He and Blaine hadn’t had much time to talk as a result, but they were managing whenever they could squeeze in time. Luckily, Kurt had a lot to keep him busy. Once Regionals were over, he also had Nationals for the Cheerios (his medley of Adam Lambert songs killed) which was made all the more insane thanks to Coach Sylvester’s unexpected and kind of creepy late in life pregnancy. Quinn rejoining the Cheerios was also a big factor in their win and Kurt was glad to spend more time with her.

He was also in full planning mode for prom – his planning committee was going full steam ahead on a theme that was not tacky (because he was Kurt Hummel, damn it, and he would not be a part of throwing a tacky prom, no way). Kurt had also gotten his audition dates from NYADA and UDACA. After working out some details, both representatives from the schools were willing to watch the same audition at the same time. The person from NYADA would stick around to watch Rachel as well.

Kurt almost couldn’t breathe whenever he thought of it and worked hard at developing an audition. Rachel had him convinced to do “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera. He’d been practicing it (with help from Tina), but Kurt honestly wasn’t sure if it was the right song to go with. He’d been toying with a few other ideas. Blaine seemed to be on Rachel’s side in the matter – he’d watched Kurt do a run through of the song via Skype chat and had pronounced it as incredible.

He and Rachel were completely back to normal now – except for his sniping at her in regard to her decision to marry Finn. Kurt loved his brother, but Finn was kind of lost at the moment and didn’t seem to know what he was going to do with his life (regardless of getting into college) – and Rachel had only said yes (in Kurt’s opinion), because she’d been feeling the same way while waiting for her NYADA letter.

Talk of California hadn’t really happened yet, though. Kurt sighed, knowing that it would be a heartbreaking day if he got into UDACA and not NYADA and Blaine’s spin off didn’t get picked up.

Kurt had already decided to go to one of his back up schools if Blaine’s spin off got picked up and NYADA rejected him. That way, he would still be in New York with Blaine and Rachel and Finn, and he could audition for NYADA another year.

He’d also spent some time talking with Dave Karofsky. His former bully had, in fact, been outed after that disastrous Valentine’s Day talk the two of them had had at Breadstix. Kurt had been worried about him once the news had spread to McKinley (because Dave still had friends there, and news that “good,” given his former “relationship” with Kurt was too hard for people to keep quiet), so he’d reached out to Dave to check up on him. Luckily, though he was going through a difficult adjustment period, he was still in therapy and dealing with everything as well as he could.

Kurt glanced at his phone and sighed. He had a student council meeting in five minutes, but Blaine was supposed to call and he didn’t want to miss it.

He silently begged for Blaine to hurry.

*

Blaine was just about to dial Kurt’s number when his phone rang. He checked the caller ID and saw that it was Julie and sighed. He was just so tired. Since Dalton had gone back to filming, it had meant a lot of incredibly early mornings, a lot of really late nights, and even entire weekends spent trying to play catch up. When the season was over, Blaine was going to take a long ass vacation (to see Kurt, if he had anything to say about it), since the cast would not be touring this year. Blaine had been surprised by that news, but had wondered if it meant the spin off was getting picked up and the higher ups didn’t want the tour causing any issues.

“Hi, Julie,” Blaine answered the phone. “Can we make this quick? I need to call Kurt.”

“Lover boy can wait a minute,” Julie replied, “I’ve got news.”

“Okay…” Blaine trailed off, bracing himself.

“You better pack your bags, Blaine,” she said. “Cause you’re going to New York.”

Blaine gasped. “Does this mean…?”

“New York Life got the pick-up. You guys will be on Tuesdays at nine pm, right after Dalton,” Julie confirmed.

“That’s so great,” Blaine breathed out. “I have to call Kurt.”

“I know,” Julie laughed. “Start spreading the news,” she sang. Blaine joined in the song with her for a moment, and then let her go with a promise to call back later for more details. He hung up and then dialed Kurt quickly.

“Hi,” Kurt greeted him. “You called just in time. You have two minutes before I have to go to my meeting.”

“I have news,” Blaine said, excited.

“Oh, do tell,” Kurt told him.

“The spin off got picked up.” He let that hang there for a moment.

“Blaine, that’s amazing!” Kurt exclaimed. “I’m so proud of you.” Blaine could feel himself flushing.

“You know what this means, right?” he asked.

“We’re one step closer to New York,” Kurt answered.

“That’s right,” Blaine agreed. “One step closer to being together.”

“How late will you be tonight?” Kurt wanted to know, his voice soft.

“Late,” Blaine replied. “Like three in the morning late, I bet.”

“Call me,” Kurt said. “I’ll be awake.”

“Okay,” Blaine promised. Someone waved at him from the set. “I gotta go.”

“Me too,” Kurt replied. “Congratulations.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Kurt said, and then hung up. Blaine smiled from ear-to-ear as he headed back to the set, wondering if Nick and Jeff had heard the news yet.

*

The day of Kurt’s double audition dawned bright and sunny. Kurt woke up, sat straight up in bed, and proceeded to have a panic attack. He looked up when someone knocked on his bedroom door. His dad was standing in the doorway, cookbook in hand. “How do you want your eggs?” Burt asked.

“Oh, Dad, I don’t think I can eat,” Kurt told him, his stomach doing flip-flops.

“Nonsense,” Burt replied. “I’m home for once and you have a big day and you need to eat a good meal.”

“Dad…” Kurt protested, sliding out of bed.

“Aren’t you the one who used to lecture me on healthy eating?” His father reminded him. “You go get in the shower and I’ll get started. How’s a vegetarian omelet sound?”

“Good,” Kurt finally agreed. “Thanks, Dad.” Bur turned to walk away and then paused.

“You sure you don’t want me there today, kiddo?”

Kurt shook his head. “No,” he said. “It’ll be nerve-wracking enough with Rachel and Mr. Schue there.”

“You’re gonna knock ‘em dead, Kurt.”

Kurt grinned as his father finally turned and headed downstairs. He was going to own this audition.

He showered quickly and got dressed, pulling his costume out of the closet. He stared at the garment bag next to it, debating. Kurt had come awful close to switching songs (from “Music of the Night” to “Not the Boy Next Door”) until Rachel and Blaine had talked him out of it.
Something in him was urging him to take both outfits to school.

He took a deep breath and pulled the second garment bag out along with the first.

Kurt checked his Twitter on his phone over breakfast, needing a distraction. Finn and his dad were discussing some college sport (Kurt really wasn’t paying attention), and Carole was at the stove, manning a pan of eggs for Finn, who wanted seconds.

Kurt smiled when he saw he had a tweet from Blaine.

Good luck on your audition today, @KurtHummel!

@BlaineAnderson

*

“I’m going to throw up,” was the greeting Blaine got when he answered the phone that afternoon. Kurt had caught him in a rare break and Blaine had been waiting on pins and needles for audition news.

“You’re not going to throw up,” Blaine replied, trying to calm him down. “Take a deep breath and remember that you’re amazing.” He heard Kurt inhale loudly. “When do you go on?”

“In a minute,” Kurt told him.

“Okay,” Blaine said. “I’m at lunch for the next twenty minutes. Do me a favor and give your phone to Rachel. Have her put it on speaker phone. I want to hear.”

*

Kurt did as Blaine asked and then took his place center stage, with his Phantom of the Opera costume on.

He took one look at those judges’ faces and knew what he had to do.

*

Good luck on your audition today, @KurtHummel!

@BlaineAnderson

What’s he auditioning for? Anyone?

I have no idea, but that’s exciting!!

OMG, what if it’s for Dalton or something!
#It’s probably not but I can dream

I wonder if we’ll ever know.

Hey guys! I got the scoop by doing some digging at school today. Kurt and one of his glee club friends are auditioning for NYADA, a performing arts school in New York. Kurt is also auditioning for a school in California, too.

I’m bummed that it’s not for a show or something, but that’s really awesome!

Keep us posted if you hear any details!

THIS JUST IN FOLKS – Kurt Hummel wears tight gold pants and wows at his audition. He and his friend Rachel (who killed her audition too) even let me take a picture.

[picture]

OMG

DEAD

HELP

I CAN’T

THOSE PANTS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.

ASDLKJFASDLKFJASDLKFJA;LSDKFJADLSKJFAD

IT’S A GOLD PANTS SEX RIOT!!!!!

*

Kurt felt like he was walking on air. He didn’t even mind it when a mousy brunette in a tragic ensemble approached him after his audition and asked for a picture.

He’d done well at his audition. Both the judges had complimented him and indicated they’d be in touch.

It was actually happening. Kurt Hummel was going to get out of Lima, Ohio.