“BLAINE! COME ON!” Mel shouted from the front door, tapping her foot in newly bought red stilettos and sighing. “YOU LOOK AS HOT AS ALWAYS, NOW GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THE DOOR! WE’RE GOING TO BE LATE!” She straightened her skin-tight purple dress anxiously.

Blaine rolled his eyes at Mel’s instructions, adjusting his bow tie and taking one final look in the mirror. He stood, dressed in a white shirt, red sweater vest and a bowtie, his hair slightly tamed with the help of hair gel, but not plastered down. That had been Mel’s idea. ‘It looks like you dip your head in a tub of grease every morning!’ she’d said.

Blaine chuckled as he remembered their conversation, grabbing his coat and heading out of the door. Mel muttered a quick ‘finally’ before locking the door, linking arms with her best friend and making their way to get a taxi.

As they climbed into the car, Mel caught Blaine sending a wishful look towards a couple holding hands. Her brows furrowed.

I’m going to find someone for Blaine, she vowed in her mind, hmm…maybe Rachel knows someone? She pondered, before shaking her head and giving the driver directions to the café. She’d ask her later.

-inthecafe­-

As soon as they entered the back door of the café, Rachel strode ‘backstage’ to talk to the band about the set list they were performing. Kurt stood sheepishly, unsure of what to do until it was time to perform. He brushed imaginary lint from his skinny jeans, crossing his arms as he waited for Rachel to stop being such a drama queen.

He rolled his eyes as he heard the words ‘if you do not take this seriously, you’ll regret it’ come out of Rachel’s mouth.

After much more discussion and some colourful language from the guitarists, Rachel looked smug as she made her way back to Kurt.

“All sorted,” she stated, grabbing Kurt’s hands and leading him into a room with a large mirror and a row of costumes. The café had a nice sized stage, for local performers and sometimes plays were performed.

Kurt followed obediently, looking around curiously. He’d been in the café various times, both to watch Rachel sing and support her, and just to drink and relax- but this is the first time he’d be singing himself. He had no idea that there were dressing rooms back here.

They were both in the midst of touching up make-up and hair, when a head poked around the door. It was Sarah, entertainment organizer, holding a clip board. She ticked off their names. 

“You’re on in 5 minutes guys.” She smiled, before disappearing with a flick of her bright blonde hair.

Nerves started to bubble in Kurt’s stomach; it’d been so long since he’d performed. He sat down shakily, rubbing his eyes in order to keep them open and to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. It didn’t work. Rachel noticed and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.

“You’ll be fine.” She said, trying to reassure him. “I mean, when you’re as talented as we are, you need to get used to performing in front of a lot of people. Just pretend we’re at regionals, but without all of the glee club drama. Okay?” Rachel nudged Kurt’s shoulder playfully.

He couldn’t stop a small laugh escaping his throat then, remembering all of the situations the glee club used to get into. He wiped his eyes, nodding and stood up.

“I’m just going to the bathroom – I’ll be back in a few” Kurt said, walking out of the door and grinning at Rachel as she gave him a worried look. His nerves had almost disappeared; he now felt the buzz of adrenaline rushing through his veins. This is what he loves to do (apart from fashion obviously) and it’d be nice to be up on stage again, especially with Rachel. He let his mind wander as he searched for the toilets, thinking of inviting all of the glee club up to New York sometime soon.

Meanwhile, back with Rachel…

“Knock Knock!” Mel said, timing her knocks on the door with her voice. Blaine rolled his eyes but grinned at her. Rachel cracked the door open slightly, before her eyes lit up and she shoved the door fully open and promptly flung herself into Mel’s arms.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” She squeaked, laughing and pulling away.  

Blaine looked alarmed as the two of them started talking extremely fast. Probably around 500 words a minute, He thought, amused. He gave a small chuckle and caught Rachel’s attention, who then put her hand up, stopping Mel mid-sentence and turned to Blaine.

“Hello, my name is Rachel Berry and I am going to be a star one day.” She held out her hand and smiled sweetly, “and you are?”

Blaine shot a confused look towards Mel, but smiled politely nonetheless and shook the offered hand. “Blaine Anderson. Mel’s best friend and room mate.” Rachel gave him a calculating look before glancing at Mel with raised eyebrows. Mel nodded in reply.

Feeling a little put out by their silent conversation, Blaine continued, “I’ve heard a lot about you Rachel. It’s nice to finally meet you.” He grinned in a way he knew was extremely charming; it’d gotten him and Mel many free drinks when they go out together.

Rachel then blushed a pretty pink before turning to Mel and sighing, to which Mel muttered ‘I know right.”

Blaine sensed that they needed to be alone to discuss… whatever that was about, so he gave a small smile and told Mel he’d go get a table and drinks for them, before shuffling out of the door.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Rachel sighed once more.

“All of the attractive, polite ones are gay.” she pouted.  Mel gave a small smile and rested her arm on Rachels.

“Trust me, everyone likes Blaine. He gets hit on a lot. That’s why he needs feisty partners – someone who will put people in their place if they try to flirt with him.” Mel shrugged, “I’m trying to find him someone, but no such luck so far.”

Rachel’s eyes brightened.

“Hey, I have a feisty single friend who, as a matter of fact is singing with me tonight. He needs some love in his life.” She folded her arms in a business-like way. “Is Blaine romantic?”

“Extremely,” Mel grinned. Rachel clapped her hands, jumping slightly.

“Perfect. We’ll introduce them after the show?” She questioned.

Mel hesitated slightly; she knew Blaine wouldn’t be happy she was trying to set him up, but then shrugged and nodded. It’s worth a try, she thought, waving at Rachel and wishing her luck, before making her way towards the table where Blaine sat, he might thank me for it one day.

Backstage…

Rachel slid past Kurt, whispering a quick ‘I’ll see you soon’ in his ear and smiling, before making her way onstage to start the show.

Kurt took a deep breath and proceeded to wait until he was called up to sing with Rachel. She caught his eyes from the sidelines and smiled.

I don’t know why I ever stopped this, he thought, beaming and waiting impatiently for his cue.