“Oh hey, Rach, this is Blaine. He’s from Ohio too, you guys should totally get to know one another.”

Rachel stuck out her petite hand for Blaine to shake, “Ohio? Really? Where?” He shook back and answered, “Westerville.”

“Oh wow, that’s a really nice place! Did you go to Westerville High? We used to compete against them in show choir competitions, but I don’t recognize you, so that can’t be right. Surely you were in show choir.”

“No, I go to Dalton actually. Our glee club, the Warblers, only competes against other private schools. It kinda sucks ‘cause we don’t get to go to the major competitions, but it’s still pretty cool. We’re an acapella group.”

“Dude, that’s awesome!” Brody exclaimed, “You the lead?”

“Yeah, actually…” Blaine said with a hint of shyness. Now he’d set the bar pretty high for tonight’s performance. Why did he have to open his big mouth?

“Dalton? WOW! Do you really wear those blazers and ties every day? A few students from there used to come get coffee at the Lima Bean, so I’ve seen them around. My friend Puck was convinced it was gay Hogwarts or something like that.”

“Yep, and I’m the fabulous Harry Potter. Just kidding! So, you’re from Lima? Please don’t tell me you were one of those awful Cheerios my brother used to gush over.”

“Oh god no, but my roommate was! Led them to a national championship with a Madonna medley!”

So, Blaine kinda liked Rachel, but he wasn’t so sure about this roommate. Works for a fashion magazine, was a cheerleader, and comes to an outing to get to know people and spends all the time in the bathroom trying to look perfect. Kinda sounds like a pretentious bitch, but everyone seemed to think it was okay. Maybe he shouldn’t judge before he met her.

Brody introduced Blaine to a few more people. Everyone seemed genuinely nice, and slowly but surely, Blaine’s nerves started to calm down. No one was gonna bite him, or at least he didn’t think so. He didn’t really have to be nervous. This night was about having fun and getting to know new people, just like Brody had said. Everyone was singing fun songs, having a good time, and Blaine loved being in the middle of it.

“So Blaine, have you decided what you’re gonna sing?” Laura asked as she rolled her eyes at the girls who were shaking their hands back and forth trying to be Beyoncé on stage.

“Well, I kinda joked with Brody earlier that I should sing Katy Perry. But, I dunno if that’s the best choice.”

“Dude, you can sing whatever you like. I’m not gonna hold you to that Katy Perry thing, you know?” Brody said, patting him on the shoulder. “Do what feels right, what’s gonna make you feel most comfortable.”

And that’s all it took, Blaine knew exactly what he was gonna sing, and how he was gonna do it.

Blaine walked over to Pascal and asked if it were possible to get a boom mic over to the piano.

"I’d really like to play the song myself, if that’s okay. I mean, clearly you are an amazing pianist, but I kinda arranged my own version of this song, and I think it’d be really cool to sing it here, but I totally understand if that’s against the rules or something.”

“Chill out, kid. You can totally play. Hell, it’ll give me a break. Go for it.”

Blaine came up to the piano, and started adjusting the mic. He cracked his knuckles for good measure, and started to introduce himself.

“Hi, everyone, my name is Blaine Anderson, and I’d like to sing and play a song for you guys. It’s a pretty popular song, but I doubt you’ve heard it like this. So yeah, this is “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry. Hope you like it.”

Blaine closed his eyes and sang his favorite song. He wasn’t sure why he loved it so much. It wasn’t like he had some hotty to run away with to California, but the idea did seem pretty amazing. Blaine had always dreamed of finding his “missing puzzle piece” as corny as it sounds. In fact, and he wouldn’t tell anyone this, but it was part of the reason he knew he had to get to New York. Ohio was filled with people that just didn’t get it, didn’t get how a boy could find HIS prince charming. New York was a land of freedom, where he could walk down the street laughing with his boyfriend and no one would stare.

Each note he sang only made Blaine shake more with anticipation. He knew he was doing a great job, as he was so passionate about this song. He’d spent hours working out the arrangement, making it his own. He’d never performed it for anyone, though. He realized he was shaking a bit when he struggled to get that perfect little tendril between the verses, but he wasn’t going to let himself mess up. Not tonight, not with all these eyes on him.

“Open your eyes, you’ve gotta connect with your audience!” Blaine could hear the voice of his teacher in the back of his head. “You’re cutting off the emotion! No one will know how you feel if you don’t look them in the eye!” But he just couldn’t do it. He was too scared that they eyes staring back would be full of judgment.

As the song was coming to a close, Blaine finally opened his eyes and braved the audience’s reaction. He was so nervous, that instead of looking straight down at the front of the room, he looked back trying to stare over their heads. That’s when it happened. His eyes found their way to the bar in the back, where quite possibly the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen was sitting, mouth wide open, staring directly back at him.