It took a while for them to all get slushies, but after a while, they sat on the grass in a messy circle, each clutching a freezing cold cup of coloured ice. There were three flavours available so no cup was the same because they mixed them and had different quantities.
"Are we going to the beach again this afternoon?" Puck asked.
"I think we should" Rachel said, nodding and playing with the straw in her cup.
"I doubt we'll get a chance to tomorrow" Quinn said wistfully.
"What time is our flight tomorrow?" Sam asked.
"In the afternoon, I think" Kurt answered. "Or early evening."
"And we'll have to be at the airport a few hours before" Mercedes added.
"I just want to sleep in a real bed" Sugar smiled. "I'm done with the floor."
"Floors are cozy" Finn said.
"I miss my parents" Joe said, sipping his slushie. "I've never been away from them for so long."
"Didn't you ever go to summer camp or something?" Sam asked Joe.
"No."
"Oh... well, we'll be home to our families sooner than we'll know" Sam said firmly.
"Rory, why do you look like a hurt puppy?" Tina asked, noticing Rory, who looked incredibly sad. He stared down dismally into his slushie as if he was searching for some life meaning. At Tina's words, Rory looked up.
"Sorry, I was just...thinking."
"About?"
"Well, I'm probably the only one here who doesn't want to leave. Because in one week I'll be back in Ireland. As much as miss my family, I'm gonna really miss you guys because you're my new family" Rory explained to them.
"One week?" Mike asked.
Rory nodded sullenly.
"Wow, we're gonna miss you so much" Mercedes said.
"Ooooh Rory, don't go" Sugar cried and threw her arms around him. "Who else is gonna tell me that I'm the prettiest girl in the world?"
Finn held up his half finished slushie with a dignified look. "To Rory, who shall forever be our favourite Irish person. He's a great friend and a cool dude and we're gonna miss you."
Everyone else held up their cups and nodded. "To Rory" they echoed.
Several of them had tears in their eyes. Rory was actually crying. Mercedes pulled out her camera and took pictures of it all.
"Thanks, you guys" Rory said. "And I'll be sure to come visit you as often as I can."
"You'll always have a room at my house" Brittany said. "Unless Lord Tubbington moves in there and starts a meth lab."
Rory gave a watery smile. "But enough of this sadness now. Let's enjoy the rest of the trip, aye?"
"Aye" several of them said with a laugh.
Emma was going through the fridge and Will was going through the cupboards. The counters, although small, were piled high with food.
"We gotta use this cheese" Emma said, tossing half a cheese block on the counter.
"And these Arrowroot cookies are half eaten" Will sighed placing the box next to three cartons of chocolate milk.
"Okay let's split this food into lunch food, dinner food, tomorrow's lunch food, stuff that can stay, snack food and other food" Emma said, looking at all the food.
"Are you kidding me?" Sue groaned loudly, walking into the small kitchen. "It's lovely outside on our last day of vacation and those little crybabies are out of the cottage and you two nubs are in here sorting food?"
Will chuckled just to clear the air. "Well someone has to do it, and you know no one else will."
"And I like sorting" Emma said happily. "It makes things neat."
Sue rolled her eyes. "That's pathetic. Completely pathetic. Go to the beach! This is potentially your last moments alone."
"You could help us out, Sue" Will said. "It'll get done faster."
Sue sighed. "Fine. But it's only so I can get a say in what's for lunch."
"And because you're being nice" Will added with a victorious smirk.
"If that's what you want to believe" Sue replied, picking up a jar of pickles.
"Thank you, Sue" Will chimed.
Sue paused. "You're welcome."
"So what do you guys think of this prank the kids have going?" Emma asked.
Will chuckled. "I think it's kinda smart."
"Noah is a good target" Emma said. "He's such a bad-boy but something like this will strip him to his emotions."
"It'll be hilarious" Sue said smugly.
"Hopefully they can pull it off" Will said. "A lot needs to be done."
"I think they'll do it" Emma said. "They're bright kids and between them all, they'll be able to ensure it's all perfectly set up."
"Hate to be a downer, but I think they'll fail" Sue said. "They'll miss something and even Mr. Mohawk will be smart enough to notice it."
Will made a 'tsk' sound. "That's why we're helping. We gotta make sure it doesn't fail."
"I suppose" Sue said, putting some pears in their designated pile.
"Well, look at that" Emma said some twenty minutes later. "We are done!"
All the food was separated into piles properly. The stacks covered the counters, but Emma made sure that they were neatly stacked so it was symmetrical when possible.
Will clapped his hands once. "Great!"
"That wasn't fun at all" Sue admitted, leaning against the counter.
"But now we're done" Will said. "The kids will probably be home soon."
"Home? This isn't home, really" Emma said.
"After almost two weeks it seems like it is" Sue rolled her eyes.
"I guess home is wherever the group is. We're like a family so this is our temporary home" Will smiled.
"That's just weird" Sue commented.
"Does anyone want to go down to the beach?" Emma asked.
"Nah, I'm good" Sue said. "I'll stay here. My room is a mess anyways, I should clean that."
"I'll come to the beach with you, Em" Will said.
Emma smiled brightly. "Yay."
When the last of the slushies were gone, they got up and went over to the playground. It was still loaded with little kids, so they decided not to hang around any longer. They walked back to their mound of bikes and grabbed their respective ones. They biked back to the cottage, glad to get a breeze while they biked as it was very hot out.
"We're ba-ack!" Rachel sang as they went into the cottage. There was a rush to get right in front of the small revolving fan.
"Mr. Schue?" Rachel asked when she didn't get a response.
"I don't think anyone's here" Artie said. "They must have gone out."
"We didn't see them in Town" Sam frowned.
"Maybe they took another route? Or maybe they're not in Town?" Tina said.
"Puck! Quit hogging the fan" Sugar shrieked and tried to push him out of the way.
"Bug off" Puck shouted. "You had your turn."
"And you've had yours!" Brittany joined in, jumping on Puck in an attempt to get him away. Puck stood directly in front of the fan so even if it spun a bit, he still got the majority of the cool air. But with Brittany clinging onto him like a koala, he staggered back a bit. Santana and Sam leaped forward to claim the coveted spot. There was more pushing and yelps.
"You guys are all animals, I hope you know" Kurt shouted sassily at them as he walked by to join Blaine, alone on the couch. Blaine was watching the fan battle as it was very amusing. Especially because they were all laughing at the same time.
They heard the bunk house door open and close followed a second later by the screen door to the cottage. At once everyone turned their heads to see who it was.
"Oh, hey Coach Sylvester" Joe said politely.
"Greetings, Raggedy Ann" Sue said without missing a beat.
"Where is Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury?" Finn asked.
"At the beach" Sue answered. "I've come in here to inform you that if you even breath on the newly sorted food in the kitchen, I will personally hunt you down and tie you into only the most saltiest of pretzels."
"But it's almost lunch time" Sam pouted.
"Eat yourself, eat each other, eat the couch, but don't, under any circumstances, touch that food" Sue said firmly, pointing to the kitchen.
"What if the zombie apocalypse happens like right now and we need to escape, are we allowed to take the food then?" Brittany asked.
"No!" Sue said, much louder now. "Now, I fear I'm catching the stupidity, so I'mma leave now." And with that, she promptly spun around and retreated back to the bunkhouse, slamming the doors for extra emphasis.
"Hormones" Quinn sighed thoughtfully, since she was the only one who understands pregnancy.
"So I guess we wait" Rachel said, plopping herself down in front of the TV and grabbing the remote. "Finally we can watch something other than dumb sports!"
"Yay" Mercedes squealed and hurried over to join her.
"Watch it be some boring talk show" Kurt mumbled to Blaine. "If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times, day-"
"Time TV sucks" Blaine said it with him.
Kurt looked over at him with a small smile, surprised that he knew what he was going to say. "Exactly."
There was a moment of silence between them as they watched Rachel finally settle on Judge Judy.
Kurt sighed with disgust at her choice. Then he turned to Blaine, who was running his fingers over the pattern on a sofa pillow.
"D-do you want to continue our...conversation now or...?" Kurt asked slowly.
Blaine looked at him, their eyes meeting. Kurt's eyes were wide and sad and even looked a bit scared.
"If you want to" Blaine said, trying to sound casual.
"Well, I don't think putting it off is a good idea" Kurt replied. "Right?"
"I guess."
"I don't want to lose you, Blaine" Kurt said. "Ever."
"I don't want to lose you either" Blaine said. "But I feel like arguments like this isn't helping us move in the right direction."
"No, no, no, we're not arguing" Kurt said. "We're laying it all out on the table. It is helping because I need to know how you feel and vice versa, okay?"
Blaine nodded and sniffed. "Yeah."
"Remember when we were at Dalton? Remember how we both had problems? Remember how it seemed to be us against the world? We had honestly then. We told each other everything. And that was great. What changed?"
"Me telling you I was worried for a test and me telling you I'm worried about the future are two very different things" Blaine said.
"Yeah, but like you said, at least I can help you live through it, even if I can't fix it" Kurt pointed out.
"So we both have honesty issues" Blaine said. "And trust issues."
"We can work through them, though, right?" Kurt asked. "B-because I don't want to try and fix something that's impossible. It takes two to break it and two to fix it."
"I do want to fix it" Blaine said with wide eyes. "I do. I don't want to break up. I don't want to be alone. I don't want you to be alone."
"You won't ever be alone, Blaine" Kurt said. "You're my best friend and even if I'm across the country or we're broken up or we're together, you always will be. You've helped me through my darkest days and I can never thank you enough."
Blaine gave watery smile. "No, I think we're pretty even."
Kurt smiled back at him then took a deep breath. "As amazing as I am, I can't predict the future. I don't know what'll happen and I don't know how things'll be. So you just have to have faith in me and what I say now. That's literally the only option."
"I do have faith in you...but sometimes its not enough" Blaine said. "And I feel that if I keep trying to get reassurance..."
"I'll get annoyed?" Kurt offered and Blaine slowly nodded. "Blaine, seriously, I get what you mean. I understand your fears."
"I know" Blaine nodded.
"You're scared we'll lose touch. You're scared you'll be alone. You're scared you won't make new friends. You're scared the future will bring bad things..."
"Yes! That's it exactly" Blaine nodded fiercely.
Kurt half smiled. "Do you know what I'm scared of?" He glanced down at his socks. "I'm scared that I won't get into NYADA. And I'm scared that if I do, New York will suck. I'm scared that I'll be alone and make no friends and get lost and embarrass myself. What if I'm bullied? What if it'll be worse than high school? What if I'm not good enough? I'm a good singer and I know it, but am I just Lima good? Am I New York good? What if I fail? What if I end up losing everything and everyone when I go? What if something happens to you or Dad or Carole or someone and I'm not there? What if-" Kurt was speaking really fast and he had started crying. For a moment Blaine forgot that they were in the midst of a deep conversation because his first instinct was to comfort Kurt. He slid over to the couch so he was right next to Kurt who had put his hands on his face. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and leaned into him.
"Shhhh, Kurt, it'll be fine. Everything will be fine" Blaine whispered. "You're fabulous and New York will love you."
Kurt sniffed and leaned closer to Blaine. "I don't even want to go."
"Yes you do" Blaine said. "It's your dream. You can do it."
Kurt nodded and took deep breaths until the tears stopped. When they had, Blaine let go of him but didn't go back to the end of the couch.
Kurt wiped the last of his tears away with his hands then looked Blaine in the eye. "Blaine, I am sorry for getting mad yesterday. I know you didn't mean any harm and you just wanted to make the most of our time."
"And...I'm sorry for being clingy. You have other friends and your world doesn't revolve around me. I never meant to get you mad.
Kurt smiled. "I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me."
Blaine nodded and simultaneously, they both leaned forward and hugged each other. The fact that both of them cried themselves to sleep and had doubts about whether they'd be alright made the hug much better. Neither of them wanted to let go.
"We'll be okay" Blaine said in his ear and held on tighter.
Kurt nodded. "Okay is wonderful. I love you."
Blaine smiled. "I love you too."
When Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury returned, it was almost one in the afternoon.
"Sorry we're late, guys" Will said. "We lost track of time."
"Were you at the beach?" Artie asked.
"Yeah. The water's really nice" Will said.
"Have you guys eaten lunch?" Emma asked them with a smile.
"No, Coach Sylvester forbid us from touching food" Mike said. He shrugged before adding, "So we ate the couch."
"You what?" Will looked shocked.
Mike grinned. "Kidding."
Emma giggled and Will rolled his eyes. "We sorted the food today so Sue just wanted to ensure that it stayed sorted. Give us twenty minutes and we'll have lunch ready."
"Twenty minutes? That's so far. That's it, I'm reverting to cannibalism" Finn joked loudly.
"Ew" Sugar said. "I may be named Sugar but I don't taste like it."
Finn gave her an evil glare. "We shall see." He held his arms out like a zombie and made his way towards her, but she shrieked and leaped over Santana as she tried to get away.
"Why am I friends with you?" Santana scoffed and rolled her eyes.
A/N
It was physically paining me to keep Klaine apart so I wrote this. Anyways, this is chapter 38 so I'm hoping for maybe 5 more, MAYBE. Up next is beach fun! Yay for beaches! :P
See you next week. :) ILY