When Glee Club dismissed, Brittany approached Kurt and Dave before they left the room.
"So, I really like this look on you, Kurt." She put her hand on his chest. You look really good in flannel. Not that I don't like your other clothes. They're very stylish and make you look like the guys in fashion magazines."
"Thank you?"
"Like, I know you're gay and all, like capital G gay, but you're both really hot. And I've made out with pretty much all of the good looking guys at this school and it would mean a lot to me to have a perfect record."
Kurt's eyebrows bunched at the center and he tilted his head.
"Brittany, you do realize that Dave is my boyfriend, right?"
"Yeah, of course. You don't have to break up. We can all make out together. I don't mind. Watching you two together would be super hot. Now, I see why guys like watching me and Santana."
Kurt pursed his lips, trying to figure out what to say next. "We're exclusive, Britt. Just me and Dave. No one else."
"Okay, well, if you change your mind and want to tap this, just let me know." She turned and flounced off to walk with Santana.
Dave finally spoke, "Okay, that was the weirdest thing ever."
"If I had to try to figure out a logical explanation… Nope, nothing. I can't come up with a single logical explanation for that." He laughed. "Let's just go on like that never happened."
"Good call." Dave looked back over his shoulder and saw Brittany and Santana standing at Britt's locker looking down the hall towards him and Kurt. He turned back around and shook his head and laughed. "Don't look back, but from the look on Santana's face, Brittany seems to be telling Santana that she didn't succeed in seducing us."
Kurt shook his head and kept walking.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Tuesday morning, Dave and Kurt were in the kitchen plating their breakfasts when Paul walked in.
"So, are you going to try out for the basketball team?" He snatched a piece of bacon off Dave's plate and stuck it in his mouth.
"If you mean me, not a chance. I'm not signing up for a sport that provides me no padding and face-to-face contact with the players on the opposing team. Plus, I'm a Cheerio now. I'm not sure how that will work next fall, now that I think about it."
Paul laughed. "What about you, Dave?"
"I don't think so. I've never played competitively and it just doesn't really appeal to me. I'd rather go over to Findlay a couple of afternoons a week and skate."
"I guess I'll be losing who knows how many evenings to cheer now. I hadn't really thought about it. Ugh. I told her I wouldn't cheer at the away games, but I'm going to have to dig deep to act like I'm enthusiastic about the basketball team."
Paul laughed at Kurt. "I'm sure you can pull it off. I've got to get going. See you both later."
"Bye, Dad."
Once Dave heard the front door shut, he pulled Kurt close and kissed him. "I'll come watch you cheer."
"Well, that will make it at least sort of fun."
"Only sort of?"
"Yeah. Because if I didn't have to cheer, I could just be spending time with you."
Dave kissed him again. "It won't be that bad."
"You say that now, but Coach Sue will add more practices since all we've been doing is working on our Nationals routine. If we have to cheer for games, we'll need other routines for that."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
That evening afterschool Kurt and Burt were near the snack tables that had been set up for the spring parent/teacher conferences. Kurt was trying to keep Burt from snacking on things that weren't allowed on his diet. Burt was trying to distract him and sneak a few things.
"Who's that?" Burt asked quietly.
Kurt looked up and looked in the direction Burt was looking. Burt managed to stick an Oreo in his mouth.
Kurt answered, "Oh, that's Finn's mom." He had met her after Sectionals when she came back to find Finn afterwards.
"Finn's mom. She's not wearing a ring."
"Finn's dad is dead. He died when Finn was a baby."
"I remember. I just meant it doesn't look like she's engaged or remarried."
"Oh. Do you want me to introduce the two of you? Follow me."
Burt took a drink of his water to wash down the Oreo the rest of the way. He walked behind Kurt.
"Mrs. Hudson?"
"Yes? Oh, hello. It's Kurt, right?"
"Yes. Kurt Hummel. I thought you might like to meet my dad. The two of you didn't get to meet back at Sectionals. Burt Hummel…"
"Carole Hudson. Nice to meet you. Kurt's a heck of a kicker. I saw him at all the football games."
"Well, Finn is a fine quarterback. The team did really well this year winning the Regionals game."
Kurt smiled. He stepped away and let the two of them talk. He went out in the hall and texted Dave.
-Where are you?
It took a few minutes to get a response.
-Can't talk. Next in line.
Kurt just went back into the room and leaned against the wall and watched his dad flirt with Finn's mom.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt came out of Dave's bathroom in his pajamas and got in bed with Dave. "I can't believe my dad actually asked her out. They're out on their first date already. He hasn't dated anyone since my mom died."
"I found out on the way to the school that my dad has been casually dating Judy Fabray."
"What?"
"I was surprised too. I guess she and her husband got divorced last fall not all that long after my mom left. I didn't ask for details."
"So, that's just weird for both of us. Your dad is dating Quinn's mom and my dad might be dating Finn's mom."
"I guess he's been having her over for dinner here at the house when I'm over at your house. I'm guessing that's why he suggested that I spend Wednesdays and Saturdays at your place."
"I see." Kurt laughed. "Will you turn your light off?"
"Sure." Dave reached out and turned the knob. "Better?"
"Yeah. Are you ready to go to sleep?"
"We can if you're tired."
"I want to snuggle and kiss, but I don't want to keep you up if you're tired. I know you went skating this afternoon."
"I did, but unless I'm passing out tired, I'd never turn down kisses. And I'd snuggle you, even if I was too tired to kiss." Dave moved his arm so that Kurt could scoot up next to him, and then wrapped his arm around him.
Kurt put his hand on Dave's chest. "I'm really excited about Friday."
"Me too. It's going to be fun. Even if we end up not liking the stage version, it will still be fun to dress up and go out to dinner and to see the show."
"I would have never guessed you as the type to enjoy that kind of thing, but I'm glad you do." Kurt moved his hand up Dave's chest to his cheek, and then ran his hand down Dave's jaw and trailed his thumb across his lips. "You were hiding a lot of stuff under that gruff character you were pretending to be."
"Hey, now. I'm still tough."
Kurt scooted up a little, turned Dave's face toward him, and kissed Dave passionately. He pulled back a bit after a few minutes and placed a few gentle chaste kisses on Dave's lips. "Oh, I know. Very tough." He ran his hand down Dave's shoulder to his bicep. "Very tough, very hot." Kurt ran his fingers over Dave's muscles before he began kissing him just as passionately again. He ran his fingers the rest of the way down Dave's arm. He started kissing across Dave's jaw, towards his ear, and then quietly said, "One day, I'll get to explore all of your lovely muscles."
That sent shivers through Dave. "Oh, God. You're going to kill me and I'm going to die a happy man."
Kurt laughed silently and licked at Dave's ear and kissed down his neck.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Wednesday evening, Kurt came home from work to find Dave in the kitchen working on their dinner.
"Well, don't you make a handsome househusband. So domestic and sexy in my kitchen. Whatcha' cooking?" He kissed him without touching him.
Dave laughed at him. "Househusband? Go shower, you grease monkey. It will be ready when you get back up here."
Kurt came back up 15 minutes later to find Dave in the dining room waiting for him.
"This looks good. Thank you." He leaned over and kissed him before he sat down.
"There was a note on your fridge saying that your dad went out with Carole and won't be back until later."
"Again? They must have hit it off last night."
"And it's Wednesday, so my house is occupied. Do you have a lot of homework?"
"Just math problems."
"Movie?"
"Sure."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Thursday at lunch, Miss Pillsbury had the Glee Club meet again to discuss gender issues. She tried to get the guys to talk, but she wasn't having much success.
Puck stood up. "I wasn't going to say anything, but fuck it. Here's what I have to say. Some guys, quite a few actually, don't have dependable fathers. Their only role models are the men they see in movies or on TV or maybe a teacher. But we all know that none of those examples are good enough. Movies and TV are fake. They teach guys to be violent and not to show their emotions. To not be open and honest. They teach men that women are prizes or possessions. Teachers might be better examples, but we don't see how they deal with real life problems. We can't go to them and say, 'My dad beats my mom and so I don't really know any other method of dealing with my frustration than to beat up whoever made me angry.' We don't know how to be open because if we ever share a weakness with another guy, it gets used against us. Guys are just as gossipy as girls. So, if a guy cries and tells another guy something he's upset about, it doesn't take long before all of the other guys are calling him a crybaby or a wus or a fag or a girl. We get that calling guys a 'girl' is an insult. And it's something all guys try to avoid getting called. We keep everything inside. We don't have share-your-feelings sleepovers. We have blow-crap-up and drink-too-much-alcohol overnight parties. Guys like me and Finn, we don't have dads to teach us how to be men. But at least some guys, like Finn, have good moms who do their best to teach their sons how to be good men. Getting together the other day and hearing the girls talk was a good idea. I have a little sister. It helps me to know what kinds of things she's going to face as a teenager. Now, I can maybe listen a little better and know a little more how to help her or at least maybe realize when she needs help and find someone else to help her. But you girls have to realize that guys have a ton of pressure put on us too. The one thing that the girls have going for them by being girls is that most high school guys won't actually physically bully girls. I know from what you've all said that the girls do a damn good job of bullying each other, but guys who don't fit in – they get the crap beat out of them by people like me and some of the other guys in here who wanted to be at the top of the social ladder. Just ask Kurt and Dave. Miss Pillsbury pointed out how brave the girls were to show up that day with no make up and in sweats or whatever. But Kurt and Dave are a lot more brave to do something as simple as hold hands in public in this town. Guys are terrified of not being tough enough. And it's just stupid. When we get out of here in a few years and start to look for jobs, no one is going to hire us based on how many dweebs we dumpstered. We won't get hired because we have the record for the most dorks stuffed in lockers. But we act like it. Everyone gives the jocks and bullies this social standing that they don't deserve. But the system stays the way it is. Azimio and I stood our ground after his coup. But it barely kept the issues down. The hockey players that got expelled – that made it a little better. The jocks are still on top for no real reason. They're just being less outwardly jerkish. We're basically bullying them into not being bullies. It's crazy when you think about it. I don't know how to change all of it. And the girls' issues run a lot deeper than just high school. I don't know. Maybe if school teachers had multi-million dollar contracts and when they graduated from college they went into a draft where schools got to bid on them and companies paid millions of dollars for teachers to wear their logos, more guys would want to become teachers."
Everyone laughed.
Mr. Schue said, "Puck has a point, well a lot of good points actually. The guys in high school see professional athletes making more money in a year than most people make in a lifetime. Wanting that for themselves makes sense. In a small town like this, no one is likely to make more than $200,000 a year, and most people make closer to $20,000-$30,000. So, it makes sense that guys who have even the tiniest potential of making mega millions would want that for themselves. But wanting to make a lot of money doesn't mean that you need to bully your way to the top."
Kurt spoke up, "Honestly, Mr. Schue, I would prefer it if you kept quiet on this topic. You did nothing to stop Puck or the others from dumpster tossing me. You need to spend some time doing some navel gazing of your own before you begin to make suggestions on how teenagers should change their behavior. Puck and Azimio have done more to end the bullying at this school than you ever have."
"Burn! Is that true, Mr. Schue? Did you actually know that Kurt was getting dumpstered and do nothing about it?" Santana asked.
"Technically, yes. They waited until I had walked past, but they never waited long enough for me not to hear what they were doing."
Puck spoke up, "This is part of what I was referring to about the teachers being role models. It's hard to look up to them when they don't stand up for what's right. It makes it seem like it's okay to do the things we did. Now that the topic's been brought up, you knew we were tossing slushies in people's faces. But you also knew that Figgins wouldn't do anything about it. But I'm pretty sure he would have done something about the dumpster tosses, even if it was just to lock the lids before and after school. Anyway, what I stood up to say was that I appreciate the girls sharing all of that stuff, but I hope that they can see that even though the boys have higher status or whatever, that we still have our own issues to deal with. I want the girls to know that I realize that they have a lot of struggles and I understand better than I did before. But what I want them to realize is that if they could magically change into guys their lives wouldn't suddenly become easy."
Miss Pillsbury spoke, "Thank you, Noah. I really appreciate your participation. I oftentimes think it would be really helpful for the girls and guys to pair up with in non-romantic pairs. Oftentimes, the only time teen girls and guys interact in a one-on-one situation is with someone they are romantically interested in and that skews both people's behavior. For example, if Mercedes spent time with Mike, they could learn a lot about gender roles as well as race issues. If Matt spent time with Rachel, the same thing could be accomplished. But those types of platonic friendship pairings are not part of teen life very often. I do think it would be very interesting though. Mike and Matt are very quiet by nature, so we rarely hear anything about their lives. But I'm pretty certain that if, let's say, Finn went to Mike's house for dinner that he would find a very different atmosphere than he does in his own home. I would imagine that Puck would find dinner at Artie's house quite different as well. Just as Puck already mentioned not having a father in his home has affected how he has struggled to know his role in society, Mike having a very strong father figure in his home has made his life very different."
Surprising everyone, Mike spoke briefly, "My father is a very soft-spoken man with very exacting requirements for me, so I'm sure my home life is so different from Finn's that it would be hard to find any similarities. For example, I have never heard my father yell. Yet, no one in my home would consider doing something against his wishes. It's very difficult to explain to people, but it's true."
"My dad yells all the time," Azimio said. "My house is like a circus. Little cousins running everywhere. People over all the time. I can't imagine living some place quiet. That would be so weird."
Mike said, "I don't see how you can get any studying done."
Azimio laughed. "Noise cancelling headphones and a good lock on my door."
"This is a really good start. I would like to suggest that perhaps the group consider doing a sort of exchange student project. I think it would be really good for Finn to eat dinner at Azimio's house and then spend a couple of hours there. The same would be true for Puck eating with Mike's family and spending the evening. There is so much you could all learn from just spending a few hours with someone. No one would be asking you to become close friends with anyone, but you could all gain a lot of understand about just HOW different other people's lives are. In this room, I am certain that there is at least one student who isn't required to do any chores. And I am certain that there is at least one student who does all of the chores. Some of you have never worked a minute in your life. Others of you have worked ever since you were old enough to persuade someone to pay you to do something for them. Some of you have parents who just give you how much ever money you ask for, while others get an allotted amount that cannot be changed, an allowance. And there are others whose parents will give you money for something like a school field trip or equipment you need for an activity, but no other money outside your allowance. And I am certain that some of you pay for everything yourselves."
The students listened and most of them kept their responses guarded, not wanting to identify which group they fell into.
"Think about that. Just that. Think about how different your own life would be if you suddenly got an allowance or if you suddenly got no allowance. What if your parent or parents bought you anything you asked for and still gave you money for whatever you wanted? What if you had to buy everything you own yourself? Just that one issue – money. How would that change your school performance? If you didn't have your own computer, if you had to work, if you had no desk, how would those things affect your ability to do well in school? What about the opposite? If you could buy any computer you wanted, if you had access to a quiet study area, if you didn't have to work or care for siblings, how would that affect your schoolwork?"
Artie said, "We should talk about these things in a class. Teachers make us memorize useless facts about things that happened a thousand years ago and we learn nothing about how to deal with our own problems. Teachers ignore the problems they see. And honestly, we're young still. I'm 15. I don't have any life experience but my own to draw from. And obviously my life experience is nothing like anyone else's in this room. My parents are overly attentive because of my physical limitations, but the most annoying thing is when I meet new people and they talk to me like I'm stupid because I'm in this chair or they talk around me like I'm not even there. But I'm all for this idea of seeing how other teenagers live. I've only been to Kurt's, Dave's, and Tina's as far as people in this room, but I'm open to seeing how other people live and learn more about issues other people face."
Miss Pillsbury smiled. "Maybe if there is enough interest, we can work on a plan. For now, I'm glad that Noah and the rest of you that spoke up shared your feelings. I know everyone has to get to class now."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Friday at lunch, Puck, Azimio, and Finn each brought two trays full of pizza slices and put them on the table where the rest of the Glee Club was sitting.
"Help yourselves. We already ate a couple of slices. It's not poisoned," Puck said.
"You three made these pizzas?" Tina asked.
"We did. Kurt inspired us to learn to cook for ourselves," Azimio said. "It's lame to eat cereal for dinner just 'cause my momma ain't home. He said we ought to go talk to Mrs. Hagberg."
Puck started talking. "She was all for it. She said they were close to cutting the class entirely because so few people sign up. She's been teaching other subjects because there was only one period of Home Ec."
"They roped me and some of the other jocks into joining them," Finn said. "It's pretty cool though. We learned to make spaghetti last week and pizza this week. The first week we had to learn the names of a whole bunch of kitchen stuff and pass a test on how to use a fire extinguisher and stuff. The best part is that on Fridays, we get to eat our assignments."
"Of course it is," Kurt said.
"Sound cool," Tina said.
"We're gonna to learn to make other stuff like homemade mac and cheese, chili, tacos, and some kind of enchilada casserole thing," Azimio said.
Finn added, "I asked for her to teach us how to make biscuits and gravy because I love it. So, we're doing that and some other breakfast stuff too later in the year. She said making gravy requires more skill than it seems or something."
Kurt said, "Sounds like she did a great job coming up with plans to suit the needs of the class."
Finn changed the subject. "I'm psyched about tonight's game. I didn't think we were going to get to play basketball this year, but I wish our first game was a home game."
"Is Mr. Atkinson any good at coaching?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah, man. He's decent. He's like super young. He hasn't even graduated from college yet. This is his last semester. He still goes to class in the mornings and then comes here to teach gym in the afternoon and coach after school. He's letting Puck train the team like he did in football. Azimio was lame and didn't try out though."
"Dude, I don't play basketball."
Dave stuck his hand on Kurt's thigh and started lightly tracing patterns and Kurt zoned out during the jock talk at the table.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Dave went home and packed while Kurt was at Cheerios practice. He was waiting outside the gym doors when practice ended. Kurt came out and jumped in. Dave drove them to the Hummel's. Kurt showered, got dressed, and primped as quickly as he could. Dave put Kurt's stuff in the Navigator while Kurt got ready. He came back downstairs after he had finished and changed his clothes.
"Ready yet?" Dave asked once he was dressed.
"Almost." Kurt came out carrying his suit jacket. He bit his lower lip as his eyes traveled up and down checking Dave out. "You clean up nice."
"Thanks. You look great, as always. Ready?"
"Definitely." He slipped his suit jacket on and followed Dave up the stairs. He saw Dave putting an unfamiliar coat on. "Nice coat."
"It's the one I mentioned that I had that I don't wear often."
"I like it."
"Good, since you're the one looking at me wear it." Dave winked at him.
Kurt opened the closet and pulled out a wool pea coat, fairly similar to the one Dave was wearing. He slipped it on and grabbed a scarf. He saw that Dave wasn't wearing one and chose one of his scarves and put it on Dave. "Perfect." He stepped just a bit closer and pecked him on the lips.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
They made it to Columbus in plenty of time for their reservation. Kurt pulled into the parking lot and found a place to park.
"This is exciting. I've never been to a fancy restaurant and I really happy to be going with you." Kurt squeezed Dave's hand.
Dave pulled Kurt's hand up to his lips and pushed his glove up enough that he could kiss the skin on the inside of Kurt's wrist. "Me too. Let's go in."
They didn't have to wait to be seated. The followed the hostess to their table. They hung their coats on the backs of their chairs and sat down. They looked through their menus and made their choices.
"One day maybe we'll find a place similar to this like they have in the movies where couples can dance. Any couples."
Kurt looked around. "It does look like one of those restaurants that should have a dance floor somewhere."
Their food was brought out promptly and they enjoyed what they ordered and had a good time talking with each other. When they finished, they headed back out, hand in hand.
Kurt walked with Dave around to the passenger side and gently pushed him back against the side of the Navigator and kissed him before Dave could reach the door handle. "I love you." He stepped back to see the huge surprised smile on Dave's face.
"I love you too."
Kurt went back around and got in and drove to the theater. He parked in a nearby lot and paid the $10 parking fee so they wouldn't have to keep looking for a place on the street. They walked to the theater hand in hand. When they got inside, they checked their coats, turned their phones to silent, and found their seats. When the lights went down, Kurt reached over and put his hand on Dave's leg. Dave put his hand on top and interlaced their fingers.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt dropped Dave off at the office and waited for him to come back out.
"Room 22," he said when he got back in.
Kurt drove along the building until he saw room 22 and pulled into the spot in front of the door.
"This place obviously isn't as nice as the place we stayed in Kentucky, but my dad says it's clean. He stays here whenever he has to be in Columbus two days in a row."
"I'm sure it's fine. Your dad would never get us a room someplace he didn't trust."
They got out and grabbed their stuff out of the back. Dave unlocked the door and stepped inside. He held it open for Kurt and locked it once Kurt was inside.
"I'm going to shower and change," Kurt said. "I brought a garment bag to put our suits in when we take them off." He opened his bag and pulled it out, along with two wood hangers. He took one of the hangers and his pajamas into the bathroom with him.
Dave showered while Kurt did his nighttime skin care routine. He came out when Kurt was packing the bottles back up.
"One day, I'll get you to at least put moisturizer on."
"Sure thing, Fancy." He grabbed Kurt around the waist and picked him up and tossed him on the bed.
Kurt laughed. "I'm sure we can work out SOME kind of arrangement."
"Is that so?" Dave leaned down and kissed him. "So, where are we going tomorrow?"
"Nope. My lips are sealed."
Dave kissed him again. "Really? I think maybe I can loosen them up a bit." He pressed his lips to Kurt's and licked his way in and they kissed until they both ended up breathless.
"Who am I to prevent you from trying?"
Dave laughed took Kurt up on his invitation.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
"You cannot tell my dad that we ate breakfast at McDonald's."
Dave laughed. "He'd be too jealous. I promise to keep it a secret. Do I get to know the secret of where we're going yet?"
"Nope. It's a surprise."
"Still?"
"Yep."
Kurt pulled out of the lot and drove about 15 minutes and pulled into an arena.
"Grab your skates. I hid them in the box in the back."
"You're sneaky."
Kurt leaned over the console and kissed him. "You love it."
"I do. Let's go."
Kurt opened the back and opened the box. They both pulled their skates out and Kurt shut the hatch.
"I do have one question though. As much as I love skating, why are we doing it here when there are so many things to do here that we can't do near Lima?"
"You'll see."
They got inside and went down to the ice and put their skates on. One of the guys out on the ice skated over to the edge.
"Kurt?"
"That's me."
"And you must be Dave, then?"
"I am."
"Welcome to Gay Hockey Ohio."
"Do what? Sorry, excuse me?"
"Surprise!" Kurt said. "There's a gay hockey club here."
"Come on out on the ice. I'll introduce you to everyone."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Two hours later, Dave looked up and down the hall before he pulled Kurt into the family bathroom with him.
"What are you doing?"
"Finding the closest place to do this." He put his hand behind Kurt's neck and gently pulled him forward into a kiss. "You are the best boyfriend in the whole world. I would have never even looked for something like this. I had no idea."
"You're welcome. Come on. We can go make out in the backseat or something."
Dave laughed and opened the door. He took Kurt's hand and they went back out to the parking lot. "What's next?"
"Well, nothing else like this. There are some LGBT friendly dance clubs, but we have to be 18 to get in, so that will just have to be something we look forward to in a year and a half or so."
"I'm not sure that I'm much of a club dancer, but you would probably love it." Dave wiggled his eyebrows. "And I'll get to watch and I'll keep anyone from putting their hands on you."
"Protective much?"
"You bet. Just like you told Brittany. Just us."
Kurt laughed. "Just us."
They put their skates in the back and got in the Navigator.
"I think we should grab lunch first and then we'll move on to our final destination of the day."
"Which is?"
"You'll see. Come here."
Dave leaned towards him.
Kurt kissed him. "I like surprising you. It's fun."
"You just like to be in charge."
"You said you liked bossy."
"I do, but only from you."
Kurt laughed.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
"You are hands down, the best day planner ever," Dave said. "That was sooo much fun. We have to come back here and bring enough money to race the go karts too."
"Now that we have those release forms, we can. I couldn't get them online and they have to be signed for drivers under 18. We'll definitely do it the next time we go there. But you're right. The laser tag was so much fun."
"I bet our dads would like the go karts."
"They probably would."
"So, are we heading back?"
"Nope. I fibbed. We're going one more place."
Dave laughed. "I suppose it's a surprise too."
"Now, you're getting the hang of this," Kurt teased.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Dave and Kurt got back in the Navigator after their last stop.
"That was too much fun. I haven't seen either of those since I was like six. I had no idea of the adult humor that was in them."
"Well, Toy Story 3 is coming out in a few months and I thought this would be a fun way to get ready to watch the new one."
"It was great. You set the bar pretty high for dates. I'm never going to be able to top things like this."
"It's not a competition. I loved last night. Every bit of it was totally romantic. Us going out to a fancy place in suits and then to the theater. Amazing. And totally as awesome as the plans I made for us for today. And seriously, whatever you plan, whenever we decide to go out on a big date again will be fine because I'll get to do with you."
"You're a sap."
"Says the man who cooks for me and takes me to the theater."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
"So how was Columbus?"
Dave was the first to answer. "It was awesome."
"We had a great time. I need you to sign this form for me for the next time we go back." Kurt pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Burt. "We want to race the go karts next time. We're old enough, but we have to have a signed form since we're not 18 yet."
"Get me a pen."
Kurt grabbed the pen off the fridge.
"There." Burt handed him the form and the pen back.
"Thanks." He put the pen back, folded the paper back up and took out it out to his glove box, and came back inside. "They have a $1 movie theater there."
"Well, that's a good deal."
"It shows old movies, but it was fun."
"Sounds like you had a good time."
"We did. How was your date?"
David grabbed Kurt's bags and took them downstairs with him.
"It was nice. I really like her a lot."
"I'm glad. As long as she's nice and treats you right, that's good."
"How do you and Finn get along?"
"We're in Glee together. He's fine. We don't hang out or whatever, but he's okay I guess. He quit bullying people along with the rest of the football team when Azimio staged his coup last fall. He's at the top of the social ladder since he's the quarterback."
"I see."
"He has a lot more in common with Dave than with me, but he really seems like Glee and he's not actively doing anything mean to anyone anymore, so I'm fine with him."
"Alright. He seems like a nice kid. He had dinner with us last night before Carole and I went to the movies."
"Okay. Is there anything else you want to ask me?"
"Nope."
"Well, then goodnight."
"Yeah, 'night, kiddo."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt passed a slip of paper to Dave. "I know we were going to work on the paper here, but let's check out the books we need and go back to your house."
Dave nodded.
They picked up all of the books they had been using and went to the front and checked them out. Once they were back in Dave's truck, Kurt reached out for Dave's hand. He drove straight to his house.
As they were climbing the stairs to Dave's room, Kurt said. "I've gotten too used to playing footsie or snuggling up with you while we read. It's super boring to sit in the library chairs at the tables."
Dave closed the door behind them. "Mmm hmm. I've spoiled you already."
"You like spoiling me."
"I do. I think it's a pajama pants and hoodies research kind of day."
"Sounds good. Your bed is calling our names."
Dave laughed. "It's a good thing Puck can't hear you say stuff like that."
"Some day…"
Dave blushed.
"Are you still okay with how things are?" Kurt took pajama pants and a t-shirt out of Dave's dresser and took them in the bathroom, but didn't close the door.
Dave changed standing in front of the dresser. "I am."
Kurt was back out in a flash. He laid his clothes on Dave's dresser neatly. "If that changes, please tell me. Please don't cheat on me to get that from someone else."
Dave pulled Kurt to him and held him up against his chest in a tight hug. "Kurt, I'm not going to cheat on you. When you say things like that, it really hurts."
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to hurt you. I never want to hurt you. I just hear too many guys talking about how they broke up with some girl because she wouldn't put out."
"But you're a guy. You have the same interest that me and the rest of the guys have."
"Yeah, but I think it's different for me. I never expected to find anyone to love until I moved away from Lima, like when I was 19 or 20. So, I never thought THAT would potentially be part of my life in high school."
"Neither did I. I've already told you this before, but that morning I told you that I was gay, I expected you to offer me friendship at most. And that was a lot of wishful thinking on my part. I didn't have any hope that I'd find anyone, much less the guy that I was totally head over heels for. I fully expected myself to stay in the closet. But something just changed and I told you. I'm not interested in anyone else. I'm as much of a sappy romantic as you are, or close. I figured you that had realized that by now."
"I have. I guess I just feel a little insecure after yesterday. I was the only gay teen you knew, but now you met quite a few."
"So did you. How's that go?" Dave started singing.
You're the one that I want.
You're the only one I want.
Ooo, ooo, ooo.
The one I need.
Oh, yes indeed.
He stopped singing. He guided Kurt's face to look at him. "Stop worrying. I'm not trading you in for an easier model."
Kurt laughed.
"That's better." Dave kissed him gently. "Now, we have a paper to write and books to read." He caught Kurt off guard and picked him up bridal style and dropped him onto the bed gently.
Kurt grabbed for him and managed to pull him down onto the bed. "Kisses first."
"If you insist."
Kurt tickled him.
"No fair."
"What's not fair?"
"How absolutely gorgeous you are when you smile. How am I supposed to want to go get those books and bring them over here?"
Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Nope. None of that. I say you're gorgeous and my opinion is mine and you can't take it away from me."
"Now, who's being sassy?"
"I learned from the best."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
After a week of nonsensical behavior on Kurt's part, where he not only got invited to perform "You Can't Touch This" a the school librarian's church, he also managed to inflate Coach Sylvester's head to a size larger than he thought possible. She had gotten to me Olivia Newton John and star in a remake of "Physical", while he had to sit through Rachel Berry's attempts at bring her popularity up by doing a remake of "Run, Joey Run" co-starting Finn, Puck, and Jesse. In the end, Jesse hadn't broken up with her, but also wasn't actually speaking to her.
The following week, the drama continued with Rachel coming down with an inner ear infection and losing her ability to sing on pitch. She had an epic diva melt down as expected and with Jesse gone on a family trip that he had somehow gotten permission to skip school for, Finn stepped in and took Rachel to the doctor. He also took advantage of Jesse's absence to sing "Jesse's Girl" hovering around Rachel or looking at her.
The drama continued for a third week with the arrival of Bryan Ryan who seemed to perhaps have some kind of pact with Coach Sue to demoralize Mr. Schue and the Glee Club.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Saturday morning after breakfast, Dave and Kurt were lying on their stomachs next to each other on Dave's bed with their English books out in front of them.
Dave said, "I know you love your secrets, but do I get a clue about where you're taking me for Valentine's Day tomorrow?"
"Nope. You got to plan tonight's date, which is also our Valentine's dinner. But we have to focus and get our homework done now. There won't be any time to do it tomorrow."
"You made plans for the whole day?"
He nudged Dave with his shoulder. "Shh. Stop being nosy and read the play."
Dave scooted closer so that their shoulders were touching. Eventually their arms got tired from being in that position. Kurt sat up and scooted back against the large triangular pillows they had bought for Christmas.
"What page are you on?"
"320."
"I'm on 322. I have an idea. Scoot up here."
Dave moved and let Kurt rearrange the two of them until Kurt was sitting between Dave's legs reclined back against Dave's chest and Dave was holding his English book so they could both see it. Kurt waited until Dave turned the page and he started reading again. When they finished the play, Dave put the book down on the bedside table. Kurt grabbed both of Dave's hands and wrapped them around his chest. He put his hands on top of Dave's and closed his eyes and laid his head back. Dave turned his head and pressed his lips to Kurt's temple.
There was a light knock on the door. Neither one of them felt the need to move from where they were.
"Come in," Dave called out.
Paul opened the door. "Did you finish your homework already?"
"No. We finished our English reading a few minutes ago and we were just resting for a minute. We've got other assignments to work on, but we're getting there."
"Good, good. Just checking on the two of you. School going okay?"
Kurt answered, "It's a bit more dramatic than I had expected, but anything involving Rachel Berry seems to drama filled. We're working on our songs for Regionals. And I'm working on the Cheerios routine for Nationals."
"Where are Nationals this year?"
"Nashville. Too close to fly, too far to be a comfortable school bus ride. I think Santana is still trying to convince her to hire a tour bus to take us there."
"How's the skating going?"
"I'm not sore afterwards like I was at first, so it's working. I feel a lot better out on the ice now. Spring training for next season will start after spring break."
"Sounds good. I just want to make sure you're doing okay. The fall was pretty rough and I feel like I don't see you that much. I guess it's not all that different from before, but I'm still here for you if you need me."
"I know, Dad. I'm fine. Really. Better than fine. I didn't lose Z and I've got new friends. We hang out with Artie, Tina, Z, and Mercedes a lot. It's a lot better than the lame parties that I didn't really want to go to last year. Plus, Artie, Tina, and Mercedes are actually pretty cool."
"Good. That's good."
"How are you doing? How did you and Quinn's mom even meet?"
"She came to the office to hire a lawyer to file for divorce last fall."
"Oh, okay."
"I'll be honest. She got an appointment with me first, but after a couple of times talking to her, I realized that I liked her more than I should like a client and I asked her to let me transfer her case to Mitch. So, he handled it from then on out. I didn't want there to be some kind of conflict of interest brought up or some kind of insinuation that she wanted a divorce so that we could be together."
"That seems reasonable."
"We didn't actually start to date until after her divorce was finalized. It was back in December. Her ex was a pain. I won't go into detail since it's not my story to tell."
"Does Quinn know?" Kurt asked.
"She does. I've had lunch with them quite a few times. After we eat, I just go to a Starbucks and work on cases while they spend time together. It's tough on both of them. It's a mess. Quinn's due date is in about a month. She's not sure whether to stay there to finish the school year or not. She likes the school and the other girls. But she wants to move back in with her mom, but that's easier said than done since their house sold in January and Judy hasn't found a new place yet. She's living in a furnished efficiency. Quinn's stuff is in storage. Everything else got sold in the divorce."
"Oh, wow. That's tough," Kurt said.
"Most divorces are very, very messy. I'll let you two get back to your homework. I'm heading out. You know I'm just a phone call or text away."
"Yeah, Dad. I know. See ya."
After Paul left, Kurt turned on his side a little and wrapped his arms around Dave's neck and laid his head on Dave's shoulder. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close.
"Comfy?"
"Very. What time is it?"
Dave picked his phone up off the side table and laid it back down after he looked at it. "10:17."
"Okay. I propose 13 minutes of snuggles and kissing and then we do the math problems that await us. Then we can read again lying next to each other somehow."
"Deal."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
At Dave's request, he and Kurt went their separate ways at 4:00. Kurt met up with Tina and Mercedes at the mall to shop for a couple of hours. Tina was still looking for just the right Valentine's Day gift for Artie. Eventually they ended up in Radio Shack with Kurt pointing out the things that were on Artie's wish list that he could remember from the last time he had been in the store with Artie.
"You know you could always just go to Old Navy and buy him an assortment of socks. He would like that. Or a new pair of suspenders. While I may find them the most unusual part of his wardrobe, who am I to decide what makes him happy. Maybe there's some cool ones in Spencer's or Hot Topic."
"What did you get Dave?"
"An experience."
"Oh, really?" Mercedes said with a raised eyebrow.
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Not THAT kind of experience. I don't want to say, but won't be a secret after tomorrow. I just want to make sure it stays a secret for now."
"Fine, fine. I bought Azimio a new rip-stop nylon, waterproof backpack in his favorite color. It's got a padded laptop sleeve in it."
Kurt gave her a funny look.
"Oh, don't give me that look. His backpack is falling apart. He's always carrying his laptop in his hand and then having to try to shove it in his coat if it starts to rain. His old one is like from junior high from when he didn't have a phone or keys or a laptop. It's nice and it's stylish. I think he'll like it."
"You're right. I shouldn't be critical. Your gift shows that you've been paying attention, both to the fact that he's struggling to keep his stuff organized and you know what he needs to organize. And on top of that, you chose something in a color he'd like. It sounds like a great choice."
Mercedes preened. "Of course it was. I chose it." She laughed.
"Well, now I feel doubly bad that I don't have a good gift," Tina said.
"What about doing something with him that he doesn't normally get to do. Even if you can't actually DO the activity tomorrow, you can make a certificate or something on your computer or by hand and put it in an envelope for him to open."
"Good idea, but what?"
"I don't know what you normally do."
"Well, we have the most freedom when we go to your house or Dave's house. At my house, my parents are very strict. My room is upstairs and Artie has no way to get up there and obviously I can't carry him, so we end up in the living room. But my parents aren't into PDA, so it's very platonic at my house. At his house, it's a little better, but his mom is not quite used to him not being a child. She still walks into his room without knocking. She's super sweet and she likes me. But we just don't really get to relax like we do at your house or Dave's."
"Okay, so what about if you set up a date at my house. You can both tell your parents you're spending the evening at my place. We can do it on a night that my dad will be out all evening and Dave and I can stay down in my room. You and Artie can order whatever you want to eat and snuggle up on the sectional like you do when we all watch movies, except that you'll be alone. Your parents can drop you off and I'll take the two of you back home, like it's a normal evening at my house."
"Sounds perfect."
"How about Tuesday? My dad always goes out on Tuesdays and doesn't come home until after I would need to take you home. You can come over at 7:00 and stay until whenever you have to leave."
"I accept your offer."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt got back to his house at 6:30, like Dave had asked. When he got to the front door, he saw a note that said, "Come to the dining room." He took the note down and opened the door. He stepped inside and noticed that it was nearly dark, but there was dim light coming from the living room. He closed the door, hung his coat up, and stepped into the living room. Dave had lit a couple of candles to light his way to the dining room. He saw more candlelight in the dining room. He stepped in and found the table had been set. A line of scattered rose petals with candles decorated the table, along with red placemats and their plated dinners. As Kurt stepped through the door, Dave kissed him on the cheek and then followed him to the table and sat down next to him.
"It's beautiful. You're the sweetest guy ever." Kurt turned to him and kissed him gently. "The food looks delicious. Thank you for all of this."
"I'm glad you like it."
Kurt picked up his knife and fork and cut into his chicken and took a bite. "This is fabulous. So good." Kurt closed his eyes and savored the flavor.
After they finished eating, Dave cleared their plates and asked Kurt to close his eyes. He came back a few minutes later. He put a plate and two forks down on the table quietly.
"Keep your eyes closed, but open your mouth."
Kurt followed Dave's directions. Dave put a bite of the dessert in Kurt's mouth. He carefully ate it.
"That is so good. It's a chocolate cheesecake, with a chocolate crust and cherries on top."
"Very good."
"Can I open my eyes now?"
"Sure."
Kurt leaned forward and kissed Dave. He picked up the second fork and fed it to Dave.
"It is good."
They fed each other until the slice was gone.
"Why don't you go ahead and shower?"
"Okay."
Dave gathered up the rose petals and blew the candles out. He put them in the box he brought them in that he had stashed in the laundry room. He grabbed the next items he needed and went down to set Kurt's room up while he was in the shower. When Kurt got out of the shower, he called out to Dave from his closet.
"Dave?"
"Yeah?" Dave walked over to the closet.
"What should I wear?"
"Your birthday suit?"
"Upstairs in the living room?"
"Good point." He stepped inside the closet and laughed.
Kurt was wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt with a polka dot-esque pattern that was actually Hershey Kisses, with "Kiss Me" written on the paper of a larger Hershey Kiss in the center of the shirt. He handed Dave a see-through red mesh bag filled with Hershey Kisses. He had matching plaid pajama pants on that had a Hershey Kiss inside each square part of the pattern.
"Cute. Very cute."
"Very cliché, but I've never had a Valentine before or anyone to kiss, so it seemed like a fun first Valentine's novelty gift."
"Do I get to kiss you every place where there's a Hershey's kiss?"
"If you want."
"Mmm." He looked him up and down. "Could take a while."
Kurt stepped closer. "I'm not in a hurry."
Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed him. "We'll save me putting kisses all over you for after the movie. Your dad will be back in a couple of hours and he might want to watch something. I'm going to change into my pajamas too." He grabbed a pair of his out of Kurt's dresser and went into the bathroom. "Wait right here."
Kurt did as he was asked. When Dave came back out, he dropped his clothes in the laundry and took Kurt's hand. When they stepped out of the closet, Kurt saw the lights and could hear the faint music.
"Dance with me?"
"Of course." Kurt stepped into his arms. As the danced, Kurt took a closer look at the lights. "I like the lights. They're like mini Chinese lanterns."
"They are. They're for Chinese New Year, which I learned is actually tomorrow, but I liked them better than the heart lights I saw. I thought since they're mostly white, we might be able to leave them up without it looking like you forgot to take down a holiday decoration."
"That's true. Very thoughtful. And I do like them. Thank you." He leaned into Dave and put his head on Dave's shoulder.
They danced for a couple of songs before Dave stopped moving. "Let's go up. We can dance more after the movie." He took Kurt's hand and led him upstairs.
Kurt let Dave get settled on the sofa and then he climbed over him and draped himself all over Dave, lying back on him like he was a chaise. He pulled the throw off the back of the sofa and put it over their legs.
"Comfy?"
"Very. You?"
"Perfect." Dave pressed play and wrapped his arm back around Kurt. "I've never see this one, so I don't know much about it. I just looked through all of your DVDs and looked for a Fred Astaire movie that you don't have at the library."
"Sounds fun."
About five minutes before the end of the movie, Burt came in. He hung his coat up and leaned against the doorway to the living room, just looking at Kurt and Dave on the sofa watching a movie from what looked like the 1940s. He shook his head, chuckled, and quietly said, "Weirdos."
When it finished, Kurt looked back toward the doorway. "Hey, Dad. Did you have a nice evening?"
"I did."
"Good. So did we." He got up, folded the throw, and put it across the back of the sofa. "We'll leave you to watch whatever sporting event you Tivo'd while you were out."
Burt laughed at Kurt's pajamas after they had closed the door to the basement. "Weirdos, both of them." He plopped down on the couch to start the game he had recorded, still smiling.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
By the time they got the futon folded down and the covers and pillows in place, Dave had already kissed Kurt at least 20 times in a variety of places. Kurt was laughing and dodging him in an effort to actually get in the bed. He turned the light off and Dave swept him up bridal style.
"No more dodging my kisses."
Kurt laughed. "I just wanted to get IN the bed for the kissing. I'm not trying to dodge them. Definitely not." Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave's neck and pulled himself close enough to kiss Dave.
Dave stood him back up, but Kurt didn't unwrap his arms or break off the kiss.
"You're closing the gap pretty quickly. You don't even need any heels anymore."
"Nope. Makes it a lot easier."
"When boot season is over, we're going to have to go shopping for new pants or maybe you can just wear shorts and I can ogle your legs."
Kurt laughed. "I've never been much of a shorts fan, but I could be persuaded – at least around the house."
"I can be very persuasive." He kissed down Kurt's neck.
"I'm aware. Come on. Let's get in bed."
Dave lay down and Kurt scooted up next to him. They got comfortable lying facing each other. Dave reached over and put his hand on Kurt's hip. Kurt ran his hand across Dave's jaw, down his neck and shoulders, and stopped when he hand reached Dave's upper arm.
Kurt spoke softly. "Tonight was beautiful. Thank you. It definitely surpassed any of my ideas of what a romantic Valentine's evening would be. You really are the sweetest guy. I love you."
"I love you too. I enjoyed getting all of it ready for you and I'm really glad you liked it. Just so you don't worry, the rest of the cheesecake is in my truck, hidden away from food-scrounging fathers who might try to eat it while we're gone tomorrow. We can have the rest while we're out tomorrow. It was a mini cheesecake."
"I hadn't thought about that yet, but I'm sure my dad would have helped himself to a piece if you had put 6 slices in the fridge. It's really good. It's hard to believe that you didn't know how to cook when we started dating. You're so good at it now."
"Well, the right motivation goes a long ways." He kissed Kurt gently. "I like to do things for you."
"You're a sweetheart."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
"No way."
"It's true."
"I see that, but how?"
"I have my ways."
"This game's been sold out for weeks."
"Well, I have two tickets right here, so come on!"
Dave grabbed his hand and moved quickly through the parking lot to get to the stadium. "You made a big deal out of me cooking for you and borrowing a movie from the library and you're bringing me to a sold-out Blue Jackets game?"
"I thought you'd like it."
Dave squeezed his hand. "Like it? I love it. This is awesome!"
They waited in line and finally made it to the inside of the stadium area. Dave continued to hold tight to Kurt's hand and they made it through the crowd to get to their seats. They sat down and Dave put his arm across the back of Kurt's seat and put his hand on Kurt's shoulder. He leaned in toward Kurt so he could be heard over the crowd.
"Thank you. I'm so excited. My dad doesn't really like crowds or the noise. We watch a lot of stuff at home together, but I've never actually been to an NHL game before."
Kurt reached across his chest and interlaced his fingers with Dave's and squeezed his hand and smiled. Once the game got underway, Dave was up on his feet as much as he was in his chair.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Three hours later, they were back in the Navigator and Kurt was heading out of the parking lot to yet another unknown location. Dave had his hand on Kurt's thigh rather than holding his hand since Kurt had so many other cars to keep track of in the crowded parking lot.
"You can't do anything else amazing for me for like, I don't know how long. This was months worth of amazingness."
"That wouldn't be any fun. You don't mean that, do you?"
"Of course not. I just … this was just too much, but I loved every minute of it."
"I saw."
"Where are we going?"
"Someplace."
"Obviously."
"A drive-thru first, then someplace, actually. What do you want?"
"Mostly a huge, giant, extra, extra large drink."
"I can do that. All that yelling made your throat sore. Look in the glove box."
Dave opened it and pulled out a bag of lemon drops with honey.
"Put one of those in your mouth. It will help."
Dave opened the package, took one out, and put it back in the glove box. "You knew I would scream myself hoarse." He unwrapped the candy and put it in his mouth.
"I figured you would, yes."
"Sassy."
"You love it."
"I know."
"Besides the humongous drink, what do you want?"
"Um, let's just drive to wherever 'someplace' is and we'll stop somewhere along the way."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
"A church? Seriously? Why are we at a church?" Dave opened the glove box and got another lemon candy out and put it in his mouth.
Kurt opened his door and waited for Dave to come around the end. He grabbed his hand and led him to the church. Dave saw the sign on the door as the walked up. They followed the signs through the halls until he found the room he was looking for.
"I've never heard of PFLAG."
Kurt kept his voice low. "I'd heard of it, but I've never been to a meeting. I figured we'd give it a shot since this group meets once a month and it happened to be on the same day we'd be in Columbus. There's another group, but they meet somewhere else on a different day. But if we don't like this one, we can always try the other one sometime."
They went in the room and were greeted by a couple of people. The meeting was just about to start, so they sat down. The leader introduced himself and a couple of other people. A speaker got up and talked about Prop 8 and the legislative work going on to move toward legalizing same sex marriage in the US. After the speaker finished, the leader divided the group up into smaller groups. Kurt and Dave followed the group of younger people to another smaller room.
When they got there, the other people introduced themselves first and said a little about themselves. The first person to speak made introduced herself as Sheila, and made it clear that no one had to out themselves or tell anything beyond their name, if they didn't feel comfortable. She pointed out that the group was to support family members or help friends be more supportive of their LGBTQ friends as well as for personal support with LGBTQ issues.
When it got around to them, Kurt deferred to Dave, allowing him to set the tone for how open they would be about themselves.
"My name's Dave. I'm 16. I play football and I'm in Glee Club. I came out last fall. No one had any idea I was gay. The outcome was mixed. My father accepts me. My mother doesn't. I got the crap kicked out of me by some of the other jocks at our school the week I came out. But my best friend supported me and that made all the difference at school. He's a football player too and he rallied behind me, and in the end, it's better now. The whole school is better. The jocks that beat me up got expelled and the bullying has really died down to words rather than physical bullying. And Kurt's my boyfriend. We've been together nearly five months."
Kurt could tell that Dave was done and started introducing himself. "As Dave said, my name is Kurt. I'm 16. I'm a sophomore in high school. I'm gay. Everyone knew or suspected, but I officially came out last fall. My dad accepted me and said he already knew, but gave me time to tell him myself. I play football and I'm a cheerleader. I'm in our school's Glee Club too."
"Dave and Kurt, I'm glad the two of you came today," Sheila said. "Usually we have more people, but since it's Valentine's Day, I think quite a few of them are out celebrating that instead."
Kurt said, "We live quite a ways from here, so I don't know when we might be able to come back, but it's nice to know that there are groups like this."
One person in the group started to talk about contemplating coming out and a few people shared their stories and answered questions. Kurt and Dave just listened. When the group broke for refreshments, Kurt and Dave decided to head back to Lima.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
They got back to the Hummel's after Carole had gone home for the evening and Burt had already gone upstairs. The two of them got ready for bed and packed up all of their stuff to be ready for school the next morning. They decided to read a while before they went to sleep, so they each had a book, but Dave started talking before they opened them.
"I had a great time today. It was so much fun. I still can hardly believe it was real, but I know it was. I have lots of pictures to prove it."
"Send me the best selfies of the two of us with the ice behind us. I still want to make a collage."
"Okay. The PFLAG meeting was cool too. I'm not sure that I'd want to talk publicly about a problem, but it was nice to see so many people involved in the group."
"It was. Even if we don't go back, just knowing that it exists is cool to me. I've felt alone for so long. And then you opened up to me and then I didn't feel alone anymore. A group like that could help a lot of people. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I offered my house for Artie and Tina to have a Valentine's Date here. I won't go into details because they're not mine to tell, but Tina wanted some place she could have a nice romantic dinner with Artie. But if you hear either one of them talk about it, they're just coming over to spend the evening with us. We'll be here, but we'll stay down here so they can eat in private upstairs."
"That's fine."
"Are we actually going to read?"
"I think I'm too tired and hyped up both."
Kurt laughed. "Give me your book, then. I'll just put it on my desk with mine and turn the light off." He rolled back over in the dark and scooted closer until Dave made room for him to snuggle up to him. He tilted his head up and kissed Dave. "I had a great weekend."
"Me too. Me too. I love you."
"I love you too."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Monday morning, Rachel came into Glee Club all riled up announcing that she had been spying on Vocal Adrenaline. Her clues led the girls and Kurt to believe that their rivals were working on a Lady Gaga piece for Regionals. Mr. Schue assigned them to work on a Lady Gaga piece to present to the group. The guys were unhappy with the choice and Mr. Schue told them to come up with an alternative by lunch and he'd approve it if it met his standards for theatricality.
The guys went in at lunch and discussed what to choose. Kurt went with Dave, but everyone knew that he would perform with the girls. In the end, half of the guys decided to perform a Kiss song and the other half decided to go with a Rolling Stones song. Mr. Schue approved their ideas.
All three groups decided to meet up after Cheerios and basketball practice. The girls met in the choir room. The guys met in the costume room to see what they could find. They took what they could use and put it together. The half that was working on a Rolling Stones song went to the dance studio. The guys that were singing the Kiss song decided to practice at Finn's later that evening since Puck had to go to work.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt was surprised to get home and find his dad there. He had planned to get started on his Gaga-esque outfit, but his dad intercepted him.
"Kurt?"
"Yeah, Dad?"
"Come sit down. I want to talk to you."
"Sure." He hung his coat up and walked around to the sofa and sat down opposite Burt.
"I, um, want to talk to you about something."
"Okay."
"Carole and I have gotten serious."
"Alright."
"And I asked her to move in."
"Here? With us?"
"Yeah, here with us. Where else would she move in?"
"Well, there's not just Carole. There's Finn too. We only have two bedrooms."
"I'm aware of that, but your room is big enough to share with Finn. They're going to start moving their stuff over this weekend."
"Dad, we don't have room for any more stuff."
"We'll make it work. We'll have to work on the details. I know. But I just wanted to let you know."
"Did she tell Finn?"
"I don't know. I guess just keep it to yourself for now."
"Right. Is that all?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, Tina and Artie are coming over tomorrow evening while you're out with Carole. Is it okay for us to stay here until 9:00? I'll take them home, and then go over to Dave's."
"Yeah, sure. We'll just come back here a little after 9:00."
"Thanks. I have to go back out and go to the fabric store soon. I just need to go down and do some preliminary drawings first. I'm making something for Glee Club."
"Sure, kiddo. Knock yourself out."
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Thursday morning, everyone was sitting around waiting for Glee Club to start, but after showing off their Gaga-esque costumes, they realized that Rachel wasn't there still. Mercedes spoke up and told everyone that she and Rachel had gone to spy on Vocal Adrenaline again and that Rachel had found out that Shelby Corcoran is her birth mother. Everyone was shocked and was even more surprised when Rachel walked in the room.
Her dress was not up to everyone else's level, but given what she had been through the previous afternoon, it wasn't any surprise that she didn't go to Tina's when the girls worked on the dresses Wednesday evening and Tina had been busy the night before.
She put on her 'the show must go on' face and attitude and they moved to the auditorium to show off their piece. "Bad Romance" turned out fantastic even if the guys didn't really seem to appreciate the theatricality of it.
Dave waited for Kurt to come down into the auditorium afterwards. Everyone else had left.
"It's okay. I can tell that you don't really like me dressed this way."
"I don't know what I think yet. I know you worked hard on it, but it's more like a costume than anything else I've ever seen you wear. It's not just you. The girls too. I think everyone just looks too different, maybe? I'm not sure how to explain it. I guess it makes sense with the theatricality theme. Theatricality, theater… none of you look like yourselves."
"I think that's part of the point. In the outfits, we can be someone else for a short period of time. Even though I've worn corsets and kilts and would even wear skirts if I ever find the ones I like for less than $1000 or if I can find a pattern to make one myself, those are just clothes and I don't want to be a girl or be thought of as a girl. But playing one in a theater production or something wouldn't be any different than playing the role of a doctor or a dentist or something that I'm not. I'd put on a costume and pretend to be someone else. Does it really bother you? I can go ahead and change back if you want."
"No, don't change. You worked hard on it and you should wear it like you had planned to. We need to get moving. Come on."
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Friday at lunch, it was the guys' turn to perform. Everyone packed lunches so they could eat without going to the cafeteria. Most of the guys had eaten in Home Ec the period before lunch anyway. Rachel came in wearing a new dress that Shelby had helped her with.
The Rolling Stones group – Dave, Matt, Azimio, and the bass guitarist from the jazz band came out on the stage first. Mr. Schue looked surprised and not too pleased with the way they were dressed. They all had dress slacks, button-up shirts, ties, and matching suit jackets on.
Dave stepped forward. "We're not really ready to perform, but we will. Our costumes are an homage to the beginning of the Rolling Stones – the way the looked when they first got started. Our performance will be one person short since Jesse isn't at school again today. He was supposed to be our lead singer. Azimio is taking his place."
The four of them began singing "Satisfaction." During a short instrumental interlude, the four of them walked off stage and came back wearing clothing that looked much more like the Rolling Stones more recent clothes. They finished the song with as much theatricality as they could put into it.
Everyone clapped for them.
"Good job, guys. It's hard to perform when your lead is missing. Good job, Azimio."
He smiled and nodded. The stage went dark. The other group of guys moved the drum set to the center and added more drums. The lights came up and the other four were in full Kiss make up and tight black outfits. Dave had taken a seat next to Kurt when he came down into the auditorium. When the guys finished everyone clapped for them as well. Mr. Schue congratulated them on a job well done.
All of the guys got up to go to the guys changing room, including Kurt who was walking along with Dave. Finn was struggling to get the face paint off and Kurt pulled out a pack of moist towelettes from his bag. He walked over to Finn with one in his hand and started to show Finn how to use it to get the make up off, but Finn flipped out when he touched him.
"It's just a moist towelette, Finn. God." He tossed the pack onto the vanity where Finn was sitting. He grabbed his bag and left the room. He went to class.
Dave came into their history class and sat down next to Kurt, who didn't make eye contact. He opened his notebook for the class, but flipped to the back page and wrote, "What's wrong?"
"Not here. Later."
Dave turned his notebook back to where it needed to be to take notes. He left Kurt alone, other than putting his hand on Kurt's leg.
Kurt asked to be excused 10 minutes before his last period classes ended. He rushed to the guys changing area in the auditorium and put his Cheerios uniform on. He hung his Lady Gaga outfit up in a garment and ran it out to his Navigator.
He saw Jesse picking Rachel up, but didn't say anything as he rushed back in the building, hoping to make it to Cheerios practice on time and not end up running laps like he had the day before when it had taken him too long to change.