PART ONE: I COULD BE SLEEPING
Kurt Hummel caught the eye of the flight attendant and raised his wine glass in the air, shaking it slightly to illustrate its negative properties. Namely, that it was empty. The attendant took the glass from him immediately and replaced it with one full of the same white wine Kurt hadn't even realized he was enjoying so much until it was gone. He held the glass carefully and took a sip, looking around the cabin in a slightly buzzed haze of happiness.
First class. He was used to business class and had even deluded himself into thinking real first class sections on planes weren't anything special. How wrong he had been, he thought, putting his seat back, downing the rest of his wine in a few gulps, and stretching like a cat. He closed his eyes. It was only another couple hours to Chicago, but there was time for a nap before they began their descent into the Windy City.
He chuckled, thinking of his benefactress. She had a long name filled with elegance and the surnames of past husbands, but to Kurt she was just the Duchess. Whether or not she had claim to the actual title didn't matter. The old bat wanted to be called the Duchess, and the Duchess she was. Ever since she had brought Kurt on as her personal interior decorator and consultant, he had had to take on fewer other clients to support himself and his business in Manhattan. He was able to totally dedicate himself to what he had always dreamed: being given an entire mansion to decorate, room-by-room, in whatever styles he and the Duchess agreed upon.
Her taste was almost universally completely dependent on his idea of her taste. Traditionally, she would make a suggestion, look inquisitively at Kurt for several seconds, and then smile and nod and agree profusely when he would offer an alternative. This was how she had decided an oriental rug for the library was an absolute necessity: Kurt had decided it, and she had agreed. What Kurt had not counted on was that the Duchess knew a little bit about oriental rugs, and insisted he buy from her trusted seller—who had recently relocated to Chicago.
It had been years since he had been to Chicago. Some of his friends from high school had moved there eventually, but nobody especially close, except—oh, right. Kurt's eyes flew open and his heartbeat sped up as he remembered the one person he had once told himself he would never forget. The person who had moved to Chicago, who he had assumed he would never see again but had always wondered about.
Kurt took a deep, calming breath, and decided not thinking about that was in his best interest for the moment.