And yet another chapter, as season 2 gets underway! I hope you enjoy it. I'm slowing down the time line just a little now, and pausing it in some places to draw out some moments more than others. Some characters probably aren't getting the spotlight they did on the show - but I'm mostly touching on Quinn and Kurt, and the characters they in turn effect (directly).

I hope you enjoy!

GLEE

School ended in a mess of finals, which Kurt was certain he passed. Kurt was looking forward to the summer vacation ahead of him, though it would be completely different than all his previous ones. He wouldn't be attending Bible camp, that was sure, or visiting his sister where she lived. He definitely wouldn't be taking the traditional family vacation he always went on, either.

Kurt was looking forward to see how the Hummels spent their summers, though.

Speaking of, a few days after school was let out, Kurt, Burt and Quinn piled into Burt's truck and drove over an hour to Westerville to meet with Kurt's mother and her lawyer. It was the only place with a "decent" lawyer, according to his parents.

The lawyer's office was tastefully decorated, but Kurt couldn't focus on that. All he saw was his mother, sitting next to a tall man in his late 50's. There were already papers set up in front of him when Kurt, Burt and Quinn sat across from the pair.

"This should be a very simple process," said the lawyer, Mr. Jackson. "Mr. Hummel has already proven that he can take care of Kurt financially, and is a trusted figure. All that is left is for both parties to sign - Judy for relinquishing custody and Mr. Hummel for claiming custody. Russell has already signed…"

That hurt Kurt even more, that his father didn't have a problem with this and had apparently not wanted to even show up to this meeting, instead pre-signing and what? Running away with his mistress?

Kurt wanted his mother to say…something. Maybe change her mind at the last minute? Tear up the paper and say that she loved Kurt and that it didn't matter, none of it, and take him back.

It wasn't that he didn't love the Hummels. He did. Maybe even more than…more than his own family.

But this was his mom, and this was her riding herself of that title to him.

In the end, she said nothing. She signed the paper in all the places Mr. Jackson pointed out, as did Burt. Judy made arrangements with Burt, not looking at Kurt, for him to come by his home for the first time in probably 7 months so he could take anything he had forgotten that night he was kicked out. It was something, he guessed.

Then she walked out the door and left.

They walked out, Burt with a comforting hand on Kurt's shoulder and his other arm around Quinn's thin shoulders. Once they were in the car, Burt said, "I don't know how you feel about this…but how about we go out and get something to eat?" Burt looked at Kurt. "I know it's bittersweet, but I'd like to celebrate our new family."

Kurt closed his eyes for a long moment before nodding. "You're right. We should celebrate. If there is anything to celebrate today, it is me joining this family." He grabbed on to Quinn's hand. "It's a great family to join."

Burt drove them to a nice restaurant a few blocks away from the lawyer's office. He said that when he'd been to Westerville a few years ago, it was a really good place. The newly formed family walked in and were seated.

Surprisingly, it was actually a good time. Kurt was sure that he wouldn't be able to laugh or even speak. He meant what he said; he was happy to finally be in a family that accepted him completely, but at the same time…he had just lost his real family. The family that had taught him everything and raised him.

Halfway through the meal, when Quinn was regaling Burt with the story of their last day in Glee club this year, Kurt looked around the restaurant and saw a familiar sight: It was of a family of four, three blondes and a little boy with darker hair. The parents could have been his - dressed nicely and put together. The woman was even wearing pearls. There was a older girl, maybe around 13 and the boy was probably 9.

It looked like his family.

"Excuse me for a moment," muttered Kurt, standing and walking back to the restrooms. He opened the men's room door and made a beeline for one of the sinks, bracing himself against the counter. He breathed in deeply, trying to stop the tears.

It didn't exactly work, but he tried to think of all the good that was coming from today. He would always be safe with the Hummels, and that couldn't have happened unless his parents abandoned him. He wouldn't be free to be himself in that house, even if his mother took him back. What would have happened the first time Kurt brought home a boy? She might have realized how real this all was, and he'd once again be on his own.

This was a good thing, Kurt told himself.

"Are you okay there?"

Kurt jumped at the voice and turned around. There was a boy, around his age, with dark hair that was styled with gel, in a very…well, maybe Link Larkin was the word for it.

He was handsome, Kurt noticed with a jolt, which made him nervous.

"Oh…I'm, well, I'm a little upset," said Kurt honestly. "But…happy, too."

"At the same time?" asked the boy with a wry grin and a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," sighed Kurt, turning and splashing some water on his face. He grabbed a paper towel and dabbed his face. "It's complicated."

"Well then, I hope you feel better," said the boy, who walked over to wash his hands. "And congratulations, too, I guess." He grinned and Kurt's heart leapt.

"Oh, uh, thank you," said Kurt. He hurried and threw the paper towel away, rushing out of the bathroom before he could embarrass himself further.

For the rest of dinner, Kurt was ok. Even the sight of the family across the room didn't scare him as much. This was his life now. It was a good one and Kurt was going to make the best of it.

During the summer, Kurt helped Quinn lose her baby weight by working out every morning with an exercise video that wasn't too embarrassing to watch. Twice a week they would run around their neighborhood at night when it was cooler and both tried to rope Burt into it as well, but he refused.

Kurt wasn't able to pick up any extra hours at the mall, but Burt offered him another job at the garage. Kurt didn't know much about cars at all, but Burt was happy to teach him, though Kurt usually stuck to sorting paper work and keeping the books, since he was very good at math.

It was a little annoying be shown up when it came to cars by Quinn, who was predictably an amazing mechanic, since she had grown up in this garage.

Besides work, Kurt and Quinn spent time with Mercedes and a few other members of Glee. Quinn even reached out to Rachel at one point, because she found out that the (annoying) lead of their group hadn't been asked to hang out with anyone, besides her (now) boyfriend, Finn.

"But she's so annoying, Quinn," argued Kurt on the way to pick up Rachel and then Mercedes to go bowling. "Why do we have to socialize with her during the summer? We have to be with her all through the school year!"

"Because she's probably miserable," said Quinn firmly. "I mean, you know she has no real friends. That has to be lonely. Dad always told me to try to be nice to everyone, and while yes, Rachel's personality leaves much to be desired, we're her teammates and should be there for her."

Kurt groaned, knowing she was right. Damn Burt for instilling good manners in her. Even as a Cheerio, Quinn was somewhat nice. Not nearly as a bitch as Santana, that was certain.

And while Kurt hated to admit it, Rachel and him actually had a lot in common, especially when it came to musical preferences. When he got pass all the loudness and self-absorbed tendencies, he didn't actually mind hanging out with Rachel that summer. Quinn had even gotten Burt to allow her and Mercedes over for a sleepover.

One of the most surprising things that summer was the fact that Carole, Finn's mom, and Burt started dating.

At first, Quinn was furious. Kurt knew it probably had more to do with the fact that Burt hadn't dated anyone since her mom died, but she insisted it was just embarrassing. Carole was her ex-boyfriend's mother. Now, her father was dating her.

Kurt had to admit, it was very weird.

On the other hand, Burt was genuinely happy. Kurt pointed that out to Quinn on many occasions, until she finally (grudgingly) accepted their relationship.

Thankfully, her and Finn were getting along much better now, both because he was over at their house a lot because of his mom and because Quinn had (strangely) become friends with Rachel, more so than Kurt had. Since Rachel was now with Finn, they came to some sort of agreement to have no more…weirdness.

All too soon, the summer ended and school began again.

Nothing, of course, says first day of school like a slushie to the face (as he was telling off Jacob's camera, no less), relationship drama (Mike and Tina were on while Tina and Artie were off), and even more drama with Glee club (Matt Rutherford, the cute, but silent football player had transferred, leaving them a member short).

In a fit of power (or something) Rachel had completely alienated a small girl called Sunshine, who probably had a better voice than Rachel. She ended up transferring to join Vocal Adrenaline. Kurt had yelled at Rachel about being selfish and thinking only of herself.

"She could have helped us win, Rachel!" shouted Kurt after Mr. Shuester broke the news to them. "How could you have been so stupid!"

"I just - I was thinking of you -"

"No, you weren't! You were afraid that she would be better than you," huffed Kurt.

Unfortunately, he took after his father with his temper, which Kurt hated about himself.

"Kurt, settle down," said Quinn with a frown. "Rachel," she said, looking at the other girl. "What you did was wrong - you could have hurt her! You sent her to a crack house." Rachel looked rightfully mortified. "Besides that, we still don't have a 12th member, and without one, we won't be able to compete at Sectionals in the first place."

"I really thought that Sam guy would show," said Finn sadly. He had been going on about a new kid, Sam, that had a really great voice. In the end, he didn't show up for the audition.

"We'll get there," assured Mr. Shuester. "We have over two months until Sectionals, we'll find someone."

During the first week of school, Quinn had rejoined the Cheerios along with Kurt. While Quinn had told Kurt that she sort of hated the way Sue was to everyone and that she especially hated how when she had the uniform before, she was expected to be a bitch to everyone, she liked to perform. It was also how she stayed in shape and Quinn insisted that she needed that more than ever, now.

Kurt hadn't been there when Santana attacked Quinn after she was reinstated as head cheerleader, but it apparently hadn't lasted very long. Santana pushed Quinn around, but Quinn wasn't one to fight, and Mr. Shuester ended up holding Santana back as she shouted obscenities in Spanish (to which Mr. Shuester blushed and sent her to cool off in the guidance office).

Kurt settled back in the routine of school very quickly. It seemed like he had been living with the Hummels forever at this point, though it was really just short of a year. Burt had let him decorate his room how he wanted, which made Kurt buzz with excitement. His love for fashion only grew, and he allowed himself to splurge a few times at his job and he and Quinn took frequent trips to the thrift store they loved so much (even bringing Mercedes and Rachel). The latter Kurt tried to give a make-over to, but she resisted for the most part.

This year Kurt was determined to leave his past mostly behind him, embracing the future. He was also going to get on better in Glee club. He knew he had a good voice and he wasn't going to be afraid to flaunt it. There would be no more throwing high notes; he was still scared at putting the Hummels at risk, but this was something he had to do for himself.

A few weeks into the school year, he began to push Mr. Shuester for Glee club to cover Britney Spears. They had covered Madonna last year, so why not? He especially had his eye on a solo to "Lucky", which was probably his favorite Britney song.

While Kurt was convinced he probably shouldn't have yelled at his teacher (again, his father's temper had taken over and Kurt couldn't stop himself) he was still angry; Mr. Shuester never listened to anyone but Rachel. It was ridiculous and completely unfair.

Couldn't Mr. Shuester see that Britney had empowered, uh, Brittany? Kurt knew the girl well, since he used her as a beard before last year once or twice. She was dim, but sweet, but Kurt could see she was just as unconfident as any other person. Now, she had embraced herself and her talent - because of Britney! That couldn't be a negative influence!

Strangely, Mr. Shuester changed his mind without Kurt having to go talk to him in his office, like he originally planned. While Kurt hadn't wanted their teacher to perform with them, it was something, plus Toxic was an amazing number.

Shame it had to end in a fire alarm being pulled. Sue had something against Britney Spears, too, apparently.

"I mean, really," said Quinn as they walked into the living room that day. "What was with that riot? Why do all our performances in front of the school have to end that way?"

"I really don't know," sighed Kurt, falling into the couch.

"Hey, kids," said Burt, walking in with the home phone in his hands. "Why don't you guys get dressed up. We're taking Carole and Finn out for dinner at Breadstix." He paused and looked at them in their somewhat matching outfits for Glee. "Rough day?"

"Very," sighed Kurt, standing and starting toward his room. "If I don't get a solo out of this, I'll be out for blood!"

Mr. Shuester decided that one Britney number was enough.

Kurt ended up singing "Lucky" to Quinn that night. She loved it and said that he would have killed in Glee with it. For the rest of the night he and Quinn danced around Quinn's room singing Britney music.

Kurt was sure that Sam, the new kid that Finn had told New Directions about, was gay. The boy had finally joined Glee, at the same time that Puckerman was stupid enough to land himself in juvie.

Really, that color could not be natural.

Kurt had a crush on him, he had to admit. Sam was tall and athletic, and even with the horrible dye job, was still really, really attractive.

The day Sam joined Glee, Mr. Shuester told the group that they were tackling duets this week.

Part of Kurt wanted to sing with Sam; he was so, so cute and after all the times he had to watch Rachel and Finn make lovey-dovey eyes across the room when they sang romantic duets together, Kurt wanted that, too.

The odds that Sam was gay, as well, were greatly against him. He also saw the tall blonde looking at Quinn appreciatively.

"Who are you going to sing with, Kurt?" asked Mercedes at the end of Glee. Kurt picked up his back and held it tightly to himself.

"Well," said Kurt, looking over to Quinn, who was waiting for them by the door. "I was wondering if you'd like to sing together, Quinn? A duet together would be fun - outside your bedroom," he laughed.

Quinn smiled, her teeth blinding. "I like the sound of that, Kurt." She bumped him with her hip. "We'll talk about it at home, I guess, and pick a song."

"Who are you going to sing with?" asked Kurt when Quinn had walked down the hall to her next class, her Cheerio's skirt swaying.

"I might ask the new kid," she said, unlocking her locker and pulling a book out. "Don't want him left out or anything."

"That sounds good," said Kurt, leaning against the locker. "Maybe you should tell him that his dye job is very poorly done, if you end up singing together. I mean, really," said Kurt, rolling his eyes.

"Quinn!"

Quinn stopped and turned, watching the new boy from Glee, Sam, catch up with her. "You are Quinn, right?" he asked, a moment of doubt flickering across his face.

"Yes, I'm Quinn," she said. "Did you need something?"

"Oh," said Sam. "I was just wondering if you wanted to do a duet with me in Glee club." Sam smiled shyly. "Maybe go out sometime, as well? Well, I guess if we won, we would be going out. I mean, if you wanted to call it 'going out'…"

"I'm going to stop you there," said Quinn, holding up a finger. "Look, Sam, you seem nice. And don't get me wrong, you're cute." The corner of Sam's mouth rose slightly. "But I'm not looking to date anyone right now. This year is about myself. Which means no boys."

"Oh," said Sam, blinking and his face falling. "And the duet…?"

"I'm doing my duet with Kurt," she answered.

"Kurt? But didn't you just say…?" Sam trailed off, confused.

Quinn giggled. "Kurt is gay. He's also my brother, for all intents and purposes, though not by blood. He just asked me and I said yes. I'm sorry; If you'd have asked first, I probably would have accepted. A duet is a duet, not a promise of love, so it would have been fine…but yeah," said Quinn, trailing off.

"I understand…uh, I hope you and Kurt do well with the competition," Sam said, taking a few steps back and then waving awkwardly. "Uh, see you in Glee."

Quinn smiled and waved before turning back and walking the rest of the way to her class.

"Mind if I sit here?" asked Sam, smiling down at the table full of Glee club members.

"Of course," said Kurt, scooting over closer to Quinn and leaving a space between him and Mercedes.

Sam sat and began to talk to Finn about football practice - or something. It actually sounded like they were speaking a different language, so Kurt focused on talking to Quinn. Halfway through lunch, there was a lull in the sports talk, during which Mercedes got Sam's attention.

"Hi," she said, grinning at him. "I'm Mercedes Jones - incase you don't know. I know that you probably don't know a lot of names yet….anyway, I was wondering if you had a duet partner yet?"

"Nope, this Jedi is flying solo so far," said Sam.

"Did you want to partner up? I don't have anyone yet, either."

"That sounds great," said Sam with a nod.

Kurt looked over and noticed that Mercedes looked shocked, then she smiled. "Do you have any song ideas?"

"Not really. You can come over to my house sometime and we can look on my iPod for something," suggested Sam. "Maybe tomorrow, after school?"

"That sounds great," breathed Mercedes.

Probably not gay, thought Kurt, but maybe that would be ok if he could make Mercedes smile like that.

Over the next week, people performed their duets. Mike and Tina did a cute rendition of "Sing!" in which they heard Mike's voice alone for the first time. Tina did a second duet with Santana, since it was an odd number, which was actually pretty good. Finn and Rachel…well, their duet was frankly awful.

Kurt didn't know what they were on, honestly.

Mercedes and Sam's duet of Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift's "Two is Better Than One" was actually adorable. Sam had brought his guitar in and for the first few measures of the song, Mercedes handled the cords as Sam strummed along. They had a lot of chemistry, honestly, and Kurt wouldn't be surprised if they won.

Finally, it was his and Quinn's turn.

"Mr. Shuester, Quinn and I decided that instead of an existing duet, we would take a solo artist and make their song a duet," said Kurt, turning and putting one hand on his hip.

"I don't know if that's the best idea…" began Mr. Shuester.

"We did this," said Quinn, jumping on the edge of Mr. Shue's words. "Because most duets we found were romantic, while that isn't the message we want to bring across at all. That is why this song fit us most, though it was done by a solo artist."

Mr. Shuester frowned, but then nodded once. "I guess we'll see how this goes…"

Quinn motioned for Brad to start playing the piano. It was upbeat and not overly slow, yet somewhat somber. Besides the piano, there was a steady beat being kept by the drummer in the band off to Quinn and Kurt's left.

Quinn and Kurt stood close to each other, smiling and swaying to the beat slightly. Kurt was the first to sing, and unlike many other times when he sang, his brought his voice down to his lower range, creating a more jazzy timbre to it.

"Didn't they always say we were the lucky ones.

I guess that we were once, babe, we were once,

but luck will leave you 'cause it is a faithless friend,

and in the end, when life has got you down,

you've got someone here that you can wrap your arms around."

As Kurt sang the last line, he held out his hand to Quinn, who slipped her hand in easily. The looked at each other with all the affection in the world and sang the chorus together.

"So hold on to me tight,

hold on to me tonight.

We are stronger here together,

than we could ever be alone.

So hold on to me,

don't you ever let me go."

Both thought about all the nights they had spent together last year, tearfully going over the past, in Kurt's case, or the future in Quinn's as she rubbed her ballooning stomach thoughtfully.

Together, they had been through a lot in the past year.

Quinn still grasped Kurt's hand in hers as she sang the next verse in her high melodic voice.

"There's a thousand ways for things to fall apart,

but it's no ones fault, no it's not my fault."

She made deep eye contact with Kurt at this point. His eyes shimmered and he squeezed her hand gently.

"Maybe all the plans we made might not work out,

but I have no doubt, even though it's hard to see.

I've got faith in us, and I believe in you and me."

They repeated the chorus together, voices swelling together and harmonizing with a resounding high. They dropped their joined hands smoothly, and Quinn walked forward slowly, her eyes looking far away.

"There's so many dreams that we have given up.

Take a look at all we've got."

Kurt followed after her, slipping his arm into hers and linking them together as he sang, holding out the last note with a strong breath.

"And with this kind of love,

and what we've got here is enough."

As Kurt still held out the note, Quinn began to launch into the chorus, their voices clashing over each other slightly. Kurt ended the last note he sang, joining Quinn in the chorus as strong as ever.

"So hold on to me tight.

Hold on, I promise it will be alright.

Cause we are stronger here together,

than we could ever be alone.

Just hold on to me,

don't you ever let me go.

Hold on to me, it's gonna be alright.

Hold on to me tonight."

Quinn and Kurt had turned to face each other, almost fully, and Quinn hummed along to the melody as Kurt ended the last line of the chorus. They smiled sadly at each other and sang the last line of the song with a quiet power, the only sound left besides their voices was a steady note of the piano.

"They always say, we were the lucky ones."

The Glee club clapped appreciatively. Kurt took an elaborate bow and then bumped Quinn into doing a small curtsy. She had started to take a page out of Kurt's book and began to alternate between her Cheerio's uniform and regular clothes to school, and today she was wearing one of her flowing sundresses.

"That was great," said Mr. Shuester with a wide grin. "I admire your effort to make your own duet. The song really suited the pair of you."

Quinn and Kurt returned to their seats, floating on a high cloud.

Sam and Mercedes ended up winning the duet competition.

Kurt and Quinn were upset, Kurt more so than Quinn, because he knew how good they had sung. Their performance was more or less flawless and had emotional depth to boot - but if anyone was going to win besides him, he was glad it was his best friend.

Even more thrilling was when Mercedes told Kurt and Quinn on the phone that Sam and her had had a wonderful time at Breadstix and that Sam had asked her to do this again sometime. "That means he wants another date, right?" asked Mercedes.

"I'm no pro when it comes to romance," said Kurt. "But I think so!"

"Sounds like it to me," said Quinn, smiling.

"Oh my god. And just when I had given up ever finding a man in this high school that was ready for all this woman," laughed Mercedes.

TBC

I hope you liked that, and some of the slight changes I made! Feedback would be wonderful!