"Okay, one last time"

Chris gave Blaine an encouraging smile as he drove into the Paramount Lot.

"Puck is... Mark ? Sam is Chord, Finn is Cory, Artie's Kevin... Mike is... ehm..."

Chris passed his finger on his fronthead in zig-zags, and Blaine chuckled when he understood.

"... Harry, and Mr Shue is Matthew. And for the girls, Mercedes is Amber, Santana is Naya, Brittany is Heather, Lauren is Ashley, Rachel is Lea, Quinn is... Dianna, Tina is Jenna... and Sue is... Jane ?"

"Righty-o !"

Chris smiled as he parked his car next to a big black SUV. Blaine started nervously chewing on his nails.

"I don't want to do this. Chris, can we just pretend I'm super sick and you do it alone ?"

Chris chuckled and exited the car.

"Chris !", Blaine gasped, opening the passenger door, "I'm serious !"

"Courage, Blaine."

The black haired boy stopped dead in track and narrowed his eyes.

"I bet you're very proud of yourself for that one, Colfer."

"Indeed !"

Chris laughed as he walked to Blaine's side.

"Come on, it's gonna be okay. Just say you're tired, or something. They'll probably just assume you're high."

"High ? Does Darren do drugs ?", Blaine asked, half impressed, half horrified

"I don't think so... I mean he did go to college, so maybe some joints here and there but I doubt it's some sort of habit. Chillax, Blaine, no one will notice, I promise. Nothing coming from Darren ever surprises anyone around here anymore. It's fine."

Blaine nodded frenetically.

"Can we just go grab a coffee first or -"

"Darren ! Oh my God, it's true, you're alive !"

Blaine turned just in time to get an armful of Lea Michele. This is not Rachel, he reminded himself, this is not Rachel, no need to flinch.

Blaine's relationship with Rachel had been reduced to simple politeness after their "date", and they were both extremely awkward around each other. But Chris had informed him that Darren and Lea were actually very close and had told him not to worry, even though there's a lot of her in Rachel, Lea's a great, extremely lovable person.

Blaine patted her back with his good hand, trying his best to stay out of character.

"Hey Lea... Actually my ribs are bruised so if you could just -"

"Oh of course, I'm so sorry !"

She let go of him as quickly as she'd jumped on him and smiled, turning to Chris.

"It's super nice of you to have gone all the way to his apartment to get him Chris !"

"He didn't, he's staying with me !", Blaine said

Chris hid his face in his hand and didn't see the wink Lea gave Blaine.

"Oh cool then. It's not a reason to not try and get some sleep though... I know you two, you're capable of staying up all night... talking."

"Actually we went to bed rather early yesterday... ouch, Chris, why did you stomp on my foot ?"

Lea burst out laughing and was about to say something when some guy called her for her make up test.

"See ya around boys ! Be safe..."

She walked away humming a song that sounded an awful lot like "I just had sex", which puzzled Blaine.

"What just happened ?", he asked, confused

"You cannot be that clueless... well actually, you did miss out on Kurt being all doe-eyes on you, so I guess that might be possible."

"... what is ?"

"Lea... she kinda... she's absolutely certain that Darren and I are in a secret relationship."

He blushed and Blaine had to use a whole lot of mental strength not to ask something along the lines of "aren't you ?" or "wouldn't you like to ?".

"Why would she say that ?", he finally wondered

"I... don't know. She's not the only one thinking that though. There are some fanfictions about that all over the internet."

Blaine could tell Chris was doing his best to keep his expression as neutral as possible, and was doing so remarkably.

Blaine made a mental note to check those fanfictions later.

"Anyways, that's not why we're here, let's go see the others !"

Blaine nodded and just followed Chris to an enormous building.

"What's that ?"

"McKinley."

"But... it... what ?"

"I know, it might be a little confusing... the outside is shot somewhere else. Anyways – you'll see."

Chris opened a door and Blaine walked in, only to stop abruptly.

"Wow..."

Those were most definitely the corridors of McKinley High. Blaine walked forward, careful not to step on the cables on the ground.

"This, this... oh my God, it's... I can't believe it..."

"Must feel weird..."

Blaine could only nod. He kept walking towards where they could hear some voices, noticing he was actually following the path that led to the choir room.

Chris chuckled as they walked in front of a row of lockers.

"What is it ?", Blaine asked

"I think I have shot most of my scenes here... this is my... well, no, actually, this is Kurt's locker."

He unlocked the door and opened it, smiling at something on the inside. Blaine walked forward and smiled.

"I can't believe he still has that picture..."

"A lot of people were expecting him to put your prom picture in there."

"... that's a good idea, actually."

Blaine looked down, thoughtful.

"You know...", he started

"No, Blaine we are not doing that."

"Please, it's not that big of a deal !"

"No we can't, if we change too many things -"

"Seriously, what influence would it have, hu ?"

"I don't know, but it could be something bad ! Some butterfly effect thing !"

Blaine sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on... I'm sure we could convince the producers to let us do that. Do you have a say in Kurt's life, at all ?"

"... sometimes. Actually, in the prom episode, you were supposed to be the one to convince Kurt to go get coronated – we talked about it with Darren and agreed that it should be Kurt's choice. It wasn't logical, why would you nearly back out when seeing the kilt then tell him to be all courageous ? The writers heard me and changed the scenario."

"Oh... I never would've forced Kurt into doing anything. I wanted it to be his choice, and I would've been by his side whatever he wanted, even if it was to run away together. It would've been romantic, actually..."

Chris chuckled.

"Yeah, sure, and it would've made Kurt a coward."

"... thank you ...", Blaine said, hurt

"No, no, I didn't mean you were a coward, and... and it would've been a rational reaction, to run away together. In a fuck 'em all attitude thing. But to some people, it would be considered cowardice. And... some fans are saying that you changed Kurt. That he's different, that Dalton softened him."

Blaine was shocked. Sure, Kurt had been far from his old fabulous self for a very long time after his transfer, probably because he was trying to blend in.

Because Blaine had told him to. Crap. So I guess people just hate me.

But then Kurt at Dalton was not the same as the Kurt he had had the chance to see during the week-ends, even before they were together.

Blaine had realized long ago that forcing Kurt into a uniform was like holding a fairy in a cage – its light goes off. It's nearly sacrilegious. And now that he was back in McKinley, things were almost back to normal. Kurt was a lot more like the way he used to be on their 'non-dates' after they first met, all fabulous and all.

Sometimes Blaine wanted nothing more than to be there with him. To be able to see him all day. But then he remembered the look on everyone's faces when Principal Figgins had announced Kurt was Prom Queen, and he just wished he could take Kurt with him far away from all the hatred.

"I'm just going to do a little something that won't be noticed on screen."

He took one of Kurt's notebooks that were left in the locker, turning the pages until he reached the most recent lesson. He smiled at Kurt's nice handwriting and picked a pen from the little box in a corner. He bit his tongue and wrote "Je t'aime" as neatly as possible, before drawing a little heart.

"I'm impressed at how meticulous they get with the props... or maybe it's just another double dimension thing. Oh, and that sure ain't cheesy, Blaine."

"Not cheesy, romantic !"

"It's saturday, Blaine. He probably won't see it before you go back there."

"I thought we were switching back on Monday evening ?"

"He doesn't have french on Mondays."

"I know that, but he still takes that textbook all the time. He writes poems in french some times, just so I can't read them."

"You don't speak french ?"

"Oh I took french at my old school, but then at Dalton it was at a too high level for me. Kurt did great there though. Aced everything, that fluent bastard."

Chris chuckled.

"Okay, so we should probably go to the set of Kurt's room, to check now if -"

"So Lea wasn't lying !"

Chris and Blaine turned around at the same time and saw Dianna, Naya and Jenna walking towards them, followed closely by Kevin and Heather.

Blaine hurriedly closed the locker.

"Hey guys !"

"I told you he was all right", Heather said, "You know Darren, they have great make-up artists in here, no need to put yourself in an actual car crash."

Naya and Chris chuckled as Dianna exploded in laughter. Blaine was confused for a minute but then he understood and smiled.

"Haha, very funny."

"Hey dude, good to see you up !", Kevin said as he approached, high five-ing him, "Will you be alright to shoot scenes tomorrow ?"

"I-I hope so..."

"Careful, Bradley might ask you to come do your scenes right now...", Dianna said

Blaine turned to Chris, taken aback because he hadn't heard anything about a Bradley... Holy shit, I didn't learn the names of the crew !

Chris blinked rapidly.

"Oh come on, he's the coolest director we've ever had, he's not gonna be all stressed out because we have to be a day or two behind..."

Blaine felt like hugging Chris for understanding so quickly. He simply nodded at what he'd just said, not really knowing what he was supposed to think.

"You guys wanna come grab something to eat with us ?"

"Absolutely", Blaine said, "I'm sort of starving."

"You're always starving Darren... remember at the party the other night, it was like 2am and you dragged our asses to the nearest Taco Bell..."

Blaine grinned awkwardly, faking a chuckle.

"Well, what can I say, there's the same amount of time between diner and two in the morning that there is between lunch and diner."

Chris smiled and shook his head.

"That's not a reason, you don't wake up at night to eat, do you ?", Naya asked

"Oh yes he does, usually around 4."

Everyone turned to Chris, eyes wide.

"... how would you know ?", Dianna smiled

"Yes, Colfer, do I need to warn Julian ?"

Chris shook his head.

"We've had lots of movie nights, I wasn't going to drive all the way back to my apartment in the middle of the night, I just crashed on the couch."

His cheeks turned slightly pink and he looked down.

Does everyone wants us together or what ? I mean, wants THEM. Darn. Wait – who's Julian ?

They started to walk away, probably to the cafeteria, Blaine assumed, and he grabbed Chris' arm.

"Who's Julian ?", he asked

Heather had heard and leaned closer.

"He didn't tell you ? Remember the waiter that he thought was super hot, two days ago at the restaurant ?"

Blaine had no choice but to nod. The hell ?

"Well, Chris, Amber and I stayed after you guys, and the waiter gave him his phone number. They have a date tonight."

Blaine turned to Chris, shocked. And you just forgot to mention it ? But you're so obviously into Darren !

"Oh really ?", he said, bitter, "Is that so ? Well I'm super happy for you, you could've told me."

Chris frowned at Blaine's sudden coldness, mouthing "what ?" in incomprehension. Blaine raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on Darren, don't be jealous, I'm sure he'll still have some time to have nerd-offs with you."

He forced a weak laugh out of his mouth.

Chris is going to date someone.

Darren flinched when Mr Shue's cellphone rang, breaking the silence of the crowded waiting room.

"Hello ? … Yes, that's me… What, when ?", his voice was an octave higher than usual, which made everyone look up, "Yes, of course... no, I'm already at the hospital... Sure, I'll be right there."

He stood up, hands shaking.

"What is it Mr Shue ?", Puck asked softly

"It's... Emma... she... she fell in a river and... I'm not sure how... she's not waking up..."

Quinn got up and placed her hand on Shuester's shoulder.

"I'll come with you", she said, "It's gonna be alright. I'm sure she'll be too afraid of all the germs on her hospital gown to stay in a coma."

Shuester smiled weakly and started to walk away, followed closely by the fair haired girl.

"Is this Unlucky Week or something ?", Finn asked, "What's wrong with the world, why does shit just keep happening in this town ?"

Kurt looked up to Darren from where his head was resting on his chest.

"Wanna go out for a walk ?", he whispered

Kurt nodded and got up, holding out his hand, which Darren took.

"Where are you going ?", Finn asked

"Just... out there. Stretch our legs, I'm tired of sitting down."

Darren looked around to notice most of the teenagers were asleep, except for Mercedes, Puck, and Finn.

Sam had left with his siblings half an hour before, to "sort a few things out", and now they were all just waiting for him to come back.

"Could you bring me back a coffee ? Please ?", Finn asked

"Sure", Kurt said, "Anyone else wants something ?"

"Anything with chocolate", Mercedes said, "and a coffee too."

"Make that a third coffee", Puck said

Kurt nodded and they exited the room. The countertenor led them to a balcony where they sat on a small bench.

"So ? Anything else ?"

Darren looked down.

"I think they just put everyone in danger for the purpose of the episode. But, Sam's mother is the only one who dies. The others just...come very close to death."

Kurt nodded.

"Does anything else happen to a member of New Directions ?"

Darren shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

"I won't tell, just want to know."

"When I tell you, you'll want to tell, Kurt. I know I would..."

"Is it Finn ?", he asked, panicking

"No, no... it's... Santana..."

"What ? What happens to her ?"

"She... she's going to come out -"

"She already has. Two days ago. She came to me first to talk about it. Her parents were very understanding..."

Darren nodded.

"Yes, that I know. Her male neighbors won't be."

"What do you mean ? Is she going to be... raped ?"

Kurt was horrified. Darren half wanted to say "no, not raped, come on, it's Glee", but then he remembered it wouldn't make any sense to Kurt.

"No, they're going to... to beat her up. Severely."

He looked down.

"Do... do you think we... do you think we could...", Kurt trailed off

"I'm not sure whether they've shot the scene yet or not. If they have, there's nothing we can do."

Kurt nodded, a lone tear falling down his cheek. Darren cupped the countertenor's face and wiped the tear away with a brush of his thumb.

"She's strong, Kurt. I don't know how to say it any other way, I'm sorry, but she's one of the strongest characters on this show. She's been an inspiration to a lot of people, much like you are. She's going to get through this because she has her family and her friends. She's got Brittany. She's got you. And I'm sure she's got Blaine too."

Kurt smiled sadly.

"Why is it like that ? Why can't we just be allowed to love whoever we want to without having people hate on us ? Seriously, what difference does it make to them ?"

Darren felt his heart clench. Chris had asked him the same thing two months ago, when he'd showed up at his apartment in the middle of a stormy night, soaking wet, a bruise starting to form on his forearm.

It had taken a lot of talking to calm Chris down, and then a lot of convincing to stop Darren from calling their friends to go beat those bastards up.

No one knew. Only Darren. Ever since, Chris never walked the streets alone at night.

"I don't know", Darren said, just like he'd answered Chris, "I wish I could give you an answer, but there's just no rational one. It's just... it's just fucking unfair."

"Is... is there something wrong with us ?"

"There's nothing wrong with you", Darren quoted, "there's a lot wrong with the world you live in."

Saying Chris' words gave him chills. Kurt looked at him, head tilted to the side.

"You say that like those are someone else's words..."

"Chris... Chris said that."

Kurt smiled widely.

"I'd... I'd really like to meet him."

"You'd love him, so much. He's the most wonderful guy on the planet, I swear."

"You seem to like him a lot, too", Kurt said

Darren looked up at the grey sky.

"That, I do."

They remained silent for a minute, before remembering they had some coffee to get.

When they came back to the room, everyone was awake. It didn't take Darren long to notice it was because Sam had joined them. He handed Finn and Puck their coffee as Kurt gave Mercedes her chocolate bar and her coffee before sitting on one of the empty armchairs, curled up around each other.

Darren was surprised at how natural it felt to do it. Probably because he was back in the Blaine mood.

"She wanted her ashes to be spread in the Mississippi river. I'll be leaving with my dad and sister and brother tomorrow after the c-cremation, to go to Davenport. We'll be back in time to go to New York. My dad... he said that... he said that's what she would've wanted."

Kurt held tightly on Darren's hand, as everyone looked down.

"I... I'm gonna go back to my dad now... I'll see... I'll see you guys tomorrow."

They all got up and hugged Sam once before leaving the room, Kurt, Mercedes and Darren being the last ones to leave. It felt weird to Darren to have Sam be so distant, because Chord was one of his best friends and his mind was screaming for him to hug him tighter, even if every cell in his body told him that more than three seconds was going to feel awkward. Kurt, in the other hand, took his time, whispering things Darren couldn't hear.

If they had shot that scene, the Kum shippers would've gone insane, Darren thought.

Once Kurt walked back to him, he took his hand and kissed his temple softly, the younger boy leaning into the touch.

There you go, Klainers. Now we're even.

Ever since his first few visits online, when he understood the extant to which the fandom could go, he and Chord always laughed at the fights over everyone's favorite couples.

The everlasting Klaine vs. Kum fights, which had gotten worse once Kurt and Blaine officially became a couple, resulted in the two of them reading the script together and trying to find at which moment they could give the fans something to swoon over.

Then the script for "Rumours" was released, and Chord had nearly jumped on him. "You're screwed, man, you're so screwed !". They had then proceeded to read the full scenario and had spent an entire afternoon trying to figure out how long it would take for the websites to crash after the trailer would be released.

Chris was not amused by this. He always said that "Kurt's not a whore ! Why does everyone want him with all of the boys on this show ?". Though he sometimes joined Chord and Darren in their ship-off - preferring Klaine, much to Darren's delight, whereas Chord was actually begging the writers to let Sam and Quinn go back together - he usually just memorized his part, rolling his eyes at them.

Darren was taken away from his thoughts when he noticed they had reached the front of the hospital. When did we get there ? Damn, I really have to stop daydreaming.

"Hey, everyone's meeting at McKinley in the afternoon, to prepare a song for the funeral tomorrow...", Kurt said, reading a text, "We should go."

"S-sure, yeah."

They silently walked to the parking lot to meet up with Finn, who was looking at Rachel, who was talking animately on the phone.

"You should go talk to her, Finn", Darren suggested

"No. I can't. She's on the phone with Jesse."

"I didn't mean right now – but soon."

Kurt frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"I guess... But she... I mean she seems really into him and he just keeps on... being mean to me."

He pouted and Darren saw Kurt repress a chuckle, hiding his mouth behind his hand.

"You're seriously going to leave me alone tonight ?"

"Not the whole night, I'll come back after my date."

"Well I rest my case, you could've told me."

"To be honest, I sort of had other things to think about !"

"Then why are you going ?"

"Because this guy seemed nice !"

"... and still you're planning on coming back after the date to share another man's bed. Totally logical."

Chris rolled his eyes as he walked in the building hiding, among others, the set for the Lima Bean and the Hummel-Hudson house.

"It's not like that, Blaine. Plus, it's just the first date."

"Chris, come on... you can't go out with that guy !"

"You don't even know him !"

"Well he's just a waiter at some restaurant -"

"And what is that supposed to mean ?", Chris snapped

"Y-you could have... higher standards...", Blaine trailed off, turning red

"I'm not having this conversation."

"Are you even sure he's really into you ? As in, the real you, not the fact that you're super famous ?"

"He started hitting on me before I properly introduced myself, we had a nice chat and when I told him I was on Glee he said he knew he'd seen my face somewhere before."

"That's what they all say !"

"How would you know ?"

Blaine didn't find any answer so he simply shook his head and followed Chris to the set of Kurt's room. He felt his heartbeat accelerate as he walked in, instinctively going to the bed. He caressed the red comforter and sat down, looking around him before letting out a gasp.

There was no roof. Just cables. The wall on the left side of the bed was covered in various railings.

"But, but... how..."

He felt the corner of his eyes starting to prickle. Even though he knew his world was real somewhere, it still felt as if his whole life had been a lie, happening on a gigantic stage, with him being the only non-actor. This is my Truman Show...

He bit his lip and laid down, surprised to notice the pillow didn't smell like Kurt's did. It was even more unsettling than the lack of roof.

Chris was looking through the books on the shelves.

"Aren't those props ?", Blaine asked, confused

"No. Most of the things on set are the real deal. Some stuff appear and disappear in this room. At first I just thought it was the director's idea to have it look like some time passed, but now I guess... maybe your world has an influence on this one too."

"So you mean...Okay, let's get things straight. For them to get something we've sent, it has to be seen on camera, right ? Does this mean Kurt won't get my message ?"

"Oh... well, I guess. Unless I pick it up intentionally..."

Blaine sighed, disappointed.

"But for us to get something from them... must be the other way around. Something where we don't see..."

"Wait, how did the socks get to him then ?"

"Some angle showed them ? I don't know..."

Chris passed him hand on his face before moving to sit next to Blaine. The look of complete distress on his face must've been noticed by Chris, because he took his hand, intertwining their fingers together. He kept on staring intently at the floor, lost in his memories. He jumped suddenly.

"Wait ! I know – there was a deleted scene, where Finn was looking through my clothes and he threw a jacket on the floor and I kneeled down to pick it up so that must -"

"Chris ? Darren ? Oh good, you're here."

"Hey James, is everything alright ?", Chris asked

"Ehm... Bradley would like to... shoot the arrival at the cemetery... If that's okay by you Darren ! Of course if it's going to hurt you too much or anything..."

Blaine shot Chris a panicked glance.

"Sure, we'll be right down", the other man answered

Blaine wanted to scream something along the lines off "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND ?" but decided against it considering the guy – James, Chris had called him – was still there, staring at their linked hands.

They got up and followed James to the parking lot, where he indicated them a car next to which Naya was waiting, a lit cigarette in her hand.

"Once you'll be done with make-up, you'll go in this one."

He then left the two alone and Blaine could finally freak out properly.

"Chris ? You can't be serious ? Are you being serious ? Because I can't act !"

"All you have to do is get out of a car, walk up to me, take my hand and say 'hey'. That's your only line. The rest is simple indications. Do whatever you would normally do, it'll be alright. I promise."

"But I can't !"

"Blaine, I'm serious -"

"Chris, Darren, hurry up ! We don't exactly have all day !"

Blaine followed Chris to the make-up trailer, trying to act as casually as possible. Luckily enough, the girls were not feeling chatty and did their job quickly. James walked in holding two sets of costume.

He showed the different possibilities to Chris, then to Blaine once the girl was done with his hair – impressively fast, since she only needed 10 minutes when Blaine usually took half an hour – and he settled for a pair of dark blue jeans and a black sweater with a grey shirt. He changed quickly once his face had been taken care of and waited for Chris outside.

His jaw nearly fell to the floor when he saw him. He was wearing extremely tight black pants with a light grey fitted shirt and a dark grey vest. His hair was pushed back the way Kurt did it when he was upset – the way Kurt's hair looked was the best way to tell his mood – and somehow his features were softened. He looked younger.

He also looks extremely sexy...

"Enjoying the view, aren't we ?"

Blaine blushed. Oh, yes, right, maybe I was staring at his ass...

"Sam says his mother's favorite movie was Willy Wonka and the Chocolat Factory."

Darren nodded at Finn's words.

"It's a wonderful movie", he said, "but maybe the songs are a little too... happy for a Funeral."

"Our goal is not to make people sadder, D-Blaine", Kurt said, having just entered the room

Darren shivered at the sight of the countertenor. He had changed into the tight pants Darren remembered from Blame In On The Alcohol, only this time, he was also wearing a fitted gray sweater that left as little place to the imagination as the pants did.

"I-I know... that it's just... I..."

Finn chuckled.

"You look like Artie that day Brittany wore a mini-skirt to rehearsal !"

Kurt turned around and, spotting the blush on Darren's cheek, raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go, guys, the others are probably already waiting", he said, visibly pleased with himself

"True...", Finn started

Kurt picked his school bag, which was filled with sheet music, and walked to the front door.

"... and they wouldn't be waiting if you didn't take an hour to chose your clothes."

"I heard that, Hudson."

Darren smiled and walked faster to reach Kurt, who gave him a pointed look.

"You do realize I'm technically 7 years younger than you, right ?"

"What ?", he asked, taken aback

"I mean I'm not Chris. And also you might not be Blaine but you're still in his body and when you look at me like that – not the brightest idea of all. Especially since those jeans are, you might've noticed, super tight."

"Oh yes, I've noticed."

Darren's cheeks were still hot when he sat down on the passenger seat. It's not creepy, right ? Chris could easily pass for seventeen, so it doesn't make me a pervert... Does it ?

He was still pondering on the question when Blaine's phone vibrated in his pocket. Darren gave Kurt a worried look, but the countertenor simply nodded discretely.

"Mum", it said.

Oh shit.

"Hello ?"

"Hey sweetie ! I just received your text message ! Are you all right ?"

"Yes, I'm fine, my wrist stopped hurting and -"

"Oh good, your father and I were afraid we would have to come back from New York. It's okay then."

"Ehm sure don't... worry I'm just -"

"I'll hand the phone to your father now, I have to go get ourselves a few margaritas."

Darren's eyes widened. What the hell is wrong with this woman ?

"Hello Blaine, are you okay ?"

"Yes, fath-dad. Just a broken wrist and my ribs hurt a little and I have a few stitches on my-"

"Is it going to leave scars ?"

"On my arms, maybe, I don't know, why do -"

"I remember this one time when you were a kid and jumped from a tree on purpose, so you would have scars and would impress the girls."

"I believe it was to impress my friends", Darren improvised, getting more pissed by the second, "I'm going to hang up now, I've got something to do with my boyfriend."

"Where are you staying ? At our house ?", Mr Anderson asked, ignoring Darren

"No, at Kurt's."

"Oh good, that way your friend's parents can look out for you if anything goes wrong. Bye, Blaine."

The line went silent and Darren's hand held so tight on the cellphone his knuckles were white.

"Blaine ? Are you okay dude ?", Finn asked

"My parents", Darren just said, "it was my parents on the phone."

Finn smiled sympathetically and patted Darren's shoulder, attempting to comfort him.

"I'm sure Burt and my mum would be okay if you wanted to move in with us permanently, you know. Of course you'd have to sleep in the guest room but you can pretend to sleepwalk and get in Kurt's bed during the night, you know, so that you can -"

"WE GET IT, FINN", Kurt said, blushing.

Darren smiled sadly. If Blaine couldn't count on his parents, at least he still had Kurt, and his family here to help him. A tear rolled its way down his cheek. Kurt noticed and reached up to wipe it away with the tip of his index, making them both blush.

I need to convince the writers to do something...

The rest of the ride to McKinley was done in silence. Kurt's hand had found its way to Darren's, only leaving it to change gear.

"No, no Chris I swear I can't do it, just... tell them I -"

"Blaine, we've been through this – Darren would try to do the scene even if they'd cut one of his feet, so please, I'm begging you, do as best as you can, please..."

Blaine nodded reluctantly, sighing. He started to follow Mike O'Malley – he was trying hard to act casually, as if he was with one of his friends and not his boyfriend's father - to the old truck waiting for them just outside the park... when the director called them all again.

"Okay, okay – so apparently the writers changed their minds... again. Sam's mother is going to be cremated and her ashes will be spread... in the Mississippi river."

A chorus of "What ?" erupted from the gathered actors, particularly Chord.

"It doesn't make any sense, how are we going to -"

"The set of the church we used in Grilled Cheesus is available, apparently – I can't believe it, it's the fifth time this season they change the script in the last minute !"

Blaine didn't really understand all the things that happened in the following minutes. They were all given the few new pages, where luckily he didn't have more lines. Only a few sentences as well as directions had been modified so as to work with the new location of the scene. This time he just walked in the church and went to sit in the back row but, when Kurt turns around to look at him, he decides to join him in the front.

He waited patiently for over two hours outside the church, talking with Naya and Chord about music. He found it difficult to keep up, but thankfully Chris had suggested he went through Darren's iPod so he could actually participate.

"We should have our brothers meet each other sometimes Dare, Nash found my Freelance Whales CD and he said he loved it !"

Blaine smiled.

"'course he loved it, it's freaking awesome !"

"Your brother's kinda hot you know", Naya said, "Seems like good looks runs in the family..."

Blaine giggled, used to having Santana flirt with anything that had two legs.

"You should see my cousin, he's probably the best looking among my whole family. I brought him with me to a Warblers party once, you should've seen the look on Chris' face when we entered the room. Priceless."

Naya and Chord exchanged a look. Blaine was too busy being proud of his imagination, making up stories out of nowhere – well, not exactly, he'd looked at the family photos and it was true, Everett Criss was super hot - to notice Naya mouthing "Do we tell him it was for his own sweet ass ?".

"Does this man have a phone number ? Facebook, twitter, anything ?", she asked

"I'll give 'em to you, don't worry."

"So, by the way, how're things with Mia ? We aven't seen her around in a while..", Chord asked

Blaine's throat was suddenly very dry. He hadn't talked with Chris about what he was supposed to tell people. He tried his best to react the way he figured Darren would.

"Ehm, it's been... sort of complicated. We had a fight, and... well she broke up with me, so... yeah."

"I'm... sorry to hear that."

"It was only a matter of time, really", he said, unsure

Naya nodded.

"Yeah, you said it before, you were more like super good friends... with benefits."

Chord elbowed Naya.

"Ouch – what ?"

"Tactful much ?"

"No – no it's fine really, like I said, it was only a matter of time, didn't exactly come as a surprise."

"So... you planning on seeing someone else ?"

Chord facepalmed.

"Seriously ? Sometimes I wonder if you're not Finn's long lost sister. Don't you have any notion of what's appropriate to say and what's not ?"

Naya just shrugged.

"I don't really. But it doesn't matter, I mean Darren doesn't exactly seem to be mourning over this relationship – right ?"

Blaine nodded in approval.

"It's not a reason !", Chord said, "Come on, you asked Kevin if he was over Jenna yet, just the day after the breakup !"

"Well he wasn't, I just wanted to know, so I could see if he needed to be comforted or not."

Blaine was concentrating, eager to learn a little more about the rest of the cast. He was supposed to be very close to them, and Chris wasn't with them all the time, so he hadn't been able to tell him everything.

Naya was starting to ramble about how no one reacts the same after a breakup when some guy from the crew called them inside.

After a few instructions, Blaine was standing behing the wooden door, his heart racing.

Oh God, this is fourth grade all over again.

In fourth grade Blaine had the part of the Apple in the school's play. All he had to do was come on stage and say "I'm an aaaaaapple !" but he was so scared he couldn't eat for a few days before the actual show.

Singing made him a lot less nervous. It gave him wings, even.

Acting ? That was a whole other thing.

"Aaaaaand... ACTION !"

Blaine waited for his cue – the sound of a piano – to open the door and start to walk down the aisle.

That's when the most peculiar thing happened. He did not see the cameras. He knew they were there, but it didn't matter. He looked around and recognized faces from a few of the football players he'd met once or twice at the Hummel-Hudson's house. And of course on the front row was whole of New Directions. He made it to down in the back before Kurt – no, no this... this is Chris being Kurt, not Kurt – turned around, eyes red.

Blaine stood up again and joined him quickly, taking his hand.

"Hey...", he said

Kurt – no, CHRIS, dammit, - smiled sadly, laying his head on his shoulder.

"Aaaaand CUT ! Perfect, guys ! If the lights are all right we'll keep this one ! Very nice, Darren !"

Chris sat up.

"You're a liar, Blaine. You were great", he whispered directly in his ear, making his blush

"I just... I don't know, it was as if this was really happening..."

Chris smiled and Blaine had to resist the urge to just lean down and kiss him.

Luckily enough, the director interrupted them by saying the scene was good, and Blaine sighed in relief.

Now all he had to do was sit there until the scenes were all shot.

Unfortunately Naya walked on her dress, falling on a giant flower vase, spreading water everywhere. More difficulties were faced during the day and it was almost six when they were released for good.

Blaine collapsed on the passenger seat of Chris' car after spending half an hour in the make-up trailer to have the gel taken off of his hair, and his scalp hurt so bad he was half-sure he was bleeding.

"I'm going to sleep right away."

"No, you're not. We still have to figure out what were doing, and at what time."

"Not my fault you have a date at eight. And I thought we'd settled on jumping from a bridge into the water ?"

"Are you sure ?"

"No, but I don't wanna be stuck in here forever – therefore I will do it."

"Good. I'll be there with you, don't worry. I've done it a hundred times, at least. It's actually real fun... oh, crap."

"What is it ?"

They had reached Darren's street and Blaine didn't see anything unusual.

"... this car belongs to Joe Walker. And this one is Brian Holden's."

Blaine looked more attentively and noticed the "University Of Michigan" stickers on both of the old cars parked in front of the building.

Chris stopped his car and looked at Blaine, biting his lips.

"They're going to know something's off. They're Darren's closest friend. Just – act all goofy. Basically, just be a puppy. The happiest puppy on earth."

And with that Chris got out of the car, the StarKids, who had been waiting under the porch, coming to meet him. Blaine's jaw fell when he noticed that there were 7 of them, including two whose names he had forgotten.

He got out of the car and put on the pink sunglasses Chris had given him earlier, hoping they'll help him keep the "Darren mask" on.

He took a deep breath and forced a big bright smile on his face as he received an armful of Joey Richter.

"Dude ! What the Hell ! You didn't even call us ! At least your boy Chris here was nice enough to send us text messages to tell us everything was okay !"

Blaine hugged the taller men back tightly, although he was careful to spare his ribs.

"I'm sooo sorry, I've just had a lot on my mind..."

"Yeah, right", Joey answered, smiling as he let go of him

Chris was shaking some light brown haired girl's hand, smiling awkwardly, when his phone bipped.

"Oh, it's... Julian, I... he wants us to meet a little earlier than planned. I'll just cancel, since you guys are here -"

"You have a date, Chris ?", the other girl, who Blaine recognized as Lauren Lopez, asked

"... yes ?"

The StarKids exchanged surprised looks.

"What, I'm not allowed to go on dates ?"

Lauren gave Blaine a questioning look, but the black haired boy just smiled, shrugging.

So I take it absolutely EVERYONE wants Darren and Chris to be together, is that it ?

"Hey, you know what Chris", Joe said, "we'll be here tomorrow too, we've got a few things to do here in L.A., just go to your date, we'll hang out tomorrow night, okay ?"

"No, it's fine really -"

"Come on Colfer, if that dude's hot, go for it !"

Chris nodded and walked back to his car, holding out the keys of Darren's apartment, throwing them to Blaine - who somehow managed to catch them.

"Will you be all right, B-Darren ?", Chris asked, frowning

All right ? You mean, without you, pretending to be someone completely different from me, and with that person's best friends ? Sure, Chris, I'll be GREAT. No, I'm not freaking out. Not. At. All.