Nearly nine hours in an airplane seat could have been a really long time, but fortunately for Kurt, he managed to fall asleep, so it passed quickly. He had a 10-hour playlist set up on his old iPod and listened to it through the whole flight. When he landed, it seemed that he had arrived in a country all of its own. The airport itself appeared to be four times as big as Lima. He finally made it to the baggage claim area and headed for Customs. He accessed the Wi-Fi and sent Sebastian a message via Messenger letting him know that he was waiting to go through Customs and that he needed to know where Sebastian was. He told Kurt to look on a map and go to Brioche Dorée. Eventually, Kurt made it through and found Sebastian.

"Oh, my God. This place is a metropolis. I think there are more stores and restaurants in this one part of the airport than there are in all of Lima."

Sebastian just laughed at him. "Come on, Alice. Wonderland awaits, but first we're going to the restroom."

Sebastian took Kurt into the handicap stall. He spoke in a quiet whisper. "Take your wallet out of your satchel. Put your ID, Passport and money in this," handing Kurt a travel pouch. "Slip the wallet itself and anything else you have in your satchel that's worth protecting into your suitcase. Now, look how I'm wearing mine. Undo your belt, slip the loop over the belt, then tuck the zippered part into your pants." Kurt followed Sebastian's instructions and once he was done, they left the stall.

"The bus is this way." Sebastian grabbed the handle of Kurt's suitcase and pulled it, while Kurt walked alongside him.

They made it out of the airport and to the bus station. Sebastian told Kurt that he needed to get his photo taken in the kiosk to get his Navigo Découverte pass. They got in line with the photos and Sebastian handed them to the agent who put one of the photos on Kurt's new card and handed both parts of the pass to Kurt. Sebastian told him to put the part with the photo into his travel wallet and keep the other part out so they could get on the bus. Then he pulled Kurt into a hug and said, "Welcome to Paris."

They waited for the next bus headed into downtown Paris. "How was your flight?"

"It was surprisingly quiet. No babies screaming the whole time or anything. I listened to my iPod the whole time so that probably helped block out a lot of the noise. I slept quite a bit."

"That's good. I'm going to take you home first so you can shower or change or whatever you want to do, then we're going to eat lunch at a place nearby."

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The bus ride took about 30 minutes and then they switched to the Metro. When they came out of the Metro, Sebastian said, "I only live a few blocks from here."

They went into 3-story limestone building with small balconies with wrought iron railings on the upper floors. The door to the building was wrought iron and wood. As they stepped into the small lobby, they faced another set of doors that were locked. Sebastian opened the interior doors and there was a short hallway that led to an elevator. They got in the elevator and took it up to the 2nd floor. Sebastian directed him to the door of his apartment.

Inside was lovely. It had wood floors and beautiful ceiling relief work. "The kitchen's over here. The living room and dining room you can see. Down that hall is the bathroom and the bedrooms. I probably should have said something ahead of time. We have just two bedrooms, so you'll have to share with me."

"That's fine. Show me where I should put my stuff and I'll get it out of the way."

Sebastian led Kurt to his bedroom, which was slightly larger than Kurt's bedroom at home. There was a nice sized closet that had room for Kurt to hang his clothes and some empty hangers waiting for him. "You look different. You got a haircut and I like that outfit. Much improved over your Midwest 'chic' look you had in Ohio."

Sebastian laughed. "Yeah, my mom saw my wardrobe and got rid of most of what I brought back with me. I didn't take much with me when I left and my fashionable clothes have been here waiting for me all year. Plus, some new pieces were added this past week. She didn't toss out my souvenir t-shirts though. I wouldn't let her."

Sebastian was wearing slim cut, artfully faded jeans with a dark red printed Yves Saint Laurent button-up shirt and a pair of boots that looked great, but he didn't recognize.

"I like those boots."

"They're Palladiums. Fashionable and very comfortable. I know you love your Docs, but these are so much lighter. Maybe we'll go look at some before we head out later."

"Offering to take me shopping so soon?" Kurt asked teasingly. Kurt hung his clothes up and started nosing through Sebastian's clothes. "You know, you're not that much taller than me. I'm certain that I could tailor this shirt to fit me," he laughed pulling out a Givenchy shirt that he really liked.

"I'm sure you could, but I happen to like that shirt. It's not up for grabs," he smirked as he put it back where it was hanging. "Do you want to shower and change before we go out?"

"Definitely, if you don't mind."

"The bathroom is across the hall. Clean towels are under the sink in the basket. Be sure to wear shoes that are good for walking."

Sebastian sat in the living room and read while Kurt got ready. Kurt was wearing dark wash skinny jeans, a white button up, a dark gray vest and his white 1460 Doc Marten boots. "You look great. Let's go." Kurt blushed.

Kurt changed the subject quickly. "I really need to let Carole know that I arrived safely. Can I use your phone or can we stop somewhere and get my phone set up to use here?"

Sebastian handed Kurt his phone. "Hey, Carole. I'm here at Sebastian's. Yes. I'm fine. We're getting ready to go eat lunch. I'll message you later. Bye!"

Kurt looked out the window. "Amazing. It's just amazing here," he said with a huge smile on his face. "Have you lived here since you were six?"

"Yep, this is where I grew up."

"No wonder you hated Ohio."

"I'm sure I could have made it more interesting than I did. Westerville's nowhere nearly as bad as Lima. But it took me too long to come around. I'm just glad I finally got my act together."

He nudged Sebastian and said, "Me too."

"Come on, I've been waiting for you to get here forever it seems. Let's go."

"You're ask excited as I am, I think." Kurt grabbed his satchel on the way out the door.

"Possibly."

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They went outside and turned to the right and walked down to the corner. Sebastian watched the traffic and started to step into the street. Kurt hesitated. Sebastian grabbed his hand and pulled him along. "He who hesitates becomes a pancake," he laughed. He let go of Kurt's hand once they were across all the lanes of traffic and were safe on the sidewalk. "The rules of crossing the street are simple. There's just one. Don't die."

"That's reassuring," Kurt deadpanned.

"Perhaps not, but it's true. Think Frogger with no extra lives. You'll catch on."

They had to cross the street again to get to where Sebastian was taking him to lunch. When Sebastian got near the street to cross, Kurt just grabbed his hand again. "I'm not taking any chances," and laughed.

Another half-block and they were at their destination, a small brasserie that served a variety of French food. They waited for a few minutes because Sebastian wanted an outdoor table. After they sat down and looked at the menu, Kurt said, "I have no idea what any of this is. How about you just order for me?"

"I can do that." The waitress came and Sebastian ordered for both of them. "I ordered two completely different dishes. If you don't like yours, we can switch."

"I'm sure it will be fine. You know I"m not really picky. I like trying new things." He looked around the area and just watched the people for a few minutes. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Well, I've been planning the things we're going to do. I went to visit my grandparents. I went to work with my mom one day. Thus, the makeover and the new clothes."

"Well, the haircut and the clothes suit you."

"Thanks."

"So, what have you planned?"

"Well, as weird as it sounds, I bought a Paris travel guide book. I've lived here most of my life, but I've never played tour guide before. So, in this book, there's a section that has 90-minute walking tours of eight areas of the city. I thought we'd do the first one after we eat. It actually starts right by where I live. The park we walked past is Parc Monceau. The walking tour starts there. When we're done, we'll go back home and I'll show you the book."

Kurt opened his satchel and pulled out a book, showing it to Sebastian, he said, "I think we have been reading the same book."

"So we have," he laughed. "So, what you do think? We can go on some of those 90-minute walking tours this week and then go to any of the places in the area that were on your list of must-see places."

"Sounds like a plan."

The waitress brought their food out. Kurt tasted his, "Oh, this is really good. Would you mind if I taste yours too, just a bite? Here, you can put it on the edge of my plate," he said sliding his plate closer to Sebastian's. Sebastian put a little of his onto Kurt's plate. "Yours is good too." They continued talking while they ate.

"This afternoon when we get back from walking around this neighborhood, we can make a list of the places you want to see. And you mentioned going to a phone store. We're going to leave around 5:00 from the Metro station over there to Cherenton-le-Pont to visit your grandparents. They live just a few blocks from the Metro station. I can either leave you there to have dinner and spend the evening with them or I can stay. I can just go to a coffee shop and read until you're ready to leave. You won't have to make your way back alone either way."

"I'm sure they'll want to meet you. You're the REASON I'm getting to meet them in person. Please stay."

"Alright." Sebastian pulled out his phone and sent a text. "I just reminded my mom that we won't be home this evening."

"So, besides reading that travel guide book, what else have you been doing?"

"Well, I've debated calling up some of my old friends, but I haven't really gotten up the nerve to do it. They're in school still during the daytime anyway and it's crunch time for them academically since school ends in a month. They'll be working on final projects, taking exams and writing papers."

"You've never told me what happened to make you leave France so quickly."

"It's not a pleasant story."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I understand. Some things are just private and I understand that."

"Well, it's definitely too private to tell you sitting out in public."

They finished up their meal. The waitress brought out their check. Kurt reached for the check and managed to grab it before Sebastian. He pulled enough cash from his wallet to cover the bill and a tip and handed them to the waitress.

Sebastian looked at him a bit perplexed.

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They got up and started walking back toward Sebastian's place.

"Birthday gift. My dad got some Euros for me before I left. You can't pay for me all the time. I'll feel like..." he paused not quite knowing how to explain how it felt for a guy to pay for him all the time. "It feels emasculating. Like all the times I've been told that I'm not manly enough. I know you don't think that. It's just this knee jerk reaction sometimes. I don't need or want chairs pulled out for me or my car door opened or all those things that society says that men should do for women. I'm not a woman. I may not be able to afford everything that you can, but I can afford to treat you to meals sometimes too."

"I get it. You've been put in the girl's role of dating and friendship. Guys don't joke around with you. They treat you like they treat their friends that are girls. They act like you can't take care of yourself because you chose not to physically retaliate against the bullying. But sometimes, you have to let me treat too. This whole trip was my idea and I may choose activities that are out of your budget range for this trip. And I promise not to treat you like a girl, ever."

"That seems reasonable. And thank you. That will make you the second guy ever in my life who doesn't treat me like a girl."

"Sam, right?"

"Yep. Saturday morning, we accidentally woke Dad up chasing each other around my room beating each other senseless with the pillows from my bed," Kurt laughed.

"I bet that was fun."

"It was."

They passed the apartment building and kept going. Sebastian flashed back to something Kurt had said before. "Remember when I asked you to come spend the weekend at my house the first time?"

"Yes."

"You said something about not spending time with guys, but then recanted like something had changed and it would be okay. What was that about?"

"Well, it was twofold. The first reason you are already aware of." Sebastian nodded once he thought about it - Blaine. "But the second part was my dad. You noticed I said you'd be the second to treat me like a guy and since Sam is the first, that should tell you something about how my dad has always treated me. He's on the fence. He taught me how to work on cars and treated me as an equal to the other guys that worked in the shop. But when it came to dating and friendships, he always saw me as a girl. I always figured it was because I didn't like sports and 'manly' activities and I liked things that he considered to be feminine. He let me have as many girls sleep over as I wanted and I was always allowed to attend girls' sleepovers at their houses as well."

"I see."

"So, even before he had eased up on the 'No-spending-time-alone-with-boys' philosophy, well, you know what was going on then. Control by another force."

Sebastian just nodded.

By this time, they had made it to the park and were walking down a path with no one else around. Sebastian started to speak again and this time in English. "When I started dating Jacques, most of our friends were mutual friends. There was a group of about ten of us, who were 2nd and 3rd years - meaning juniors and seniors - that all hung out together, but we also did things in smaller groups depending on what the activity was. Once Jacques and I moved from friends to boyfriends, he got more and more possessive. He got to the point where I couldn't do anything with anyone in our group of friends unless he came along too, which was fine a lot of the time, but it did annoy some of the people in the group, but not to the point of calling him out on it, at least not in front of me. It bothered me a lot because I felt like I had to get his permission, but at the same time, I just let it slide because I didn't want to give him a reason to be mad at me. It was just how things were and I accepted it."

"I've been there too many times. Accepting things that I shouldn't have."

Sebastian nodded and continued. "The reason I got sent away to my dad's has to do with something that happened at the graduation party that all of us attended last July," Sebastian fought back tears.

"You don't have to tell me. It's okay."

"Well, the short version is that Jacques ended up in jail and our group of friends ended up divided over the situation. I was shipped off as soon as I was well enough to travel. And I didn't talk to very many of them while I was gone, only a couple of them who contacted my mom asking for my new number."

"Is there a chance of running into him? Or is he still in jail."

"He'll be in jail for a while, another 24 years."

Kurt reached over and held Sebastian's hand. "I'm sorry."

"Some of my friends and some of the other people at the party were given fines in association with the case. And of course, there was the fallout with their own families. No one blamed me exactly, but it just one of those situations without any good outcomes. It broke our group. I don't know if they managed to patch things back together or whether they all just went their separate ways. I guess the only positive side to all of it is that I don't actually remember what happened."

"I guess that's good."

"Yeah."

Sebastian dropped Kurt's hand and wiped his eyes with both hands. They continued to walk in silence, just enjoying the scenery and the interesting statues and strange objects like a pyramid and an obelisk. They exited the park heading toward Rue de Courcelles passing two amazing mansions and Sebastian pointed down Avenue Hoche, "Look in the distance. You can see the Arc de Triomphe." Walking a bit farther, they encountered a 5-story Chinese pagoda.

"Amazing architecture. It's just amazing being here. It's like a dream."

The continued on their walk with Sebastian making comments about growing up in the area and pointing out houses and buildings. They turned down a different street which looked totally different from the area they had been walking in. "It's sort of surreal here. One minute there's mansions and then there's a street that looks like a typical big city like New York." They walked a few more blocks and came to the back of a huge church.

"I know you aren't religious, but do you want to go inside? This is St. Augustine. It was built in the 1860s."

"Of course. I don't have to believe in anything to see the beauty in the building. Let's go inside."

Kurt was stunned. He had never been inside anywhere so breathtaking. The stained glass windows, the dome, the everything. He was just speechless. Just imagining the effort and craftsmanship required to build such a building with no modern tools was awe inspiring.

As they exited through the front, Kurt teased Sebastian, "I bet it was a lot more important to know geometry and trigonometry back before computer aided design was around."

"Yeah, yeah," he laughed remembering his comment about Trigonometry. "But I'm not going to be an architect for Napoleon III."

"True, true."

"Well, this is the end of the walking tour of this area, but just a few streets over is a store that sells these boots and an Apple store to help you with your phone. Let's head that way."

Kurt continued the new method of making sure he followed the rule of "Don't die." by holding Sebastian's hand as he maneuvered them through the traffic while crossing streets. "How are the hospitals not full of people that have been run over by cars?"

"You'll get the hang of it," he teased.

They walked into the shoe store and browsed. Kurt looked for something basic that would go with a lot of things, but would be really functional and fashionable too. Showing Sebastian he said, "I think I'll try these." He picked up a pair of soft black leather boots with gum eraser colored soles. "The sign says they're waterproof and I can see that they have a gusseted tongue. That should make them good for rainy days. I don't have any boots this style that are good for rain. My rain boots are Wellies."

"Let's get someone to bring out your size. What size do you wear?"

"11."

"Well, ask for a 44 and a 45. You can see which one fits better."

Kurt found an employee and asked for what he needed. She brought out both pairs and he tried them on. "Well, the 45 is definitely what I need. These 44s are too short." He put on the larger pair of boots and walked around in the store and looked in the mirror. "You're right. These are a lot lighter than my Docs. And they're comfortable. I'll take them. I think I'll just wear them."

He put his Docs in the box and moved to the cashier. "I don't have enough cash for these and we didn't go to a bank yet. Can I use my debit card?"

"Let me see it." Kurt slipped it out of the wallet pouch.

"Probably not. It doesn't have a chip in it. Here, I'll pay for them and you can pay me back." Sebastian took the box from Kurt's hands and handed it to the sales clerk and paid. He handed the bag to Kurt and they left the store.

"Thanks. Let's add a stop at a bank to the to-do list before we head back to your place."

"That's fine. Let's head to the Apple store first to get your phone working here." A few blocks later, they were there. Kurt got a number and they just browsed until his number was called. A few minutes later, everything was set up and good to go. "So, to the bank?" Kurt nodded.

After a consultation with the bank teller and some inquiries, Kurt made a cash withdrawal. As they left the bank, Kurt said, "I'm not comfortable carrying around a lot of cash. I wish I had one of those chip cards like you do. Obviously rural Ohio is behind the times in banking as well."

"You know what, just don't worry about it. If you see something you want to buy, I'll just pay for it and we can go to the bank every few days and you can withdraw the cash and I'll deposit it in my account. That way you don't have to feel like mugger bait while we're out walking around."

"Mugger bait," Kurt laughed. "That's exactly how I feel. Thanks for the offer. I'll probably take you up on that. I'll be less tense that way."

"No problem. Let's go get on the Metro and head back home."

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Kurt went to the bedroom and put his Docs in the closet and brought the box and bag back out. Sebastian got a notepad and a pen out and handed it to Kurt and took the box and bag from him and placed it by the trash. They sat down at the dining room table and Kurt got out his travel guide book and opened it and started to make a list of his must-see destinations. Sebastian went in the kitchen while Kurt was working and returned to the table with some cut up fruit, cheese slices, sliced baguettes, and two glasses of water.

"Oh, thanks. That looks good." They both snacked and talked about Kurt's list.

Sebastian watched as Kurt added places to his list. "I'll look through your list later and group the places by location so we can plan a way to see as many as possible without crisscrossing all over the city to do it."

"Thanks."

"We need to get going soon. Is there anything you need to do before we leave?"

"Um. Actually, yes. Just a minute." Kurt went into the bedroom and picked up an envelope that he had laid on Sebastian's desk when he emptied his suitcase earlier. He came back out and said, "Ready."

"Just to let you know, it's going to take about 45 minutes to get to the Metro station near your grandparents. We have to take three different lines and theirs is the last stop. We'll walk from there."

They spent the first part of their travel time talking about the things Kurt had on his list. Kurt tried to tamp down his enthusiasm mixed with anxiety over meeting his grandparents. He wanted to make a good impression, but he didn't want to appear to be stiff or distant. He wished he knew more about how to behave French. But he eventually relaxed and knew that they would accept him. They knew him. It would be okay.

Sebastian just gave him time to think and didn't interrupt his thoughts. He felt Kurt's head on his shoulder and he looked over. Kurt had fallen asleep. Eventually they reached the last Metro stop and had to get off. He nudged Kurt gently. "This is our stop. Hop up."

Kurt opened his eyes. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you." He stood and got off and followed Sebastian outside.

"It's fine. I know you said you slept on the plane, but I'm sure you didn't sleep enough." Sebastian pointed, "They live that way."

They walked for about ten minutes and Kurt recognized it from the photos he had seen. They walked up to the door and knocked. Kurt's grandma, Amélie, opened the door and let Kurt and Sebastian inside. She was about 5'5" with straight white hair, cut in a bob. She had blue eyes and pale skin like Kurt.

She stepped toward Kurt and pulled him into a hug. Fighting tears, she said, "I'm so glad you are here."

He didn't manage to keep his tears in check either, "Me too, Grandma."

She let him go and pulled Sebastian into a hug and said, "Thank you for bringing him here."

"My pleasure."

"Come in, come in. Please sit down." Kurt's grandpa, Lucien, came into the room and fussed a bit about the three of them just standing there. Sebastian and Kurt moved to sit as they had been told.

Lucien was about 5'8", with short straight gray hair, that had been medium brown. He had gray eyes and fair skin, but not as light as Kurt's. At one time, he had been slim, but had since put on a little extra weight around the middle.

Kurt opened his bag and took out the envelope that he had brought with him. He opened the envelope and took out several photos of him and his mother from when he was younger, some other shots of him over the years, some from different Glee performances, and a couple from graduation. "I brought these with me for you to keep. I know I've sent photos over the years, but I thought you might like some more."

"These costumes are fantastic. Did you make these?" Amélie asked.

"Most of them. Some of them were just alterations from pieces I bought."

"How did you and Sebastian meet?" she asked.

"He came to Ohio last fall and he attended Dalton, the school I went to last year. And he was in the Warblers."

Amélie smiled. "So you sing too?"

Sebastian nodded and thought about how Kurt managed to pull off avoiding all of the details, which he was grateful for. "Being in competing choirs we weren't friendly at first. I later learned that we had the same vocal teacher and eventually we realized that we had more in common than we had originally thought and became fast friends after that," Sebastian added.

Kurt found Sebastian's addition to the answer interesting and accurate.

"I found out something interesting as well when I was talking to Sebastian's mother to arrange some things. I knew Lisette's mother when we were young. We went to primary school together before my family moved to this area when I was 12. Life can be so strange and surprising some times."

"That's so true," Lucien added.

"Well, let's not sit here and let dinner dry out. Let's move to the kitchen and eat," Amélie said.

Kurt and Sebastian followed Lucien and Amélie to the kitchen. They sat down and Amélie had already set the table with the first course. She had made a tapanade, a raw vegetable tray, and fresh sliced bread. Kurt had studied French culture, but he was still somewhat unsure what to do so he watched everyone else and follow their lead. The conversation started back up again about the boys' plans for the fall. They each answered questions about the schools they had chosen and what they hoped to learn.

Sebastian learned that Amélie had been a maternity nurse and that Lucien had been an art instructor before they retired. During their conversation, Amélie served the other courses of the meal, coq au vin, salad, a cheese plate, and the final course of dessert, which Kurt was very thankful was a light chocolate mousse. He was far too full to eat anything heavy by that point in the meal.

Kurt and Sebastian offered to help clean up after the meal, but their offer was declined. "The dishes can be washed any time," they were told. They all moved back to the living room.

"Lisette has arranged for Sebastian to drive you back tomorrow after lunch to go to an appointment that I set up at the Préfecture here in Cherenton-le-Pont," Amélie told Kurt.

"Why do I need to go there, Grandma?"

"There are some things that need to be taken care of now that you are here. We need to get your French citizenship papers processed."

"French citizenship?"

"You are a French citizen, Kurt. I want you to get your paperwork in order so that you can come back here and visit for any length of time or live here if you choose to at some point in the future. Lisette said that you were bringing all of the documents that we would need with you. You'll need to bring those tomorrow."

Kurt was surprised by all of this. He had never given any consideration to the fact that he was anything but American.

"You look surprised by this" she said.

"Well, that's true, but it's just because I never thought about it. I guess I am as French as Sebastian. We both have French mothers and American fathers."

"You told me that your dad gave you something that your mother had left as a graduation gift for you. I have no knowledge of what is in that envelope. Did you open it?"

"No, I figured I would wait until I was here."

"Well, Lisette has set up an appointment with a financial advisor at some point in time so that someone with more knowledge than any of us can help you with whatever is in the envelope."

"I'll thank her for that. We haven't actually met yet. Sebastian and I left to come here before she came home from work this afternoon."

"She is very sweet and has been very helpful," Amélie added. Sebastian smiled when she said that about his mother. He was so glad to be back with his mom, whom he loved dearly, and who truly was a very sweet person.

They spent the rest of the evening talking about the fun trips that Kurt and Sebastian had taken before they left Ohio, the places they had been that afternoon and the places that Kurt was hoping to see. Amélie and Lucien brought up some places as well, places with personal meaning to their family. They decided that tomorrow after the meeting would be a good time to see those places since Sebastian would have a car. By the time that Sebastian and Kurt needed to leave, they had a plan set for the next day.

Amélie hugged both of them before they left. "Until tomorrow," she said as the headed for the Metro.

"Good night, Grandma and Grandpa." He hugged them both before leaving.

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Kurt was overwhelmed by the evening. It was what he had always hoped for, but didn't know if he would ever get. He and Sebastian walked to the Metro in silence and waited for it to arrive.

By the time they got back to Sebastian's place it was quite late. Lisette was waiting up for them, reading in the living room. She greeted them as they came in the door.

"You're back. I hope you had a good evening."

"It was fantastic. Thank you so much for having me here."

"We haven't officially met. I'm Lisette, and you're entirely welcome." She pulled him into a hug and then kissed him on both cheeks. "I'm glad you're finally here. I've been listening to Sebastian fuss for nearly a week."

She was tall, but not as tall as Kurt, with a slim build. She had long wavy medium brown hair with light brown highlights, which was styled half French braided with the bottom half loose. She had the same green eyes that Sebastian had.

Kurt looked at him quizzically. Sebastian shrugged sheepishly. The three of them moved into the living room and sat down.

"So, tomorrow Sebastian will have the car and you two will be able to go around to wherever you want, but be sure to pick Amélie and Lucien up on time to arrive early for your appointment. Take every document you brought with you, except that sealed envelope, in case you need it. Also, I set up an appointment with a financial advisor at my bank to look at whatever is in the envelope. That's not until a couple of weeks out because I wanted to wait until you had your citizenship papers and ID card in hand for the meeting in case its something you need to have them for."

"Thank you for helping me with all of these things."

"Oh, honey, you're welcome. I have no doubt that your mother would have done all of these things, but since she couldn't, I will do whatever I can to help."

Kurt smiled and nodded.

"I see that Sebastian has already taken you shopping. You have French boots," she teased. "And he fusses about going shopping with me. Now, I know the truth," she laughed. "You do love shopping."

"Mom. Stop already. I never fuss about going with you."

"As long as there's a nice meal involved afterward," she laughed.

"His wardrobe here is a vast improvement over the backwoods chic he's been wearing around Ohio. I tried to get him to let me have that lovely plum Givenchy shirt in his closet, but he snatched it and put it right back where it was hanging. And he teased me for the way I dressed in Ohio. Pot calling the kettle black."

"I know, dear. He wore just the most awful clothes. But I guess 'when in Rome', as the saying goes."

"No, no, no. Definitely not."

Lisette just laughed. "So, Sebastian, did you tell him my plan for Wednesday yet?"

"No, Mom. Not yet."

"Well, then tell him. It was your idea."

"The general idea was mine. The actual implementation of the idea is all yours."

"Alright then, I'll tell him. On Wednesday, Anna Wintour is going to be in the Paris office to oversee a project's final photo shoot and finalize the layout this week and we need more helping hands. So, I've volunteered you and Sebastian to help."

"Oh, my God!" Kurt covered his mouth with his hands trying to cover the excited shriek attempting to escape. "Yes. A million times, yes. I'll do whatever you want. Slave for a day. That's me."

"Perfect," Lisette said. "Slaves are perfect. They don't complain like paid employees," she laughed.

"This is definitely a dream. I'm in a coma somewhere dreaming I am in France, meeting my grandparents and helping Anna Wintour, even if indirectly."

"Nope, no dream. Come on, let's get some sleep."

"Good night. Thank you again so much for having me here," Kurt said as he got up and followed Sebastian.

When they got in his room and Sebastian had shut the door, Kurt nearly jumped him and gave him a huge hug. "I cannot believe all of this. It's amazing!"

Sebastian laughed and said, "You're welcome."

They took turns showering, got ready for the next day and then got in bed.

"I'm still struggling with this being real. If it's a dream, I don't want to wake up."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

The next morning, Kurt did wake up, but he found himself in Sebastian's room where he had been when he fell asleep. "Not a dream," he mumbled.

Sebastian just laughed at him, "Nope, not a dream. Come on let's go eat breakfast."

The two of them worked together and made croques monsieurs for breakfast. They discussed their plans for the day and cleaned up the kitchen after they finished eating.

"Since we didn't have anything specific planned for this morning, how about you take me out and just drive around and show me some of the places you grew up spending time, like maybe your school, favorite parks - knowing you - your favorite bookstore, stuff like that? I'd like to see the Paris you know and love first. We can play tourist again later."

"We can do that."

They both got ready quickly and headed out. Sebastian drove around and took Kurt to see his elementary school, his middle and high school and several places where he had spent a lot of time. He found a place and parked not too far from one of his favorite bookstores. "You'll like it here." Kurt followed him.

They went in Libraire Auguste Blaizot and Kurt's face lit up. "It's beautiful. Look at all of these books. It's like a museum almost," Kurt said looking around in awe.

"Sebastian," an older gentleman called out. "I haven't seen you in ages."

Sebastian turned, "Pierre, it's good to see you too. I spent an unexpected school year in America."

"I see you have brought someone with you? A book lover like yourself?"

"This is my friend, Kurt."

Kurt extended his hand to shake hands with Pierre. "It's a pleasure to meet you. This place is amazing."

"Feel free to look around."

"Thank you." Kurt walked away to look around while Sebastian stayed to catch up with Pierre. About ten minutes later, Sebastian went back to where Kurt was looking at a beautiful leatherbound book. "These books are like works of art."

"I told you that you'd like it here. We can come back some time if you want. They have writers come in and sometimes there are different small exhibits of rare books or artwork. Maybe there will be one that interests you. We can pick up a flyer on the way out. I want to take you some place that's too far to walk and not really near anything touristy that's on your list while we have the car today."

"It was good to see you, Pierre. We'll try to come back soon. We have an appointment we need to keep." Pierre waved as they left.

Sebastian told Kurt stories of different events and exhibits he had gone to at the bookstore while they were driving to their next destination.

"Plus de Bruit? Sounds interesting."

"It's a music shop. I think you'll like it."

"I'm sure I will," he said just based on what he could see through the window. They went inside and Kurt said, "I have never seen so many records in one place."

"I think that I am going to see the 'Alice in Wonderland' look on your face for the next three weeks," Sebastian teased.

"I was born in the wrong place. I always knew I was. I never belonged in Lima."

"Well, you dug your way out and now you're on your way to a new life in Hartford. It won't be the metropolis that Paris is, but at least it should be better than Lima."

"God, I hope so." They spent about 15 minutes looking around the store.

"Hey, do you like Brigitte?" Kurt nodded. "Let's get this one and listen to it in the car." Sebastian got in line and paid for the CD.

They got back in the car and Kurt loaded the CD. "We need to head down to your grandparents. I don't want to be late." They listened to the CD and Kurt just looked out the window at everything he could take in on the drive.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

When they got near Kurt's grandparents', Sebastian found a parking space in a lot and he and Kurt walked the rest of the way. When they knocked, Amélie motioned for them to come inside. "I thought it would be quicker to have lunch here rather than to go out. I've made some soup and there's bread and cheese."

"Sounds great," Kurt said.

He and Sebastian went and sat at the table where Lucien was already seated and enjoyed the food that Amélie served them.

"This is delicious. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. After we eat, I'd like to show you some places around the area, if that's okay."

"I'd love that."

They finished their meal quickly and the four of them headed out. Lucien and Amélie gave Sebastian directions to drive to the hospital where she had worked and the art school where he used to teach. They also showed Kurt where they had lived when his mom lived with them.

"After Elisabet married your father, we moved to the smaller place where we live now, but this is where she grew up." Kurt nodded. He took photos each place that they stopped by. "After the appointment, we want to take you to her favorite place."

They arrived at the appointment ahead of time and Kurt filled out the paperwork that he was given. When his name was called, he went back to an office where he was interviewed and he provided the appropriate documents and answered all of the questions he was asked. His mother had sent in the appropriate paperwork when he was born so the process was going to be quite simple. Since he was over 16 and had everything they asked for, he would be able to get his certificate immediately. After he had the printed certificate, he moved to the area to get his photo taken for his ID card. He gave his cell number to call when it was ready to be picked up.

After Kurt had finally jumped through all of the necessary hoops, he went back out to where everyone was waiting for him.

"So, did it go okay?" Sebastian asked.

Kurt showed them his certificate and told them that they'd have to come back for his ID card when he got a call. "Once I have the ID card, I'll be able to take it and go to apply for a passport."

"Excellent. If we head out now, we'll still have time to enjoy where I want to take you," Amélie said.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

Sebastian drove them back towards Kurt's grandparents', dropped them off near the Metro station. Sebastian parked the car in a parking lot nearby and he and Kurt walked back to the Metro. They kept their destination a secret from Kurt on the Metro ride. After about a 30 minute trip, they were at their destination.

"Your mom used to come here and sketch. She dreamed of one day of creating her own garden."

"She did. We had the most beautiful flower gardens in our yard. When I get home, I'll see if I can find any photos of them and send you copies. I used to help her with them. She loved gardening."

"Growing up in an apartment, all she could ever do was plant flowers in flower boxes for our windowsills and grow indoor plants. I know she loved having a yard of her own where she could design gardens," Amélie said.

"She also grew vegetables and I used to watch her can her delicious tomato sauce. I still make the sauce, but I've never learned to can."

They walked through the gardens for a couple of hours, pausing here and there to rest and just enjoy the views. Amélie and Lucien continued to tell stories about Elisabet's childhood. Kurt had Sebastian take photos of him and his grandparents in the garden where his mom liked to sit and sketch.

After a couple of hours, they headed back to Kurt's grandparents. "We'll be back out in a few days to collect the ID and we'll come back over then. I'll call you once I hear from the Préfecture," Kurt told his grandparents. Kurt and Sebastian walked back to the parking lot where they had left the car earlier in the day and then headed back to the center of town to pick Lisette up from work.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

They ate a simple dinner together and then watched a movie. Sebastian and Kurt headed to their room afterward. "You can go first again."

"Thanks."

Sebastian looked through their clothes while Kurt was showering. He put together two outfits for Kurt that he thought would look good and be comfortable enough to work all day in. "So, how about one of these for tomorrow? Fashionable and functional."

"I see that you've been hiding your fashion knowledge from me all this time. Both look good. I'll wear that one. What are you wearing?" Sebastian pointed out an outfit hanging at the end of his clothes closest to Kurt's clothes. "Ooh, I like that. So, what we will be doing?"

"Mostly being go-fers. Getting people whatever they need. Sometimes, it's drinks or even something like a safety pin. But I think you'll have fun, even though it's pretty tedious and nerve wracking sometimes. You'll get to see how a photoshoot works. And you're right. I hid a lot of things when I was in Ohio. And I never felt like myself there. Now, that I'm home, I feel like I can relax."

"I can understand that. The only place in Lima I ever really relaxed was my room. And when we moved after Dad and Carole got married, I sort of lost even that. Up until recently, my dad had an 'open door' policy when it came to having guys in my room, the exceptions were Finn and Sam, and an unlocked door, even if I had it shut. Finn barged in all the time. To him a closed door meant 'Open me and walk right on in.'"

"That's why I'm glad my dad agreed to a single for the fall. I just need a place where I can relax. I wouldn't mind living with someone I was comfortable with. But I'm really glad I don't have to live with a stranger."

"Me too. Sam's great. I'm getting more excited about the fall now that school is over and I'm not in Lima. I never did tell anyone at school, or even Finn, where I'm going. Sam told the four people in New Directions that will be back for the fall that he won't be back at McKinley. He didn't say where he was going. Everyone probably thinks I'm going to New York because Rachel told everyone that I got into NYADA and she didn't. People probably think Sam is going back to Kentucky."

Sebastian went and showered. Kurt called Sam while Sebastian showered. He came back and Kurt was in bed and the lights were out, but he wasn't asleep.

"We should have a party at my apartment after you come back before school starts. You know, you're welcome to come stay with us if you want to come back before you can get into your dorm room."

"Thanks," Sebastian said and he started the Question game that night.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

They had to be up early to get to the office in time to help set up for the day. They ate a quick breakfast and headed out with Lisette.

"So, are you two ready to be my slaves, as Kurt so kindly offered?" she teased them.

"Sure, Mom."

"Yes, ma'am. At your service," Kurt bowed and opened the door for her. He moved quickly to the elevator and made a big show of pressing the button. He held the door back after it opened and said, "After you, ma'am." By the time they got out the building, he and Sebastian were play fighting about who would open the doors. Once they got to the car, Sebastian had Kurt beat because he had keys to the car and opened the back door and held it open for his mother like he was her limo driver. Sebastian got in the driver's seat and Kurt went around and go into the passenger seat frowning.

"You two are so silly," Lisette said. They both gave her "Who me?" looks.

It didn't take long for them to arrive and for the craziness to begin. They arrived to find the models having their make up done and the lighting on the set being set up. Several of the photos from the first two days had been rejected and were being retaken that morning. And they needed to be done right away. The proofs needed to be ready to view after lunch with the rest that had already been chosen. Kurt and Sebastian were put to work as runners to take the outfits to the models. They spent the whole morning practically running to keep up with everything they were being asked to do. Kurt was having a blast. Sebastian was having more fun watching Kurt than actually enjoying what he was doing.

In the calm of lunch, Sebastian asked Kurt, "Are you sure music is what you want to study? You really seem to love this."

"I'm sure. I do really like fashion, but I don't think I'm good enough to make it in the industry and while being a go-fer is fun for the day, it's not the kind of thing that I'd like to do as a career. If I thought I could succeed as a designer or an artistic director or something, I'd love to do it though."

"You might be better at it than you think you are. You never had anyone who knew anything to help you along. You should let my mom look at your sketches. She'd be better at knowing whether you have any potential than anyone in Lima would."

"You're right. I do have some photos of some of my sketches on my phone. Maybe I'll show her. I'm still going to study music though. But being a musician isn't a sure thing either. Maybe I could do some designing on the side and see if it goes anywhere. That is if she thinks anything I've drawn is any good. What about you and music? You really seemed to enjoy being in the Warblers."

"I'm going to audition to join one of the a cappella groups at Yale."

"I hope you get in."

"Me too. I do love music, and I enjoy performing, but I don't see myself doing it as a career, but I don't want to give it up either."

They finished their lunch and Kurt caught a glimpse of Anna as she passed through the area to go view the proofs from the morning's reshoot. Sebastian saw Kurt's eyes get big and the excitement on his face and turned to look behind him to see the cause. He just chuckled. "The one and only," he said. Kurt just smiled. He knew that he was as close as he was going to get, but it was still exciting.

"So, what's your mom going to have us do for the afternoon?"

"I'm not sure, let me text her and find out."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

"So, my part in the crazy is over for the day," Lisette said. "The three of us are going to work on something quieter. Follow me." Kurt and Sebastian followed Lisette past various offices through several corridors. "Here. This is where we're going to work," she said as she opened the door. They walked in and it was a storage room. "These are all samples that were sent in that were used in shoots over the winter. We no longer need most of these items. You two are going to help me sort them by designer and clothing type. The fun part is that you two can keep anything that I don't pull for our collection. So, let's get busy."

In a few hours time, the three of them had used the racks in the room to separate the men's clothing from women's clothing. The men's clothing had been sorted into jackets and vests, button-up shirts, slacks and shorts, a single rack with casual clothing on it, and a rack of accessories, like belts and ties. The women's clothes had a few more categories because there were many, many more women's pieces in the room. Once everything was sorted neatly, Lisette went through the men's pieces first and pulled all of the items that would be kept and put them onto a couple of racks and moved them to side. While she moved on to the women's collection, Kurt and Sebastian started looking through the racks of clothing they could choose items from.

"This is still a dream. I know one day, I'm going to wake up and find out I have a great imagination and dreamed all of this."

"Now, stop that and look through the racks with me," he nudged Kurt while laughing.

"I'm going to need another suitcase. I want to take all of this with me."

"Just pick a few things and try them on to start with. See what you really like. I think this shirt would look good on you," Sebastian said as he handed Kurt a nice navy short sleeved YSL shirt.

Fifteen minutes later, Kurt and Sebastian both had a stack of clothes they were trying on. An hour later, they had both made their choices.

"I've got a whole new summer wardrobe here," Kurt said. "I love this lightweight jacket. I like the linen shorts. And these shirts are great. I've never really worn short-sleeved button-up shirts much before, but I'm going to expand my horizons and venture into something new. What did you pick?"

Sebastian showed him the pieces he had chosen. "I already have quite a bit of stuff at home, so I just picked a couple of the things I like the most. I can only wear so many clothes and I don't want my dorm room to be a walk-in closet with a bed and a desk in it."

"That's true. I don't really own very many designer pieces, so I'm going to replace some of the stuff I have at home with these new items. And like I said, I almost always wore long sleeves to school, so I don't own many nice short-sleeved shirts. Since I was at home or at the shop most of the time in the summer, I just have mostly work clothes and t-shirts. If I went out in the summer, I'd just roll my sleeves up if I got really hot. But since I won't be needing to hide myself behind layers of clothing anymore, I will put all these new pieces to good use."

Kurt moved to where Lisette was still working on going through the women's items. "Are you sure that we can take these? I mean I absolutely love these and I would definitely wear them, but I feel really weird just taking them."

"Yes, dear. They were samples. If I didn't take the pieces to put in our collection for future use, then they're up for grabs. Once Sebastian could fit into the sample-sized clothing, I used to bring home a lot of his clothes from the samples."

"This is just so exciting. I've never even seen this many fabulous clothes in one place. Most of these brands are not even carried in stores in Lima."

"I'm glad you're having fun. I'm going to leave you two here to finish your selections and I'm going to take these racks. I'll be back for the rest."

"I'm going to take another look through the racks, just to make sure there's nothing that I missed."

"Did you look at the shoes?"

"Shoes?"

"Over there on the wall."

Kurt turned and walked to where Sebastian had pointed. Sebastian followed him. "I've never worn sandals. I only own a single pair of flip flops for the pool."

"Well, time to expand your horizons more then. Try some on. See what you think."

Kurt picked up a couple of pairs and moved to a chair. He took off his socks and put a sandal from each pair on. "My feet look weird."

"Everyone's feet look weird. Is either one comfortable?"

"Actually, they both feel fine. My feet and ankles just feel naked."

"Were there any others that you wanted to try?" Kurt glanced back and shook his head and went back to looking at his feet. He got up and went and looked at himself in the mirror.

"I guess they don't look horrible, but it's just weird."

"Well, if they're comfortable, just take both pairs and give them a try. No better way to see if you like wearing sandals than to get really nice ones for free"

"You're right. I'll try them. Hey, I just had an idea. Come look through that casual rack with me and let's see if there's anything that would fit Sam. He's definitely broader shouldered than either of us, so there may be nothing, but I want to check anyway."

The two of them looked through the rack and found some board shorts and a couple of tanks and tees that might fit. "I'll take him these. Let's go look at the shoes again. Maybe there were some athletic sandals that I didn't even consider." They walked back to the shoes. "These. I'm going to try them on," Kurt said slipping off the mismatched set he was wearing. "These are actually really comfortable. Totally not me, but comfortable. They'll be perfect."

Sebastian smiled. "You miss him."

"Of course I do. But I hope he's having fun in Kentucky. He likes being with his family. He just hates where they live."

"I bet," he said remembering what Kurt had told him about Sam's situation. "I'm going to text Mom and get her to bring a couple of garment bags back here so that we can get this stuff home more easily. She can bring the bags back with her to work tomorrow."

A few minutes later, Lisette brought the garment bags. "I have one last surprise. I want both of you to put on your favorite outfit from the ones you just chose and put the rest of the clothes, including what you came here wearing, into the garment bags and follow me."

"Kurt?" Sebastian said from the area where he was changing.

"Yeah?"

"Can I wear the pair of brown sandals you chose? These shorts look ridiculous with the boots I'm wearing."

"Sure. I'm putting the black sandals on for the same reason."

Sebastian put on the brown sandals, then realized that the belt he was wearing wouldn't go with the sandals and he walked over to the accessories rack and grabbed a brown belt. "Do you need a belt too?" Kurt came over and chose one to go with the outfit he had on.

They put all of the clothes in the bags and looped Sam's sandals over the hangers. They each carried the boots they had been wearing and came out of the room to find Lisette waiting for them in the hall. "Nice job, boys. You look great. Follow me."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

Everything had been cleared out from the morning photoshoot and Lisette had placed a few simple white boxes on the floor.

"Mom?" Sebastian looked around wondering what they were doing.

"Sit on the boxes." They did. She posed them in a variety of ways, snapping photos of them all the while. She had them pose individually as well. After about 15 minutes, she said, "That's it. Now, you can both say you had a photoshoot at Vogue," she laughed. "I'll bring the photos home on a disk tomorrow."

"This was a lot of fun," Kurt smiled. "Thanks so much for letting us come today. I did get to see Anna today at lunch. She walked through the hall near where we were eating lunch."

Lisette smiled at him. "Let's head out. You can just leave the clothes on that you're wearing. We're going home first and then out for dinner. If you want to change, you can do it at home."

When they got back to the apartment, Sebastian and Kurt emptied the garment bags and put the clothes into Sebastian's closet. "Your part of the closet is overflowing now," Sebastian teased. "Now you see why I told you to pack light. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist a new wardrobe courtesy of my mom."

"Thank you for asking her to take us. I would have never had the nerve to ask, but it was so much fun, even without getting the clothes. But the clothes are an awesome bonus," Kurt said looking through all of his new summer clothes. "I'm going to leave this outfit on unless we're going somewhere really fancy for dinner."

"Nope. You're fine. I'm just going to switch shoes and belts. These are yours. I'll wear my own," he said as he pulled a pair off his shoe rack and handed Kurt the pair he had on. He grabbed his own brown belt off the hook in the closet.

Sebastian carried the empty garment bags out to the living room and laid them over the back of a chair. He called out, "Mom, we're ready whenever you are."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

They walked to a small café a few blocks away. They enjoyed their meal and spent time talking about their day. Sebastian brought up Kurt's sewing and designs.

"Do you have any photos of your sketches?" Kurt took out his phone and pulled up the folder where he kept the photos he had and handed Lisette his phone.

"I like this one a lot. This one is good too. These drawings are nice. Do you have any photos of things you've actually made?"

"I have a few." She handed his phone back and he showed her one himself in the kilt he had made. "You designed and made this yourself?" He nodded.

"Can I see?" Sebastian asked.

"Only if you promise not to laugh."

"I won't laugh." Kurt handed him the phone.

"That's really nice. I'm assuming you altered the tux jacket too." Kurt nodded. "Why would I laugh?"

"Well, you know the story, but never mind." Kurt avoided answering.

"I think what you've shown me is good," Lisette said.

Kurt blushed and said, "Thank you." and put his phone back away.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

After they had showered and gotten into bed, Sebastian brought up the kilt again.

"Why did you think I'd laugh at your kilt?"

"Well, you did your fair bit of teasing me about the clothes I wore, and the kilt was a lot more 'out there' than anything you ever saw me wear. And the night I wore that was really bad. My dad hated the kilt and I knew that Blaine was uncomfortable with me wearing it. But I had worn kilts to school before and I worked really hard on it and I went against what my dad and Blaine said and wore it to Prom anyway." Kurt paused.

"And?"

"I was voted Prom Queen."

"I know that part, but you didn't tell me the story. You said 'maybe some other time' when I asked that night. Who was King?"

"David." Kurt paused.

Sebastian just waited for him to continue.

"Our principal tried to get us to dance together. I was stupid and encouraged him to come out. He fled, leaving me standing alone in the spotlight. Blaine stepped up and asked me to dance with him. That's one really good memory of being with him that I'll always have. He didn't leave me just standing there."

"Well, that's good."

Sebastian was thinking. "Prom your junior year?" he asked, just fitting the new facts in with the information he already had.

"Yeah, David ran with Santana for Prom royalty. It was part of her blackmail scheme. She figured out he was gay after Regionals and blackmailed him into protecting me by forming the Bullywhips with her and into running with her for Prom royalty. Although I never did figure out why she wanted me back at school so badly. They had enough people go to to Nationals without me."

"I never did hear how Dave was outed. Obviously, you and Santana kept his secret. He wasn't at McKinley anymore though, was he?"

"No, I didn't see him again after Prom until that night at Scandals, but I'm assuming he laid low and finished out the last couple of weeks at McKinley, and that he transferred and started a different school in the fall. Him getting outed was partially my fault though."

"How?"

"This falls into the 'no one can know this' category."

"Not that I have anyone to tell, but I wouldn't anyway."

"Can I ask you something first?"

"Sure."

"Did you and Blaine go back to Scandals without me?"

"Yes and no. He came several times when I was there, but not at my invitation. Several times last fall and early winter he showed up. This was before the slushie incident. We just danced and he drank some. He didn't drink as much as he did the first time when you were with us. At the time, I was under the impression that you didn't enjoy our first visit and that you didn't want to come back with him. I still don't know how he managed to find out when I was going to be there."

"Well, I didn't enjoy our first visit, but I obviously didn't know that he had been back without me. But that does explain something I had been wondering about for ages, but never asked about."

"What does it explain?"

"Valentine's Day."

"I'm lost."

"Well, I've been confused about it since February." He told Sebastian the story of the mystery gifts with a final meeting at Breadstix. "I honestly thought the gifts were from Blaine. He was at home recovering from the eye surgery. So, I thought he was being romantic and sending me things. I went to Breadstix and it turned out that David had been sending me the gifts. We sat down at a table in the restaurant and we talked. He asked me to go out with him. I told him that I was with Blaine. And he had this look on his face that just didn't make sense to me at the time. But I'm guessing the look was because he thought that Blaine and I had broken up since he kept seeing the two of you at Scandals. A jock from his school was at the restaurant and saw David and me together. That's how he was outed. If he hadn't been there with me, he would have been able to finish out his senior year in peace, which was all he wanted."

Kurt continued, "So, now you know how David got outed and why I feel so toxic. Just being seen with me in Breadstix was enough to get Davd labeled as gay. The fact that he was in the closet was just coincidence. Any guy who was caught meeting me there would have potentially faced the same thing. I only agreed to go with you there that night that we ended up leaving because you're already out. And even that was a bad idea."

"You're not toxic. Lima is toxic."

"You're right of course, but it's really hard to believe that when you're the one being told that it's you that toxic your whole life."

Sebastian reached over and took Kurt's hand and squeezed it, then let go. "Things are going to be better from now on. You'll see."

"They already are."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

On Thursday morning during breakfast, they looked through the flyer from the bookshop and Sebastian saw that one of the authors he liked was going to be doing a book signing and talk at the store the following week. They decided that they would buy a copy of his newest book when they were out that day. Sebastian already had a copy, but it was packed in the boxes in Ohio waiting to be taken to New Haven.

The first place they stopped when they went out was a place to get Kurt's Passport photos taken so that Kurt would have them ready when he needed them. They browsed through a few stores in the area and they went into a bookstore, bought the book and they planned to spend their non-tourist time reading at Parc Monceau in Sebastian's favorite reading spot after lunch. But right after lunch, Kurt got a call from the Préfecture saying that his ID card was ready to be picked up.

He and Sebastian took the Metro down and read while riding instead of at the park like they had planned. As soon as he picked up his ID, they headed back to Kurt's grandparents, but only stayed an hour. They headed back the Metro afterwards and immediately went to the Passport office with the hope that it really would be ready to be picked up in less than 2 weeks. While Sebastian waited for Kurt, he called the bookshop and added their names to the book signing list.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

Friday, they opted to not be tourists. Sebastian asked Kurt, "Do you remember what I told you when you ask me what one thing was that I had always wanted to do for my mom, but never had?"

"Sure. You said you had always wanted to prepare a 5-course meal for her. Oooh, is that what we're going to do today?" Sebastian smiled and nodded.

Sebastian took Kurt out to buy the ingredients to make the dinner. They made simple sandwiches for lunch and spent the afternoon preparing a 5-course dinner for Lisette. By the time they had prepared everything, it seemed that they had gotten every pot, pan and cooking utensil dirty. They spent the last hour before Lisette was going to get home washing, drying and putting everything back away. Kurt set the table while Sebastian put the finishing touches on the gâteau opera. They hurried to change before she got home.

Lisette came in to find the table covered in a tablecloth with their finest dishes and all the cutlery set up. "Sebastian?" she called out. "Kurt?" They came out of Sebastian's room dressed to the nines. "What's going on? Did you meet someone famous and invite them over for dinner?" she teased.

"No, Mom. It's all for you. Please sit." Lisette sat as requested. Sebastian and Kurt took turns bringing out each course of the meal.

"This has all been fantastic you two. What brought all this on?" she asked before anyone had gotten up to get the dessert.

"Well, Kurt and I play this game where one person asks a question and the other has to answer truthfully or pass. No lying. It started out as a way for us to get to know each other because our initial interactions had not been based on our true selves, which we won't get into over dinner. But one night, he asked me what the one thing I'd like to do for you that I had never done and my answer was to make you a really fancy dinner. I was always so busy and I never just took the time to do it when I was here and when I had so much time on my hands in Ohio I just realized how lame it was of me that I was too busy to spend time with you when I could have. I really missed you."

By this point, Lisette had tears streaming down her face. "I missed you so much."

Kurt stood up to give them a little time alone. He went and brought the cake out and put it on the table.

"Oh my word. You made me a gâteau opera."

"It's your favorite, so of course, we made it." Sebastian gave the knife to his mother and let her cut a slice of the cake for herself and the two of them.

"It's fabulous. You boys did an amazing job on dinner. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure," Kurt said.

"You're welcome, Mom."

Kurt got up and started to clear the table. Sebastian tried to help, but Kurt told him to go sit and talk with his mom while he washed the dishes. Sebastian reluctantly agreed. About 15 minutes later, Sebastian came back to the kitchen and started to dry and put away the dishes that Kurt had washed. Kurt looked at Sebastian quizzically.

"She has plans with friends of hers to go hear a band at a club tonight."

"Okay. Is there anything you'd like to do? You know you don't have to keep me company. If there's something you want to do, you can do it. I don't want you to feel like I'm keeping you away from anything. I can just stay here and read or watch a movie."

Sebastian finished putting the dishes away and walked into the living room and Kurt followed him.

"You're not keeping me from anything, but we could go out to a movie if you'd like or we can stay here and watch something."

"Your choice."

"Let's stay here tonight and maybe look through the movie listings tomorrow and find one to go see tomorrow evening."

"That's fine. You pick something, but let's get ready for bed first."

They took turns showering and put their pajamas on. Sebastian chose Let My People Go while Kurt was in the shower. Kurt did his moisturizing routine while Sebastian showered. They went back into the living room and Sebastian turned off all of the lights and started the DVD. "I don't know if this is any good because I've never seen it, but supposedly it's a comedy according to the case."

After the movie was over, they went to bed. "Thanks for helping me with the dinner for my mom."

"You're welcome. I wanted to do something nice for her as well. She's letting me stay here for three weeks and she's been so helpful. And cooking with you is fun."

"I had fun cooking with you too. Tomorrow over breakfast, we'll plan out our tourist days for next week."

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"How about we do touristy things on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I have something else in mind for Wednesday. Thursday we'll go to to a club in the evening and then we can sleep in on Friday and then do something completely boring like laundry, which we should also do today. That bookshop event is Tuesday evening," Sebastian suggested.

"What are we doing on Wednesday?"

"It's a surprise."

"Okay. I think your plan sounds like a good one. Maybe we can do something with my grandparents next weekend too."

"Okay. I have an idea for that as well, but I have to talk to my mom first."

"So, laundry today and we'll check the theater listings while we're down there and pick something to go out and see this evening." They gathered up their laundry and mixed them together to get a full dark load and a full light load.

"So, where's the washing machine?"

"Downstairs on the main level."

"Do you have drying racks? I usually hang quite a bit of stuff to dry."

"I have racks. I'll set them up before we go down." Kurt carried the basket to the door while Sebastian got the racks out. Kurt helped him set them up.

Sebastian grabbed the detergent and led the way down to the laundry room. He showed Kurt how to use the machines. After the loads were going, he pulled out his phone and started looking through entertainment options.

"Well, I don't really see anything playing in the movie theaters, but if you're interested Mamma Mia is at Théâtre de Mogador."

"In English or French?"

"French."

"Let's do it."

"As soon as we get the laundry done, we'll walk over there and see if there are any tickets left for this evening. We'll grab some lunch on the way back."

They finished the laundry, and headed out. It was about a 30 minute walk to the theater and fortunately there were tickets still available. They bought two tickets and ate a light lunch on the way back to Sebastian's.

"Did you finish the book yet?" Sebastian asked Kurt.

"No, not yet. Did you?"

"Yes, but I've read it before and I've had a lot of practice reading on the Metro."

"Do you want to finish it this afternoon? We can stay in and read here or go back down to the park if you want."

"Here's fine. Maybe you can just play some instrumental music and we can read. Then, later we can warm up some of the leftovers from last night and eat before we walk back to the theater." It was an enjoyable, relaxing afternoon.

They both enjoyed the songs and found it odd to hear all of the Mamma Mia songs in French when they were so used to the English versions. When they got back, Lisette suggested that they all sit down and eat another slice of cake, which they did. They talked about the musical and Lisette reminded them that they needed to be ready at 11:00 for the surprise that she had planned and to dress casual. She showed them what she had brought back from the market for them to use to pack the picnic lunch that they would need to take with them.

Everyone headed off to get ready bed after their dessert and late evening chat.

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Kurt started the questions that evening. "If you could meet one author, living or dead, who would it be?"