Hey guys… so this is Never Say Never (the title is based off the song by The Fray, so go listen to it ), and it's the sequel to my story Everything You Feel. You don't have to read it first, but you might want to…
Pairings are Kurt/Finn, Kurt/Quinn, and Kurt/OC, Rachel/Puck, Will/Emma and a couple other minor ones.
And yes, I know that two year olds cannot actually talk as adeptly as Caroline can; I live with one… but I thought it was kind of important to the story that she be able to communicate, alas, I had to get my math right as well, so there you go…
Hope you enjoy, sorry for all spelling or grammar mistakes, aaaaannnnndddd PLEASE review!
Kurt's POV
The first week of February marked our 'Halfway Through Senior Year Celebration'. In some ways, it was nice to think that in only half a school year we would be free, headed off to college or university, living on our own. In other ways though, it was sad. We'd be leaving behind so many of our friends, and so much of our lives here. So, instead of focusing on that aspect of it, we all decided to make the best of the time we had left.
We'd had Carrie's 2nd Birthday party two months ago. Now she sat cross-legged in the white bucket chair in my room, running a hair brush through Mercedes's long hair. Mercedes had decided to grow it out last year, and now that it was halfway down her back, she couldn't bear to cut it off. It was a good look on her.
"Excuse me, Miss Carrie, but if you don't mind, I need to borrow your Auntie Mercedes for a few minutes, okay?" I smiled at her, and she withdrew the hairbrush, jumping up off of the chair in the graceful manner that she possessed.
"Me too?" she asked me, coming over to cling to my leg, looking up at me with her big brown eyes.
I couldn't seem to suppress the joyful laugh that swelled up in my chest. "Okay, you can help too."
Brit, Santana, Tina, Rachel, and Quinn were gathered on my bed. Quinn was speed-reading through her novel for the novel study in our English class, although she knew that I would be more than willing to give her all of the answers that would be on the test if she didn't get it finished. She devoted nearly every minute of her life outside of school to Caroline, and hardly had time for homework. I admired her work ethic though, I really did.
Mercedes got up and opened my closet. I picked Carrie up and she wrapped her long, nimble toddler legs around my waist.
"Who wants to go first?" I asked everyone, and Rachel raised her hand.
We'd been planning it since the tenth grade, when we'd all first become friends: midway through our senior year I would help everyone find their dream graduation dress. Before the holidays, Mercedes and I had ravaged every store in the township of Lima for all of the best picks before any other fashion-hungry teenage girls had a chance to nab them. We'd bought enough dresses to clothe all of the guests at Cinderella's ball, for which I'd sacrificed my clothing budget for months. It would be totally worth it though. It was something of a legendary ritual.
"Okay, Rachel…" I put Carrie down again and whispered in her tiny ear, "You go get Auntie Rachel for me, alright?"
Carrie ambled over, taking Rachel's hand and shamelessly dragging her over to the closet. Mercedes and I ushered them inside my walk in closet/second bedroom and pulled shut the changeroom-esque curtain that hung over the doorway.
"Aright then…" I plucked two selections off of my 'Graduation' rack and held them up for comparison. I then thrust one towards her.
"Try the black one," I said.
"I second that," Mercedes put a hand on her chin and nodded.
"Me too!" Carrie clapped and sat herself down on a low stool in the corner.
"It's a full house!" I joked. "Must be a hit."
Rachel playfully rolled her eyes and started stripping her pajamas off. In a matter of minutes, she was dressed in a knee-length, strapless black dress with a flare skirt that was fun-looking, but also undeniably mature.
I cocked my head to the side, and Carrie followed suit. Something was off… "Let your hair down," I suggested. Rachel tugged her ponytail out and let her shoulder length brown hair fall down in waves.
Mercedes scrunched up her nose, and Carrie copied her. Fixing the problem, Mercedes lifted the top layer of Rachel's hair and tied it up again in a black ribbon that she'd grabbed from one of the counters.
Seriously, if you ever need anything that may even remotely be considered a fashion accessory, just visit my closet and take what you need.
"Yay!" Carrie squealed. "Auntie Rachel pretty!"
"You're right," I smiled. "She does look pretty." I turned to Mercedes. "That was easier than I thought it would be."
Mercedes rifled through a drawer and withdrew a pair of black bracelets and a sterling silver necklace. She paired the ensemble with a pair of strappy black two inch heels and handed it all to Rachel.
"Seriously, Kurt," Rachel rolled her eyes, "I will never understand why you have all of this stuff that you'll never wear."
I shrugged defensively. "I bet you're glad I have it now though, aren't you?"
"I can have shoes?" Carrie asked from the corner, so Mercedes reached down and handed her a pair of red pumps to play with.
Once Rachel was finished, we sent her out for approval. I waited in the doorway for reactions, and Quinn finally put her book down to look at our first masterpiece.
"That's so awesome you guys," Brittany said.
"Yeah," Tina pouted. "Can't you work your magic on me next? I need something to impress Artie with."
"Step right in to our Parlor of Artie Impressingness then," I motioned behind me and Tina took Rachel's place. She pulled her nightgown off in one fluid movement, not self-conscious of the fact that Mercedes and I were there at all.
"So, we haven't gotten a chance to talk in a while, Kurt," she said as I began pulling dresses off of my hangers. "How's Finn?"
"Oh, he's fine." I held up two dresses to Mercedes for her opinion. She pointed at one and nodded.
"Fine?" Rachel called in from outside, "That's all you're going to give us?"
"Finny's fine, fine is Finn…" Carrie chirped from behind me, kicking her feet back and forth and sending one of the pumps flying across the closet.
I held a dress up to Tina for sizing.
"I like the orange one better," she said quietly.
I clucked my tongue and shook my head. "Oh no, honey. I don't even know why we have the orange one." I glared at Mercedes. "It wasn't my purchase."
"Hey! It seemed like a good idea at the time!" Mercedes defended herself.
"But I think the orange one would…" Tina started again.
"He said no," Carrie informed her bossily.
Quinn laughed. "Be nice, baby," she yelled in.
"Welcome to Kurt, Mercedes, and Caroline's Dress Salon!" joked Santana in a mock-announcer voice. "They're always right! Try to contradict them, and get your head bitten off! Lowest prices in town!"
"Hey, would you like to give this a go? It's a lot harder than it looks!" I said, secretly high-fiving Carrie from behind.
"No," Santana laughed, "but I call next turn!"
Rachel cleared her throat. "Now, back to the issue at hand… how are you and Finn?"
I sighed and handed Tina a navy blue ankle length gown that had a beautiful one shoulder wrap. "We're doing good. He took me out stargazing last week."
A chorus of 'awww's rang out from behind the curtain.
"He's letting me pick out his grad tux," I told them.
"You're so lucky," Quinn gushed. "He never did anything like that for me."
I blushed, feeling guilty for reasons I couldn't understand.
I glanced down at the black 'I Fiyero' shirt that I was wearing. Finn had bought it for me after we'd seen Wicked in our sophomore year, reasoning that 'Fiyero' was pretty close to 'Finn.' In fact, I wore it so often that the 'Fiyero' had started to fade away, and now looked more like 'Fivcrc' than Finn or 'Fiyero.'
"Yeah," I blew my breath out through my lips, "he's kind of… perfect."
"Perfect, perfect, perfect Finn…" Carrie sang obliviously.
Mercedes sent Tina out for feedback as I sat with Carrie and reflected on my relationship with Finn. At the beginning, it was wild and exotic and fun. I'd had more fun than I'd had with any one in my life. It had been like that for the better part of a year, but after that we'd started forming routines, and things were starting feeling too… normal… for my liking.
I still loved him more than anything, though.
"Three blind mice, see how they runnnnn…" Carrie harmonized, fiddling with the hem of her pajama shirt carelessly.
I couldn't help but smile.
In the next half hour, Mercedes, Carrie and I got the rest of the girls all dressed up, saving Quinn for last.
"Okay, baby doll," I helped Carrie down from her perch. "Go get your Mommy, okay?"
She looked up at me with her tired, puppy dog eyes. "Then me next?"
"Yes, then you next," Mercedes patted her on the head, and she ran off, back in seconds with Quinn in tow.
I collaborated with Mercedes. "You take Carrie, I'll do Quinn?"
"Sure."
Mercedes carried Caroline off to her own private section of my closet, filled with clothes I'd bought specially for her. I turned to Quinn. She was the only one of the girls who I had a firm idea for.
From a padded hanger I retrieved a sunshine yellow strapless ball gown, easily the most beautiful of the bunch. The middle swept in a spiral down to the floor, and the bottom would just graze the ground on someone Quinn's height. If I could wear something like this, I totally would.
Quinn pulled off a pair of loose yoga pants and an old, stained pink t-shirt, revealing a pale, perfect strip of skin that led from her shoulder all the way down to her perfectly curved hip.
For the first time, I had to force myself to look away.
And it scared me, just a little bit.
I'm gay, I'm gay, I'm gay, I'm gay.
"So, how are things with Finn really going?" she whispered, snapping me out of a haze.
I looked her in the eye and lied to her. "Fine," I said. "They're really fine, I swear. I would tell you guys if something was going on." And trust me, nothing was.
She looked right back at me. "If you ever need to talk, I'll always be there. You were always there for me."
"Thanks."
I handed her the dress, trying to downplay our conversation.
"Oh my God, Kurt! It's gorgeous! How much did that thing cost you!" Quinn clasped her hands over her mouth in disbelief.
I cracked a clandestine smile. "Doesn't matter… just try it on!"
She slipped it on over her head, and adjusted it quickly before peering into one of my full length mirrors.
"Wow," we said unanimously. I grabbed a plain black clip from the counter and twirled her hair up into a simple updo.
"We'll worry about the jewelry later," I decided. "Go show them the dress."
At that moment, Mercedes emerged from the back with Carrie in her arms, wearing a tiny little white spaghetti strap dress, embroidered with white flowers.
"Oh, you look like an angel, baby," Quinn cooed affectionately, taking Carrie into her arms. Much to my delight, their outfits complemented each other quite nicely.
The two exited the closet together, and the rest of the girls echoed a collective gasp.
People were paying me complements, but I was still thinking about Finn. Wasn't senior year supposed to be exciting? It was then that I decided I would have to bring some spice back to my love life with Finn. After all this was our last year together, and I wanted to have some fun.
I grabbed my digital camera off of my bedside table, internally vowing to make the rest of senior year the most enjoyable year ever.
"Okay, everyone squeeze in together!" the girls posed in a cluster in front of my bed, arms around each other's shoulders.
"Everyone say cheese!"
"Cheese!"
"And Pickles!" Carrie added.
I snapped off a couple of shots of my girls: Mercedes in royal, distinguished purple, Brit in bubblegum pink, Santana in a fiery red, Tina in a calming navy blue, Rachel in a sexy, sleek black, Quinn in a stunning bright yellow, Caroline in angelic white. I absentmindedly wondered how the pictures would compare to the ones that would be taken on our real graduation day, when we'd all be going our separate ways.
Only time would tell.