The plan for Friday evening was to take an evening walk in the park after dinner before they both buried themselves in their separate worlds to get some work done. Blaine had some grading to do, but more importantly, there had been melody flowing through his head all week and now that he'd finally made it to the weekend he was ready to release it and pluck it out on the keyboard that they had set up in the living room. Never really being off the clock, Kurt had a bunch of reports to run for the big staff meeting on Monday, while planning the meeting at the same time. The walk was meant to give Kurt and Blaine a little time with each other before the demands of the real world called on them for the evening. The more they got done tonight, the more time they would have for each other the rest of the weekend. But when the sky grew dark and the tiny drops of rain began to coat New York City, it was time for plan B.

So instead, Kurt and Blaine used the time they would have been walking the streets cuddled on their couch in the living room of their two bedroom apartment, the radio playing softy in the background as the rain fell harder and the soft roar of an early fall thunderstorm echoed through the city.

Kurt Hummel met Blaine Anderson at the beginning of their freshman year of college. Kurt, a fashion student at Parsons School of New Design, had allowed a friend to set him up on a blind date with one of the music students she knew from NYU. The term 'music student' frightened Kurt, but he'd agreed, and when Blaine showed up looking like something from his dreams, with his dark jeans and his maroon cardigan over a black t-shirt, Kurt was instantly drawn to Blaine. It was only a bonus to discover that they had so much in common. It was no wonder why Tina had set them up.

They'd bonded over musical theatre and music in general. Even though Kurt's calling in life was fashion, his love for the magic that happened on a Broadway stage burned bright. And seated outside a little restaurant Kurt and Blaine laughed and sang (much to the chagrin of the patrons around them), for hours until it was late and they both had to get back to their dorms. But as they said goodbye with a kiss, something was certain. They'd bonded over Wicked and Phantom of the Opera and the love of song, but there was something there, something special.

They'd been together ever since.

They'd both been out of college for a little over and year and they'd been living together for almost two. They were happy, Blaine working as an assistant music teacher at a school a few blocks from their apartment, teaching piano three nights a week, and Kurt working inside the offices for as an assistant to one of the most prestigious fashion editors in the country, if not the world. They were doing alright for themselves; they were secure, financially, and Blaine had some family money that he could tap into if he needed it. But they both promised each other they'd make it on their own; without the help of their parents or their families. They were living out their dreams and they wanted no one to credit but themselves.

The topic of marriage had come up a few times, mostly in the abstract and the well-meaning suggestion of Kurt's stepmother. They were about to approach their six-year anniversary and they both knew that one day, they wanted to get married, to each other. But neither of them really made mention of making it something tangible. There were no hidden rings, but they'd get there. They both knew it. When the time was right, they'd get there.

The sound of the rain and the comfort of each other's company led to the decision that whatever work they'd planned on doing tonight: lesson plans, melodies, and reports on leather underwear could wait until tomorrow. They had the whole weekend to get ready for Monday, they should enjoy the time with each other now. Plus there was a What Not to Wear marathon on and it seemed like a night to just be. Together.

A knock on the door a few hours later pulled Kurt from his running internal commentary about the show. Blaine had told him to be quiet and just watch after the second episode, so he'd been trying not to verbalize his many objections to what the supposed experts were doing. When the knock came again, Kurt sat up from where he'd been wrapped up with a half-asleep Blaine and muttered an 'I'll get it' and a 'who the hell could this be' before getting up and greeting their unexpected guest. Kurt slid the door open and came face to face with someone that he hadn't seen in over a year, someone he wasn't too fond of.

Standing in front of Kurt, soaked to the bone, was Rachel Berry. She had been a classmate and a friend of Blaine's during college, but since the first time they'd met, there was always something about her that had gotten on Kurt's last nerve. And even now, her dark hair sticking to her face, her eyes red-rimmed, and two bags in her hand, Kurt couldn't help the extreme dislike for the girl that bubbled up inside of him.

Kurt took in the girl without saying a word until Blaine appeared last behind him.

"Rachel, what's going on?"

Rachel looked up at Blaine and then over at Kurt. Kurt knew that Rachel was a beautiful girl. She was usually put together quite nicely with big hair, elaborate makeup, and outfits that even Kurt would approve of. She was loud and, in Kurt's opinion grating. But the girl standing at his door was a far cry from the usual Rachel Berry. This girl's face was void of makeup, her hair and skin wet from the rain. She looked plain, ordinary, something Kurt had never associated with Rachel. She just looked sad.

"Rachel," Blaine said moving to stand next to Kurt, "Come in. You're soaked."

But Rachel only shook her head, her face so sad and when she spoke her voice was timid and weak, "No, I shouldn't have come here. I don't want to bother you."

"Well, you're already here," Kurt said, the frustration in his voice evident though he'd tried to curb it, to show some compassion towards the girl who clearly looked like she could use some, "You might as well come in."

Kurt stepped aside and Rachel crossed the threshold into the apartment, hesitantly, as if she expected Kurt to change his mind any second and push her out and slam the door in her face.

"Let me talk those," Blaine said reaching for Rachel's bags once she was inside the apartment, "Kurt, can you grab a couple towels?"

Kurt opened his mouth to argue, but closed it quickly. She was Blaine's friend and he may not like her but Rachel was in his apartment, soaking wet and obviously upset. He'd find it in him to play nice with her while she was here. For Blaine. Because it was times like now where Kurt truly thought that Blaine was a better person than he was. Kurt would do anything for his friends, yes, but they were like his family. As far as Kurt knew, Rachel and Blaine hadn't spoken to each other since Blaine had graduated NYU. But despite all of that, Blaine had jumped to Rachel's aid without a single question. He'd be lying if Blaine's kindness didn't make him smile a bit on the way to bathroom to do as Blaine had asked.

When Kurt came back from the bathroom, a couple dry white towels still folded in his hand, Rachel and Blaine were sitting on the same couch where he and Blaine had been cuddled up just minutes before. Rachel sat quietly, her eyes focused on her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She looked up when Kurt entered the room, taking the towels from him with a quiet thank you, then running it through her soaked hair.

Kurt sat down on the arm of the chair nearest to Blaine and waited. The three of them sat in silence for a long while, no one asking questions, no one offering answers. It was beginning to drive Kurt nuts until Blaine finally spoke.

"Rachel," Blaine said softly, "What happened? Are you hurt?"

Rachel sniffed, a few tears fell from her eyes leaving behind more wetness on her already soaked face, "No I'm fine; physically, at least. God, I shouldn't have come here. But I didn't know where else to go and this was the first place I thought of."

"What's going on," Blaine asked again.

"Well, I'm pregnant," Rachel said, a sarcastic laugh escaping through her lips as she put her hand down against her stomach, a tiny glimpse at the Rachel Berry Kurt knew coming to the surface as another batch of tears fell down her face, "And I've lost my apartment and I'm pretty sure I've destroyed my entire life.

When Rachel put her hand down against her stomach, it was the first time either Kurt or Blaine saw that there was a tiny bump protruding beneath Rachel's oversized shirt.

"Oh, wow," Blaine said unable to find other words, "W-whose—"

Rachel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, opening them and looking at Blaine for the first time since she'd started speaking, "Jesse St. James," she huffed, "He's a casting director for an off-off Broadway production that was supposed to be the next big thing. He promised me the leading role; he promised I would be a star. So I dropped out of NYU—"

"You did what?" Blaine said, "You're about to graduate."

"I know," Rachel said, "But you know me; my education came second to being a star. Everything comes second to me becoming a star. He started sleeping together. He was hot and older and he wanted me. He told me he was going to leave his wife—"

"He was married?" Kurt asked incredulously.

"I know," Rachel defended. As much as Kurt disliked Rachel, Rachel disliked Kurt just as much in return, "It wasn't my smartest move. But I really can't change any of it can I?"

Rachel got quiet, her hands going to her belly.

"How far along are you?" Kurt asked.

"Four months," Rachel said, "I told him and he laughed in my face. I told him and he told me that I was ruined. That I should get out of theatre and that he never wanted to see me again."

"What an asshole," Kurt commented surprising even himself. He really didn't like Rachel, but this Jesse St. James idiot sounded like a Grade A Jackass.

"He is," Rachel said, "So that's how I became the unwed mother who ended up at your door."

"What about your dads?" Blaine asked.

"I don't think I could face telling them. I don't think I could look them in the eye and tell them that their little girl, the one who they sacrificed so much for, threw her entire chance of becoming a star out the window for a guy who didn't even care about her. I can't face the disappointed look on their faces."

"Excuse us," Blaine said a beat later, jumping up from his seat on the couch, grabbing Kurt by the hand and dragging him into their bedroom, closing the door behind them.

"What are you doing," Kurt asked in a hushed voice.

"Let her stay," was all that said in response.

"What? Blaine, are you crazy?"

"I don't know. Maybe," Blaine said, "But we can't just let her leave. I know you don't like her very much, and I have no idea why, but she's pregnant and without a place to stay and we happen to have a guest bedroom that is currently vacant."

"No," Kurt countered, "We have a guest bedroom that is currently full of a bunch of things I need for work."

"Which can easily be moved to the living room, or our bedroom, or off the side so it's not in the way."

"Blaine—"

"It's not forever," Blaine explained, "Just until she finds something else. She's being stubborn right now, but eventually she'll get help from her dads. I know it. Kurt, please."

Kurt looked at his boyfriend; Blaine's warm, honey colored eyes were soft as they pleaded with Kurt just the way his words had. Blaine knew that Kurt couldn't say no to that look but it wasn't like he was asking for a dog or a goldfish. Blaine wanted to take in a person, a pregnant person, and one that Kurt wasn't too fond of at that. But underneath his snarky demeanor, Kurt was a human and he had compassion. Even for those he disliked.

Kurt sighed in defeat, "I'll go clean up the guest room. You go tell Rachel she can stay."

Blaine launched himself into Kurt's arms, kissing his boyfriend repeatedly on various parts of his face. And finally against Kurt's lips, "Thank you, Kurt."

"But, Blaine," Kurt said, "This is temporary. For the night; for a couple of nights at most."

"I know," Blaine said kissing Kurt's lips again quickly, "I love you."

Blaine bolted out of the room before Kurt could say anything in response.


Later that night, long after Blaine had fallen asleep, Kurt sat at the kitchen table with a glass of warm milk, trying to coax his body and his mind into a state that would allow him to get some rest. He wasn't sure what was preventing him from drifting off, maybe it was work, maybe it was the pregnant woman sleeping in their guest room; maybe it was something else entirely. But he'd tossed and turned so much that he knew that if he continued, he would surely wake Blaine. So instead he padded to the kitchen, warmed some milk and sat at the kitchen table waiting for answers, or sleep, to come from the silence that surrounded him. He'd just thought about taking out some of the work that he'd avoided earlier in order to get his mind focused on something other than whatever it was that was eating away at him, when he heard soft footsteps behind him.

Kurt turned in his chair to see Rachel, she had showered before bed and now her hair was pulled up on top of her head in a messy buns and she was wearing yoga pants and an oversized sweatshirt. Even in the dim light, Kurt could see that Rachel's eyes were still red-rimmed. He wondered if she'd slept at all or if she'd been crying all night in their guest bedroom.

"I'm just getting some water," Rachel whispered thought Kurt knew that Rachel could begin to sing an aria before Blaine would be woken from his sleep. But there was something about the time of night that called for whispering. As if anything else would disrupt the balance of the entire world.

Kurt just nodded and pointed to the cabinet where they kept the glasses. He turned back to the mug in front of him listening to the water run for a moment from the sink behind him; he wasn't sure what to say, what he could say.

"Kurt," Rachel whispered before falling silent again.

Kurt turned around and saw that Rachel had started to cry again. Kurt didn't move, he didn't say anything. He wasn't sure how to deal with any of this.

"Thank you," Rachel said her voice laced with a sadness that made even Kurt's chest tighten, "I know you and I don't really…get along. And I know letting me stay here was Blaine's idea and you just gave your okay, but thank you," she paused to take a long shaky breath, "My life is kind of a mess right now and I'd like to thank you for giving me somewhere to stay, even if it's only for a little while."

Still at a loss for words, Kurt only nodded. It wasn't sure 'you're welcome' was appropriate for the situation, but he wanted her to know that he'd heard her and that it was okay. Rachel whispered goodnight and padded back to the guest room with her water. Kurt sat at the kitchen table for a few more minutes, the silence returning around him, before he put his mug in the sink and went back to the bedroom. Sliding beneath the covers, Kurt made himself comfortable. A moment later, Blaine rolled over and wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist, still asleep, as he nuzzled into Kurt's neck. Kurt took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A moment later he finally drifted off to sleep.


AN: Thanks for reading guys! I wanted to make sure that I posted the Prologue (From the Autobiography of Rachel Berry) and Chapter 1 (5 Months Until Madeline) close together but going forward, I'm planning on updating every 7-10 days. I've got a lot of this written or outlined so as long as I find the time to write, that shouldn't be a problem.

Please R&R and I'll see you guys soon!

If you want to check me out on all the various social media things, I'm thatgleekychick on both Twitter (where I constantly livetweet while writing) and Tumblr