Chapter One

The Liveliness of a Button

"An ever expanding fan base: check. A bank account loaded with a quarter of a billion dollars (and still growing): check. Houses in New York, Ohio, and Los Angeles: check, check, check. Good looks: definite check.

"Sebastian Smythe has everything a guy could ever want. Fame, fortune, looks that could make Robert Downey Jr. weep..."

Kurt Hummel rolled his eyes as Rachel Berry, Mercedes Jones, Tina Cohen-Chang, Sugar Motta, and Quinn Fabray watched the usual E! Segment on the ever obnoxious internet-sensation-turned-pop-star Sebastian Smythe. They were incredibly fascinated by the boy, but Kurt found him as insipid as a box of flavorless low-cholesterol Cheerios. What was so special about yet another talentless YouTube star forcing their way into Hollywood for their brief fifteen minutes?

"'I love my fans,' Sebastian said at the premiere of So Cal on Thursday. 'I don't know what I'd honestly still be doing without their support. That's why I'm doing this tour; to thank my supporters for everything they've done for me just by voting for me and watching my videos. I will be forever grateful for them.'

"Sebastian Smythe's second concert tour, entitled 'Ensnared', kicks off in Los Angeles on May 26th. Tickets go on sale for all tour dates on April 15th at 5 P.M. local time."

Rachel tore her gaze away from the TV screen quickly enough to narrow her eyes at Kurt. He'd been making indifferent noises throughout the entire segment, as if he didn't care that someone who keeps in close contact with Kristin Chenoweth was on the TV.

Kurt was spreading almond butter on some slices of red apple when he looked up. Realizing that he'd caught the attention of most of the girls now that the segment was over, he finished his snack warily and walked over to sit beside Sugar.

"I'm going to call my daddy," Sugar announced to Mercedes. "I want tickets, I want front row, and I want him."

"The tickets go on sale tomorrow," Quinn gushed to Tina. "Hopefully I can get us some good seats. I want to be able to see his face without having to use the zoom button on my camera."

"Yeah, it'll be fun to have some girl time," Tina shared, nudging the former cheerleader with her elbow. They'd grown so comfortable with each other now that Tina couldn't even remember the times when Quinn had blatantly ignored her at school.

"What about you, Kurt?" Rachel asked over the conversations. She propped her feet up onto the coffee table and inquired, "Are you going to get tickets?"

Kurt shrugged, biting into an apple slice. "Why do you girls even like him? He's really not that different from any other male singer on YouTube."

"He's dreamy," said Sugar, a smile playing on her MAC-reddened lips. "Sex on a stick."

"Does he even like girls?" inquired Mercedes. "They didn't say."

"He's straight," Rachel insisted. "He better be, I mean. I already gave up hope on that Blaine Anderson guy when he decided to come out."

"He came out on national television, too," Quinn said, straightening her back slightly. "He's so brave."

At the mere mention of Blaine Anderson, Kurt nearly dropped the apple.

Blaine Anderson was not a YouTube sensation. He did not make videos that started and ended with winks. He did not comment back to his fans with sexual implications that could prompt a sexual harassment charge if said in person. He was not every girl's definition of "dreamboat", but he certainly was Kurt's.

Blaine was Cooper Anderson's younger brother. They'd started off as minor characters in an episode of Doctor Who during Christopher Eccleston's revival series. Blaine's character was greatly liked by the viewers, so he was invited back to help David Tennant in an episode in his series. From then on, he began some small acting stints until he landed a big role in the blockbuster Pandemonium. He'd won a few MTV Movie Awards (which, Kurt knew, didn't mean that much) and had succeeded when he was nominated for several categories at the Teen Choice Awards.

Then he revealed on Ellen his love of singing. Right on the talk show, in front of the woman herself, he performed a stunning rendition of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream". After an album and countless tracks hitting number one, Blaine Anderson had reached just as much substantial stardom as Sebastian's. However, his had been earned through hard work and determination, whereas Smythe's was made up of superficial winks and somewhat terrible covers of Maroon 5.

From the day he'd sung on Ellen, Blaine was Kurt's crush. Finn, being his stepbrother, was no longer an object of his desires.

What was it that was so entrancing about Blaine Anderson? Was it his charmingly styled hair? His isosceles eyebrows? His ability to look scruffy and thirty one day, but become outwardly seventeen (his real age) and charming the next? His singing voice, which never wavered or cracked?

"Kurt."

Kurt licked the almond butter off of the apple slice. "What?" he asked, sounding a bit irritated.

Rachel pointed to the TV screen, an expression of awe on her long face.

It was the commercial he'd seen since April began: the Ensnared tour commercial, promoting the hell out of Sebastian freakin' Smythe. There were so many shots of his face, and not enough music playing. If Kurt hadn't known that Ensnared was a concert tour, he would have guessed that it was some modelling agency.

But at the end of the commercial, a clip of Blaine Anderson was shown. The white text at the bottom stated: BLAINE ANDERSON WILL OPEN ON THE FOLLOWING TOUR DATES.

Kurt pulled out his iPhone and prepared a note in record timing. When it listed the tour dates, Kurt snapped a photo and typed out what he could before the commercial ended. He was completely frantic.

Blaine Anderson was going to open for Sebastian Smythe. If Blaine was going to the Ohio concert, Kurt would buy front row tickets just to see him. He would leave right before Smythe takes over center stage.

"I have a feeling Kurt's going with us," Quinn informed Tina.

Ten minutes.

Kurt tapped his credit card impatiently on the counter. He'd been waiting to buy a ticket to the show since three P.M. He was starting to get a bit frantic.

Nine minutes.

Soon, he'd be ordering for a decent seat to see the Blaine Anderson in concert. Unfortunately, not his own, but that was a start. Sooner or later, Blaine would be headlining an entire tour with a good name (Ensnared? What are they, rabbits?) and Sebastian would be the opening act - at a greasy spoon.

Eight minutes.

Burt attempted to use the computer to check his email, as Carole had taken over his to show Finn the proper use of a blender. Kurt had glared at him, which instantly made him back off.

Seven minutes.

The anticipation was eating him up inside. He tried to blast Blaine's first number one single, "Tumult", but he turned it off right away. He would listen to it after he bought a ticket.

Six minutes.

He felt as though the entire world was trying to prevent him from the concert. Finn had barged into the room and was trying to get Kurt off so he could play yet another mindless war game, and he wasn't taking any of Kurt's practiced glares as an answer.

"Come on," pleaded Finn. "You can get your ticket later. No one wants to go, anyway."

Finn, as usual, was wrong. He knew for a fact that Brittany and Santana were going to go as a date, and that prompted all of the Cheerios to beg their boyfriends for tickets. That meant that at least thirty people he knew (not counting the girls at his sleepover) were going. The venue wasn't that large to begin with, too.

Four minutes.

Finn had stomped off to Rachel's for the remainder of the day. Kurt knew that she'd be waiting around the computer for tickets too, but he daren't mention it to Finn. He didn't need his stepbrother hovering around. Besides, by the time he reached Rachel's, the tickets would already be on sale.

Kurt took a very shaky sip of lemonade and waited. He felt his left eye twitching, but he didn't care. All he cared about was the ticket that he desperately craved to possess.

Three minutes.

His Twitter timeline burst with impatient Tweets from Cheerios. Brittany was so sure that Santana and her were going to get the first and second tickets for the show, therefore earning a meet and greet.

It was a tradition for Sebastian Smythe concerts that the first ten tickets sold would include a meet and greet with the meerkat himself. It was a genius strategy to reap in ticket sales, if anything.

Two minutes.

Kurt was definitely going insane. He refreshed the page fifteen times, hoping that the BUY NOW button would be highlighted. He drained his tall glass of lemonade in three gulps and stared expectantly at the screen.

His timeline was abuzz with life. The estranged boyfriends of the cheerleaders were all complaining that they had to wait in front of a computer because their girlfriends want tickets.

Sugar, however, was the only one who Tweeted that she loved waiting for tickets. She wasn't being sarcastic either. Kurt decided that her father probably told her to wait for the tickets just like the rest of them.

One...minute...

Kurt refreshed the page again. And again. The BUY NOW button was still grey and lifeless.

He clinked the ice in his glass with a shake of his hand. He looked into the reflection on his computer screen and fixed his hair. He dared to bite one nail for a brief second. Anything he could do to kill time was being done.

Ten push-ups. With his arms throbbing, he changed positions and did ten sit-ups. Then ten jumping jacks.

After he felt like he could do no more and the minute was nearly up, Kurt leaned over and refreshed the page.

The BUY NOW button was now lit up and more alive than ever.

A/N: For those of you still waiting on the next chapter of Dalton Fight Club, stay tuned!