Kurt slipped into the school, eyeing the sign at the door. Help us keep our halls clean! There was a caricature of a socked-feet boy on the sign, grinning at Kurt and pointing to his shoes caked in mud. Kurt looked down at his Jimmy Choo Roper boots, which he got on sale for a large fraction of the original price during Black Friday after playing tug of war over them with a man who was fortunately distracted by his boyfriend after a few heated words. He cast a glance at the boot rack, where children’s footwear was thrown haphazardly onto rickety metal shelves, zeroing in on one boot that had fallen to the side and rubbed mud and grass against the leg of another. Ignoring the sign, Kurt rubbed his soles against the black ribbed carpet until they were sufficiently dry. 

He stepped up the stairs that led from the door up to the gym. Grinning, he grabbed a program from the table that had been set up in front of it.

George Washington Elementary School

Presents

A Happy Holiday Concert

He opened the program, skimmed the side, noting that this year the grades had been paired up. But it was on the inside of the pamphlet that Kurt saw what he’d been looking for. There was a tiny black and white picture of Blaine, smiling with his eyes crinkled – Kurt’s favourite smile – and underneath his message to the parents coming to see the show. It was only Blaine’s second year teaching at Washington. Last year, he wasn’t able to execute the concert that he wanted to, and had complained to Kurt endlessly about the format and song selection, but this year was a different story. With a year under his belt, the school administration allowed him to take control of the concerts, performances, and assemblies. 

Kurt was pretty sure that Blaine was the most excited for this one. He’d been belting christmas carols in the shower and while cooking every Tuesday and Thursday. Kurt didn’t mind too much, he loved Blaine’s singing, but it was a little irksome some when he tried to harmonize himself. Sometimes Blaine convinced him to join in under the guise of their annual christmas duet, but when Blaine took the fourth, he knew that he was just a trial run for the Christmas concert. 

Weeks of work had culminated in this afternoon, and as Kurt entered the small gym, he felt a huge smile spread across his face. The gym was decorated from bottom to top with students’ artwork. Snowmen and snowflakes were pasted to the wall and streamers were hung from basketball hoop to basketball hoop, twining blue and white. Kurt took a seat near the middle, on the aisle, almost completely behind the chair that Blaine would soon be sitting on. On the back it said: reserved for our music instructor. 

Kurt squirmed a little, half excited and half uncomfortable in the short plastic seat. He clutched the program in one hand and looked around. He didn’t recognize anybody there. He sat silently, watching the milling children until the half of the gym lights turned off.

The curtains of the stage drew open, revealing four rows of kindergarteners lined up on risers, most of them wearing their christmas best, some of them fidgeting, but all of them wearing bright smiles. Then, a side door opened and Blaine stuck his head through. He glanced over at the audience and then slipped inside, grabbing a microphone from the stage. 

“Welcome, everyone, to our holiday concert. My name is Blaine Anderson-Hummel and I’m the music teacher. Over the past month, these kids have worked very hard to bring you the best concert that they possibly can. Each child has put their heart and soul into this performance, so please enjoy and feel free to sing along.”

Blaine replaced the mic and made his way to his seat. Kurt could see a huge grin on Blaine’s face as he nodded to the children and flashed them a thumbs up. He lifted his arms and collectively the children took a breath. Then he dropped them and the kids began to sing a song about Rudolph that Kurt had never heard before. 

The kids were adorable and some were quite talented. Blaine had given out a few solos and let the kids play their own instruments sometimes.The concert was really very precious but Kurt couldn’t take his eyes off Blaine. 

Seeing Blaine with his kids was a phenomenon not yet experience by Kurt. And it was wonderful. Kurt knew Blaine loved teaching his kids, he woke up at 5:30 am every morning just to reach choir in time. He also talked about them enough, enthusiastically gesturing and jumpin around as he told Kurt about Sally instinctively harmonizing or Jeremy taking to the violin like a fish to water. 

Here, at this concert, Blaine positively came alive. His eyes were wide and bright as he directed the children and conducted music. He pushed at his cheeks from time to time and almost at once the children smiled wilder. His leg tapped to the beat as he sang exaggeratedly with the children. Kurt loved it. Kurt loved him. 

The concert ended with an audience sing-along as Blaine picked up his guitar and sang in a mic with the children surrounding him. Kurt sang loudly, harmonizing naturally with Blaine. When the concert ended, the principal instructed students to return to classes and parents shuffled out, but Kurt stayed still, watching Blaine pack away his instruments and shake hands with parents and give kids pats on the back.  

Finally, the gym emptied out, leaving Kurt standing, arms crossed, watching Blaine spin in a circle, hands tucked into the pocket before he finally spotted Kurt. “Hey!”

“Hi love,” Kurt replied, grinning.

Blaine sauntered up to Kurt and wrapped his arms around his waist, and they settled comfortably together. “What are you doing here? I thought you had a meeting?”

“Eh,” Kurt shrugged, waving a hand, “Changed it into a conference call. Besides, I couldn’t miss this. Your big concert, Blaine!”

“Kurt! What did you think?”

Kurt squeezed Blaine to him, grinning, “Blaine! It was amazing, you were fantastic.”

“How were the kids, though?”

Kurt shrugged, “they were cute, yeah, very good, but you Blaine, you were gorgeous.”

“I wasn’t facing you.”

“Doesn’t matter, you were brilliant.”

They stood together, swaying in the silence of the gym. After a few minutes, Blaine spoke. “So this teaching thing. It’s good, yeah?”

“Oh Blaine,” Kurt whispered, dropping a kiss to his fiancé’s forehead. “Blaine, it makes you shine bright.”