Kurt Hummel was going to be in show business.

His friend Andre from the theater department at NYU had gotten him the audition for a television show. He couldn’t make it out to L.A. at the time, so he auditioned via webcam and they loved him so much they gave him the part immediately. The show hadn’t been picked up by any network yet and they were still casting leads, but Kurt had high hopes for the concept.

He quit his job, packed up his wardrobe, put his furniture in storage, and bought a plane ticket out to Hollywood. Things were changing so fast, but he didn’t even have time to think about it.

Glancing around the vast, crowded airport, Kurt took a deep breath. He was supposed to meet Ron, his assistant while working on the show, by the gate. Ron would escort him directly to meet with Patrick, the creator, writer, and final decision maker of all things related to the show.

He spotted a man that fit Ron’s description: short, round, balding, wearing an ugly red shirt with khaki shorts. He headed over as saw that Ron spotted him as well. The short man waved as Kurt came closer.

“You must be Kurt,” Ron said dryly. He stuck out a hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

Kurt shook the offered hand, the man’s palm feeling rough in his.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know you while working on the show,” Kurt told him. Ron just smiled, his old face seeming bitter by years of working for guys like Kurt who were far younger than him and already higher up in the world.

“So you’re a fag, right? That’s why they hired you for the part, I mean,” Ron said bluntly. Kurt was taken aback by the man’s words. He glanced down at himself, priding himself on his appearance. In the last two years he’d went from baby-faced and pear-shaped hips to tall, lithe, and muscular. While he still had soft, almost girly features and a high-pitched voice, he now sported enough visible masculine features to prove that he wasn’t aiming to get a sex change later in life.

“They hired me because I have extraordinary talent,” Kurt huffed, tightening his hold on the iPad and the script.

“Whatever,” Ron grumbled. He turned and began to walk away. Against Kurt’s better judgment, he followed. The walk to the car and the ride to the studio were both silent. Tension was thick between them since Ron’s comment. Kurt was used to it, but it was not the best first impression.

The doors outside the studio were labeled with the name of the show, Bring on Tomorrow. The concept was two struggling actors living together. One of them was openly gay and the other was straight, but open-minded.

Kurt felt like it was a bold concept, but had no idea where they were taking it. He was, of course, playing the gay one. All he knew of his character was what he learned in the script for the first episode: his name was Chris Colfer, he grew up in Clovis, California, he was twenty-one years old, and he was very lonely.

The other main character was a carefree man by the name of Darren. Kurt wondered who had been cast as his costar. He hoped the other man was cute, because he didn’t want to have to play someone living with someone ugly.

“Mr. McKenzie’s office is the third door on the right. He can’t wait to meet you,” Ron said, sounding incredibly bored.

Kurt thanked him, annoyed, and entered the door alone. He found the third door on the right and knocked once before opening it. He recognized the man behind the desk instantly from the webcam auditions.

“Kurt Hummel! So good to finally see my little star in person!” Patrick was tall and slim and so obviously gay that Kurt felt his internal gaydar explode as he stood up. Kurt entered the office all the way and Patrick’s face lit up. “You are even more gorgeous than the pictures you emailed me.”

Blushing, Kurt muttered his thanks.

“Now I know you’re eager to get some sleep and settle into the apartment we’ve got set up for you, but I needed you here to do some readings with some possible costars. We’re still casting for Darren and we need to be sure we find someone who had good chemistry with you before we can continue,” Patrick explained. He rounded the desk and slung his arm around Kurt’s shoulders, pushing him towards the chair.

“Aren’t we filming next week?” Kurt asked, surprised to hear they didn’t even have someone to play Darren yet.

“Yes, but what would television be if we weren’t a little crunched,” Patrick shrugged and waved one hand around, the other resting on his hip. He perched on the edge of the desk and looked over Kurt’s figure. “Mmmhmm this is excellent. You are my vision of the perfect Chris. I needed someone with a delicious body that could rock jeans and a tight t-shirt.”

Kurt blushed again and looked down at his chest, imagining himself in the outfit Patrick described.

“Chris is a little less flamboyant that you look, honey, so onset we’ll help you tone it down a bit. He’s one of those gays that you’d expect to be the submissive one, but he’s really this sexy, ferocious beast who doesn’t know how to show it,” Patrick explained. “At least, that’s how he’s written. You can show that however you want.”

Kurt just nodded and looked around the bland office, noticing the lack of pictures on the wall and decoration at all.

“Well you’re not the talker I imagined you’d be,” Patrick sighed. “Let me just step outside for a minute and I’ll grab the first candidate for Darren.”

Nodding again, Kurt sat up in the chair and watched Patrick leave. Breathing a nervous breath out, Kurt unzipped his carryon back and slid his iPad inside. He opened his script and read over the opening scene once more, even though it was memorized perfectly.

The office door opened so hard that it bounced off the gray walls as Patrick returned, followed by the first candidate for costar. He was tall, with wavy blond hair and a charming smile. Kurt stood and looked him up and down. He was cute enough.

“Jesse St. James, this is Kurt Hummel. He’s been cast as Chris,” Patrick said. Jesse shook Kurt’s hand and eyed him with a judgmental look.

“Shorter than I imagined Chris to be when I read the script,” Jesse said. Kurt frowned and narrowed his eyes. Patrick chuckled.

“Alright, let’s just start with the first conversation Chris and Darren have with each other, the one on the phone,” Patrick said. He moved back to perch himself on the edge of his desk. “So Chris just looked at the newspaper and saw the ad that said ‘struggling actor, 24, needs roommate with nice apartment and cheap rent’. He calls up Darren who is running late for an audition. And action!”

Kurt looked down at his script, as Jesse cleared his throat and began reading.

“This is Darren,” Jesse said. The way he said it was all wrong. Kurt didn’t like his voice.

“Hi, I’m calling about your ad. The one looking for a roommate?” Kurt didn’t have to look at the script to say it. He’d been rehearsing it in his head for days.

“Look, I’m sorry. I don’t actually have an apartment. I’m looking for someone who does.” Jesse stumbled over the words at the end and it threw off the whole dynamic of the reading.

Thankfully, Patrick took Kurt’s rolled eyes, heaving sigh, and slap of his script against his thigh as a sign that it wasn’t working.

“Sorry, Jesse, I don’t think you’re quite ready for the part,” Patrick said. “I’ll give you a call, though. There might be another role on the show we can squeeze you into.”

Jesse didn’t lose his fake charming smile or his judgmental look as he left the room. Patrick called, “Next!” down the hallway. He held the door open as the next candidate walked in.

When Kurt laid eyes on him, it felt like someone hit him. Hard.

The other man was gorgeous. He was shorter than Kurt and slim, but with the perfect amount of muscle visible under his thin, tight tank top. His skin was tan, his hair was thick, black, and curly, and his eyes were a bright mixture of green and hazel. The man standing before Kurt was the epitome of perfection, and if Kurt ever had a type he was surely to be it.

“Blaine Anderson, meet Kurt Hummel. He plays Chris,” Patrick introduced them.

Blaine. Blaine. His name was beautiful. Blaine Anderson. Kurt had never heard anything that flowed so easily through his mind.

Blaine reached out to shake his hand, smiling broadly. He exuded happiness and excitement and charm, and Kurt almost turned into jelly at the touch of his warm, slightly calloused hand against Kurt’s soft one.

“So let’s do the first scene with Chris and Darren on the phone again,” Patrick said, resuming his spot on the edge of the desk. He set up the scene again for Blaine, and then they began.

“Hey, this is Darren,” Blaine said. His voice was magic to Kurt’s ears. He delivered the line perfect. It was slightly rushed, out a breath, clipped, annoyed all at once. It made Kurt stutter through his line.

“Hi, I-I-I’m calling about your ad. You know, the one looking for a roommate?” Kurt tried to keep himself from trembling. Blaine was perfect, perfect, perfect and Kurt never wanted anyone else to be his costar except this gorgeous man who was so suddenly engrossed in his work that Kurt couldn’t help but admire him.

“I’m sorry. I don’t actually have an apartment. I’m looking for someone who does.” Blaine’s tone was still annoyed, but it softened just enough that he wasn’t so harsh. Thick eyebrows were drawn together as glanced up at Kurt, waiting for Kurt’s next line.

“Well it just so happens that I’ve got one empty bedroom and a wallet that could appreciate not having to pay half the rent.” Kurt put his hand on one hip and held the script with his free hand. He put a little sass into the line. It was the same sass that had landed him the part in his webcam audition.

“Look, I’m running super late for an audition so let’s meet later for coffee and make sure neither of us is a murderer or a rapist, alright?” Blaine looked a little amused at the line, and the rushed way he said it made Kurt smile.

“Sound great. How ‘bout we meet at Althea’s Caf� on Harrison Avenue?” Kurt raised both eyebrows as he watched Blaine’s expression shift.

“If I don’t get the part, I’ll be there at four.” Cue Darren hanging up, and the scene ending. Kurt and Blaine lowered their scripts and looked at each other. If Patrick was looking for chemistry between actors, they definitely had it.

“That. Was. Amazing!” Patrick cried out. Kurt tore his blue eyes away from Blaine’s hazel ones and looked at Patrick. “I have never seen two actors click so quickly before. I think we found our Darren!”

Blaine’s face lit up instantly. Kurt didn’t think it was possible for him to get even more handsome than he already was.

“Thank you, thank you, Mr. McKenzie. This is a dream come true. The part of a lifetime.” Blaine turned to Kurt. “I’m so looking forward to working with you, Kurt. I’ve heard such great things about you and I’m so excited to be working with someone who’s been on Broadway.”

Kurt smiled and found himself unable to speak, unable to tell Blaine he couldn’t wait to work with him either. There were actually a lot of things Kurt couldn’t wait to do with Blaine, because Blaine was just so damned gorgeous and Kurt was still a twenty-three year old virgin (not that he’d admit it) and he’d come to Hollywood with the hopes of maybe finding a boyfriend along with his fortune.

Unfortunately, Kurt Hummel also had quite the reputation for being a professional. And professionals did not sleep with their costars. Not even when they were sexy as hell.

. ~ . ~ .

The next day, the cast, the director, and Patrick sat around a large oval table. They were doing a reading of the script before filming began the next day. It was sort of an ice breaker as well, introducing all the actors and the characters.

The main characters consisted of Chris and Darren, Darren’s on-again-off-again girlfriend Serena, Chris’ ex-boyfriend Eddie, Darren’s boss and coworkers, and Chris’ parents. Darren’s girlfriend was played by a pretty blond girl named Quinn Fabray, the ex-boyfriend Eddie was played by an equally blond Sam Evans (blond was not Kurt’s type), Darren’s boss was played by Wes Montgomery, and his coworkers were played by two guys named Nick and Jeff.

The cast was heavy on testosterone, but Kurt didn’t mind one bit.

Kurt shook his head, trying not to space out during the scene he wasn’t in.

“Chris is gay, Darren. And you’re cute,” Quinn read her line and looked over at Blaine, who sat between Kurt and Patrick.

“Chris is a nice guy who has a consistent place for me to stay. I don’t care if he’s gay, straight, purple, or dinosaur. He’s giving me something you can’t. Stability.” Blaine glanced over to gauge Kurt’s reaction to his delivery before looking toward Quinn.

“Well if you love him so much, then why don’t you just fuck him?” She put just the right amount of hostility into her voice as she said it.

“I love you, Serena. I really, really do. He just needs a friend and we have a lot of things in common. Plus, I think he still has feelings for this guy he keeps talking about.” Blaine shrugged in a way he dubbed Darren-esque.

Kurt found himself lost in his own thoughts again as he watched the slope of Blaine’s shoulder’s rise and fall. They were nice shoulders. Well sculpted. Right where his shoulders connected with the base of the neck looked really soft. Kurt wanted to lick it.

Fuck.

Kurt wondered if he’d be able to make it through the show. He was such a blushing virgin that the thought of giving Blaine a hickey made his already tight jeans even tighter. He turned in his chair and leaned forward, banished thoughts of Blaine from his head.

He closed his eyes and pictured not Blaine beside him, but Darren. Goofy, clumsy Darren who was so obviously confused about his sexuality that the whole world could see it but he clung to his pretty girlfriend. Darren was adorable and sexy, but he wasn’t charmingly romantic by nature like Blaine was. It made him just enough less appealing than Blaine to keep Kurt’s thoughts out of the gutter.

But damn if this wasn’t going to be the hardest job Kurt ever did.

. ~ . ~ .

In the first interview he ever did about the show, Blaine Anderson announced to the world that he was gay. It was during filming the first episode of Bring on Tomorrow, and the concept of the show was already getting a lot of hype from the press. Straight guy lives with gay guy and turns gay himself. The public ate it up and the show was lined up on HBO. It wasn’t prime time by any means, but Patrick just took it with stride and began to write the second episode like an HBO show.

Kurt couldn’t believe it, though, when he heard that Blaine was gay. Blaine wasn’t gay gay like Kurt and Patrick were. He was “straight gay”. He could pass for a straight guy all day long, but deep down Kurt knew it was there. It was why Blaine could play Darren so well.

Blaine didn’t mind kissing girls either, which was good for the show because he had a lot of make out scenes with Quinn. Kurt told them right off he was exclusively gay. No girl kissing or experimenting for him. He only kissed boys, even for money.

On the day of filming the scene where Darren sees the apartment for the first time, Patrick decided he wanted to see what it would look like if Kurt and Blaine…no…if Chris and Darren kissed. He told everyone to drop everything and he shoved Kurt and Blaine together so that their lips had no choice but to connect.

Kurt didn’t know what to do, so he just kissed Blaine. His arms wrapped around Blaine’s neck and he kissed him harder. Blaine didn’t pull away. He rested his hands on Kurt’s waist and let Kurt run his tongue across his bottom lip. Blaine let out a small moan into Kurt’s mouth before Patrick pried them apart.

Embarrassed, Kurt shuffled from foot to foot, trying not to show the effect of the kiss. He hadn’t properly kissed another man in two years. He refused to look over at Blaine, who requested that they take a half hour break from filming.

Kurt couldn’t get back to his trailer fast enough.

. ~ . ~ .

A fist pounded heavily on the door of Kurt’s trailer, and it took Kurt a whole five minutes to make it look like he hadn’t just been attempting to “relieve some tension” in the back of the trailer. When he finally opened the door, he found Blaine standing there in his all his gorgeousness.

“Can I come in?” Blaine asked. Kurt nodded and stepped back, allowing Blaine to come in. Blaine hadn’t been in his trailer before. They weren’t really even friends. They had great chemistry as actors and he made Kurt horny as hell, but beyond that they bonded the least out of all the cast members.

“That kiss was…unexpected,” Blaine said. He sat on the small sofa and looked up at Kurt, who still wore the transformers t-shirt that was very Chris-like and a pair of gray sweatpants.

“Yeah. I’m sorry about that. Patrick is an ass,” Kurt said. He rubbed the back of his neck and sat down beside Blaine. He felt odd and exposed to Blaine now, and he had a feeling his already pale skin was paler than usual.

“That he is,” Blaine said. “But if it counts for anything, it was an amazing kiss.”

Kurt blushed hard.

Damn Blaine Anderson was so damn perfect.

“Yeah,” Kurt said. “It was.”

“Well you better get yourself fixed up and get back on set. I think they one wanna do two more takes before we’re done for the day,” Blaine said. He reached over and patted Kurt on the knee before standing and heading to the door.

Kurt absolutely refused to stare at Blaine’s ass as he left.

Too bad his eyes wouldn’t listen.