Stealing Cinderella

Burt ran his hand over his hat-less head. He always felt strange without a cap on but Kurt had insisted that wearing a baseball cap, even his best one, with a suit was 'just something that should never be done'. Plonking himself down in a chair in the front row, Burt decided to take a look at the program he had been handed at the entrance to the large venue where the UCLA Cuckoos were performing. He grinned proudly when he saw 'Kurt Hummel- Countertenor' listed on the second page under a photo of his son and next to Kurt's photo, was Blaine's. The photographs were obviously recent, both boys looking much older than they had two years ago when they left Ohio for sunny California to go to University.

Kurt's face had still had that angelic, cherub-like quality right up until his final year of high school but in this photo, his face was angular. Kurt's jaw was defined, his high cheekbones clear and sharp. The smile on Burt's son's face had reached his blue-green eyes- something which had stopped when his mother died at the age of eight and then reappeared after Kurt started at Dalton. And met Blaine. Kurt's eyes now twinkled with happiness and love.

Love... Burt's eyes moved to the photo next to his son's. Blaine's hair was cut tidily, but he had stopped using gel once he left Dalton. Now, it was in wispy curls which framed his face which, like Kurt's, was now more angular but whereas Kurt was clean shaven in his photo, Blaine had some slight stubble. Blaine's eyes shone with the same light that Kurt's did and the corners were crinkled slightly as if he were laughing as the photo had been taken.

Burt jumped slightly when a hand rested suddenly on his knee and Carole smiled softly at him as he looked up from the program.

"They have great restrooms here," she said and laughed along with Burt as she settled into her seat beside him. They talked together quietly as the rest of the seats slowly filled with parents, friends and students.

"I cannot believe I am really doing this!" Blaine hissed into the phone he was clutching to his eat with a sweaty hand.

"You need to calm down. Take deep breaths," Wes replied in his usual, efficient tone.

"In and out. In and out. Blaine, you need to take deeper breaths. I should be able to hear you through the phone," David said. Three way calls between the best friends were a near daily occurrence. Before they had each left for different universities, they had made a very serious vow to keep in contact and try their best to see each other as often as possible.

"I am breathing!" Blaine growled, even though he could barely feel the effects of each breath he took. The panicky feeling was not subsiding, the butterflies were still flitting around in his stomach and it felt like someone was pressing down on his chest and compressing his lungs.

"Think of it as just another performance and you'll be fine. Remember why you are doing this. Tell me why you're doing this, Blaine!"

"Because I am stupid, Wes! Incredibly stupid. Why did I think this was a good idea? Oh my God, why did I let you talk me into this? I should have learnt my lesson in Junior year after the Gap Store debacle. This is-"

"Blaine!" Cried David, interrupting his rant. Blaine fell silent as he moved from the wings and onto the stage to peak out at the audience through the gap in the stage curtain. The venue was packed, probably at full capacity. Blaine's eyes scanned the audience and then he sighed as he found Burt and Carole in the front row. He should have known they'd be right up front. "Calm down. This is going to be lovely and adorable and romantic. I personally think it will be a little cheesy, but the romance will probably outweigh the cheese so you have nothing to worry about there. Besides, people are suckers for romantic slash cheesy things," David rambled.

"David..." Wes said in a warning tone.

"This is just a case of people pleasing, guys. This is Kurt pleasing. Do you have any idea how hard that is?"

"Not too hard if I'm judging from the noises that came from your room when you visited last Spring," David muttered.

"David!" Wes snapped and Blaine dropped his face into his free hand as he wondered back off stage and made his way to the Cuckoos' dressing room. "Now Blaine, listen to me. You can do this. You are a great performer and- let's face it- the most dapper, charming person I know. Also, you are head of heels in love with Kurt and he is head of heels in love with you. This should be a walk in a park for you."

"A walk in the park?"

"A walk in the park," Wes said calmly.

"A WALK IN THE PARK!" David squealed happily. Blaine stayed silent and tried to figure out the purpose of David's repetition. The fact that Wes was silent to told Blaine that he was trying to do the same.

"Shut up, David," Wes said eventually, even though David wasn't saying anything then. There was an indignant gasp from the other boy, but he didn't say anything. Blaine sank down in a free chair in the dressing room and ran a hand through his hair. He looked up and started as he saw Kurt making his way toward him.

"Guys, I have to go. Kurt's coming," he said hurriedly.

"Okay. Right. Good luck. Wait, when are you going on?" David asked quickly just as Kurt held up two fingers as he reached Blaine.

"Two minutes. We're the first act on," Blaine replied. "Why?"

"Don't end the call. Me and Wes wanna hear it all, right Wes?"

"That is correct David," Wes agreed and Blaine rolled his eyes at Kurt as he reached him and mouthed 'Wes 'n 'David'. Kurt nodded in understanding.

"Okay, I really have to go now. Bye," Blaine said.

"Good luck, Blaine," Wes said.

"YOU DA DAPPA MAN," David yelled. Blaine quickly stuffed the cell into his pants pocket, the call still connected and smiled at Kurt.

"Ready to go?" Kurt said, holding his hand out for Blaine to take. Blaine took it and got to his feet. He took a deep breath and surprisingly felt a lot calmer than he did before, though he strongly suspected it had something to do with Kurt's warm hand in his and his mere presence than the advice of his crazy best friends.

"As I'll ever be," Blaine said quietly.

The curtain rose to reveal two crescent moons back to back on a dimly lit stage. The moons themselves were covered in tiny little light bulbs so they seemed to sparkle in the dark theatre. A boy sat in the right moon with a guitar and a girl with a tambourine sat in the left moon. The theatre fell silent and the boy began to pick out the backing to a song that Burt didn't know, but thought sounded quite nice. The girl eventually began to beat the tambourine in time and then they started to sing. Burt asked Carole what song it was in a whisper and she rolled her eyes and pointed to his program. Oh yeah, he thought and opened it up. Talking to the Moon- Bruno Mars, he read.

The song was good and the soloists were excellent but Burt spent the whole time looking out for Kurt, as he had done at every performance of Kurt's he had ever seen. Kurt was swaying on the left had side next to a blonde girl who was almost as tall as him. Blaine was on the other side of the girl and he kept shooting quick glances at Kurt throughout the performance and every now and again he patted his the pocket on the right hand side of his jacket, clearly making sure that he hadn't lost whatever he had in there.

It was the next song Burt was really looking forward to. It was another that he didn't know- Thank You For Last Night- Amy Kuney- but his son had a solo. The lights went down and Burt leaned forward eagerly in his seat as eight girls and seven boys exited the stage in the darkness to leave his boy up there alone. A spotlight shone on Kurt as he lifted his head and began to sing.

"A taste, can last me miles
I know you waste your eager smiles
On perfect strangers on the street
It doesn't bother me; it doesn't bother me..."

Kurt turned his head for the briefest moment to the wings of the stage and Burt rolled his eyes. Of course Blaine would be standing there, he should have known. Kurt's smile grew as he continued the song.

"Because I know they'll never see
The things you show only to me
And I and only I reserve the right
To say things like thank you for last night
Ohh oh yeah…"

On the first line of the second verse Kurt had started walking towards where he had just looked and did a few little twirls on the way over, graceful as always. Burt smiled as his son caught his eye and grinned at him. Kurt suddenly pulled Blaine onto the stage and held his hand to twirl the shorter boy around, beaming. Then Blaine started to sing.

"We woke up with the morning news
Some girls would kill to wear my shoes,"

The audience laughed as Blaine gave Kurt a confused look and then clocked them too, pulling them into the performance like a true entertainer. He slung an arm around Kurt and lifted his left leg up as high as it would go and the pair of them comically shuffled across the stage as Blaine sang,

"And they can try to fit my size
But these shoes are mine..."

Kurt joined in as they stopped shuffling and Blaine finally lowered his leg. Burt noticed him pat his pocket again and frowned. Why did he keep doing that? He quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts when Kurt joined in and harmonised beautifully with Blaine for the last line of the verse.

"...and only I
Can thank you for last night..."

Both boys turned inwards to face each other after walking in time to the front of the stage and sang to "Ohh oh yeah" to each other. They then turned to face the audience again. Blaine danced to front and centre of the stage as he sang,

"Oh...and my words always fall short
This is too big to use them for
When I say "thank you"
I mean so much more..."

This verse was classic Blaine performance, Burt noted. Lots of hand movements and... odd facial expressions- that was until he got to the end of the verse and his facial expression softened as he turned to Kurt and mouthed, "I love you", while Kurt softly sang,

"Thank you for last night,
Ohh oh yeah..."

The two of them harmonised again for the last verse and Burt found himself frowning at the dreamy expressions on both boys' faces as they sang the lyrics.

"We made slow motion love
We had to race to catch back up
And there's no way to say this right
But I just in all politeness want to
Thank you, thank you, thank you
Thank you for last night..."

They "oh-ed" and "whoa-ed" until the end of the song when the lights went down again and the figures of the rest of the group could be seen running onto stage and into their positions as the audience gave Kurt and Blaine a standing ovation and whooped loudly, Burt and Carole included. The lights went up and Burt noticed that in the time the rest of the group had changed their costumes. Every girl, with the exception of one who was dressed in pyjamas and holding two pillows, was dressed as a man in baggy jeans and oversized plaid shirts with sheepskin lined overcoats and their hair tucked into baseball caps. The remaining boys of the Cuckoos had changed into various outfits which all looked strangely familiar.

One of the boys was wearing a blue dress and transparent plastic shoes with tiny kitten heels and another was in a pink dress with puffed sleeves and pink pumps. Another boy was simply dressed in a stylish pinstriped suit; another in flowery swimming shorts; one boy was wearing dungarees and had a small red bicycle with him. All the boys and the girl in the pyjamas were paired up with one of the identically dressed girls. The music started once the audience had quietened and taken their seats again.

Burt's eyes finally found Kurt who's own eyes were darting about frantically and finally landed on Blaine, who he shot a panicked look. Blaine simply took him down the steps at the side of the stage so Kurt was amongst the audience. He led him over to a chair that someone had carefully placed in the aisle, which had a spotlight focused on. Blaine said something to Kurt quietly which Burt couldn't quite here. Burt looked at Carole who was looking at her program, which was open in her lap. The program read that the next song was 'Drive My Car- The Beatles', but the introduction that the band had just started playing was definitely not to that song. Burt immediately identified the song as a country song. Blaine's voice was not one for country but when he began singing, his smooth voice contrasted nicely with the backing music. It only took Burt a few seconds to realise what was going on.

"I came to see his daddy for sit down man to man
It wasn't any secret I'd be asking for his hand
I guess that's why he left me waiting in the living room by myself
with at least a dozen pictures of him sitting on a shelf..."

The rest of the Cuckoos started to harmonise in the background halfway through the verse before they started dancing as they harmonised during the chorus. Burt quickly looked at Carole who was clasping his hand tightly in one of hers and had the other pressed closely to her mouth. Her eyes were swimming with unshed tears and Burt decided that she had probably guessed what was going to happen too.

Blaine sang, "He was playing Cinderella," and two pairs began to mirror each other in a dance sequence, the boy in the blue dress and his partner on one side of the stage and the boy in the pink dress on the other side with his partner and Burt was brought back to the times when Kurt was just a small boy. A time of princess tea parties and dressing up.

"He was riding his first bike..." The boy in the dungarees with the bike started to ride around the stage, his partner chasing after him looking worried and proud at the same time. Burt remembered the first time Kurt had managed to ride his bike without training wheels or Burt holding on to the bicycle beside him.

"Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight..." The girl in pyjamas somersaulted forward with the pillows still clasped in her hand as her partner clapped her hands and grabbed a pillow from her. Blaine was examining each scene as they came to life, as if he were really looking at photos. Burt could just see Kurt from where he was sitting. His son wasn't stupid; he knew what was going on. Both hands were clasped to his mouth and tears were running freely down his cheeks.

"Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin..." The boy in the swimming shorts started running about happily as his partner mimed laughter and pretended to photograph him. Burt felt a lump in his throat as he remembered that day. It was one of Kurt's mother's last days. Carole's hand gripped his a little tighter.

"Dancing with his dad, looking up at him..." The boy in the suit took his partner's hands and began to dance elegantly with her. Burt noticed that they had purposely paired the tallest girl and shortest boy together there, seeing as Burt was taller than Kurt. That photo had been taken on Kurt's fourteenth birthday. Burt tried to swallow the growing lump in his throat.

"In his eyes I'm Prince Charming
But to him I'm just some fella
Riding in and stealing Cinderella," Blaine began walking down the steps at the side of the stage and approaching Kurt as he sang. His eyes found Burt's and Burt nodded at him and a grateful smile graced Blaine's lips.

"I leaned in towards those pictures to get a better look at one
When I heard a voice behind me say", the music stopped and Blaine spoke Burt's words calmly to the audience, "Now, ain't he something, son?"

The music started up again. Blaine's eyes locked with Kurt's as he reached his seat. He took Kurt's hands from his face and held them in his own.

"I said, "Yes, he's quite the young man."
And he just stared at me
Then I realized that in his eyes he would always be,

Playing Cinderella
Riding his first bike
Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight
Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin
Dancing with his dad, looking up at him
In his eyes I'm Prince Charming
But to him I'm just some fella
Riding in and stealing Cinderella." The dancers had continued on the stage and Burt felt a treacherous tear fall from his eye and trickle down his cheek.

"He slapped me on the shoulder
Then he called him in the room
When he threw her arms around him
That's when I could see it too..."

The music stopped and Blaine sang the last few lines with just the rest of the Cuckoos harmonising soft hums in the background for an accompaniment.

"Playing Cinderella
Riding his first bike
Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight
Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin
Dancing with his dad, looking up to him..."

It didn't escape Burt's notice that Blaine had changed the "looking up at him" to "looking up to him" and he couldn't stop the rest of the tears that started to fall once he saw the look on his son's face.

Blaine lowered himself slowly onto one knee and spoke the last few words as he pulled a small black box from his pocket on the right hand side of his jacket.

"If he gives me a hard time, I can't blame the fella- I'm the one who's stealing Cinderella," and then almost inaudibly to the rest of the audience he added a soft, "please", and opened the box before Kurt. Burt saw Kurt look around the audience who were all craning their necks, some even standing up or on chairs in order to see what was going on. They were deadly silent, waiting for the answer.

Kurt's blue-green eyes were glassy and tears stained his rosy cheeks as he turned and looked straight at Burt. Burt couldn't help but see a little boy, dressed in a suit three sizes too big for him with those same innocent, trusting eyes that were looking at him questioningly, adoringly now. Burt wiped furiously at his eyes and beamed at his son.

"Yes," Kurt whispered. Then louder, "Yes." And then a Goddamn shriek, "Yes, yes, yes!" Blaine rose to his feet and threw his arms around Kurt. The audience erupted in to cheers and catcalls and whoops. Somewhere in Washington and Pennsylvania, David and Wes were hastily wiping at their eyes as they both said their farewells in thick, shaky voices.

Burt watched his son over Carole's shoulder as she cried happy tears into his chest. The happiness on his face, the way he was now so comfortable in his own skin, the way he moved when Blaine moved as if they were magnets or something. Burt thought back to the day that Blaine had shown up unannounced on his and Carole's doorstep and had later asked Burt's permission to ask Kurt to marry him. He smiled fondly.

He wouldn't be giving Blaine a hard time anytime soon.

A.N: So I hope you enjoyed reading this little oneshot. Please do review and tell me what you thought, this is my first ever Glee fic as well as my first Klaine. I just love these two.

Links to the songs:
Thank You For Last Night- Amy Kuney- www. youtube. com/ watch?v=hMJKLPFIVBY

Stealing Cinderella- Chuck Wicks- www. youtube. com/ watch?v=49WtYtc51a0 (take out spaces for links to work)