The surprise birthday breakfast for Sam was a big hit. They all pigged out on the omelettes, pancakes, turkey bacon and fruit salad that Carole had prepared.
"Thank you so much for this, Carole. It was amazing!" Sam said enthusiastically. "I'm sorry that we have to eat and run. I hate that you have to clean after you did so much work."
"Only you and Kurt would be concerned about someone else doing the dishes. It's fine. Just scoot. Have a great day!" Carole ushered the three boys out the door. Kurt and Sam jumped in the Navigator and Finn headed off in his truck to go get Rachel.
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"So. That was a surprise."
"That was the point. I wanted to surprise you. You turned down my offer of a party, but I couldn't let you get away with not celebrating at home at all."
"Well consider me celebrated. Thanks!"
"Just so you know, I'm still leaving my phone off most of the time. With the break up and Rachel's flopped audition, there's just too much drama. I don't have any reason to stay after school, so I'll be ready to go right after Glee unless you need to stay for some reason."
"Nope."
They both hopped out and made their way to their classes.
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The death stares had died down, but he was mostly still being actively ignored by the New Directions. His lack of sharing information had aggravated most of them. But it didn't matter to him. This high school drama was three weeks away from ending and he no longer felt the need to participate in it at all.
He did seek out Santana at lunch though to make sure that his plan to help Puck pass the Government final was still on her agenda. "Hey, San. Slide over and let me sit by you." She squished tighter against Brittany who didn't mind at all. "So are you still going through with my plan tonight? I don't need details. Just are you doing it?"
"Yep." She kept her voice low. "'Operation Pass Gov' is in effect. Everything's been scheduled and he's retaking it at lunch tomorrow. So, we'll know if it's a success by Glee tomorrow afternoon."
"Excellent. I'll make your favorite cookies as your reward if he passes. I'm not sure when I'll get them made, but you know I'm a man of my word." He got up and went to the library for the rest of the lunch period.
He suffered through his two afternoon classes instead of asking for a pass to the library because he couldn't risk missing whatever the teacher might possibly cover that would be important since he was missing school for seven days in a row starting on Monday.
Glee was chaotic. They were back in the auditorium. With Kurt, Sam and several of the other guys only being in the final number, there was a lot of dead time. It was too dark to study and too noisy to listen to anything. Kurt decided that it was the perfect time to sort through his overflowing texts and voicemails. He checked to make sure that none of the texts were from family members and then decided to just delete everything else unread that he had in his inbox. He didn't even want to know what they said. It didn't make any difference anymore. He checked his email and deleted everything since last Wednesday that wasn't from a family member or the university. A swift end to chaos. He didn't want to read apologies or nosy questions. He'd deal with the voicemails later.
Finally it was time to practice their final number. He was still paired with Blaine for a brief featured duet, four-person and six-person highlight in the song. No solo. Favoritism. After years of it, he was just fed up. He was really hoping that the school he had chosen wasn't like high school at all. He just turned on his best acting skills and performed his part. Surely, any school that would offer him a full scholarship didn't intend to push him to the bottom and offer him nothing. It gave him hope.
He and Sam booked it to the Navigator and avoided talking with anyone. They arrived home quickly and Kurt started toward the stairs. "I'll meet you in the Navigator at 5:00."
"Got it."
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Sam headed down to the basement and Kurt went up to his room. He got out his study schedule and looked through it. He started compiling all of the materials and books that he would need to take with him to Sebastian's. He also pulled out pajamas, underwear, socks, and packed them up with his travel moisturizing and toiletry kit, adding in a couple of things since he'd be swimming. He decided that he'd just wear some of Sebastian's trunks that way he wouldn't have to bring home anything wet. They were close in size. It would be fine. He moved to his closet and picked out four outfits, two really casual and two more like what he normally wore in case they did actually leave Sebastian's house and go out somewhere. He managed to get everything packed up with a couple of minutes to spare. He looked at himself in the mirror and decided to just go as he was. He grabbed Sam's gift, put it in his satchel and headed down to the Navigator, where he found Sam already waiting for him.
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"Adventure awaits. Let's go," Kurt said as he got into the driver's seat. "I'll drive there and you can drive back, if that's okay with you. I didn't get enough sleep last night and I'd rather not drive back."
"No problem. I put the restaurant's address in while I was waiting. We're good to go."
They spent the drive talking. Kurt told Sam about his newfound friendship with Sebastian. And Sam, being Sam, just accepted him at his word.
"If you say he's a good guy, then I believe you."
"Thanks. That means a lot to me." He went on to explain the weekend plans. Sam was good with the whole thing.
"I'll call when I'm about an hour away, like you said. It'll work just fine. I think it's great that you can escape the Rachel drama show. Did you hear her crazy plan today? She and Tina are planning to drive to wherever that judge is going to be tomorrow to ask her for another audition."
"Oh, no. You're joking."
"Nope, not at all. I heard them talking about it at lunch."
"That is not going to end well."
"Probably not, but you know Rachel. She thinks she can badger her way into getting whatever she wants."
"Yeah, I know. That started long before you transferred here. She's always been Mr. Schue's favorite. Well, her and Finn."
"There. Over on the right. It looks like the parking lot is behind."
Kurt saw the turn off and pulled into the lot. They got out and went in.
"Wow. This place is cool," Sam said as he looked around. "Pretty fancy for Findlay. I'm glad I picked this place."
"Me too."
They ordered several smaller dishes to share since neither of them had ever had Japanese food. Both of them were pretty adventurous and open to trying new things and they ended up liking everything they ordered.
Kurt reached down to his bag and pulled out Sam's present and put it on the table.
"Kurt, you weren't supposed to get me a gift."
"Too late. I had already had it before you told me not to get you anything."
Sam looked down at it and smiled. "Well, thanks."
"Open it."
"Okay." Sam unwrapped the box carefully, not wanting to destroy the beautiful wrapping paper. He opened the box. "Oh, wow, a flash drive. How unusual. What is on this flash drive?"
"Well, I made a deal with Mrs. Langston last year after I saw your first painting in the art room. I take art classes too, you know. I knew you were really good. So, I made a deal with her that she would let me photograph all of your artwork so that you could use it for a portfolio some day. The flash drive has high-resolution images of all of your artwork from the last two years. I burned a back up copy to a couple of DVDs at home. You can give one of the DVDs to your parents and they can see all of your artwork for themselves this weekend."
Sam started to cry. "What? How?" he asked. "Never mind, you're Kurt, who can perform the unimaginable. You were at Dalton half the year last year."
"I ended up having to get Mrs. Langston to take a few of them when I couldn't make it to the school to do it myself. She's already written a letter of recommendation for you for college. You can pick it up tomorrow. She told me it was ready when I took the last photographs yesterday."
"I had taken some photos with my phone, but they were not that great. I can't believe you did this. There's no way to thank you enough for this."
"There's no need for unending thanks. You're a fantastic artist. I know you lost some of your work when the bank locked you out of your house last spring. I didn't even know a bank could do that."
"Neither did we, obviously."
"At least you have the photographs so if any of the pieces that got lost were ones that you would want to submit in a portfolio, you'll have those to submit."
Sam stood up and pulled Kurt up into a hug. "You're the best, you know that."
Kurt just laughed and said, "Let's get out of here before we miss the beginning of the movie."
Sam put the flash drive back in the box and handed it back to Kurt for safekeeping in his satchel. They made their way to the movie and Kurt was surprised at how much he ended up enjoying it. Sam drove them back home. He managed to grab Kurt again on the way in and hugged him again. "Thanks for a most awesome birthday."
"You are most welcome. Come on." He grabbed Sam's arm and pushed him in the door. As they walked in, they saw Burt and Carole sitting on the couch. They both got up and moved toward the boys.
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"Dad, you're back. I didn't think I'd see you until the morning."
"Happy birthday, Sam," Burt said patting Sam on the shoulder. "I'm sorry I missed the birthday breakfast this morning. I hope you had a good day."
"It was awesome." Sam headed up the stairs and Kurt stepped closer to his dad to give him a hug.
"Good night, Sam," Carole said.
"So, Carole tells me that there has been a lot going on while I was gone."
"Yeah, that would be an understatement. I'm assuming that she told you about my weekend plans."
"She did and I can't say that I'm happy to hear that you're going to be gone all weekend, but I do understand how important those exams are next week and I know that you won't get much studying done here. I'm moving Friday night dinner to Monday next week since all of you will be in Chicago on Friday. No guests. That should prevent Rachel drama."
"Okay, Dad. Monday dinner. I'll go change my schedule and put that in. I have stuff left to do for tomorrow. I'm sorry, but I have to get upstairs and get it done. If I had known you were going to be home early, I would have tried harder to get it done earlier today."
"That's okay. I understand. Go get your work done."
Burt turned to Carole, "He works too hard for a kid."
"I know."
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Kurt was up early the next morning and had already packed all of his stuff in the backseat of the Navigator by the time Sam came down to eat breakfast. "I'm ready when you are," he told Sam.
They left for school. It was the last day before his seven day break from school and the eleven most crazy days of his life. A weekend with Sebastian, three AP exams, a trip to Chicago, including the Passport office, Nationals, then back for two more exams. Then, he could breathe easy with only his McKinley finals left before graduation.
He reminded Sam, "Remember to go see Mrs. Langston to pick up your recommendation letter and let's meet at Miss Pillsbury's office at lunch to see about getting you out of having to attend classes the week that the seniors have off before graduation. You and I are going to Cedar Point that week, Monday I think. No getting out of it," he teased.
"Of course. It would be just like me to weasel my way out of a trip to a theme park. What torture," he said mockingly.
"See you at lunch."
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Sam went straight to Mrs. Langston's room. She looked up from her desk as he entered. "Sam," she said. "I have that letter right here. Kurt told me a little about your plans. I'm so glad that you are going to be able to get more art training. You've been a great student and you're really talented." She handed him the sealed envelope. "Kurt has a lot of faith in you too. He was such a sweetie to come up with that idea to photograph all of your artwork. I was glad to fill in for him when he couldn't make it."
"Thanks for believing in me. I'm looking forward to my future for the first time in quite a while. And yes, Kurt's a great friend."
She nodded. And Sam walked out the door to make it to his first class on time.
Kurt sludged through his morning classes, bored out of his mind and trying to look focused while thinking about the weekend. "Indoor saltwater pool. Buying plane tickets to Europe for your son's friend that you've never met." Kurt thought. "How much money must Sebastian's dad have? I bet he lives in a mansion." He forced himself to reality of the classroom, but it only lasted briefly. "But a mansion devoid of interaction. Clearly his dad cares on some level, but he's been away from his mom all year living with someone who pays no attention to him." It would definitely be an interesting weekend.
Lunch finally arrived. Kurt and Sam spent 20 minutes persuading Miss Pillsbury to grant Sam excused absences for the last four days of school since there would be absolutely nothing for him to do since his classmates wouldn't be in attendance those days.
They met up again in Glee, which was a madhouse since they decided to have a dress rehearsal today in case any of their outfits needed to be tailored. Kurt had managed to get Tina to agree to do any work that needed done since he had too many things on his plate already. He didn't really tell her the whole truth, but he used the fact that senior finals were the week they got back and he had a lot of studying to do. Both were true, but he wasn't worried about his McKinley finals. Kurt slipped away and cornered Santana. "Well? Do I owe you a batch of red velvet cookies or not?"
"You owe me two. Puck got a B on that test."
Kurt picked her up and spun her around. "Amazing! See what can happen when you use your powers for good, not evil. I'll make you a batch of red velvets and the other batch will be snickerdoodles because that's what Britt loves. I don't know how much help she was, but you love her so she gets cookies too."
"Put me down," she protested half-heartedly. She was smiling too much to mean it.
"Spin me too, Kurt," Brittany requested in her childlike voice.
"Okay, fine. I'll spin you too. But just you." He spun her around and she laughed. "Are you coming to my dinosaur Prom?"
Kurt looked perplexed. Obviously, he hadn't been paying attention at some point in time. "I'm not sure, Britt. Do we have to dress up as dinosaurs?"
"No, silly. We're all going to wear fancy clothes."
"Okay, then I'll think about it." He already had two tickets, but he didn't know what he was going to do with them, now that he and Blaine weren't together anymore.
"Kurt!" He spun toward where he heard his name called.
"Coming."
He moved swiftly out the door to follow Mercedes to where the costumes were being fitted by Tina. He put his on and it fit fine.
"Oh, good. Yours fits. Next," Tina called out.
Mercedes left to go get Joe.
Kurt redressed and went back to the choir room, passing Mercedes and Joe along the way.
Sam had gone before Kurt. Kurt looked around for Mr. Schuester. "Hey, Mr. Schue, don't forget that I won't be here for Glee on Monday. I'll be here Tuesday though. Sam and I have tried our costumes on. Can we go ahead and leave?"
"Sure. See you Tuesday."
Kurt found Sam and told him that Mr. Schue said they could leave. They both stopped by their lockers and then headed home.
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Kurt followed Sam to his room and started talking while Sam was packing up his stuff for Kentucky. "Sorry all of those extra boxes are in the back. You can just put these boxes and your stuff in the back seat this time."
"Hey, it's not a big deal. I don't have that much to take with me."
"I wanted to talk to you before Finn gets home. You know I told you that I'm friends with Sebastian now."
"Yeah."
"Well, he's taking me to France after graduation."
"What?"
"It's kind of a long story. But I was thinking that your parents might really enjoy you spending those three weeks with them since you won't be there much this summer and then we're moving. I'm going to be gone from the 28th to June 17th. That will still give us three weeks here before we go to Connecticut."
"That's a good idea. I'll talk to them about it this weekend. You'll still be able to talk with my parents this weekend, right? Even though you're going to Sebastian's?"
"Yes, of course. How about 10:00 tomorrow evening? That way Stevie and Stacey will already be in bed."
"That'll work. Call me. That way you don't have to have your phone on interrupting your studying."
"Don't remind me of the studying. I better do well on these exams. I've lost a bunch of hours working at the garage the last couple of weeks by not going in and studying instead. After the second round of tests next week, I'm going to have to work double shifts to make up for it. I traded Bill so he could take a vacation that week."
"I know what you mean. I traded with someone to get last weekend off because I was going to go to Kentucky, but changed my mind last minute. And then I had to get someone else to trade with me for this weekend since I'm going this weekend instead." I'm going to have to take any hours that I can get to make up for it. I need all the money I can get for our move. I don't want you to think it's up to you to pay for everything."
"I know, Sam. You're not that kind of person. Hopefully some of your co-workers will take you on your offer to work their shifts. With finals and proms coming up, I'm sure that there will be people who will want off."
"Yeah, I hope so. Speaking of Prom, I heard that Quinn wanted Finn to run with her for prom King and Queen."
"Oh, my God. I hope not. Rachel's already a disaster waiting to happen. If Finn runs with Quinn, she is going to go into full meltdown mode."
"Who would run with her if he didn't? She'd never run with Puck. She and Mike aren't really close. There's no other Glee seniors. Although I also heard that in a bold, in-your-face move, Brittany and Santana are running together. Rick the Stick is running with Missy Gunderson."
"What about Jeremy?"
"Who's Jeremy?"
"Jeremy Brown. He's one of the senior Cheerios. One of the lifters. He's good looking. They've worked together a lot. I'm going to go call Quinn right now."
"I already put my stuff for the weekend in the Navigator. Just put your stuff in when you're done and we'll be able to leave right after dinner. We're meeting Sebastian at 7:00, but please don't say anything at dinner that gives anything away about me going anywhere but to Kentucky with you. Finn doesn't know about the AP exams and he certainly doesn't need to know that I'm going to Sebastian's. Rachel would have a cow. 'You're spending time with the enemy, Kurt'," he said in a Rachel-esque voice. "I can hear it now."
"Yeah, no need to start that war. See ya at dinner."
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Kurt wasted no time in calling Quinn.
"Tell me it's not true."
"Kurt, you're not making any sense. What am I supposed to tell you isn't true?"
"You didn't actually ask Finn to run for Prom King with you, did you?"
"How did you hear about that?"
"Never mind how I heard. Just answer me."
"Well, I was considering it."
"Well, stop considering it. Are you insane? Rachel just choked her audition to the only school she applied to. And you are thinking of asking HER boyfriend to run for King with you?"
"Well, I can't think of anyone else. Mike and I aren't close and he's not really all that popular anyway."
"Jeremy Brown."
"Who? Oh…" Quinn paused. "He's cute. Is he a senior?"
"Yes. And he's popular and most importantly he's NOT Rachel's boyfriend."
"Does he have a girlfriend?"
"That's your job to figure out. Ask him to Prom. Find out. I have to go. I have to face family dinner at my house, featuring the one and only Rachel Berry."
"Fun, fun, fun."
"You, my dear, have a very twisted sense of fun. But I'm due at the table soon. Call Jeremy. His number should be on the Cheerios rosters from the last four years. Good luck."
Kurt hung up and went to find his dad to have the talk that had been waiting to happen.
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Kurt found him in the garage, which provided the privacy they needed and Kurt could keep an eye on the door in case it opened. He explained everything that had taken place with Sebastian. Burt was still unsure as to why Sebastian's dad would just pay for an expensive ticket for someone he didn't even know. Kurt explained that Sebastian already has everything he could ever want and he always has because his dad just buys it. And Sebastian wanted to take Kurt to France and in his dad's mind, that's that. Sebastian wanted it, so he'd get it for him. Burt still didn't understand that type of parenting, but he had already agreed and he just asked if it would be possible to speak to Sebastian's mother to make sure that was actually okay with her for Kurt to spend three weeks at her house.
Kurt called Sebastian and asked him to have his mother call Burt to verify that she was okay with everything. A few minutes later, Burt's phone rang and he spoke with Sebastian's mother for a few minutes and hung up.
"Okay, then. It's fine. She knows you're coming and she actually sounded really excited about it." Kurt hugged Burt and left to go back in to help Carole finish up dinner.
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Kurt helped Carole finish plating the food on the serving platters while Sam set the table. They finished quickly and everyone was seated. It was shockingly quiet considering that Rachel usually filled any void with rambling. She didn't say much of anything during the whole meal, really only answering direct questions.
When everyone had finished. Sam and Kurt cleared the table and washed the dishes, while everyone else had gone into the family room to decide on the evening's activities.
When Sam and Kurt entered to tell Burt and Carole goodbye, Rachel was surprised. "Aren't you two staying for the movie?"
Sam responded, "Nope, headed down to Kentucky for the weekend."
He and Kurt left before Rachel had the time to ask about where Kurt was going.
Sam drove and Kurt talked. "I called Quinn. I hope I talked some sense into her. Even if I don't go to Prom, I don't want the drama that would be inevitable from a Finn/Quinn Prom royalty campaign. I mean Jesse and Finn getting tossed out last year and me getting elected Prom Queen is enough Prom drama to last a lifetime."
"I don't really think I want to go. I mean I can't think of anyone I'd want to invite as a date. I don't hate the idea of us going as friends because you are my best friend, but I think one Prom at McKinley is enough for me."
"Well, then I'll try to sell my tickets. Finn is always such a procrastinator. I bet he hasn't bought tickets yet since it's not until two weeks from now. I'm going to call him quickly before we get to McDonald's."
"Hey, Finn. Did you buy Prom tickets yet?"
"Are they already on sale?"
"Yes. They went on sale two weeks ago."
"Oh. Well, I didn't know. So, no, I don't have tickets yet."
"Perfect. Don't buy any at school. You can buy mine from me."
"Um, okay. That works. I'll give you the money when you get back."
"Excellent. Good night."
"Night, dude."
"Well, that's done. Tickets sold. Maybe you can pick up extra hours that night and I'll work on packing for my trip." Sam pulled into the McDonald's lot and parked.
"Well, I'll see you Sunday. Call when you're about an hour outside Lima and I'll have Sebastian drive me back here."
"Will do. Study hard."
"Drive safe."
"See ya Sunday."
Sebastian walked up to the Navigator and Kurt handed him one of his bags, grabbed his other bag and his satchel, and began following Sebastian to his car.
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The car ride to Sebastian's house started out quiet. Sebastian pressed the button and started the CD back up that he had been listening to on the way to picking Kurt up.
Kurt starting singing along, "La Madone au nord, Et le lac se dessine" Sebastian joined in. When the song finished, Sebastian paused the CD.
"You like Julien Doré? Who else do you listen to?"
"Sniper sometimes, Zaz, Noir Désir", Kurt paused.
"Sing something from Zaz."
"Okay."
"Donne-moi une suite au Ritz, je n'en veux pas! Des bijoux de chez Chanel, je n'en veux pas! Donnez-moi une limousine, j'en ferais quoi. Offrez-moi du personnel, j'en ferais quoi? Un manoir a Nuefchatel, ce n'est pas pour moi. Offrez-moi la Tour Eiffel, j'en ferais quoi? Je veux d'l'amour, d'la joie, de la bonne humeur." Sebastian started singing along with the chorus, then let Kurt take the verse each time.
"Well, you are just full of surprises all the time," he said as he turned into a long driveway.
"Wow. It's as massive as I had imagined."
"And it's even bigger when you're all alone. I'm glad you came over. Let's go in."
They each grabbed a bag and Kurt carried his satchel. They walked up to the door and Sebastian opened it. "Follow me."
They went up a beautiful staircase and then down a long hall. Sebastian led Kurt into a beautifully decorated guest room. "Just put your stuff over here and I'll show you around if you want." Kurt put the bags he was carrying on the bed next to the one Sebastian had put down. "Through here is the bathroom. Feel free to use anything you need." Sebastian turned and led him back into the hall. "I put you in the room closest to mine, which is at the end of this hall," indicating which room was his. "I'll show you if you want." Kurt nodded and followed Sebastian down the hallway.
When Kurt entered the room, he was shocked by how many books Sebastian owned. "You have your own library," he remarked. He continued to look around, not sure what he was expecting, but being surprised anyway. That playboy persona that Sebastian had donned had given Kurt a totally false impression of the real Sebastian.
"You like it? Sebastian said in English in his best Beast voice, "It's yours."
Kurt laughed, "You are a nerd and a bookworm, not a playboy."
"You've figured me out. I definitely own WAY more books than porn. Does that surprise you?"
"It would have two weeks ago, but now, not so much," he laughed. "I have to readjust my view of who you are. Have you read all of these books?"
"Yes. I buy a book and actually read it. Then I order more." He said very matter-of-factly. "It's been a long ten months in this backwoods place."
"It's been a long 18 years in this backwoods place."
"Touché. I don't know how you survived, to be honest."
"Sometimes, I wonder the same thing. So, are you taking any other AP exams besides Psych?"
"Art History, English Lit, US History, French Language and Culture, English Language and Composition, Spanish Language, and Spanish Literature. Oh, I forgot Music Theory. What about you?"
"I took English Lit, English Language and Culture, French Language and Culture, and US History last year. This year, I'm taking some of the same ones that you are. I already mentioned Calculus. Then I have Art History, Music Theory, US Government and Politics, and Psychology. I know that the Music Theory test probably won't get me any credit at the school I'm going to, but I'm not sure. So, I'm going to go ahead and take it anyway."
"If you don't mind me being super nosy, where did you get the money to take so many tests?"
"I work at my dad's garage. I told you I was a certified mechanic. I make decent money. I'm on the payroll like the rest of his employees. I usually work 10-15 hours a week. I pay for my own clothes, my car insurance, my phone plan, and I saved up to pay for the AP textbooks and the tests. I've been saving for a little post graduation summer fun and for my move in July, stuff like deposits and maybe a U-Haul."
"You are defying all of the preconceived notions I had of you as much as I surprised you with my nerdiness and bookwormish ways."
"Speaking of all the books, is that what you want to study in college?"
"Sort of. I think I want to study comparative lit. I'm fluent in Spanish because that's what I studied starting when I was eight as a foreign language when I lived in France. I spent the summer in Spain when I was 15 on an exchange program. So, I want to keep studying Spanish and maybe learn another language, but I haven't decided what yet. Eventually, I want to be a professor."
"Wow, that playboy image is fading quickly."
"Good. I've only ever had the one boyfriend and I told you how badly that went."
"Why did you hang out at Scandals?"
"What else is there to do? I don't drink, but I like to dance. It was just something to do to get out of the house on the weekends. I board at Dalton during the week, but part of the deal was that I would spend my weekends here. But my dad would be gone sometimes, and I'd go out for a while. I never got drunk and I always came home before he got back."
"Rule-following, book-reading, polite and actually fun to be around. Who would have thought?"
"Down-to-earth, hardworking, drywall-hanging, car-repairing and fun to be around. Who would have thought?"
"Touché. Why don't you finish your tour before it gets too late for us to get any studying done tonight?"
"Well, follow me then." Sebastian led him back down the stairs. "Over there is the kitchen. If you wake up during the night or just want something to eat at any point in time, the pantry's at the end near the fridge. Just help yourself to whatever you want. There are tons of other rooms down here, but I'm not sure that you'll need any of them. The pool's at the back of the house. We'll swim tomorrow."
"Is your dad home? Does he even know I'm here?"
"Yeah. He has a suite on the other side of the house. He knows you're here. Whether he comes out at any point in time, your guess is as good as mine."
"Oh, here. Type in your address and phone number. I told Carole I'd send it to her once we got here." Sebastian took the phone, did as he was asked and handed the phone back. "So, back upstairs to hit the books?" Sebastian went into the kitchen for a minute and poured both of them a large glass of water and then went back up the stairs. Kurt followed.
"I figured I'd save us a trip down later," handing Kurt one of the glasses. "See you in the morning. If you need anything, you know where I'll be."
"Good night, Sebastian. Thanks for letting me stay here."
"My pleasure."
Kurt showered, moisturized, and got his pajamas on before he pulled out all of his books and put them on the desk. He pulled out his Calculus study guide and his Psych notes and decided to start with the Psych notes. He'd hit the Calculus hard in the morning after he was good and awake and highly caffeinated. He studied for a couple of hours and went to sleep.
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Kurt awoke more rested than he had anticipated. He'd had no problem sleeping in the guest room, which surprised him a bit. He got up and went downstairs in search of coffee.
"Well, if it isn't my bed-headed guest," Sebastian laughed. "I now have proof positive that you are human. I've never seen you with a single hair out of place. And in plaid pajama pants with a Hummel Tires and Lube t-shirt. Definitely, not the height of fashion."
"Shush you. Is there coffee?" Kurt asked.
"Right here in my hand. Made just the way you like it."
"You're an angel. Even after insulting me."
"It's just nice to see you in your ruffled state for once."
"Well don't get used to it. You're amongst a small minority that's ever seen me this way."
"I'm honored," he said as he bowed deeply.
"Oh, hush," Kurt laughed. "You're as bad as Sam."
"You mention him a lot and you said he lives with you. You said his story didn't end as well as mine. What did you mean by that?"
"Most of this is public knowledge at McKinley, so I'll tell you. Anything that's not public knowledge, I need you to keep between us."
Sebastian nodded.
"Last year was Sam's first year at McKinley. His family had lived in Tennessee before. They were financially stable and Sam had attended an all-boys school there. His dad lost that job and took one in Lima. They were okay at first. They bought a house when they moved here. But six months later, his dad lost his job again. They tried to stay afloat, but the bank foreclosed on their house. The bank just showed up one day in late March and locked them out of their house. Everything inside was just gone. They moved into a cheap motel and Sam started delivering pizzas because his dad hadn't been able to find another job. They held out for two months, but his dad finally got an offer for a job in northern Kentucky. So, they left. Sam hated it there and the only job he could get that paid enough was stripping in a club."
"That's really sad. He's not old enough to strip, is he?"
"No, but he lied and I guess the club didn't care enough to actually check."
Sebastian nodded.
Kurt continued. "We really missed him and wanted him back with us for our senior year. Finn and Rachel went to Kentucky and asked his parents if he could come back to Ohio and live with us. They agreed. He got a job here again, working at a family-oriented diner in Lima. He's super sweet and good with kids. He makes good tips. He sends money back to his parents every month still. I pay for him to be on my car insurance and I pay for his phone. He keeps enough back for a small amount of spending money. He doesn't make as much as he did stripping, but he's still does what he can to help his family. He figures it breaks even since he's not living there anymore and eating their food."
"I don't see how his story is like mine."
"I'm getting there. He came back to Lima to finish his senior year with us, but he came back too late to take the OGTs in the fall. He's dyslexic and he didn't pass them the fall of his junior year and they had moved to Kentucky before the summer retakes. But no one seemed to realize this until this spring when Miss Pillsbury surprised him by telling him that he wouldn't graduate with us one day when she called him into her office. You can imagine how upset he was. It was too late to go back to Kentucky. There was no way to take the OGTs. He was stuck. So, now he has enough credits to graduate, but since he hasn't passed the OGTs, he won't be walking with us at graduation."
"What's he going to do?"
"Well, this is the part that no one knows."
Sebastian nodded in understanding.
"Sam is going to go with me this summer. He's moving in with me. I'm moving to a state without high school exit exams. He's going to go to a really cool high school that offers a lot of arts classes and is on a college campus. He's already got enough credits to graduate, so he'll take as many of the amazing art classes as he can and maybe try out a couple of college classes. He'll graduate next spring. Then as resident high school graduate, he'll be eligible for this cool program that will allow him to get half-price tuition at some local colleges. With as low as his parents' income is, he'll be eligible for grants to cover the other half."
"You are amazing. I know I keep saying it, but it's true. I just don't think you realize how amazing you are."
Kurt blushed and ignored Sebastian's statement. "My dad is going to cover $300 a month of our expenses, which is what he figures he's spending on us living at home. So, Sam will get a job and I've already got a mechanic's job lined up to start in July. We'll be able to cover the cost of the apartment I found. We'll have to be frugal, but we're used to that. So, that's the story."
"When will you tell me where you're going?"
"I'm not sure. I'm not used to having friends, other than Sam, that can keep secrets. It'll take some time to trust you."
"That's fair. I haven't given you much reason so far."
"When exactly are you leaving for France?"
"Graduation is the 19th. Mom is flying in and back the same day. She has no interest in being in Ohio any longer than necessary. My ticket back is for the 22nd, an overnight flight. Why?"
"Well, it's been a long time since I've done anything with Nick and Jeff. Are you friends with anyone else at Dalton?"
"Just Thad."
"Okay. They all live around here, more or less."
Sebastian nodded.
" Sam and I are going to Cedar Point on the 21st. Let's see if Nick, Jeff, and Thad can go. Do you have Thad's number? "
Sebastian nodded.
"I'll call Nick and Jeff. You call Thad."
They both pulled out their phones. Sebastian walked out of the room so they could both talk without interrupting each other. When he finished, he came back in and waited for Kurt to end his call.
"We'll work out the details. We can all fit in my Navigator. Yes, I'm excited too. I have to go Jeff. I have AP exams to study for. Yeah, see you soon."
"Sorry, Jeff was a little over-excited. It's been too long since I've seen him and Nick. So, what did Thad say?"
"He said 'sure'. So, it's a date. We'll all go ride roller coasters until we're too dizzy to walk," he said and laughed.
"Okay. Let's find something to eat and get to work. How about three hours of studying, then we swim?"
"Good plan. How about cereal?"
"I can live with that as long as we have something more substantial for lunch."
They each chose a cereal, ate a bowl of it and headed back upstairs to study more.
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Sebastian knocked on the guest room door and then opened it.
Kurt looked up and said, "If I never had to see another limits equation, I would be a happy man."
"I'll take your word for that. Math isn't my strong suit. I'm in Precalc/Trig this year. I'm 100% certain that I will never need to know the sine or cosine of any triangle, ever."
Kurt laughed, "Probably not."
"So, lunch. What sounds good? We'll get ready and swim and I'll order something to be delivered. If you want, we can actually cook tonight. Something French."
"How about Chinese for lunch then?"
"Sounds good."
"I'll have Sha cha chicken, no rice, two spring rolls, please?"
"As you wish. Did you bring swim trunks or do you need to borrow some?"
"I thought I'd just wear some of yours, if that's okay."
"It's fine. I'll go grab a pair. Be right back." He came back wearing swim trunks and handed Kurt a pair of Speedos.
"Um…" Kurt blushed.
"Just kidding." He turned around and grabbed the swim trunks he had dropped right outside the door on his way in and tossed them to Kurt.
"Speedos? Really?"
Sebastian laughed. "I was on the swim team in France. No baggy swim trunks allowed in competition."
Kurt slipped into the adjoining bathroom and changed quickly. Sebastian ordered the food while Kurt changed. When Kurt reentered the room Sebastian started talking again.
"You shouldn't laugh at my Speedos. I saw you in those short shorts you had to wear for the National Cheerleading competition." He started walking down the stairs and Kurt followed him.
"Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me of that. Coach nagged me about my pears hips for months."
"Pear hips? Not that I've seen."
"We had weekly weigh-ins and we had to maintain whatever weight she determined was suitable. She's a lot crazy. Definitely the one faculty member at McKinley that you should never, ever cross."
"Why did you join then?" Sebastian asked as he got into the pool. Kurt sat on the edge.
"She offered to feature me on vocals in competition. I was never anything but the background singer to fill in whatever gap was needed musically. I wanted a chance to shine. So, I took it. I almost rejoined this year, but I decided that taking the AP exams would be a better use of my time in the long run since 'cheerleader' isn't on my possible future careers list."
"You are the most focused and practical person I've ever met."
"Spend 18 years here instead of ten months and you'd have become just as focused as I am."
"I can see that." Sebastian changed the subject back to Kurt's singing. "Why were you never featured? Countertenors are rare and you have a lovely tone and a huge range. You could have easily sung a tenor lead with Mercedes or Tina. She did a great job on lead at Sectionals last fall. You had a couple of lines and that's more than I had seen in videos of other competitions. Do you have a lead at Nationals?"
"Tina does have a lovely voice. And no, I do not have a lead at Nationals. We are singing three songs, pretty much the same pattern as Regionals. One is an all-girls, Treble Tones number with six New Directions girls and six Cheerios. The second song is a ballad sung by Rachel, with back up of three girls and three guys, and I'm not one of them. The third song is our group number. I have a few measures of duet lines with Blaine, and then a couple of shared lines with three people, then five people. No solo, not even any solo lines."
"So, you and Rachel are the only two pursuing music degrees, you are good enough to get a full scholarship to an 'as yet unknown to me' music school on the East Coast and you have no solo at Nationals?"
"Exactly."
"And you were too 'girly' to play Tony in West Side Story?"
"Bingo."
"Did someone record your Tony audition? Do you have the video?"
"Yes. It's on my phone. Why?"
"I just want to watch it."
Sebastian swam over toward Kurt and put on his best beggy puppy eyes face. He put his hands together like he was praying.
"Please?" he pleaded in a high-pitched voiced, batting his eyes.
"Okay, fine," Kurt grumped back. He got up from the edge of the pool and moved towards where he had laid his phone.
Sebastian climbed out of the pool, grabbed a towel and sat next to Kurt on the chaise. Kurt pulled up the video and Sebastian watched it.
"That scaffolding was really cool. Singing while hanging upside down? You were dressed like Tony. There was nothing girly about that performance. Just because that's a Streisand song, doesn't make singing it girly. And the sai swords, super hot."
Kurt blushed.
"What's with you and the blushing every time I say anything nice?"
Kurt turned the phone back off, put the phone on the nearby table, and they moved back to the pool. This time they both got in.
"It's not like I do it on purpose. I guess it's just because it's so unusual for me to hear anything nice about myself?"
"Well, I'm going to do my best to train you out of that by the time you get back from France. Taking a compliment well is just as important as taking criticism well. I spent too much time criticizing you not realizing that I was just pouring gasoline onto flames. It's time to hit you with a fire extinguisher for the next month or two."
"It might take longer than a month to undo 12 years of flames. People have been calling me names and insulting me since before my mom died."
"Well, I consider that to be a challenge, Mr. Hummel." Kurt laughed at him and splashed him.
"Oh, you're going to get it now."
Sebastian slid under the water and grabbed Kurt by his feet and pulled him under and then swam away. Kurt came up for air, looking around for Sebastian.
"I surrender. You win."
"You gave up too easily. I know you better than that. I don't accept your surrender because I know it's insincere." Sebastian slipped back under the water and swam away again.
They spent the next half hour swimming around and splashing each other. Sebastian called for a truce when he had to get out to go get the food. He brought it back to the pool area and sat it on a table with a couple of chairs next to it. Kurt climbed out and dried off and sat down across from Sebastian to eat.
"This looks great. What did you order? That doesn't look familiar."
"It's the chef's special at the place I ordered from. It's spicy. You want to try some?"
Kurt used his chopsticks and took some of Sebastian's stir-fry.
"Oh, that's good. But you're right, it's spicy." Sebastian stood up and walked a short distance to a mini fridge that Kurt hadn't noticed.
"Water, juice, Coke?"
"Water." Sebastian grabbed two bottles of water and placed them on the table as he sat back down with Kurt. "Thanks. This has been a lot of fun. I haven't been this relaxed in… I'm not even sure how long. Too long."
"I'm glad you're having fun. So, we'll eat, go back to studying and then break again around 6:00? I've got the stuff we'll need for dinner and we can cook."
"Sounds great."
They finished eating, Sebastian collected the trash and disposed of it. He laid the towels out on a rack. Kurt followed him back upstairs. Once he was in his room, he showered and got redressed in the casual clothes he had brought - some shorts and a t-shirt. He was thinking as he got dressed. Why was he so comfortable dressing down around Sebastian? How had things changed so quickly that he didn't feel constantly scrutinized? He let his questions go. He moved back to the desk and set himself back to focusing on Calculus for the next three hours. He got out one of his practice tests and got started on it.
Three hours later, time was up for the practice test and before he even got it graded, Sebastian was knocking on the door. "Come in. I'm grading my practice test. You can help if you want. You can grade the multiple choice part, while I do the free response questions." They both worked on the grading.
"Well?"
"You missed 2 out of 45."
"I got the free response answers correct."
"Sounds like you're ready to me. Let's go cook."
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As they entered the kitchen, Kurt noticed cubed eggplant that had already salted, allowed to drain and then dried off. He saw other vegetables out on the counter that had already been washed.
"When did you prep the eggplant?"
"Before I started studying again, while you were in the shower."
"So what are we making?"
"Ratatouille. Super easy and fast to make. Some other time, maybe we can cook something fancier."
"Alright. Tell me what to do." They worked surprisingly well together. Sebastian held up his end of the challenge and praised Kurt from time to time. It didn't take long and everything was in the pot simmering.
"Let's go for a walk while it simmers for a bit." Kurt followed Sebastian out the back of the house into an absolutely beautiful garden. Kurt stopped and just looked around.
"This is amazing. My mom used to garden and we had beautiful flower beds, but no one kept them up after she died." A few tears escaped Kurt's eyes. "I didn't realize how much I missed the flowers." Sebastian moved closer to Kurt and pulled him close and hugged him. He let go quickly as Kurt moved to wipe the escaping tears. Sebastian moved on through the garden and toward the gate at the back.
After leaving the garden, they walked around for about 30 minutes, just talking. Sebastian shared more about his childhood in France. All the talk about France made him homesick. He had missed spending time with his mom. Skype and texts were good, but spending time with someone in person was something he'd really missed. He was glad to finally feel close to someone again. He knew his mom would like Kurt too. And he was excited to go back for most of the summer.
"So, what's on your must-do list for France?"
"Well, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, of course. Most importantly my grandparents. And anything you want to take me to see. You lived there for so long, surely you know the best places to go."
Sebastian smiled.
"I haven't told my grandparents yet. I'll tell them as soon as I'm certain I can get my Passport in time. I don't want to get their hopes up and then cancel."
"That makes sense. Where do they live?"
"Charenton-le-Pont. My grandmother was a nurse at a hospital not far from there. And my grandfather taught at a nearby college."
"Well, I'm not sure exactly where that is." He pulled out his phone and Kurt showed him on a map. "Oh, that's not far outside Paris at all. It's near the zoo." Sebastian noticed the time. "Let's go back. The ratatouille should be ready by the time we get back."
They walked back up to the house, continuing to talk. They washed up when they got inside. Sebastian turned the heat off and served the ratatouille in bowls while Kurt set the island up for them to eat on. They sat down on the bar stools. Sebastian waited for Kurt to take a bite first, watching him. "What do you think?"
"I've tried making this myself once before, but yours is much better. It's also more fun to eat it with someone. My dad wouldn't try it. He's not a big vegetable fan. He's doing better since the heart attack, but he still balks at 'weird' food."
Sebastian laughed. "Ratatouille isn't weird."
"Tell that to my redneck dad, who used to think that anything that wasn't a flannel button up was a dress shirt. He's had to change his sense of fashion since he spends so much time in DC. It's been strange to see him in a suit so often. When he started his election campaign last fall, I don't think I had seen him wear a suit in the last decade, except at his wedding to Carole."
They ate and talked and never seemed to run out things to talk about, but they eventually ate their fill and cleaned up. Sebastian left briefly while Kurt was washing dishes and came back a few minutes later. "I just went to tell my dad that there was food if he wanted to come out and get some. He'll probably come out later." He packed the leftovers in bowls in the fridge. "He can just heat up a bowl if he decides he wants it."
Kurt was really starting to see just how lonely Sebastian had been all school year. Spending every weekend alone in a mansion is not as much fun as it sounds like it would be.
"Have you had a lot of people from school over?"
"No. No one's ever been here. You're the first. I didn't really make much effort at first. I didn't want to be in Ohio. I didn't want to be at Dalton. And I most certainly didn't want to be at my dad's. Eventually, Jeff and Nick pushed their way through my walls and we've become friendly. Thad is in a lot of my classes and we've spent quite a bit of time together on projects and school stuff."
"Jeff and Nick had the same effect on me. They were really the only two I spent any time with, except Blaine," his voice trailed off a bit. He regained his composure. "Well, I'm glad you invited me. I'm enjoying myself. You're a good cook. I hope we can try something a little more complicated in the future sometime. Speaking of more cooking, I have to make time this week to make red velvet cookies and snickerdoodles."
"How do you have time for that?"
"I don't, but I owe Santana the cookies."
Sebastian looked confused. "Why do you OWE her the cookies?"
"Week before last was the final exam for Government. After the exam, they have a research paper to spend the next couple of weeks on. Anyway, according to rumor, Puck fell asleep during the exam about ten minutes into it. No one woke him up. The bell woke him up at the end of the period. Obviously, he failed the exam completely. Government is a required course to graduate in Ohio. Puck works hard. He runs his own pool cleaning service and then he has to take care of his younger sister a lot of the time. His mom is not quite mother of the year material and his dad ran off years ago. So, my assumption was that he had another long night at home for some reason and he just crashed during the test. But whatever caused it, he wasn't going to get to graduate with us. He asked for a retake and the teacher agreed, since he had been doing decently before the test and the fact that he hadn't even filled in three quarters of the test corroborated whatever story he told the teacher. So, I bribed Santana, and Brittany by default, to make sure that Puck passed his retake yesterday. She aced the test so she knew what he needed to know to do well. I don't know HOW she did it, but Puck got a B on the retake with only one night's review from Santana. So, now I owe her cookies."
"Wow. I'm back to 'You are amazing.'" Kurt blushed again. "Didn't you say that Puck used to toss you in dumpsters?" Kurt nodded.
"Puck's not a bad guy. He did what he had to survive and made some wrong choices, but he's turned his life around. That's all we can hope for isn't it? That the assholes stop being so awful and become decent people? If we treat them badly when they're trying to change, that doesn't give them much incentive to keep working on their personal enlightenment." Sebastian just looked at him like he was an alien.
Kurt pulled his phone out to check on the time. "I have to call Sam at 10:00, but we have time for a movie, if it's less than two hours long."
"Follow me, then." Sebastian led Kurt to a room with a huge TV and a plush couch with lots of pillows. Sebastian walked over to a shelf full of DVDs and grabbed one. "My mom got me this for Christmas. I think you'll like it." He put in Les Bien-Aimés and sat down on the couch.
Kurt picked up the DVD case. "I've never heard of it."
"That's because it hasn't been released in the US yet."
Kurt smiled and propped up on some of the pillows and watched the movie. He enjoyed the movie. Sebastian seemed to enjoy watching Kurt watch the movie as much as watching the movie itself. He was finding that the more time he spent with Kurt, the more he liked spending time with him.
When the movie ended, Kurt stretched and sat up. "I need to go call Sam. He was going to tell his parents about our plan this evening. I'm supposed to call and help answer any questions they might have since I'm the one that has been doing all of the research. I'm going to study some more after I finish talking to him. I really liked the movie. Thanks for sharing it with me. I'll see you in the morning." Kurt got up and went back upstairs to his room.
"Good night, Kurt." Sebastian said as Kurt headed out of the room.
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Kurt turned his phone on, made sure there were no texts from his dad or Carole, then dialed Sam's number.
"Hey, Kurt."
"Hey, Sam. How did it go? Did you finish talking to your parents yet? Do they have any questions?"
"It went fine. They had a lot of questions, but I pulled up the websites for the schools and the apartment and showed them everything. They were impressed with the high school. The classes are a lot more like what was offered at the school I went to in Tennessee. I counted 14 different art classes, guitar lessons, and just a lot of really cool things."
"I was thinking this afternoon. Is this going to work with you not being able to send them money anymore? You're going to have to use the money you earn paying for expenses. There won't be money to send to them anymore."
"Yeah, we talked about that. My mom got a job not too long after Christmas. Someone went on maternity leave, so she thought it would be temporary, but the lady decided to quit rather than come back. So, my mom got hired on permanent. It's not full time, but it's enough to pay everything. They've been putting what I've sent them into savings in case something happened and they really needed it. So, they'll still have that back up. And my dad is still looking for a better job. Hopefully, he finds one eventually."
"So, then, everything's set? You can for sure go with me? And you're certain you want to, right? I don't want to pressure you. I can still choose to live in a dorm if you don't want to go with me."
"No, I mean yes I want to go. And no, I don't feel pressured. The opposite in fact. I feel like the pressure's off. I won't have to keep trying to pass the OGTs and repeating my senior year forever. Or live in Kentucky with my parents again. Ick. This place is worse than Lima."
"I'm SO excited. I have one thing to tell you and I hope you won't mind. I invited Nick, Jeff, Thad and Sebastian to go with us to Cedar Point. I haven't spent nearly as much time with Nick and Jeff as I would have liked. And Sebastian is friendly with Thad. You're not upset are you?"
"Of course, not. I remember Nick and Jeff, but not Thad. Nick and Jeff are cool and you say that Sebastian's cool now. So, it should be an adventure," he paused. "It'll be totally tubular, dude," Sam said in his best Raphael impression.
"Yeah, it'll be righteous."
"That was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, not Finding Nemo," Sam teased.
"Hey, give me a break. I tried," he laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow evening then. I'll turn my phone back on around 7:00 so I don't miss your call whenever you get close."
"Okay. See ya."
Kurt decided to skip any more studying and headed straight for the shower to get ready for bed.
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Kurt didn't wake up until 9:00 the next morning. He looked at his phone and sat up quickly. He got up and went downstairs to get some coffee so he could get back to work. He walked downstairs. As he approached the bottom, the smell of cinnamon was wafting through the air. He followed the smell straight to the kitchen, where he found Sebastian in an apron and a lot of ingredients sitting out on the counter.
"Mmm. It smells wonderful in here. What are you doing?"
"Well, last night you got me curious."
"Curious, how?"
"I'd never heard of red velvet cookies or snickerdoodles. And I got curious. I looked them up and they looked quite tasty. So, when you slept in, I decided to give it a go. I started with the snickerdoodles. The first batch is over there cooling. Please try one and let me know if they came out right."
Kurt walked over and grabbed a cookie off the plate and took a bite. "Yeah, yeah," he said with his mouth full of cookie. He swallowed. "You did a really great job. So, if I help with the rest, can I take some to Santana and let her think I made them?"
"Are they good enough to pass off as yours? Don't you have some top secret ingredient to make them 'Kurt cookies'?"
"Well, if I tell you then it won't be top secret anymore. Turn around." Kurt looked at the recipe that Sebastian had printed out. He adjusted the spices a bit in the bowl with the batter in it. "Okay. You can turn back around." They worked together to put the rest of the batter on cookie trays. They washed up the bowls and utensils.
"I found a red velvet cookie recipe too. Is this like yours?" Kurt looked at it.
"That's exactly the one I use. Do you have the ingredients to make these too?"
"Yes. Everything is in the pantry. Go on in there and collect anything else we need while I wipe down the counters."
They worked together for the next hour and finished up all of the cookies and cleaned up behind themselves. They sat down at the island with glasses of milk and the plates of cookies, waiting for the last batch to be done.
"Well, cookies and milk for breakfast. It's like we're six," Kurt laughed.
"Hey, it can't be any worse for us than the cereal we ate yesterday morning. It's not like we chose to eat Raisin Bran with no sugar on it."
"True, true. Thanks for this. It was fun and it saves me a lot of time having to do it all myself at some point in time tomorrow."
"No need to thank me. It was fun. But you're welcome."
The timer went off and Sebastian pulled the last batch out of the oven to let them cool. He took a few of each type and put them on a small plate and took them to his dad's room while Kurt finished up by sliding the cookies onto a waiting plate and washing the last cookie sheet.
Sebastian returned promptly empty handed. "I see that the cookies were a hit."
"Yeah. My dad has a big sweet tooth. He loves it when I make desserts," Sebastian said smiling. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"
"Art History. We could try to study together and see if we actually make any progress. If it turns out not to work, we can split back up and work alone."
"Okay. Let's give it a try. I have review cards. Do you have the practice test for it?"
"Yes."
"Let's go grab it and I'll photocopy it so we can take it at the same time."
They went upstairs and Kurt handed the booklet to Sebastian.
"Where do you want to study?"
"How about back downstairs on the big fluffy couch where we watched the movie last night?"
"Okay. I'll go photocopy this and meet you down there with my review cards in a few minutes."
They found that they did work well together and after four hours, they had reviewed, taken the practice tests and graded them.
"I think we're set. Wanna go swim for a while? We can warm up the ratatouille and eat it for lunch, if that's okay with you."
"Sure. I'll go change and meet you in the kitchen."
After they ate and swam for a while, Sebastian suggested that they go back out in the garden for a while. He and Kurt sat on a wooden swing just looking at the flowers and staring off into space for a while, wrapped up in their own thoughts.
"Let's ask each other questions. It's okay to pass if you don't really want to answer something though."
"Um, okay. You first."
"What's your favorite color?"
They went back and forth with simple questions for over an hour. They learned a lot about each other in a short period of time. Then it broke down when Sebastian asked Kurt if he was ticklish and Kurt did a bad job of lying saying that he wasn't. Kurt jumped off the swing and started to run. Sebastian was just enough taller and faster that he managed to catch Kurt pretty quickly. He grabbed him and spun him around. "No fair, no lying. I won't tickle you because clearly you don't want me to. But from now on, no lying."
Kurt was out of breath, but he agreed, "Fine, no lying. I thought you would tickle me if I said yes. I didn't lie about anything else."
"Okay. I believe you." Sebastian put him down. "Let's go get a drink."
They went back inside and sat in the kitchen with their drinks. Kurt looked at the clock and saw the time. "Hey, let's go get dressed and go out for ice cream or something. Sam will be calling in couple of hours. We can just hang out until he calls."
"Sounds fun. I know the best place for ice cream. You don't want some low-fat, low-carb stuff do you?"
"Usually yes, but today, I'm feeling like having real, honest-to-goodness ice cream."
"Go get ready. We'll put your stuff in the car and head out."
Thirty minutes later, they were ready and heading out the door with Kurt's bags. Kurt coiffed his hair and had opted for his typical attire, rather than go out in the casual clothes he had been wearing earlier. Sebastian was wearing basketball shorts and a solid t-shirt. They drove to a café not too far from his house. They sat at the counter. Kurt was surprised by the enormous selection of ice cream flavors.
"They make it all here, in the back. It's the best."
"What's your favorite?"
"I haven't decided yet. Every time I come I order something new just to have fun. I haven't had any yet that I didn't like."
"Well, you're no help," Kurt laughed.
"Play along. Don't say anything in English to me." Kurt looked at him inquisitively.
"What kind do you want?"
Kurt answered him in French.
The waitress, who was most likely a high school student, came over to them. "What can I get you gentleman today?"
"He'll have a scoop of chocolate chip and a scoop of strawberry. And I'll have butter pecan and chocolate chocolate chunk."
"Alrighty. I'll be right back with those."
"Just keep speaking French."
"Okay."
They kept talking until the waitress brought their ice cream. She placed their bowls in front of them. Sebastian responded with "Thank you," while Kurt said, "Merci."
The waitress paused and asked, "Where's your friend from?"
"Oh, he's my cousin. He's from France."
"That's cool. I've never met anyone from France before. Is he staying long?"
"Not much longer."
"Oh, that's too bad." And she walked off.
"What was that about?"
"It was about preconceived ideas. You talk about how the people here don't accept your 'eccentric' way of dressing and they all consider you to be too feminine, but the waitress clearly found you attractive when she thought you were French. It's okay for foreigners to behave and dress differently than people in our own culture. So, the culture around here tells you that you aren't enough. But you are. They are the ones with the wrong set of rules about what's masculine or attractive and what isn't. Your inherent attractiveness didn't change. You are you. But 'French' you is attractive enough to get a girl to flirt with you, but regular you is too gay. It's all about perception."
The waitress moved back towards them. "Here's your ticket. If your cousin decides to stick around, my number's on the bottom," she said with a smile as she slipped a small piece of paper towards them. She winked at Kurt before she turned and walked away.
Kurt was caught up in his thoughts while he finished his ice cream. Sebastian grabbed the bill and moved to the cash register. Kurt followed behind him. The same waitress came over to the register to ring them up.
"Bye, boys." She winked at Kurt again.
"Well that was an unusual turn of events. I've never had a girl blatantly flirt with me like that, ever."
"Well, you'll get used to it. The way you look and dress will not turn the Parisian girls off at all." And Sebastian winked at him and laughed. Sebastian drove to a nearby park and they got out and took a walk. After Sam called, they walked back to the car and headed to the McDonald's parking lot.
They pulled up next to the Navigator. Kurt and Sebastian put the bags and the box of cookies in the bag seat. Kurt shut the door and turned and Sebastian was still standing right behind him. Sebastian reached out and hugged him. "I had a great time. We're still on for subs at lunch tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, of course. I had a good time, too. See you tomorrow."
Sebastian got back in his car and drove off.
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Kurt went around to the driver's side. "Hop out. I'll drive from here and give you a break."
Sam climbed into the passenger seat and looked at Kurt. "So what's with all the hugging?"
"Well, it turns out that Sebastian is as much of a hugger as you. He was obviously just suppressing it during his 'jackass' act."
"Interesting."
"Definitely. He's absolutely nothing like I thought he was, well other than fact that he's sarcastic, but in a funny way, not mean. I had a really nice time. Tell me all about your weekend."
Sam described his whole weekend to Kurt as they drove back home. "Oh, and Stacey says to tell you that now she's a proper princess and to thank you for the scepter and crown. And Stevie loved the Transformers cartoons. My mom's only going to let him watch one episode per day. So, it will give him something to look forward to for quite a while."
"Good, I'm glad they liked the stuff. We're your parents able to see your artwork on that DVD?"
"I had forgotten that they didn't have a DVD player, but I went to WalMart early yesterday morning and bought a cheap one so they could see the photos on the DVD and Stevie would be able to watch those Transformers cartoons. Now, they'll be able to check out DVDs at the library again too. So, Stacey will be able to get her fill of Disney movies."
It didn't take them too long to get home and haul all of their stuff inside and upstairs. They greeted everyone and headed off to their rooms for the night. Kurt went to bed early because he had to leave at 6:00 to get to Dalton in time for his first exam in the morning.