The Edge of Glory
A/N: This fic is something I started out of boredom, so I apologize if the writing isn't very clear or there are plotholes that pop up from time to time.
Setting: Gleeniverse, AU Season 2 (Nationals) and 3.
Rating: M for later chapters (language, angst, and possible sexytimes?).
Pairing: Kurt/Dave (friendship developing into romance)
Prologue: New York, New York
Kurt Hummel was grinning ear to ear as the glee club walked into the Courtyard Marriott on New York's 5th Avenue. As they'd pulled up to the hotel, he'd squeezed Mercedes arm and pointed out Bryant Park.
"Oh my God, Bryant Park! They have Mercedes Benz Fashion Week there! This is the premiere fashion district in the U.S." he whispered, "We have to go shopping!"
Mercedes had laughed and agreed enthusiastically, "If there's an entire week of fashion with my name attached to it, you know it'll be good."
Kurt was absolutely thrilled to be in a Mecca like NYC, it was definitely a far cry from Lima, Ohio and the small town lifestyle he was accustomed to.
Inside, Kurt spun in a circle in the hotel lobby, moving his arms out like a propeller. Finn raised an eyebrow at him, looking somewhat confused.
"Julie Andrews. The Sound of Music." Kurt said, and then in a falsetto, "The hills are alive with the sound of music…" Finn just shook his head and moved ahead to the check-in desk with the rest of their classmates. Kurt stuck his tongue out at his stepbrother.
"I think you capture the drama of the situation perfectly." Rachel's voice, "Now all you'd need is a sweeping pan of the camera across the whole lobby while you spin. Also, that kilt you wore to Prom wouldn't hurt either."
Kurt grinned at Rachel, he knew everyone was excited to be in New York for Nationals, but she was the only person who knew exactly what being in New York meant.
"Hey Rachel, I was actually thinking—"
She cut him off with a raise of her hand.
"I know exactly what you're going to say. We should take an afternoon that we're free on the trip and go check out Broadway and see if we could catch some of the actors after a show and ask them for pointers or just admire them and get autographs. I've had this planned out weeks in advance, and I know for sure that the Gershwin Theatre's show times for Wicked are at 2PM and 8PM."
He couldn't help but laugh at her for that. He loved Rachel for this reason exactly. They were on such a similar wavelength sometimes.
"You're more than welcome to come with me," Rachel said, "I think our mutual adoration for Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth gives us similar motivations in Glee Club."
Kurt nodded and agreed that they two of them would go check the theatre out on Saturday afternoon, between the matinee performance and the evening show. Maybe they'd even score free tickets. They were there for business, but that didn't mean they couldn't have fun. Besides, the Nationals competition wasn't until Monday evening, so they had the whole weekend to enjoy themselves.
"Looks like Mr. Shuester has our room keys. Let's go over and get them before we get left behind. We'll talk about Broadway later." Rachel turned on her heel and walked away from him.
Kurt was assigned to a room with Finn, which was a fairly obvious choice. They were brothers now, after all. They got up to their room and while Finn threw his bags on the bed and left to check out the hotel restaurant (he wanted to grab a snack), Kurt unpacked his bags carefully, hanging up various articles of clothing and putting others away in drawers neatly.
"Cleanliness is next to Godliness." He said aloud to no one, setting his four pairs of shoes in the closet under his arranged sweaters and pants.
He reached into his Prada messenger bag to retrieve his toiletry items (he needed to moisturize at night, he couldn't expect to just use soap.) when his hand struck something funny.
"What the in the world? I thought I emptied this before I left." He said, grasping the strange shaped object and withdrawing it from the bag. Turning it over in his hand, his breath caught in his lungs.
It was the cake topper from Dad and Carole's wedding. The one Karofsky stole from him right before he transferred to Dalton.
'How the hell did this get in here?' Kurt's brain reeled. Was Karofsky stalking him again? After the apology, after Prom, after everything that happened? He instinctively looked back into the bag to see if anything else was in there. Sure enough, a folded scrap of yellow legal paper was tucked into the bottom of the bag, next to where the cake topper had been sitting.
With slightly trembling hands, Kurt unfolded the paper and began to read.
Kurt,
Sorry if finding this in your bag freaks you out a little bit. I had Santana plant it there while you all were getting ready to leave for the airport. I just wanted to give this back to you. I shouldn't have taken it from you in the first place…I guess I just did it out of jealousy. I hope you know that my apology the other week was sincere. I'm really sorry about everything that's happened.
By the way, thank you for understanding. Sorry about running out on you at Prom but I'm just…I'm not ready to come out yet. I hope you understand that. Maybe we can talk when you get back. Have a good time in New York, and a good summer. I guess I'll see you back at school.
Good Luck at your competition.
Dave
Kurt just stared at the letter. He read it a second time to be sure that he wasn't hallucinating the whole thing. A tear was stinging at his left eye. He really couldn't believe that Karofsky would do something like this. He immediately felt bad that he didn't run after the boy when he ran out of the Prom. He wiped the tear with the flat of his palm and tucked the note into his pants pocket.
"Thank you, Dave." He whispered to himself, gently putting the cake topper back into his bag, smiling to himself.
