This was not what Kurt had in mind.

He was currently in the middle of Times Square, striking one of his famous diva poses while Wes snapped a picture on his iPhone and Blaine stood by laughing. Blaine had brought them all out here, and by the time Kurt had realized where they were going, he had no valid argument.

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" Blaine had pleaded, looking like an overgrown child. "When is the last time you spent more than five minutes here? Honestly."

Kurt thought about it. He didn't come here often except to get discount tickets for shows. Even then it was super early in the morning to beat the massive line of tourists, and he left as soon as he could. "Okay.... You have a point."

Blaine's face lit up so brightly Kurt thought he might hurt himself. He had to admit it was adorable though, and grinned alongside him.

So now they were here, each of the three men taking turns posing for pictures on their respective phones. Kurt had the idea to put the pictures up against the ones he had taken when he had first moved to New York, and also the first time he had come here back in high school. He offhandedly voiced his thoughts to Wes and Blaine, who thought that that was the greatest idea they had ever heard. They promised they'd do the same thing, too.

A few minutes into their photo shoot, two girls who looked to be about twenty came up to them, holding hands.

"Hey," the blonde one began, giving them a kind smile. "Would you guys like us to take a picture of all three of you?"

The men looked at each other before nodding in agreement. They walked over to where they had been posing and it ended up that Kurt was in between Wes and Blaine. He had a mini panic, not knowing what to do with his arms. At the last second, he decided to just screw it and put his hands on both men's lower backs. He let out a sigh of relief when they both returned the gesture, and noticed that Blaine had a bit firmer of a grip.

When they broke apart, Kurt wasn't sure if he imagined Blaine's hand lingering just a bit.

"You know what, I think I blinked in that one," Wes remarked, walking over to the girls with the camera. "Maybe I should take one of just the two of you." Kurt missed the way Blaine rolled his eyes and tried to suppress a grin.

They all thanked the girls for taking the picture. The girls walked off, and the brunette snuck a kiss on the blonde one's cheek when she thought the men weren't looking. Kurt saw it, though, and when the camera flashed, his smile was more than genuine.

The three of them crowded around Blaine's phone to look at the pictures. The one with Kurt and Blaine came out perfectly, and so did the one with the three of them. Kurt noticed that Wes wasn't blinking at all, but tried not to overthink that one too much.

"You'll have to send me those," Kurt commented.

"I don't... have your number..." Blaine stammered, looking at the ground and blushing. Kurt blushed too, but reached for Blaine's phone. He added his contact and sent the pictures, trying to ignore how much warmer his face was feeling.

When he gave the phone back to Blaine, the curly-headed man was biting his lip.

Wes watched the two with fondness and thought, "Just kiss already."

...

Blaine was surprised he had never been to Piano Bob's. The place had one of the best atmospheres he'd ever felt. It was cozy enough to make you feel welcome, but it wasn't tiny, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The employees all seemed pretty laid back and cool, too, which was nice. On the stage, sitting at the baby grand piano, an old man with a yellow bowler's hat was introducing himself as "Piano Bob". He seemed to absolutely love his job. He kept laughing and grinning at every little thing, and he played whatever anyone requested. Blaine was astounded by his repertoire. He was funny, too, and kept cracking lighthearted jokes whenever someone went up to sing.

Kurt found them a table close enough to the piano to listen clearly, but far enough away to talk without being rude. Just as they were sitting down, Rachel whisked in and began searching the bar. She smiled as soon as she saw them and made her way over, greeting everyone else from the show as she walked past.

"Hey guys! Sorry to keep you waiting. I didn't miss any of you singing, though, right?"

Blaine smiled at her. "No, that's okay. We actually just got here. We took a little detour in Times Square."

Her eyes lit up. "Ooh, how fun! Photo shoot?" They all nodded. "How fun. I'm sorry I missed it." She sat down and slung her purse over the back of the chair. The waitress came over then, taking their orders. Blaine seemed to hesitate before ordering a Shirley temple.

As soon as the waitress walked away, Rachel stood up from her chair. "I'll go put our names on the karaoke list. We'll all be singing tonight, yes?"

Blaine hesitated. "I don't know... It's been years since—"

"Oh don't even," Wes cut him off. "Yes, we're all singing."

"Fantastic!" Rachel clapped her hands before practically skipping off.

Across from Kurt, Blaine sighed, and Kurt looked at him with a questioning expression. "What's wrong?"

Blaine looked up, as if Kurt had just read his mind, and tried to put a smile on. "Nothing!" Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Okay. I... I haven't sung much since before I was in med school. I haven't really had the time." He slumped back in his seat and looked so defeated Kurt immediately thought of a kicked puppy.

"Relax, you'll be fine," Wes assured him. "I'm pretty sure it would be impossible for you to get rusty." Kurt's interest was definitely piqued now. He wondered what Blaine would sing.

Kurt caught sight of Rachel chatting with some of the other tables and figured she'd be busy for at least a few minutes. After all, it was her show; she should at least talk to the cast a little bit.

A girl Kurt recognized as Rachel's understudy took the stage then, and Piano Bob gave her a great big smile before asking what she would be singing. She replied with "On My Own" and Kurt had to force himself not to roll his eyes.

"She couldn't pick a less stereotypical song?" Wes asked under his breath. Kurt had never seen his snarky side before. He liked it.

"Yeah, it's this girl's go-to song," Kurt told him with a look. Wes and Blaine nodded, understanding.

The girl was good, of course she was. She was on Broadway. But she was no Rachel Berry, that was for sure. When the song wrapped up, they all clapped politely. When Rachel sat down next to Kurt, the countertenor cocked his head to the side. "Remember when you sang that song for your Glee Club audition, sophomore year?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Be nice." Wes and Blaine laughed, and the waitress showed up with their drinks. Blaine stared at his drink for a moment before timidly taking a sip.

The group continued the conversation, laughing constantly. About fifteen minutes in, Piano Bob called Wes up to sing a song. Rachel gave a big, "Ooh!!" and Kurt and Blaine gave him shouts of encouragement as he walked up to the stage. Piano Bob asked what he would like to sing, and Wes replied with "Beautiful City" from Godspell. Rachel gasped immediately; it was one of her favorites. Even Piano Bob complimented him on the song choice before he started playing.

They all listened attentively. Kurt hadn't known what he had been expecting, but Wes was great. He seemed to have a bit more of a naturally soft voice, which worked perfectly for the song. When it ended, the audience seemed to love it. Rachel and Kurt let out enthusiastic "Whoo!"s and Blaine went all stage mom and called out "That's my boy!" From the stage, Wes shook his head and laughed before thanking Piano Bob and leaving the stage.

When he got back to the table, they all congratulated him boisterously. He thanked everyone graciously before sitting down and digging in to his food.

As other patrons and cast-members of Rachel's show went up to the mic one after another, the conversation at Kurt's table continued at an easy pace. They talked about everything; movies, shows, music, Ohio. They all agreed that it was crazy how close they were without ever actually meeting. Kurt watched his best friend and these two men they hardly knew talking like old friends, and he couldn't help but think how rare it was to hit it off like this. It was kind of nice, actually.

In the middle of Blaine recounting the time when a homeless woman bit him when he was giving her a shot, Piano Bob's voice came over the speakers. "What a talented group! We should get Broadway stars in here more often, I tell ya." The twinkle in his eye was so bright that Kurt wanted to hug him and adopt him as his grandpa. "Speaking of Broadway stars, up next is someone I'm sure we've all heard of. Put your hands together for the always lovely and brilliant lady herself, Miss Rachel Berry."

The applause were more than generous. Kurt may or may not have let out several loud whoops. He glanced around the restaurant and noticed several stunned patrons who had simply stopped in for a fun night and some good food. None of them looked as though they could believe their luck of stumbling into an impromptu performance from one of the most popular Broadway performers of the day. Kurt smiled.

Piano Bob was grinning ear to ear when Rachel got up on stage. She and Kurt had been coming to sing here since they moved to New York, and he had adored them from the beginning. They loved him back just as much, of course, because it was actually impossible not to love Piano Bob.

Rachel leaned in to tell Piano Bob her song choice, and he looked positively overjoyed. As the chords started, Kurt shook his head and let out a small laugh.

Blaine was still smiling from a joke Wes told and he looked over at Kurt. "What?"

"She would Celine Dion in a karaoke bar."

The two men laughed. Honestly, if anyone else would have picked the song, the group would have reacted in horror. But this was Rachel. She could do whatever she wanted.

As Rachel wrapped up, Kurt spotted several people wiping their eyes. He was thankfully not one of them, but only because he had heard Rachel singing this song almost every night when they were roommates.

"Is she even human?" Kurt smiled at Wes, whose eyes were wide in awe. He also stole a glance at Blaine, who was clapping enthusiastically.

On stage, Piano Bob stood up to give Rachel a bear hug. They shared a few words before kissing each other's cheeks. Rachel all but skipped back to the table, reminding Kurt of their high school days.

She scooted back into the booth next to Kurt, totally full of energy now. "That was fun!"

"Eh. It was okay," Kurt teased.

Piano Bob leaned into his mic onstage. "I do not envy the person who has to follow that. Thankfully, though, this man is more than capable of doing just that, so let's hear a warm round of applause for Mr. Kurt Hummel!"

Everyone cheered loudly, energized by Rachel's performance. Kurt walked up on stage and smiled at Piano Bob before covering the head of the mic and telling him his song selection.

Blaine immediately recognized the opening notes to Here Comes the Sun. He was honestly pretty surprised. Back at the hospital, Kurt would tell him all about the parts in musicals he had always wanted and his favorite songs from shows. He had been expecting something a little more show-tunesy.

The second Kurt opened his mouth, Blaine was a goner.

He was entranced throughout the entire song. If he had been even the slightest bit aware of anything going on around him other than Kurt singing, he would have noticed Rachel and Wes shooting him looks and giggling to each other.

By the end of the song, Blaine almost forgot to clap. He was just too enthralled with listening. He had often wondered what Kurt's voice would sound like, but none of his most vivid daydreams could have ever compared to that. He was clapping full force now, and had to restrain himself from giving Kurt a standing ovation.

When Kurt came back to the booth, Blaine still looked entranced. "Kurt, that was... That was amazing."

Kurt was blushing madly. "Thank you."

Rachel was positively giddy, clapping her hands like hummingbird wings. "Kurt!!" she squealed. "That was fantastic!! Way to pick a song perfect for your tone, I mean really. And it was just soft enough to be subtle without looking like you were lacking confidence. It was great. And I've always liked your more alto-y song choices, anyway. You just sound so rich and full. And then when we duet, it's a perfect counterbalance to my soprano. You know, we could even—"

"Rachel."

She stopped. "Ughh!!!" She propped her elbows on the table and her face fell into her hands. "Sorry."

But the men at the table just laughed. Before they knew it, Blaine was being called up to the stage by Piano Bob.

When he got up there, Blaine leaned in to tell Piano Bob something confidentially. Or was he asking him something? Piano Bob was nodding in agreement, and the two men smiled and shook hands. Wow, Kurt thought, if we got any more charm up on that stage there might be some sort of sunshine explosion.

Piano Bob leaned into the mic on his piano. "Looks like I'm going to get a bit of a rest. Everybody give it up for Blaine Anderson!" Everybody did, but it was evident that people were surprised. Kurt was shocked himself. He thought back to all of his years of coming here, and nobody had ever asked to play for themselves. Kurt leaned in to see what Blaine would do.

He sat on the bench and seemed to take a deep breath before looking into the audience. "Hello, everybody," he began, his voice not quite as strong as Kurt was used to, "Um, I'd just like to thank Piano Bob for letting me play my own version of this song." He gestured to Piano Bob, who was sitting off to the side, smile as genuine as ever. "I really didn't have anything in mind to play tonight since my, um, my friends kinda threw me under the bus with this one." He motioned to Rachel's general location and won a few loud cheers from his table, earning some laughs from the audience.

Kurt could tell they were already eating out of the palm of his hand.

"But this song is not exactly standard, I guess you could say," Blaine continued with a tiny shrug, beginning to vamp some chords. "I've never really played it before. Y'know. Ever. So I hope you all don't mind that I took a ton of liberties on this."

With that, Blaine delved into the song, playing an unfamiliar but absolutely beautiful piano arrangement. He lived in different scales for a while before leaning into the mic and taking a deep breath.

It was a summer night, the stars were all aligned

You, you, you, you showed up and blew my mind

"Oh my God." Wes facepalmed and shook his head, chuckling lightly.

"What?" Kurt asked.

"He's playing Ke$ha. Leave it to Blaine to not play for years, and then the second he gets in front of an audience, he plays his own acoustic arrangement of a Ke$ha song."

Kurt's eyes went wide. There was no way—NO WAY—that this was a Ke$ha song. This was soft and beautiful and sad and lovely and perfect and—

His thoughts were interrupted by the chorus. He almost missed Rachel's barely audible Oh my God.

Wherever you are you are forever on my mind

Wherever you are know that our love will never die

"Oh my God, his falsetto," Rachel all but moaned. Kurt would have vocally agreed, but he didn't seem to be entirely in control of his functions.

As the song continued, the audience just listened in rapture. The only sound was the piano and Blaine's voice. He made the song his own. This wasn't a pop song. This was a pure, undiluted ballad from his heart, and he was laying it out on the line.

Nothing can last forever

But I'll always remember

Those nights we spent together

Wherever, wherever

Kurt may have been imagining that Blaine was looking in his direction.

As he wrapped up the song, Blaine let the chords drift out before taking his fingers off the keys. There was a moment of stunned silence before the audience went insane. Kurt noticed Rachel discreetly wiping at her eyes through her shouts and cheers. He was still at a loss for words.

Blaine stood up from the bench and accepted a hug from a very enthusiastic Piano Bob. The audience started chanting for an encore, but Blaine graciously declined, blushing as he ducked his head.

As he made his way back to the table, Blaine was full-on bashful schoolboy, accepting congratulations as he went. When he got close enough, Rachel jumped up and gave him one of her signature death-grip hugs.

"That was phenomenal! You didn't tell us you could sing like that! You didn't tell us you could sing at all!" They took their respective seats, Blaine seeming unable to respond. Not that he got the opportunity. "You have to duet with me sometime, you absolutely have to. I have a mini concert at Joe's Pub in a few weeks, would you be willing to show up for a song or two? People would just die. In fact, we should all do a song together, all four of us." She gasped. "We could even do something acapella! Something reminiscent of your Warbler days!"

"Oh, I mean, I'd love to Rachel, but I—"

"Nope. No buts. You can stop at the 'I'd love to.'" She squealed. "This is so exciting! It's one thing to meet such talented people from within the business, but this is something else entirely. And you're so cute, too. Crowd-pleasing looks, as my dads would say. We'll have to find a song soon, though. The real question will be Broadway or Top 40. We could sell either, and I'm just going to guess you have a full repertoire of both. Now if--"

"Rachel, let him breathe," Kurt cut in.

It was the first thing he said since Blaine finished his song. Blaine caught his eye and bit his lip involuntarily. He looked...timid? Like whatever Kurt would say would make or break his spirit.

Kurt had to take a moment before he could address the man in front of him. "That was..." He took an unsteady breath. "That was incredible, Blaine. Wow."

Blaine beamed. This was turning out to be one of the best nights of his life.