Kurt spent Sunday alternating between doing schoolwork and sewing. Eventually it was more schoolwork than sewing because he had to get it done. He and Thad were sitting in the lounge reading when Sebastian came down the hall.
"Sebastian!"
He turned and went into the lounge. Kurt got up and practically knocked him back with a bear hug.
"I missed you."
"I'd have never guessed," he teased.
"What is that hideous sweater you're wearing?"
"Oh, I must have done a really good job then," he laughed.
"A good job at blinding people?"
"It seems that my father's sister, my Aunt Regina, hosts an ugly sweater making party every year at this time of year. They long ago realized that a bunch of rich people giving other rich people gifts was pretty stupid. So, she decided that since there was always at least one ugly Christmas sweater party on her social calendar every year that early in the season, our family would get together to celebrate the season by making our own ugly sweaters as a family event. This was my creation this afternoon."
"Well, I think it's awesomely awful," Kurt said. "And the whole thing sounds like a really fun party."
"It was. I was actually happily surprised. My dad left the nature of the party as a surprise. I was expecting to sit around in a fancy, professionally-decorated mansion pretending to care what people I don't know were talking about, while also pretending to like whatever utterly useless gift I might be given. I had imagined custom golf tees with my name on them."
"Well, I'm glad you're back and that you had fun."
"You wouldn't miss me so much if you didn't stay holed up in that dorm room next to mine so much."
"Want to see the dress so far?"
"You're letting people see now?"
"Well, Katrina saw the part I had done on Friday and Thad's been in there with me this weekend."
"Of course I want to see."
The three of them went down the hall and Kurt opened the door and turned the light on. It was hanging on the bathroom doorframe.
"Oh, wow. It looks amazing."
"Thanks. I still have more work to do on it, but I'll try not to ignore you. You could come in and read like Thad has been doing this weekend. I just can't be distracted. If they aren't done on time - I can't think about that."
"Maybe you can just knock each night when you're done for the evening and I'll peek at your progress. I wouldn't want to bother you."
"Okay."
Sebastian left and went to his room. Kurt turned the light off and he and Thad went into their room and got ready for bed, even though it was too early to go to sleep. They got in bed and worked on their reading assignments that they hadn't finished.
About 15 minutes later, there was a knock at their door. Kurt got up and opened the door. Sebastian was standing there with a textbook in his pajamas and his glasses looking like a lost puppy.
"Come on in." Kurt smiled.
Sebastian pulled the covers back on his bed and climbed in and covered up.
"You missed me too," Kurt said.
"Shush," Sebastian said and threw a pillow at him. "I can't read when you talk."
Kurt took the pillow and got out of bed and whacked Sebastian with it, but not in the face since he had his glasses on. "Shush yourself. It was completely quiet until you got here."
Thad was laughing. Kurt turned around to go back to his own bed and Sebastian smacked him on the backside with the pillow. Kurt turned back around. "I bet that I can make a case for mistreatment of school property and report you."
Sebastian stuck his tongue out. "Prove it."
"I have history reading to do." Kurt flounced back to his bed and climbed under the covers and picked his book back up to read more.
Thad was still laughing. "You two are such brothers."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Monday morning Kurt got up and looked at his planner for the week and panicked.
"I should have never taken on the costume project. I am never going to get everything done this week. Next week is finals. Argh."
"We'll help however we can," Thad said.
"Sure, I'll help you with your French research. I'll find reputable sources and then you can just read them. And I'll help Sam. I'll just text him and tell him to Skype me instead, even for math."
"Really? Oh, my God that would help so much!"
"Get dressed so we can go eat. I'll be back in 15 minutes."
Thad followed Kurt into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around him and held him tight. "You can do this. Just try to relax and focus. The more you freak out, the less attention you can pay to what you're reading and studying."
"You're right."
Thad turned Kurt around and kissed him. "Let's go eat."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
The whole week went by in a blur of sewing and studying and rehearsing. Fortunately, Sebastian and Thad had been able to help Sam whenever he had Skyped. Kurt felt bad for delegating him to other people, but he also knew that Sam didn't mind. He actually got along well with Thad and Sebastian.
Thursday evening arrived and Kurt was frazzled, but the costumes were done. David and Katrina arrived for their final fitting after dinner at 7:00, leaving Kurt enough time to do any potential last minute work in time while David took Katrina out to a movie.
They put their outfits on and they fit perfectly. Kurt posed them in front of the beautiful wood closet doors in the room and brought in the lights from his desk and Thad's to light the room up even brighter to get better photos. He had them pose together and separately facing all different directions so he'd have all the shots he might need.
He went and got Thad and Sebastian because they both had asked him to. They didn't stay long so they wouldn't interfere.
Katrina went in the bathroom and handed the dress out the door very carefully.
It seemed odd at the time of the request, but Katrina understood Kurt's request for her to bring a shower curtain when she came back out of the bathroom. She saw Kurt had laid it out on the bed. He placed the dress in the center and wrapped it up, taping the overlap shut. David took his outfit to his room and came back and carried Katrina's out and put it in his car very carefully.
Katrina paid Kurt and thanked him profusely for making her the perfect dress. She offered to write a letter of recommendation if he wanted one. He accepted her offer, not knowing whether it would be useful or not, but figuring that it couldn't hurt, even if he just used it to show future clients that he was reliable.
Kurt took all of the photos that he had taken over the last two weeks of the process and burned them to a CD as soon as he got back to his room. He returned to the sewing room, packed up all of his tools and supplies, and made sure everything was exactly how it needed to be. He went back in one last time and checked under all of the furniture since he had to return the key the next day.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Sebastian was in the room when he came back.
"Those are spectacular. I bet their outfits are the best of everyone's."
"I guess we'll see tomorrow night. Oh, flippertygibbet! I don't have any black slacks to wear and it's too late to order any."
"You can wear a pair of mine."
"Or mine."
"Alright. Bring me your shortest pair and I'll find Thad's longest pair and I'll try both on and see if either of them will work."
Sebastian left and came back. Kurt had pulled Thad's longer pair out. When Sebastian came back, Kurt took both pairs in the bathroom and tried them on.
"I think Sebastian's look better. I like the fuller style at the bottom for the event."
"Well, you can borrow them."
"Thanks. That's one thing I'm going to need to go shopping for. I need a nice pair of black slacks. Maybe we could go shopping when we're in Florida. I know we don't have time to go before we leave."
"Sure. I know just the place. My mom loves to go there. We can go with her and Dad or your parents when they come. Carole will love some of the stores. And there's some really good restaurants around there too - to bribe your dad with."
"Sounds good."
"I have plans for one of our days," Sebastian said.
"Do tell," Kurt said.
"Nope, not yet. I have to get everything finalized first."
"Fine. I know it's early, but I'm beat. If you want to sleep in here, come back in 30 minutes."
"Got it." Sebastian left and came back.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
They only had one in-service day, but Kurt was glad for it. They had plans for Sunday, so the three of them planned out their studies to spend the day Friday and Saturday studying for their most difficult exams, with a break Friday evening to perform at the Yule Ball.
Friday evening the three of them enjoyed performing the pieces that had been chosen. And Kurt really liked seeing all of the costumes the attendees were wearing.
"Do you wish we had come?" Thad asked Kurt as they walked behind the rest of the group to hang their robes back up.
After they had walked away and were walking back toward the room, he answered. "No, yes, no. I mean it looks like fun, I'd rather not spend the kind of money it takes to make or buy nice outfits like everyone is wearing and all I really care about is being with you. We can go to our room and dance to beautiful music. You don't need a fancy outfit or a special event to let me know how much you care. You do it every day. The little things add up to so much more than a big showy display does."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Thad opened their door and ushered Kurt in and closed and locked the door.
"Oh, wow. I love it!" Kurt exclaimed.
Somehow Thad had managed to get fairy lights up on their closet doors and music was already playing.
"May I have this dance?" Thad asked.
"Of course."
They held each other close and barely moved in a circle while swaying slightly. Thad had been walking around short to medium distances without his crutch for a week or two, but he still didn't have any mobility at the knee making real dancing nearly impossible. But as Kurt had told him, it was the thought that counted and Kurt seemed thrilled.
"This is perfect."
Thad stepped back just enough to start unbuttoning Kurt's shirt. Kurt did the same. He slipped Thad's shirt off his shoulders and put both shirts on the end of the bed. He resumed their dancing position. When the music stopped about 15 minutes later, Thad led Kurt into the bathroom.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
The three of them were ready to be picked up at 9:00 Sunday morning. They had all dressed up for the season. Sebastian was wearing the hideous ugly Christmas sweater that he had made the weekend before. Kurt wore the gray button up shirt and dark green cardigan with a Christmasy scarf tied at the neck and tucked in. Thad wore a red button up shirt with one of Kurt's vests.
Art took them out for a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel and afterwards the stopped at a Target the guys could pick up whatever they were running low on. Thad and Kurt stocked up on all of their laundry items and toiletries.
Art drove them to their destination. Kurt thought it was some kind of small art museum, but they went in and found that his surprise was that they were taking a glass blowing class together and they were making Christmas tree balls.
Kurt left his cardigan with coat as suggested. They rolled their sleeves up, put on the provided aprons and sat at their spots waiting for the class to begin. The instructor demonstrated what they needed to do.
Art spoke softly. "I thought these would make perfect Christmas gifts for your parents, Kurt."
"You're right. They will love them. This is a really cool idea."
"I decided to take a page from my sister's book. Don't you dare tell Regina that I thought she had a good idea," he laughed.
Sebastian said, "Well, I just might." and laughed.
"This is really cool," Thad said. "I didn't even know that regular people could try something like this. I never even thought about looking to see if anyone did this type of thing."
They started picking colors and turned their focus to making their ornaments. By the end of the class, they were all pleased with how theirs had turned out.
Art finished first. "Stay in here, I'll be right back." He went out to the car and came right back with a bag from Target in his hand. 'While you guys were shopping, I picked up some gift boxes and tissue paper.
They moved to an empty spot in the room and assembled the boxes and stuffed them with tissue paper and placed the ornaments inside and stuffed the boxes with more tissue paper. "I have ribbons and wrapping paper too. We can do that at home." They put the gift boxes with the ornaments back in the Target bag and headed to Art's.
When they went inside, Kurt was surprised to see a nice sized live tree in the front room or formal living room or whatever it was called. But it was not decorated. Art saw the confused look on Kurt's face.
"I usually just hire someone to do it, but I decided that it would be more fun if we did it this afternoon. The ornament boxes are on the floor. I went to the Christmas Store and bought some that I liked."
"Did you get lights, Dad?"
"All of it. It's all in the bags over next to the sofa."
Sebastian pulled everything out and laid it on the sofa.
"Matilda made a sub tray for us. I thought we could have a light lunch and then decorate?"
Sebastian hung their coats in the closet and Kurt went straight to the kitchen to help Art get everything out.
"What time are my parents coming? Or better when are we eating? I don't want to eat too much now and be too full to eat dinner."
"Oh, they're coming at 4:00, but we won't eat until about 6:00."
Everyone built their own sandwiches and they ate at the kitchen island. The dining table had already been set for dinner.
"I did hire someone to cater dinner though. I don't have Matilda come in on Sundays. It's her day off. Sometimes I have her in on Saturdays in trade for the next Monday off, but never on Sundays."
"I'm sure it will be delicious," Kurt said.
"Carole insisted on bring dessert though."
"Ooh. Good! Did she say what?"
"Not specifically. She said it was your favorite dessert."
Kurt smiled, guessing that she was bringing a cheesecake.
They finished eating and put the leftovers away and went back to the living room to start decorating. They managed to finish about 15 minutes before Burt and Carole were due to arrive.
"It's perfect. I like it better than any of the professional trees I've had done."
Sebastian and Kurt picked up all of the boxes and put them in the pantry on an empty shelf and tossed the trash.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Art let Carole and Burt in when they arrived. Sebastian took their coats. Carole handed a stack of wrapped gifts to Kurt. He carried them over to the tree. Burt had a stack of games in his hands that Art took from him so he could get his coat off.
"Let's head back to the den. I have a game table set up back there where we can play."
Everyone followed Art. He had a table with six chairs set up in the center of the room. He put the board games on the table. Everyone sat down and started talking about which game to play.
Burt spoke up, "Is there some place I could talk to Kurt for a few minutes?"
"Sure, the library is the room we passed. It has doors. You just couldn't see them when we walked past. You can go in there."
Kurt got up and followed Burt to the library. Burt closed the French doors.
"What's up, Dad?"
"I wanted to let you know about the insurance settlement. I got it this past week. I know you had said for me to keep what I had paid for the Navigator and the parts and I did. I deposited the rest of the settlement into your savings account. You can transfer it to your checking as needed, but I didn't want to put that much money into your checking account."
"Thanks. I bought a few things a couple of weeks ago at Goodwill and I definitely need to buy some black dress slacks. I had to borrow a pair to wear for a performance Friday night. But Sebastian made a good point about waiting to buy much of anything else since I don't know where I'm going to college. I may not even need that many winter clothes."
"That's good idea. At least now, you'll have the money to get what you need. I wanted to ask you one more thing before we go back out there. You and Thad are wearing matching rings on your thumbs. What does that mean?"
"Oh, we've been wearing them for about six weeks I guess. They're spinner rings. Here look." Kurt showed Burt how the top layer spun smoothly. "They're supposed to help reduce anxiety by giving the wearer something to fiddle with when they're anxious. I think it does actually help. It's calming in a way. I find myself spinning it instead of fighting the urge to bite my fingernails."
"I see. And that's it?"
"Are you trying to ask me if they're engagement rings?"
Burt nodded.
"No, they aren't. Would it be so bad if they were?"
"You're awfully young."
"How old were you when you got married?"
"22 - and your mother was 19."
"I'll be 19 in five months, Dad."
"I know. You're just a kid though."
"No, Dad. I'm YOUR kid, but I'm not a child anymore. It's actually been a really long time since I was a child. Probably before Mom died. I've dealt with more things than a lot of people twice my age. If and when I decide to get engaged or married, it won't be on a whim. I love Thad. And as far as I'm concerned, he's it for me. I would say yes if he asked me to marry him. But he hasn't. I haven't asked him. We wear these rings to remind ourselves that we're there for each other. When I'm alone, I can feel the ring. I can look at it. I can spin it when I'm stressed and remind myself that I'm loved for who I am."
"Okay. I'm glad you've found someone. I really am."
"I know it's weird for you because you're not getting to spend much time with me or around him. But you can change that. You can stop excluding him when you come to see me and you can come as often as you like. We come here and stay with Art. Art took us out to breakfast and shopping. You could do the same. An hour and a half is not that far. I know you're going to be busy after the congressional session starts, but you have to fly in and out of Columbus to get there and back. You can start adding a stop in Westerville on your way home or on your way to DC."
"I'll work on that."
Kurt could see Carole looking at them through the French doors. Kurt motioned for her to open the door.
"Should we start without you two?"
"No," Burt answered. "We're coming."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
They played Monopoly until the caterers arrived. They ate as soon as the food was set up. They didn't talk a lot and dinner went quickly. Everyone enjoyed the roast beef, potatoes, carrots, and salad. Carole's cheesecake was a big hit. The three guys packed up the leftovers quickly and went into the living room.
Carole gave each of them a box. Kurt opened his first.
"Oh, it's lovely. I love it. I've never seen a scarf like this. It's kind of like an ascot. It will lay perfectly under the collar of my pea coat. And it's a beautiful color. You know how much I like dark red." Kurt put it on. "And the black flecks will make it look perfect with my coat."
Carole was beaming.
"Did you make it?"
"I did. I took up knitting last summer. I had always wanted to learn and I figured why wait any longer. I took a beginner's class and loved it. I took an advanced class later in the summer."
"Well, it's fabulous. Thank you."
Thad opened his box next. It was sapphire blue with an intricate argyle stitch, which totally matched Thad's stye.
"Carole, mine is beautiful. I love that raised pattern. It's really soft. And it's my favorite color. Thank you."
Sebastian opened his next, now expecting a scarf. "Oh, wow. That's really cool. I don't think I've ever seen a scarf zig zag striped vertically like this. I love the colors."
"Somehow I always get this impression that you're quite the colorful character," Carole laughed.
"Who would give you an idea like that?" Sebastian said, staring at Kurt.
Thad broke out laughing. "They are brothers. It makes no difference that they have different parents."
"We have something for the two of you," Kurt said. "He got up and pulled his box out from under the tree."
"Can you grab mine, please?" Thad asked.
Kurt picked them both up. He handed Thad's to him. He handed his own to Burt. He was surprised to see Thad hand his to Carole.
They opened the boxes. "Oh, boys these are beautiful!" Carole exclaimed.
"That's what we did earlier. We went and made them ourselves," Kurt said.
"Really? I didn't know you could even do that," Carole said.
"Neither did we. Art took us and we all made one." Kurt got up and pointed out the two on the tree that Art and Sebastian had made.
"That is really neat, boys," Burt said. "Thank you. We'll put them on the tree at home."
Carole wrapped them back up carefully.
Art said, "Well, the final event of the evening is that we have tickets for all of us to go see Mamma Mia! in Columbus. Tonight's the last show of the Broadway Tour for this stop."
"Seriously?" Kurt jumped up so excited he couldn't contain it.
"Yes," Art answered.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! What time does the show start?"
"8:00. We have time to get there."
Kurt jumped up and went to the closet to retrieve his coat and Thad's. He was still wearing his scarf and he put his coat on. He held Thad's out for him. Thad put his scarf on first and then let Kurt help him into his coat. Kurt scurried off to the den to retrieve the board games and then to the kitchen to retrieve Carole's glass plate. He stood holding the games and plate bouncing up onto his toes and back down to flat feet with an "I'm ready to leave" smile on his face.
Sebastian laughed at him. And went to the closet and pretended to ponder which coat would be the best choice, as if he had more than one winter coat hanging in the closet.
Kurt sat the games down on a side table and walked over to the closet, grabbed Sebastian's coat and handed it to him, more like shoved it at him as politely as possible. "Do you need help getting it on?" he asked extra politely.
Thad was laughing again, trying not to, but not succeeding. He looked at Carole with a "see what I mean?" look on his face. She rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Honey, why don't you and Thad go ahead out and get in my car?" She handed him the keys. "You can turn it on and get it warmed up."
Kurt handed Carole the plate, grabbed the games, and took Thad's hand and went outside.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"That was FANTASTIC!" Kurt said excitedly as they came out of the theater. "Awesome and amazing." He was bouncing.
"He was like this after the Lion King last year," Thad said quietly to Carole. She smiled.
"I'm glad you had such a good time, honey."
"I did. I loved it. Thank you."
"You're welcome, kiddo. I'm glad we got to see it with you. We'll see you again over Christmas break."
Kurt moved in close. "Don't tell anyone where you're going, please, Dad. I mean saying 'Florida' is okay, but don't be specific. I don't think any of them would fly there, but I don't want to find out. I want to have a nice relaxing time."
"I know, I know."
"Okay. Carole's not saying anything is she?"
"I don't think so."
"Make sure, okay?"
"I will."
He hugged both of them and they headed off to their car. Art waited with Thad while Sebastian and Kurt retrieved their bags from Art's car. After they got back, all of them waited together for the car service to pick the guys up to take them back to Dalton.
"The car service will pick you up to take you to the airport for winter break. Just call and tell them the exact time to pick you up. I already let them know you'd be calling."
"Thank you, Art. You've done so much already, but I appreciate it. We'll call. Thanks for having my parents over to your place today. It was really nice."
"Thanks for the glass blowing class," Thad said. "That was really cool and something I had never imagined having the opportunity to try."
"You're both welcome. You're both good friends to Sebastian and true friends are few and far between in this world. He's a lucky guy to have found two so young."
Sebastian hugged his dad. "Thanks for everything. I'll see you Thursday. I'll just ride with them to the airport and then have the driver bring me to the house."
"Okay. Matilda will be there if you need anything before I get home."
The car pulled up. They waved at Art and climbed in the back.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
The next three days were finals. There were no more Warblers rehearsals, but a Christmas party had been set for Wednesday after dinner. They had drawn names the week before for a gift exchange with a $20 limit.
Kurt had drawn Xavier's name and managed to find out the names of a few of his favorite bands and ordered one of their CDs that had been recently released from Amazon. Thad had drawn Jeff's name. He found a cool rowing themed t-shirt on Amazon and ordered at the same time that Kurt had order Xavier's CD. Sebastian wouldn't say whose name he had drawn.
Finals days were strange because they had two finals each day. One from 9:00-11:00. Then the other from 1:00-3:00. 1st/2nd period on Monday. 3rd/4th period on Tuesday, 5th/6th period on Wednesday, and 7th period on Thursday morning. But since the Warblers met during 7th period, Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian were finished Wednesday. Kurt and Thad had bought tickets to fly out Thursday morning.
Wednesday after Kurt had finished his last final, he went up to the third floor kitchen and made a few batches of cookies for the party with supplies that had magically appeared in a brown paper sack he had just about tripped over on his way out their room door that morning.
He carried the cookies down to the first floor and stored them in their room to keep them safe until the party.
Someone had gone to the party store and brought back some ridiculous, but funny Christmas-themed games. They played Pin the Tail on Rudolph and Bounce the Reindeer Nose into a cup and some others. They watched the old Rudolph movie and then exchanged the gifts.
Nick had drawn Thad's name and gave him personalized guitar picks and some nice stave paper.
Sebastian had drawn Kurt's name and gave him a beautiful deep plum cardigan that Kurt was sure had cost more than $20. Sebastian just shrugged his shoulders when Kurt gave him a questioning look. Kurt ran his hands over it because it was so soft and then he put it on. Sebastian smiled.
Jeff loved the t-shirt Thad had gotten him and Xavier was really excited about the CD.
Sebastian gave Kurt a smirk when he opened his gift from Richard. He knew that Richard had gone to Kurt to find out what to get him the instant he saw that it was Inheritance. Kurt knew that he had started reading the series back in 2005 when he was 11 and was really looking forward to reading the final book in the series.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Sebastian knocked on their door about 30 minutes after the party had ended. He was in his pajamas and his glasses again, holding Inheritance in his hand. He walked right in, pulled the covers back and got in the bed he considered to be his. He fluffed the pillow up so he could read and pulled the covers up.
"Comfortable?" Kurt asked.
"Very. Thank you for asking." Sebastian smirked. "And thank you for telling Richard that I wanted this book. I can start reading it sooner."
"Well, you're welcome. I'm certain that you broke the rules of the gift exchange. There's no way that beautiful sweater cost $20 or less."
"$20, $200, $2million. Doesn't matter. It wasn't that much and you like it and it looks good on you."
"Well, thank you. I love it."
"Did you already pack? We're still working on finishing up."
Thad came out of the bathroom with a few things. They had most of what they needed in the condo already.
Thad looked through the suitcase to double-check everything. "I think that's it. You can look to be sure."
Kurt looked through and didn't see anything missing. He sat on the bed with Sebastian. "So are you going to tell us what your planning for Florida? You at least need to tell us the day so that we don't plan something the same day."
"Okay, I'll give you that much. It's on the 3rd, all day."
"Alright. Do we need anything special like a certain type of clothes or anything?"
"Nope, what I saw in the suitcase will work just fine. Except, did you pack a hoodie?"
"We both are just going to wear our football hoodies on the way there and leave our coats behind."
"That will be perfect. Nothing else that I can think of."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"We'll see you next Friday!" Kurt yelled as he and Thad went through the doors into the airport.
Kurt and Thad landed in Miami about 2:00. They opted to take a taxi to the condo because Ellen and Donovan had rented a car to use when they arrived the next evening.
They put their stuff inside and left their hoodies behind. They decided that being cold for 2 minutes was better than Thad flying in jeans that were never quite comfortable over the brace, so they were already wearing shorts. They headed back out. Thad put his folded his crutch into the backpack Kurt was wearing, just in case he needed it. He had gotten a new brace on Tuesday and he really loved it compared to the old one. It had only four strap areas and they could be adjusted to fit and then left in place because they had a clicking mechanism to fasten them in. Also, the knee area wasn't locked into place. It was free moving to a certain point that allowed a more normal gait while wearing it. It also released with a simple push of a button on both sides, so he could sit down more easily.
They left hand in hand. "You can walk a lot faster with that new brace."
"I know. I love it. It feels so much more natural now. I feel a lot more stable too since I can bend my knee a little. It sounds weird, but it's true."
"I'm just glad you're getting better. With that new brace, I bet you can handle uneven surfaces more easily since you said you feel more stable."
"Probably. We'll have to try walking in the grass at some point and see."
"I've decided what I want to get all of us for Christmas, us including Sebastian."
"And what's that?"
"I want us to find a nice soft hoodie with Florida on it. It will be a fun, but useful souvenir. I don't always want to wear my football hoodie and it's my only one."
"We'll start looking in the shops we pass. We want to find good quality ones, not just the cheep tourist ones that won't last."
Thad enjoyed watching the real Kurt come back to the surface. It didn't take long before Kurt was pointing out lizards and birds and then cute artsy pieces in storefronts. It was like seeing him transform. His gait became more bouncy and less rigid. He even talked more animatedly. He realized that he was going to have to warn Sebastian NOT to tease Kurt or he would retreat back into his shell again, which was not on Thad's agenda for their vacation.
"Look! It's like a lizard party. There are so many of them. They're so cute." Kurt pointed to a tree trunk that had a bunch of lizards running up it.
Thad smiled. "Maybe they're late for an important date."
Kurt laughed. "I'm sure they must be."
"We'll need to get Sebastian some water shoes so he can walk on the beach."
"We'll see when he gets here. Maybe he can just wear my dad's."
"Let's eat over there." Kurt pointed to a sandwich shop across the street.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"Oranges, definitely oranges. And then let's get some stuff to make a huge, huge salad. We can have it tonight with something. Chicken? Pork? And tomorrow we can have the leftovers for lunch. And eggs." Kurt was talking to himself.
Thad just smiled. Happy Kurt made him smile.
"Alright, let's just go through here and pick all of the vegetables we like and we can even have two different kinds of salad, Mr. Rabbit."
"You like salad, right? You can have something different if you want. I'll make you anything you want." Kurt sounded concerned.
"I know you would. Salad is fine. How about turkey bacon to go with the eggs? We'll go shopping again, probably tomorrow as soon as Mom and Dad get here. Then we'll have a car and we can buy whatever we want."
"That sounds good." Kurt said suddenly.
"What?" Thad looked around to see what Kurt had seen.
"I saw a container of salsa. We could make one of the salads be sort of spicy with some homemade pico de gallo and some hot peppers. Oh, and definitely spicy pork."
"Sounds good."
They grabbed everything they needed, paid, and packed it all in the backpack, except the eggs, which Kurt carried by themselves in a bag.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"Dinner was delicious. Sorry I couldn't help more. I was lot more tired than I realized."
"You helped plenty. You chopped up lots of veggies. That was a big help."
"I'm not sure how we're going to make the showering work now. It's too cold to shower outside at night. And my parents will be upstairs."
"Well, the shower stool that's here is smaller than the one we normally use. Maybe it will fit in the downstairs shower stall and you can shower in there."
"By myself?" he pouted.
"Did you forget how?"
"No." He rolled his eyes. "I just don't want to. I guess I'll have to just be lonely in the shower when they're here."
"I'll sleep on you or you can sleep on me. We'll snuggle extra."
"Well, I'll take all of the snuggles I can get. I'll go upstairs. We'll have one last nice shower tonight."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"The sofa bed is more comfortable than I expected it to be," Kurt said.
"Scoot over here." Thad moved his arm so Kurt could lay his head down on his chest.
Kurt's phone rang. He rolled over and got up to get it off the end table.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"Hello?"
"Hey Kurt. I have a dilemma. I didn't know Finn was home and he overheard me and your dad talking about going to Florida. He's upset that he wasn't included. He's hurt because he feels like you're excluding him."
"Well, I don't have a good answer. People who know him probably use the Find my Friends app and can find him. He posts to Facebook and has his page set to public, despite my nagging him last year to change it."
"Well, that's changing as soon as I hang up with you. He can't have his Facebook page public with Burt being in Congress."
"I agree. But as to what to do, I don't know. Thad and I can fly somewhere else, but then we'd all have to stay in a hotel and that drastically changes the cost of what was supposed to be a low-cost mini-vacation for the two of you. Finn can't come here. I'm sorry. He's not private enough about his life. All it would take is one photo of 'Look at the cool place I ate lunch' and someone could figure out where Thad and I live when we aren't at school."
"I understand. Let me talk to your dad about finances and see what we come up with."
"You could stay at a hotel in Miami. That's not that far from here. We could meet places and spend time together. But you're looking at adding probably $800 to your cost and that's if you stay in a room with Finn. It would be twice that if you get separate rooms. Plus, the extra cost of eating in restaurants instead of in the condo with us. That like doubles the cost of eating and then adding Finn to the food budget, that like doubles it again."
"I know sweetie. It's an expensive time of the year to want to go to Florida, especially at the last minute. When everyone is out of school and everyone wants to travel some place warm, the prices are higher."
"I wish I could say 'Just bring him to the condo with you'. But a Facebook post got me a concussion, bruised ribs, a sliced up forearm, and a rebroken arm. And the last time I met up with Finn, my car was set on fire the same night. I'm happy here. It's like the only place where I can completely relax that I currently have access to."
"I'll call you back tomorrow. It may be that we have to cancel."
"I understand. I'm really sorry."
"Don't be sorry, Kurt. You need a happy place. I understand."
"If you want, we can rearrange our flight and we could fly to Washington, DC, if Dad has someplace for us all to stay. We could head there on the 4th and stay through the 8th and then fly back to Ohio from there."
"I'll work on it and call back tomorrow."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Thad opened his eyes to find Kurt staring at him. "Good morning, handsome."
"You have the most gorgeous eyes." Thad said as he reached over and gently ran his thumb over Kurt's cheek. "Good morning to you, beautiful."
"Let's make breakfast."
"Let's kiss and snuggle."
"You have such good ideas." Kurt slid forward and kissed him gently. "I'll be right back."
Kurt ran to the bathroom and brought back two glasses of orange juice. Thad had put his brace on by the time he got back and also went to the bathroom, came back and took the brace back off. He drank his orange juice and lay back down with Kurt.
"Now, back to the kissing?"
"Definitely."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
After spending the rest of the morning in the hammock after breakfast, Kurt and Thad finally got dressed and headed out for a walk. They looked in quite a few stores and picked the nicest Florida hoodies they had found. Kurt didn't want them to look like triplets so they picked different colors for each of them. Kurt picked a pine green one with neon green letters on it for Sebastian. He picked a deep burgundy one with salmon orange letters for himself and Thad chose a navy blue one with neon royal blue letters on it. At Kurt's insistence, he paid for Sebastian's since it was his idea.
To be funny, Kurt bought some wrapping paper and three gift tags and asked one of the workers to write on them indicating they were from Santa. Thad just shook his head and laughed at him.
We need green and red construction paper and a stapler. Kurt asked the same worker who had helped him with the gift tags where the closest place to get construction paper was. She gave him the name of a store and directions.
They went and bought the paper and a mini-stapler since Thad wasn't sure that there was one in the condo. Kurt also picked up a pair of scissors and a ruler. He put everything in the bag he already had and they headed back to the condo.
"So, what are the craft supplies for?"
"Well, it doesn't look festive in here and I don't want to go to the expense of buying a tree and ornaments and lights. So, we're going to make a festive chain. As long as we can with the paper we've got."
Kurt pulled out the supplies and put them on the kitchen table. "We'll need a pencil or pen."
"Top drawer on the right." Thad pointed to the kitchen junk drawer. "That's where we keep everything like that."
Kurt grabbed a pencil. "Do you want to draw the lines or cut first?"
"Um, draw the lines?"
"Okay. Just use the ruler and make as many short strips as you can. I'll start cutting once you have a whole sheet done."
Thad followed the directions. After a few sheets, they traded jobs. They traded back and forth until all of the sheets were cut.
"So, now we just loop them, alternating colors and staple the loops together."
Thad looped, Kurt stapled. They continued until all of the strips had been turned into loops and attached.
"Wow, that is a long chain. Where are we going to put it?"
"All around the top of the ceiling in the front room. Will your parents mind if we tape it up? If we can't, then will just have to lay it across the tops of the stuff hanging on the wall and do the best we can."
"Let's go down to the hardware store and get green painter's tape. That should hold it up and not damage the paint at all."
"Good idea."
"But let's eat lunch first. I know it's late, but my parents will want to go out for dinner around 7:00 or later. We'll be really hungry if we wait that long to eat."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"I feel really weird not getting your parents a gift. Are you sure I can't get them one? Maybe just a fruit basket or something. Some chocolates?" Kurt asked as they were walking to the hardware store.
"Will you feel bad if you don't?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, I'll take you to the candy store they both like and you can get them a small bag of their favorites. Is that a suitable solution?"
"Yes. It's not the amount of money spent, it's that I want to get them something they'll enjoy. They accepted me from the very beginning. They're just so nice. I'd feel bad not giving them a gift."
"You were surprised they liked you?" Thad felt sad thinking about that.
"Well, it's not like I had a lot of experience meeting adults who were okay with gay kids. Some people are okay with their own kids, like my dad. I mean he hasn't been the model of acceptance when he keeps excluding you when he comes to Westerville. Your parents never once treated me like an outsider. They just were like 'Welcome to the family.' from the moment we walked up the sidewalk when they surprised us here last spring."
"Well, I'm glad they made you feel welcome. They love you. My mom has told me so many times how amazing you are and how glad she is that I found someone who loves me so much."
"Well that's definitely true. I love you. I'm still working on believing the amazing part."
"Hopefully you'll get there one day because it's true."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"I like it," Kurt said. "What do you think?"
"It's definitely more festive now."
"I'm going to wrap everything. Is there anything else seasonal in the house anywhere? Red candles? A table cloth?"
"I'll look around while you wrap."
A few minutes later, Thad came back laughing. "I found this. It's from when I was a kid. It's an inflatable Christmas tree."
"Blow it up. Let's see if it still holds air."
Kurt kept wrapping and Thad inflated the tree.
"We'll see in an hour or less whether it leaks. Where do you want me to put it?"
"Would your parents get upset if we moved the TV down to the end and put it on the credenza with the TV?"
"Nah. My parents really don't get upset about much of anything." Thad carefully moved the TV to one end. He retrieved the blow-up tree and sat it on the other end.
"You can put the bags of candy next to the tree. I'm going to put the three of these upstairs in our suitcase to keep them out of the way until after your parents leave."
"Will you bring down the two boxes of candy that I got them too?"
"Sure." Kurt ran up and came right back down.
"Did you find anything else?"
"Look in the lower drawers. If we have a tablecloth, it's probably in there."
"Nope."
"Oh well. Like I said, my parents aren't really into material possessions. So, my mom probably never thought there was a need for a seasonal tablecloth that would only get used a few days a year."
"Makes sense. We have a red tablecloth and a green one that I use for all of the holidays. Either one for Christmas. The green one for Thanksgiving, Halloween and Easter. The red one for Valentine's Day and all of the patriotic holidays. And then I made table runners that are reversible to go with the two tablecloths. So, one has hearts on one side and a Christmas theme on the other. One has a Thanksgiving theme on one side and a Halloween theme on the other, and the last one has a flag print on one side and an Easter/spring theme on the other. So, not a lot of stuff, just minimal, but it makes the holidays fun."
"That sounds cool. When we get our own place you can make some for us."
When Thad said things like that, Kurt's heart just melted. Thad always talked about the future with such certainty. "You'd like it if I did?"
"Of course. You don't have to give up what you love. You know that right? My parents always talk about how being married isn't a compromise, it the ultimate cooperative endeavor."
"What do you mean?"
"Compromise is when both sides give up what they really want in order to reach an even or equal level of mutual dislike of the outcome. One person wants apples. One person wants oranges. Compromise is that they both eat grapes."
"Okay."
"But in a cooperative situation both sides do everything they can to make sure that both parties reach an even or equal level of mutual enjoyment from the outcome. One person wants apples. One person wants oranges. Cooperation is making a fruit salad with both and adding grapes or just letting each person eat what they want without imposing any restrictions on the other person's choice."
"That's a really interesting way to look at things. I don't think I've ever thought about it in those specific terms, but I think the two of us cooperate rather than compromise. I think my natural tendency is to respond to conflict with other people or within myself by asking 'What I can do to make this work?' rather than 'How can I get my way?'"
"I agree. We've never really had a fight, but when we've wanted to do different things, we talk about it and we work to make the outcome something we both enjoy or accomplishes both of our goals."
"I just remembered something." Kurt got up and went upstairs and came back down carrying the shower stool. "You'll need this down here tonight."
"Ugh. Don't remind me. Showering all alone." He pouted.
"Well, before they get here, come in the bathroom with me. Let's see if both of us can fit in the shower with the stool in there. We'll leave the water off and get in fully dressed just to see if we can fit."
"Good idea."
They went in the bathroom and fiddled with the placement of the stool, but there wasn't much leeway.
"I'm sure to enjoy the view," Thad said.
Kurt blushed. "If you want to be up-close-and-personal in the shower, I will still shower with you. If you decide you'd like room to be able to move more than a few inches, we can take turns." Kurt got out of the shower and walked toward the bathroom door.
"I'm not a big fan of personal space when it comes to you." Thad stood and locked the knee mechanism so he could walk and followed Kurt.
Kurt blushed more.
"You're gorgeous, you know. I'd just sit and look at you, if you'd let me." Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind.
Kurt turned in his embrace and kissed him. "Maybe some day."
"Mmm. Something to look forward to." Thad continued the kisses, holding him close.
"Aren't your parents supposed to be here soon?"
"They don't care if we kiss." Thad said between kisses.
Kurt pulled back a bit. "Seriously, they wouldn't be bothered or upset to walk in on us kissing like this?"
"Nah. I've seen them kiss. They never hid the fact that they loved each other. I certainly don't think they expect us to act like platonic friends just because they're here."
"Your parents are from another dimension."
"Could be. I don't think I've ever asked them that question." Thad laughed.
"We've been dating long enough that my parents mostly like assume that we've been having sex for months."
"What?"
"They're not really the 'sex is taboo' type of parents."
"They really are from another dimension." Kurt laughed. "You must have thought my dad was out of his mind with the things I told you."
"I did think he was behaving pretty old-fashioned, especially the 'deflowering my virgin maiden daughter' thing you mentioned. But he seems a nice enough guy, just a lot overprotective. But like you said, your situation in Lima wasn't exactly normal, so him behaving the way my parents do wouldn't be expected. I appreciated the fact that you stood up for us. And that you told your dad that it was your choice and your body and that when you were ready, we'd talk and make our own decisions."
"Let's go out in the hammock for a little while. They're supposed to get here in 30 minutes, so we'll come back inside in 20."
Kurt helped Thad in and then climbed in.
"I want to ask you something," Thad said.
"Go ahead."
"Have you put off being ready because you're afraid you'll hurt me?"
"Not exactly. I think it's more that I've put off thinking about it because I'm afraid I'll hurt you."
"Same difference, more or less. I've told you lots of times that it doesn't hurt at all when you lie on me or if I lie on you. Do you think I'm not telling you the truth?"
"No. It's just complicated I guess. I don't really know what to expect once we let ourselves move to that point and I guess that lingering feeling of hurting you accidentally has been there for so many months that it doesn't go away just because you say it doesn't hurt. I guess I feel like it doesn't hurt right then, but what if?... And my mind wanders and I don't even think of specific things that could happen that would hurt you, but it's just this vague lingering feeling."
"I see. So, even a doctor's note isn't going to miraculously fix that nagging feeling?"
"You'd ask a doctor for a note?" Kurt asked incredulously.
"If it would ease your mind, yes."
"Oh," he paused. "I guess the other thing is that we've never really talked about how we'd do it."
"Right. Do you want to talk about that? Or are you still on the 'Not yet' page?"
"We'll, I've never talked about it with anyone, ever. So, it's kind of uncomfortable."
"Do you want to hear me talk about it? Or do you just want to talk about something else now and table this discussion for later?"
"Go ahead." Their hands were already interlaced and Kurt pulled Thad's hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles.
"Well, I can't say that I thought a lot about it until we'd been dating for a while. But after the accident, our level of intimacy jumped when you had to start to bathe me. And after that, my ideas became a lot more clear. I'm sure that my leg being in the brace played into the dreams I'd have because they alternated between me being on my back, missionary style, or me being on my back and you riding me."
Kurt was glad it was pitch dark outside because he was tomato red he had blushed so much.
"That's very specific."
"I told you I think the injured leg played into it because my brain was coming up with ways for it to happen without me or you putting any weight on my leg."
"Okay."
"I can also say with certainty that I would not be into a dom/sub kind of thing."
"Me neither. I wince at bumping your leg. I could never do anything that would intentionally hurt you, not even a tiny bit. I think that may be the secondarily cause of my reluctance to even bring the topic up. The idea of me hurting you, not your leg, you know what I mean, just makes me want to forget the whole idea."
"I understand. I do. But from everything I've read, if we're careful, it shouldn't hurt much. There's got to be some serious upsides or guys wouldn't be so into it. They'd just stick with other methods of release."
"It never really appealed to me to be on the receiving end, but I also feel like I should be willing to try, if nothing else just to know what it feels like and how to do a good job of making you feel good. And just because something doesn't seem appealing at first, doesn't mean that it actually is unappealing. I mean who would think that artichokes actually taste good?"
Thad laughed. "I can't really say why, but I'm not bothered by seeing myself in that role. I think having you... well, I think it will be amazing. You put so much care and effort into everything. Even if it isn't 'perfect' or we end up laughing at ourselves because we can't get it to work 'right', it will still be amazing. So, if that's part of what worries you, that I'll be upset if it's not 'perfect' or if we bungle the whole thing, it will be fine. How I feel about you isn't going to change because we don't get it right the first time."
"That was the best long-winded version of 'I love you, no matter what.'"
"Well, it's true. Even if we try it, even both ways and neither one of us likes it either way, I won't stop loving you."
Kurt turned on his side and wrapped his arms around Thad's neck. "I love you so much." Their gentle kisses grew in intensity until they heard, "Thad? Kurt?" and then the back porch light came on.
"We're in the hammock, Mom."
"Oh, well come inside. We brought dinner. We thought we'd just eat here, get some sleep and then go out shopping for food early tomorrow morning and beat the last-minute crowds."
"Alright," Kurt said as he carefully got out of the hammock. He helped Thad out and they turned the light off after the got inside.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"The decorations are fun. I see you found your old inflatable tree," Ellen laughed.
"I like the paper chain," Donovan said. It reminds me of being a kid in school. I must have been 9 or 10. We made a really long one like this but with smaller loops and we decorated the tree in the school lobby with it. The other classes made paper ornaments. It was a lot of fun."
"Sounds like it," Kurt said.
Ellen had put four containers on the table. "We stopped at a Cuban place we like. It's sort of like fajitas. I hope that's okay."
"I'm sure it's fine. I'm not a pick eater," Kurt said.
They sat down to eat at the table. They ate without a lot of conversation. Ellen and Donovan were clearly tired.
"How about a Christmas movie and then we'll head to bed?"
"Sure, Mom." He and Kurt cleared the table. "You pick."
Ellen looked through the DVDs. How about Polar Express?"
"I've never actually seen that one," Kurt said.
"Really? The animation is really good. Put it in." Thad said as he turned off the kitchen light.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Kurt waited for Thad to come in and let Donovan and Ellen choose a spot first. Donovan turned the oversized chair around to face the TV and sat down. Ellen sat down in the chair with him and curled up in his lap. It surprised Kurt at first, then he remembered what Thad had said about they way they had never hidden their love for each other.
Kurt sat on the left end of the couch and extended his left leg, leaving his right leg on the floor. Thad sat down on the front edge of the space, near the middle and took his brace off. He slid back up against Kurt so that his left leg was extended as well and he leaned back against Kurt's chest. Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad, who put his hands over the tops of Kurt's and interwove his fingers with Kurt's.
Occasionally, Kurt glanced at Donovan and Ellen. They weren't doing anything risqué, but Kurt saw what Thad was trying to explain earlier. Ellen was leaning on Donovan's chest and he was running his hands through her hair. She was gently caressing his other arm. Nothing more. They were both watching the movie, but still engaged affectionately with each other.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
When the movie ended, Kurt got up his nerve and asked them a question. "How long have you two been together? How did you meet?"
"To answer your first question, we've been together 27 years. Our 25th wedding anniversary was last July."
"That's really cool," Kurt said. "Congratulations."
"We can talk more tomorrow," Ellen said. "I'm beat. Let's be ready to go shopping at 8:00. That way we can be back long before lunch."
"We can do that," Thad said as he reached for his brace to put it back on so he could stand up.
Kurt noticed that neither of his parents really even seemed to notice how Thad had been reclining on him, or they did notice, but it didn't faze them at all. It was so odd, but really nice. They walked past and headed upstairs to sleep.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Kurt and Thad came back from their shower and Kurt noticed that he had two missed calls when he plugged his phone in to charge it. Both were from Carole.
"Hey Carole. Sorry, I was in the shower. What's up?"
"Well, I talked to Finn. He's mostly mad that you're in Florida for the third time in a year and he's still never been. So, meeting up in DC isn't what he wants. I explained to him that where you are in Florida is your safe place. And that he can't know where it is because it's dangerous for you for anyone at McKinley to know where you go when you're not in school. He understood that, but he really wants to go to Florida."
"I can understand that. It's beautiful here."
"I'm going to offer him the chance to go to Florida for spring break on his own. He needs to save up his money and show that it means something to him and then Burt and I will help him to some extent. He'll need to find at least one person to go with him who is willing to split the lodging cost and buy their own airplane ticket. He's still working, so he could easily save the money to go to Disney World or whatever he wants to do."
"Seems fair enough. I paid for my airplane ticket and my own food. I did have the ability to stay here without having to pay for a hotel though."
"I know, but you paid for your AP exams. That's close to the cost of a cheap motel for spring break, if the room is shared."
"True. And he has 9 or 10 weeks to save up for the hotel part."
"And he'll have even more time to work, if he drops out of Glee like he's been talking about."
"Why would he drop out of Glee?"
"He did it because it was fun. 'Blainchel', as he calls them, are making it so that it's no longer enjoyable. I wouldn't be surprised if Puck doesn't quit too. He started paying Miss Corcoran back, but he's got a long way to go because he has to use the money he makes to support his family too. I was broken hearted when Finn told me what Puck had been doing to make extra money over the summers. I'm not part of the 'in-crowd' with a pool. I didn't know what had been going on. Finn quit his weekend job and Puck went with him and asked if he could replace Finn. The manager is giving him a chance to prove he can be a good worker. Finn's picking up hours at the shop instead. He's doing better with learning how to do things. He does a lot of tire changes, balancing, and oil changes now. So, Burt is paying him a little more since he's not just doing inventory and cleaning."
"I'm sad to hear about Glee. What are Blaine and Rachel doing?"
"Well, according to Finn, Blaine has replaced him as the male lead. So, Finn is stuck in the background."
"Ah. Blaine is used to the limelight, like Rachel. I'd say they are truly two of a kind. He doesn't have the boy next door sound like Finn does though. He's definitely a good fit for Rachel voice though. I know he was mad at me for a long time for bring Blaine to Rachel's party, but I swear until the moment Blaine agreed to go on a date with Rachel that he had assured me that he was gay. I had zero idea that he would ever even consider dating a girl. He and I got in an argument because I got mad at him for leading Rachel on by agreeing to go out with her."
"I see. So, he's bi?"
"He says he is. Who am I to say he's not? I guess Rachel's just the first girl he was ever interested in. Maybe he just never liked any of the girls that were paraded around by his parents in hopes that one of them would catch Blaine's eye. His parents used to have dinner parties with people of their own social standing and they would bring their eligible daughters to the dinners. Maybe he just likes loud, opinionated, Broadway-singing divas."
"Kurt," she said sternly.
"That was meant as a compliment. Clearly Blaine is attracted to that. The girls at the dinners were all wallflower, compliant, marry-who-my-family-says types. The type that laugh because they're supposed to and know all of the proper etiquette rules. Maybe that type of girl isn't attractive to him so he just never thought he liked girls."
"Anything is possible, I suppose. But Finn doesn't feel like he has a place in the club anymore."
"Sounds like he needs you two around more than I do right now. I got to see you earlier this week. And we can make arrangements to meet again. Why don't you get just your airline tickets refunded and take Finn to the sports Hall of Fame or something monster truck rally that he and Dad would enjoy. If he's that bummed out leaving him home alone for four days doesn't seem like a good idea. I'll be fine. Thad's here with me. I'm not alone. His parents are here too. Sebastian's coming next week."
"That's not much of a solution for me. I've never been to Florida either and I've really been looking forward to it."
"Well, then come by yourself and leave Dad and Finn home to do the manly-men stuff they love so much."
"I'll think about it some more. I'll let you go for now."
"Good night."
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
Kurt decided that he didn't want to talk about the phone call. Thad had been lying right next to him the whole time and had heard everything that was said. He plugged his phone back up and chose Thad as his pillow. Thad happily moved his arm and let Kurt lie down on his chest. He ran his hand though Kurt's hair and Kurt murmured, almost like a purring cat.
"Not close enough," Kurt said quietly. He pulled his shirt off over his head and got Thad to do the same. Kurt asked, "Can I lie on you, all the way?"
"Yes." Thad lifted the sheet so Kurt could move more easily.
Kurt straddled him then slid down until he was lying on Thad. He propped himself on his elbows and ran his hands through Thad's hair and started kissing him on his neck. "Okay?"
"So okay. Perfect."
"I wanna try what you did in the shower, if it's okay with you."
"Really?"
"Yeah."