Amy escorted the six designers to the green room and Blaine stayed with the judges, in case they needed anything. Tim stayed, as well. He usually didn't participate in the judging, but he was available to answer questions about what had gone on in the workroom, and there had been a time or two when he had interfered if he thought someone was being judged unfairly.

When the designers had cleared the runway, Heidi said "Let's talk about the designers we did like. Shall we start with Brenden?"

"I think it's interesting that two of the top three were menswear designers. We were all concerned that menswear would be more difficult, but Kurt and Brenden really stepped up to the bar," Nina said. "I hope they can keep it up. I liked what Brenden did with his shirt, but I thought the trousers could have fit a little better."

Michael laughed. "There was definitely something wrong in the way they looked. Somehow, he got them baggy in the back and too tight in the front. I didn't think that was even possible. They weren't terrible, but they could have been better. The shirt was perfectly tailored, though."

"He only made two pieces, too," opined Heidi. "Kurt made three, and the vest was reversible."

"I liked the embellishments, and the fit was impeccable. His model looked great, and I don't know if he did it on purpose or not, but the color pallet he chose was perfect for Lars. He did a good job styling, too; the belt and shoes coordinated but didn't match." Nina smiled. "And those socks! What did you think of them, Heidi?"

"I liked the socks. They were fun. I think we can say that Kurt did the best job styling his model." Michael and Nina nodded their agreement. "Let's talk about Marisol for a minute. That dress was incredible. There was so much detail."

"My only concern with Marisol is that the dress wouldn't be marketable because of the amount of handwork in it," Nina said, "but it would certainly be a wonderful one-of-a-kind item. And she was very creative in her use of the fabrics she received. I think she had the most difficult grab bag."

"Well, I can't say I would ever wear that look," Michael joked, "but I agree that it was very impressive, and her model certainly liked it. She styled it properly, too. Adding accessories would have taken attention away from the dress."

"Okay, let's talk about the designers we didn't like so well," Heidi prompted them. "What did you think of Ash?"

"He confused me," said Michael. "He wants to design menswear, but his clothes are very feminine."

"He did say he was trying to fill a niche -- androgynous designs -- and he certainly likes to wear that type of clothing." Nina was trying to be fair. "I have to say, though, if there is such a niche, it's a very small one. I think he would have done better to design the same type of clothing for women."

"It would have helped if his model had been more comfortable with the look." Tim shook his head. "His model didn't like the clothes and he let it show. It wasn't very professional. If a model did that to me, he wouldn't work for me again."

"Do you think we should give him the opportunity to change models?" Heidi asked. "We said we weren't going to do that, but you're right; Paul did a bad job and made Ash's design look worse than it was."

Nina considered. "I think you should at least have a talk with Paul, and maybe with Ash, too. Mark's model, Luis, got a rough deal, and he's more physically suited to Ash's designs. Maybe we could work something out there."

"So, you think Mark should be out, then?" asked Michael.

"His design was much worse than Ash's. You can hardly call it a design at all. It looked like it was thrown together in about 15 minutes from the shelves of a discount store. There was nothing fashionable or designer about it, so yes, I think he should be out."

"What about Chris, though?" Heidi asked. "His sewing was terrible. The hem was crooked and the seams were puckered. He was funny about it though. What did he say? 'Those sewing machines are so quick that I make mistakes faster than I can rip them out.’ That showed a sense of humor, and at least he knew he wasn't up to standard. I don't think Mark thought there was anything wrong with his design." She turned to address Blaine. "Chris must not have found the speed control on the machines. Could you make a note that Tim needs to show him how to slow the machine down next week. And make sure it gets filmed. The audience will like it."

Michael laughed. "Heidi, you pretty much just said you think Chris should get another chance."

Heidi looked surprised, then joined in the laughter. "I did, didn't I? I do think he did a better job than Mark; at least there was some design to his look, even though the execution was lacking. I guess this means we're agreed, then. We know what we want to do?" When the other judges smiled and nodded, as they always did for this portion of the show, she continued with the script. "Let's bring them back out, then."

While those with the highest and lowest scores were being interviewed, the other six designers waited with Amy in the green room. Amy decided to seize the opportunity to find out more about what Blaine found attractive. Pasting what she thought was a very sincere smile on her face, she moved to the couch where Jen was sitting. "Hey, Jen. I don't know if we've met. I know who you are, of course, but I'm Amy. I liked your outfit. I would definitely wear that skirt."

"Hi, Amy. I think I've seen you around, but it's nice to meet you, and I'm so glad you liked the skirt."

"What did you think of Marisol's dress?"

"It's gorgeous! I wouldn't be at all surprised if she won. She worked really hard on it. She's such a nice person, too."

"I haven't met her yet. Tell me about her."

"She's from Louisiana. You should hear her when she talks Cajun; it's really funny. And she's so sweet! Even though we're all the same age, she just wants to mother everyone."

Hmmm. Maybe that's what Blaine likes. "What do you mean?"

"She makes sure we all dress warmly, and if someone needs something, she's usually the first one up to get it, even before the person says anything. Last week Heidi enlisted all of us to help her play a joke on Blaine. We all thought it was funny, and she did, too, but she was the only one who had any sympathy for Blaine. The rest of us were just laughing at him. Oh, excuse me, Amy. The others are coming back and I want to see how it went."

Jen rushed to the door of the green room to greet Kurt and Marisol. "How did it go, guys? Kurt top or bottom? Top, right? Oh, …" She cringed when she saw Kurt's blush. "Sorry. I mean, did they like your look? They should have."

Kurt waved away her apology, although his cheeks were still pink. "Brenden, Marisol, and I were the top three. They liked my design, but I think Marisol will probably win. She deserves it that dress was a lot of work and very creative."

"I'm pretty sure I'm going home," Mark announced. "I think they had something else in mind when they said 'weekend look'. They sure didn't like what I did."

Chris laughed ruefully. "I don't know about that. At least yours was well-sewn. They tore me apart out there. I hate it because I really do know how to sew; I just don't have the hang of those fancy machines they gave us."

"Chris, any of us would have helped if you had asked us," Kurt said immediately. "Jonny helped me figure out the serger. I'm sure I never would have finished without him."

"That's right," Marisol chimed in. "We're all in this together. We need to help each other, but we can't help if we don't know what you need."

"Okay, if I'm still here for the next challenge, will one of you show me how to use those things properly, please?"

"I'll be in the workroom during my spare time at least one day this week, sewing some gift bags. Maybe you could come along. You can help me with my project and get used to the machines at the same time. I'll check with Jo to make sure it's okay. I'll let you know when I'm going," Kurt said reassuringly and Chris nodded.

Amy was thinking furiously. How can I be motherly? Should I try to do nice things for Blaine, or for other people while he is watching? He isn't here now, so there's no point in being nice until he comes back. She went to the refrigerator and got a bottle of water and waited by the door. Sure enough, it wasn't long before Blaine stuck his head in to call the six designers back to the runway. "Blaine, you look thirsty. You need to stay hydrated if you want to be healthy." She smiled at him and offered him the water.

Well, that's out of character. I wonder what she’s  up to. I don't see any double meaning this time. He smiled politely. "Thank you, Amy. I can't take it right now, but would you save it for me? I'll drink it when we're through in there." He followed the designers out to the runway and helped position them.

"You six represent the best … and the worst. One of you will be declared the winner of this challenge, and one of you will be out." Heidi paused for dramatic effect. "Brenden, you're in. You may leave the runway." Brenden smiled and thanked her. "Marisol, we loved your design. Congratulations! You're the winner of this challenge, and you have immunity for the next challenge and cannot be eliminated. You may leave the runway."

Kurt rushed to give Marisol a congratulatory hug. "I'm so proud of you!" he whispered. After he released her, Marisol thanked the judges and went back to the green room.

"Kurt, we thought your outfit was very creative as well, and we appreciate your hard work. You're in. You may leave the runway." He gave Heidi a brilliant smile, and followed Marisol out.

Heidi continued announcing the results. "Ash, your design confused us, but we're going to give you another chance. You're in. You may leave the runway." After he left, Mark and Chris moved closer together, waiting for the ax to fall. "Chris, your sewing skills were abysmal on this project. We know you can do better. Mark, you executed your design well, but you showed us clothes. You didn't show us fashion." Heidi paused while the camera scanned the two designers. Dramatic music would be added later. When Jon gave her the signal, Heidi continued. "Chris, we're confident you can fix this. You're in. You may leave the runway."

"Thank you! I've already made arrangements to learn to use the machines properly. I won't disappoint you," he said with a smile. Blaine made a mental note to get with Chris to see what he had in mind. He made eye contact with Heidi, so she would know he was taking care of it. "Mark, I'm sorry, that means you're out." She walked over to the runway and kissed him on both cheeks.

"Thank you for the opportunity," Mark said quietly.

When Mark was gone, Heidi turned to Blaine. "We need to see Ash, please."

Blaine went back to the green room. He gave Ash the message, and assured him that the judges hadn't changed their minds, then approached Chris. "Tell me what arrangements you've made. I know Heidi's going to want to know."

Chris smiled. "Kurt said he's sewing some gift bags or something during his free time. He said I could help and he'd show me how to use the machines. He said he would check with Jo first, though. They all fussed at me for not asking for help in the first place -- well not all of them, Kurt and Marisol, mostly."

"Ash, we feel like your model is not a good match for your designs, and if you had been able to select your own model, you wouldn't have chosen Paul," Heidi began. "How do you feel about that?"

"I have to agree," Ash said. "I don't want to complain, but Paul looks silly in my clothes, and he knows it. I think I could do better with a different model."

"We weren't going to do this, but the circumstances are unusual. Do you think Mark's model, Luis, would fit your designs better?"

The judges didn't need to hear Ash's answer; the look of relief on his face said it all. "I would love the opportunity to work with Luis."

When Ash had returned to the green room where the designers were saying goodbye to Mark, Heidi looked at Blaine expectantly.

"Chris says that Kurt offered to teach him how to use the machines during his free time, if that's okay. Kurt's planning to get Jo's approval. Do you want me to tell him he needs to wait for Tim, or arrange to have a camera there while he and Kurt are working?"

Heidi was not at all surprised that Blaine knew what she wanted and had already taken care of it; this was exactly what she had come to expect from him. "That could be interesting footage. Tell them to do this tomorrow morning, and get a cameraman there. Let Jo know, as well, since she's coordinating the extra use of the workroom." Blaine nodded and Heidi turned to Jon. "I know we were planning to keep the designers here until the episode airs, but I hate to do that to Mark. If he goes home now, he can spend Christmas with his family, and he won't miss the spring semester of college. Do you think it would affect the ratings if people find out that he's the one that was eliminated?"

Jon considered his answer carefully. He was very protective of the confidentiality of the episodes, but Heidi certainly had a point. Mark was getting very little benefit from the show, and it did seem unfair to delay his college graduation. "I agree with you, Heidi. I think we should give him the choice. The audience hasn't really made any kind of emotional connection with him. He didn't appear much in the initial episode, and I don't mean to be disparaging, but he didn't have much personality on camera."

She won't want to talk to him now; she'll want him to have time to get over the loss before he makes a decision. "In your office, tomorrow morning, Heidi? About 9:30?" Blaine asked, making a note when she nodded.

"We need to talk to Andrew next. Blaine, do you have the footage on your computer?" Blaine nodded and left, returning quickly with Andrew.

"Hi, Andrew. How are you today?"

"Absolutely fabulous, as usual, Heidi," Andrew said. "What's up?"

"We were planning to film a spot with you tomorrow so you could explain why you are working with a larger model. If you hadn't been in the middle six, we would have done it when we interviewed you, but that didn't work out. However, we got some very nice footage on Monday at lunch. I want you look at it. We won't use it unless you agree." Heidi nodded at Blaine who hit play. Andrew watched as his lunchtime discussion with Kurt and Ernesto played on the large monitor.

"I kind of dropped out of character there, didn't I?" he said, somewhat embarrassed. He didn't like the idea of everyone thinking his flamboyance was just an act. It was an act, of course, a carefully studied act, but he didn't want anyone to know that.

"Yes, you did," Heidi confirmed, "and that gives your words meaning, authenticity. If you're comfortable, I'd really like to use it. It's a wonderful opportunity to get your message out there. We can follow it with a public service announcement about seeking help for eating disorders at the next commercial break. We need to get Christy's permission, since her name is mentioned and she's identifiable from the context. Do you think she'll agree?"

"She will," Andrew said with assurance. "She wants to work with kids who have eating disorders, and she's never been secretive about what happened. I'll e-mail you her contact information."

"Okay. We can cut it right after your explanation, or we can include the part where Kurt refers to her as 'bulimic' and you correct him. If we include that, we can segue directly into the PSA about seeking help, or we can also include the part about your telling her parents and how she felt about it. It's your call."

Andrew didn't hesitate. "Include all of it, if Kurt doesn't object. I think for most people with eating disorders, there's someone a friend, a sibling, even a teacher who suspects but might be afraid to say anything. If our experience can help even one person, then it's worth sharing."

All eleven of the designers were happy, even Ash, because he would be working with Luis, and Chris, who was delighted to still be there. Most of the others felt that Marisol deserved the win and were very happy for her. The only one who disagreed, ironically, was Marisol herself, who kept insisting that she wouldn't have won if Kurt hadn't given her the idea and helped her with the trapunto. Kurt finally got fed up with listening to her. "Girl, you won! Deal with it and quit complaining so we can celebrate," he exclaimed, much to the amusement of everyone else. "Annie, do we have enough food to throw a party?"

"Are we invited?" asked Marcel. "Because if we are, I can bring the coq au vin I was going to fix tonight. That will probably feed six or so."

"Whoa, guys," Blaine interrupted. "You can throw a party, but remember, you can't tell anyone who won or lost, or even how any of you did. Once we leave the green room, this conversation must stop until you get back in your apartments, and that's the apartments, not the apartment building. You can't talk about it in the fitness room, the lobby, or even the elevator." The designers all nodded, and Blaine could tell from the guilty looks that everyone except Jen, Brenden and Kurt had forgotten the need to be circumspect. Kurt remembered. He has a mind like a steel trap. I need to be more careful what I do and say around him.

Unfortunately for Amy, her plan to spend time with Blaine and 'mother' him a little had been thwarted by Jon, who assigned her to stay behind with Mark to escort him back to the apartments after he finished filming his exit interview. She was barely able to conceal her irritation when Blaine told her about the division of labor, but she managed to keep a smile on her face as Blaine left with rest of the very excited designers. Oh, well. Mark is sure to be unhappy. I can practice on him. She made a quick trip to the break room to get him a candy bar and a soda.

"So, Marcel," Jen asked once they were out on the street, picking up the conversation Blaine had interrupted, "you cook? And all of you are invited, of course. Jonny, can you make sure Mark knows?" Jonny nodded his agreement.

Marcel smiled. "Alexander and I both cook, but if you want something that tastes good, you'd better visit on a night when it's my turn."

"Is Alexander your partner?" Kurt asked.

"He's my husband. We've been married two years now, but we've been together for five," Marcel said fondly. "I haven't succeeded in teaching him to follow a recipe yet, though."

Kurt sighed. "I'd like to be married some day," he said quietly to himself. If Blaine hadn't been standing next to him, he would have missed it.

I can help you with that. "I'm sure you will be, maybe sooner than you think," he said, just as quietly. This conversation was only for Kurt to hear.

"That's easy for you to say, Blaine," Kurt replied tartly. "I'm sure you've got girls falling over themselves to get to you. My opportunities are quite a bit more limited."

If you lived here, the line of men would stretch all the way around the block. He put his arm around Kurt's shoulder in a friendly squeeze. "Hey, who knows? Maybe you'll win the scholarship, move to New York, and meet the man of your dreams." He broke away as he realized Marisol was speaking to him. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I was asking if you could join us for supper. There's going to be plenty of food, and we'd love to have you. Oh, but maybe you'd rather not. You're such a nice person that I keep forgetting that you work here, and you'd probably like to go home at the end of the day. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you on the spot," she said, looking down at her feet, suddenly shy.

Blaine considered. He had an appointment to chat with Wes, but not until 8:30, and if he got pressed for time, he could use the computer in his office. It was unusual for him to be this involved with the designers, but it wasn't a violation of any of the rules, and he liked spending time with all of them, not just Kurt. I'll just avoid anything inappropriate and stay away from Kurt as much as possible. "I'd love to come to your party, Marisol. I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing, and I'm flattered that you thought of me," he said sincerely. "I'll have to go back to the office to finish up a few things first, though."

"Just come by whenever, Blaine. And bring your guitar," Annie added as an afterthought.

Much to her surprise, Amy found that taking care of Mark was fun. He appreciated the food, and he was delighted that she was spending time with him. They chatted happily until she dropped him off at the door to his apartment. "I'll see you later, Mark," she said cheerfully as she headed for the elevator.

When Mark got inside the apartment, Jonny told him about the party. "I think Blaine's coming, too," Jonny added.

"Do you think I could ask Amy to come?"

"I don't know why not," Jonny said. "We'll have way more food than we need." Mark dashed back out into the hall, and got to the elevators just in time to see the doors closing.