Kurt and Sebastian did their best to prep breakfast quietly, but they ended up waking Sam up anyway.
"Sorry, Sam," Kurt said.
"S'okay. I'm just gonna go in your bathroom and shower."
He took his towels and clothes he had pulled out the night before and headed into their room. By the time he was done, Lisette had come out as well and was sitting at the table while Sebastian and Kurt were plating everyone's breakfast.
"You two spoil me," Lisette said.
"Well, of course. Why wouldn't we?" Kurt asked smiling.
"Since I have class and work every day, I thought maybe we could all go to the Wadsworth Art Museum today for a while. None of us has been there yet. It's free for the three of us and $15 for you, Lisette. Hartford residents get in free, which I didn't realize until I looked this morning to check the price for tickets.
"Sounds good to me. We can go and then have a late lunch somewhere," she said.
"When we get back, I unfortunately still have some homework to do, but the three of you can do whatever you want," Kurt said. "I tried to get everything done ahead of time so I'd be free all day, but I didn't manage to do it."
"It's fine, sweetie. I understand. Schoolwork is a priority. I'm here for a vacation, not as a tourist. The museum sounds nice and then the rest of the time, I'll just be lazy, if that's okay with you three."
"Lazy works for me," Sam said smiling. "I can always paint or working a drawing. I'm still working on getting a good selection of pieces for my portfolio."
"Did you manage to get that eye appointment your teacher recommended?" she asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I did. It's this Thursday. I had to wait to get the time and day I needed to fit with my schedule and when I could take Sebastian's car."
"Oh, good. I hope it's useful somehow."
"Yeah, me too. I'm not really sure what it's for. I've been to an optometrist before and the guy said I didn't need glasses. But this one is some kind of specialist, so I guess we'll just wait and see."
Lisette nodded.
"Oh, I have more cool news. We've been so busy the last few days, I didn't tell anyone yet," Sam said "My teacher applied for some kind of grant and I got that computer program and an iPad."
"That's great," Lisette said.
"I'm really excited."
"What's the computer program for?" Sebastian asked.
"It's some sort of specialized training to help me learn to spell better I think. She said it might seem childish because it's usually used with younger kids, but she's seen it help older teens like me before. I figured what can it hurt? I can't possibly be worse at spelling or whatever it's supposed to help, and if playing some kiddie game could help, why not try it."
"It will be interesting to see it," Sebastian said.
"I know. I just got it Friday and we've had company so I haven't had time to install it and try it yet, but I'll definitely let you see it," Sam said. "I've been using the school's iPad, but now I'll be able to work on stuff here at home on it too."
"I'm really glad for you," Lisette said.
"Me too," Kurt said. "I want to see the computer program too after you install it."
"No problem," Sam replied.
Kurt and Sebastian stood and started to clear the table.
Sam grabbed what was left. "You three can go get ready, I'll wash up the pans and load the dishwasher."
"Thanks," Kurt said as he and Sebastian went to get dressed.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o
Kurt shut their room door behind him as he followed Sebastian into the room. He then followed Sebastian into their closet and closed the door behind them. Sebastian turned around and looked at him. Kurt stepped closer and put his arms around Sebastian's neck and started to kiss him. Sebastian got with the program quickly and pulled Kurt closer and held him around the waist. He returned the kiss and moved to push Kurt against the closet door and started kissing down his neck. By then Kurt was moaning softly. "As much as I love that, you're going to have to stop or my pants aren't going to fit right." Sebastian moved back to kissing Kurt gently on the lips.
"Mmm. But your neck is so tempting," Sebastian said quietly.
"I'll wear a scarf," Kurt said laughing.
"Spoilsport," Sebastian teased.
"I came in here to talk about whether you wanted to tell your mom. You had said you did and I thought that telling her before we go into the art museum might be fun because she could see where it happened."
"That sounds good, but I really think you came in the closet to make out. That's what it looked like to me when you started kissing me as soon as you got the door shut," Sebastian had the cutest smirk on his face.
"Well, I came in here to talk to you, but then I couldn't resist."
"Is that so?"
"You know it is. You're hard to resist, you know. Always looking so kissable and everything."
Sebastian pushed him back against the door again and started kissing his neck again. Kurt was back to moaning and then he started running his hands up and down Sebastian's arms. "Bas, we have to get dressed. They're waiting for us."
"A few minutes won't hurt them." Sebastian moved back to kissing Kurt on the lips.
"What did you spike your breakfast with?" Kurt teased.
"Nothing. I've just missed you. We didn't snuggle much last night and we got out of bed too quickly this morning."
"We'll snuggle extra tonight," Kurt said while continuing to kiss Sebastian.
"Okay. Okay. I'll get dressed." Sebastian grabbed the first pair of jeans he found, pulled out his Yale t-shirt and his favorite boots and went to the bathroom to get dressed. He kissed Kurt one last time on the way out of the closet.
Kurt put on colored jeans and one of the shirts he brought back from Paris. He was in need of a trip to the bathroom if he was going to be comfortable in his pants. Sebastian was sitting on the bed putting his socks and boots on when Kurt headed into the bathroom.
Sebastian went out to the living room while Kurt finished up getting ready.
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They took the Navigator because it was more roomy. Sam rode shotgun, so Lisette could sit with Sebastian. Kurt pulled into a spot at the end of the lot fairly close to the park. They all got out and Kurt walked toward the park instead of the museum. Sam came up on his right, Sebastian to his left, and Lisette to Sebastian's left. Kurt took Sebastian's hand in his as soon as he could reach him.
"This is a nice public space," Lisette commented. "Oh, look they have a Calder sculpture." She and Sam walked toward the sculpture.
Kurt and Sebastian slowed down a bit. "If you don't want to tell her, it's okay. I won't be upset. You can wait as long as you want to," Kurt reassured him.
"Are you kidding? I've been dying to tell her for the last few days. I almost let it out at the table last night, but we haven't told your parents either and I didn't want Nick, Jeff, and Thad to find out before your family," he said with a big smile on his face.
"Alright, then."
They approached Sam and Lisette. Sam could tell from the look on Kurt's face what they were about to do. He stepped back and gave them a little space and looked at the statue from farther away.
"So, Mom."
"Yes, sweetie," Lisette turned toward Sebastian.
"Wednesday morning, Kurt brought me here at sunrise. He asked me to marry him."
"Oh, honey. That's so sweet." She hugged Sebastian and then hugged Kurt. "So, did you set a date?"
"My plan is June 12. We haven't made any specific plans yet." Kurt answered.
"So, it's actually legal here?"
"Yes. It has been for the past four years. Connecticut was the second state to legalize same sex marriage."
"That's amazing. I'm so happy for the two of you. Have you told anyone else?"
"Just Sam, of course. We told him afterwards. He can read Kurt like a book and figured out something was up. Kurt can't keep secrets from him."
"Best friends are like that," she teased. "They become bloodhounds. They can smell secrets." She laughed. "Are you planning to tell your parents?"
"Yes. I was hoping to do it in person, but I don't want to wait so long that they feel like we kept it from them. So, we haven't figured out exactly what to do yet."
"We haven't told Dad yet either. You don't think he'll be upset do you? We're just starting to talk a little more here and there through texts. I don't want to ruin that."
"No, honey, he won't be upset. You could call him and tell him right now while I'm here and I can talk to him if he seems upset."
"Okay." Sebastian sat on a bench nearby and called Reid.
Kurt sat next to him and held his hand. Kurt looked up and saw Sam and Lisette talking while Sebastian was on the phone. Sam was on his way to getting a third mother figure with all the interest Lisette was taking in him. Kurt smiled. Sam's mom loved him, but she was always so busy working and taking care of two young kids.
Sebastian wasn't saying much. Lisette made her way over to the bench, concerned about what was going on. Before she got there, Sebastian disconnected the call. "He's not upset. But he was telling me that a bunch of stuff will change if we get married while we're still in school."
"He didn't say he'd quit paying your tuition did he?" Kurt asked.
"No, nothing like that. Just stuff about taxes and health insurance and things he said that we'd need to talk about. I don't think he was trying to talk me out of it. I think he's just very detail oriented and wants me to be completely informed before making a big decision."
"Okay. I'm still going to talk to him myself because I need to know whatever it is that he's talking about as well," Lisette said.
"I'm pretty sure I know what he's talking about. FAFSA forms, health insurance is the big one. Once we're married we can't stay on our parents health plans anymore. Our parents won't be able to claim us as dependents on their taxes anymore. Stuff like that."
"Well, don't worry about the health insurance. I can get that fixed for you. I just need to take a few of the leftover ID photos you had taken when you were in Paris. You kept them, right?"
"Yes, I did. Sort of souvenirs, but if you need them, I'll send two of them back with you."
"I'm sure we can download the forms you need to sign. You already listed our address are your French address, so it shouldn't be that hard and if I run into trouble, I'm sure that my mother knows someone who can sort it out with all of the years she's worked in the legal field."
"That would be great. Thank you."
"So, on to the museum?" she started walking back toward the museum.
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After their visit to the museum, they went to the sandwich shop that Sebastian had found online for lunch. Lisette enjoyed her conversation with the owner. And the food was very good. Kurt knew where he was going to get bread from then on.
They talked about the museum and the rest of their plans for the week while they ate.
Despite their protests, Lisette paid for everyone's lunches. "Let a mom have her fun," she finally said and they relented.
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Kurt went in their room and shut the door and settled on the bed to do the reading he needed to get done. He put ear buds in and listened to instrumental music to block out any sounds from the apartment. He wanted to push through and get everything done as quickly as possible because he wanted to go back out and be with Sebastian and Lisette.
Two hours later, with the focused determination he set out with, he managed to get all of the reading done. He didn't have any written assignments due, but he needed to do the first part of an assignment so he wouldn't fall behind. That's what he needed the stave paper for.
He sat down at his desk to listen to the music he was supposed to transcribe and worked until he had completed the song. He'd go over it again Monday once he had time to let the music escape his mind for a while and he could take a fresh look to make sure that he had done it correctly.
Sebastian came in to check on him when he was packing everything back up. He took Kurt's bag from his hand and put it in Kurt's desk chair and led him back over to the bed. "Can I hold you for a few minutes?"
"Always." Kurt could tell that something was bothering Sebastian, but that he wasn't ready to talk about it.
Sebastian lay down on his side of the bed and Kurt laid his head on Sebastian's shoulder and nuzzled his neck and Sebastian wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close. They stayed like that for about ten minutes. Sebastian kissed the top of Kurt's head and released him from the hold he had on him. Kurt tipped his head up and kissed Sebastian. "Better?"
"Much."
"I'm done. We can go out and do something with your mom and Sam if you want."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Excellent." Sebastian's mood improved quickly.
They went out to the living room.
"So, who wants to play card games?" Kurt asked.
Sam laughed. "I think we should do what Philipe suggested and give Kurt a handicap in card games."
"Why did Philipe say that?" Lisette asked.
"Because Kurt always beats everyone at card games. Philipe thought that we should give him a handicap like they do in golf so that the rest of us would actually have a chance at winning."
"I see."
"I think we should just play in teams again. Lisette can be with me until she learns how to play the game."
"Fine, fine. No handicap and you train the newbie," Sam said.
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After a couple of hours of games, everyone was ready for dinner. Kurt had planned for a chopped salad. They chopped up lots and lots of vegetables and made a huge salad because what they didn't use for dinner was going to be used for everyone's lunches the next day. Sam grilled some chicken. Kurt made dressing.
Sebastian packed up the other parts of their lunches, including things for Lisette that he was putting on the top shelf of the fridge.
Once the salad was tossed with the dressing, Sebastian packed up the lunch salads. Kurt plated the dinner salads and Sam brought in the chicken skewers and put them on top.
"You boys are quite efficient at this. And it looks delicious." They all smiled at her praise.
They enjoyed the salad and the conversation. When they were halfway done, Kurt got up and pulled the rest of Sebastian's birthday cake out of the fridge so it would warm to room temp before they were ready to eat it.
Kurt pulled his phone out and showed Lisette the photos of the party and the photo they took the morning of the proposal.
"Send me all of those in an email so I can show them to Mamie and Papi, please." Kurt sent them.
They all talked about their classes while they finished eating. Sam and Sebastian cleared the table, while Kurt cut the cake and gave everybody a slice.
"Oh, this is actually quite good," Lisette said. "It was from a store, so I assumed it would be like a typical American grocery store cake."
"Nope. I didn't order it from a grocery store. I would have made it myself, but that would have given away the fact that I was planning a party, plus I didn't really have time. I ordered it from a bakery in town that had good reviews online. I paid for it in advance and had Thad pick it up on his way here. He picked up the balloons too. Without his help, I would have lost the surprise aspect of the party."
"How'd he get in?" Sebastian asked.
"I don't actually know, now that I think about it," Sam said.
"I mailed him a key and a parking pass for those extra visitor spaces. The extra key is in my desk drawer right now. I paid for one. I figured it would come in handy if Lisette or my parents are ever staying with us and want to be able to come and go when we're not home."
Kurt started clearing the table. "Do you want to see the curtains in person? I know we sent a photo, but you can go look if you want."
Lisette got up and Sebastian followed her. Kurt finished loading the dishwasher, and then went to the bedroom.
Kurt got almost to the bedroom door and he could hear Sebastian. "I know, Mom. He's really sweet to me like that all the time."
"Why do you sound sad about it?"
"I want to do things for him too, but he doesn't really like it."
"Well, if it's any help hearing it from me, I think he actually does, he just doesn't know how to accept unconditional love."
Kurt made his entrance. "So, what do you think?"
"They look great. I told Sebastian I thought they completed the room and he laughed and said that he had said the exact same thing."
"Did you tell her about this summer?"
"Not yet. Let's go back out to the living room and sit down," Sebastian suggested.
Sebastian sat almost in the corner of the sofa facing the TV and extended his legs forward onto the sofa. Kurt sat down next with his back up against the other side of the corner and put his legs over the top of Sebastian's lap. They both put their hands in Kurt's lap and interlaced their fingers. Lisette looked at them and smiled. She could tell that they sat that way frequently by how comfortable they looked in that position.
Sam had gone into his room to work on a drawing for school, so Lisette switched back to French. "So, tell me about this summer."
They explained the job situation. She was disappointed that they wouldn't be coming to Paris for Christmas, but she was excited that they'd be staying for eight weeks in the summer.
"I understand, although it is disappointing that the two of you won't be able to be home for Christmas."
"I told Sebastian that he could still go, but he said he was going to stay here with me."
Lisette saw a little bit of what Sebastian was referring to. Kurt was willing to do whatever he could to give Sebastian what he wanted, but had a hard time when the situation was reversed.
"Maybe I can somehow manage to get myself assigned to some event in New York sometime in December. Then I could just take a few days or a week off and visit again."
"You're welcome any time. Sam probably won't be here for over a week between Christmas and New Years. More than likely, he'll be in Kentucky visiting his family. He hasn't seen them since the middle of June," Kurt said.
"I'll see what I can do. I found those forms while you were studying. Can I print them somehow?" Lisette asked.
"Sure, you can go connect your laptop to our printer. It's on the small chest between our desks. Actually, I can do it. Why don't you pick a movie? The French ones are over on the right," Kurt suggested. Kurt got up and took Lisette's laptop to the bedroom.
Lisette picked a movie, put it in and sat back down with Sebastian and waited for Kurt to come back before starting it. Kurt brought the printouts back signed along with two of the mini photos out with him in an envelope and gave everything to Lisette. She looked through the stack and said that everything seemed to be in order. She was going to double-check if there was anything else she needed the next morning when offices would be open in France.
She watched Kurt wiggle around and snuggle up against Sebastian facing the TV this time. She grabbed a pillow and put it on the coffee table and put her feet up and relaxed too while they all watched the movie.
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After the movie, Lisette pulled out her laptop and let Kurt and Sebastian look through all of the photos she took during Fashion Week.
"I saw those two garment bags you came back with that you didn't have when you left. I'll want to see what you're hiding in there too," Kurt teased.
"Ah, well those would be the fancy dresses I was wearing while I was taking a lot of those photos."
"Ooh. Maybe a private fashion show?"
"No, but I'll show you the dresses."
"Spoilsport."
"Ha! After your done looking through the photos, we can go in the bedroom and I'll show them to you."
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That night while Kurt waited for Sebastian to get out of the shower, he thought about what he had heard Sebastian saying to Lisette. He was making his sweet Bas sad when he refused his offers. He had to stop. No matter how hard it was for him to graciously accept Sebastian's gifts, they were acts of love. Kurt loved to give gifts. He knew how happy it made him when the person enjoyed the gift he had given. He always put a lot of thought into the gifts he gave. He was denying Sebastian the same pleasure. When he repaid Sebastian for things, that was a rejection of the gift of the love he put into giving it to Kurt. He knew that a lot of it came down to what Lisette had said. He didn't know how to accept unconditional love. He didn't feel worthy of it. Enough was enough.
Sebastian came out of the bathroom, turned off his light, and got in bed. Kurt sat up and moved toward the center of the bed and sat down. "Come this way. I want to try something."
"Sit facing me and put your legs in front of you, but slightly parted and bend your knees." Kurt slid up close and slipped his legs underneath Sebastian's and scooted up until they were chest to chest. "You can relax your legs and wrap them around me, like I am with mine around you."
Sebastian nuzzled Kurt's neck and started kissing his neck. "That feels amazing, but can we talk for a few minutes first?" Sebastian stopped the kisses, but stayed nuzzled close.
"I heard what you said right before I walked into the bedroom this afternoon. I want to apologize. I'm really sorry."
"For what?" Trying to remember what he was talking about at the time.
"I think it just never clicked until I heard what your mom's response was. Me throwing you the party was an act of love."
"I know."
"But for whatever reason, even though I do things for you out of love, I kept feeling like I shouldn't let you do things for me. That was really, really wrong of me and I'm sorry. I won't do it anymore. I won't reject any form of love you give me. I can't do that to you. I'm so sorry that I've hurt you."
"You mean it this time? You really get it now, don't you? It's never been about money or power or control. I just want to use whatever's within my reach to do something for you because I love you. You sing for me. You designed our room with my likes in mind. You make food I like. You did those things and a lot of others because you love me. So, you'll let me do things for you and not feel guilty any more?"
"Yes. I've realized my misguided attempt at whatever it was - I don't even know anymore. But I was wrong. Forgive me?"
"Always."
"I didn't mean to hurt you." Kurt pulled him close.
"I know, mon ange. I know. I forgive you."
"Thank you."
"So, you'll stop slipping money into my wallet when I pick things up like the stave notebook or the thread?"
"Yes."
"Good. Can I go back to kissing you now?" he teased.
"Please do."
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Monday afternoon, Kurt's phone pinged with a text about ten minutes before the Adam's Apples were scheduled to meet.
Kurt met Adam by the bulletin board as the text requested.
Adam walked up and very seriously got down on one knee like a TV proposal and said, "I beg of you. Please join the Apples. I will do anything to get you to say 'yes.'"
"Well, first off, get up off your knees. You're causing a scene."
"That's what theater majors tend to do."
"Well, stop. Let's go over there and sit down," Kurt said pointing to a bench. Once they were seated, he spoke again. "Why are you so desperate to get me to join?"
"Because you're amazing. 'Single Ladies' and those other songs. You've got what we need."
"And what's that?"
"Loads of talent and no shame," he laughed.
Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm so busy Adam. I'm taking 11 classes and I work 20 hours a week."
"I'll make you a deal. I'll run lines with you for acting. I know all of those dialogues by heart and I know what the professors are trying to teach. I can give you pointers. I'm good. I have a 3.8 GPA and I can prove it if you want."
"Fine. But if I end up not being able to keep caught up on my work, I'll have to quit."
"Come on. It's about to start." Adam grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him across the atrium with a huge smile on his face.
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Papi texted Kurt while the Apples were rehearsing. He asked for Kurt to call as soon as he had time. Kurt had class right after rehearsal, but he called as soon as he got out of class.
"Sorry for the delay, Papi."
"Say that again. Wait. Let me move outside where it's quiet. I think I misunderstood what you said."
"Okay. I can hear well now."
"I wasn't hearing things. How did it change so much?"
"I see."
"Just do whatever you think is best. I trust you and I don't have any time to look into anything else right now. I'm struggling to stay afloat right now. This is my 10th day of class and I'm just now getting my schedule in my head. It's just so very different from high school and from Sebastian's schedule."
"Well, he has six classes and they meet on Monday/Wednesday/Friday."
"Mine is different because I have 11 classes. Some meet Monday/Wednesday/Friday. Others meet only Monday and Wednesday. Some on Tuesday and Thursday. And some meet only on Fridays. It's really crazy."
"Plus, I work 20 hours a week at the shop I told you about."
"Yes, Papi, I'm eating well and sleeping. I just don't have time to do any research right now. I'm sorry."
"Yes, whatever you think is a good idea is fine with me."
"Thank you for everything. Bye, Papi."
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Kurt forced himself to focus as he stretched at the barre. Ballet was his last class of the afternoon before he headed off to work.
Adam was waiting for him outside the dance studio when class was over.
"Oh, hey Adam. If you want to talk, you'll have to walk with me to my truck. I can't be late to work."
"So, Saturday night was fun. Do all of you go there every Saturday night?"
"Well, Sam, Sebastian and I do. Elliott is usually there. Sometimes with his roommates, Dani and Charlene - both girls. The other three guys were just there because it was Sebastian's birthday on Friday and they came to visit. They might come once in a while."
"Too many names."
"You were sitting next to Elliott. Sebastian is the one I sang "Run to You" with. He's my boyfriend. Sam is the one with the dark blond highlights. He's my best friend. The three of us live here in Hartford in an apartment."
"I live in a dorm."
"Well, if I ever manage to get my act together and we reinstate movie night, you're welcome to join us. I hope you're a bit of a sci fi fan though. That's Sam's favorite genre and he's instructing us his geeky ways. Although Sebastian and I were already Dr Who fans on our own before Sam's influence."
"Well, that sounds like fun. I love Dr Who."
"I'll let you know if we get movie night up and running again." By then they had reached the Navigator. "I'll see you Wednesday. I can't be late. Too much rides on my keeping this job." Kurt hopped in and backed up, waving at Adam as he pulled out of the space.
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Kurt walked in the door from work, greeted Lisette who was sitting on the sofa reading, and headed straight for the bathroom. He walked through the bedroom door, turned slightly back to shut the door behind him and turned back and was greeted by a smiling Sebastian. Kurt jumped back. "You startled me. I didn't realize you were in the closet."
"I'm sorry." He kissed him gently. "I'm glad to see you. I'll wait in here for you to get done."
Kurt grabbed pajamas, hurried to the bathroom, showered and came back out. Sebastian was sitting at his desk writing something when he came out, but he got up as soon as he heard Kurt step out of the closet after dumping his dirty clothes in the laundry basket.
He surrounded Kurt with a bear hug, followed by another kiss. Kurt remembered what he had said about accepting Sebastian's affection and love when it was offered and he relaxed into the hug and melted into Sebastian and let some of the stress slip away. Sebastian felt the change and smiled.
"Ready to face the dinner dilemma?" he asked in very solemn voice.
"What's the dinner dilemma?"
"Mom wants to order pizza," he said as if he were delivering the news of a smashed car window.
"And?" Kurt looked thoroughly confused.
"Mom wants to order one of those deep dish ones with all the meats. You had planned on making stir fry tonight," still sounding like it was a serious, life-altering decision he was being asked to make.
"So, we order the one she wants and one of those super thin crust ones with lots of veggies."
"Perfect," he squeaked as if Kurt had solved world hunger. Kurt laughed at him. He kissed Kurt again. "I love you. Come on and let's deliver the verdict." He took Kurt by the hand and moved to open their bedroom door.
"You're so silly sometimes. And I love that you make me laugh. Thank you for the bear hug. I needed that and didn't even know it." He leaned up and kissed Sebastian again. "I love you."
Sebastian led Kurt over to the sofa, sat in the corner and pulled Kurt into his lap. "Kurt, the Courageous has solved our dinner dilemma."
"Oh, he has, has he?"
"Two pizzas."
"I thought you were Sebastian the Sagacious," Kurt said. "Shouldn't you have been able to figure that one out on your own?"
"You two are silly. Order from whatever place that all of you like," Lisette said to Sebastian.
A few minutes later, Sam came in soaking wet.
"Oh, Sam. I didn't know it was raining." Kurt hopped off Sebastian's lap and ran into Sam's bathroom and brought one of his towels out to him. "It wasn't when I left work or I would have texted you and had you wait for me to come get you."
Sam slipped his shoes off right inside the door and slipped them onto the hall tree bench shoe rack.
"It just dumped bucket loads of water all at once about five blocks from here. It's just sprinkling now. I bet the brief downpour was when you were in the shower and no one could hear it over the water running."
He took the towel from Kurt and headed to his room to get another clean towel and his pajamas and went into the other bathroom to shower.
Fifteen minutes later, Sam was back and threw his towels and clothes in the washer. "It's a pajama party, right? He looked more closely. "Oh, I only saw Kurt I guess."
"Pajama party sounds great. I'll go shower before the pizzas come," Sebastian said.
Lisette got up and went and put her pajamas on and came back out as well. "Now, it's a pajama party," she said.
A few minutes later, the pizzas arrived. Lisette paid and tipped the delivery guy. Sebastian came out a few minutes later.
"Alright boys, pajama pizza party time. We need a good movie for this."
"Back to the Future, definitely," Sam said.
"Put it in," Kurt said as he grabbed plates and napkins. Sebastian grabbed the pizza boxes and put them on the coffee table.
"Ooh. All the meats and a veggie pizza. Good mix," Sam said as he opened the boxes.
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While the other three continued on with the pajama party by watching the next two Back to the Future movies, Kurt went to study and finish his homework. He put his ear buds in and reviewed the piece he had to transcribe. He was pleased with what he had done originally and packed it away to turn in the next day. He did more reading and worked on upcoming assignments to not leave anything to the last minute.
By the time Sebastian came in to go to bed, Kurt was packing everything into his backpack for the next day. He carried it out and hung it on the hall tree and checked to see if their lunches had been packed. He found one for him and Sam. Sebastian was obviously planning to go out with his mom.
He went back into the bedroom and shut the door. Only Sebastian's light was on and he was in bed. Once Kurt sat on the edge of the bed, Sebastian turned the light off. He waited for Kurt to lie down and then he scooted up and waited for Kurt to move his arm so he could snuggle up and lay his head on Kurt's shoulder. Kurt started running his fingers through Sebastian hair.
"Mmm. I love it when you do that. It's so relaxing."
"It relaxes me too."
"How was ballet?"
"Well, I'm not the worst student, so that was a relief. And there was no yelling or name calling, which was even more of a relief."
"I bet. After what you said you saw in New York, I know you were nervous about it."
"I was. But I think it's going to be okay. But I did cave today."
"What do you mean?"
"I joined the Adam's Apples."
Sebastian laughed. "I saw that coming you know. You just can't resist getting up and performing and the group looked like so much fun. I knew you'd want to join."
"Are you still going to audition for an a cappella group?"
"No. I've changed my mind."
"Why?"
"I looked into it and it's a lot of team work and bonding and rivalry with the other groups. Meetings in the evenings, weekends, performances, parties together. I'm just not ready for that yet. Maybe never. It's like the fraternity thing. I'm just not that kind of guy. I'd rather stay home and read a book with you or watch movies with Sam."
"You were great as the lead Warbler, but I know that was different because it was during the school day and it didn't involve partying, driving an hour each way to evening rehearsals and what not. You just need to do whatever is right for you. We can still sing at the karaoke place and you know I'm always up for singing pretty much all the time if you want someone to sing with. Sam's got his guitar. We can be an acoustic trio right here at home."
"You know that sounds a lot better," Sebastian said. "We need to see how to fit that and a movie night in. I want you and Sam to still spend time together. I don't want you two to just see each other in passing."
"Me either. I was thinking about it earlier. We should all have a decent idea of what's expected of us by this weekend. I think we should have a family meeting Sunday morning and get our family activities prioritized."
"We are a family now, aren't we?"
"Yep. You and Sam have become friends in your own right."
"That we have. We're a crazy set of Musketeers. I think my mom wants to adopt him. He's already worked his charms on her too."
Kurt laughed. "I first noticed it at breakfast and then when we went to the museum. She was mothering him in the park before we went inside the museum."
"Well, she always wanted a bunch of kids. Now, she's got three boys."
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Kurt drove Sam to school. On the way there, Sam asked, "How does Lisette speak English so well? I've been meaning to ask you, but hadn't managed to get you where she couldn't hear."
"She went to college in New York and went to Yale for graduate school. That's where she met Reid, Sebastian's dad. Then, she lived in Ohio until Sebastian was six. So, she lived here in the States from 18 to mid-thirties, like 15 years or so."
"I see. So, both of his parents went to Yale."
"Yes, and his grandfather and his great grandfather. He is a fourth generation Yale legacy."
"Wow. That's why it's so important to his dad then?"
"Yeah. But his dad has lifted the requirements that were put on his father and on him. They were both required to study law, join a particular fraternity and then work in the family law firm. Reid broke that tradition and is allowing Sebastian to choose his own major and obviously he is living with us and not pledging the fraternity."
"That's interesting. I only know what I saw that time we were at his house when his dad didn't come out the whole time."
"Sebastian and I found out some things since then and Reid is getting help. I don't want to break a confidence. That's why you see Sebastian's views on his dad changing, but it's a struggle. They're working on it together."
"Thanks for the ride. See ya later."
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o
Kurt and Sam came home to a nearly ready 3-course French meal. Sebastian and Lisette had been to the sandwich shop and bought French bread. They found French cheese somewhere. Kurt hurried into the bedroom, showered changed into nice clothes and went back out to the kitchen. Sam had gone and changed into clean clothes as well.
They all sat down to the beautiful bowls of soup that Sebastian had made. Everyone enjoyed the main course and the dessert as well.
"Well boys, I've enjoyed being here with all of you. I hate that I have to leave already, but work is in Paris and I've got to head back. I will see if I can find ways to sneak back as often as possible."
"Kurt, I left a copy of the photos I took. Just don't show the DVD to anyone, like I said."
"Thank you."
"Before you go, let's all sit on the sofa and get a few photos of all of us," Kurt said.
After a few photos, Kurt and Sam cleared the table while Sebastian took Lisette's suitcases out to his car. She hugged Sam and thanked him for the generosity of letting her have his room for so long.
She pulled Kurt out the front door with her and hugged him there. "I'm so happy for you and Sebastian. My only advice for you is to let him love you. I know it's hard for you sometimes. But you mean everything to him. I'm so glad you two are together. You can do this. Just don't push him away. He's had more than enough of that. So, have you. Hold each other close. I hope to see you soon, Kurt."
"Me too. Thank you for everything." He stood by the door and waved as they drove off, and then he went back inside to help Sam pack up lunches from the leftovers.
"She's a really cool person," Sam said.
"Yes, she is. I hope she manages to find a way to come again before Spring Fashion Week."
Kurt put the leftovers into the lunch bags and put them in the fridge.
"The kids at school don't tease you about your lunches do they? You've not really talked about your classmates much."
"Mostly, I'm just that nerdy kid who takes a ton of art classes, which is fine with me. I already have a best friend and a second best friend. I don't really need to find someone to be close to at school. No one is hassling me about anything. The school doesn't tolerate bullying at all, not that anyone is trying to bully me because no one is. But it's just a different atmosphere than McKinley. There's no shoving in the hallways. Someone would get suspended if they intentionally threw a slushie at someone. The teachers that I have care. I can't say anything about the others. But I'm there to learn to be a better artist and the teachers are teaching me that. Other than that, the resource teacher is helping me with preparing for the SAT and college."
"Sounds like the school is what it seemed to be online, which is what I was hoping for. You like it well enough and you're learning, which is a step up from McKinley. Oh, before I forget, we're having a family meeting Sunday morning over breakfast. I want to reinstate movie night and I want to add music night too where we all sing together."
"Sounds fun. I won't make plans to go anywhere early on Sunday. Just so you know, I'll be taking the SAT on October 6th. That way if I don't do that well, I still have time to retake it again on November 3rd. I need to ask where I have to go to take it. Hopefully just to the school. I got the extra time the school requested and I get to sit by myself."
"Excellent. Someone really needs to make Miss Pillsbury learn to be a decent counselor. Being nice is her only redeeming quality. Never mind, no soap box. That's all over. Now things are being done right. Focus on the now."
"You sounded like a self-help guru there."
"Ohmmm," Kurt hummed as he tried hard not to laugh. Sam wasn't successful and burst out laughing.
"Go do your homework Mr. Zen."
"I wish doing homework brought inner peace. I'd be so zen, you'd have to use a wheelbarrow to move me."
Sam just laughed more.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o
As the rest of the week went on, Kurt began to feel more at ease with his schedule. He didn't think it would become ingrained at any point in time because it just felt too unbalanced, but he was getting used to it.
Sam went to his optometrist appointment on Thursday. Sebastian took him on the that chance Sam would end up having his eyes dilated. The appointment went well, but it wasn't like any other optometrist appointment he had ever been to. In the end, it was recommended that he come back for vision therapy and he was prescribed glasses with prism lenses. His insurance would cover the vision therapy and the glasses, which he could pick up the following week.
He would need to make an appointment to start the therapy, which would consist of coming in one day a week and then doing six days of exercises and activities. He decided to talk to Kurt and Sebastian about the therapy because he'd need a vehicle to get to the office. He asked for available time slots so he could see if he could work any of them into his schedule.
Sebastian decided to do some reading for his Spanish lit class while he waited for Sam. He had picked up four clients for French tutoring and two for Spanish, which was exactly the number he was looking for. He focused his mind back on getting the assigned pages read. An hour later, Sam was back with a paper of possible therapy times. A few minutes later his name was called and Sam left again to go choose his new glasses. Sebastian went back to reading. Fifteen minutes later, Sam was back and ready to go.
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The three of them were sitting on the sofa after dinner. "Why don't you just take the earliest appointment on Tuesdays. That way you don't miss any of your art classes. It's only for six weeks. We can make it work somehow. If this is something that has any possibility of actually helping you, we can find a way to make it work for six weeks," Kurt said emphatically. "I've never heard of any of this, but that doesn't make it invalid or unscientific. Maybe it only helps 5% of people who do it. Doesn't seem like much unless you're one of those 5%, then it means a lot to you."
"Now, we see the side of the Kurt known as the 'determined Kurt'," Sam said in his best impression of a nature documentary narrator.
Sebastian started laughing.
"Fine, fine. Whatever. But if this might help you, then you're doing it," Kurt said, then added, "And you'll wear the glasses."
"Yes, Mom."
"Now, you're just asking for it," Kurt said as he grabbed a pillow and whacked Sam with it."
"If you're going to wrestle, take it outside," Sebastian said.
"Yes, Dad," Sam smarted back.
Sebastian grabbed him around the waist, giving Kurt a better chance of whacking him. After one good hit to the torso, Kurt put the pillow back. "I'm good. I'm done. I just.."
Before he could get the sentence out, Sam had pulled him into a hug. "I know. I know. I'll go do the therapy and wear the glasses. I promise."
Kurt was crying.
"Hey, hey now, don't cry. This is good."
"It is. They're good tears. Hopeful tears. Maybe the optometrist offers some kind of help to guys like me who cry too easily. Maybe my tear ducts are defective."
"Nope. You just have an extra big heart," Sam said.
"That leaks out my eyes? I need a cardiologist then," Kurt laughed. "I bet I can be in some medical journal. Photo on page 45, male patient age 19. His heart leaked out his eyes. No known cure."
"Now, you're just being ridiculous," Sam said.
"It's better than crying more," he said as he wiped his eyes.
"My good news is that I got my sixth and final client for the semester," Sebastian said.
"That's great!" Sam said excitedly.
"Congratulations," Kurt offered. "I hate to say this, but I have work to do." He got up and hugged Sam. "I'm glad things are moving forward. It's exactly what I had hoped for."
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Sebastian stayed in the living room and read more of the Spanish novel he had been reading earlier that day. After an hour or so, he put the book down and just lay back thinking about the future. The question of why Kurt wanted to graduate more quickly came back into his mind again. He also thought about their wedding. What would Kurt want? What did HE want? It would be expensive to have people fly in from France.
He'd want his mom for sure. What about Mamie and Papi? Kurt's grandparents? What about even telling Kurt's parents? They hadn't done that yet. He got up to go see how long Kurt thought it might take to finish what he was doing.
He opened their bedroom door to find Kurt in nothing but the dance shorts and ballet slippers going through ballet positions with classical music playing quietly in the background. The sight caught Sebastian off guard and nearly made him forget why he had gone to talk to Kurt in the first place.
Kurt obviously heard him come in and turned to look at him. He saw Sebastian looking him up and down and staring. "Um, let me get a..."
Sebastian shut the door behind him, which had forgotten to do due to his loss of focus upon entering the room. "Yeah, whatever it is, you don't need it. God, you're hot. Don't stop on my account."
"I'm going to need some mirrors. I can practice easily enough because of the hardwood floors in here, but without being able to see myself, I could be practicing a position wrong and that won't help at all."
"We'll look for some mirrors," Sebastian offered. "Really don't stop on my account. I'll just lie on the bed and stay out of your way." Sebastian walked over to the bed and lay down on his stomach, propped up on his elbows, facing where Kurt was practicing.
Kurt went back to practicing the positions and doing a few pliés in each position to get a feel for what his body needed to be doing. Afterward, he sat down on the floor to do more stretching.
Sebastian decided right then that he was going back to the store where he bought the shorts and he was buying another pair for himself. He was going to get back into ballet. Being fit and flexible was a good idea, especially if he got to watch Kurt in those shorts.
"Did you order a dance belt?"
"Yes, I remembered a couple of days ago that I hadn't done it. I ordered one just like yours. It should come soon, probably tomorrow. You came in here for a reason, I'm assuming. Did you want to shower first or something?"
"No. I was thinking about us getting married. And I just wanted to see how long it would be until you were going to be done with your schoolwork. I wanted to talk to you."
"Well, I finished my reading. If you can focus while I'm doing this, we can talk."
"Mmm. I'll try."
Kurt laughed.
"I was just wondering if you had ideas. I know you planned Burt and Carole's wedding."
"I did. I used to plan weddings a lot. My dad probably thought I'd grow up to be a wedding or party planner. I had a whole bunch of wedding and bridal magazines in a trunk in my bedroom in our old house."
"I've seen The Wedding Planner with my mom. I could totally see you as the character Jennifer Lopez played. Safety pins and a whole kit of things to fix last-minute catastrophes. You're so organized and practical."
"Thanks. I could probably see myself doing well at it, but I think it would only be fun a couple of times. People get really nasty when they're stressed out and I think that would eventually take a toll on me."
"I can see that. Dealing with the 10th bridezilla in a month or two would make me want to quit," he laughed.
"Have you ever thought about what you'd want?" Sebastian turned over and stared at the ceiling. He really couldn't focus watching Kurt stretching like that.
"Well, growing up in France, the wedding is all about the celebration. The ceremony itself isn't the big focus like it is here I guess from seeing a few movies. I don't honestly know much about American weddings. I never really envisioned a lot of people. I guess mostly because the weddings I've been to have been for people who had huge extended families and I don't really have that, so I never thought about my wedding - if I ever had one - being a big production."
"I think with people who wait until they're older to get married - they've had a lot of time as adults in the workforce where they've made a lot of acquaintances and then they can't invite Rick without offending Sally and their guest list just grows to epic size. And then family members, like you mentioned. I don't have a large family here, so that was never an issue. Adding Finn and Carole doubled my family size to four."
"I can see that about the difficulty in drawing a line on who gets invited and who doesn't once you have a job and you interact with a lot of people consistently."
"You said the wedding in France is more about the celebration. Do you mean a party, like a reception after the ceremony?"
Sebastian nodded. "I've only been to a couple of weddings and I was younger, but there was food and dancing. The ceremony was short and simple, but the party was more of the focus. People celebrating with the couple and having fun."
"So, if we just had our parents here for a simple ceremony and then we have a party, reception, dinner, whatever when we get to France, that would be a compromise, right? I mean we can't even get married legally in France, so holding a wedding ceremony there would just be for show, right?"
"Right. I don't know anything about the political aspect of it. If we're legally married here, I don't know if the French government will recognize that or not. I guess it doesn't make a difference right now since we're living here and visiting there."
"I would place my bets on France not recognizing the legality of it. The US states that haven't legalized same sex marriage do not recognize same sex marriages that have been performed in states that have legalized it. So, we can get married here, but as soon as we drive into a state that hasn't legalized same sex marriages, we won't be considered married."
"That's really dumb, but I understand."
"You didn't answer my question though. I guess it comes down to how your family members like Mamie, Papi, Sophie, Robert, and Philipe will feel if they aren't invited. I really don't want them to feel left out, but spending nearly $10,000 to come to a short ceremony seems ridiculous to me, especially when we're going to be flying there the same week. And if they all come, my grandparents will feel bad that they couldn't afford to come. I seriously don't need a $10,000 party, but I mean if they want to celebrate with us, maybe we could just rent a room in a nice restaurant and have a nice dinner together once we get to France. Unless there are other people you'd want to invite and we can have whatever traditional celebration you want to have."
"I think you're right. Having a ceremony in France won't matter because it's not legal anyway. But I like the idea of a dinner somewhere. We can have your grandparents and even all of those cousins of yours from Alsace, if you want. It would be a lot less expensive than having seven or nine people come here from France. We'd have to get hotels for a couple of nights on top of the plane tickets."
"So, we have a simple ceremony here. Just our parents? I'll be honest, I can't exclude Sam. He's my best man."
"I get that. I'd choose Philipe for that. I'll talk to Mom. She can talk to Mamie and Papi. Maybe she can come up with a way to keep them from getting their feelings hurt if I just have Philipe fly here for the ceremony. You're not going to invite Finn?"
"I don't know how to deal with that. He and I aren't close. I'll have to think about it. I don't want to hurt Carole. She's even apologized for how he treated me. It's not like she doesn't know that we aren't close."
"That's tough."
"It is. At one point, I really hoped we could be close. After Sam came back, it just really became obvious that Finn and I just were never going to be close. That's when I realized that wasn't that he had to share his mom with me or that he had to share space that made him not want me around. When Sam moved in, it was like 'bro time all the time' with Sam. He didn't mind sharing his mom or his space with Sam. 'Bro' hugs, video games, etc. - those were all normal things to do with Sam, but not with me. I'm not actually bad at video games. I just never had any interest. Sam taught me to play all those games. I'm also not bad at sports. I just never had any interest. Playing sports meant having to spend even more time with the guys who harassed me. I mean I won the football team their only winning game my sophomore year and that didn't stop the bullying. I thought if they could see that I could be an asset to the team, that maybe I could at least live in peace. I didn't expect friendship bracelets and invitations to their sleepovers."
Sebastian laughed. "I get it. You can do all of the things that Sam can do, play sports, play video games, but you're gay, so Finn can't do them with you."
"That's pretty much exactly it. If I beat Finn at something, then it would be a blow to his masculinity, like having a GIRL beat him at a video game or a sport. I know you've heard me tease Sam about calling me or you 'dude'. But he knows that I actually like it, but only from him. I NEVER let Finn get away with calling me that. If and when he treats me like a guy, he can call me 'dude'. Sam treats me like one of the guys. He can call me 'dude' all he wants."
"I get it."
"So, inviting Finn to a wedding that he doesn't really accept as valid when he has treated me like girl all this time doesn't appeal to me. Honestly, if I told him we're getting married, my bet is one of the first questions will be - 'so you'll wear white and Burt will walk you down the aisle' or something equating me to the bride and you as the groom."
"Weird."
Kurt sat down on the floor at the end of the bed and looked up at the ceiling. "What so interesting on the ceiling?" he teased.
"My ability to focus was greatly impaired by my previous view."
"Is that so?" Kurt laughed.
"It is."
"So, we're agreed on our parents and Sam. You'll talk to your mom about Philipe. I guess I'll talk to Carole about Finn after we actually tell them we're getting married."
"Are you planning to do that soon? I feel like if we keep putting it off, it makes it seem like we're not secure in our decision, if that makes sense."
"I get it. I'm going to go shower. We can keep talking afterwards or during if you come too."
"What?"
"Shower."
"Well, I'm pretty sure that my ability to hold an intelligent conversation in the shower with you is non-existent."
"Well, I can't say that I could either. I wouldn't know. I've never tried," he teased.
"Me either."
"Well, the offer remains open. You know where to find me." He got up, winked at Sebastian, grabbed pajama pants and went into the bathroom."
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They were both in bed snuggled up - Sebastian's head was on Kurt's shoulder and Kurt was running his hand through Sebastian hair when Sebastian asked, "Were you teasing?"
"About the shower?"
"Mmm hmm."
"No, I wasn't teasing."
"You're not upset I didn't join you are you?"
"I would like you to sometime, but I'm not upset."
"I couldn't tell whether you were teasing or not."
"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be confusing. I was going for alluring. I'll have to work on that."
"No, you were plenty alluring. It just wasn't something we had talked about before, so I just took it as a joke."
"I can see that. We can talk about it now, if you want. You've already seen me. So, it's more a matter of what you're comfortable with."
"But you were terrified then, so that doesn't count for me in thinking that you were actually okay with it."
"I can understand that. But it is okay with me. I will still be nervous because it's new to me. But some night, whenever you're ready, you can join me, okay?"
"Okay." He traced I LOVE YOU on Kurt's chest and went back to the random patterns he was doing before. He leaned up and kissed Kurt.
Kurt shifted to his side so they could kiss more easily.
"We were talking about family members earlier," Kurt resumed their wedding conversation from earlier.
"Umm hmm."
"I've never heard you mentioned you dad's mom."
"Oh, that's because she died before my mom and dad met. I don't really know anything about her at all."
"Oh," Kurt paused, and changed the subject. "So, we're going to have a very small, family-only wedding. Any ideas on what you want to wear?"
"I figured suits, I guess. But it can be more dressy or even casual, if you want."
"I think we can look at some men's fashion magazines online, maybe and get some ideas. I don't want to dress identical. We're not twins."
"My dad is used to wearing suits. He'll wear one as his default setting."
"My dad's default is faded out jeans, a flannel shirt and a baseball cap. But his second default setting is a suit now that he's been in DC so long."
"Maybe we incorporate our favorite colors somehow."
"Mmm hmm. What about last names? Hyphenate, keep?" Kurt asked.
"Sebastian Alexander Hummel-Smythe. Sebastian Alexander Smythe-Hummel," Sebastian said, trying out the options.
"I think Hummel-Smythe is easier to say than Smythe-Hummel.
Sebastian repeated both ways several times. "I think you're right."
"But even if we decided to hyphenate our last names legally, we can still just go by our own last names for everyday stuff. I'm okay with either option."
"I'm leaning toward just keeping our names the way they are. But we can keep thinking about it."
"I just know it's one of those things that people will end up asking. And if things go the way they have for me, everyone will assume that I'm just going to take your last name."
"Because you're quote 'the girl' unquote."
"You got it."
"We could shock them all and change our last name to my mom's last name."
Kurt laughed. "That would shock everyone. Kurt Delarue."
"Hummel suits you more. It's just what I'm used to."
"Sebastian Delarue sounds strange to me too. Smythe suits you because that's what I'm used to."
"So, we just keep our own names?"
"I think so."
"As long as I get to keep you, the name part doesn't really matter to me." Sebastian kissed him.
"That's exactly how I feel about the whole thing."