The ringing bell signalled the end of another week at McKinley and Kurt gathered his books with barely concealed enthusiasm before half-running out the door to his locker. Mr Schue had cancelled Glee for the evening, which only meant that he and Mercedes had more time to prepare for the event that was the highlight of Kurt Hummel’s year.Having grabbed everything he needed, he slammed his locker closed without the customary glance at his hair and quickly made his way over to Mercedes, who was shoving a book into her bag.

“So, are you ready for the magical experience that is the ‘Sing-a-Long Sound of Music’?!” he bounced excitedly as she turned to him, but his smile slipped a little at her guilty expression. “What?”

She shook her head slowly, brow furrowing as she leant heavily against her locker with a sigh. “Kurt, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you – my church is having a dinner to raise money tonight and my parents really want me to go.”

“B-But we were gonna dress up! And we could sing louder than everyone else, and I’d even share some of that buttery, artery-clogging popcorn if you want and-”

“I know, Kurt, and I’m sorry – you know I was gonna go with you but…you can still go.” He rolled his eyes. “No, seriously, you should go anyway. Get your groove on – you know you wanna show off that voice of yours. I won’t take no for an answer,” she glared at him a little when he started to protest. Kurt shut his mouth with a small huff and she smiled, hooking her arm through his and steering them to the exit. “Great! I expect a full recount tomorrow – terrible costumes, even more terrible singing, everything, ‘kay?”

“Yes ma’am. Don’t think you’re completely off the hook though. You at least owe me coffee!” she laughed a little at this.

“Boy you drink too much of that stuff for your own good, but yes if that’ll make it up to you I promise to buy you coffee. Now go – you’ve got a movie to prepare for!” She pushed him towards his car and they separated, Mercedes waving at him briefly as he drove out of the lot.

As he drove, he considered not going but the thought was immediately dismissed – he’d been looking forward to this for months, and it was tradition now anyway. He’d gone every year since he was twelve and although he’d always gone with his dad, or last year with Rachel (unmitigated disaster in every way), he wasn’t completely put off by the idea of going alone. It made him feel sort of…mature and responsible.

Because every mature, responsible adult goes to the annual Sing-a-Long Sound of Music.

The sing-a-long was held in an actual theatre that had been converted and Kurt loved it. All the original d�cor had been kept – the seats were rows of red with gold trim, and the arch surrounding the screen was covered in golden filigree designs of vines and leaves around a central crest. Even the original red velvet curtains were still there, and at the beginning of each movie they would draw back to reveal the screen.

He couldn’t wish for a better substitute for live theatre. Although he did wish he didn’t have to substitute it, but overall the experience was one he relished. Being in an actual theatre in front of what had been an actual stage gave a heightened sense of the audience member’s relationship to one another, which was perfect for a sing-a-long.

Kurt stood in the ticket queue, surveying the crowd around him. It was composed mainly of parents with young children, and what looked like a teacher accompanying her class, but hardly anyone around his age barring a small group of teens standing and laughing together in the corner. He felt a flash of loneliness but quickly pushed it away and narrowed his eyes at them. I hope they’re not planning to talk all the way through.

One of the girls noticed his glare and he looked away quickly and moved forward in the line, unaware that another member of the group’s attention was on him.

He reached the front and only had to wait a moment until one of the two windows was free. Quickly replacing the mother and her small child in front of the window, he glanced up and almost gaped as the very cute boy behind the counter smiled warmly at him, “Two for the sing-a-long?”

“Uh no, just one,” the boy’s eyes widened a little in surprise but he covered it with another smile and a soft apology as he began typing details on the computer in front of him. Kurt frowned a little, handing over the money when the boy asked and completely missing the once-over he gave Kurt.

When the ticket started printing, he couldn’t keep the question in anymore. “Why did you think I needed two tickets?”

The boy’s eyes dropped to the counter as he laughed nervously and shrugged. “I dunno…I guess I just assumed that a guy like you wouldn’t be here alone.”

Kurt raised his brow and the boy flushed slightly, digging Kurt’s change from the register and ripping his ticket from the printer with a practiced flourish. “Sorry, I just meant-I mean, you look really good so I thought you were here with a date,” his voice was so quiet near the end that Kurt was almost certain he’d made the words up.

Did he just say I looked really good?

When Kurt didn’t respond, the boy glanced up with a sheepish smile, “Sorry, I-uh-here,” he held out the ticket and a few bills.

Kurt quickly forced himself to stop staring and reached for them, only a moment later his eyes flickered up to the boy’s again in surprise as he purposefully grazed Kurt’s fingers with his own. “Enjoy the movie,” he murmured.

The next thing Kurt knew he was walking away from the booth with only vaguely unsteady steps. He glanced behind him and saw the boy watching him before his attention was taken by the next customer. He swallowed hard and quickly made his way to the bathroom.

The stalls were empty, so Kurt stood in front of the mirror and stared blindly at himself in shock, mind whirring.

Had he just been flirted with?

He focused on his outfit – he’d forgone the costume in favour of black skinny jeans and a white shirt with a silver and navy striped tie under a grey vest, all covered by his black pea coat which was currently undone and hanging gracefully on his frame. He was quite partial to the outfit himself, but that someone else had complimented it – a cute boy, nonetheless…

For some reason, he was overwhelmed with the feeling of hope. He'd always been alone, or always felt alone in that particular way, and the fact that he'd been complimented so openly and honestly had taken him completely by surprise.

Kurt wasn’t completely maudlin, he was just realistic. He knew he wasn’t tragic looking, but as a gay teen in a stifling, small-minded town in Ohio he had resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t experience any vaguely romantic attention until he moved away for college to somewhere more accepting. So to experience it here, when he wasn’t even expecting or hoping for it was absolutely ridiculous. Insane.

Amazing.

Exhilarating.

A small smile lit his features and Kurt could feel himself fill with a kind of confidence he’d never felt before. He strolled out of the bathroom and followed the crowd filtering into the theatre.

His mood was so bright that he barely even noticed when a couple of the teens he’d noticed earlier on threw popcorn at him when he sang louder than everyone else, only to be stopped by their friend – a boy, who focused on the image of Kurt’s figure a couple rows in front more often than on the screen. Even at the end of the movie Kurt didn’t let the bustling crowd and noisy children annoy him, he just hummed to himself and flushed a little when the boy behind the counter smiled at him when he walked past.

And, well, if Kurt’s mood was so bright that he didn’t notice the curly haired boy (the one who’d stopped his friends throwing popcorn) hurrying after him only to be held back by the crowd and watching with disappointed hazel eyes as Kurt drove away…who can blame him?