Chapter Text
“Hey, Rach!” Kurt Hummel said, as he walked up to his best friend, who was standing in front of his locker waiting for him. He took one look at her expression and sighed loudly. “Uh-oh, what did my idiot brother do now?”
She looked up from her phone where she was furiously typing out an angry text message. “Why do you always assume Finn is the cause of my emotional distress? I’ll have you know that Finn and I are doing just fine, thank you very much! He has been nothing but a perfect gentleman all week,” Rachel huffed.
Kurt rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath “Yes, well, it is only Tuesday.” He quickly schooled his features and replied louder in a clear voice so Rachel could hear him, “Okay, if Finn isn’t the problem, then why the tense shoulders and annoyed expression?” He opened his locker and began switching out his books for the second half of the school day.
She gave an exaggerated sigh and said, “I have to go to a wedding on Saturday and my dad just texted me saying that the only available appointment for my dress fitting is today during Glee Club. I never miss Glee Club! I was planning on singing the solo I prepared for Sectionals! I just know that Mercedes and Santana will try to take advantage of me not being there to convince Mr. Schue that they deserve the solo instead of me. I can’t let them steal my solo like that! I can’t! I have to be there!”
“Breathe, Rachel, breathe. Sectionals is still over a month away and none of the song selections or soloists have been determined yet. Besides, this is Mr. Schuester you’re talking about. You know he is most likely going to not only give you the solo, but the duet, as well as lead vocals on the group song. So, even if for some bizarre reason he does give the solo to someone else, you will still have other opportunities to shine during the competition,” Kurt explained in his most reassuring voice.
Rachel looked at him as though he had just slapped her. “No! Kurt, you don’t understand. I need that solo! There are going to be college scouts in the audience. How am I supposed to get into NYADA if the scouts don’t hear me sing! Why do you think that it’s okay for Mr. Schue to just hand my solo over to someone decidedly less talented? Do you want to lose? Do you? This is our Senior year, Kurt! Glee Club has to at least qualify for Nationals if I have any chance of getting into NYADA, and that won’t happen with a setlist that does not heavily feature Rachel Berry!”
Kurt pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger and took a few deep breaths before he replied to her. “You are not the only Senior in Glee Club that hopes to get noticed by the colleges in attendance. Not to mention, you already have a guaranteed audition with the NYADA faculty in March, thanks to your early qualification from your summer program application. Oh, don’t give me that look Rachel!” he said, when he noticed her glaring at him. “You know I love you, but you are seriously blowing this way out of proportion. Missing one Glee rehearsal isn’t the end of the world; and like I said, we still have over a month until Sectionals. You’ll have plenty of time to convince Mr. Schue to see things from your perspective.”
Rachel opened her mouth to argue with him when the warning bell rang. “Gotta run to History. See ya later, Rach!” he said, slamming his locker door shut and taking off down the hallway.
---
Kurt walked into the choir room after his last class and was slightly surprised to see Rachel sitting there in the front row. “Aren’t you supposed to be at a fitting?” he asked, as he took a seat behind her. She gave him a pointed glare then silently turned to face the front of the room. After a few moments, everyone had arrived, and Mr. Schuester was just beginning the lesson when there was a soft knock on the open choir room door. Kurt looked up and saw a boy that looked vaguely familiar. He was wearing a white dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up to the elbow and gray slacks. His dark brown hair was neatly gelled, and he had a shy smile on his face. Mr. Schuester gave the boy a quick once-over and asked, “Yes? Is there something I can help you with?”
The boy looked over at Rachel and then back at the teacher and said, “Yes. I’m here for Rachel Berry.”
Rachel quickly hopped up out of her chair and ran over to him. “Blaine! What are you doing here?” she whisper-shouted at the boy.
He rolled his eyes at her and replied, “If you actually checked your phone, you would know the answer to that.” When Rachel didn’t reply, he continued, “Since you can’t be trusted to make it to your appointment on time, I was told to pick you up so you wouldn’t miss it. So, hurry up and get your stuff or you’re going to be late, and then we’ll both be in trouble.” Blaine then turned his back on Rachel and addressed the teacher at the front of the classroom, “I apologize for the disruption, Mr. Schuester; but Rachel has a very important appointment to attend and was supposed to head directly home after school. I realize that you are preparing for an upcoming competition, but unfortunately this appointment was unable to be rescheduled. I hope her absence today won’t be too much of an inconvenience?”
The teacher’s face showed shock at the boy’s polite behavior, especially after the casual and sarcastic attitude he had while talking to Rachel. He shook his head then replied, “No, of course not. We were just going to go over some details for the lesson for this week.” Then he turned to Rachel and added, “I know you had a song prepared for today, but since you are leaving, I expect that you will be ready to sing first on Thursday.” Rachel just stood there glaring at Blaine while he spoke to her teacher. When Mr. Schuester addressed her, she nodded her head, grabbed her bag, and stormed out of the room. Blaine shook his head, sighed loudly, and followed her into the hallway.
As soon as the pair left, Finn looked around the room and said, “What just happened? Who was that guy?”
Kurt, after hearing Rachel call the boy Blaine, realized why he looked so familiar. Blaine was Rachel’s younger brother who attended a private boarding school in another town. He was rarely ever home, opting to stay at school most weekends due to the numerous clubs and activities he belonged to. While Kurt had never met Blaine during the year-and-a-half that he and Rachel had been best friends, he had seen several pictures of him hung up around the Berry household.
Kurt looked over toward his stepbrother and replied, “That was Blaine.” Upon seeing the confused expression on Finn’s face he elaborated, “Her brother.”
Finn did a double-take. “Rachel has a brother?” he squeaked.
Kurt groaned. “Seriously, Finn? You’ve been dating Rachel for a little over two years now, and you didn’t know she had a brother? How is that even possible? There are pictures of him and Rachel all over Rachel’s house.”
Finn shrugged his shoulders and asked, “How old is he? Does he go to McKinley?”
“No, he doesn’t go here. He boards at some private school somewhere. I don’t remember if she ever said which one,” Kurt answered. “All I know is, she said he was younger than her, but I don’t know how old he is. Probably a Junior? Maybe? I don’t know.”
“Dude, how do you know so much about him? She’s never even mentioned him to me before,” Finn asked, dejectedly.
Kurt was quick to try and reassure his stepbrother. “She really hasn’t told me that much either, Finn. All I know about him is what I’ve told you… and that Blaine usually stays in the dorms at school over the weekends because he is in a lot of school clubs that have meetings or events during the weekends and it’s easier than driving back and forth all the time. I think the only reason she even told me as much as she did was because I asked her about him. A few months ago, I overheard her dads telling her how Blaine was a finalist in some tournament, and she was expected to attend; so I asked her who Blaine was. She pointed to a picture and goes ‘my younger brother’ then changed the subject. I’ve asked her a few questions about him here-and-there since then, but she doesn’t really say much, if anything at all.” Kurt let out a long sigh and asked, “You really have never heard her or either one of her dads mention him? At all? Or thought to ask about why there were so many pictures of him throughout the house – both with and without Rachel?”
Tina answered before Finn could. “Come on, Kurt; you gotta admit that it’s weird how you seem to be the only one that knew she had a brother.”
“No, I think it’s weird how all of you didn’t know she had one.”
“You really don’t think it’s weird that she never talks about him to us?” Tina argued.
“Why should I?” he asked. “I mean, how many times have any of you heard Quinn talk about her older sister, Frannie? I can’t recall Quinn ever mentioning her. Yet every single one of you is aware she has a sister. So, why is it weird that Rachel doesn’t talk about her brother? Because you didn’t know she had one? Is that the difference?”
Mr. Schuester saved Tina from having to answer by announcing that he was starting the lesson and to keep all other discussions for after practice.
~*~
“Blaine! I can’t believe you would just barge into my Glee rehearsal and demand I leave like that! We have a lot of work to do before our Sectionals competition, and I can’t afford to miss any rehearsals! I am co-captain of that club. Those people need my leadership and expertise to guide them. How are they supposed to see me as a leader when I bail on them during competition preparation? Thank god you at least had the decency to remove your blazer and tie before you decided to waltz in there like you own the place. If my Glee Club knew you went to Dalton, there would have been a riot in there. Speaking of Dalton, shouldn’t you be there right now? Don’t you have a practice, or a rehearsal, or a meeting, or something you should be at? What are you even doing here anyway, besides making my life a living hell that is?” Rachel exclaimed as soon as Blaine’s car started pulling out of the McKinley High parking lot.
Blaine took a deep breath trying to calm himself before answering her. “First of all, I don’t understand what me going to Dalton has to do with anything. Our schools’ sports teams are in different divisions and have never even played each other. As far as I know, our schools have never even crossed paths with one another for any type of extracurricular event, not just sports; so, it’s not like we’re rivals or anything, but whatever.
“Secondly, Dad and Papa thought it would be easier to schedule my tux fitting for the same time as your dress fitting. Once you started yelling at them about missing Glee, they asked me to pick you up and drive you there because they knew you would try to blow it off – especially since you got a ride to school from your boyfriend this morning. And yes, I am missing Warbler rehearsal right now. I also had to leave school early to get to Lima on time, so I missed my English class too; not to mention I’m going to miss my track practice on Saturday so I can actually attend this wedding. So, please stop taking your frustrations out on me. I’m in the same boat that you are,” he told her.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” she whined. “It’s just that I have a lot riding on this competition, and I don’t want something as stupid as a dress to mess up my chances of getting into NYADA.”
“Rachel, you know how important it is to Dad and Papa that we attend their friend’s wedding this weekend, especially since both of us were asked to sing at the reception. I know you don’t want to get on stage looking anything less than perfect. Missing one Glee rehearsal to ensure that you look as beautiful as you sound for this event isn’t going to ruin your college ambitions. Besides, your teacher said you weren’t doing anything competition-related today, didn’t he?” He briefly took his eyes off the road to see his sister nod her head with a resigned look on her face. He could tell she was holding back on another argument, so he continued hoping to get his point across to her before she could speak up. “The Warblers are working on choreography and harmonization for one of our Sectionals numbers right now. So, I’m actually missing an important Glee Club rehearsal, unlike you. Luckily my roommate, Jeff, volunteered to catch me up on the choreography aspect when I get back to the dorms tonight. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do anything about the harmonies until next rehearsal though. And seeing as how we’re an a capella group, having tight harmony is vital for us to succeed. However, we still have several weeks to work on getting everything just right. You gotta remember that Sectionals is over a month away, so there is plenty of time to fine-tune any imperfections to the routine. Just take a deep breath and try not to worry so much, okay?”
Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and let out an annoyed huff. “I hate it when you use logic on me. Fine, I’ll stop complaining about missing rehearsal, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”
He pulled his car into a parking space in the lot in front of the tailor’s shop. “That’s all I ask. Come on, we’re here. Let’s go get this over with,” Blaine said, before hopping out of the car.
---
Later that night, Kurt was on the phone with Rachel, and he assured her that there were no shady deals for competition soloists being made behind her back. In fact, no one had even mentioned Sectionals during the rehearsal she missed, and that she had freaked out over nothing. Once she was satisfied, she moved on to discussing the wedding she would be singing at and how it would be helpful to have an unbiased audience to critique her performance.