Kurt bit his lip, sitting nervously next to Rachel. It was their first vocal class and Carmen Tibideaux was the teacher. He remembered how intimidating she’d been at his audition in the spring and wondered if she was nicer to her students. Probably not, he decided, because she would want them to do better. He steeled himself for another difficult class, wondering if he would have problems here like Rachel was having with Miss July in their dance class.

Rachel was making small talk with a guy on her right and Kurt took a moment to glance around the room. He caught sight of Adam in the back and returned the blonde’s wave with a wiggle of his fingers.

Kurt felt bad that he’d pretty much ignored Adam the other night at Callbacks when Blaine had been singing and then basically took off without saying goodbye. Adam had shrugged off his apology the other day and Kurt hoped that meant they were on good terms. Sure, he had Blaine, Finn, and Rachel, but it would be nice to have some other NYADA friends as well.

Carmen stood up and began speaking, talking about the nature of the class and how freshmen would only get to sing twice – now and maybe at the Winter Showcase, if they were invited. Kurt swallowed hard. He had to get invited. He glanced at Rachel and saw the same determination in her eyes.

The first student was called up, a girl with curly hair. She introduced herself and launched into her song. Kurt barely held in a gasp when Carmen stopped her mid-song and practically dismissed the girl from class, and possibly NYADA altogether.

“Now,” Carmen said, “you can see just how seriously I take the quality of your performances.” She paused. “Our next performer is…”

He bit his lip again, waiting to hear who would be called next.

“Rachel Berry.”

Kurt gave Rachel what he hoped was a reassuring look as she made her way up front and introduced herself. She launched into “New York State of Mind” and he allowed himself a moment to be swept away by her vocals before racking his brain to come up with a song that he could sing.

Rachel finished to loud applause. Kurt took a deep breath as everyone finished clapping and Carmen stood back up. Rachel slipped into her seat with a flushed face and a wide smile, whispering a thank you to the guy next to her when he complimented her voice.

He closed his eyes, both hoping he would be next so he could get it over with, and hoping that someone else would be called because he wasn’t sure he could do this. Kurt didn’t suffer from stage fright often, but when he did…

“Kurt Hummel,” Carmen called out.

This was it.

Kurt made his way to the front of the room and turned around, facing his fellow students. He searched out Rachel and her smile gave him courage. He could do this. He’d gotten himself out of Lima, to New York, and he was at NYADA.

“I’m Kurt Hummel,” he began, after taking a deep breath and letting it out. “And I’ll be singing ‘As if We Never Said Goodbye’, from Sunset Boulevard.”

He opened his mouth and started to sing.

*

Out With the Old, In With the New?

Just as long-time cast member Sebastian Smythe is set to depart to make a movie, New York Life is now announcing the arrival of a new cast member. Chandler Keihl is on tap to “take” Sebastian’s place in the cast. Could his character (Thomas Ellingsworth) , also be on tap to take Toby’s place in James’ heart as well?

We here at E!Online hope not. Joby forever!

*

Blaine laughed, holding his sides. The new guy, Chandler, was keeping them all in stitches as they worked on filming his first scenes with the show. Jeff and Nick egged him on, of course, and Blaine knew they were going to get yelled at in a minute if they didn’t calm down and get the scenes shot.

Finally the director called a break. Chandler scampered (that was the only word Blaine could think of to describe it) off for coffee while the rest of them sank into their chairs.

Blaine glanced at his phone and saw a text from Kurt.

“Oh,” Jeff said, grabbing Blaine’s phone. “Is loverboy coming for a visit?”

“Jeff, if you value your life you’ll give me back my phone,” Blaine threatened.

“Spoil sport,” Jeff muttered, handing back Blaine his phone. “He says he’s on the subway and on his way.”

“Thank you,” Blaine grinned, taking the phone back. “What did you think you were going to read?”

“Something dirty!” Nick replied. “You two are like an old married couple or something – don’t you ever sext?”

“No,” Blaine told them. “Kurt’s phone got hacked over the summer, remember? Could you imagine if there had been sexts on that?”

Nick and Jeff fell silent for a moment.

“The fangirls did enjoy your little beach session though,” Jeff pointed out after a moment. Blaine just snorted, feeling his cheeks turning red.

Blaine caught sight of Kurt’s arrival and made his way over to him, taking his hand and kissing him lightly on the cheek. “To what do I owe this visit? Not that I’m not ecstatic to see you.”

“I kicked ass in my vocal class this morning and I wanted to know if you could do lunch to celebrate?” Kurt asked, his tone hopeful.

Blaine grimaced. “I wish I could. We’re having trouble locking this scene down.”

“Boo,” Kurt murmured. “Well, I guess I’ll have to entertain myself.”

“Oh, my God,” a voice spoke up behind Blaine. “Kurt Hummel?”

Blaine turned to see Chandler standing there with a shocked expression on his face.

“Chandler,” Kurt stammered out, looking startled.

“You made it to New York,” Chandler said. “That’s amazing.”

“Do you two know each other?” Blaine asked, looking from Kurt to Chandler.

“We know each other from Lima!” Chandler answered enthusiastically (as he did everything else, it seemed). “It’s such a small world, don’tcha know.”

“Apparently,” Kurt replied. “We ran into each other in a music store once. I told you about it.” Blaine stood there racking his brain, but nothing came to mind. He’d have to ask Kurt about that later. “So, are you working for the show or…”

“I’m the newest cast member,” Chandler told him, letting out a giggle. “Everybody better watch out for Thomas.”
Kurt’s mouth fell open. “He’s playing Thomas?”

Blaine nodded. Kurt had been very interested in the new character, but Blaine hadn’t been able to tell him much. Chandler’s casting had only been confirmed the day before, and Blaine hadn’t even expected to see him on set that morning.

“Well, hopefully I’ll see you around, Kurt Hummel,” Chandler said. “Us Ohioans gotta stick together.”

“I’m sure you will,” Kurt murmured, and Blaine wondered what he was thinking.

They heard the director calling and Blaine sighed. “I have to go.”

“I know,” Kurt told him. “We’ll talk when you get home.”

Blaine nodded, kissed Kurt lightly, and jogged over to the soundstage. He was determined to get this done so he could go home.

Apparently he and Kurt had things to discuss.

*

This guy better not come between James and Toby, I STG, I will lose my shit.

I just hope that James doesn’t cheat. I can’t see it. Toby yes, James, no.

I can’t see either of them cheating, tbh, they’re so in love! We don’t even know that James and Toby are going to break up, ffs.

Oh, come on. These are the same writers that brought us Dalton – of course there’s going to be cheating.

Wow, my dash is entirely depressing right now. Gonna go write some fluffy Joby fic and if there’s smut in it, all the better.

I’m sure this new guy will just be brought on to shake things up. Ultimately, Joby is endgame. The boys will be fine.

Someone who speaks logically. Let’s all keep calm everyone. We have no idea what the show is planning on doing at this point.

I’m going to go hide under a rock now. Someone tell me when it’s over.

*

Blaine tried not to be weird around Chandler after that day. Kurt had explained that they’d met and texted a little before graduation the previous spring, but that Chandler had known he had a boyfriend and it was kept family friendly after that. Blaine knew that Kurt often kept just who he was dating to himself because he didn’t want to attract attention when he wasn’t out with Blaine. Blaine knew Kurt wasn’t keeping him a secret per say, because Kurt was always very upfront that he was dating someone.

Still, Blaine didn’t like it.

What made it really awkward was that Blaine’s character was going to be getting up close and personal with Chandler’s. He sighed, looking over the script pages for the day. It seemed like Thomas would be pulling out all the stops to get James to cheat on Toby.

He knew the fans were going to lose their minds as soon as spoilers for the episode hit the internet. Kurt had told him they were already freaking out about Thomas’ existence. He just hoped they didn’t hate James or Blaine for what happened. After all, Blaine had no control over what James would do – the writers were the ones running the show.

No cheating actually took place in the episode they were shooting, but Blaine had a feeling that somewhere down the line, when Sebastian (and therefore Toby) was away, that James would do something stupid with Thomas and he was not looking forward to filming that at all.

He sighed and then jumped when Jeff slumped down in the chair next to him.

“They’re having a lighting issue,” Jeff said.

“Oh?” Blaine asked, looking up from his phone.

“Yeah, something’s borked somewhere, I guess,” Jeff confirmed. “One of the guys said they had to call in someone to look at it.”

“That’s pretty bad,” Blaine replied. The set people were incredibly skilled – if they couldn’t figure it out then it was probably a very serious issue.

The call to send everyone home came fifteen minutes later and Blaine rejoiced at his unexpected freedom. He waved to Nick and Jeff, deciding that surprising Kurt after class could be fun.

He hailed a cab a block away from the studio and gave the driver the NYADA address.

*

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Kurt asked, seeing Adam standing in the corner of the dance studio. Rachel followed behind him as Kurt walked toward him.

“Cassie needed a new TA,” Adam replied, smiling.

“That’s great!” Kurt exclaimed. “Maybe you can keep us from her wrath.”

“You mean keep me from her wrath,” Rachel muttered.

“It’s not your fault, Rachel.”

“I don’t see her taking any potshots at you,” Rachel pointed out.

“All right lemmings,” Cassandra July’s voiced echoed in the studio. “Pair up.” Rachel latched onto Kurt’s arm (like he’d pair with anyone else at this point), as the rest of the class scrambled to find partners. “We’re working on the Tango today, kiddies.” She snapped her fingers and Adam turned on the music. “I want it to be so good that by the end of class that I can actually smell the sex in the air. Got it?”

Kurt loved the Tango; it was one of his favorite dances. He’d just never imagined himself dancing it with Rachel and he had to admit, it was kind of difficult to exude the sex appeal he was sure Cassie was looking for.

“Schwimmer!” Cassie’s voice rang out. Rachel’s eyes closed as they came to a stop and she sighed. “Schwimmer, you look like an awkward turtle. You wouldn’t know sex appeal if it bit you in the ass.”

“Miss July,” Kurt interjected, trying to explain that it was probably his fault (after all, he wasn’t attracted to girls, let alone Rachel, and he was sure some of that was coming through), but Cassie cut him off, insulting Rachel again.

Rachel tried to stammer through an apology and Kurt was about to interrupt when he caught sight of movement over Cassie’s shoulder. Blaine’s head was poking through the doorway. Cassie must have seen his change in demeanor because she turned around.

“You!” she called out, pointing at Blaine and crooking her finger at him. Blaine looked like a deer in headlights as he stepped slowly into the room. Whispers went sounded around the room and Kurt knew that at least a few of the students in the class must have watched Dalton and knew who Blaine was.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” Blaine apologized.

“Why are you spying on my class?”

“I’m not… exactly,” Blaine replied. “I was just waiting for Kurt.”

“And you are?” Cassie asked.

“Blaine Anderson,” he told her. Kurt bit his lip, hoping he wouldn’t get reamed for this. He’d had no idea Blaine was coming or he would have cleared it with Cassie first. “I really am sorry; I can go if you want me to.”

“No,” Cassie said, eyeing him. “Can you Tango?”

“Yes,” Blaine answered slowly.

“Good,” Cassie smiled. “Hummel.”

“Yes?” Kurt asked, not liking where he thought this might be going.

“I’m going to need you and Blaine to show Schwimmer here just how it’s done. This class should get to see how to dance passionately with someone you’re actually involved with.” She shifted her gaze to Rachel. “After all, faking it is a huge part of making it and Schwimmer here can’t even seem to do that.”

“Excuse me?” Kurt said, staring at her. “Blaine’s not even a student here.”

She sighed, sounding exasperated. “Just do it.”

“I don’t mind, Kurt,” Blaine said, smiling. Kurt glanced at Rachel and she gave him a sad smile. Kurt took a deep breath and nodded, taking Blaine by the hand and leading him to the center of the room.

The music started up again and Kurt took Blaine into his arms, leading them.

What followed was one of the most intensely erotic experiences of his life. He and Blaine moved around the floor as one, lost in each other and music. Kurt didn’t even blink when Blaine suddenly switched things up and took the lead, that’s how in tune they were. Blaine’s eyes were dark with desire as they danced and Kurt was held fast in his gaze.

Every slight touch, every movement, was like sex.

The song came to a close and Blaine dropped him down into a perfect dip, his lips pressing lightly onto Kurt’s throat.

Loud applause met his ears and he blushed, remembering that he and Blaine were in the middle of his dance class and oh God, he had a raging hard on now. Cassie approached them as they righted themselves, though Kurt refused to move to face the rest of the class. There would be no hiding his “problem” from the rest of the room if he did.

“Now that’s a Tango,” she said to the class. “All right, everyone out, I’m tired of looking at you.”

*

“What are you doing here?” Kurt asked, picking up his bag on their way out the door. They’d hung back while the rest of the class filed out, Kurt murmuring to Blaine about his “issue.” He’d done his best not to smirk proudly at him, but Blaine was pretty sure he’d failed. They were joined by Rachel and a tall, blond guy who seemed vaguely familiar.

“Trouble with the lights on set, so they sent everyone home as a precaution,” Blaine answered as the four of them fell instep and headed down the hall. Kurt gave a little shudder and Blaine knew he was relieving last year in his head, when Blaine had been injured in a pyrotechnics accident on the set of Dalton.

“You two were amazing,” Rachel gushed from behind them. “I’ll never be able to move like that with someone.”

“It’s because they trust each other,” the blond guy said.

“I’m sorry,” Blaine replied, looking at him in surprise –both because the guy had an accent and because he seemed to know who Blaine was and Blaine had no idea who he was. “Have we met?”

“Oh!” Kurt interjected. “Blaine, this is Adam. He’s the new TA for our dance class. I told you about him."

“Right,” Blaine agreed, vaguely remembering Kurt talking about him. “It’s nice to meet you.”

They made small talk on their way out to the street, all of them done with classes for the day. “So you’re an actor?” Adam confirmed, holding the door open.

“Yep,” Blaine nodded.

“Are you any relation to Cooper Anderson?” Adam asked. “The resemblance is uncanny.”

“Who?” Blaine stopped on the sidewalk and turned around.

“The Free Credit Rating Today dot Com guy,” Kurt answered Blaine. “Remember, I had the jingle as my ringtone for a while last year.”

“Oh, right,” Blaine muttered. He’d hated that ringtone. Something about the guy’s voice had grated on his nerves and he hadn’t liked the way that Kurt had fawned over him. “As far as I’m aware we’re not related. I’ve never even met him.”

Adam nodded and they continued down the street, heading for the subway. Adam left for the train first, and then Rachel, and finally it was just him and Kurt. They let themselves into the apartment and Blaine wasted no time gathering Kurt into his arms. “What do you say we re-enact that Tango in our bedroom and then order dinner?”

“I’d say that sounds fabulous,” Kurt answered, sounding breathless. Blaine followed Kurt into the bedroom and put the entire bizarre conversation out of his head.