Kurt and Blaine Wake Up Married

Chapter 17

"Has anyone ever literally died on stage?" Blaine asks, pacing backstage.

"Molière, I think," Kurt says, grinning, himself of course a picture of absolute serenity. "Why, are you nervous?"

"It's been a while, okay?" Blaine snaps. He's running on about three hours of sleep and a lot of caffeine, having spent last night tossing and turning, imagining press articles on how the founder of the Warbler Foundation is completely untalented himself and should never be allowed close to an artist ever again, for fear of pollution. A nightmare about standing on stage, all lights on him, and not getting out a single note, hasn't helped his confidence.

He has to go up in one and a half songs. At the moment, Mercedes is singing All I want for Christmas is You, and though Love Actually has sort of spoiled the song for Blaine, he can't deny she sounds great. After that, Mercedes and Rachel will sing a duet, and then it's his turn.

He stops pacing when Kurt puts a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine. We rehearsed the songs a million times, we can do them in our sleep, We sound great. You know that."

Blaine nods, and then hugs Kurt and buries his face in Kurt's shoulder. Kurt holds him close for a moment, and then takes his hand and pulls him to a slightly more secluded corner in the backstage area.

"What are you doing?" Blaine whispers. He can't be that far from the stage, he'll miss his cue, he'll be late -

"Distracting you," Kurt says, and then his lips are on Blaine's. Blaine overcomes his surprise in less than a second and kisses back, reminding himself sharply to keep his hands away from Kurt's hair and clutching his arms instead.

The distraction works. They completely miss the duet, and they almost miss getting on stage on time if it weren't for Santana, who drags them out of their corner with an expression that promises they will be mocked for that for a long time.

Then they are on stage. Hair and makeup is okay, and if their lips show that they've just made out for five minutes, hopefully no one in the audience will see. Once he is on stage, all trace of stage fright is gone completely, and he remembers why he always loved performing. It's easy to forget that love in the stress of rehearsal, but nothing compares to the feeling when he's finally in the spotlight again, all eyes on him, basking in the applause. Or, well. He looks at Kurt—almost nothing.

They sing Favorite Things with Rachel and Mercedes, and then Baby it's Cold Outside just the two of them. They do their best to make it sound less creepy than the original, the reason they succeed being, Blaine thinks, mostly because they don't sound like one of them is twice the other's age. But mostly, it's meant like a tiny little finger to the kind of people that object to Unique's casting as Rizzo. Having them come to a wholesome Christmas concert and then have two guys sing a flirty duet is a subtle kind of revenge, but fun nonetheless, and hopefully not enough to lose a lot of sponsors.

He doesn't forget the lyrics, their harmonies are fine, and the applause in the end is deafening. Blaine is grinning as he returns backstage after his part is done, and he thinks he might start performing more again should the opportunity arise.

Then he doesn't think about anything anymore, because Kurt has stayed back on stage and starts the next song, and as always when Kurt is singing, Blaine forgets everything around him. There is only Kurt and his voice, and Blaine silently walks closer to the stage so that he can see at least his profile. His voice is as angelic as his looks, and though his personality is sometimes...less so, Blaine would only be bored by anyone less challenging. And beneath the prickliness, Kurt is the most moral and compassionate person he knows, and he is just right for him.

He just loves it when he sings. He just loves him.

Oh.

He feels himself smiling slowly. He stares with wonder at Kurt, and recognizes with equal amazement the feelings inside him that have been there, he is sure, for quite some time.