for her and they finished up the ride in silence. They arrived home to hear the sound of arguing coming from the closed doors of the living room. They stood uneasily in the entry way, only able to make out that the raised voices belonged to Blaine and Quinn, but not being able to clearly understand anything that was being said. They were about to retreat silently to the second floor when the doors burst open and Quinn rushed out, brushing past them as she headed for the front door. She paused to glare at Kurt and seemed about to say something when she was stopped by Blaine saying her name in a warning tone. She gave an angry toss of her head and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Blaine just shook his head at their questioning looks and retreated back into the library. He was introspective for the rest of the night, but Kurt couldn't gather up the courage to ask what the fight had been about.

The final cast list for the musical was set to be posted on Monday morning and by mid-day Sunday it was obvious that something was going to have to be done to distract and occupy Rachel. She had been super intense and restless all day and while Kurt knew the reason behind it, no one else did, so their frustration was growing by the minute. Kurt and Blaine were trying to relax out by the pool, and after the fifth time she had come out to pace around the pool and engage them in endless rapid fire conversation Blaine had suggested she organize the DVDs in the theater. That only kept her occupied for an hour, so Helen also did her part to find something for the girl to do, asking her to start boxing up small items that would be replaced in the upcoming redecoration, but that task also didn't keep her occupied for long.

Finally, in desperation Blaine suggested that they call Finn and all go out for the evening. They settled on a retro roller rink that had opened earlier that year, hoping that the physically activity would help tire Rachel out and give them some peace. They arrived at the roller rink to find a good sized crowd already gathered. Most were skating, but some were tucked away into a side room where they were singing rockaoke, which was karaoke with a live band.

A tiny blond woman with a slight southern accent was at the microphone, introducing the theme of the next skate, her words slurred just a touch, as if she had already indulged a little too much for the evening. "Howdy everyone, I'm April, your host for this evening, and I want everyone to get out on the floor. It's an 'all skate', so let's get this party started!" She topped off her glass from what looked like a box of wine behind the podium and tottered off towards the rockaoke room, where she jumped on stage and began belting out a song with the band.

Not surprisingly, Finn turned out to be a horrible skater and Rachel was soon fully engaged in just keeping him on his feet as they circled the floor. Kurt had never been skating before, so he watched Blaine skate around a few times before trying it himself. He took to it immediately and they were soon engaged in a playful game of tag out on the floor.

Finally sore ankles from turning the same direction over and over led them to take a break and grab some pizza in the attached cafeteria style restaurant. As they sat at a table nibbling their food Kurt decided to broach the topic that had been on his mind since the day before. "Quinn seemed upset last night. Is something wrong?"

Blaine gave a deep sigh and let his gaze wander out towards the skaters still on the floor, not really focusing on anyone in particular. "The board is getting impatient. They want to call a vote about putting a permanent CEO in place."

"Already? But you don't have the votes you need, do you?"

"That's why Quinn—"

He was interrupted by the sound of his name being called out over the din in the restaurant and he looked up to see where it came from. Two men came rushing over and Blaine bounded up to meet them. From the garbled conversation Kurt gathered that these two men were old schoolmates of Blaine's, but he has too irritated at having their conversation interrupted to care. As the three men approached the table he pasted what he hoped was a welcoming smile on his face.

"Kurt! These are two friends from high school, Wes and David. Guys, this is Kurt, my best friend."

Kurt kept the smile on his face as everyone sat down at the table and let the conversation flow around him. Best friend. He was Blaine's best friend. He should be happy about that, he knew, but he couldn't help but think that it wasn't enough. It hadn't been enough for a quite a while now.

Lost in thought he didn't hear the suggestion that they all rejoin the skaters on the floor, only cluing in when the other men stood up and looked at him expectantly. They all tromped back to the main room and rolled out onto the floor, laughing their way through the 'Chicken Dance', 'Hokey Pokey', and 'YMCA'.

Everyone was laughing from witnessing the antics of their fellow skaters when the lights on the skating floor dimmed, the only direct illumination coming from the disco ball high overhead.

"OK everybody," April cooed into the microphone, "If you're feelin' that burning deep down in your soul, grab your honey by the waist and come snuggle under the pale disco ball light, 'cause this one's for lovers only."

Kurt was surprised to feel an arm encircle around his waist and he passively let Blaine draw him out onto the floor. They had skated once around the room before his wits returned and he stopped abruptly. Not anticipating having Kurt stop, Blaine shot passed him and had to swerve out of the way of other skaters as he circled back. "What's wrong? Did you hurt an ankle or something?"

Kurt glared at him and swung around to skate off the floor, Blaine trailing behind. He made his way to the benches and sat, reaching down to remove his skates. "You can't keep doing this to me. You can't kiss me then say it was all a drunken mistake. You can't tell me that we're only friends then spend the whole night holding my hand and touching my waist. And you definitely can't introduce me as your best friend then try and pull me in for the lover's only skate. It isn't fair and it isn't like you to be cruel, so I need you to stop." Kurt finally had his skates off and stormed away. When he reached the parking lot he stopped, unsure of what to do next. He leaned up against the side of the building, defeated.

"I'm sorry." Kurt looked up to find Blaine standing in the doorway, one skate on and one skate off. "I know none of this is fair to you. I just…I'm a mess, Kurt. I can't bear disappointing people and I know I overthink things too much." He managed to get the other skate off and stepped closer to Kurt, careful not to crowd him. "When I kissed you back in New York? It wasn't totally the alcohol. I think it just gave me the push I needed to do what I'd been wanting to for weeks. And it was more than I ever thought it'd be. It was everything. Then the next morning it was just me again. No extra courage telling me to go for what I wanted and the doubts just came rushing back in. I started thinking about my mom and how I had sacrificed so much. And I thought about the company and Quinn and what I might have to do to take my rightful place there." Blaine reached down to grab Kurt's hand. "But none of that matters anymore. I'm so tired of fighting what I feel. Of trying to be something I'm not. What I said earlier is true. You are my best friend, but I'm hoping that you could be more, if I haven't ruined everything."

A strange feeling of calm came over Kurt as he listened to Blaine speak. If he was being honest with himself, he would admit that he had fallen a little bit in love with Blaine the night of the ball, when he turned around to see Blaine, hand out, asking him to dance. But falling in love wasn't a good idea, at least not for him, and he had fought falling deeper for as long as he could. Now there he stood, on the edge of a precipice, knowing he should turn back, that danger lay ahead, but disregarding the warnings. When Blaine finally came to a stop, the pleading expression on his face pulled an answering pang from deep in Kurt's heart.

Blaine's face fell when Kurt didn't respond immediately and he glanced sadly around the deserted parking lot with a resigned sigh. "Do you…do you want to go back inside?"

Kurt looked directly into Blaine's eyes, took a deep breath, and flung himself off, hoping that Blaine would be there to break his fall. "No. I want to go back to the house," he said, a deeper meaning ringing through every word.

Blaine stared at him with a stunned look, blinking and letting the words settle in, then with no warning he reached out and grabbed ahold of the tie Kurt was wearing, tugging him closer and closer until he wrapped his arm around his waist and drew him in for a passionate kiss.