This is the last chapter, my loyal readers. You probably thought we'd never get here, did you? I can't believe how long I took to get to the end, and in all honesty I probably could have extended it a couple more chapters, and added more details to the conclusion. The fact is, after 3.5 years of working on this fic, I needed to have it done, and 20 chapters is a nice round number that appealed to my OCD, so I'm ending it here. This is by far the longest fic I've ever written, and I'm very proud of that. I'm also extremely grateful to the readers who stuck it out with me, through all the long waits between updates, and are here to read the conclusion. Thank you so so much!

Blaine answered a knock at the door, wondering who could have come by on a Sunday afternoon without calling ahead. Visitors weren't common at his cottage, as he usually went to the Evans house to see his family and time with friends was usually spent out somewhere, meeting in a restaurant or going out on the water.

It had been a quiet weekend for the most part, just hanging out at home with his dog and talking to Kurt via video call whenever he was available between shows. His boyfriend was overjoyed when Blaine told him about his late-night revelation that yes, he was definitely moving to New York, laughing when Blaine confessed that he'd been standing on the porch in his underwear when he made one of the biggest decisions of his life.

Blaine had confessed to some lingering anxiety over Sam's reaction to his impending departure, but reassured Kurt that he wouldn't change his mind. He and Sam were family, and in addition, had been best friends since they were twelve. Their relationship would survive this bump in the road.

All their calls since had been spent mostly making specific plans for Blaine's move to New York. They'd discussed possible dates for the transition, and Kurt assured him that he would reorganize his closet to make room for his clothes. Blaine really wanted to start applying for teaching jobs as soon as possible, but it would be difficult to schedule interviews till he had weekdays free in New York. In the meantime, Blaine was applying to jobs online, and that's what he was doing before he answered the knock at the door.

A quick look through the window revealed Sam, a six pack of beer dangling from one hand as he waited. Blaine opened the door immediately, and Merida crowded past him to sniff at Sam's legs.

"Sam? What's going on?"

"It's, uh… been made clear to me that I've been kind of a jerk lately. I'm here to apologize." He held up the beer. "Peace offering?"

Blaine laughed, so relieved to have Sam here and talking to him. "You didn't need to bring anything. Yourself is enough."

He pulled his cousin inside and gave him a hug. "C'mon in. I'll get a bottle opener and a couple koozies, and we can sit on the back porch."

Settled on the back porch with its view of the water, they both took a long drink before Sam spoke.

"I'm sorry, Blaine. I really have been difficult lately. And I realize that I owe Kurt an apology too, next time I see him."

"I accept. Can I ask what brought about this change of heart?"

"Oh, just a talking-to from every important woman in my life, and add my Dad just for fun. The only one who stayed out of it was Stevie, and I think that's only because he realized that I was already outnumbered."

"Hmm… I would say I'm sorry that they ganged up on, but since it brought you here…"

"Yeah, yeah. Point's been made, dude." Sam's smile showed that he meant it in a light-hearted spirit.

"I'm gonna be gone in a couple months. I don't want us to spend the rest of my time here, fighting and being mad with each other. We don't do that. We never have. I'd hate to start now."

"You're right. So… you're definitely going? You're moving to New York?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Stacy… I'm gonna be sad to see you go, but I hope you find what you're looking for. I hope both of you are happy there."

"So… you're reconciled to Stacy going too?"

Sam heaved a sigh. "As best I can be, yeah. I'm really scared for her, but she's so excited and it's hard to squash that. I'm so glad you'll be going with her. You'll look out for her, right?'

"Of course."

"I'm serious, Blaine. I know you're gonna be living this whole new life with Kurt, and exploring New York, but don't forget that you'll be the only family my little sister has there."

"I think of her as a sister too, and I'll look out for her. I promise."

They tapped their beers together to seal the deal, and drank quietly for a moment.

"Can I ask you something, Sam?" Blaine tilted his beer back and forth, listening to the liquid slosh inside.

"Yeah, sure."

"When you moved away to be with Penny, when she was doing the traveling nurse thing… what went wrong? Why didn't it work out?"

Sam sighed, and leaned back, propping his feet up.

"I've been asking myself that ever since we broke up, and even more once she came back here and we started dating again. Figured if I knew what went wrong last time, I could stop it happening this time, y'know?" Blaine nodded, but said nothing, letting him continue. "I think so much of it was, that it wasn't home. I've never lived anywhere but here, y'know?"

"Salt water in your veins," Blaine said, smiling.

"Exactly. And that salt water got mighty diluted, so far away from home. I just, I didn't feel right. I need the smell of the marsh, to know where I belong in the world. Everything else out there… don't get me wrong, it's great. The world's this ginormous place full of gorgeous sights, and I still want to visit some of them, but no place will ever be more beautiful than home."

His gaze was fixed on the horizon as he said it, watching the sun go down. It wasn't a spectacular one tonight, but was pretty nonetheless. The sky above the trees was turning a soft orange-pink by slow increments as the bottom edge of the sun touched the horizon.

"Was that the only reason?" Blaine asked, breaking the silence.

Sam hesitated, then shook his head.

"Took me a long time to work it out, but I realized after I came back home that I shouldn't have expected Penny to be my whole world. At the time, it made sense. I moved across the country just for her, so of course I thought we'd spend all our free time together."

"You didn't?" Blaine asked.

"Sometimes we did. We'd go out touristing and explore the area, that was fun at first. But then the novelty started wearing off for me. It felt like an extended vacation, and then I felt like vacation time was over."

"And you were ready to go home," Blaine surmised.

"Yeah. But we stayed, and the days started to drag. Penny was making new friends at her job and would call me at the end of her shift, saying they were going out for drinks and come join them… I'd been sitting home for hours by myself waiting for her to come home, and got pissed that she didn't, because didn't she know I was waiting for her? I moved across the country for her, couldn't she at least be there for me when she wasn't at work?"

"Well, weren't you meeting new people too? I know you got a job out there, and you're one of the friendliest people I know. You made friends, right?"

"To be honest, I didn't try. It was weird for me, being the new guy in a strange place. All my friends here are people I started kindergarten with, and we all grew up together. We all know each other's family histories, we know everything about each other. I never had to try making friends here. Out there… it was like everyone was just a face, with no history behind it. I froze, and just… I don't know. It just didn't work."

"When did you know it was time to give up, and come home?"

"The first night I spent alone. Penny went on an overnight spa retreat with some of her nursing friends, and I was by myself from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. And I realized that I didn't have a single friend that I could call to go out for a drink, or to watch the game with… I ended up calling home, and broke down to Mom about how lonely I was."

"What'd she say?"

"Tried to tell me to try a little longer, but said my room was waiting for me if I wanted to come home. At that point, I was too tired to keep trying. Being in a strange place with no friends was exhausting. I wanted to come home, where I know people and things make sense."

The sun was slipping behind the trees and the orange glow of sunset was fading, making way for the darker nighttime sky.

"Well, I know I was glad to have you back," Blaine said. "You were glad when Penny moved back here, weren't you?"

"I was… and scared too."

"Why?"

"Cause I saw how much she loved the traveling nurse thing. Loved seeing new places, meeting new people. So was she really going to be happy here? Was she going to stay this time?"

"She seems to be happy so far," Blaine offered. "And didn't she say she was ready to settle down this time? That she came back here to be with you?"

"That's what she said."

"You don't believe her?"

Sam was silent for a long moment before he responded.

"I think… that it's easy to say things. I said I wanted to follow her on a big adventure, but look what happened! When she came back and we started dating again, I won't lie to you Blaine, I've been kinda holding my breath this whole time, waiting for her to say she wants to leave again, or something else to go wrong. And now she's pregnant. And that's… terrifying on about a hundred different levels."

"Are you afraid she won't want to stay here?"

"Yeah. That she'll leave and take my kid with her. Or that she'll stay here, because it's what I want, but she'll be miserable."

"Don't go borrowing trouble," Blaine said, quoting one of his uncle's oft-repeated pieces of advice. "Penny's not packing a bag right now. She says she wants to stay. I mean, maybe the two of you need to have a talk about your long-term plans, but no one's making any big decisions today. So just breathe, and try to relax. You're gonna be a dad, Sam, and that's pretty amazing."

"A little Sam Evans running around." His mouth quirked up at the thought. "Or a little Samantha Evans."

"There, you see? Focus on the good stuff."

They shared a smile before tipping back their beers simultaneously. Blaine drank and then let himself sink into the cushion of the lawn chair, feeling the tension of the past few days leave him. He opened his eyes when Sam spoke again.

"What's going to happen with this place? Do you think the owners will want another renter here?"

"Don't know, really. I haven't told them yet. Our agreement says that I should give them thirty days' notice if I move out, and I still have a couple months of the school year left. I'll tell them soon, though. Why do you ask?"

"Well… Penny and I have been discussing a place of our own. I can't keep living at my parents' house if we're expecting a baby, can I? And she's been happy enough in the apartment where she rooms with another nurse, but now that things are changing, she wants us to get a place. It's pretty cheap living here, right?"

"Oh yeah. You won't find anything cheaper in Morehead, trust me. It's only one bedroom, so you'd probably have to move again as soon as the kid is big enough to need their own room, but you and Penny could probably make this work for a year or so."

"You know what, let's do a walk-through. Been a while since I've been here, let me refresh my memory on this place."

So Blaine gave Sam a tour of the small cottage, as they discussed whether it might work for his and Penny's needs… in the short term, at least. When his cousin left an hour later, Blaine felt they were well and truly over the impasse that had kept them apart for several weeks. It was a relief to high-five Sam and send him on his way, knowing that they were friends again.

He felt a burst of energy after Sam left. He hadn't realized what a cloud was hanging over him because of fighting with his cousin. Needing to vent some of the excess energy, he changed clothes and called for Merida to jump in the truck. He drove to Atlantic Beach and went for a run.

He found himself stopping in front of the beach house that Kurt's parents had rented. This was where it began. He met Kurt here.

Blaine turned and regarded the ocean, realizing that he was ready to say goodbye. This place, with its whole being attuned to the water and down-to-earth people, had been his refuge for years. It had been his home when he needed one, desperately, but he wasn't a scared teenager anymore. He was ready to move on.

Still, something niggled at his mind as he finished his run, drove back home, and showered. Something Sam had said about the time he'd spent living away from home, and putting too much pressure on his relationship with Penny.

Not even sure what he planned to say, he called Kurt, knowing he'd be home from the matinee performance by now.

"Hey," he said as Kurt's face came up on screen. "I umm… there's something I've been thinking about this afternoon, and I just want to bounce it off you."

"Okay…" Kurt's brows lowered. "Shoot."

Blaine took a deep breath. "Promise you'll hear me out, okay?"

"Now you're making me nervous. Just say it."

"Sam was here today, and he apologized for how he's been acting, and we're all good again."

"Blaine, that's great!" Kurt enthused, but Blaine held up a hand.

"I'm not done. Please, just listen, okay?"

Kurt sat back, nodding, and looking even more nervous.

"So I already told you that I'm definitely coming to New York. But, I think… I'm going to talk to Stacy, and see if maybe she wants to get an apartment with me."

He finished and waited for Kurt's reaction.

"You… you don't want to live here, with me? I mean, I just kind of assumed…"

"So did I, believe me. Ever since you showed up on my doorstep at midnight and said you wanted a relationship, I started fantasizing what it would be like to move there, to live with you, for us to be together all the time instead of separated by several states. The first time I went to your apartment, I was asking myself if I thought I could live there."

"And the answer was no," Kurt said flatly.

"Not at all, the answer was yes. It's still yes. I can see myself living there, Kurt. In that amazing city, in your apartment, with you."

"Then why….?" Kurt let the question trail off, turning his hands up in a 'what gives' gesture.

"Kurt, it's an amazing fantasy, but tidy happy-ever-afters are for children's movies. Real life is messy, and complicated, and we need to acknowledge that. We need to acknowledge that we barely know each other. We haven't seen each other at our worst yet; we're still in that honeymoon stage of relationship when we're both on our best behavior. So I just think… that we need to be mature about this. We need to slow down, and give ourselves time to let our relationship happen, without all the added pressure of living together."

Kurt nodded, eyes downcast. "What you're saying makes sense, but I won't say I'm not disappointed. I guess I let myself get swept up in the fantasy." He looked up, a small smile trying to lift the corners of his mouth. "I found my Disney prince and I wanted the happily-ever-after."

"We can still have it," Blaine assured him. "I just think that maybe, we're not there yet."

"Blaine, tell me honestly… are you having second thoughts about us? Is that why you're putting on the brakes?"

"I made this decision for more than one reason, Kurt. For us, to give our relationship the time it needs. For Stacy, because she wants to move here so badly but she's so scared and freaked out about it, and I'd like to help her through that transition. And… for myself, because-"

He stopped, rubbing his hair and trying to find the words.

"Tell me," Kurt urged. "I want to know how you're feeling."

"I told Stacy a few weeks ago, that I couldn't factor her into my decision to move here to New York or not, because if you and I decided to live together, we needed to make that decision for our own reasons. But then I realized, that's not quite right either. I'm the one making the big changes to my life, so I need to make the choice for my reasons."

"And have you found your reasons?"

"Yeah. For you, for us, and a little bit for Stacy, because she's my cousin and I love her. But also for the eighteen-year-old me who wanted to go to New York and chickened out. For the… the now-me who's looking at his life and wondering if he wants something different…. the now-me who's still kinda scared, but hoping that maybe, this time, I can be brave enough."

Kurt smiled, and leaned in close as if trying to climb through the screen. "Do I get to be a part of this, and help you be brave?"

"Yes, please," he said, with all the sincerity he could muster.

"Together, then. The next time you come visit, we'll go apartment hunting."

Blaine smiled, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad you understand. I wish I could hug you right now. And kiss you."

"Me too. This long-distance thing is awful. The school year needs to hurry up and finish, so you can move up here. Even if we're not going to live together right away, I need you here, Blaine. At least then, if I want to touch you, I can hop the subway instead of hopping a plane."

"Summer will be here before we know it," Blaine promised. "And we'll have a couple more visits in the meantime. I'll move to New York with Stacy, and she'll start school and I'll find a teaching job. You'll start your new costuming job full time. We'll go on dates and give ourselves the time we deserve. We're gonna be so busy that before we can turn around, we'll look at the calendar and realize that we've known each other for a year. We'll be coming back here to visit both our families, and your parents will have their own place by then, and Sam's baby will be born, and we'll all gather at the Evans house to celebrate being together. I can just see it, Kurt. The next year will be amazing."

One year later….

"Wow. I know you said it was rural, but I never imagined this!" Rachel stepped out of the rental car, putting her shades over her eyes and looking around. "Jesse, we can see the river from here! Maybe we can walk down there later."

"Far cry from New York, huh?" Stacy said, leaning against the car as she watched Rachel's reaction.

The second rental car pulled up, carrying Kurt and Blaine.

"Feels good to be home, doesn't it Stace?"

"Does it ever! I hope Dad and Sam were able to get the oysters. I've been dying for some! I've almost made it through my first year of performing arts school in the big bad city. I deserve a reward."

"Hey!" Kurt, Rachel, and Jesse all shouted at the same time.

"That's our home that you're calling bad. Watch it!" Kurt glowered at her, but Stacy only laughed.

"Just how many years did they say we had to live in New York before we could call it home?" she asked Blaine.

"At least a decade… because that's how many years they've lived there."

"That's not why!" Rachel objected.

"Yes, it is… otherwise we'd have no superiority over them. We came from a small town too, Rachel," Jesse reminded her.

"Well, I'll be, you're finally here!" Mary appeared on the front deck, with five dogs around her. They surged ahead, clattering down the stairs barking their heads off, and charged the newcomers.

Rachel jumped behind Jesse, shrieking.

Blaine braced himself for a hundred pounds of needy Irish Wolfhound, but it was in vain. Merida knocked him over with a flying leap, the two of them crashing in the dirt. Stacy was trying to pet all the other dogs all at once as their tails wagged frantically and they whined for more attention.

"You can stop hiding behind Jesse, Rachel. You're not the one they want," Kurt said. He went over to greet Mary as she stepped off the stairs, giving her a warm hug.

Stacy managed to extricate herself from the pack, going over to hug her mom as well, and called Rachel and Jesse over to make introductions.

Two four-wheelers roared into the yard, bringing Dwight and Sam, along with several bushels of oysters on the cart behind the vehicles.

Blaine finally managed to get up, wiping dirt off and telling Merida sternly to stay down, and went to greet his family.

The afternoon was a flurry of bringing bags in from the rental cars, showing Rachel and Jesse where things were in the house, greeting Burt and Carole when they arrived, and later Stevie, when he returned from an expedition out into the harbor to gather water samples. Kurt and Blaine settled into Blaine's old room, while Rachel and Jesse were placed in Sam's old room.

It was going to be a bit of a tight fit, with so many people in the Evan's house all week, but they'd insisted. All their children who'd been away at college all year, had returned for spring break, and they wouldn't hear of them staying in a hotel. The invitation was extended to Rachel and Jesse as friends of the family, and they'd accepted. Kurt's parents had finally found a house they liked, after months of searching, and were in the process of renovating and remodeling it while they rented an apartment. Everyone was scheduled to go see their work-in-progress house tomorrow, and they were hoping that by the time Kurt and Blaine visited again, they'd be able to house the boys at their place. For now though, it was eight adults and five dogs in the Evans house, which was more than a bit chaotic.

It was a relief to go outside when the sun started to set, and join everyone around the fire that Dwight had been nursing all afternoon till it simmered down to the sort of embers needed for roasting oysters. Everyone donned jackets against the falling temperatures and helped carry coolers out to the fireside.

Penny arrived with her and Sam's baby, both of them fresh from an afternoon nap, and the baby was passed around to be ooo'ed and ahh'ed over. Kurt went to his car and retrieved a package which he presented to Penny. When she opened it, she found a six-month size white onesie with black letters reading, "I'm not just milk drunk, I'm tit faced." Penny blushed before dissolving into giggles. Sam nearly fell into the fire laughing, and gave Kurt a high five.

When the first oysters came off the grill, Kurt demonstrated how to open them for Rachel and Jesse, who had never opened their own shellfish. They both proclaimed them to be the best oysters they'd ever had.

Everyone had satisfied their hunger, and were just sitting around chatting and still eating the occasional oyster, when Kurt nudged Blaine and whispered, "We should walk down to the river."

Almost all of them had gone down to the river before sunset, and introduced Rachel and Jesse to the smell of the marsh and the charms of the riverside…. in addition to the bugs. Kurt clearly had something else in mind though, so Blaine grabbed a flashlight and whistled for the dogs to follow them, as they set off down the path through the woods. It wasn't till they approached the dock, that it occurred to him that it was a full moon tonight, just like the first night that he'd brought Kurt down here.

He led the way to the end of the dock, his flashlight supplementing the glow of the moon, and brushed off a spot on the end of the dock before sitting, patting the place next to him to invite Kurt to join him.

Kurt gave a perfunctory sigh over sitting on the less-than-clean dock, but lowered himself to sit next to Blaine. He leaned over and gave his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, just because he felt like it.

"Remember the first time we came down here together?" Blaine asked.

"Of course. You freaked me out by talking about snakes and other critters in the woods."

"Hey, I promised that the dogs would chase away anything that might want to eat us." As if she knew she was being talked about, Merida sat down on Blaine's other side and thumped her tail, whining for attention. Blaine rubbed her automatically, studying Kurt's profile.

"Well, I survived long enough to come back here tonight, at any rate."

"After a year in New York, I have to laugh at the idea of you being afraid of anything. You moved there when you were eighteen? And you didn't know anyone but Rachel, and she was just as clueless about the city as you were? After that, I don't see how a little five-minute walk through the woods could frighten you."

"Hey, you conquered the city too. It's been almost a year, and you and Stacy both are still there. You've passed the first phase of your acclimation to New Yorkers."

"Really? What's the second phase?"

"Hmm… I don't know. I'll confer with Rachel and let you know when we've made something up."

"Of course you will."

They were silent for a moment, just listening to the waves lap gently on the shore, and one of the dogs behind them digging into the pile of shells.

"A lot has changed since we sat here the first time," Kurt commented.

"That's an understatement. I turned my whole life upside down," Blaine answered.

"Do you regret it? Any of it?"

"Not for a second."

"And the next big step? Choosing our apartment and moving in together? Any doubts?"

Blaine shook his head. "None. I feel more sure about moving in with you, than I've ever felt about anything. I'm glad that we didn't move in together when I first got to New York. It was great to have this first year as a kind of transition, to find my own way in New York, and it was fun rooming with Stacy and watching her find her way. But now… she's made friends in the city and is ready to move into a place with them, and us, well. We've had a whole year to get to know each other. Moving in together feels right, in a way that I don't think it would have a year ago."

"You're right. I'm so glad we did it this way. My boyfriend was very wise to suggest it."

"My boyfriend's not so bad himself," Blaine smiled, and leaned in to kiss him under the full moon.

THE END- THANKS FOR READING!