"Evita."
The Apples' gathered in the small rehearsal theatre groaned. "I know, I know, it's been done before, especially at NYADA," Adam said, smiling a little, "…but not in our Apples' way. I think we can give this song some swag-" Adam said, his eyes bright with enthusiasm.
"Did he just say what I think he said?" a girl's voice interrupted.
"Not sure. Maybe it means something else in Dr Who Land?" another replied.
Adam smiled as he saw the two young women walk down the stairs to the stage and he smiled and hopped from the edge of the stage. "Tessa, Clem. Good, we're all here. I was just telling the others about this idea I had for our next performance-"
"What do you mean, 'we're all here'?" Clementine interrupted, putting down her bag and looking around. "Kurt's not here yet."
Adam's smile froze on his face. "Kurt's not coming," he said after a brief pause. He pressed his lips together to a thin line.
"Why, is he sick?" Tessa asked, taking a seat and folding her legs up under herself.
Adam allowed his shoulders to drop. "No, actually…he quit." The look on his face made it clear that the showchoir group wasn't the only thing Kurt quit. He forced a smile and walked back to the stage, picking up a stack of paper. "But you know what they say, 'the show must go on', so I got us the sheet music to that song I was talking about-" He started handing them out.
Tessa took one glance at the sheet and raised an eyebrow. "Another Suitcase in Another Hall. This is your idea of moving on? Having us sing about how bad it feels being dumped?"
Adam shrugged. "It's not all sad. The end is kind of uplifting…"
Tessa rolled her eyes and looked at Clementine. The other girl gave her a determined nod. "Okay, everyone out. Class dismissed. Go!" Tessa announced. She turned to Adam. "Not you. Sit."
A little dumbfounded, Adam sat down on the edge of the stage and watched as the other Apples gathered their things under the watchful eye of the two fierce-looking women and scampered out. As soon as they left, Tessa and Clementine turned to face him.
"Okay, spill. What happened?" demanded Tessa, her eyes stormy with worry under her spiked pixie hair.
"Are you okay?" Clementine added, jumping up to sit next to Adam. As she was much shorter than him, her high tops dangled down to Adam's calves.
Adam looked at them both with a lopsided smile. "To be honest, I don't even know," he said. "Two weeks ago Kurt told me that with his dad and NYADA and his two jobs, things were getting too complicated and he needed some space. So I told him to take all the time he needed to figure things out."
Tessa and Clementine shared a look but said nothing, sensing that the story wasn't over yet. Adam sighed deeply and looked down on the sheets in his hands.
"Apparently it didn't take that long to figure out… since he got engaged to his ex-boyfriend a few days ago."
"Engaged? As in marriage? Isn't he just a freshman?" Clementine asked. Adam nodded.
"His ex-boyfriend?" Tessa repeated. "That doesn't even make sense."
Adam shrugged and looked back up at his friends. "I suppose I should have seen it coming. I mean, Kurt was constantly flying back home and they did sort of hook up at Valentines' day…he obviously wasn't over him. But a few months ago he told me he wanted to give us a try."
"Yeah, he seemed so at ease with you," Clementine commented. "You were really cute together. And I thought he liked us, too. I mean, he could have stayed in the Apples, right? Max and Jenny broke up and they're both still in the group…"
"Actually," Adam started, not meeting their eyes, "I may have kind of…kicked him out?"
"Oh, Adam," Clementine let out, putting a hand on his knee. Adam pulled up his shoulders and let them drop again.
"I didn't really want to," he explained, "but Kurt was telling me how he might have to stay away from rehearsal for a bit because Blaine was coming over and he wouldn't approve of us staying friends-"
Tessa breathed in sharply but didn't comment, and Adam continued. "And I told him that if he couldn't pluck up the courage to defend his choice of friends to his fiancé, he was not the man I thought he was when I invited him to join the Apples." He paused. "Kurt said I was probably right about that, and that it was best if he quit."
Clementine cringed. Adam gave her a sad look. "I'm not proud of it, but I think it's probably for the best. Out of sight, out of heart and all that."
Tessa raised an eyebrow. "Who are you trying to convince, us or yourself?" she asked. "Having your group sing a break-up song isn't exactly 'out of heart', honey."
Adam crumpled the sheet music in his hands and put it away on the stage behind him. "What's the alternative?" he asked. "I have to move on. It's a pretty hopeless case." He offered his friends a thin smile. "I mean, I gave him time and love and honesty, and yet he goes back to the guy who cheated on him and broke his heart. I can't really compete with that kind of warped logic." He laughed bitterly. "Being a nice guy sucks."
"Eventually he'll see that guys like that are not long-term relationship material," Tessa offered. "The mental threshold for cheating is definitely lower once you did it before."
"So what are you saying? I should just wait for Blaine to cheat on him again, and then he'll see reason? I don't want that for him, Tess," Adam replied. "I'm angry and sad and disappointed, but all the same I don't want him to be hurt. I'd much rather he'd be happy and with Blaine than sad with me after another heartbreak."
The girls exchanged a look of understanding between them, but there wasn't much to say. "In any case, Evita's too depressing," Tessa finally said.
"Yeah, we should find something else," Clementine agreed.
"I think I know just the song," Tessa said. "Do you own a pair of sunglasses, Adam?"
Kurt could already hear the music as he came down the stairs leading to the small basement theatre, and it felt like coming home. If his home would still have him, that was…He was coming to apologise to Adam and ask if he might still be part of the Apples. After a few days of stewing in indignation and hurt pride, he had come to the conclusion that Adam was right. They should be able to remain friends- Blaine was just going to have to accept that. Kurt knew he had hurt Adam a lot, but he was kind of counting on his friend's charitable nature. And he could really use a friend in New York- someone who wasn't connected to Lima. As he opened the door to the theatre, the voices of the Apples became clear.
I'm putting on my shades to cover up my eyes,
I'm jumpin in my ride, I'm heading out tonight,
I'm solo, I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, solo
I'm feeling like a star, you can't stop my shine, I'm loving cloud nine, my head's in the sky.
I'm solo, I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooo.
Now I'm feeling how I should, never knew single could feel this good, oh- back in the game, who knew I would, oh,
There he was; Adam, in his trademark beanie and vest, donning a pair of sunglasses in a slick dance routine with the Apples around him, as he sang about the joys of being single. Kurt took a few steps back, letting the door slip from his hands. Clearly Adam was over him. Kurt wasn't sure what he had expected, but it wasn't this. Suddenly, he wasn't sure if he could go through with it. He turned around and headed back up the stairs, feeling empty and redundant.