Chapter 7

                The next Sunday evening the two met on the street in front of their buildings. Kurt had on a thick grey wool coat and a black and green scarf. Blaine had his normal black coat pulled up over his neck with a grey scarf and a fedora perched on top of his head.
                “Damn, shoulda gone with a hat,” said Kurt. Blaine laughed. They held hands and walked until they were able to hail a free taxi to take them to 222 West 51st Street.
                They didn’t say much on the drive. New York was nothing new, but they still both stared out of their respective windows at the lights passing over them. The taxi stopped and Blaine paid as they stepped out into the chilled early December evening. Kurt grabbed Blaine’s arm and squealed. Blaine was almost more mesmerized by the sheer joy on Kurt's face than his actual surroundings. The large overhang in front of The Gershwin Theatre twinkled with gold and green lights. Inside they were met with several vending tables full of merchandise on their way up a series of stairs and escalators to their rear balcony seats. At each one Kurt would squeak and bounce over to peer closer at the thing that was different from the previous booths. "EEE Look at this shirt! It's different than the one from the website. I should get it! No I shouldn't. AHH Look at THAT one!" "AHHH little green monkeys! I want one! Green glasses, oh my god Blaine, green glasses. A Green Elixir water bottle! I wanted one of these!"

                Blaine was excited by all the stuff as well, but he stood back just to watch Kurt's glee. Kurt’s emotions were infectious. Blaine had to finally drag him into the theatre. Their seats were near the back of the balcony, but their view was still fantastic, almost better than most because they were eye-level with the gigantic clockwork dragon that protruded from the top of the stage. Cogs and wheels crept down the edges of the wings and melted into a twist of vines next to the curtains. Blaine studied the map of Oz that was strung across the empty stage. Kurt busied himself reading the playbill. Once in a while Kurt would nudge Blaine and point out a chorus member or understudy who had assisted one of his classes. 
                "You want to be one of them, don't you?" asked Blaine with a bit of a smile.
                "Nope," said Kurt as the turned and grinned at Blaine, "I'm going to be the STAR." Blaine laughed and patted Kurt's knee. 
                "Ah, yes. Of course."
                The lights dimmed and Kurt let out yet another small squeal. He gripped the sleeve of Blaine's shirt with both hands and bounced slightly in his seat as the theatre darkened and the overture began. The Time Dragon swung its clockwork head back and forth across the audience and Blaine's heart skipped two beats. What he wouldn't give to be artistic enough to work on a set like this. Maybe someday he and Kurt would be in the theatre business together. He snapped himself out of his day dream as the chorus started singing. And good Lord, the costumes. It was like Halloween all over again. But they did this every day. Blaine finally realized he was grinning, and felt self-conscious, but then Kurt grabbed his arm again and whispered "AHHHH" as Glinda descended in her pendulum bubble, so he didn't feel so bad.
                Blaine became so lost in the story that he almost forgot there were hundreds of other people around him. It wasn’t until he heard Kurt’s sharp intake of breath half way through Defying Gravity that he truly remembered where he was. Kurt held a hand to his mouth, the other arm folded in front of him. Blaine wondered if he was crying, but didn’t want to tear his eyes away from the stage for too long. He reached his arm around Kurt’s shoulders as Elphaba flew into the air, her spectacular cape trailing behind her.

So if you care to find me
Look to the Western sky.
As someone told me lately,
“Everyone deserves a chance to fly!”

                Kurt leaned his head lightly on Blaine’s shoulder. Blaine got lost in the smell of Kurt’s hair.

And if I’m flying solo
At least I’m flying free!
To those who ground me,
Take a message back from me!

Tell them how I am defying gravity.
I’m flying high, defying gravity
And soon I’ll match them in renown.
And nobody in all of Oz,
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!

                Blaine got goose bumps as the crescendo of the next few lines filled the auditorium. The room was thrust into darkness and the din of applause. The house lights slowly re-illuminated themselves. Blaine removed his arm from around Kurt and turned slightly to look at him. Kurt’s eyes were pink and he still held his hand to his mouth.
                “Are you ok?” asked Blaine.
                “Yeah, I’m…I’m just so happy,” said Kurt, smiling the smile that swallowed his face.
                “I thought you’d seen this before!” laughed Blaine.
                “Yeah, with my dad. This is… this is different,” Kurt looked down to his knees. “And that song gets me every time.” He added, straightening up in his seat. “Hungry? I need chocolate or something.”

                They stood to stretch their legs and slowly made their way through the crowds clustered through the balcony lobby. Blaine could finally take in what Kurt was wearing; an emerald green vest from the same fabric as the blue one he’d seen Kurt in that first night at the cog, a black dress shirt and a black cardigan. He couldn’t stop marveling at him as they got ice cream and water tried to finish it before they needed to go back.  It seemed all they had time to do was walk out and walk back in before the bell sounded to take their seats again.
                A whole new sense of nervousness washed over Blaine as they took their seats again. He had never really had a boyfriend before and still didn’t feel like he was going to live up to what that meant. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring it up before. It felt like there was so much pressure now. He wondered if Kurt felt the same, but he held his head with such an air of confidence that Blaine was sure that Kurt wasn’t thinking twice about it. Blaine sat with his hands shoved in his lap wondering whether to put his arm back around Kurt, or try to hold his hand, or just let him enjoy the performance.
                “Are you ok?” asked Kurt, nudging Blaine’s knee with his.
                “Hm? Yeah! I’m great! This is great!” The lights faded again to save Blaine from his fumbling.
                Again he was captivated by the songs and the costumes. The second act was tragic and beautiful all at once.  He was almost moved to tears as the final strains of ‘For Good’ rang through the silent auditorium.

Who can say if I’ve been
changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
changed for the better.

And because I knew you,
Because I knew you,
Because I knew you,
I have been changed
For
Good.

                Blaine became lost in thought as the witches parted ways and little Dorothy did her part to do Elphaba in.
                She had been bullied. She stood up for herself. She moved on. An she was still struck down. All she wanted was to change the world and do good and because she was different and always in the wrong place at the wrong time it turned her into a bad person in the public eye. And yet here she was, face to face with her bully-turned-friend-turned-public-enemy, swearing to each other that they wouldn’t change their lives and that they have, for better and forever, been sculpted by their relationship. Blaine thought briefly of Adam and whether his life had changed the way Blaine’s had. Blaine thought again in disgust of how he had pushed Kurt across his kitchen at the smallest thought of that alley way.
                He drew a sharp breath and shook his head slightly to get him back down to earth. Kurt rested a hand on his arm. Blaine bounced his leg. Kurt tightened his grip on Blaine’s arm as Glinda embraced Elphaba’s now empty hat. The chorus voices raised in a slight dissonance that gave Blaine goose bumps. The final shrill declaration that no one mourns the wicked rang through the hall and got lost in the sea of applause. Half the audience sprang to their feet and the rest stood up gradually as the leads made their bows and smiled and waved out of character to the crowd. Blaine and Kurt stood with them, high above the valley of bodies that was half-lit by the stage. Kurt was clapping so rapidly that Blaine thought he might fall over. The music faded. The curtain fell. The lights came on.
                The feeling immediately after a performance is hard to describe. Some people just grab their things and leave, but Blaine felt like that was disrespectful to the story somehow. Blaine didn’t want to just leave, he wanted to remember this. He wanted to have the story and this evening with Kurt in his head forever. Elphaba’s struggle. Glinda’s emotional maturing. The music. The costumes. His first real date with Kurt that didn’t involve emotional intervention or take-out coffee.  He and Kurt sat back down in their seats while people shuffled around them. Kurt flipped through the program one more time and Blaine began to wiggle back into his coat. The balcony was almost cleared by the time they stood to leave.
                “So, what did you think?” asked Blaine.
                “The Elphaba I saw on tour was better, in my opinion, but Glinda was AMAZING. All the stage tricks and stuff were better on the home-stage.” Blaine had nothing to compare this performance to, so he just nodded in agreement. He had seen a couple other musicals, Avenue Q and Chicago, but nothing THIS grandiose. He was impressed with the venue itself, let alone the performances. Blaine took one more look back and the now dead Time Dragon before exiting the theatre.
                The lobbies were still packed even though they had waited extra time inside. Crowds of people shouted over one another at the merchandize tables. Kurt tried to push his way forward a few times, but it wasn’t until the crowd thinned slightly that they could get close. Kurt ooh’d and ahh’d over everything again with Blaine’s elbow locked in his.
                Kurt ended up buying a black track jacket with 'Wicked' emblazoned across the front, the green water bottle he wanted, and a Defying Gravity Bully Bust pin, which supported the National School Climate Centre against bullying. He turned to Blaine with a bag in his hand and a grin on his face.(
 http://www.wickedthemusicalstore.com/Products/Wicked-BullyBust-Pin__WKD-BULLYBUST-PIN.aspx )
                "That's it?" joked Blaine.
                "I already have the program, the poster, The Grimmerie, the magnet, the CD and the music book. And believe me, I'm restraining myself," he laughed.
                Blaine bought a Bully Bust pin too, and a black mug with the Wicked logo on it.
                “That’s it?” Kurt jested back. Blaine just laughed and shrugged. The thick of the crowd had cleared as they made their way back down the maze of staircases to the front doors. They giggled at the signs above the doors that they had missed on the way in that stated ‘You are now leaving Oz. Reality straight ahead. Please drive (or fly) carefully.’
                “Now if only I could remember where I parked my broomstick…” said Blaine. Kurt laughed and Blaine was pleased with himself.
                It had started raining lightly which didn’t help the biting chill that overtook the night. Hardly a romantic night out, but the warmth of the theatre still rested inside Blaine and Kurt as they stood at the end of the covered entrance.
                “My hair…” sighed Kurt under his breath, staring out into the darkness. People were crowding into taxis around them, there was no point trying to beat someone to it. So they just stood there watching the rain sparkle in the street lights. Blaine put an arm around Kurt’s waist and Kurt draped his arm around Blaine.
                “Thanks for coming.” Said Blaine quietly. Kurt squeezed his arm tighter around Blaine.
                “Thanks for thinking of me.”
                “It’s hard to not think of you.”
                “I know.” Kurt laughed. Blaine smiled and nudged Kurt’s check with his forehead. He pulled away to look at Kurt’s radiant face. Before either of them knew it, they were locked in a kiss as the late fall rain poured onto the streets of New York.