Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am merely playing with the characters of Glee for my own amusement. This story is something that's been clawing at my mind for a little while. Will be multi-chapter, might be slightly AU (I'm not sure yet, I'm just letting it be what it is). I hope that you will enjoy it and let me know by reviewing. I have no beta-reader, just myself and I have been going over what I've got down so far and trying to flesh it out better and make it make more sense. I'm not sure what my updating pattern will be like. It depends on how much the muses give me to work with. With that said, here is the first chapter... a little background to get this shindig started. Enjoy!
Kurt Hummel was sitting in his apartment - it was small, but not quite shoebox sized. There were some days where he still felt like being here in New York was just a dream and at any moment he was going to wake up to the harsh cold reality that had been Lima, Ohio. He didn't want to be so pessimistic but after having been dragged down for so long, it was sometimes hard to accept that this was his life. It had taken forever to finally get out of high school and Lima, but he had managed it. Maybe not the way he'd intended to, but he was free at last and he could honestly say that yes, there was life after high school.
Life after high school was interesting - to say the least. The end of high school had brought about a lot of uncertainty. He hadn't gotten into NYADA and he'd dreamed of the school for so long that he hadn't even looked into any others. He hadn't known it initially, but he'd been very lucky to have a father and a boyfriend who had planned further ahead than he had at the time. He had been sketching and designing the costumes for the New Directions from very early on and with the help of Mercedes and the rest of the glee girls, the ensembles had become tangible reality.
In all honesty, as much as he loved performing, he'd always loved designing things. He'd been sketching and designing for nearly as long as he could remember. First with crayons and whatever blank paper he could get his hands on and then to real sketch books with real tools as he'd gotten older. His mother had been the first one to compliment his ability and had bought him his first book and good pencils.
He still had a few of those old pencils and his old sketch book. He'd sketched things for his mother of course, because she was the most beautiful woman he knew and while some of his earlier attempts had been laughable, those right before she'd gotten really sick had started to show real promise. He had designed mostly for himself after that. Most of the things he wanted to wear were either too hard to find in Ohio, or were too expensive to feasibly buy. So what he couldn't buy, he made and oddly, he made it well.
His skills were exemplary enough that his portfolio had gained him acceptance to Parson's. He couldn't believe it. He was absolutely shocked when his father and Blaine had handed him the acceptance letter and the finished portfolio that had been returned. They had made it look really professional. Obviously they had gone through a lot of effort to do this for him and to keep him out of the loop. He'd been stunned speechless when he opened the letter to see that not only was he accepted but he had been selected to receive a special scholarship that only a small handful of incoming freshmen were awarded every year.
The end of that summer had seen a lot of things happen but the most interesting thing was the week that he and his father spent in New York looking for an apartment so that Kurt could attend school in the fall with nothing to worry about other than his school work. They had actually found the place fairly quickly and the landlady - a sweet grandmotherly woman - had taken a liking to both Hummel men and it was settled so fast that Burt and Kurt had time to actually enjoy New York together. It was good to have some father - son bonding time, considering how truncated that time was going to be.
He'd started school and despite how hard it had been to be social in high school, he'd found himself making friends quickly and relatively easily. He had a few friends that went to NYU, several that went to Parson's of course and even a few that went to other schools around New York. He had met most of them at various coffee joints around the city or in other places he frequented for class reasons. It was such a startlingly refreshing change of pace to be accepted at long last. It was what he'd always wished for and he was so glad that New York was what he'd always imagined it would be.
Despite majoring in fashion design, Kurt had never really stopped performing - and probably never would. His NYU friends were theater geeks and so he had an in there, if they needed extras they would call him and there were several good karaoke places around the campuses so that he could belt a few tunes out when he felt the need. There were also some very good clubs around - not that he frequented them, but it was nice to know that they were around if he wanted to get out and enjoy himself for a while.
Kurt sat there at his small drafting table, looking around the small apartment he called home. It wasn't huge, but it was clean which mattered more. He'd had to leave a lot behind in Lima but most of the objects he didn't really miss. He missed people more and thanks to Skype and various modes of transportation, Kurt didn't have to miss the people in his life quite as badly. As he looked around, he couldn't help but think just how much his life had changed in the two years that had passed since graduation.
He was now halfway through his sophomore year at Parson's and he was at the top of his class. He had more friends than he'd ever dared to dream of having. Life was so different now than it had been that it was a stark contrast when you put his old life next to his new life. He'd changed too, but he couldn't let himself start thinking about that right now or he'd never get anything accomplished today. Not that it seemed like he was going to get much done anyway, but he had to try. He was ahead of most of his work and he intended to keep it that way.
Yet, there are times when no matter how much we want to focus and be productive that it seems like we just aren't meant to. Today was shaping up to be one of those days. He would sit there at his drafting table and try to sketch one of the myriad projects he needed to work on. For a little while, things would go well enough, but then suddenly, his mind would get distracted. He sighed to himself, somewhat resigned, he probably had his overloaded schedule to thank for this.
He hadn't really allowed himself to take a true break in almost two weeks. Between things he was making for classes, things he was making for friends, and his part time job at an upscale boutique, he didn't really have a lot of time. After an hour of sitting there and getting only half of one sketch done, Kurt finally gave himself over fully to the distractions his mind had been giving him all day. If his brain needed a break well then who was he to try and stop it? He moved to the couch and allowed his mind to wander through daydreams and to reflect more on the various changes that had happened since he'd left Lima, Ohio far behind himself.