A/N: The title of this story comes from Green Day's Good Riddance:
It's something unpredictable but in the end it's right.
This piece will be updated weekly, probably every Sunday afternoon. I've been working on this for a while, so I'm really excited to post chapter one. I hope you enjoy it.
This story will start slowly, establishing relationships before any family drama is added.
Kurt looked around him with a satisfied smile. There might still be boxes to unpack and walls to get some kind of artwork up on, but at least the bones were there. This apartment was small, only one bedroom, but compared to his tiny New York studio? It was spacious, with lots of natural light and a kitchen that was actually big enough to cook in and a little den or breakfast nook area where he could leave a sewing machine set up.
He'd even gotten a week spent in a U-Haul and hotel rooms with his father and Finn out of the deal. They'd helped to unload all of his things yesterday. Taking them to the airport had been rather bittersweet. Kurt was always sad to see his family go, but after a week together in cramped spaces? Let's just say he didn't mind it as much as usual.
Moving all the way across the country had been a tough decision. New York had been the dream all throughout high school. Hell, it had stayed the dream throughout college and the first few years beyond. Even as dreams waffled back and forth between theater and fashion, Kurt had always pictured himself in the dirty streets of New York.
Los Angeles? Rachel had laughed at the very idea. Which would be why she was now a long plane ride away. But sometimes you just had to follow where opportunity led.
A big enough opportunity to justify moving half way across the world (or so it felt like with the summer California sun streaming through the windows) had come up. Bright and early Monday morning, Kurt would start his new job, joining the wardrobe department at Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, one of the new hit dramas of last year's television season.
A knock on the front door of the apartment brought Kurt out of his reverie. He stepped around a box to reach out and open it, and to be promptly ambushed with a hug.
"Tina! It's so good to see you!" And to know it wasn't a random stranger invading his personal space. Kurt stepped back as soon as he could without hurting a friends feelings, using ushering Tina inside as an excuse to break the hug. "Mike didn't come with you?"
"No, he's busy helping a friend out. Guy just bought a townhouse, and the place is rather a fixer. I think I've convinced them not to screw up anything major by trying big repairs themselves." Tina turned to look around the apartment with a grin. "I like it! Not that I'd doubt that you'd have excellent taste. Nice and bright. I'm sure it will be wonderful once everything's unpacked."
Kurt stepped away from the door, leading Tina around boxes towards the couch. "So this is not just a visit to catch up because it's been far too long. It's also a good excuse to stay away from the possibility of whole house destruction?"
"Exactly!" Tina laughed, sinking down onto the couch. "Individually, I would trust both of them not to do something stupid, but together? Somehow they can stop being two smart men and revert to crazy teenage-hood. They said they were going to patch and paint the walls, but in reality, they'll probably patch the walls and then get distracted setting up electronics or playing video games." There was fond amusement in Tina's voice before she changed subject, offering out a small gift bag. "Oh! I brought you a housewarming gift. Or probably more appropriately a welcome to sunny LA gift."
Kurt reached out to take the gift, curiosity overwhelming any need to talk about Mike for the moment. A genuine laugh lit up his face as he pulled out several tubes of all natural sunscreen. "Well, this is definitely something I'll need. It takes work to keep this complexion, you know."
"I'm sure. It'll be great to see you around the set. Are you excited to start?" Tina relaxed into the sofa, tucking her hands around her knees.
"Ah yes, you're the big TV star, huh?" Kurt teased, not losing his smile. He was happy for Tina finding success in a supporting role in the show. "It will be nice to know someone. It's like starting at a new school as a transfer. Well, hopefully not starting at our school. I am excited for the job though. When part of my job involves shopping for clothes for a living, how could I not be?"
"Big star, sure. Steady work is more like it. It's nice not having to wonder how I'm going to pay next month's bills. Mike's studio is doing well, and he's found some choreography work lately as well. All that is wonderful, since the friend Mike is helping was our roommate for a while. He moved out a month ago, so I have peace and quiet again, but the bills are all ours." Tina shook her head. "And you probably don't really want to hear about all that. Why don't I help you unpack?"
"How about the kitchen? I could use help getting the dishes out of boxes and into the cabinets. It's so nice to really have cabinets! I'll put on some music, and we can knock those boxes out?" Kurt stated, standing and rolling back the sleeves of his button down shirt. "Thank you for offering." He added, almost as an afterthought.
Two hours later, the kitchen was completely set. Dishes were put away, small appliances were appropriately stowed, and all the towels Kurt had used in packing the dishes were in the washing machine. One room down. Actually, they were close to two if the second even counted as a room.
The biggest selling feature of the apartment for Kurt had been this sunny little nook. It was probably really meant to have a kitchen table, but there was a dining room space between the kitchen and the living room. Kurt had sacrificed more than having both a formal and an informal eating space in New York City. In fact, a dining table was on his list of things to purchase.
That made this little space the perfect spot to set up his sewing machine and work space. Kurt folded down the sides of the cutting table and slid it up against the wall, turning to smile to Tina. "I can see myself working here. Or holed up here on too many Saturday's tailoring my clothes."
"Do I get to have you count me in on the tailoring for helping you to set it up?" Tina joked, stretching her arms up above her head. "Since I know you won't get tired of doing that at work."
"Tired of anything clothes related? Never." Kurt moved to lean back against the windowsill, pushing his hair up out of his face. "I suppose this deserves a bit of it. Maybe I should make you a punch card. I think that's plenty of unpacking for now, though. I'm ready to collapse. Takeout?"
"We could do takeout. Or, ooh. Why don't I text Mike and see if he wants to grab a bite with us? We could go somewhere casual, since none of us are really dressed for a fancy dinner. There's this place not too far from here that makes the best fish tacos." Tina suggested.
Kurt glanced down at his clothes for a moment, contemplating going any further than the door dressed in this pair of jeans before he nodded and responded with a dry tone. "Alright. I'll sacrifice high fashion for tonight only. Give me a couple minutes to pull myself together though while you call?"
"I've got him!" Mike punched buttons on the controller, quite into the video game until the sound of his phone ringing startled him out of it. "Ack! Pause the game."
He didn't even wait to make sure Blaine had hit pause before he grabbed for the phone. Mike did however wait for the moment it took his friend to mute the sound before he answered. They'd gone through this drill a few times before.
"Hi, Sweetheart!" It never hurt to start off with buttering the wife up, right?
"The house still standing? You and Blaine didn't manage to do any permanent damage to it before moving on to video games, did you?" Really, it was a good thing Blaine had muted the sound, Mike thought as he listened to Tina on the phone.
"Video games? Us?" He tried for an innocent tone before laughing, mostly at the overly contrived innocent look on Blaine's face, his friend listening in on half the conversation. They'd been roommates long enough for him to probably guess at the rest. "You know us too well. But we did get real work done first! We patched walls and then painted hallways and the bathrooms. See! Lots of work before we resorted to video games."
"I'm sure you did." Mike could just hear his wife's amusement over the phone. "You haven't ordered pizza yet have you? Because I'm all sure all that hard work gave you an appetite."
"Not yet. We wanted to get to the next level first." Mike admitted sharing a sheepish smile with his best friend. "Did you have something else in mind?"
"How about Miguel's? Have Blaine find some socks and clean up, first though. Kurt and I got a room and a half unpacked. That deserves some tacos, I think."
"Miguel's sound good, Blaine?" Mike covered the phone to ask over, waiting for a nod before he replied. "Miguel's it is. Meet you there in half an hour? Are you bringing Kurt?"
"I am. I think I've even convinced him not to change clothes. Which might be a miracle." Tina joked before she closed the call with, "Miguel's in a half hour. See you there, love."
Mike hit the button to end the call on his phone screen and sank back down into the couch, grabbing his controller. "We have half an hour until we need to be there. Time to finish the level?" He didn't pass on the mention from Tina about socks or cleaning up. Blaine was a grown adult. He'd be fine.
"If we're fast." Blaine hit the pause button, starting the game back up as he asked. "Who's Kurt?"
"A friend from high school. He was in Glee club with Tina and I." Mike paused for a moment to execute a more difficult move in the video game before he resumed the conversation. "He literally just moved here from New York. Tina was over helping him unpack, I guess."
"So we get to be his welcoming committee?" Blaine joked, crossing one bare foot under him.
"I suppose. It'll be good to see him. Tina talks to him occasionally, but I haven't actually seen him in years." Mike let out a whoop in unison with Blaine as they finished the level. "Perfect timing. We'll get it for sure if we're late because we're playing video games."
"No, I'll just get an eye roll. You're the one that wouldn't be getting any tonight. But I suppose I can help out by being on time. Let me go check my hair and grab some shoes." Blaine teased as he stood, moving off to get ready to go.
Blaine followed Mike in through the doors of the neighborhood restaurant. He glanced around, looking first for Tina then grinned over toward his friend. "We made it here before them. She'll have no room to comment."
Mike led the way toward their favorite booth in the back with a smile in return. "Good. That will make for a more harmonious home for me."
Blaine slid into the opposite side of the table, leaning his head back against the coolness of the lime green tile behind him. "Anything for you, Mike."
Mike smirked back, letting things fall into a comfortable silence as Blaine looked over the familiar menu. It lasted for the few minutes it took for Tina to arrive. Blaine smiled up to greet her and found his gaze caught on her friend. Mike hadn't mentioned the fact that he was gorgeous. Blaine tried to give him a discreet look over, or really, tried not to be caught looking. It was hard to tell standing next to Tina just how tall the man was, but he was thin with upswept brown hair and light eyes. The man was just striking, with a a strong jawline. His button down and tight jeans made Blaine feel under dressed in his own college t-shirt. Maybe he should have changed out of his painting clothes. "Tina!" Blaine offered in greeting. Or distraction.
"Mike, Blaine. You beat us here!" Tina said with a grin back over to her former roommate. "You didn't get so wrapped up in video games you forgot you were going to eat." She teased, even as she slid into the booth beside Mike, leaning over to give him a quick kiss.
"Of course not. We would never do that." Blaine joked right back before he leaned over to offer his hand to the newcomer. "You must be Kurt? I'm Blaine. And I'm just suddenly realizing how taking our usual booth is slightly awkward today."
That cracked a smile out of the other man. He took Blaine's hand to shake it firmly before he replied. "Kurt, yes. You've heard about me?"
Blaine slid back farther into the booth, leaving plenty of room for Kurt to sit down and perch on the other edge. "Just that you're a friend of Mike and Tina's from high school. And something about just moving here? No creepy levels of information, I promise."
Kurt laughed softly at that last part, starting to loosen up a bit as he gave the other man an apprising look. "Just moved here, yes. As in yesterday. Tina said that you used to be their roommate?"
Blaine nodded with a casual smile on his face. "It helped us all pay the bills for awhile. I'm finally leaving them alone and out into my own place though." He paused for a moment and glanced across the table, a flush heating his cheeks. "I shouldn't stop all of you from reconnecting though."
"It's no problem." Mike spoke up.
"Kurt is allowed to meet people other than the two of us. We're not that possessive." Tina added with a grin as she looked between the two of them.
Mike gave his wife a quick shake of the head before he jumped into the conversation. "It's good to see you again, Kurt. I wish we'd been in town when you came through to interview. It's been a long time since the last New Directions reunion, hasn't it?"
"Years." Kurt agreed before he sank back a bit more into the booth, still leaving a distance between himself and Blaine, but not so perched nervously on the edge of the seat. "I wish you had been, too, but it was also good in a way. I'd heard about the opening through Tina, so it might be a good thing that I was there on my own for the actual interview. They couldn't think I was relying on someone else."
Blaine looked over curiously at that last bit. "You're working on Tina's little show?" That part was said with a teasing tone toward the only woman in the group. "That's why you moved here?"
Kurt nodded his head. "I'd been doing some work for off-off and off Broadway shows in costuming, but this is a more steady gig. I'll be working in the wardrobe department." He reached out for his menu finally, needing to look over it much more than those who ate here regularly. "Are fish tacos actually good?"
"Costuming, huh?" Blaine asked giving Kurt another look over. "Have you ever worked with kids' productions?"
"Run before he drags you in!" Tina gave Blaine a teasing look even as she talked to Kurt. "And yes, fish tacos are actually very good. Even if we'd probably never convince anyone in Ohio to try them."
"I'll take your expertise on the matter. Sounds healthier at least than putting greasy ground beef into them." Kurt turned to give Blaine a wary look through the space he'd left between them. "Drag me into what?"
"I may have a reputation for doing that." Blaine admitted, rubbing a hand sheepishly over the back of his neck. "My summer job is at a performing arts nonprofit. Right now we're running performing arts day the group does operates on a sliding scale with extra scholarships for foster kids so that no one gets left out. And I may always be looking for people to come in and volunteer, as a teacher or a mentor."
Kurt's eyes widened at that. "That sounds like quite the enterprise. A worthy one. I suppose I could help, but I don't know that I'd be a good mentor."
"I'm sure you'd be just fine at that." Tina inserted, grinning between the two men as she leaned in close to her husband. "Blaine's pulled in a lot of the people who work on Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow at some point or another already."
"And you all were good enough toward the end of last summer to let some of our more outstanding older kids shadow several of you for a day." Blaine said, smiling warmly. "It was much appreciated even if the show wasn't even on the air yet."
"Watch out though, or he'll drag you as far down that rabbit hole as he has Mike." Tina teased.
Kurt gave Mike a curious look as the quieter man just shrugged. "I volunteer a couple hours a week to teach the higher dance levels. Give some scholarships to my studio if it's warranted so the really talented kids can keep learning during the school year."
"It takes a village." Blaine joked, resting the menu he'd been holding, but not looking at, in front of him. "I'm just one cog in the machine." As the waitress made her way to their table he leaned just into Kurt's personal space to order. "Can I get the salmon tacos with black beans on the side? And a Corona?" At Tina's smirk he grinned back. "Painting deserves a beer at the end of the day."
Kurt leaned just slightly over out of habit then smirked a smile at the man. "Oh, that explains it. Did you know you have a spot of paint on your forehead?"
Blaine rubbed at it self-consciously as Tina and Mike both snickered in the background. Finally, Mike added, "And I know you'd never get drunk on a Saturday night, good little church boy that you are."
"That's me exactly!" Blaine joked brightly before quieting down to let the rest of them order.