If the whole world didn’t love the smooth acapella sound of The Warblers and the quirky original songs from The New Directions before then they sure as hell did now. The first month of the tour was insane for both groups but they loved every single second of it. No-one could get enough of the screaming fans and sold out shows.
After a few minor kinks in the first couple shows with choreography or technical problems, both The Warblers and New Directions fell into a steady rhythm and their shows were now close to flawless.
The Warblers opened the show with charismatic crooner Blaine Anderson singing ‘Teenage Dream’ to all the girls in the crowd followed by some classic covers and few original songs they had been working on over the years. If the crowd hadn’t lost their voices screaming for the team of handsome young men then they continued as The New Directions took the stage. Rachel of course belted out a few classic ballads while Santana performed her version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’ to perfection.
The two groups came together for a song between their separate sets, the song choice changing alternating every show. The two groups had 5 different songs prepared and never repeated the same one two shows in a row. It kept the fans on their toes...
Exhausted from their own performances every night, many of The Warblers only caught the last of The New Directions’ set. None of them had been able to see their entire performance from start to finish mostly because they would just be in the way backstage. It was crazy busy off stage with costume flying everywhere and people running back and forth from the stage to the dressing room and back again.
Sneaking backstage after The Warblers performance in Portland, Oregon, Blaine couldn’t resist watching Kurt. Their relationship had only grown stronger in the short two months they had known each other and with stolen glances and light flirty comments, they both wanted to take the next step. They both wanted to just admit they were falling for each other but both boys were scared.
Watching Kurt perform The Beatles classic ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ Blaine realised how truly amazing that man was. His angelic voice, his beautiful god-like features and his down to earth personality were only a few of the many things Blaine adored about Kurt. Everything about the bronze haired countertenor made Blaine believe that there was good in this world and that all the drama with his family would work itself out. He knew that as long as he had Kurt in his life, everything would be great.
“I never get sick of hearing that applause” Kurt smiled as he ran off stage once his song was over and he’d lapped up a good minute of cheers and applause from the crowd. Unsure how an audience would react to his song at first, Kurt didn’t think it would ever get the reaction that it did every night. Kurt’s faith in the music taste of today’s teenagers was restored when they went wild for his rendition of an iconic Beatles song.
“Hi” he chuckled as he noticed Blaine looking at him with that goofy happy look on his face. Kurt knew he only ever got that face when he was allowed to indulge in his favourite Coco Pops breakfast.
“Lindsay was right...”
“Huh?”
“About that song, it’s amazing” Blaine smiled and handed Kurt his hand towel to wipe the sweat from his brow “It was beautiful”
“Thank you, Blaine”
“I... I just...” the curly haired boy began until he was interrupted by a frantic stage hand.
“Kurt, you have to get changed, Lindsay moved ‘Be Happy’ up a slot for tonight”
“Crap, ok I’ll be right there” he sighed and turned back to Blaine “Talk after the show?”
“Sure”
Blaine watched as Kurt raced back to his dressing room to change into his perfectly tailored silver suit ready to sing his duet with Rachel. Happily adding it to Kurt’s repertoire of flawless songs, Blaine admired his friend’s talent. He knew Kurt had an incredible career in music ahead of him and would definitely talk to Lindsay about taking him on as another client when they wrapped up their tour.
As the show came to an end, The Warblers joined The New Directions back on stage for one final bow. It was their last night in Oregon before continuing their tour down through California so they all joined in on the closing number ‘Light Up The World’ belting out all the notes with all their energy. As much as both groups loved performing on their own, they all loved coming together to sing out the end of another mind blowing show.
As the members of both groups ran off the stage still buzzing from the adrenalin coursing through their bodies, no-one wanted this night to end. Laughing and cheering their way back to the green room, they would soon come from down from their high. For now, they’d celebrate with pizza, soda and eventually a god night’s sleep.
Pulling Kurt away from the crowd before they made it back to the green room, Blaine pushed the older boy up against the corridor wall and crashed their lips together. Cupping his face gently with both hands, Blaine kissed him passionately until the need for air became too much for them both.
“I... Wow” Kurt gasped softly as he tried to regain his breath. He had wanted to kiss Blaine for a long time now and no fantasy he’d had was quite as good as the real thing.
“I couldn’t wait any longer, I had to do that” Blaine smiled as he ran his hands down Kurt’s shoulders and arms to link their fingers together “You move me Kurt and I can’t think of being without you...”
Unable to find the right words to say, Kurt closed the gap between them and pressed another softer, lighter kiss to Blaine’s lips.

XXXXX

“No, Mom. I’m not going to have time to visit Old Uncle Bud while I’m in San Francisco” Lindsay sighed into her phone as she rounded the corner on her hotel room floor. After a long meeting with Will and Wes preparing for the adventure that will be the California leg of the tour, Lindsay just wanted to relax in a nice, hot bath. “I know he’s only in Napa but I’ll have my hands full with these kids”
Fishing through her handbag for her room key, Lindsay didn’t want to be having this argument with her Mom... again.
“I’m pushing it enough coming back to New York in July for...” Lindsay began until she looked up and groaned at what she was met with “Mom, I will call you back” she sighed “Yes, just tell him I love him”
Hanging up the phone, she made her way down the hall and coughed loudly. The two boys pressed against each other in front of Blaine’s door sprung apart quickly straightening their clothes like it would change the situation in any way.
“Hey Linds” Blaine chuckled as he took Kurt’s hands gently hoping to calm the now rigid young man whose face was turning a beautiful shade of embarrassment red.
“Hi Lindsay...”
“In the hallway, really?” Lindsay sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose gently “What part of the ‘paparazzi can ruin your life with one photo, be careful’ speech I gave you, did you two not understand?”
Just before The Warblers and The New Directions performed their first show in New Jersey, Lindsay sat them all down for a serious talk. Going through security protocol and what needed to happen before and after every show in terms of getting to and from the venue, she also talked to them about the paparazzi.
As Blaine’s agent, she warned him that if he got his face plastered across every tabloid in the country for something stupid then she would kill him. She was a little less intense with The Warblers and New Directions. Lindsay did warn them that one compromising photo could ruin their career in an instant no matter what the real explanation was. Tabloid magazines were notorious for blowing something tiny out of proportion and everyone loved a good scandal. She wanted her kids to be smart about what they did when they were in the public eye. Lindsay had seen too many great artists get involved in stupid scandals and what was worse was the effect it had on their careers. She didn’t want that to happen to them.
“I guess I should have seen this coming” Lindsay chuckled. Met with confused expressions, she continued “We’ve all been waiting for you two to finally just get together but I have to warn you guys, this can’t go public. Not now anyway”
“Because the world sucks?” Kurt sighed. Blaine had filled him in on his conversation with Lindsay before the tour started. As much as he hated that Blaine may have to hide who he really was, Kurt understood Lindsay’s point of view. Now that Blaine was in the public eye, a situation like this needed to be controlled and controlled by Lindsay not the media.
“Yes and I wish it was different but it’s not” she shrugged weakly. She too wished that Blaine could just embrace who he was right then and there but he needed to consider his family in all this as well not to mention how the media could twist it all. Lindsay was good at turning bad press back into a positive, but this might be too much at the moment. “Now, I’m not saying you two can’t be together because let’s face it, you would go behind my back and do whatever anyway...”
“True” Blaine chuckled
“I’m just asking you guys to be very, very low key. Nothing in public and that includes hotel corridors. The paps may be stopped at the door but guests have cameras too. And nothing on the bus...”
“What?”
“I want you to keep this from The Warblers and The New Directions”
“I have to tell Mercedes and Rachel” Kurt protested “And Nick is bound to pester Blaine about it”
“He is going to annoy me to no end Linds...”
“Tell no-one or I make sure you two never get a moment alone, do you understand me?”
“Lindsay...”
“If they don’t know, they can’t let it slip in an interview or just as a passing comment” Lindsay insisted. If no-one else knew then the chances of them being discovered was slim to none... if they were smart and stayed off the radar. “No-one else is to know about this relationship or whatever it is you two are”
“That’s hardly fair...”
“Like you said Kurt, the world sucks. Get to used to it”

XXXXX

“Why are we up so early Linds? California isn’t that far away” Nick groaned as he threw his bag under the bus and made his way over to their tour director. It was 4am and no-one seemed very awake including Lindsay. Clutching her coffee close, she stood by the door of the bus making sure everyone got on.
“It’s like a 14 hour drive if you include a couple breaks” she sighed before letting out a loud yawn “Sleep on the bus, that’s what I’m going to do”
“Aren’t you supposed to be awake in case one of us needs something?” Sebastian smirked as he joined them at the door. He was unusually bright and snarky for 4am especially when he was normally quite a crabby morning person.
“I have had no sleep, it’s too early in the morning for Red Bull and your hair is annoying me, would you be game to wake me up Sebastian?” Lindsay chuckled and took a step toward the teenager. She was shorter than him but a little more intimidating “Really?”
“Ok maybe not, have a nice nap” he chuckled and jumped on the bus. Following the cocky teenager on, she started to count heads. It was too early to be chasing after anyone so she prayed they were all there.
Making her way back toward the front of the bus after double checking her head count, Lindsay noticed Kurt walking on the bus. Stepping into the free seat beside Blaine, the young woman alerted Kurt to the free seat across the aisle which he reluctantly took.
“That wasn’t very nice” Blaine sighed as he pulled Lindsay to sit down beside him. Two days after catching them in the hall, she wanted to make sure they kept to their word. Lindsay trusted Blaine because she knew how confused he was about everything but both him and Kurt are still teenagers. Teenagers in love can’t always be controlled.
“You need to give me some time to organise everything if you’re serious about this” she insisted “What if you two don’t work out? Revealing this relationship could just be a waste of time and it will create drama we don’t need to deal with right now”
“What if we’re together for good?”
“When you are sure, I will do whatever is needed to guarantee your happiness. I know this is tough...”
“How would you know what this is like? No offense...”
“I don’t know exactly” Lindsay sighed “But I watched my brother Harrison struggle with coming out. Admittedly it wasn’t in the public eye like you but I watched him stress over just telling our parents”
“That’s what is holding me back now. I just don’t know what to say to them. They’re not going to react well...” Blaine sniffed as he stared down at his hands in his lap. If he wasn’t so worried about his family then he wouldn’t be so stressed.
“As frightening as your Dad is, when the time comes, we’ll figure out a way to tell him”
“You’ll help me come out to my parents? I know that’s not in your job description...”
Lindsay smiled and rested her hand on Blaine’s knee gently “I’d do it because you’re my friend, Blaine”
“I still don’t know why you want to do all this for me when all I do is cause you stress” the teenager chuckled nudging his agent gently. He too considered Lindsay a dear friend especially when she would go out of her way for him.
“So far the drama hasn’t been too bad” Lindsay laughed as she got up now that everyone had taken their seat on the bus “Don’t let it get any worse, ok? I’m too young for stress wrinkles”