As Kurt got to the bottom of the stairs, Sam was about one step from the bottom step. He closed the gap and wrapped his arms around Kurt and picked him up and spun him in a circle and put him down on the floor next to him.
"I missed you." Sam kissed him.
Kurt leaned his head to the side and nuzzled into Sam's neck. "I missed you too."
They stood in place holding each other for a few minutes. Sam eventually took a small step back and Kurt put his head back up.
"Are you ready to eat? I was on my way down to warm our dinner up."
"I'll even eat it cold."
"I think it will taste better warm."
"I guess that depends on what it is. Warm ice cream is gross." He tickled Kurt and scooted off to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Warm it is. He took the plastic wrap off and stuck the plate in the microwave.
"Not a cold meatloaf fan?"
"Ah, cold meatloaf is delicious. Cold mashed potatoes are disgusting."
"I see. You've put some effort into this field of study." He laughed.
"I have." He wrapped his arms back around Kurt. "C'mere you. I'm just going to hold you and keep you as my hostage. Dalton can't have you back. I miss you too much when you're gone."
"I was gone for months before you came out with the pizzas."
"I know, and my life was duller for it, by far."
"Sweet talker."
Sam kissed him. "You just have a spark that energizes the space around you. And Dalton has dampening fields. Damn Borg."
Kurt snorted.
"Now, that's better. Laughing. See, you're already better."
Kurt kissed him. "You're absolutely right. I'm much better now that you're here."
"Now, wait. That's not what I said."
"Close enough."
Before he could argue, Kurt kissed him and licked his way into Sam's mouth deepening the kiss. Before they got too caught in making out in the kitchen, the microwave dinged and Sam let him go to pull his plate out. He put Kurt's in next. As soon as he pushed the start button, Kurt spun him around and resumed the kissing, dialing it back to PG-13 in case someone walked in on them. Once the microwave dinged again, Kurt grabbed his plate and a fork and walked into the dining room and sat down. Sam sat right next to him. They ate quickly, loaded the dishwasher, and turned it on. Kurt made sure nothing was out of place and grabbed Sam's hand and they went upstairs.
"Where's your backpack?"
"Already upstairs. Glee was cancelled, so I was home for a little bit before I went to work."
"Why was it cancelled when you need to be working on a set list for Nationals?"
"I'm guessing we're just winging it like we did at Regionals."
Kurt stepped inside the bedroom door letting Sam walk through and closed and locked the door behind them.
"Mr. Schue is blowing it then. No one shows up to Nationals without a proper set list and a reasonable amount of practice. Since there's nothing preventing songs that have been used in competition during the season, you're going to be competing against groups that could have been practicing the songs they're going to sing since last September."
"I know, but I can't make him show up and hold rehearsals. I think he's not dealing well with Finn and Rachel's absences. We did well at Sectionals without either of them on lead. It's not like it's impossible. Tina has a strong, sweet voice. Quinn's voice is lovely, and all it would take is a headset mic so she could be heard without straining her voice. Santana has some serious belting ability. And Mercedes – that girl has some pipes on her – and the riffs and runs. She could be lead and we could win. Maybe with her and Puck or her and Artie."
"There are a lot of good combinations and with the possibility of face mics, they can be adjusted to allow for a better mix between singers."
Instead of making it farther into the room while they had been talking, Sam had slowly pushed Kurt against the door.
"It's easier to just to let it be. My future doesn't depend on how well we do. So, I'm not going to stress myself out about it. We get to go to New York which will be cool, but I'm still working on a way to hide you in my suitcase safely."
"Is that so?"
"It is. I want to go to Central Park with you and see some of the things you want to see. You said it's this fantasy of yours to live there. So, I'd like to see what makes this place fantasy worthy."
"Sweet talker."
"I love you. I want to understand what makes you find it so amazing."
"I love you too." Kurt kissed him gently. "That's really sweet. I really appreciate that – more than I can even explain. Let's take a shower and I'll pull up my saved bootleg recordings of Wicked."
"Alright. Sounds fun."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Good news!
Good news!
Who can say if I've been changed for the better but
Because I knew you
No one mourns the wicked.
Because I knew you, I have been changed
No one mourns the wicked.
Wicked.
Wicked!
"So, in my fantasy version of that, I get to play Elphaba somehow. Fiyero is a bisexual guy. And Galinda can still be played by a woman." Kurt powered his laptop down and put leaned it against the wall next to the bed. He turned back over to lie facing Sam.
"I see."
"I know it's not going to happen, but that's what fantasies are. Things we like to imagine could happen, but don't."
"I only have one problem with you being an performer."
"What's that?"
"I don't want you kissing other people." He scooted forward a bit and kissed Kurt. "I'm going to have to see someone to learn better self-control."
Kurt laughed.
"This is not a laughing matter," Sam said very seriously. "It will take serious willpower to not deck someone who kisses you."
"It won't mean anything."
"That's the whole thing. Your kisses mean everything to me and …"
Kurt interrupted his speech with more kisses. "We have time to work on your self-control later."
"Later's good," he let Kurt deepen the kiss.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}A-16{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
After lunch, Sam was sitting on the end of the bed watching Kurt, who had just finished reciting the monologue he had been working on.
"That was really good. You didn't miss any of the words."
"So will you audition with me?"
"I don't want to have to learn a bunch of lines and stuff."
Kurt stepped toward the bed and pulled Sam to standing. "So, don't audition for a main role – just audition to be in support cast. You'll just sing and be part of the background action."
"I can do that."
Kurt practically jumped in his arms. "Really?"
Sam grabbed him and held him close. "Yes, really. I'd do just about anything to spend time with you and see you this excited."
"You're a sweetie."
Sam kissed him and spun him in a circle.
"Put me down."
"Make me."
Kurt started kissing him. Sam was distracted by the kissing and Kurt slid down so that his feet were touching the ground again. He ran his hands through Sam's hair causing him to relax even more. Kurt dropped his weight and slipped through Sam's arms and did a back roll once he was squatting. He stood straight back up and said. "Ha!" and laughed at him.
Sam was cackling and took off after Kurt. "Kissing trickery and ninja skills?"
Kurt dodged and slipped past him and climbed up on the bed. Sam followed him, but once he put one knee on the bed, Kurt tackled him and flipped him onto his back and pinned him down. "Gotcha!"
"You are sneaky and scrappy and a lot of fun."
Kurt leaned down and kissed him. "Thank you."
Sam slid his hands up under the kilt. "Maybe the kilt wasn't a good idea."
"I thought you liked it." Kurt pushed up and looked at Sam.
"I like it too much." He ran his hands along the back of Kurt's thighs.
Kurt laughed. "I see. Shall I put a pair of baggy jeans on?"
"No way. Well, I mean you can if you want to, but don't do it on my account."
Kurt leaned down and kissed him. "I can take the kilt off, if you want."
"How will that help?"
"Depends on your definition of 'help'. Help you reach what seems to be your goal at the moment?"
"I'm trying to not be pushy, but God, you're so sexy."
Kurt blushed. He thinks I'm sexy. "What is it that you want to do with me in this kilt?"
"Lean down."
Kurt bent his elbows and shifted his weight.
Sam whispered in his ear.
Oh, my God. He wants to do that? "Really?"
"Oh, yeah. Definitely."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah. Sounds amazing. I'll do you afterwards if you want."
"Duh." He flipped Kurt over so he was on his back and Sam was the one on his hands and knees. He leaned down and kissed Kurt. "You're sure?"
"I'm positive."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Kurt slid up and lay in Sam's arms with his head on Sam's chest. Sam was still breathing hard, but he had come to his senses enough to wrap his arm around Kurt and pull him close.
What if I did it all wrong? "Was I okay?"
Sam kissed him on the forehead. "Definitely more than okay – amazing."
Kurt smiled. "I love you so much." He ran his fingers along Sam's neck and then down his chest.
"I love you too."
"Let's take a little nap."
"M'kay." Sam grabbed Kurt's hand interlacing their fingers and held it draped across his chest.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"So, I know the Comic Con in Columbus isn't for like 6 months, but you'll go with me, right?"
You're so adorable. I'll go to whatever it is. "Sure."
"Do you even know what it is?"
"Not really, but you're super excited about it, so I want to go with you."
They were both leaned against the headboard holding textbooks, but neither of them was actually reading them. Sam leaned over and kissed Kurt on the cheek. "You're awesome you know?"
"Of course." He turned and kissed Sam on the lips. "I figure it has to do with comic books, which you love and you've got about a hundred of on your shelf over there."
"There's lot of other stuff too."
"Okay. Do we get to dress up?"
"You'll dress up with me?"
"Do you even know me, Sam Evans? Of course, I'll dress up with you. I'm assuming that's part of the fun of it, right?"
"Yeah, but I've never dressed up before because I don't know how to sew and buying the costumes is really expensive. I didn't work when I went to school in Tennessee – well only in the summers. And I saved that money to buy my truck."
"So, now you have an awesome boyfriend who can sew and you have a job that you don't have to save every penny from, so we can work on costumes."
Sam leaned back over and kissed him again. "This is going to be awesome."
Kurt laughed. "So, who are we going to dress up as?"
"Well, to be honest, we wouldn't have to spend much at all if we just dressed like Wiccan and Hulkling the way they normally look."
"And they are?"
"Right." He shut his U.S. History book and put it on the bed in front of him and got up and went and sorted through his comics until he found what he was looking for. He got back in bed.
Kurt waited for Sam to show him whatever it was he wanted him to see.
Sam flipped through some pages and then handed it to Kurt.
"Wait, there are gay superheroes?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Why did I not know this?"
"You read Vogue?"
Kurt elbowed him, but not hard. "Well, I would have read comic books if I had known there were cute, young gay superheroes in them."
"Well, now you know."
"Well, now I need to read all of them. Don't tell me anything. I just need all of the comics that have their story in them."
Sam laughed. "We can work on that. I'm not sure I have all of them, but we can go to a comic shop somewhere and maybe we can fill in the gaps in my collection."
"Deal. Do you have the first one?"
"I think so."
"They even kiss in the comics? I cannot believe I didn't know about this. I totally need a t-shirt now. Which one is this one? The one that looks like me?"
"That's Wiccan."
"Maybe a hoodie. We could make them. We could get two plain hoodies somewhere and we can paint them ourselves. You're a lot better artist than I am, but I'm not terrible. I'm sure we can do it."
"Sounds like fun."
"Okay, so let's go get two hoodies." Kurt clapped his book closed, hopped up, and put it on his vanity.
"Maybe we should do the artwork sketches first?" Sam had a huge grin on his face.
"Sure. Um, sketchbooks." He opened the left-hand cabinet in the center section of the bookshelves and grabbed an art box and two sketchpads. He took them back over to the bed and sat them down and got back on the bed and sat facing Sam with the art supplies in between them. "Should we draw them in their superhero form or just regular?"
"Superhero, definitely."
"You do Hulkling. I'll try to do Wiccan." Kurt opened the comic book back up and looked through it to find a page with a good drawing of Wiccan's outfit. "How about like this?"
"That's good."
They sat and worked on their sketches for a while.
"What do you think?" Kurt asked as he turned it around.
"That's really good, but I think to put it on a hoodie, you're going to have to be a lot less detailed and a lot bigger overall."
"Let me see yours."
Sam turned it around.
"Yours is perfect. Help me with mine, please? I've never tried drawing comic characters."
"Yours is actually really good, like it could go in the comic itself." Sam turned to a new page. He drew the outline form of Wiccan, much larger than Kurt had. "Try starting with this." He handed him the sketchpad.
Kurt went back to work on his drawing. Sam picked his textbook back up and tried to finish his reading. A half-hour later, Kurt was getting quite aggravated.
"What's wrong?"
He pursed his lips to one side and huffed. "I can't get his face right."
"The faces are always the hardest. When we paint the hoodies, I'll help you with that part, okay?"
"Alright." He turned it around and let Sam see.
"That's a lot better than the first one, as far as putting it on a hoodie. The other thing is that their faces don't have to be perfect. We're not going for a portrait. It's supposed to look somewhat stylized and not quite realistic. They're comic characters."
"I'll work on it more."
Sam leaned forward onto his hands and kissed Kurt. "They're both really good for your first attempts. You should have seen mine. They were totally lame."
"But you were probably like 8 years old."
"Don't discount your skills. I practice a lot more than you do."
"You win. I won't be so hard on myself. I really want to read these now." He closed the comic book and moved it closer to where he was going to sit. He grabbed the art box and sketchpads to put them back.
"Wait. What do you normally draw? Can I see?"
"Sure. It's boring though." Kurt pulled out a smaller sketchpad and handed it to Sam and sat down next to him this time.
Sam opened it. His eyes got wider as he turned the pages. "These are not boring. They're amazing. Are you thinking of being a designer? I mean I know you love clothes and dressing up. I just didn't know you actually designed stuff."
"I think it would be really cool. I wonder if there are any beginning design courses at OSU Lima. I know I had said I wanted to take European history, but maybe I could take a design class instead." He got up and turned his laptop on. He navigated to the course catalog. After a few minutes of reading, he practically jumped out of his seat. "They have a costume design class at OSU Lima. I'm totally switching to that instead of European History, if I can."
"Maybe we can take four classes at OSU Lima and just take two at school. We need to find out the exact rules."
"That's a task for Monday." He shut his computer back down. "I want to show you something."
"That sounds serious."
"Yeah, but not in a bad way." He got up and pulled an envelope out of the back of his bottom dresser drawer. He got back in the bed and sat next to Sam and handed him the envelope.
Sam looked at him strangely. "What's this?"
"Open it and you'll see. My dad got me these back not too long after the drunken party at Rachel's house – after he found Blaine sleeping in my bed. Alone, I'll add. But he flipped out and he and I had a discussion that included me making a smart aleck remark about how I should be able to go to him with questions like any straight son could after he made a comment about not knowing what 'went down in the tent' in Brokeback Mountain."
"I haven't seen that movie."
"Oh. Two guys have sex in the tent, but nothing is shown in the movie."
"That was my guess with what you just said. So, you got upset that he didn't know and so he got you whatever is in this envelope."
"Yeah."
"Alright." Sam opened the envelope. "Oh, pamphlets. I've seen this one and this one, but not the other one. My dad had some similar ones to this one, though. He gave me the straight versions too. He said I should be completely informed. So, your dad didn't know this stuff so he went and got pamphlets?"
"Yeah. He didn't go over them with me, but he read them before he gave them to me. His talk was about self-respect and using physical intimacy to be closer to someone as an emotional connection, not just as a physical release. He told me that I matter and I shouldn't throw myself around like I didn't."
"Well, he's right. You do matter – a lot. My dad gave me a similar speech about how even though I couldn't get a boyfriend pregnant or get pregnant myself that I shouldn't just go sleeping around because I could 'get away with it' more easily than if I was straight."
"Were your parents upset when you told them?"
"Not really upset. Surprised I guess. It's kind of hard to explain. They weren't disappointed in me personally, but they were sad about how other people would react and how I would inevitably be treated at some point."
"And when you started dating Quinn?"
"My mom was actually pretty aggravated. She said I was leading Quinn on. I sat down and talked to her about what Quinn had been through and that I wasn't pushing Quinn and it was Quinn's idea. I think Quinn wanted to be my arm candy or me to be hers, whichever way. My mom was less upset once she realized that it was more of a social thing to do than anything else."
"And your dad?"
Sam took a deep breath. "I think he actually wanted it to work out between me and Quinn. He liked Quinn a lot. He thought she had been through a lot and come out the other side and had matured. I think he thought my life would be a lot easier if I could learn to love a girl."
"I can see that. And now?"
"And now, they can see the change in how being myself makes a difference. How being with you makes me happier than I have been in a long time. And I think my dad's view of Quinn's maturity changed when she cheated on me with Finn. She traded me out for the top dog. She wants to be queen regardless of who the king is."
"Finn's been grounded back to the stone ages, like my dad threatened. He got to keep his phone, but he's only allowed to use it for calls to and from Carole and my dad."
"Oh, wow. I didn't even think about it. I'm not around him much in the evenings. By the time I get back from work and eat, I head straight up here to get whatever I can done before it's time to sleep. Why did he get grounded for The Muckraker?"
"He took photos when he was with Rachel staking out the motel."
"Ah. I did not know that."
"Neither did I. I'm really mad about it, but Carole's talked to him every night this past week from what he said. According to Rachel, she didn't take the photos in The Muckraker. Those photos were taken by JBI who was following her. So, I never really thought about the fact that Finn might have been taking photos too. If Rachel hadn't been following Quinn, JBI wouldn't have gotten those photos of you."
"Maybe this could be used so that Rachel could get a restraining order against him or something. I know that he's a real nuisance to her."
"That's an idea. But we are way, way off topic."
Sam looked at the envelope he was holding. "Right. So, why did you show me these?"
"Mostly because I just wanted to make sure that you knew what was in them. I know you lived in a really conservative area and I didn't know whether your parents had ever talked to you about this stuff or could even get pamphlets like that there."
"Oh, well, I appreciate you sharing the information. Do you want to talk about it?"
No. Yes. No. YES. "As mortifying as it is, yes."
"Okay."
"Well, um. I mentioned that I've been teased a lot about actually having any male genitalia and its miniscule size, if I did actually have any."
"Yeah."
"Pretty much anything sexual that has ever been said to me has always pointed out my girly-ness. And the jocks made comments about me wearing tight pants being a way to entice them to give it to me the way I was obviously begging for. Making comments about how they'd give me 'what I wanted' if I didn't stay away from them. Everything sex-related has really bordered on rape talk. And I don't know. It's like I've never felt like it would be okay for me to enjoy it or be anything besides a not-quite-willing partner on the bottom. Like if anyone ever actually was willing to have sex with me, they'd want me face down where they could sort of pretend they were having sex with a girl or where they could just dominate me with no participation or enjoyment for me."
"Oh, Kurt. C'mere." Sam lifted his arm and got Kurt to scoot up next to him and he wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulder and wiped a few tears that were escaping. "No. No. It would never be like that with us. Never." He put the envelope on the side shelf and wrapped his other arm around Kurt pulling him really close.
"Okay," Kurt said really quietly, his face partially buried in Sam neck.
"I promise. When we get to that point, it will be about both of us equally. I would never do anything to hurt you intentionally. Everything I've read indicates that it's going to hurt some, but that the pain eases up. But I don't consider myself somehow in charge of how things go. We're equal in this. I don't have some weird male/female thing going on in the back of my mind where I consider myself the male and you the female. That's pretty dumb. We're both equipped with same features."
Kurt laughed slightly.
"That's better." He kissed the top of Kurt's head. "We have the same equipment, there's no reason we can't both use all of our features."
"You're silly sometimes." He laughed.
"But I got you to laugh, so being silly is totally worth it. Your body doesn't belong to me to use it as I see fit. That's just so wrong. Your body belongs to you and if you share yourself with me then that's a gift to me. Not something for me to take advantage of."
"Okay. So, you'd let me…?"
"Of course. I really hate this town. Not that I didn't already, but even more than I did before. You're not really iffy on anything else. I mean you're really not afraid about stuff. I'm doing a terrible job at explaining myself."
"I get it, I think. I'm not usually terribly clingy and afraid like I feel when I think about this particular subject. You've never seen this side of me. I was just really overwhelmed this afternoon when you wanted to do that to me. I was shocked actually. I've been conditioned to believe I would always be the one on the receiving end."
"Well, I quite enjoyed myself and I'm hoping for the potential of repeating that at some point."
"Well, I quite enjoyed it as well, obviously. And I'm game if you are."
Sam scooted down and Kurt moved to stay in position, but Sam let go of him and lay on his side facing Kurt looking him in the eye. "We are equals in everything. I love you and you love me and we are equal. No more need to feel like maybe I run the show or you have to do what I want or I'll walk away. It's not like that – not at all. I'm glad you told me all of this now, so we could get it resolved ahead of time."
Kurt leaned forward and started kissing Sam. He wrapped his free hand around the side of Sam's neck and licked Sam's lip and Sam followed his lead and deepened the kiss. They eventually pulled back to catch their breath.
"Sam Evans, you are a most awesome boyfriend. Thanks for helping me through my fear and for being my equal partner."
"I think that probably just makes me decent boyfriend. I think it takes a lot more than plain old decency to make me an awesome boyfriend."
Kurt kissed him again. "I get to decide whether you're an awesome boyfriend or not. And I say that you are."
"You're right – you're the only one who can decide whether I'm an awesome boyfriend since I don't have any other boyfriends." He tickled Kurt.
"You better not. That would definitely move you to the 'not awesome' boyfriend category, more like the 'not my boyfriend anymore' category."
"Not letting that happen, if I can prevent it."
"Prevent yourself from getting another boyfriend?"
"Now, you're just trying to get me to tickle you." He tickled him again.
"Who me?" Kurt laughed.
"Yes, you." He sat up and straddled Kurt's thighs and started tickling Kurt more.
Kurt was laughing hysterically, but managed to catch Sam's wrist and knock him off balance just enough to get the upper hand and flip them over. He started tickling Sam instead.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Kurt called.
"What is going on in here," Carole said as she opened the door.
"Oh, a tickle match. I'm winning right now." He moved off of Sam's legs and sat criss-cross on the bed.
Sam sat up. "I think it's a tie at this point, but I suppose that's a matter of perspective."
"I see," she laughed. "Anyway, I'm glad the two of you are up here laughing. It's been a long week. I could use some laughter."
"Yeah, we definitely needed it," Kurt said. "Was there something you wanted to ask us?"
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"I do actually have something I want to talk to you about," she said. She closed the door and walked around the bed and sat on the arm of the chair. "So, last Friday you went and confronted Hiram about Rachel's involvement in Sam getting outed at school."
"I did."
"You didn't tell your dad or me about your actions or that Sam had been outed."
"You're right. I didn't."
"I'd like to know why."
"I guess because I'm not used to involving a parent in my squabbles. You know I always kept everything from Dad."
"Yes, but I thought we were moving past that."
Kurt shrugged. "That's not going to come easily to me. I'm not a share-with-other-people kind of person."
"I get that, but please tell me what happened."
"When I went to Hiram's office, I was not aware that Finn had had any part in the photography. I assumed that since there was an article about the two of them together staking out the motel that the photos came from JBI, who routinely follows Rachel around because he has a huge crush on her. I'm going to tell Hiram that I think he should pursue a restraining order against him at this point. Anyway – Rachel had gotten information from Blaine about how he was going to ask me to be his boyfriend a week before Regionals and she spread it around the Glee Club that he and I were dating. When I stopped by the school for Glee Club last Friday, she confronted me about the jacket Sam was wearing and ask how could I do that to Blaine. I told her that I wasn't cheating on Blaine. I wasn't going to OUT Sam by telling her that I was dating Sam. But I did answer her accusation truthfully. I wasn't cheating on Blaine."
"So, she just assumed that you had said 'yes' and never verified that with you or Blaine?"
"Correct. Anyway, I told her she was wrong about what she was accusing me of. Back to Hiram – I didn't know that Finn was taking photographs that night at the motel. And by her own account of events, she went back alone the night that Sam's family left and saw Quinn and Sam together again. So, I just considered him to be an accomplice in her nosey behavior. He didn't think. That's generally his 'crime'. He acts without thinking. He didn't go back with her after he knew about me and Sam."
"I see."
"Whatever you've been talking about with him this week has helped. He said that he's not going to be homophobic anymore and I just need to point out anything he does that is and help him understand why it's homophobic and he'll quit doing whatever it is."
"That's a good start."
"He also apologized to me about the bedroom re-dec. He said you made him watch Morocco with you."
"I did."
"He's not a bad person. He's a nice guy. He just needs to find himself, independent of those two tug-of-war harpies."
"I see."
"Look, if she had just told Finn, 'I think Quinn is cheating on you.' and he had followed her himself, even if he had taken photos, none of it would have ended up in The Muckraker. So, I guess I didn't place the blame on Finn for Sam being outed. It's because JBI regularly tails Rachel that they were caught together spying on Quinn. JBI only had to look where they were looking and watch to see what they were waiting for. When he saw Quinn and Sam come out of the motel room together and Sam hug her, he just took what he saw and wrote a story about it. And he took photos of Rachel and Finn together in Finn's truck and used those as well."
"Alright."
"If she had just minded her own business and stayed out of Sam's and Quinn's personal lives, none of this would have happened at all. So, in my opinion Sam being outed falls squarely in Rachel's lap. She wanted Finn back, so she tried to make it happen. And in the process, she hurt Sam the most, so I went after her. It's not the first hurtful thing she's done this year. It's just the worst."
"Well, I guess I understand your point of view. It was just difficult as a parent to be confronted by another parent about my child's actions that I knew nothing about. If you had just told me this information last Friday evening, my dealings with the Berrys would have gone more smoothly."
"Even if I had told you what I did last Friday, my explanation would have not included me blaming Finn. I told you that I didn't know that he had been taking photos as well. I just thought he was tagging along because Rachel is relentless and he gives in just to shut her up."
"Rachel tried to throw Finn under the bus. That he was the one who took pictures. That he was the one who wanted to know if she was cheating. How Quinn was untrustworthy. Blah, blah, blah. I'm tired of them both to be honest. Quinn's mad at Finn. Maybe she'll break up with him."
"Finn's actions in the fall were very homophobic. He was trying to keep me and Sam apart. But he was adamant about how badly Sam would be treated if he dated me. That part was completely true. It was why I backed off. I didn't want Sam caught in the crossfire. I didn't know he was gay, but just being a close friend of mine was enough to get him hassled by the jocks. I really don't think Finn intended to out Sam at all. I know you've grounded him for the past week, which I think has actually helped a lot. But I don't think he should take the blame for outing Sam. That falls on Rachel."
Sam finally spoke up. "I agree with Kurt. I know that Finn wasn't trying to out me. He and Quinn kept quiet about it after I told them."
"I'll keep all of this in mind when determining the length of his grounding."
"I understand that you didn't feel the need to involve us. I can't make you confide in us and I know it won't come easy to you, but please consider letting us in a little. We love you and you should be able to rely on your family for support."
Kurt nodded. "I don't know how to have a brother either. Where do the lines get drawn? Who do I protect? Who do I confide in? If I had come to you and shown you the article, it would have been like tattling, in a way. So, I went straight to the source – Rachel and Hiram. I didn't rat Finn out. I didn't tattle on Rachel to you. This is all very hard to figure out."
Carole looked like she was pondering how to answer Kurt.
Kurt spoke again. "I'm sorry that you were in an uncomfortable position with Hiram. I should have realized that Rachel would try to pass the blame somewhere. She sat there in his office and said that she was a better choice for Finn because Quinn was just using him. Well, yeah, Quinn is just using him, but the way she acts makes me wonder if she cares about Finn as a human being either. Even if she does, she needs help."
"Do you know why Rachel hasn't been staying for Glee?" Sam asked.
"She was grounded as well. Hiram is taking her to school and picking her up. No extra-curricular activities, period."
"For how long?"
"I'm not sure, why?"
"Without her, we don't have enough people to compete at Nationals. We need to find a replacement, if she's not coming back."
"I see."
The three of them sat there in silence for a few minutes. Carole focused back on the present and stood up. "Dinner will be done soon – about 15 minutes. I put a casserole in the oven."
"We'll come down on time."
She stopped before she got to the doorway. "I know I seem aggravated, but not at the two of you personally. I'm just annoyed that Finn's caught up in the middle of those two girls still. I mean wasn't Quinn getting pregnant enough for him to see that he should just steer clear?"
"They're relentless, Carole. A hormonal teen boy only has so much resistance when two pretty girls find him attractive enough to fight over him. And I know he's not innocent in this and cheating is wrong. I am in no way justifying the cheating. But seriously the whole situation is insane. Rachel lured him into cheating with her when he was with Quinn and thought the baby was his. And then later, he took Rachel out on a date to lure her back to Glee Club, while he still thought the baby was his. And then Rachel used Puck, Finn, and Jesse that same year. She made Finn think she had sex with Jesse. Then Santana got her claws in him. Then back to Rachel. Then when Rachel found out about Santana, she cheated on Finn with Puck to get even with Finn, even though she and Finn weren't together when he was with Santana. Then he cheated with Quinn. Then Rachel drags him back into the tug-of-war. Now Quinn's upset with him. Not a one of those three girls wants to be with him for who he is. It's just so mean. I hope he finds someone nice soon. Like next year. I think he should join a monastery until the fall."
Carole laughed. "Now, there's an idea. I should find an all-boys summer camp."
"Summer school and a part-time job. That will keep him busy. I've never figured out how he paid Ms. Corcoran back anyway."
"Paid who back for what?"
"Nothing."
"Kurt…"
"He'll hate me and we're just starting to make progress."
She huffed. "Kurt…"
"I can't. Not right now. I'll talk to him about it."
"If he owes someone money for something, he better be paying it back. If you find out that he hasn't… I don't want to ruin the peace and harmony that is starting to take shape, but … Fine, you talk to him."
"Yay me," he said sarcastically.
"I better get downstairs," she said.
"We'll be down in a few minutes."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Kurt gave Sam a quick kiss. "Go down for dinner like we're supposed to. I have to go talk to Finn first."
"Okay. This sounds bad."
"It's worse than bad."
Kurt left the room and walked down to Finn's room and knocked.
"Come in."
Kurt stepped inside and shut the door.
"I have to ask you something."
"What?"
"Did you and Puck ever pay Ms. Corcoran back for the tires?"
"I paid her some of it."
"How much?"
"About $400 I think. That's all I made at Sheets 'n Things."
"You realize that she probably paid for those tires herself." He pulled his phone out and used the internet to do some calculations. "She's probably making $400 monthly payments and she'll have to pay those for the next 7 years to pay off a loan if she paid for all of the tires on credit."
"How? What?"
"Dad owns a repair shop. Have you never looked at the price of tires? Those Range Rover tires cost like $200 a piece at retail, if you get the good ones. You and Puck did around $20,000 worth of damage to those SUVs. She told you that she'd let the two of you pay the tires off, but you only paid her like one month's worth of payments. Your $400 paid for two tires. That leaves 102 tires left to pay for."
"I can't pay that much."
"You have to. You caused the damage. It's your responsibility."
"$10,000?"
"Exactly." Kurt went back to using the calculator on his phone. "If you work full time this summer, 10 hours a week all next school year, and full time next summer, you can pay off what you owe her."
"That's nuts."
"You should have thought about that before you slashed the tires. You could have let the air out of the tires instead of slashing them. That would have been a nuisance, like what they did to us. TPing our room was a nuisance – a bother. What you did was the monetary equivalent of them coming in a destroying our grand piano and all the band equipment. That much property damage is probably a felony. She could have had you tried as an adult and you would have gone to jail. You freely admitted that you did it. There's no shortage of people the prosecutor could have called as witnesses."
Finn just sat there.
"You need to make this right. It's not fair to strap Ms. Corcoran with $20,000 in debt that you caused half of. It's time to eat. Come on."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
They all sat down to eat. Finn was noticeably quiet and didn't take much food. He was eating slowly and staring off into space frequently between bites.
"Finn?" Carole tried to get his attention. She repeated herself. "Finn!"
"Yeah, Mom?"
"Are you sick?"
"No, why?"
"I don't think I've ever seen you take so little food and take so much time to eat it."
"Oh. I need to tell you something that I don't want to tell you."
"Alright…"
"Last year, I did something really stupid."
"I'm aware."
"No, something besides those things."
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What did you do?"
"I slashed the tires on Vocal Adrenaline's Range Rovers."
Burt spoke up. "Those things are expensive, Finn."
"I know. Kurt just told me. $200 each."
He questioned Finn. "You said Ranger Rovers, as in more than one. How many?"
"Technically 13, I guess. There were 26, but I didn't do it by myself."
"I see. So you and your unnamed accomplice slashed the tires on 26 Range Rovers? That's about," he calculated the total. "$20,000 retail."
"I know. Well, I know now. Kurt did the calculations upstairs before we came down. At the time, she just said 26 times 4 times something and I didn't catch all of it and she never said a total, just 'I don't have a calculator right now.'"
"I see," Carole said. "And why did you do this?"
"They TPed our choir room."
Burt asked, "So, they wasted maybe $40 on toilet paper and you caused $20,000 in property damage? How did you not end up in juvie?"
"She said that we could pay her back and she wouldn't file charges."
"And how much have you paid her back?" Carole asked.
"$400."
"Well, obviously that has to change."
"I know."
"We don't have $10,000 to give you so that you can pay her back," Burt said. "I borrowed that much a couple of years ago to put a new roof on our old house."
Kurt spoke up, "From when the lawn furniture was nailed to our roof."
"Oh." Finn's expression gave away the fact that he knew about the prank.
"I suppose you know who did that," Burt stated.
"Um, yeah."
"Oh, God. Finn, tell me you weren't part of that."
"I didn't do it, but I know who did. You told me not to lie to you anymore or I'd be grounded until I graduate. So, I didn't do it, but I didn't stop them or turn them in."
"I'll be back in a minute," Burt said and got up from the table and walked out of the room.
Carole got up and followed him.
"I'm going to be grounded forever," Finn said.
"I'm thinking you're going to be sentenced to working every waking moment until you pay back every penny you owe, and you're going to wish that you had just been grounded," Kurt said.
"Great. Such a supportive answer," Finn smarted back.
"Hey, I haven't helped cause $20,000 in property damage in the past year."
Finn slid his plate away, put his arms criss-cross on the table, and put his head down on his arms.
About 15 minutes later, Burt and Carole returned to the table and sat back down. Kurt and Sam were still sitting there, but they had nearly finished eating.
Carole was the one to speak. "Aunt Eunice says that she can get you on at a camp in Zanesville for the summer. You'll work 12-hour days and stay on her farm. On the weekends, you'll work as one of her hired farm hands. She'll pay you $5 an hour. You can work 10-hours Saturday and Sunday."
"That's like slave labor."
"There's always spending the next year in juvie or however long in jail."
"Yeah, working on the farm is sounding a lot better than it did at first." He banged his head back down on his arms.
"I thought so," Carole said. "So, you'll work at the camp. Of course, you have to fill out the application and get approved, so if you've committed any other crimes, you better say so."
"Nope," he said without raising his head.
"So, you'll work at the camp all summer. You'll work a 15-hour a week part-time job, while taking 5 classes. That way you can pay everything you owe Ms. Whoever by the time you graduate. I'm sure she was expecting to be paid long before then, but even with her current leniency, I doubt she's just going to just forget."
"Probably not since she's Rachel's mom," Finn replied.
"What? Oh, never mind. At this point, you could tell me that you stole one of Santa reindeers and I'd believe you," Carole said, quite exasperated by this point. "You need to get those tires paid for. I'll get her contact info from Hiram, I suppose."
"Sure, whatever." He banged his head again.
"Can we be excused?" Kurt asked.
"Sure, honey. Finn will wash the dishes."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"Well, it will be quiet around here this summer," Kurt said.
"Finn's going to be really mad at you, isn't he?"
"Probably, but I didn't tell him to cause that property damage. If anything, she should go after Mr. Schuester. He was the one that said we should do something to get back at them. Actually, I should go tell Carole that. I'll be right back."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"Kurt?" Carole said, when he came back into the dining room and sat down.
"I think you should go talk to Mr. Schuester about this. I think he should be held responsible for some portion of the damages. He was the one that told us that we should get back at Vocal Adrenaline for what they did."
"He's right. He did say that. He suggested that we steal their school's statue or something."
"Their mascot. That's what made me remember. It's this giant bronze great white shark eating a seal pup. Then he suggested something about pizzas. I don't even remember. But he definitely instigated the revenge idea. I'm not condoning Finn and his accomplice's choice of revenge, but it was clearly Mr. Schue's idea to do something to retaliate."
"Figgins was going to expel us. Ms. Corcoran spoke up saying she didn't want that. Mr. Schue said it was a harmless prank. He acted like it wasn't a big deal."
"I'm going to call the school Monday," Carole said. "You're still working at the camp and Aunt Eunice's farm this summer though. Even if Mr. Schue pays an equal part of the damages, you still need to pay about $6,500 of it instead of $10,000."
Finn started to eat. "Thanks for telling them that it wasn't my idea."
"You're welcome."
"Yeah, thanks for telling us," Burt said. He just sat shaking his head. "Why would a teacher encourage retaliation?"
Finn shrugged his shoulders.
"I didn't expect you to answer because there is no legitimate answer to that question."
"I'm going to go back upstairs."
"Sure, Kurt. I'll be up in a little while."
"Okay, Dad."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"So, bud, you're planning on working at the shop full time again this summer, right?" Burt asked while leaning against the bedroom doorframe.
"Yeah, Dad. But I'd like to work whatever hours Sam is working or close to the same so that we can still have some fun this summer."
"Fine by me. You can set your hours."
"How's school, Sam? And don't lie to me. I can't take any more lies."
"It sucks mostly."
"I can see how that would be true. Anything in particular?"
"Being outed as a bisexual having a ménage-a-trois with two people who already have boyfriends isn't something I'd recommend to anyone."
"I imagine not."
"The new No Bullying policy is supposed to go into effect this coming week. We're having an assembly Monday morning, so I assume that's going to be the topic of the assembly."
"So, there's some hope the bullying will die down."
"I'm not counting on it, but we'll see. Mostly it's just been name-calling and general shoves towards the lockers in the hallway, which don't work well on me unless it's Azimio or one of the linebackers. They're just too big for me to keep my footing. Now, mostly they catch me off guard by coming up from behind and shoving me when they are almost beside me. Since it didn't work well when I could see them coming, they changed their tactics. They haven't resorted to slushies yet, so I'm guessing the slushie machine is broken."
"At least the teachers are letting you email in your homework now, so there's no risk of them ruining it by getting it wet," Kurt pointed out.
"That's true. It's warm out, so I'll just wear plain dark t-shirts and jeans and black combat boots for the next week and see how it goes. I'll be sure to keep my books inside my backpack or my locker as much as possible to keep them from getting ruined."
"I'll spray his backpack and the boots tomorrow with waterproofing. It really does make a difference."
"Thanks."
"And your grades?"
"They're coming back up. I turned in all those late assignments, and then I've been keeping caught up. I have at least a C in everything."
"Good, good."
"We both got into that dual-credit program at OSU Lima," Kurt said.
"Well, that's good news. I know you really wanted that to work out."
"It will make next year better. I'm pushing for me and Sam to go to McKinley in the mornings and then to the college in the afternoons. That way if we need to hang around to work on a group project or get books from the library or something, we can just stay and not have to go back later. Plus, we can leave before McKinley before lunch and only be at school for a couple of hours a day."
"Sounds like a good plan. I'm sorry for what you're going through, Sam. People around here just… some of them are just plain awful."
"Yeah. If you're concerned that I'm going to bail on Kurt because I got outed – I'm not. I was going to come out anyway. Honestly, it probably wouldn't have been until after the new No Bullying policy had been enforced long enough for people to not be willing to risk it. But I wouldn't have stayed in the closet for long. I'm not the type to make someone my dirty little secret. Kurt's awesome. I wouldn't hurt him like that."
"I'm glad to hear that." He stood up. "I'll let you get back to your homework. I know you have to keep up your end of the deal, so get to it."
"Will do, sir. I mean Burt." He shook his head and laughed. "And there I was doing so well."
They all laughed.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}A-17{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Sam came out of the bathroom still bleary-eyed. "What are you working on so diligently this early in the morning? Come back to bed."
"I woke up early and I thought I'd get a head start on this. I'll get back in bed with you." Kurt hit save and put his laptop to sleep and got back in bed. He did his best impression of the genie, "Your wish is my command."
"Is that so? Aren't I supposed to rub the magic lamp before I get any wishes?"
Kurt laughed. "Well, technically I suppose so."
"You're too far away."
"I'm right next to you."
"Closer."
"The only way I can get closer is if I lie on top of you."
"Good idea, but you're wearing too many clothes."
"Well, be my guest to remove the offending clothing."
Sam sat up and tugged at Kurt's shirt. He sat up, allowing Sam to pull it off over his head and then Kurt lay back down. Sam stripped the rest of his clothes off and dropped all of them on the floor on Kurt's side of the bed.
"Pray tell, what did those poor defenseless clothing items do to you to deserve being dropped off a cliff?"
"They blocked me from looking at your beautiful body – definitely a crime."
I'm so lucky. Kurt blushed.
"Can I touch you?"
Please. Kurt nodded. "Yes."
"Are you sure? You look tense."
"Only because I never thought anyone would want to look at me. It's kind of unnerving to lay here naked while you're still dressed."
"You're beautiful. You're like just perfect, like someone should paint you or make statues of you like those marble ones in museums. You're like a beautiful living work of art."
He's serious. He really likes the way I look. Kurt did his best to relax.
Sam started undressing. "And as much as I'd like to sketch you like this, I'll wait 6 weeks so neither of us gets in trouble. You could be a model." He dropped his clothing on top of Kurt's.
I won't argue. I won't argue. I won't argue. "I've never considered it before. You could definitely model. You're gorgeous. You'd be great for print ads."
"I have thought about it before. I'd do it if I could get steady work doing it, but what I've read talks about it being really hit or miss for print work. They need just one person for a lot of shots and they have a very specific look in mind, whereas runway work is more steady because they need quite a few people, but the pay is mostly in the clothing you model, which is why it seems like a good fit for you because you're beautiful and you'd enjoy getting to keep the clothes you'd model."
"That's true about keeping the clothing, but I get your point about the print work. You might make $500 or whatever, but you'd never know when the next time you'd get hired would be. I guess you'd have to do some other type of job as well, like stocking somewhere overnight since you'd never get a call for a job in the middle of the night."
"It would be fun to do for like a year after I had saved up enough money to live on for a year – so, I could enjoy the drama of the whole thing without stressing out that I was going to be homeless if I didn't get a call."
"That's true. If we ever save up enough to live for a whole year in New York City, we can both try our luck at modeling."
"Deal. If I didn't want to keep you all to myself to admire, you could model for art classes."
Not a chance in hell. "Nope. Not me. Only one admirer for me. No one else gets to look."
"Lucky me." Sam kissed him on the cheek. He scooted back. He got up and double-checked the lock on the door and got back in the bed and straddled Kurt's thighs. He leaned forward on his hands for balance and started with Kurt's right hand and placed gentle kisses from his hand up to his shoulder, across his collarbone and from his left shoulder down to his left hand. He moved from there to his a torso and kissed and licked his way up Kurt's chest, up his neck and then he kissed Kurt on the lips, just as gently and sweetly as he had been kissing him. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Sam sat back up and put his hands on Kurt's shoulders and ran them down to Kurt's hands with just slightly more pressure than tickling. He moved his hands over to Kurt's chest and continued caressing him the way he had been. He stopped when he hands reached Kurt's hips.
"Can I?"
Sam wants me. Kurt nodded. "Yes, please."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
They switched and took a short nap afterwards. Once they woke up again, they dressed and got ready for the day before they headed downstairs for breakfast.
"Do you like spicy food?" Sam asked.
"I do."
"Alright, then I'm making you breakfast. You can help with the boiled eggs, if you want."
Kurt pulled Sam into the laundry room to kiss while the eggs were boiling.
Between kisses, Sam managed to say, "Waiting for things to boil is a lot of fun with you."
"Sweet talker." So adorable.
"When you say that you're not saying that I'm making things up are you? Like you don't believe me?"
"No. I'm just not used to be anyone saying nice things about me, but I trust you not to lie to me. So, while it feels strange, it always feels wonderful that you actually like spending time with me."
"Of course I do. My only regret is not just walking up to you after you guys finished singing that song about New York and just asking you out. I was such a wuss. But I can't undo that now. I can just spend time with you now because I can't go back in time, but I can tell you for sure that if I had known how awesome it would be to be with you, I would have gotten over my fear and just asked you out."
My heart is melting. "Thank you."
"Kurt?" Carole called out.
"Um, yeah. In here." Kurt opened the laundry room door and stepped out with Sam on his heels.
She laughed. "Are the two of you making out in my laundry room?"
"Yes. Definitely yes," Kurt answered. "Seemed like a good way to spend the time while waiting for those eggs to boil."
She laughed even harder. "I see."
Sam walked over to the stove and by the time he got to there, the timer went off. He stopped the timer from beeping, turned the burner off, and took the pot to the sink to drain the water out and cool the eggs down. "If you like spicy food, you can try what I'm making."
"Sounds intriguing." She sat down at the island and watched them.
Kurt diced part of a red onion that Sam placed in front of him, and then moved onto chopping up an avocado and the small tomato. Sam looked around.
"What are you looking for?" she asked.
"Garlic."
She got up and got it for him.
"Thanks."
She nodded and sat back down.
Sam assembled whatever it was while Kurt started peeling the eggs. Sam had him place the peeled eggs into the food processor. Sam helped him finish up the rest. He pulsed the food processor and then dumped the chopped up eggs into a bowl. He put the avocado pieces and the garlic in the food processor next.
He scraped the contents into a second bowl and added lemon juice and stirred, and then he added the rest of the stuff that he and Kurt had chopped up and stirred it together. He stirred the mixture into the eggs and put the bowl on the island. He found a loaf of bread.
"Regular or toasted?" he asked Carole.
"I'll toast it." She took the loaf of bread and toasted two slices. She grabbed three plates and sat them on the island. She put her toast on her plate when it popped up.
Kurt took out a slice for himself and toasted it next. Sam rinsed and dried some lettuce he found in the fridge. He also pulled out a bottle of Tabasco sauce. He sat down and put the egg salad into the leaf lettuce and dripped hot sauce on it, rolled it up and took a bite.
"Try it," he encouraged Kurt.
Kurt followed his example and took a bite of his own. "That's good."
Carole spread some of the egg salad on, put some lettuce on her toast, and dripped a little hot sauce on and closed the sandwich up and took a bite.
"Interesting. I can't say that I would take that much time to make this for myself in the morning, but it would make a great addition to a picnic lunch or dinner instead of traditional egg salad."
Kurt made a half-sandwich with his piece of toast. "I like it both ways. I think on the bread, the addition of some cheese would be nice to finish it off."
"Cheese would be good too," Carole said.
Sam made himself several more lettuce rolls and ate them. "Mmm. I haven't had this in sooo long."
After they finished eating, Kurt and Sam cleaned the kitchen up and went back upstairs.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"Any homework left to turn in?"
"Nope. That was the last assignment."
"Good. Come snuggle me."
"Weren't you working on something when I got up this morning?"
"Yeah, but it's not due until the end of the week. I was just getting a head start on it because I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep."
Sam got up on the bed with Kurt and lay down on his chest the way Kurt wanted him to. Kurt wrapped his arm around him.
"It's going to be okay. That assembly is tomorrow. No one has said what it's about, but I'm certain that it's the anti-bullying stuff."
"My first response is to protect the people I care about. And I don't want to see you hurt. I don't want you to hear the things I've heard. I don't want them to do to you what they've done to me. I want to prevent all of that and I can't. And it makes me feel torn. I feel like if I were there, they'd just be meaner. But at least you wouldn't be alone."
"Let's just try to give the anti-bullying plan a chance. I know you're concerned on my behalf, but I'm asking you to focus on your schoolwork each day so you'll be prepared for your exams and I'll do the same. We can talk on the phone every night. Since Finn lost all of his electronics, maybe I could use his laptop for an hour each night and we could Skype."
"That's a good idea."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Later that night after they had showered and put their pajamas on, they finally sat down and sang their duet.
Oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh
…
I'm lucky I'm in love with best friend.
Lucky to have been where I have been.
Lucky to be coming home again.
Lucky we're in love in every way.
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed.
Lucky to be coming home some day.
…
Oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh
Sam finished strumming the final chords. "Now the song was sung truthfully."
Kurt leaned forward from his criss-cross position onto his hands and kissed Sam gently and plopped back down into his previous position.
"You are my best friend. And I love you. And I'm glad I stayed here with you. I have a song I want to sing for you."
"Okay." Kurt had a big smile on his face in anticipation.
Sam started to play and sing. Parts of the song stuck out as Kurt listened.
…
I've never seen it, but I found this love.
I'm gonna feed it.
You better believe I'm gonna treat it
Better than anything I've ever had.
'Cause you're so damn beautiful.
…
Everything is like a white out 'cause we shook-a-shook-a shine down.
Even when the, when the light's out but I can see you glow.
Got my head up in the rafters, got my happy ever after.
Never felt this way before, ain't felt this way before.
…
I swear you hit me like a vision.
I, I, I wasn't expecting.
But who am I to tell fate.
Where it's supposed to go.
…
Oh, we could be the stars, falling from the sky.
Shining how we want, brighter than the sun.
Sam finished singing the song, all the while Kurt continue to smile. As soon as Sam finished, Kurt leaned up on his hands again and kissed him.
"Thank you. I loved it."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}A-18{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Kurt and Sam were lying in bed half-asleep when they heard a quiet knock on their door. Kurt opened the door to find Carole standing there. He stepped into the hallway, quietly closing the door behind him.
"We're all going to McKinley to the assembly. It's scheduled to start 10 minutes after school starts. It's slated to last all morning."
"Alright. Why didn't you tell me last night?"
"I wanted you to sleep instead of fret."
He nodded and went back inside.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Kurt crawled back in bed with Sam. "Good morning, sleepyhead."
"It is with you still in the bed." He pulled Kurt closer and kissed him.
"Carole told me that I'm going to the assembly at McKinley."
"We still have time for snuggles and kisses." He started kissing Kurt again.
I'm a lucky guy. A lot of guys would have probably denied the whole thing and not been willing to come out yet. "I love you."
"I love you too. It's going to be okay. I don't know how, but it is. We're together. We can do this. I know that you're still scared that I'll bail because this is too hard. But being without you would be a lot harder."
Sam is perfect. Well, no one is perfect, but he's as close as possible. "You say the sweetest things."
"I mean it."
"I know. That's what makes you so amazing. You're really brave, even if you don't feel like it."
"Like that poster in your bathroom. It says – 'Fear fills your legs with lead, stuffs your mouth with cotton, makes your heart pound out of your chest, and never lets your lungs fill. Courage is lacing up your shoes and walking out the door anyways.'"
"I hung that on the bathroom wall to remind myself and it's a good reminder for you too. Being brave doesn't mean you overcame your fear, it means that you still try to do what's right or needs to be done even though you're still afraid. It's okay to be afraid."
"You hid your fear well."
"Letting people see that I was afraid only encouraged them to terrorize me more. At least minor bullies back off when they get no reaction. No reaction equals no fun for them."
"I can see that. I've been ignoring people to the best of my ability, but it would have been a lot easier to ignore them if what they were saying was true. I wouldn't be ashamed if I were bisexual, but being accused of cheating – I'm not a cheater. Anyway, we need to get ready, don't we?"
"Not quite yet. I have an experiment first."
"An experiment?"
"Yep. I think that lots of kisses will make you feel less afraid."
"I see. Is there some kind of consent form to sign to participate in this experiment?"
"Nope. I only have one opening and your name is already written on the form."
"Hmm. I see." Sam slid forward and started kissing Kurt. After about 10 minutes of kissing, he said, "I see your point. I think it's working."
Kurt laughed. "We have to get up now."
"Boo."
God, he's cute. "Up, you go." Kurt tried to slide back, but didn't manage to escape.
"Oh, no you don't." Sam grabbed him around the waist with one arm.
Kurt laughed. "We really have to get up. Come on." This time he managed to roll over and get up off the bed. He walked around to the other side to pick out an outfit and seconds later, he was enveloped in a hug from behind and his neck was being covered in tiny kisses.
"Holding you is even better than just the kisses. We can go to school like this. I'll just wrap my arms around you and to hell with what they think."
"Well, now that's an interesting option, but we still have to wear clothes, so get dressed."
Sam started undressing Kurt. "I like undressing better."
Stop being so adorable. Scratch that. Save the adorable for later. "Me too, but I'm pretty sure that you weren't interested in me doing a live impersonation of the David statue."
"Nope, not at all. How about this shirt?" Sam pulled one off the rack.
"If you like that one, I'll wear it." He put it on and buttoned it up. He grabbed a pair of pants that went with it and put them on as well. He grabbed his Docs and headed out to the room to grab socks.
Sam came out of the closet wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and he was carrying the black combat boots. He grabbed socks and put the boots on and stood up. "Done."
Sam brushed his teeth and moved out into alcove.
"We both need haircuts," Kurt said as he tousled Sam's hair as he walked past on his way into the bathroom to fix his hair and brush his teeth.
"Next weekend." He stepped right in front of Kurt when he came out of the bathroom and wrapped his arms around him. "Let's go eat and get to school. You're riding there with me, right?"
"Do you want me to?"
"I told you that I'm not hiding now. I plan to hold your hand on the way in, if you'll let me. Your parents are going to be right near us. I doubt anyone is dumb enough to say or start anything with your dad standing there."
"True." Kurt closed the space between them. "You're amazing. I love you." He kissed Sam quickly and moved toward the door. "Let's go."
Sam blinked and refocused. He grabbed his backpack and followed Kurt downstairs. Carole had made breakfast for everyone and the five of them ate together. They headed off to the school in three vehicles.