The following morning, Kurt wakes to a face full of shiny white fur. Malia had somehow managed to curl up right on top of his head and fall asleep, all without waking him in the process. He slowly extracted himself from between her paws, careful not to wake her, and turns to look at the clock on his nighstand. The clock shows that it is nearly noon. Groaning in frustration, he pushes himself out of bed and changed into sweat pants, a t-shirt, and sneakers for his ritual morning run.

Kurt ran a mile every morning, no exceptions. He had developed this habut as soon as he moved to New York. He had never been one for working-out, but staying in shape was important to him. As an actor, one that is now Broadway-level, image is a big deal. He has to look his best for performances, for promotions, for various events. 

When Kurt had finally made it back to his apartment, it was nearing 12:30. He quickly made his way into his bathroom to shower and rinse off all the sweat and remnants of the night before.

Turning the dials in his shower to the right temperature and pressure, he immediately stripped down and climbed in. He carefully went through the motions of shampooing and conditioning his hair, washing his body amd climbing out, wrapping his hips in a fluffy towel. He moved to his bedroom and sat down at his vanity, taking his time with his moisturizing routine.

Kurt had planned to meet one of his friends from the cast of The Boy from Oz for lunch today, but since he woke up a little later than usual and had to meet Rachel at five he had to cancel. He still had to pick up his dry cleaning and call to confirm the time of an audition he had scheduled for the following week. 

Hours later, Kurt was donning a sleek, black Vivienne Westwood with a small, white dove pendant on his collar. He was putting the final touches on his hair when his phone vibrated on the dressing table. He picked it up and swiped his thumb across the screen, seeing that he had a new text from Rachel.

From Rachel: What building do you live in?

From Kurt: The Wells building near midtown.

From Rachel: Oh my gosh, Kurt! Those are so nice. Okay!! I'll see you soon xoxo

Kurt sighed in exasperation, wondering, not for the first time, just how he would handle being alone with Rachel Berry while she scoped out her next dating victim. Alcohol, he though to himself, lots and lots of alcohol. 

He was waiting near the front door of his building, regaling his doorman with tales of his run on Broadway, when he saw Rachel walking towards him. He bid him farewell and made his way out the door to greet her.

She was wearing a short, pale cocktail dress with candy nude heels and a small, but glittery diamond necklace with matching earrings. Well, Kurt thought to himself, she certainly has learned to dress better since high school. 

"Kurt!" she scurried over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. "You look fantastic!"

"You, too, Rachel," he said, "really, you look great."

"Thank you," she smiled brightly up at him, holding out her arm. "Shall we?"

He took the profferred arm and allowed her to lead the way to the hotel where the auction was being held.

"It's just a few blocks from your building, actually," she explained, "so we can just walk rather than hailing a cab or riding the subway tonight."

"Awesome," he replied.

"Kurt, it's going to be so much fun!" she squealed. "Just think of all the beautiful boys and the food and champagne!"

"Sounds like a blast, Rachel," he deadpanned.

Noticing his lack of interest, Rachel awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other. The continued the remaining three blocks to the hotel in silence. When the finally arrived, however, Rachel squealed again, bouncing on her feet. This time, she went as far as bouncing excitedly on her feet.

Entering the ballroom, Kurt could hardly keep his mouth closed. Everything was gorgeous: the walls, the floors, the decorations, and the guests who had all arrived were dressed to impress. He even noticed one woman wearing Dior dress that he knew was not available to the general public as of yet. This truly was a millionaire's auction.

Each table held one large, golden candle surrounded by a string of pearls sitting atop a shimmery and pristine white table cloth with gold patterns decorating the edge. The walls were all lined with white lillies and roses surrounded with even more burning candles. The stage that had been set up near the bottom of the grand staircase had sweeping, white linens hanging behind it creating a simple backdrop. 

It wasn't long before Kurt heard somebody calling for Rachel from a few tables away. He turned his head to survey the stranger just as she scurried away to greet him herself. 

"Max!" she squealed, jumping into his arms for a friendly hug. "How are you?"

Kurt noticed the man standing at the table was wearing Armani. Good taste, he thought. Taking in Rachel's friend, Kurt saw that he had the most beautiful blonde hair, clearly natural, with dark, chocolate brown eyes and a perfect smile. 

"Rachel," he said, raking his eyes over her beautifully-dressed body, "I'm doing well. You look simply gorgeous."

"Thank you," she said as she smiled up at him.

Kurt walked over to the pair, not wanting to be left alone in such a large room full of strangers.

"Oh, Max," Rachel said, noticing Kurt had joined them, "this is my best friend, Kurt Hummel. Kurt, this is Maxwell Clarke . We go to NYADA together."

"Pleasure," Kurt greeted, politely holding his hand out for the other man to shake.

Max looked Kurt up and down but did not extend the same gesture. "I've seen you before," he greeted rather coldly. "You played Peter Allen. You missed a step in Waltzing Matilda and your voice faltered in the second verse of Come Save Me," he commented. "I'm sure it was just an off-night, though," he added snidely, "it happens even to the best of us."

Kurt just stared back at Max, not entirely sure what to make of the man.

"Well Max," Rachel said, sensing that Kurt was becoming more and more uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze of her classmate, "I want to introduce Kurt to a few more people. I'll see you again soon, yes?"

He nodded briefly and kept his gaze on the pair.

"He's worse than Jesse St. James," Kurt muttered under his breath as he and Rachel walked away. "It's all beginning to make sense now."

"What was that?" Rachel asked him.

"Nothing," he bit out, tyring to keep his voice levelled.

Kurt met no less than a dozen of Rachel's classmates, a few of the volunteers at the theatre, and even one of Rachel's ex-boyfriends. 

After making their rounds around the room, Kurt and Rachel chose a table near the front of the room, just off to the left of the stage. They had both procured a glass of champagne each and were sipping their drink as the lights dimmed slightly and the emcee appeared on the stage.

She couldn't have been more than thirty-five, Kurt noted to himself, with short, red hair and soft green eyes. She was wearing a short but elegant black dress complemented with a set of pearls. 

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," she welcomed. "I am Tabitha Moore and I would like to welcome all of you to the New York City Children's Theatre Millionaire's Bachelor Auction." 

The whole room erupted in applause, greeting their host as well as paying respect to the event itself. As soon as the applause died down and the room had fallen silent again, Tabitha began her speech.

"As you all know, all proceeds from tonight's auction will benefit the various children's theatres around the city," she began. "So please, bid generously," she added with a heartwarming smile.

After going through the formalities of the auction, she introduced the first bachelor. His name was Michael Williams and he was one of the directors for the children's theatre. Tabitha Moore introduced seven bachelors total. Each bachelor was introduced by relation to the theatre, age, education, and hobbies.  After raising a full $21,000 on the first seven bachelors, a small break was announced in order to prepare for the second half of the program.

"Who is your favorite so far?" Rachel asked as she turned to face Kurt.

"Oh, I don't know," he replied, "I sort of liked the blonde costume designer."

"Personally," Rachel began, "none of them quite fit my high standards. I need to date somebody top notch if I'm going to be a Broadway star one day. You'll understand later, Kurt, but I can't be seen with just anyone. It will look bad for my image."

"Rachel, maybe you're forgetting," Kurt said, irritation apparent in his voice as he glared down at his friend, "but I just closed my first show on Broadway."

"Oh," she said. "It must have slipped my mind. We still need much higher class men to date, Kurt."

"That's awfully shallow."

"Look, I don't make the rules," she explained, "but if I am going to be a star I can't have some costume designer holding me back from reaching my full potential. I mean, what if casting offices heard about us dating and thought I wasn't good enough simply because I wasn't dating one of the more elite stars. You know, when I was dating Jesse St. James-"

"Okay, Rachel, just stop," Kurt demanded, cutting her off. "I am not here to listen to your elitest point-of-view. Let's just have fun and watch the rest of the auction, okay?"

Rachel shrugged next to Kurt but didn't open her mouth again. An uncomfortable silence settled between the pair while they waited for the program to resume.

When the emcee returned, she silenced the crowd quickly. 

"And now to continue," her voice carried through the ballroom. "We are going to start this second half off in a different style. Each bachelor has prepared a talent of sorts to showcase to the room. I will let you get to know him a little bit before allowing him to take over the stage. And now to begin.."

Kurt's breath hitched in his throat when he saw the next bachelor descend the stairs. Gorgeous didn't quite cover this one. He had beautiful, dark brown curls, lightly tamed with a bit of product, piercing hazel eyes, and one of the most breathtaking smiles Kurt had seen in his twenty-one years.

"Our next bachelor is one of the volunteers at the theatre. At twenty-two years old, he is in his final semester at Columbia University, majoring in English with a minor in music production. In his free time he enjoys singing, songwriting, walking through Central Park, and attending various productions on Broadway. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Blaine Anderson."