Carmen Tibideaux is feared throughout the country. She travels to schools everywhere. Carmen is offering two spots in this region. Kurt, Blaine and Rachel have been so focused on competing with each other that they completely forgot that there are more schools in Lima. This raises the stakes.

The day of the audition is nerve-wracking. All three of them are asked to audition. The Hummel-Hudsons, Bubs and the Berrys are in the audience to support them.

Kurt is up first. He’s performing with Tina, Mercedes and Brittany as back-up again. Blaine and Rachel watch him from the audience. Blaine looks proud, Rachel looks nervous.

“That was a bold choice, young man,” Carmen says, “I applaud you. I prefer this more ‘hedonist’ approach over the overdone classical one.”

“T-Thank you.”

Carmen looks at a sheet of paper. “Here it says that you also are interested in lyrics and screenplay.”

“Oh, well, I…” Kurt put in on his application just to be sure, but he didn’t expect Carmen to care. “Yes. Yes, I do. I have some of my work in my bag.”

“May I see it?”

Kurt runs backstage to grab some of his lyrics. It’s kind of embarrassing and Kurt wishes he had never mentioned it. He walks towards Carmen’s seat and he nervously hands her the paper. Carmen takes her time looking through it.

“Excellent,” she says and she actually smiles, “I’ll write it down. You should consider following some lyricist electives if you get in.”

Blaine is up next. Bubs cheers before Blaine’s even started and Kurt has to ask her to be quiet so that Blaine can sing. Blaine’s performance is less grandiose than Kurt’s, but Blaine’s always been able to convey emotion through singing.

“Well done,” Carmen says when he’s finished. Rachel huffs. Then, Carmen says: “You are also a multi-instrumentalist?”

“Yes, ma’am. I play piano, guitar, violin and drums.”

“Yet you only present your voice.”

“I wanted to focus on my singing abilities, since I am hoping to enrol in your musical theatre programme. I can… I can play something if you want to, ma’am.”

There are instruments in the choir room. Blaine returns with a guitar and a violin. Good thing Blaine’s buddies with the band. He plays a couple of songs and Carmen looks pleased.

Rachel is last.

Kurt and Blaine are sitting next to each other. Blaine says hello to the Berrys and Rachel’s dads seem to know Blaine. All of them focus on Rachel.

She forgets the lyrics.

And again.

And again.

Carmen stops her, says that she’s heard enough, and walks out.

Everyone in the audience is staring at Rachel in shock. Despite Kurt and Blaine’s personal feelings about Rachel, this is still a disaster to watch. Blaine grips Kurt’s hand. The Berrys rush towards the stage to comfort their daughter. Finn has his head in his hands. Burt and Carole are stunned into silence. Bubs is quiet for once.

For a while, Rachel’s sobs is all that they hear.

Kurt, Blaine and Rachel don’t talk about Rachel choking her audition. Mostly because they aren’t friends, but also because it’s terrible. Rachel never made a back-up plan, so she’s devastated. Both Kurt and Blaine have applied to other schools and they have talked about what this might mean for their future, but Rachel has always had her eyes on NYADA.

According to Finn, she’s now stalking Carmen so that she can get a second chance. She hopes that she can still get in, even without a scholarship. Blaine think she’s foolish. She could spend all that energy into creating a back-up plan, but she’s not budging. Even Finn has made multiple plans. He’s applied to Pace University, Ohio State University, Lima University and even the army.

Kurt hopes his brother will get into Pace. He can imagine it: Kurt and Finn conquering New York, with Blaine at Kurt’s side. He tries to picture Rachel with them, but she’s nowhere to be seen in his fantasy.

Burt, Carole and Bubs met during the NYADA auditions. Now, they’re “formally” meeting each other. Bubs insisted on asking them over for dinner.

Finn also was invited, but he had plans with Rachel. Something’s changed. Kurt and Blaine don’t understand what exactly happened, but Rachel’s become less hostile towards them. She still ignores them, but she’s stopped giving them nasty looks, eyerolls or angry grunts.

Rachel Berry is forever a mystery.

Bubs is another mystery. Kurt knows that Bubs doesn’t like him, since he catfished Blaine, but according to Blaine, this is her trying. Kurt isn’t so sure. Blaine might be incapable of murder, but Kurt wouldn’t put it above Bubs.

When they arrive, Blaine greets them at the door and he gives Kurt a kiss on the cheek. It’s all so new, but already so comforting. Kurt is trying as well. He’s trying to make himself believe that he deserves this and that he shouldn’t feel guilty.

“Don’t worry about gran,” Blaine whispers when everyone’s inside. Bubs is greeting Burt and Carole. “She knows she has the power.”

“That does not sound reassuring.”

“I mean, she understands that she has to watch her words. I’ve given her a stern talk. It was really awkward.”

Blaine is right. Dinner is smoothly. They all talk about the NYADA auditions, except Rachel’s, and for the plans.

Bubs puts her arm around Blaine. “And off he goes, into the world. He’s grown so much and yet he’s still my baby.” Blaine blushes from embarrassment.

“Same here,” Burt puts his arm around Kurt. Kurt is equally red. It’s embarrassing, but also sweet. “What parent wouldn’t want their kid to excel?”

“A bad one,” Bubs answers. Blaine looks down, since everyone knows that his parents are the ones that Bubs is referring to. Then, Bubs looks at Kurt while saying the next part: “He’s my everything. I don’t ever wanna see him hurt.” Again, is implied.

“Gran,” Blaine pushes Bubs’s arm away.

“Same,” Burt says, looking at Blaine. There are different implications here, since Kurt never told his parents about the catfishing, but Burt is just overly protective in general. Burt and Bubs then look at each other and they share a weird look. They must recognise the will to protect the kids.

My God, Burt and Bubs are going to be best friends.

After dinner, Bubs brings out the chocolate to no one’s surprise. Bubs also gives Kurt and Blaine the chance to have a breather and to slip away. She tells them to “respect the elderly” by doing the dishes. Bubs is really trying.

If Bubs can try so hard to forgive, then so can Kurt.

“It’s going well,” Blaine says while drying a plate, “Our family members have only threatened us once.”

“Bubs is terrifying.”

“So is your dad.”

“And now they’re best friends.”

“Next thing, they’re going bowling together,” Blaine says and Kurt laugh. He can imagine it already. Well, he’d rather have this than Bubs and Burt hating each other.

“It’s… so official now,” Kurt says as he passes Blaine another plate, “We’re doing this. We’re dating.”

“Don’t sound so surprised, Kurt,” Blaine laughs, “This has been a long time coming.”

Yes, Blaine’s been in love with Kurt since ‘the Eddie days’, as Blaine now calls them. Kurt also fell in love back then, but he has his head up in his ass and he didn’t realise. It makes Kurt wonder one thing.

“What do we tell people when they ask us how we met and fell in love?” After all, if everything goes according to plan, the two of them will meet a lot of new people next year.

“Lie,” Blaine says without hesitation. It does take Kurt by surprise. Blaine talks so easily about the catfishing nowadays, but now he sounds a bit tense. Kurt knows Blaine’s still a bit angry. He must’ve thought about this as well and he doesn’t want anyone to know.

It’s understandable, though. You can hardly call this a cute way to meet your partner.

“We can say we started talking at school,” Kurt says.

“Hopefully Finn won’t blow our cover.”

“Yeah.”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Blaine says, and the easy smile is back on his face. It’s a relief. “If everything works out and the stars align, then we’re going to New York. Together. NYADA.”

Sure, they’ve talked about what to do if it doesn’t work out, but they continue to hope.

Kurt looks over his shoulder. His parents are still loudly talking to Bubs, so they’re not coming in soon. Kurt takes this moment to grab Blaine’s face to give him a quick kiss.

“You’re getting soap all over me!” Blaine laughs after the kiss.

“Yes, we’re doing this,” Kurt says, ignoring the soap. They had auditions. They are dating. Their families have met. All of it is real. Now they have to graduate and wait for their letters.