Sam shut the door and locked it. He turned around and was met with Kurt wrapping his arms around his neck and kissing him. "Don't let anything that happened make you think I don't have a long list of reasons why choosing you was a good idea."

He kissed Sam and Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed him back.

"Is that so?" Sam asked smugly, smiling mischievously.

"It is. I just refuse to engage with him when he is argumentative because he was just going to try to rip our relationship apart. He just wanted an opportunity to try to prove that he is the better choice, when there is absolutely no contest. Let's go back to bed. He's not going to take up even one more minute of my evening. I look forward to Friday night early snuggles." Kurt started undressing and walking toward the bedroom. He dropped his shirt, and then he wiggled out of his pajama pants. He was back in the bed for mere seconds before Sam was right next to him.

"I agree, Friday evening early snuggling is one of my favorite weekly activities," Sam said as he scooted closer to Kurt.

Kurt rolled over to turn on the book they had chosen, and then scooted back toward Sam. He moved his arm up and allowed Sam to scoot closer and lay his head on his chest. Kurt wrapped his arm around Sam, who scooted even closer and intertwined their legs. He started tracing patterns on Kurt's chest.

"I can't focus on the book while you're doing that," Kurt said.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"Definitely not."

Sam laughed. "So we'll restart the book later or we can switch to music."

"Just keep touching me. I don't care about what we're listening to right now."

"I can do that." Sam ran his fingers and hand all over Kurt, caressing him gently. It didn't take long before Sam wanted to use both of his hands and moved so that he was straddling Kurt and massaging him. He reached for the lotion he had already put out before they were interrupted and he had Kurt turn over.

"Oh, ow. Right there," Kurt said as Sam massaged his shoulders.

Sam carefully massaged the knot out, intermixing the massaging with gentle kisses to the back of Kurt's neck.

Kurt turned back over and claimed the kisses with his lips and gently pulled Sam down on top of him.

Between the kisses, Sam asked, "No more massage?"

"You can do whatever you want. I just wanted to kiss you too."

"Whatever I want, hmm?" He started kissing down Kurt's chest and paused briefly to make sure it was okay with Kurt, who nodded.

"Oh, God. That's amazing."

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Before Sam could get much further, Kurt's phone starting to ring and someone started pounding on the door.

"What now?" Kurt grumbled, then changed his tone quickly and caressed Sam's cheek. "This isn't over. We'll get back to this. You go see who's at the door and I'll see who's calling."

Sam got up and put his pajama pants back on and went to the door.

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Kurt saw that it was his dad and answered before he missed the call.
"Hello, Dad."

"Hey, Kurt. I just wanted to tell you that Blaine seems to have lost it. He called the house a little bit ago claiming that you had lost your mind and had convinced Sam to join you in some great scheme to get back at him for what he did. He said you had fake photos and a fake marriage certificate and that you need some type of intervention, I think he called it. Just what the hell is going on in New York?"

"Well, he showed up tonight and sang me an 'I'm sorry' song, expecting me to take him back now that he's realized that he is the one who screwed it all up. The main line in the song is 'I was wrong and I just can't live without you.' He's obviously still convinced that there is something he can do that will make me want to take him back. Can you hold on just a second? I'll be right back."

"Sure."

Kurt muted the call. "Who's at the door?"

"It's Santana. Do you want me to let her in?"

"Sure. She quit bothering us ages ago. She must have a real reason to come down here."

Kurt unmuted the phone. "Let me call you back in 5 minutes, Dad. Don't panic if it's a little longer. I have to deal with something here and then I'll call you back."

"Alright."

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Kurt got up and found his pajama pants and put them back on. "Let her in."

She came in, put her phone on the table and took a seat in the leather chair by the window.

"So, Santana. What can we do for you this evening?" Kurt asked putting his shirt back on after picking it up off the floor.

"Sorry for interrupting whatever was going on," she said smirking.

"You're here already, so please tell me what's going on."

"It's Frodo. He flipped out when he came up to the loft a half hour ago or whenever it was. He's pacing and mumbling about how you need help. How you've convinced Sam to lie for you. I'm pretty sure he called your dad."

"He did. My phone started ringing right as you started pounding on the door."

"Great," she said sarcastically.

"My dad already knows that we're married. He's known we were together since about a week after Sam got here."

"Well, that's good because if he didn't, he would after tonight. He just posted all of it to Facebook too," she said. "I saw the notification when I was waiting for someone to answer the door."

"Lovely," Kurt said. "It doesn't matter. He's the one that's delusional. He doesn't know what 'no' means. It doesn't mean try harder. It doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm saying. It certainly doesn't mean that I'm in need of an intervention."

Sam got up and walked over to the bookcase. "This is what we showed him when he was down here earlier after he finished singing a song to Kurt asking Kurt to take him back."

"So, you two got hitched."

"Three weeks ago," Sam said.

"So, you showed him this and a marriage certificate and he thinks you faked it to get back at him?"

"That's what he told my dad."

"Well, I'm happy for the two of you. You've been happier than I've ever seen you since Sam's been here."

"Thanks," Kurt said. "I am happy with him. We're happy together. Not to run you off, but I need to call my dad back and put out whatever fire Blaine started there. The rest of whatever he causes to blow up really doesn't matter to me. We told you we weren't hiding, we aren't. We just didn't see the need to broadcast our personal lives to the world. But Blaine obviously wants to continue to drag other people into my business. I won't respond. I don't have to defend myself. Sam and I are both over 18. We got married legally. There is nothing anyone can do about it except try to make me feel bad and to feel bad for Sam, who has obviously been tricked by me to either help me fake this to get even with Blaine or he's been tricked into becoming gay and marrying me. Either way, I'm the trickster and he's the beguiled. Whatever. It's all a bunch of nonsense. I'm not going to worry about it. Once I straighten it out with my dad, what everyone else thinks doesn't matter. When we leave in five weeks, none of them will even know where I am."

"Thanks for trying to warn us," Sam said.

Santana got up and picked up her phone. "Good luck with Papa Hummel."

"Oh, I'll be fine. It's Blaine that needs to worry. My dad told him to stay away from me. This is the third time he's gone against my dad's wishes."

Santana nodded and raised an eyebrow. "Not a good choice on his part."

"No, it wasn't."

She walked out the door and Sam closed it behind her and locked it again.

"I'm calling my dad back."

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"Hey, Dad. Sorry about making you wait. Santana was at the door trying to warn me that Blaine had called you and that he posted something to Facebook. I'm not sure what because I deactivated my Facebook account ages ago."

"Well, he called apologizing for going against my wishes and contacting me, but he assured me that it was in your interest that I listen to what he had to say. I listened for a few minutes and set him straight and hung up. When Sam told me that Blaine wouldn't give up easily, I didn't think he'd still be at this 4 months later."

"He's not accustomed to being told 'no'. He's a lot like Rachel. He tends to manipulate people until he gets the answer he wants. He listened to what I said the last time he came, but"

"Wait. Stop. The last time he came. Meaning since Christmas?"

"Well, yeah. I guess I never talked about the other times because they don't mean anything to me. I'm not taking him back."

"Other times, as is more than one?"

"Yes. He tried to propose to me at Dalton when I was in town for your oncology appointment."

"What?"

"And then he came here a few days later, still trying to get me to take him back. I was very, very clear when he was here the last time. Today, he serenaded me with an apology song, as if singing me a song 7 months later is going to somehow change things."

"I told him to stay away from you."

"You did. But you can't actually do anything to him, like threaten him."

"No, but I could find a way to call his parents. He felt the need to contact me about you. Perhaps someone needs to contact his parents about him."

"Well, what you do is up to you, but I'm not going to be a part of it. I don't consider him part of my life and I'm not going to involve myself in anything that could cause me to have to interact with him."

"I get that, but this is ridiculous."

"It is. But just don't give anyone my number and no one else will be able to bother me unless they spend the money and take the time to come to New York to stage an actual intervention for me. I'm moving in 5 weeks. I won't give anyone my new address and everything should be fine. No one can intervene if they can't find me. If anyone shows up here, I just won't open the door. End of problem."

"Alright, if you say so, kiddo. I'm going to go to bed."

"Night, Dad."

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"So, let's go back to bed. None of this changes anything. He can keep up the nonsense if he wants to, but it won't change anything. Actually, I'm going to do one thing first. I'm going to text Sebastian. Maybe he can put a stop to any Warbler nonsense." Kurt texted him and then set his phone to silent and put it on his dresser.

Sam was lying there waiting for him to finished. This time he held Kurt. "This is why you just went along and didn't rock the boat. When I would want to ring his neck and you did nothing. You knew."

"I did. I gave him power over my life that I shouldn't have. It wasn't a partnership. It never was. This, with us, is different. We are partners. We do things for each other and with each other. We don't keep track or score. There's no 'I've made dinner 5 more times than you have in the last month.' Or 'I've done more loads of laundry than you.' There's not competition for who's the best or right or anything. I really don't want to talk about him anymore at all. If he knocks again, don't answer. Seriously. If the people he told believe him, then I'm done with them too. Anyone who has anything to say to me besides the equivalent of 'I'm glad you're happy.' isn't going to be part of our lives anyway."

Sam gently repositioned Kurt so that Kurt was lying on him even more. He wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close.

Kurt moved even more and placed his hands on each side of Sam's face and kissed him. Kisses full of love and contentment. Reassuring kisses that nothing had changed. Sam responded, kissing him back with just as much love. They fell asleep tangled up together.

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The next morning, Kurt and Sam did their main grocery shopping trip, brought the food home, put it away, packed a picnic lunch, and headed out to an art show. They met up with Adam and some of the other Apples and ate in Central Park before heading to the show.

Everyone enjoyed the watercolor exhibit. Afterwards, they headed to a matinee of a student play. It was more like a second dress rehearsal to be sure that they were ready for their 8:00 show. Several of the people in the play were Apples and had invited the group to watch them perform. Adam had included Kurt and Sam in the invitation.

When they went in to sit down, Kurt realized that his phone had been on silent all night. Everyone enjoyed the play and spent a lot of their time laughing. After it was over, they all said their goodbyes and headed off separately.

"We've been to most of the places on our list, but let's go through it again and make sure we haven't missed anything after dinner tonight," Sam suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea. Let's sit on that bench for a minute. I've had my phone on silent since last night. I want to make sure I didn't miss anything important from my dad or Carole."

They sat down and Kurt checked his phone. "Oh, Sebastian's actually here in New York. He invited us out to dinner. His treat, he says."

"Well, who would turn down a free dinner? Not me," Sam teased.

"I'll text him back and apologize for answering so late and see if he's still free."

A couple of minutes later, Kurt's phone pinged. "He says sure and he gave me the name of a place. He says be there at 6:00."

"Alright, then. Let's head toward wherever we're eating." Sam stood up and offered his hand to Kurt, who gladly took it and they made their way to the subway and got off at the closet stop. They walked the rest of the way and got there about 15 minutes ahead of time.

"Hey," Sebastian said as he walked up behind them. "We're early, but let's see if they have a table ready."

They went inside and there was a table available. They followed the hostess and sat down. She handed them menus and took their drink orders. After they had looked through their menus and made their choices, they started talking.

"So, what's been going on?" Kurt asked him.

"Well, I didn't tell you, but I got up the nerve to confront my dad about the requirement to be a lawyer. He and I had a long talk and we both managed to stay calm. He listened to my side of things. He told me he'd consider what I said and we'd talk a second time."

"Well, that's a surprise. Did you have the second talk already?"

"We did. He's actually here with me this weekend. He's just meeting up with some old friends of his for dinner and I told him I have some friends here too that I wanted to eat with and here I am."

"So, how did the second talk go?"

"He said that he was proud of me for getting into Juilliard because it's such a prestigious school and that I must be very good. He came with me to visit Columbia and Juilliard. He found out that the acceptance rate at Juilliard is actually lower than Columbia, meaning that they are even more selective, which was a positive thing from his perspective. He had never really heard me play. I played for him and one of the violin professors that he had made an appointment with. The professor spoke with him and convinced him of my skill and basically made it out to sound like it would be criminal to make me become a lawyer when I was obviously born to be a musician."

"Wow, that's high praise," Sam said.

"So, in a shocking 180, my father has determined that I can study at Juilliard."

"Congratulations, Sebastian! That's amazing. And he's not going to withdraw your financial support?"

"He's going to pay for me to go. I have to live on campus. No partying lifestyle. If I want to do this, I have to be serious about it."

"So, are you going to accept?"

"Of course. I want to be a lawyer about as much as I want to date girls."

Kurt and Sam both laughed.

"Well, I'm glad things have turned around for you and you're going to get to do what you want," Kurt said.

The waitress delivered their food and they started eating, while continuing to talk.

"I got up the nerve because of your 'outside-the-stepford-sons-box' ideas. You kept talking about how freeing it was to do what you wanted and to not be weighed down by what other people thought. I finally decided that the answer I already had was 'no' and that the worst outcome was that it would still be 'no'."

"I'm glad for you, really."

"Thanks. When I get back to Dalton, I'll do what I can to extinguish any flames of possible intervention by anyone. I don't think there's anyone left who would even bother to try to listen to him. Do Nick and Jeff know?"

"Well, it's likely they do now since he posted it to Facebook. I'm not sure where he posted it because I deactivated my account a long time ago. But I didn't tell them personally. We hadn't told anyone personally except our parents and my boss. Santana and Rachel obviously found out last night."

"So, you were keeping it a secret?"

"No, not really. We weren't hiding it from anyone. We just like living in peace. We figured support would be low and interference would be high. And what other people think makes no difference."

"Well, you can put me in the support side of the scales."

"Thanks," Sam said. "As surprising as it may be, I think you might be the only person we knew in Ohio that will be supportive."

"I think Nick and Jeff will be. They were really upset with themselves that they had bought into the lies. They both really like you, Kurt. That's why they were the ones who drove 90 minutes to go pick you up."

"Well, I liked them too, which was why it was all the more hurtful that they hadn't talked to me and asked what had happened before they believed his side of things."

"They did get in contact with you, right?"

"Yeah, they emailed me and apologized."

"So, when are you moving here?" Sam asked.

"Well, I guess not until I can move into the dorms, so August sometime."

"We're moving upstate in 5 weeks. If you're ever up for a 2-hour drive, you can come visit. We have a comfortable couch," Sam offered.

"I might take you up on that."

"If you want to move away from Ohio sooner, and you're dad is willing to pay, the apartment complex we're moving into offers 2-months summer leases for students," Kurt said.

"That's an idea. I'm not sure what he's expecting. I'm going to do my best to go along with whatever it is since he's done a complete about-face on what I can study."

"I understand," Kurt said.

"On a completely different topic, we made it to the national competition. It's here in New York City next weekend."

"That's great! Maybe we could come watch. Text me the details and we'll see."

"I will."

"What songs are you singing?"

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"Well, that was an unexpected nice dinner. Mine was delicious. I hope yours was good too."

"It was. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that Sebastian has turned into a decent human being."

"When he apologized last year before Regionals last year, he meant it."

"It's not that I didn't believe you. It was just nice to see it myself. I'm glad he's going to get to study what he wants to. I can't imagine being told that I had to study something I absolutely would hate to study."

"A lot of the guys at Dalton are expected to study whatever their family deems appropriate."

They got on the subway and listened to music because it was crowded. Once they got off, they started talking again. They discussed the things on their must-do list and their plans for the next day.

They got to their building and found Blaine sitting on the steps near their apartment.

"Kurt, I need to talk to you. It won't take long, but can we at least go inside so we have some privacy."

Sam opened the door and the other two followed him inside. Blaine sat in the chair again.

"I won't be back to bother you again. I'll be back after graduation, but you'll be gone by then. I need you to call your dad and tell him that I came to see you and that I told you I won't bother you anymore."

"Thank you. I'll tell him that you stopped by and agreed to stop interfering. What you did yesterday was really reprehensible. If you had hoped that we might go back to being on friendly terms, you blew that yesterday."

Kurt got up and walked into their bedroom area, leaving Sam to escort Blaine out.

Sam locked the door after Blaine left. "Kurt?"

"I'm okay, Sam. I'm just taking my shoes and clothes off to get in the shower. I just had nothing left to say to him and didn't want him to think that I was offering him the chance to say anything else."

"Alright. Can I join you?"

"Always."

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Kurt picked up his phone and called his dad before heading into the shower.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, kiddo. What's up?"

"Well, Blaine was sitting on the stairs waiting for us when we came back and assured me that he was done interfering in my life. And he requested that I call you and tell you that he had been here."

"Alright then. That's what I needed to know."

"I'm not going to ask."

"I figured not. But rest assured, he's done bothering you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Carole and I are going to be able to visit the middle of June. Will that work for you two?"

"Sure. Are you wanting to stay with us?"

"No, no. We're getting a hotel room. We're all going to go to that lodge you talked about for the last night. I'll get Carole to text you the dates."

"Sounds good."

"I'm gonna go. I'm too old to stay up so late."

"You aren't old, but goodnight, Dad. Love you."

"'Night, love you too."

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Sunday morning over breakfast they went over their must-see lists.

"I think we've done a good job. I think we've covered everything on our original list," Sam said.

Kurt was looking up the details of the a cappella competition the following weekend. "We could go to this and not mess up our plans. The competition is in the evening. Do you want to go?"

"Is it expensive?"

"Oh, never mind. The tickets are $40 each. I'll have to let Sebastian know that we won't be there, but we might be able to meet up with them afterwards."

"That's pricey. I guess I never paid attention to the cost of tickets for the competitions because we were in them, not attending them."

"Me neither." Kurt texted Sebastian thanking him for the invitation, but letting him know that it wasn't going to be possible.

"Grab our lunches and let's get going. We've been planning this for ages. I want to get there when they open to get to see as much of it as we can in one day."

Sam opened the fridge and put their lunches in his backpack. "I know. I'm really excited. I'm sure it's worth the $40 for both of us to get in. Let's go."

Kurt rinsed their plates, but left them in the sink to wash later and they headed out. Sam took his hand as soon as he had locked the door and they took off toward the subway. They got there about 10 minutes before the doors opened. Kurt took his phone out and pulled up the map and they made a plan for the day.

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"That was so much fun. I'm so glad we came," Kurt said. They were walking along the sidewalk heading back to the subway swinging their joined hands between them.

"Me too. I think we could spend several days or a week in there."

"The funniest part was when you did the voice for the moai and the kids turned around absolutely convinced that it had talked when they weren't looking."

Sam smiled and laughed. "That was fun. I wasn't really paying attention to the fact that they had their backs turned. But it was really funny watching them try to convince their parents that it had talked."

"Next weekend is art weekend. The Met and the Guggenheim. Should be really cool. I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too. I loved it when we went to MoMA. Next weekend should be awesome."

They talked about the exhibits they had enjoyed that day and pieces they were looking forward to seeing the next weekend as they continued their journey back home.

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They warmed up their dinner when they got back home and sat down to eat together. Kurt noticed he had missed some texts.

"Sebastian says that he can get us tickets, if we want to go."

"Meaning he's going to buy them?"

"He wasn't specific, but he seems to really want us to be there. I'm going to say okay, unless you really don't want to go."

"No, it should be cool right? I mean the Warblers have always been really great and if the other groups are as good as them, then it ought to be a really good show."

"Alright. I'll text him back after we eat."

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The next week was much like the rest of their weeks. School, work, schoolwork.

They watched Blaze one evening. Sam had built a folding puppet stage and Kurt had made a curtain for it for Blaze's birthday. They took it with them to surprise him, since it was a few days before his birthday. The three of them practiced the puppet show that Blaze had written a script for, using he puppets he had been making with Sam after school. When Margaret got back, Kurt had his camera set up to record their performance for her.

Sam started working on his final project for his painting class. He had improved over the course of the semester and they had enough really good paintings to decorate a small house.

"I'm going to have to come up with a way to sell off some of the paintings or give them away or something."

"What? No," Kurt said. "I like all of them."

Sam walked over to where Kurt was sitting on the couch reading and knelt down next to the couch and kissed him gently. "While that is very sweet and I appreciate the fact that you are so supportive, we aren't going to be able to keep all of my artwork ourselves."

Kurt made a pouty face.

Sam laughed and kissed the pout off.

"But I don't know how to pick between them. It's like picking a favorite song. I've never been good at that."

"Well, the idea is to make a living at this, not to become an art collector," Sam laughed. "I'm supposed to get good enough at it that people will actually pay for them and we'll use the money the way we use the money from whatever roles you get."

"I know. I really do. But I never thought about how hard it would be to let one of them leave. I've watched you create them and take such care in their creation." He sighed loudly.

"Kurt, sweetheart, I love that you love them so much. We're going to have to work this out somehow. You can't be the only one who makes money doing what you love in the long run."

Kurt put his book down and scooted forward and wrapped his arms around Sam's neck and pressed his forehead against Sam's. "I'll work on it. I didn't realize that I would get so emotional about the whole idea."

Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed him. "We'll work on it."

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The opportunity came sooner that Sam had thought it would. He came home from school and work on Thursday with information about an end of the year art fair at the school. He waited until after dinner to talk to Kurt about it.

"So, I found out about this at school today." He handed Kurt the participation sheet.

"Oh," he said, obviously unenthused. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be this way about it, really. I absolutely want you to be successful."

"I know you do."

"I need to get over this. So, how many pieces can you enter?"

"Ten."

"So, you can show 10 pieces and put them up for sale?"

"Yes. We get to keep half of the sale price and the art department gets the other half to buy more supplies for next year."

"Well, that seems like a reasonable thing to participate in. It's been really nice not to have to pay for all of your supplies this semester. I was actually surprised that there wasn't an additional charge for the art classes."

"So, I need to go through what I have and pick some things to put in the show."

"You're not going to put all paintings are you?"

"No, I'll put half pottery pieces since those are hard to display."

"Okay." He took a deep breath. "Just 5 paintings then."

"They're going to photograph the pieces professionally and give us CDs with the photos so we can use the pieces for our portfolios."

"That's nice of them."

"I need to take them to school Monday."

"Okay." Kurt got up and cleared the table and washed the dishes. He grabbed the pots and pans and washed them too. He struggled not to cry.

Sam dried the dishes and put them away, but quit once Kurt had gotten them all washed. He hung the towel up and wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close.

"I really don't know why this bothers me so much. I'm sorry. I'm making this sad when it should be exciting for you."

"How about I just include ones that I painted back in Ohio this time? We'll work on figuring out what's so upsetting about selling the newer ones. I'll go through the ones I brought with me that aren't hanging, okay?"

"Alright. I'm really sorry."

He loosened his hold enough to look Kurt in the eyes. "There is no need to be sorry for how you feel about something. We'll figure it out." He held him closer again.

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"So, the Met was amazing. Absolutely fantastic," Kurt said as they were headed toward the theater to watch the a cappella competition.

"It really was. It's hard not to feel a huge wave of inferiority in there though."

"Hey, don't think that way. You're really good."

"And you're super biased," he leaned over and kissed Kurt on the temple as they continued to walk.

"Well, I'm allowed to be biased. And you are really good. You got into art school didn't you? And more than one. And you got an art scholarship."

"That's true. We're here."

"Sebastian's supposed to come out with the tickets at 5:45. We'll just wait here for him."

They talked about some of their favorite pieces while they waited.

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"Hey, guys!"

They turned and walked toward Sebastian. He handed them the tickets and they walked inside with him. "Wait for us in the lobby over there afterwards," he pointed to a bench.

"Alright. Thanks. And good luck!" Kurt said as Sebastian ran off.

They got in line to go into the auditorium and handed their tickets to the usher who indicated which way to go to get to their seats. They found them, sat down and waited for it to start. They looked through their program and saw that there were 9 groups. The Warblers had drawn the 5th spot.

It was a good show the Warblers placed 3rd. They waited for them where Sebastian said and about fifteen minutes later, they all arrived.

"Okay, we are all starving and we're going to get dinner. The two of you are invited," Sebastian said.

Kurt and Sam got up and followed them to the restaurant they had chosen. Kurt and Sam both realized that there was no way they could afford to eat dinner where they were going, but they went in because they didn't want to cause a scene or get a pity meal if they said something.

"Alright, we have a small room reserved for all of us." Sebastian said as he held the door open. Kurt and Sam were at the back of the line. Sebastian stopped Kurt. He whispered, "The Warblers are paying for this. Please eat."

Kurt nodded. He took Sam's hand and let Sebastian walk past them and told him what Sebastian had said.

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They all sat down and looked through the menu. That's when Kurt and Sam really realized how fancy it was. There were no prices on the menu. They both looked through and made their choices. Everyone ordered quickly and then the chatter started.

A few minutes later, Nick, who was sitting next to Kurt, stood up and everyone quieted down. "We're really glad that Kurt and Sam have come with us this evening. We wanted to offer our sincerest apology for taking part in the event at the school earlier this year. We allowed ourselves to be misled. Jeff, Trent, and I should have spoken with you personally before we agreed to anything so outlandish. We knew you best and twice we've really screwed things up. We're really sorry."

Kurt nodded. He saw Trent was crying.

Jeff stood up next. "We've all gotten over our collective crush on Blaine. Actually, there was a vote after we found out the truth and he was removed from the Warbler's roster. He will not be invited to any future Warbler Alumni events."

That surprised Kurt the most. "Once a Warbler, always a Warbler" didn't apply if you lied to the Warblers and embarrassed them. Kurt just nodded in understanding. It seemed like they were waiting for a response from him, so he stood.

"Thank you for inviting us tonight and congratulations on placing third. That's really impressive for your first time participating." He sat back down.

Everyone started back in talking amongst themselves. Trent got up and grabbed an extra chair from another table and pulled it up alongside Kurt on the side that Sam was sitting.

"Kurt, I'm really sorry. I'm glad you and Sam are happy together. I had no idea you were seeing someone else when Blaine came to us and asked us to help him. But that doesn't excuse the fact that I should have found out more about the situation before I agreed to participate. It seemed like such a fairytale idea. But afterwards, I realized that it was more scary movie than fairytale when the person being asked is surprised. I've learned a lesson at your expense and I'm really sorry."

"Trent, I know how much you looked up to Blaine. I was never quite sure why specifically, but you know I was just as starry eyed as you about him. I allowed myself to be fooled by him a lot more than you did. I'm not holding this against any of you. I mean I was dumb enough to start dating him after he pulled the Gap Attack fiasco. We should have all been suspended for that. That was so wrong. There were so many things that were wrong, but I overlooked all of them. I can't blame any of you for doing the same thing."

Kurt stood up. "I didn't really know what to say a few minutes ago, but I do now. It's what I just said to Trent. I'm not holding this against any of you. I allowed myself to be fooled by him more than any of you ever did. I overlooked so many things. I can't blame any of you for buying into the persona. I'm not angry with any of you or holding what happened against you." Kurt sat back down.

"Thank you," Trent said. "I'm glad you two came tonight." He stood up and put the chair back and went back to his own seat.

Kurt and Sam talked to Nick and Jeff while they waited for their food to arrive. Everyone ate once they food was served and the chatter mostly died down. The food was delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy what they had ordered.

Once everyone had finished, the plates were cleared and a cake was brought out and sat in front of Kurt and Sam. It was decorated with beautiful chocolate swirl patterns. On the top it said "Kurt & Sam" written in elegant script with the same chocolate as the swirls.

They were both shocked. "Thank you," they both said.

The server handed them the cake cutter. They took it and held it together and cut two slices of cake for themselves. They knew what everyone was waiting for. They took their forks and fed each other bites of the cake and everyone applauded.

Sebastian stood up. "We're going to sing for you, but not a sappy love song. This is because you inspired me to live my life on my terms."

Background vocals started and Kurt and Sam started to smile. Sebastian sang lead.

This ain't a song for the broken hearted

No silent prayer for the faith-departed

I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd.

You're gonna hear my voice

When I shout it out loud

It's my life

It's now or never.

I ain't gonna live forever.

I just want to live while I'm alive.

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said

I did it my way

I just want to live while I'm alive

It's my life

This is for the ones that stood their ground

It's for Tommy and Gina who never backed down

Tomorrow's getting harder, make no mistake

Luck ain't enough

You've' got to make your own breaks

You better stand tall when they're calling you out

Don't bend, don't break, don't back down

It's my life

It's now or never

I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said

I did it my way

I just want to live while I'm alive

It's my life

By the time they finished, Kurt was nearly laughing. He stood up and clapped for them when they were done singing. "That was fantastic. Really. Thank you." He went over and hugged Sebastian.

"After I told everyone what I had done and that I was going to Juilliard to study violin instead of going to law school, several of the other guys got up the nerve to confront their fathers."

Nick, Jeff, and a few others stepped forward.

"They're going into the fields of their choice."

"We know we wore you down when you were with us. We didn't listen to your ideas," Trent said.

Nick said, "We never really thought for ourselves, exactly. Sebastian told us your nickname for Dalton. At first, some of us were offended, but then we talked about it. We realized that we had never considered any other options for ourselves. We were dutiful sons, but not many of us were looking forward to our futures."

"And that probably led us to what we did earlier this year," Jeff said. "The whole idea of doing what someone's heart led him to do was so fanciful and fun. Obviously, we should have checked on the truthfulness of the claims, but the idea of the whole thing was so outside the realm of practically arranged marriages that most of us are facing, it was just such a cool thing to be a part of."

"And it would have been if the whole thing hadn't been based on a lie. If you had wanted it," Trent added.

"That's true," Kurt said. "I hope those of you who have chosen your own fields of study will be happy doing it. I never meant to inspire a revolution." He laughed.

"We may be doing the wrong thing. We won't know, but we're convinced that what we were going to do was definitely the wrong thing," Nick said. "I don't want to be a lawyer - at all. So, giving something else a chance is better than doing something I'm certain I don't want to do."

"Well, I wish you all success in your chosen fields," Kurt said.

Most of the group had sat back down, and at that point, everyone else did. Slices of cake were cut and passed out.

Once everyone had finished, they started putting their blazers back on, and quite a few came up and hugged Kurt and shook hands with Sam.

Nick said, "We have to head out. The teachers that came with us gave us until 10:30. So, we have to go meet them out front."

"Thank you. For all of this."

"Thank you for not holding all of the things we did against us," Jeff said.

The group was mostly standing by the door to the room, just waiting for a few stragglers, and then they started to file out.

Kurt and Sam walked to the back of the line. Sebastian had hung back as well. He handed Kurt a greeting card. "Open it when you get home."

Kurt looked perplexed, but said, "Alright. Thank you. I loved the song." He gave Sebastian another hug and Sebastian took off to catch up to the others.

Kurt put the card in his satchel and took Sam's hand and they headed to the subway.

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They made it back to their apartment close to midnight. They took a quick shower and got in bed because they had plans to be back in midtown early the next morning.

Kurt had put the card on his side dresser, but hadn't opened it. Sam double-checked the door, turned off all of the lights, and got into bed.

"I can't read in the dark." Kurt laughed and kissed Sam on the shoulder.

Sam grabbed the electric candle and turned it on. "We'll be like the settlers and read by candlelight."

Kurt grabbed the card and opened it. The card itself was a fairly typical "congratulations on getting married" card. But it was what was inside the card that surprised them both.

"Does that say what I think it says?" Sam asked.

"If you think it says $1500, then you're right."

"Why did they give us $1500?"

"Maybe it's a Warbler tradition? I have no idea really. I'll text Sebastian in the morning."

Sam turned some music on, turned the candle off, and rolled over to face Kurt. "Big spoon, little spoon, sleep on me?"

"Hmm. Sleep on you."

Sam moved his arm so Kurt could cuddle up, and then wrapped his arm around Kurt. He kissed the top of his head. "I love you."

Kurt moved even closer and intertwined their legs and hands. "I love you too."

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The next morning, they were up and ready to leave early again. Once they were in midtown, they headed toward the Guggenheim, and Kurt texted Sebastian. They arrived quickly and went inside to start their exploration of the museum. They started at the top and worked their way down through the museum.

They chose to stay in the museum and finish seeing the exhibits rather than break for lunch. After they left, they took the lunch they had packed to Central Park for a mid-afternoon picnic.

"We need to find a good picnic spot after we move," Sam said.

"I agree. Four more weeks. It's coming soon."

"I'm finally graduating. Finally."

"You've worked really hard. I hope you're proud of yourself."

"I am. It's just weird. Coming here was a huge change. I've attended 4 high schools and it's finally going to be over. I got into college. I have to remind myself of that. Sometimes all of this feels like a dream. A really good dream." He took Kurt's hand and kissed his knuckles. "Definitely my best plan – coming here to be with you."

They stood up and took a walk through the park down to Conservatory Pond. Once they reached a wooded area where there weren't many people, Kurt walked them off of the path and into the trees a little ways. He wrapped his arms around Sam and held him. Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt as well, attempting to put his hands where he had when they were in the woods hiking. Kurt cleared his throat gently and Sam laughed and moved his hands back up to Kurt's waist. Kurt stepped back a bit and kissed him, which surprised Sam, but he went with it and kissed back.

"I'm so glad you came. My life is so much better with you in it." Kurt kissed him again. He grabbed Sam's hand again and walked back toward the path. They walked along the pond for a while, and then headed to the metro station.

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Sebastian finally texted back that evening. Sam was working on packing up his paintings that he was taking to the art show, while Kurt was reading a book on his Kindle.

"What did he say?" Sam asked, figuring that it was Sebastian, since it was mostly Carole and Sebastian that texted Kurt. Burt always preferred calling.

"That it's a Warbler tradition to buy any Warbler who gets married something nice from their gift registry and either send it or take it to the wedding. And since we eloped and have no registry, they each contributed $100, which they thought was a reasonable gift."

"Wow."

"I guess at some point, I'll have to start participating in this tradition. Hopefully, the rest of them wait to get married until I have more money."

"How about if I paint a warbler and we mail it to the group?"

"That would be nice. You could do an 11x14 water color and we could roll it carefully and mail it. They could frame it or whatever they want. It could go on the mantel in the Warblers practice room."

"I'll start on it tomorrow in class."

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Sam finished the painting a few days later and Kurt mailed it off during his lunch on Friday. He had been dreading the art show that evening, but still wasn't really able to pinpoint why it upset him so much to for Sam to sell his artwork.

He got home just a few minutes after Sam usually did, but he wasn't a the door to great him, so he wondered if he had actually gotten home first, but he found him in the bedroom looking through his clothes when we went to put his bag away.

"Need help?" Kurt put his hands on Sam's face gently and pulled him into a kiss.

"As much as I absolutely want to kiss you more, yes, please help me pick out what to wear. The show starts at 7:00 and we need to leave soon."

Kurt quickly picked out a shirt, tie, and slacks for both of them. They changed quickly. Kurt grabbed a couple of granola bars and they headed off to the school.

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Kurt walked around and looked through the other artists' areas and admired their pieces. He glanced toward Sam frequently to see if people were stopping to look at his stuff. Quite a few people were in his booth every time Kurt looked. He managed to get a few decent photos of Sam talking to people about his pieces.

He noticed red stickers on the price tags of most of the pieces Sam had displayed, which meant that they had been sold. Before the end of the evening, all of Sam's pieces had been spoken for. He knew it was time to congratulate Sam and he couldn't put off going over to his area anymore.

He had tried to stay away to keep people from being prejudiced against Sam. Maybe it wasn't an issue, but Kurt was determined to make sure that he didn't do anything to ruin the night for Sam since it was his very first show. When the show was ending, Kurt went over to Sam's area.

"You did it. They all sold. That's really amazing. I didn't see anyone else who had sold every piece they displayed." He realized then that he wasn't actually upset about the pieces being sold.

"I kept hoping you'd come over, but you stayed away."

"I didn't to scare away any of your potential buyers."

Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt. "I appreciate that you were trying to help, but I'm not ashamed of you or of us."

Kurt just nodded and stepped back out of the hug. "What do you need to do now?"

"Well, the buyers have to pay and then they bring the receipt and they can take the pieces home. So, I have to stay for a little bit."

"Alright. I can go sit somewhere and wait for you."

"No, please stay. I mean it. If they don't want my painting or pottery, then they can change their minds, but I want you with me. I'm not hiding and I'm not hiding you either."

"Okay. I'll stay." He looked carefully at Sam's pieces that had been displayed. He figured out why it didn't bother him that they had been sold.

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"This is going to be perfect for my waiting room. It's just lovely," a woman about 40 said as she came to pick up the painting she had chosen. "Do you have a website? People who come to see me might want to buy a painting from you too."

"I don't, but I can give you my email address. I'll work on getting a website up after graduation. I'm sure I can get it done over the summer before my classes start."

Kurt wrote Sam's email address on a piece of paper that the woman handed Sam and handed it back to her.

"Thank you, dear."

"You're welcome."

Several other people asked Sam the same question. Kurt gave Sam's email address to them as well.

Eventually all of the pieces had been picked up and Sam could leave. He went over to the sales desk and was handed a check for $800. He carefully carried it over to the area where his paintings had been and pulled his phone out and took a picture of it. He emailed the picture to his parents. He was wiping tears from his eyes, trying to keep them back.

He put his phone away and folded the check and put it in his wallet. He reached out for Kurt's hand and they walked out of the gymnasium and back to their apartment.

As soon as they got inside, Kurt locked the door and followed Sam to their bedroom. He was already slipping the tie off. Kurt took it and put it where it belonged, along with the one he was wearing.

He wrapped himself around Sam in a big bear hug. "That was amazing! You're amazing!"

"I'm an artist - a real, honest-to-God artist. People bought my pieces - all of them. It felt like a dream before – like just something I wanted to happen that would never happen. But it did."

Kurt wiped the tears that slipped down his cheeks and gently kissed him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For making you feel like I didn't want you to be an artist. I never meant for you to think that."

"I knew you didn't. I know you want me to succeed. I've always known that."

"I figured out what my issue is."

"Okay.

"They're like a part of you and I don't want to lose any part of you."

"You just have to rethink it a little. They are a part of me, but the part of me that I want to share with other people."

"It's a little more than that. I wasn't bothered by the pieces you showed tonight being sold and I had to consider why. I wasn't with you when you created those pieces. You do pottery at school because you can't do it at home. And those paintings were ones you did in school in Ohio."

"Okay?"

"And the ones in here, the ones you've painted here at home – I was with you. When I see them, I remember what we were talking about or what book I was reading or what music we were listening to. It's like a part of what we did together is gone if the painting is gone."

"I'll make sure I photograph all of the ones that I do at home. That way you can look at the pictures whenever you want. I still want to say something about letting them go though."

"Okay."

"When you sing, sometimes you sing for yourself, right?"

"Mmm hmm."

"And sometimes you sing what the other person needs to hear. Other times you sing what someone else tells you to sing."

"Right."

"My artwork is sort of like that too. Sometimes I create something for someone specific and I gift it to them because I made it for them. Just like when you sing a song for someone else's enjoyment. Sometimes I paint something just because I want to – for myself. Afterwards, I might want to keep it, but sometimes it was just for the fun of doing it and challenging myself to do it. Like if you challenged yourself to learn a really hard piece of music that you had no where to perform."

"Okay."

"And sometimes I paint or create something because someone else wants me to, like for an assignment at school. Or some day maybe people will commission me to create something. Those pieces mean less to me personally, not because I put less work into them, but because the subject matter was chosen by someone else. Like when Mr. Schue told us to sing a particular song."

"Some of the pieces that were assigned to you became my favorites because of the process of you painting them involved us together here at home."

"Yes. I found that to be the case as well. Whenever you've been around while I'm working on something, it becomes more interactive and it's more like working on something I've chosen to do on my own."

"Taking the photos will just have to suffice. I'm not going to be an obstacle to your success just because I'm a sentimental sap."

"You are the sweetest sentimental sap ever and I love you so much."

"Well, I'm glad you can put up with my sappiness. I love you too."

"Hey." Sam tipped Kurt's chin up just slightly so they were looking at each other. "I'm not putting up with your sappiness. You are a very caring person. You put so much love into everything you do for me. I feel your love all the time. You make me feel like the luckiest guy in the world."

"I'm glad." Kurt started unbuttoning Sam's shirt. "Shower?"

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As they lay in bed snuggled up with music playing, Sam was running his hand along Kurt's arm.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Margaret got a job in Portland. She and Blaze are moving when school gets out."

"That's great that she found a job so quickly. And it solves the issue of Blaze feeling like you're leaving him behind when we move upstate. I know that was a concern of yours."

"Yeah, because he keeps saying how much he's going to miss me. It's hard. But with them moving so far away, I know he won't miss me less, but it will be more understandable why I can't watch him anymore. I'm going to miss him too."

"I know. You have a great time with him. It's like getting paid to have fun."

"It is. I do get paid to have fun."

"Maybe you can find something similar after we move. Maybe someone will be looking for a nanny or private after-school care. If not, maybe there are camps or something hiring for the summer. I have to start my serious job search this next week too. I'll be back to fixing fuel pumps and tie rods."

"At least it pays well."

"It's a nightmare to get all of the grease off my hands."

Sam laughed. "You've managed so far."

"I know and I will do what it takes."

"You're a very sexy grease monkey."

"Is that so?"

"Well…actually, you're just really sexy all the time."

"Are you still trying to keep your hands to yourself?"

"Sometimes."

"What did I say about that?"

"Not to?"

"Exactly."

Sam rolled him over onto his back and started tickling him.

"Now, wait," Kurt said in between laughing.

"Wait?"

"I didn't say to tickle me."

"But I'm putting my hands on you like you said I could," Sam teased.

"How about less tickling and more caressing or massaging?"

"I can do that."

He reached up and ran both of his hands down Kurt's arms. "You're gorgeous. And incredibly sexy."

"Mmm. That feels nice. I know you were teasing with the tickling, but I was serious. If you're holding back for some reason, you don't need to. I'm as much a teenage guy as you are. If you're in the mood, I probably am too."

"Well, you being in the room makes me in the mood and thinking about you when you're not around makes me in the mood."

"I have the same exact issue. Always."

"And touching you puts the dial at 11 on a 10 point scale."

Kurt laughed.

"And we have other things to do. I have to have some restraint. I can't just strip you down when you walk in the door and toss you in the bed."

"Could be fun," Kurt teased. "but only if we shower first. Strip me down, put me in the shower, and then toss me in the bed. Riding the subway home always makes me feel like I need to shower."

"Well, we've already accomplished all three of those things, minus the tossing, but same result. You're in the bed."

Kurt reached up and put his hands on Sam's shoulders and pulled him down and started kissing him. He whispered in his ear, "I'm up for whatever you want."