Sam went through the checklist on the last website one final time and then shut his laptop down. His desk was empty except for an envelope. All of the non-essential papers had been shredded and everything from the checklists was in the folder in his hand. He put the folder and the laptop in his backpack.
He looked around the room that had been his for slightly more than a year. The bed was made. The closet had been emptied into a couple of large plastic storage containers, which were sitting inside the closet where they could not be seen. His loose drawings and watercolor paintings had been carefully rolled into a cardboard tube to keep them from getting wrinkled before placing them with the canvases and his sketchpads into another storage container, which was also inside the closet. The only thing that was still sitting out in the room was his guitar, which was leaned up against the dresser.
He had given his two weeks notice two weeks ago. His last shift had been the evening before. His car was finally completely paid for. He had given Burt the final payment a month ago. Kurt had whipped it into tiptop shape over the summer with some minimal help from Sam and he had given it a tune up right before heading off to New York a little over two months ago. Sam had the title and his insurance policy in a small expandable file, along with his personal documents that he had managed to get his parents to give him the last time he visited them in Kentucky in one of the storage boxes with his clothes.
He went downstairs to make sure that everyone had left for the day. Once he was sure that he was alone, he made himself a sandwich and ate it. He grabbed a gallon ziplock bag from the kitchen to put his toiletry items from the bathroom in. He did one final sweep of the laundry room to make sure that he hadn't left anything behind. He went back upstairs, filled the ziplock bag and placed it in one of the clothing storage boxes. He went into Kurt's room and opened his closet door and walked in. He took off his letterman jacket and hung it in the closet and put on a green puffer vest that Kurt had told him that he could have. He put his backpack on and brought down the storage containers and his guitar. He grabbed his hat and gloves out of his backpack and put them on. He carried the storage boxes and guitar outside and put them in the trunk of his car. He took the backpack off and tossed it into the passenger seat and headed off to McKinley one last time.
He parked, grabbed his backpack, and headed into the building. He went directly to the see the art teacher, Mrs. Davidson. She knew he was stopping by her office and she handed him an envelope when he came in. He put it in the folder in his backpack and thanked her. He went to the locker room next and made his way to Coach Beiste's office. She was waiting for him as well. She also handed him an envelope. He pulled out the folder and placed it in as well.
"Are you sure about this, son?"
"Definitely. There's nothing left for me here in Lima."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that and I wish you the best with whatever plans you have. I'll miss having you on the team."
"Thanks, Coach. And thanks for the recommendation letter."
"You're welcome, Sam." She stood and walked around her desk and gave him a big bear hug. "You be safe."
"I will."
Sam left the locker room. He stopped by his locker and removed the books that were in there. He had taken everything else home the day before. He went to Miss Pillsbury's office next. He had to wait a few minutes for his scheduled appointment. Once he was inside, he placed the textbooks on her desk. He sat in a chair facing her. She pulled out a file folder. She handed him an official copy of his transcript.
"Thank you," he said as he took it from her and placed it into his folder.
"You're quite welcome, Sam. I have the withdrawal form here, if you could sign both copies, please."
He signed both and placed his copy in his folder.
"I'll take care of returning your textbooks to the main office, along with turning this form in, after you leave."
"Thank you for that. I appreciate not having to face Principal Figgins questioning me. Also, thanks for getting all of the teachers to allow me to take my finals earlier this week rather than taking them next week and for getting them to turn in my final grades so they could be on that transcript. I also appreciate you not telling them the full reason for my request."
"No problem. What we've discussed in here is confidential. I told the teachers what you asked me to tell them, which was truthful, yet incomplete. They did not need to know the rest in order to do what I asked them to."
"Well, I appreciate that."
"I'm sorry to see you go. Does anyone else know that you're leaving Lima?"
"Only Coach Bieste because I didn't want to leave her hanging when I'm not there for practice. She's not going to say anything to anyone. Also, I gave my two weeks notice at work. I need a good recommendation, so I couldn't just leave with no notice."
"Well, I'm glad you thought about that. Well, if there is anything else I can ever do for you, you know where to find me. I wish you the best, Sam."
"Thanks, Miss Pillsbury." Sam stood and left the office. He looked down the hallway once last time remembering the good times at the school before he turned and left the building.
He tossed his backpack back into the passenger seat, pulled out his phone and put in his destination. It would take 9 hours and 45 minutes to arrive. He figured that he could drive five hours, pull over to take a nap, get something to eat, and the drive the last five hours and arrive somewhere between 8-10pm.
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As he was driving, the events of the fall semester flashed back through his mind.
"Blaine Warbler, I'd like to introduce you to Sam Evans."
"Um, we've actually met, several times."
"He's your candidate for vice president."
"Um, no. I'm picking my own running mate."
Sam was so glad that he had walked away and wished him luck. Not even a week after the election that he supposedly ran in for Kurt, he had cheated on him.
"Sam, Kurt was my soulmate. We talked about spending the rest of our lives together. Now, he won't even return my calls. He won't text me. He's gone, maybe forever."
"I get it. Everybody's been there. You'll get through it."
Looking back, he couldn't believe that Blaine would expect any of those things from Kurt. Someone can't just sleep with a random and think that their boyfriend is just going to be accepting of that and get over it a week later. It was a choice he made and he should have realized that Kurt was never going to take him back.
"Relationships are about trust, and I don't trust you anymore. I was stupid to come back. Rachel's right. This isn't home anymore."
He overheard them talking in the hallway after Grease. He completely understood the sentiment. Lima wasn't home. He had been without a home for a long time now, but he didn't feel alone in Lima until after Kurt left.
"I hurt him, so of course he's not going to trust me. He's never going to forgive me."
"Even if he doesn't, you've gotta forgive yourself."
At least Blaine had finally come to his senses and realized that Kurt's behavior was normal. He wasn't expecting Kurt to come running back to him anymore. Sam was trying to encourage Blaine to move on with his life. Sometimes, broken things can't be put back together.
The new leader of the Warblers left the laptop, enticing Blaine to retrieve the stolen trophy. He came back without it. Sam took the laptop, drove to Dalton, showed the video to the headmaster and left a few minutes later with the New Directions' trophy in hand.
"The teacher that sees me after school has been really helpful."
"What teacher?"
"The one that helps me with my dyslexia that Finn took me to see."
"There's a special teacher for that?"
"Yeah."
Finn was so concerned about getting Ryder help. Why did no one ever tell him that they had a special teacher at school that helped kids with dyslexia? Even Miss Pillsbury never mentioned it. She sat there and told him that he hadn't passed the OGTs last year and never offered anything other than her condolences. It had been Kurt that had helped him the past two years, not a special teacher.
His mind wandered back through those two years. After they broke off the duet, Kurt called him and they had discussed how Finn had approached each of them telling them how singing together would be a bad idea. Somehow the topic of Sam's struggles in school had come up. Kurt offered to help him and to avoid the issue of them being seen together, Kurt had come up with the Skype idea. He kept it up even after he transferred to Dalton. When he found out about Sam's family losing their home, Kurt brought clothes, toys, and snacks to the motel. They kept in contact over the summer, but Sam had hidden what he was doing to make money because he was too embarrassed for Kurt to find out, but when he came back Kurt didn't ridicule him or make him feel ashamed at all, unlike Blaine.
Sam couldn't figure out what made Blaine think that he had forgotten how he had reacted to him the previous year. He and Blaine had never been friends. He figured that somehow he had become the one that Blaine talked to because all of the other Glee guys were gone except Artie and they hadn't been friends either. He found Blaine's superhero alter ego very strange because he had never once given any indication that he had any interest in superheroes or comics in the year and a half that Sam had known him. He never seemed to get Sam's jokes or his references. All he could figure was that Blaine was trying to reinvent himself after losing Kurt and trying to become Sam's friend was part of that agenda. It was just a little too weird for Sam, though.
Living with Kurt had been all sorts of fun. He had gotten Kurt up-to-date on all the sci fi and pop culture references by getting Kurt to watch movies with him. And in return, he watched black and white classics with Kurt. He even found out how good Kurt was at video games whenever Finn wasn't around. Sam got to see the real Kurt that was hidden beneath the prim and proper exterior of designer clothes and perfectly coiffed hair. He watched as Kurt reassembled parts of his car explaining each step of the process with his hands covered in grime. Sam was on the receiving end of smeared cupcake frosting on his nose when Kurt got silly in the kitchen. Kurt had squealed and run away, escaping before Sam could retaliate. Sam could always expect a plate of food in the fridge when he worked late shifts and missed dinner. These and so many other things came to mind as Sam drove.
His memories moved back to more recent ones again.
"The New Directions has lost Sectionals."
The dreaded words that had come out of Sue Sylvester's mouth when she came in the room after Marley had fainted. New Directions wasn't moving on for the first time in three years. New Directions was over for the year. Kurt didn't come home for Thanksgiving and he had missed out on dinner with his own family because Sectionals was held on Thanksgiving Day for some bizarre reason. The next week, he heard the final blow.
"I'm sorry, Sam, but you didn't pass the OGTs."
Miss Pillsbury said it just like she did the year before. How many times could he repeat his senior year? His SAT scores were abysmal too. It was then that he had broken down. He went to visit his parents the following weekend. He asked for his birth certificate and social security card. He came back and asked Miss Pillsbury to set his finals up early so he could just finish the semester and get out of town. He already had enough credits to graduate last May. He wasn't sticking around for another semester just to not graduate again.
He replayed so many things in his mind as he drove - so many thoughts and memories. He was moving on, moving forward, moving out of state. A little more than twelve hours after he had left Lima, he had arrived at his destination.
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Sam knocked on the door. It opened and he was immediately enveloped in the arms of the person he had missed the most. "I'm so glad you're here. Come in. Come in. Set your guitar down and let me grab my coat. I'll help you carry your stuff in."
Kurt and Sam went out to Sam's car and in two trips they had carried everything up. They put Sam's boxes in Kurt's bedroom. They took their coats off and hung them on the clothes rack that Kurt had. "I've been so excited all day just waiting for you to get here. I've really missed you. I have a plate of food for you in the fridge, if you're hungry."
"Of course, you do. You always had a plate of food waiting for me in the fridge when I came home late from work."
"Come on. I'll warm it up."
Sam followed him out to the kitchen. He ate the food Kurt served him. "This is good. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
"I can't thank you enough for letting me come here. I just couldn't stay in Lima. I left your parents a letter on my desk because I couldn't bring myself to tell them in person that I had failed my exams again. I just can't take having Carole look at me with pity in her eyes. They've done so much for me and I can't even manage to pass some stupid tests."
"Hey, quit getting down on yourself. That was the point in this move. To get you in a new school where people will actually help you. When you told me that McKinley had a dyslexia specialist that was helping Ryder, I just wanted to scream. Why didn't anyone ever tell you that such a person existed? As much as I think Miss Pillsbury is a nice person, I think she needs more training or something. She's not doing her job."
Sam took his plate over to the sink and washed and dried it and handed it to Kurt to be put away, paying attention to where he put it so he'd know where it went.
"Yeah, it took everything in me to play nice this morning when I went to her office to thank her for all of her help. Help I wouldn't have needed if she had done her job in the first place. Where's Rachel?"
"Oh, she's staying at Brody's for the weekend. It will just be the two of us until Monday after classes."
"Okay. That will make this a lot easier."
"Make what easier?"
"Can we go sit down and talk?"
"Sure."
Kurt and Sam went and sat in the living room. Sam put his elbows on his knees and starred at his hands. "I need to ask you something."
"You know you can ask me anything. We've been friends for a long time."
"Are you over Blaine?"
"I wasn't expecting that, but yes, I am. I've spent a lot of time thinking recently. Going back to the beginning of our history together, I realize that I had this crush on him that I should have let go of the day he announced 'The Warbler GAP Attack' in rehearsal near Valentine's Day my junior year. I was just so lonely and honestly he kept leading me on. He was so flirty. I thought for sure he liked me, but that was the day I should have realized that he was more interested in being the center of attention than anything else."
"I never liked how he pushed himself into the spotlight. He took Tony from you. I know I wasn't at school then, but I heard about it. I overheard about the pact he made with Rachel too. Finn was joking about it with Puck one day."
"What pact?"
"Um. The one they made as Tony and Maria. That's the only one I know about."
"Explain, please."
"How about you ask Rachel when she comes back Monday. I don't want to mislead you or get the details wrong."
"Alright, but tell me the general concept of this pact."
"It was a pact to lose their virginities. I was deeply disturbed, but since I wasn't part of the conversation and it had obviously happened months before I overheard them, I didn't butt in."
"Oh, my God. Now, I understand."
"Understand what?"
"Never mind. Back to your question about whether I am over him. The answer is, yes, I am over him. I have no intention of ever taking him back, ever. He blamed me for his cheating. He actually told me that I wasn't there for him and he needed me. I initially accepted what he said and blamed myself. I became really depressed and believed that it was actually my fault. But eventually I realized that what he meant was he needed attention and I didn't give it to him. I didn't have enough time in my crazy, brand new, New York life to pay attention to him every time he called, like when he was calling me at WORK. I couldn't risk getting fired. I have to pay rent here. I took his calls a few times, but had to hang up quickly to do my JOB. My guess is that the new members of the New Directions weren't fawning all over him like he was the reincarnation of Freddie Mercury or the male version of Katy Perry."
"Not really. The dynamic is totally different now. The new members aren't the fawning types."
"He cheated on me after two weeks of being apart. Two weeks. I can't be with someone like that. I won't go back to that. I became someone else around him. It's taken a few months for me to see that, but I realize it now."
"There's something I need to tell you. And I need to do it up front. I've also spent a lot of time reflecting the last few months."
"You sound so serious. Are you sick or something?"
"No, nothing like that. It's just something that I've realized only recently. Something that you knew or at least suspected a long time ago."
"Go on."
"I've been thinking back through my relationships. Quinn was the first girl I had dated. Before I came to McKinley I had never dated anyone. She was pretty. She was popular. She was nice to me. It seemed like a good match. Plus, given her background, I knew that she was a safe choice. She wouldn't push me and I wouldn't push her. We could date without that pressure."
"Then she cheated on you with Finn."
"Yeah."
"Then you dated Santana."
"Definitely a strange move on my part, I know. But she approached me and she's outright scary to say 'no' to."
"Oh, I know. She got Dave to be a Bully Whip. I can imagine that turning down being her boyfriend would be a task that no mere mortal could take on."
"The strange thing about that is that I'm pretty sure that she chose me for the same reason I had chosen Quinn. I was cute and reasonably popular. I think she chose me as her first beard and she dropped me like a pan on fire the instant she came up with her Prom Queen and Bully Whips idea."
"I can see her doing that. Then, there was Mercedes."
"Again, another girl who had no interest in more than kissing and handholding."
"Are you asexual? Is that what you figured out from your past choices?"
"No. What I figured out is that I'm gay."
"So, I was right?"
"Yeah. I think I just always had this image that gay guys are like you. They're into fashion and they get along with girls really well. Just stupid stereotypes I guess. But to be fair, the only guys I ever knew that said they were gay were like that and you know that I have no problem with that. People are people to me. But until Karofsky was outed, I don't think I'd ever thought about jocks being gay."
"I get that. You grew up in the south. I imagine that a lot of the guys' guy type of gay guys just stayed in the closet. To be honest, if I could pass, I probably would have stayed in the closet until after high school. That vest you were wearing is the remnants of my efforts to play straight."
"Honestly, I liked you from the moment we met. But Finn warned me off, as you know. And you backed away from spending time with me where other people would know about it to protect me. And then not long afterwards, you met Blaine who was all loud and proud and out. And I was just glad to be your friend. You were really the kindest and most helpful person I had ever met. I think I misunderstood my own feelings. I liked you so much, but I thought those feelings must have been because of how much you were helping me and what a genuinely good person you were."
"I had a huge crush on you, but when you asked Quinn to be your partner when I backed out and then you started dating her, I doubted everything about myself. I really did think you were gay, but then you asked Quinn out. And you were also the nicest person I had ever met and the first guy that had ever been kind to me. You are still the only guy I know who hasn't done anything really awful to me. I wanted to be friends with you even after I thought you were straight."
"The last couple of months, I've really missed you. No one has smeared frosting on me anywhere. No one has watched sci fi movies with me. I just realized how much of a part of my life you were and how much I've missed that. And I realized that it's not just because you're a cool guy. It's because I genuinely like you. And I can live with it, if you don't feel the same about me anymore. But I just couldn't bring myself to move in here with you and not be honest. I'm not the kind of person who lies to people. It may have taken a while for me to figure myself out, but I want you to know that I have not been actively lying to you or hiding anything about myself from you."
"I believe you, Sam. I really do. When I was younger, I might not have because just like you, I only had my own life experience to base my beliefs on. When I was 14 or 15, maybe even 16, I would have struggled to believe that anyone didn't automatically realize that they were gay from the time they were old enough to realize the difference between boys and girls. But I've grown up since then and I realize that sometimes understanding ourselves comes slowly - that there are people who don't realize that they are gay until after they are married and have kids."
"So, you believe me?"
"Of course."
"I was so scared that you would think that I had been lying to you and that you'd be upset with me."
Kurt moved from the chair to the couch and sat next to Sam. "I'm not upset, Sam. I'm a bit frustrated, but not upset."
"Why frustrated?"
"Because if I had known for certain that you were gay, I would have never given Blaine a second look."
"Wait, what?"
"Didn't you hear the part earlier where I said I had a crush on you, but let it drop when you started dating Quinn?"
"Yeah, I heard the 'let it drop' part."
"Oh, well. By that I meant, I didn't act on it because I had already been down the road of crushing on a straight boy and that was something I wasn't going to repeat. I didn't mean that I stopped liking you that way. It just remained unrequited."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"So..."
"So, now you're here and we're together again. You're going to start a new school and get the help you need. I've made an appointment for you Tuesday afternoon and we're going to go in and get the ball rolling. One of the interns in the photography department is going to photograph the artwork you've brought with you after the appointment and we're going to get your portfolio ready to send in to colleges here in the New York area."
"You are awesome, you know."
"Well, the feeling is mutual. Come on. Let's get your stuff unpacked. I got a second clothes rack today. I just haven't gotten it assembled yet. So, let's go work on that. I also got some hangers."
Kurt stood up and grabbed Sam's hands and pulled him up. Once Sam was standing up, Kurt put his arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "I'm so glad you're here."
"Me too," Sam said pulling Kurt in tight and hugging him back.
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An hour later, they had hung up all of Sam's clothes and filled the two dresser drawers Kurt had emptied for him. All that was left was the tote with the artwork in it. Sam stacked it inside the two empty containers. Kurt moved the tote behind the mirror in the corner of his room and put the two lids against the wall under his desk.
Sam was looking around Kurt's and now his room. "Hey, Kurt?"
"Yeah?" Kurt looked Sam's direction.
"The first thing I'd like to do tomorrow is find the closest building supply store."
Kurt looked at him questioningly.
"I'm putting a back on this bookcase. And a non-permanent wall where those curtains are. I just don't think I can sleep in here if just anyone can look at me when I'm asleep."
"I've just gotten used to Rachel and she's not really the peeping Tom type, but you're right. Once she starts to invite people over, I can see your point. We'll ask around tomorrow."
"No one's going to be here but us for a few days, so that should give us time to get it fixed up before she comes back."
"It's kind of late for me to take you out anywhere tonight, but how about a stay home first date?"
"Date?"
"Unless I misunderstood? Or you misunderstood. I'll be very clear this time. Sam Evans, I thought you were completely adorable the day you walked into the Glee room. I wanted to sing with you so badly. I was seriously hoping you were gay. I was totally crushing on you. Then, you turned out to be the nicest guy I had ever met and we became good friends. And a little over an hour ago, I'm pretty sure you said that you liked me. So, a date. That's what two people who like each other do, is it not?"
"It is. But I can't wine and dine you. You're the one who's taken me in. I will totally get a job and pay half of your half of the rent and for my own food. I'm not a mooch."
"I know you aren't. And I don't need wined and dined. Romance can be completely free. So, a stay home first date, hopefully the first of many?"
"I'd love to."
"Excellent. Let's get change into pajamas and it will be a pajama movie date."
"How's that different than all of the other times we've watched movies together in our pajamas?"
"You'll see," Kurt answered, as he winked and walked to the dresser to get his pajamas out. "You can shower first or second, your choice."
"You go first."
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By the time Sam came back from the shower, Kurt had stacked some books on the bench at the end of his bed and put the laptop on the top of the stack. He pulled the comforter so that the extra length was at the top and he piled the pillows on the end of the bed. Sam lay down and looked through the Netflix choices. He clicked on one.
"Galaxy Quest? We've seen that before."
"Exactly. That way I can pay attention to the parts of the evening that are different from the previous times we've watched movies together in our pajamas without missing what's going on in the movie."
"I see. Well, press play and I'm going to turn off the light."
Kurt climbed into the bed and lay down next to Sam - quite a bit closer than he had ever dared to before. He fluffed his pillow up, propped himself up on his elbows, put his chin on the pillow and used his left hand to keep the pillow in place. He extended his right hand out to Sam, who shyly reached out and took it.
A few minutes later, Kurt stretched and pushed up onto his knees and pressed pause. "This is not going to work for the whole movie. My neck is going to be killing me. I have another idea. Since Rachel's not here, she'll never know. Come help me move the coffee table in here." He turned the light back on.
Sam got up and helped Kurt carry the coffee table in. Kurt picked up the laptop and put it on the bed and put the books back away. Next, he picked up the bench and put it on top of the coffee table.
"End of the bed or next to the bed?" Kurt asked.
"Let's try next to the bed since the screen is kind of small."
They repositioned the comforter and pillows again. Kurt piled one of his throw pillows on top of his pillow and waited for Sam to lie down and get comfortable. He turned the light back off and climbed in and lay down behind Sam so that Sam was the little spoon.
"Can you see the screen?"
"Yes. I put an extra pillow so my head's up a little higher than yours."
Sam restarted the movie.
"If you scoot back a little, we can snuggle."
Sam wriggled back a bit. Kurt put his left hand up on Sam's bicep and lightly ran his hand up and down his upper arm. Sam reached out and pressed pause and crossed his right arm over his chest and caught Kurt's hand and grabbed it.
"Am I bothering you? I can stop."
"See, that's the thing. I don't want you to stop." He rolled over to face Kurt. Kurt pulled the extra pillow out and put it behind him on the bed.
"What then?"
"Well, truthfully, I've been hoping for several weeks that once I saw you I could kiss you."
"Okay."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Sam scooted closer to Kurt, who reached out and put his hand on Sam's neck and ran his fingers through Sam's hair. Sam scooted even closer and gently kissed Kurt and pulled back.
"Sam?" Kurt opened his to see Sam looking, well he wasn't sure what that look was. "Are you okay?"
"Wow. I can definitely say that I have been kissing the wrong people if that's how kissing feels."
Kurt smiled, "Is that so?" He scooted forward a bit and this time he initiated the kiss, which was a little longer than the first one, but still quite short. Sam pulled back again.
Kurt lay flat on his back. "Do you want to go sit on the couch and talk? Is this too much too fast?"
"No, it's just so overwhelmingly good and right. I just - wow."
"Sam, I know. I've kissed a girl. It was nice. And even arousing in a way. I mean she was lying on me providing her body weight as friction in places, you know?"
Sam laughed, "Yeah. I just thought that was…" he stopped.
"I get it."
"But I was really, really wrong. One little kiss and I'm way more... well..." Sam was blushing, even though Kurt couldn't see it, he could tell that Sam was feeling quite awkward.
"I understand. If it's any help, I'm having the same reaction."
Sam moved forward again and kissed Kurt, who wrapped his hand back around Sam's neck. This kiss was a little longer, but still completely chaste.
"I'm going to need a cold shower."
"I'm not a girl. I'm not bothered by your body's reaction. Actually, it's really complimentary. Knowing that you're that turned on is really hot." He rose up and whispered in Sam's ear, "I could help you out or if you're not ready for that, there's always the bathroom." Kurt kissed Sam's ear, gently using the tip of his tongue here and there. Sam started moaning. Kurt continued kissing down Sam's jaw until he reached his mouth, where he let Sam take the lead, not wanting to push Sam.
Sam kissed him, this time with more confidence. He wrapped his arm around Kurt's torso and let himself relax and enjoy himself like he never had before. Kissing had never been like this.
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Sam awoke the next morning in Kurt's arms. The first thing that came to his mind was that Blaine had to be the stupidest person on the face of the earth to give this up because this was the best thing Sam had ever experienced and he would do everything in his power to keep it.
"Good morning, Sam," Kurt said, as he ran his thumb down Sam's cheek.
"You were already awake?"
"Just waiting for you to wake up. I wanted to let you sleep. You had a long drive yesterday and an emotional evening. I figured you really needed the sleep, since you're normally awake before now."
"What time is it?"
"10:03."
"Oh, wow. I can't even remember the last time I slept that late. Are you ready to find a hardware store?"
"Actually, hold that thought. I'm going to run downstairs for a minute. I'll be right back up." Kurt put some clothes on quickly and left. He came back about 10 minutes later. Sam was dressed and looking through the kitchen cabinets.
"Come with me. I want to show you something." Sam followed him downstairs.
They were met by a man, about 60 years old, shorter than both of them with gray hair and a nearly white scruffy beard. He unlocked the door. Kurt and Sam followed him into the room.
The man spoke, "So, this is the space. It's not much, but it has a bathroom and the small kitchen area. The last tenant left behind the appliances. Have a look around if you want."
Kurt and Sam went and looked in the bathroom. "It's not much different than the one in the loft," Kurt said. "A little smaller." They came back out.
"Would we be allowed to install a counter top in here?" Kurt asked.
"As long as it's freestanding and you don't nail or screw anything to the floor."
"And how much is it?"
"$800."
"Can you give me a couple of hours? Rachel's not home and I have to get in touch with her before I can give you an answer."
"Yeah, sure. I don't have anyone coming to see it until tomorrow afternoon. If you want it, let me know by today at 4:00, so I can tell the guy not to bother coming out."
"Thanks."
Kurt looked around one last time. It was on the corner of the building so the room had three windows, one large, two smaller. He walked off the space and made a mental note of the size. He and Sam left and went back upstairs.
"What do you think?"
"Just the two of us?"
"Yeah, just the two of us. You already know we can live together and get along. We did it for over 10 months before I moved here. I mean I know we weren't sharing a room, but still. I think it will be easier than us living here with Rachel. She was talking about asking Brody to move in anyway. She can split the rent with him and they can still find someone else to live with them if they want. $800 is less than I'm paying now. So, even if it's a few weeks before you find a job, we'll be fine."
Sam sat thinking and finally nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that. Go ahead and call Rachel."
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"Well, that was a tough sell, but Brody can afford half the rent and she was going to ask him anyway. We negotiated custody of the stuff we've bought since September. They're going to come by in an hour so we can re-sign paperwork down at the Super's apartment."
"So, what did you get in the negotiations?"
"Her silence first and foremost. And $1000 from Rachel, $450 from Brody for his half of half of December's rent, and the stuff in my room and a couple of miscellaneous items. My portion of the deposit on the loft will be applied to the new one, which leaves us money to fix up and furnish the new place."
"Well, we can probably get a couch the other things. Plus, we won't have to spend the money to create more privacy or deal with any other roommates."
"Definitely a positive. I mean I love Rachel, most of the time anyway, but she's been showing the worst side of herself since she won the Winter Showcase last Friday night."
"I bet. She's pretty insufferable sometimes. What have you decided to do? I know you said you got your acceptance letter. Don't you have to say yes or no soon?"
"I have another week or so. Classes don't start again until the second week in January."
"I thought that NYADA is what you really wanted."
"I did too. It's just that after Madame Tibideaux rejected my second application, I went out and toured other local schools with musical theater programs. And I've been doing a lot of thinking."
"What about?"
"Money, the value of an education, things like that. I also snuck around NYADA listening to classes being taught, watching the students interact, reading the NYADA gossip online, and of course listening to Rachel talk. I also talked to some of the students I met when I visited some of the other schools. There was such a marked difference."
"Different in what way? Like the ones at NYADA are more talented?"
"Most of the students I saw at NYADA are like Rachel or they are kiss-ups to the students like Rachel. She has her own little group of sycophants already, which isn't surprising since she seems to be Madame Tibideaux's favorite. I mean Rachel blew her audition, then practically stalked her, and she got in. I'm not sure that I'm ready to go in debt to experience high school all over again."
Sam was listening carefully. "How was that different than what you saw other places?"
"I didn't see such diva-ish behavior. I saw students collaborating in the hallways, looking excited to be there? It's hard to explain. NYADA is like a bunch of people like Rachel and Blaine and Santana and Mercedes, even Puck in a way. All people who are loud and bold and the ones that are not on the top of the heap kiss up to the ones that are. I mentioned a poster I saw to Rachel advertising a show choir. Her response was very disheartening - that the show choir is lower than low and just the whole idea that there's such an engrained hierarchy - I didn't like it."
"So, you're thinking of not going?"
"Honestly, yes. Madame Tibideaux seemed to enjoy putting me on the spot to prove myself when I had not prepared anything. I understand that as a performer, I could be called upon to perform in situations that I wasn't expecting. But it's surely unlikely that I would ever be an audience member called out to get up on stage and be in a show. I'm not sure what she was trying to prove, but I'm not sure that I want to spend 4 years with her as the head of the department I'm in. Is she going to feel the need to potentially publicly humiliate me again? I mean Rachel's dance teacher has been nothing but awful to her all semester. It's hard to deal with Rachel. I'm well aware of that, but Sue Sylvester techniques of public shaming aren't really decent teaching methods."
"That bad?"
"Definitely."
"So what have you found when looking at other schools?"
"That there are places I could go and pay 1/5th the cost and be in classes with teachers who seem to enjoy teaching. The students like their classes. I'm sure there are rivalries everywhere. But maybe walking in and being on equal footing with everyone would be better than walking in and being Rachel's best gay, always a tier lower than her. High school was a miserable place. I don't want to repeat that, while paying a fortune to be there. I applied to a few other schools for next fall. If I live here that long on my own, I can pay in-state tuition. When you graduate from a New York high school, you will be able to pay in-state tuition as well. If you apply where I did, I bet it wouldn't cost you anything to attend because with your family's financial situation, you'll be eligible for grants. The only financial aid I'm eligible for is loans."
"I thought your dad was going to help you."
"He is, but he can't cover the cost of the tuition at NYADA. Premier Broadway training academy means expensive price tag. I'm leaning 90% toward deferring my admission to NYADA until the fall and giving myself more time to figure out what I really want. I'll go visit more classes at NYADA and the other places I applied and get a feel for what's really right for me."
"Good plan. Speaking of plans - the apartment? When can we move into it?"
"Let's go find out."
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When they came back from talking to the Super, Sam was looking at their bed. "I know that the pallets are functional at keeping the bed off the floor, but they keep us from being able to put stuff under the bed. So, let's build a frame and a bookcase. I don't have the expertise to build a dresser, so let's look for one of those. But we can definitely build the other two pretty cheap."
"I'm game if you are, but I say let's build the stuff first and then move things. Building stuff will be messy and it would be easier to do it in an empty room anyway."
"Earlier, you mentioned that first and foremost you had acquired Rachel's silence. What did that mean?"
"It meant her secret for mine. I will not tell any of our mutual acquaintances or friends that she is living with Brody and she will not tell anyone that you are here living with me."
"Seems like a fair trade to me."
Kurt nodded. He grabbed Sam's hand and stepped close enough to give him a quick kiss.
"Let's get downstairs and sign. Rachel and Brody should be here any minute."
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"Well, that's done. Let's go play handyman. We have to give Brody my key on Monday evening when they get back with Brody's stuff, so we've got two days to turn the place into our new home."
"Alrighty then, what tools do you already have?" Kurt showed him his toolbox. "Let's go then."
They had found a small hardware store within walking distance that had a few building supplies, but they didn't need a lot of expensive fancy stuff, so it was just fine. They looked around and started picking out what they needed and the employee helping them took the stuff up front for them. A saw, screws, 1x10s, 2x4s, 1x1s, some hinges, a small sander, a heavy duty extension cord, two paint brushes and a gallon of low VOC satin almost black paint. They put everything they could in their backpacks. The employee helped them stack the wood and tie it together, creating some carrying handles with the twine wrapped with a plastic bag.
They made it back to the apartment and left all of the supplies. They went back up and carefully measured the box springs and took a few of the pallets downstairs to use to make it easier to saw the boards. They made a second trip back with the lamps from Kurt's room so they'd be able to see after it got dark. A few hours later, they had a functional bed frame that was about 18 inches off the floor, giving them room to put storage containers under the bed.
"Let's put one coat of paint on it and then go get some lunch while it dries," Sam suggested.
"Good idea."
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"So, Mister Designer, how are we putting the furniture in here? We need to know that before we cut these 1x10s to make the bookcase. Is it a wide short bookcase or a tall narrow bookcase or more square?"
"I hadn't thought about it actually." Kurt stood and surveyed the room. "I figured the far end of the room would be the bedroom area. We're building a screen with the 1x1s and the hinges. Let's see if the bed frame is dry enough to move."
It was and they placed it a couple of different ways, leaving it in their favorite position.
"Okay. Bed there. Screen here. When we get a dining table, we can put it against the front wall. We'll put the couch with the screen behind it facing this way, toward the front wall?"
"Sounds reasonable to me. So, the bookcase next to the two windows at the end by the front wall, then?"
"Good idea. And if we ever get a TV, it will just have to sit against the wall on the dining table."
They cut the boards and painted them. While they dried, they put a second coat on the bed frame.
"So, where can we find a dresser?"
"Let's check Craiglist first. If we don't see anything, we'll go look at some secondhand shops."
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"These two dressers are just so ugly, it's sad," Kurt said as they carried the first one upstairs.
"Ah, but that's the beauty of paint and a sander. I'll take the drawers out on the fire escape and sand that disgusting whatever it was supposed to be off the drawers and we'll repaint them and they'll be perfect."
"I know, but who ever thought that painting drawer fronts with an alternating plaid print and whatever that's supposed to be... flowers? - was clearly high at the time," Kurt laughed.
They went back down to Sam's car and brought the second dresser up.
"Well, for $25 a piece and solid wood, we got a bargain. Plus when we're done with them, they'll look great and they double as bedside tables. Why don't you start painting the dressers and I'll take the drawers out on the fire escape and remove this mess?"
"Got it."
When Sam finished sanding the drawers, he went inside and put a final coat of paint on the boards for the bookcase, while Kurt started working on the drawer fronts.
"I'm done for the night," Kurt said. "Lets go up and shower and eat something and sleep. We'll get up early and get started again. We'll do the last coat of paint on the dressers and assemble the bookcase first. Then we'll clean and look for a table and couch. Maybe we can get everything moved too. I know it's a lot for one day, but I work Monday. We can go back out shopping Monday afternoon when I get off for kitchen stuff. We don't have anywhere to put anything yet anyway."
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"I'll bring the sander back, then drop the extension cord out the window so you can sand the table outside before we bring it upstairs," Kurt said as he headed into the building.
After he did that, Kurt went upstairs and brought down the two leather upholstered flea market chairs he had negotiated for with Rachel and put them in the apartment so they'd have somewhere to sit. He went back up and searched through the kitchen to pull out the few things he had wanted.
He took out his phone and started a list of things they still needed. Storage boxes for under the bed, some sort of storage for the bathroom, kitchen items like a coffee pot, dishes, and pot and pans. They would definitely need to hit the secondhand stores.
Sam texted that he had finished the table. Kurt went down and helped him carry it up into the apartment. He wiped the top down with a dry rag and they started painting it.
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By Sunday night, they had moved all of their stuff into the new place and they were dog dead tired. So tired that Kurt ordered a pizza for dinner and they ate it, showered, and went straight to bed.
The next morning, Sam went with Kurt to the Vogue office so he could see where Kurt worked and he was going to just hang out in a coffee shop somewhere until Kurt got off at lunch.
They stopped at the front desk to get a visitor's pass for Sam. They rode the elevator up and dropped by Isabelle's office so he could introduce them.
"Knock, knock," Kurt said tapping on the open door to Isabelle's office. He stepped in and could see she was on the phone looking distressed, then all of a sudden not so distressed. She put her hand over the phone, indicating that Kurt should say what he came to say.
"Isabelle, this is Sam, he just moved here from Ohio. He's my new roommate."
"Nice to meet you, Sam. Are you 18 or older? Are you free this morning?"
"Yes and yes?" Sam answered, unsure why he was being asked.
"Perfect." She uncovered the phone and said, "Problem solved. I'll be there in 10. Okay, 5." She hung up.
She approached Sam. "How would you like to make $500 this morning?"
"I'm in."
"Right this way. Sam and I will leave you to your work, Kurt. We'll see you at lunch."
Kurt looked confused, but went to his office to do his job.
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"Sam, you're going to be modeling a swimsuit today. One of models didn't show up and you look like a perfect replacement saving me the cost of rescheduling everyone. So, we're going to the hair and make up department. There's a shower in the back. Shower and put on one of the robes hanging outside the shower and then have a seat over there and Marco will cut and style your hair. When he's done, you'll be brought to get dressed and have your make up done. This all needs to happen in the next 20 minutes. Can you do that?"
"You got it."
"Perfect."
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Twenty minutes later, Sam was standing around with 5 other models, 2 guys and 3 girls, being told where to stand, where to look, what expression to make and following everything he was told to do. Stand in sand and hold a surfboard? No problem. Sit in the sand and drink colored water. No problem. Three hours later, he had been posed more ways than he had ever thought possible, but it wasn't really hard, just boring having to stay in position.
Afterward, he was allowed to return to the room he started in. He showered again and put his own clothes back on. He even got to keep the swim trunks. He was taken back to Kurt's office afterward.
"Nice hair cut."
"Thanks, it was free. And I get the swim trunks and $500. That will cover my half of the rent for next month and some money left over for groceries while I'm looking for a job." Sam felt much more relaxed now that he'd be able to pay his half of the expenses until he found a job.
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"Okay, Dad. That's fine. I was going to tell you that I'm staying here anyway. I have expenses that I need to cover and a plane ticket is a little out of budget range right now. I'll save up again and I'll try to come in a couple of months."
"I know, I know. But this was going to happen eventually. You know that Carole's family doesn't like me. And eventually, you were going to have to spend a holiday with them. I'm fine really."
"Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye. Love you too."
Kurt and Sam had continued to move through the crowded sidewalks while Kurt was on the phone.
"So, Dad, Carole, and Finn are going to Carole's relatives in Zanesville, where I am persona non grata, which is fine. I can't change people's minds and I'd rather be here than there any day. You didn't get a chance to look for any couches since you were busy hanging out by the ocean all morning, did you?" Kurt teased.
"Yeah, all of the icky parts and none of the nice parts. At least I got to shower and get the sand off. But you're right. I didn't get a chance to look. But I did make a whole month's rent in one morning. So, there's that."
"It was perfect. We can stop by the bank and you can deposit your check. Then, we'll go home and eat and check Craigslist for potential pieces."
Kurt took Sam's hand and intertwined their fingers and took off toward the subway.
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"So tomorrow afternoon, I set up an appointment for you at the new school to get you enrolled," Kurt said as they were making lunch.
"I brought my official transcript, so that's good to go."
"Good. It's looking good in here. We need to get some of those hooks we can put on the walls so we can hang your paintings up. It will look so much nicer then. And we can go out buy a couple of nice sheets to use for the fabric on the room divider. I know it's just going to be us most of the time, but I still like the idea of our bedroom being a separate space."
"Me too. We should buy an extra sheet to use as a curtain over the window in our room. I don't like people being able to see in. The two smaller windows in the living area are okay uncovered, at least I think so since they face a windowless wall on the other side of the alley."
"So, anything good on Cragslist today?" Kurt asked as Sam was scrolling through listings.
"Not yet."
"We can be patient about the couch. Switch to looking for a couple of lower kitchen cabinets. We can buy a countertop if we have to, but we need somewhere to put the kitchen stuff we're going to need to get. Eating sandwiches on paper towels and ordering pizzas or Chinese isn't a long-term solution."
"There's a couple of listings." Sam handed Kurt his phone. "I'm not sure if those are close enough to make it worth the drive."
"This one's not too far, but the pictures are terrible. I'll see if we can get better photos before we drive out there." He clicked on the reply linked and asked.
"I didn't ask before, but are your parents okay with this?"
"I'm 18. I wasn't going to graduate. They said I could go back to Kentucky and finish there, but that's a dead end for me. I turned them down. They know I was old enough to move on at the end of last school year. They didn't fight me on it. They have my cell number, so they can call whenever they want. They're glad that I'm going to finish school here, rather than just drop out."
"That's good, but that wasn't exactly the 'this' I was referring to. I figured you had told them about switching schools. Do they know that we're living together, not just as friends?"
"Yes. I told them last night when you were in the shower."
"Really?" Kurt leaned over and kissed him gently. "You could live your whole life with no one knowing. That's a lot harder to be willing to give up. I know the kinds of things that are said about guys like you. It's inevitable if you walk around here openly holding my hand and stuff."
"Kurt, look at me. I don't care about that. I really don't. And I want to be with you. I know people will say things. People say things about all sorts of stuff. I mean think what Santana did within five minutes of me getting back to McKinley last fall. Insult fest. People like Santana are everywhere. They bring other people down to try to push themselves up. Other people are just mean. I've probably heard the things you're thinking of. I won't put up with people insulting you. That I can guarantee. I will not assault them. I am not a child and I can control my reactions, but I won't just sit by and let people attack you."
"That would be a welcome change," Kurt held back tears, thinking of Sebastian's insults and how Blaine never defended him.
"Kurt?" Sam reached over and took Kurt's hand.
"Sebastian wasn't really any worse than anyone else who had called me names. I don't hate him or anything. He apologized sincerely, but it sure would have been nice if I hadn't spent months being insulted and ... I'll stop. That's all in the past. We're here together now. That's the important part. I know we missed the timing the first time around, but we've gotten a second chance and I don't want to spend any of it rehashing the choices we made in between that didn't make either of us happy. I'm sorry I brought it up."
"Rest assured, I won't put up with stuff like that."
"Thank you." Kurt leaned toward him and they kissed again.
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"Well, shall we wash them and leave them this color or do you want to paint them too?" Sam asked.
"Well, they actually match the leather on the chairs, so I guess we could just clean them and leave them be. It would be less work."
"Then, scrub a dub, dub. And avocado green they shall remain."
"I think we're going to have to actually buy a new countertop. We'll have to look for a place to order one that will deliver. There's no way we can fit one in your car or carry one on the subway."
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Later that night, they were both in bed, lights off, ready to go to sleep.
"There's been a lot of change for you really quickly. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's a lot different. It's noisy here. I feel like I'm lost all the time. I'm not quite as bad as Crocodile Dundee, but close sometimes."
Kurt laughed. "You'll get used to it. The first few weeks I was here were crazy. New apartment, new roommate, new job, new city, new everything. But it will be a little easier for you because I'm here. You're not alone. You can do this. The school's not far away and maybe you'll like it. If not, maybe it will at least be tolerable for 5 months." He reached out for Sam's hand and squeezed it. "Come over here." Kurt raised his arm so Sam could lay his head on Kurt's chest. "We'll figure it out. I'll be here for you."
Kurt tipped Sam's chin up and kissed him gently. Sam kissed him back. "I know."