Blaine paced restlessly around the living room of his apartment racking his brain for song ideas. There were so many options he could choose from and he had no idea what to do. Should he do something classical or something more contemporary? A ballad or an anthem? He had no idea what he was going to do. It was about noon now and he only had eight short hours to decide on a song and practice it for the amateur musician competition tonight. He kicked aside the wadded up papers scrawled with lists of song ideas that were scattered on the floor before he flopped back down in the chair and rested his head in his hands, deep in thought. He jumped when the shrill ring of his cell phone disrupted the silence of his apartment. He snatched it off the table and glanced at the name.

"Hey Nate," he sighed into the phone.

"Hi Blaine!" Nate chirped on the other line.

"What's up?"

"I just wanted to check and make sure we were still on for that double date with Elise and John tonight."

Damn it. "Look Nate, I'm going to have to cancel our plans tonight," Blaine mumbled into the phone, feeling terrible.

"Going to another fashion show with Kurt?" Nate asked, the background noise on the other line unable to hide the twinge of bitterness in his voice.

"No it has nothing to do with Kurt," Blaine barked into the phone. "Last night at the fashion show, I met this woman who is putting on a show for amateur musicians at her bar and she offered me a slot in the show. First prize is one thousand dollars."

"Really? That sounds great! What time does it start?"

"Eight tonight. Do you want to come?"

"I wouldn't miss it," Nate said and Blaine could hear the smile in his voice. "Do you know what you want to sing?"

Blaine heaved a frustrated sigh, "I have no clue, I've been grasping for an idea all day and I've got nothing," he groaned. He ran his hand through his curls and dragged his fingers down his face.

"Do you want to come over and brain storm? You can use my piano if you want," Nate offered.

"I'll be over in a few."

"I love you."

"I'll see you soon," and Blaine hung up the phone.

He rushed over to Nate's with his lists of songs and immediately set himself to work. They discussed songs and lyrics for hours, trying to pick the perfect one. When they finally decided on an appropriate one, they sat down at the piano and began to put lyrics to the melody. Nate would play while Blaine got the lyrics down and when he had the lyrical part of the song perfected, Nate helped him with the keys on the piano. Slowly but surely, the melody became smooth and once the piano was mastered, Blaine added his voice to the song. At first he was a little rusty, having not played the piano and sang at the same time for years, but eventually he was back to his old self. His hands effortlessly glided along the ebony and ivory keys of the piano. He liked the slick feeling of the keys under his fingertips. He hadn't played like this in years and it just felt like this is what he had been missing.

"I didn't know you could play this well," Nate said coming over to the piano with two sandwiches. "When you said you used to play, I always assumed it was just classical stuff. You have quite the talent."

"Thanks, it feels good to play again," Blaine replied taking a bite of the sandwich. "What time is it?"

Nate rolled up his sleeve and glanced at his watch, "seven thirty."

Blaine nearly choked on his food, "already?"

"Relax and eat, you have plenty of time. You're going to kill it tonight," Nate gushed. Blaine smiled and Nate pressed a light kiss across his lips.

"Thank you for all your help. Sorry I had to cancel your plans again."

Nate wrapped an arm around Blaine's shoulders, "I understand. We will just make tonight our date night." Blaine smiled and leaned up to kiss Nate. Their lips pressed together and Blaine felt his stomach flutter half-heartedly, the butterflies only barely stirring.

"I have to get ready," Blaine murmured leaning away.

"No you don't," Nate said pressing his lips to Blaine's again.

"Yes I do, it'll only take a few minutes and we can leave," Blaine stood up from the piano and hurried into the bathroom. He splashed water across his face and dried it off, the nerves hadn't really hit him yet but they were definitely going to once he got to the event. He patted his curls down, wishing he had Kurt there to do his hair again. He wondered if Kurt would be at the show. He hadn't said he was coming so Blaine assumed Kurt must be out with Glen tonight. Glen. He was not looking forward to meeting him, especially since Kurt technically cheated with the guy when he and Blaine were still together. Blaine pushed the thought from his mind, knowing he will have to meet this Glen character eventually, at Kurt's wedding or maybe even before. Blaine smoothed down the front of his black vest. He tried to dress a little less boring, hoping to add to his act. He wore dark jeans and simple black shoes with a white button up shirt and an electric blue tie under the black vest. He looked himself over in the mirror once more before leaving.

"How do I look?" he asked Nate.

Nate walked over and looked Blaine over. He reached up and loosened his tie up quite a bit and unbuttoned the top button of his white shirt. "Much better," Nate commented. "You looked like you were going to church. Are you all set to go?"

Blaine nodded and the pair of them left the apartment. They got into a cab and Blaine read the address of the bar from the napkin that Meredith gave him the night before. It was a surprisingly lengthy drive to where the bar was. It was still in the city, but not near any of the other bars Blaine had performed at. Once the cab rolled to a stop at the curb, he and Nate paid the fare and went inside. Blaine was struck with how upscale it was. It had nice red carpeted floors and a large stage across from the bar area. He made his way through the entrance and was met by a smiling Meredith.

"Oh good, you're here!" she cried shaking Blaine's hand. "This is my wife, Natasha," she said gesturing to the tall woman next to her.

"Nice to meet you," Blaine said politely shaking Natasha's hand, "this is my boyfriend, Nate." Nate shook Meredith's and Natasha's hands. "Is everyone here?"

"Yes, the first act is just about to go on. Two of the acts dropped out at the last minute so you are the last of eight tonight," Meredith explained. "You and Nate can have a seat at one of the tables and watch the show until you go on. Since you're performing, drinks are on the house tonight for you gentlemen."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome, good luck. I'll see you later." They parted ways and Nate and Blaine headed for one of the tables in the room with the stage. A woman had just come on stage and was speaking timidly into the microphone, nervously introducing herself. They seated themselves at one of the tables just as she began singing the first note.

Blaine and Nate watched all the acts. Every one of them was superb, much better than Blaine had anticipated. He was surprised at how talented they all were, especially one young man who had a fantastic voice as well as a talent for the harmonica. Blaine grew increasingly more nervous as the night wore on and he began shaking as the last act before him took the stage.

"You're going to be perfect," Nate whispered placing a hand on Blaine's trembling knee. Blaine smiled nervously in return, his lips trembling with the effort.

As soon as the act on stage had finished, Meredith came up on stage and announced Blaine. He shot out of his chair and made his way up to the stage. He sat himself down at the keyboard and adjusted the microphone nervously. "Hello, I'm Blaine Anderson and I will be performing a rendition of The Beatles' 'Hey Jude'."

Blaine took a deep breath and let his fingers begin the opening of the song just as he had practiced that afternoon. His heart was hammering in his chest but as he began singing, his nerves tapered off and he lost himself in the music. He put every ounce of himself in the song, singing from his soul as his fingers told the part of the story that the lyrics didn't. He missed performing like this and the rush of being on stage in front of an audience as he poured his soul out in song.

He ended the song with a flourish on the keys and stood up, bowing graciously as the crowd cheered and clapped at his performance. Blaine smiled and went back to his seat. Nate kissed his cheek and trilled about how fantastic his performance was. Blaine's heart was still pounding like a drum in his chest and his cheeks were still flushed with excitement. Meredith came up on stage and took the microphone from the stand.

"What a great group of musicians! Let's give them all a hand!" she exclaimed and the audience clapped. "Alright, we've got it down to the top three, will the following performers please come up on stage! Molly Smith!"

Blaine crossed his fingers.

"Jared Niles!"

Nate gripped his shoulder tighter.

"And Blaine Anderson!"

Blaine let out a huge sigh and grinned from ear to ear. Nate kissed his cheek as he got up and made his way to the stage as the audience clapped for him. "Let's give it up for the top three performers!" Meredith bellowed and the audience cheered and clapped ferociously. "This is how it's gonna work from here, I'm going to stand next to a performer and you are going to cheer for your favorite. The performer with the loudest applause wins the competition and a check for one thousand dollars!" the audience clapped and hooted.

Meredith went and stood next to the other man on the stage, "Jared Niles?" she asked. The audience went wild, clapping and cheering with a few whistles coming from the crowd. When the noise ebbed she went over to the woman, "Molly Smith?" The audience clapped and there were a few cheers, but not as many as there were for Jared. Blaine grew nervous as Meredith made her way over to him. "Blaine Anderson?" The crowd clapped and cheered, just about loudly as they had for Jared. "Looks like it has come down to Blaine and Jared!" Meredith exclaimed. "Thanks for performing tonight Molly," Molly smiled courteously and left the stage.

Meredith positioned herself right in between Jared and Blaine. "It all comes down to these two amazing performers. Let's hear it one more time for both of these talented gentlemen!" The audience clapped and whooped. "Alright same drill as before, clap for your favorite. Blaine Anderson?" The crowd cheered louder than they had the first time. Blaine could feel the color in his cheeks and he smiled as wide as he could. Maybe he did have a shot at this. The crowd quieted, "Jared Niles?" The room erupted in cheers, much louder than what Blaine had received. Blaine felt his heart sink with disappointment. "Looks like we have our winner!" Meredith shouted, raising Jared's arm over his head like he had just won a wrestling match. The crowd cheered delightedly and Jared waved to his fans.

Blaine smiled and held out his hand, "great job, Jared. Congratulations."

Jared beamed at Blaine, "same to you mate," he replied in a slight accent. "Really thought you had it there for a minute."

Blaine smiled and shook his hand once more before hurrying off the stage. He found Nate in the throng of people that were storming the stage and enveloped himself in Nate's outstretched arms. Nate pressed a kiss into his curly hair, "you should have won."

"No, Jared deserved to win," Blaine sighed pulling away, "he was amazing."

"It's pretty late, want to head out?" Nate asked. Blaine nodded. "I'll go get a cab," he said kissing Blaine's cheek before fighting through the crowd towards the door. Blaine slowly made his way through the mass of people, following after Nate and trying not to look too disappointed as he shook hands with people and took their compliments. He made his way into the main lobby before heaving a heavy sigh. He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to bury his feelings of loss.

"Your performance was beautiful," chimed a voice from Blaine's left. He turned his head to see Kurt emerging through the last of the crowd. "I think you should have won."

Blaine was stunned, "I didn't know you came," Blaine replied sullenly, hiding his surprise.

"I just came in the last half hour to see you perform. It was wonderful and very moving, you should be proud."

Blaine let out a forced laugh, "not feeling too proud at the moment, but thanks."

"It stings now but that's the beauty of performing, you'll have so many more opportunities to do it again."

He nodded, "you're right, no regrets. And thank you for coming tonight Kurt."

Kurt smiled and closed the distance between himself and Blaine, wrapping his arms around him in a warm hug. "Any time," he murmured in Blaine's ear.

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close, enjoying the comforting gesture from Kurt but feeling uneasy about the way his heart fluttered at the embrace. Kurt pulled back, "sorry I can't stay and chat. Glen is waiting at the apartment. I'll see you later Blaine," Kurt patted Blaine's shoulder before strolling right out the door without looking back.

Blaine watched him disappear in the crowds on the sidewalk, his stride fast and determined, seemingly impatient to get out and go home. Home to his fiancé. In that instant, as he watched Kurt run off to go back to Glen, Blaine could not help but think to himself, I'll always be second best.