The next Saturday morning, Kurt and Quinn met with their ballet instructor for a private lesson like Kurt had done the previous year when he and Quinn started in the pairs class. They spent the hour working on the moves they needed to learn.
After they got out of class, the two of them went back to Lima. They hurried up to their rooms, showered, redressed, and went down to the dining room to eat lunch with Paul, Judy, and Dave.
"So, how did the ballet class go?" Judy asked.
"Good," Quinn answered. "Our teacher spoke with Miss Wilson and got a detailed list of what we needed to be able to do to start in the advanced class this fall. I think we'll be fine."
"Well, that's good," Judy said.
Paul said, "I spent a lot of time on the phone this week. We can build the garage on the property we've been looking at. Most of the houses in that neighborhood are actually two-story houses. I also talked to an architect. We can get what we want, which is something fairly similar to what you showed me last weekend. I sent him the copy of your changes and a link to the original plans. After we eat, I'll show you what he sent back."
"We've gone ahead and put in an offer on the house. We also both accepted the positions we were offered. Judy has not sent in her resignation here yet, nor have I offered to sell my part of the firm yet. Once our offer is accepted, we'll do those things. You all know that Puck is moving out August 13th, which is the Saturday after the Y camp ends. Kurt will be staying until the 24th because of the requirements for his mechanics certification tests. I will have to stay in Lima until the 24th as well since Judy is not listed at Kurt's guardian. Judy, Quinn, and Dave will be going and spending time at the house in New York working on the existing house, and once the new part is ready, they'll work on it as well. I have some videos for Dave and Quinn to watch on how to install laminate flooring."
They both nodded.
"Dave already knows how to put the trim on and you both already know how to paint stuff. We'll get two sets of sawhorses so you two can work on everything more easily. We'll get a couple of twin air mattresses too. You two can take our sleeping bags and make the best of it. At least you'll be sleeping inside in the air conditioning with hot running water."
Quinn teased, "I'm a big fan of indoor camping."
"When are you listing this house?" Kurt asked. "As much as I am dreading talking to my dad about this, I want to tell him myself before you put a For Sale sign in the front yard and he either sees it or hears about it."
"It needs to be Monday. I know that it's going to make everything hard on you, but sometimes it takes a while for a house to sell."
Kurt nodded. "Alright. I'll text him and see if he can come over tomorrow."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt didn't sleep well, and woke up tired Sunday morning. Dave was still asleep, so Kurt lay still trying to keep from waking him up. When Dave stirred, he realized he had sighed too heavily. He kissed Kurt's shoulder and pulled Kurt a little closer to him.
"Trouble sleeping?"
"I'm sorry I woke you up."
"I'm not. I love you and I know today is going to be hard. Do you want me and Dad to be there with you or are you going to talk to him alone?"
"Alone."
Dave squeezed him a little, hugging him. "Alright. We'll be home in case you change your mind. How about a massage?"
"Really?"
"Sure. I'll go get your lotion."
When he came back, Kurt and moved to the middle of the bed, but was lying on his back with the sheet covering him. Dave could see the boxer briefs Kurt had been wearing lying on the floor next to the bed.
"I thought you wanted a massage."
"I do. Come closer. You're overdressed."
Dave laughed. He undressed, moved the sheet, and crawled over him. He leaned down and kissed Kurt, who wrapped his arms around him and pulled him down on top of him and kissed him.
"I'm pretty sure this isn't a massage."
"Semantics. Part of me will end up rubbed and I will relax."
Dave kissed down his neck. "Umm hmm."
"If you're not interested, I can turn over and you can go ahead with the regular massage."
"We'll do that second."
"Good plan." He ran his hands along Dave's arms. "God, you're so hot."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
An hour later, Kurt was lying sprawled out on Dave in their bed.
"Comfy and relaxed now?"
"Mmm hmm." Kurt ran his fingers through Dave's chest hair. "Although a shower is next on my list. I'm going to wash your hair and"
Dave interrupted, "Get me all worked up again."
"That's the idea. Unless, you'd rather shower on your own and wash it yourself." Kurt kissed Dave's neck and moved enough that he could kiss him. Kurt deepened the kiss and ended up moving so that he had Dave pinned to the bed.
"No, no. No interest in doing it myself."
Kurt kissed down his neck. "Just making sure."
"What's gotten into you this morning?"
"A very hot naked man that I love is in my bed."
"I see." Dave laughed. "I love you too."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt answered the front door when Burt rang the doorbell at 11:00.
"Hey, Dad. Come on in." Kurt shut the door behind Burt, and then led him into the den.
"Why did you want me to come over here when you could have come to the house?"
"I didn't want anyone else around. Go ahead and sit down." Kurt plopped onto the sofa and sat criss-cross facing the recliner. "So, I have something to tell you."
"Alright. From how wound up you are, I'd guess it's something you don't think I'm going to like to hear."
Kurt did his best to focus on staying calm. "We're moving to New York, to a suburb of New York City at the end of the summer."
"We? Who's we?"
"All five of us. Paul, Judy, Quinn, Dave, and me."
Burt didn't say anything.
"We're going to go to this really cool high school that has an amazing performing arts department. I can take Advanced Ballet as an actual course. And acting and vocal performance."
"I see."
"I'll take regular classes the other half of the day, like English, Government, and math or science. Instead of performing arts classes, Dave's going to take college courses through a program the college he wants to go to offers."
Burt just sat there for a few minutes. "Why are you moving now instead of when you start college?"
"I can't take those performing arts classes here. You know that McKinley isn't a good place for me. If we had the money, I might have asked to go to Dalton where they have a No Bullying policy that's actually enforced. This town isn't a good place for me. You've known for years that I was planning my escape to New York."
"Okay, I get that McKinley's not great, but you have friends here now. Why decide to leave a year early?"
"Besides getting to go to a better school, graduating from high school there will allow me to pay in-state tuition for college at all of the public colleges and universities in the state of New York. The school I want to go to will cost me $60,000 less by paying in-state tuition."
"I see."
"The place we're moving is between the two schools Dave and I have chosen and has a train into Manhattan if I change my mind about the school and want to go to one the Manhattan area." Kurt reached for the drawing he had done of the apartments. "We're building a 3-car garage that will attach to the existing house. Above the garage, we'll have these two apartments." He handed the drawing to Burt.
He took it and looked it over. "So, you're not even going to be living with Paul and Judy?"
"Well, technically yes because the apartments and the house are in the same building, but not living with them the way we are here in this house. The idea is to allow us to go to college without having to work full-time, but still have our own space to have people over and not interfere with whatever Paul and Judy or Quinn might be doing."
"So, you're going to live on your own in high school."
"You can see that it's not exactly 'on our own'. It's not like it's across town or every down the street. They can walk through the house and come up to our apartment or go around the outside and come in that way."
"So you're not going to work?"
"I am going to – just part-time instead of full-time."
"How long have you known about this?"
"Three weeks."
"And you're just now telling me?"
"I didn't know for sure until yesterday and I texted you asking you to come over so I could tell you. Before that it was just an idea. As for when it all got started, that was a few months ago, but Dave, Quinn, and I didn't find out until we were in New York for Nationals. Paul and Judy had to find jobs and interview for them. And once they had been offered positions, they told the three of us. We went to look at a few houses before we came back from New York."
"I see."
"Paul's putting the house on the market and making an offer on one of the houses we went to look at." Kurt stood up and reached for the floor plan drawing.
Burt gave it back to him. "So you and Dave are going to have a 2-bedroom apartment above the garage. And Quinn too?"
"Yes."
"You'd really save $60,000 in tuition?"
"Yes. Going some place like OSU would be around $25,000 a year for the first two years. I could get it down a little from that for the next two by living off campus, but not dramatically less. So, approximately $100,000 for four years. The SUNY tuition is $10,000 a year and I'd live in the apartment, so maybe $40,000 total. If I wait and move to New York for college, the SUNY schools will be about $25,000 a year, so $100,000 for four years. And if Paul and Judy aren't living there, I'd have an at least an additional $12,000 a year for living expenses, so like $150,000 for four years."
"College is ridiculously expensive."
"I agree, but I don't get to decide the prices. I already figured out that if I work full-time each summer, I can come close to paying my way through school if I get the in-state tuition in New York. Paul is going to pay Dave's tuition and Judy is going to pay Quinn's."
"I told you I'd help."
"But you also told me that you couldn't afford to help me go to college if you bought a bigger house, so I'm not expecting you to give me any money anymore."
"Is Paul around?"
"He's upstairs. Do you want me to get him to come down?"
"Yeah."
Kurt texted Paul. He picked up the drawing and walked towards the door to the room. "Are we still on for a movie and dinner tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
Kurt nodded and stepped out as Paul approached the doorway.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Instead of going upstairs, Kurt went into the garage and texted Dave to come down wearing shoes. Once he got to the garage, Kurt practically fell into him.
"Take me somewhere, please."
"Okay."
Dave opened the garage door and they walked through. He unlocked his truck and pressed the remote to shut the garage door. Kurt got in and slid to the center. Once they had their seatbelts on, Dave backed out of the driveway and headed down the street. He drove around for a little bit, and finally headed to the ice cream place they had gone after the recital. He parked and Kurt followed him out the driver's side. They got in line. Dave stood behind Kurt and put his hand on Kurt's waist. Once they got to the front of the line, Dave ordered milkshakes for both of them and paid. He ushered Kurt back to his truck once they had their milkshakes.
He pulled out of the parking space as soon as he heard the click of Kurt's seatbelt. He drove them out to a park that had trails through a wooded area at the back. He parked near the trails and got out. Kurt followed him. They tossed their empty cups in the trashcan in the parking lot on their way to the woods. Once they were in the wooded area, Dave took Kurt's hand. Kurt intertwined their fingers and they walked halfway around the trail in silence.
Kurt finally spoke. "He didn't get upset or anything. I can't tell whether he doesn't care or he was resigned to the fact that he can't do anything to stop it so why put up a fuss."
"What did you want him to do?"
"Act like he cared? Say he'd miss me? Ask more questions about the school we'll be going to? Ask about what I liked about the college I've chosen? Any of those? All of those?"
"If I had to make a bet, I would bet on the second reason you gave – that he's resigned to the fact that there's nothing he can do to change it so getting upset is pointless."
"Even so…"
"Even so, it feels miserable that he didn't seem like he was interested in why you wanted to do it."
"Yes."
They walked along in silence for a while again and came out at the point they had gone in. There was an old playground nearby that was empty.
"Will you push me on the swings?"
"Sure."
Kurt took off running and Dave ran after him. He caught up pretty quickly and scooped Kurt up bridal style and spun him around before putting him down.
Kurt was laughing, but took off running again anyway. He made it to the swing set and sat down. Dave pulled the swing back and let go. He pushed Kurt for a while.
Kurt called out, "Swing with me."
Dave sat in the swing next to him and started to pump his feet and got himself going. After a few minutes, they quit working at it and their swings slowed down. Kurt dragged his feet here and there to get their swings to align. He reached out and Dave took his hand. Eventually, they were just sitting in place holding hands.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
The next afternoon a little before 3:00, slightly more than an hour before Kurt was due to get off, Burt popped over to where Kurt was working. He took a look at what Kurt was doing for a few minutes before he said anything.
"Hey, bud. Something's come up and I'm not going to be able to go this afternoon."
"Oh. Okay."
"You're doing a good job on that."
"Thanks."
Burt went to his office for a few minutes, and then Kurt saw him pull out of the lot a few minutes later. He finished up the car he had been working on, moved it out to the lot, and called the owner. When he went back into the work bay area, he found Cassius.
"Do you need me to stay later since Dad had to leave?"
"Oh, actually that'd be great, but don't you usually have plans on Monday afternoons?"
"Usually I do, but I cancelled them to go out with Dad, but he bailed on me to go run and do whatever he just left to do. So, no plans. Dave isn't expecting me until about 7:00-8:00."
"Sure, then. Just grab that next ticket, pull the car in, and get busy on it."
"Got it."
Puck came in at 4:00 and was surprised when Kurt didn't get ready to leave.
"Why are you still here?"
"I'm covering for Dad. He had to leave for some reason."
Puck shrugged and started on a truck that needed new tires.
Kurt ended up leaving around 7:00 and went home. When he got there, he went upstairs. He was tired and sweaty, so he took a quick shower and redressed. When Dave hadn't come upstairs by the time he was dressed, Kurt picked up his phone and texted him to see where he was.
-Where are you?
-Out back in the hammock, waiting for you. I have your book.
-Be right there.
Kurt went down the stairs and out into the backyard. He carefully climbed into the hammock with Dave and curled into his side.
"How was the movie?"
"Dad bailed."
"Why are you so late then?"
"I stayed at the shop and worked to cover for him leaving at 3:00."
"Oh. So you didn't eat?"
"No."
"I'll make you something." He started to get up.
"Just lie with me for now, okay? I'll eat something in a little while."
"Sure." Dave went back to reading.
Kurt closed his eyes and relaxed next to him.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Thursday evening, Quinn and Dave made a cake to celebrate the sale of Judy's house and the acceptance of their offer on the house in New York.
"So, what happens now?" Kurt asked.
"We're going to New York soon to sign the paperwork and get the keys. I have to talk to the realtor to get the official closing date. It will be a 1-day trip for me. Judy may stay. We haven't talked about the details yet. We just found out this afternoon and we haven't been home long enough to work it all out. We'll let everyone know once we do. We're having an open house this weekend from 1-5, so we need to not be home during that time both days." He continued to talk about details of their move.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Saturday, they invited all of the New Directions who were in town out to the lake for a cookout, even Finn and Rachel, who brought Jesse with her. After they finished eating, they packed everything up and went out on the lake. Once they were back, Paul and Judy took the boat and left. Kurt, Dave, and Quinn got out the desserts that they had made. After everyone had pretty much eaten their fill, the three of them looked at each other.
When the other two said nothing, Kurt finally spoke up. "For anyone who doesn't already know, Paul and Judy got married about two and a half weeks ago."
Several people were surprised.
"Judy and Quinn's house already sold and they've been living with us since Paul and Judy got married. What will be news to everyone is that both of them have taken positions in New York and we're moving there at the end of the summer."
"What?" Azimio said. "You're leaving, D?"
"Yeah. I'll be here some of the time over the summer, but I'll be in New York part of the time too, working on our new place. Kurt has to stay here and work."
Quinn added, "I may go earlier than August and stay. I'm not sure yet. We're adding on to the house our parents bought. Dave and I will be doing whatever work we can on it ourselves – painting and the flooring mostly, I think."
Kurt said, "We haven't told Mercedes or Tina yet, so we'd appreciate it if you'd let us tell them ourselves, which I will do on the drive back home."
"So, this is real?" Azimio asked. "You're not just punking us for fun?"
"Nope, Z. It's real."
"Man, this sucks. We were supposed to have another year together before you ran off to New York with Kurt."
The mood turned pretty somber as the conversation turned to how there probably wouldn't be a Glee Club and how everyone would be scattering the following summer.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
By the time they got home, the Open House was over and only the realtor was left.
"We had a couple of really serious inquiries today. I think they'll be back tomorrow for another look around. I think it would help if you could get those boxes in the living room put somewhere where they can't be seen and go ahead and reposition the living room furniture like it's a room, rather than a storage space. I hate to ask you to move stuff around."
"We'll get that done this evening," Paul said.
"The mini-muffins were a big hit. I heard a lot of compliments."
"I'll tell the kids," Judy said. "They made them."
"I'll grab my stuff and get out of here. I'll be back at 12:30 tomorrow."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Sunday morning Kurt and Dave made breakfast for everyone. The three teens went to the library and bookstore during the Open House. When they got back, they went into the dining room where Paul, Judy, and the realtor were.
"You're back," Judy said. "There's good news."
The realtor continued. "A couple that came yesterday came back today with the wife's mother and their own realtor and looked around again. They put an offer in. We'll just have to wait to see if their funding is secure. They have two small children and the grandmother lives with them as their live-in caregiver. They loved the large room upstairs providing basically a second master suite."
Kurt asked, "Where will we go if someone buys the house this soon?"
"We already indicated that we can't move out until August 3rd at the earliest. We will do a rental agreement, I believe. We'll pay their mortgage payment for the first month in order to stay after the official possession date, or something like that."
Kurt nodded.
"I'll be in contact as soon as I hear anything."
"Thanks for everything," Judy said.
"You're welcome. Both of the houses I've listed for you have been easy to sell."
After the realtor was gone, Paul said, "Don't worry. We'll make sure that we all have a place to live."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Monday afternoon, Kurt and Dave came out of the movie theater and walked back to their separate vehicles.
"I'll see you at home in a little while. We can just eat dinner at home." Kurt said. "I'm going to go find my dad and see why he didn't show up."
He pulled out of the parking space and headed to the Hummel's. He pulled into the driveway and parked. He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer the door. It didn't take long for Finn to open the door.
"Hey, Kurt."
"Is my dad home?"
"Nope. Haven't seen him. Mom's not back from the grocery either."
"Alright. I'll just try texting him again."
"Yeah, sure. See ya." Finn closed the door back.
Kurt got back in the Navigator and sent Burt another text.
-Where are you? You missed the movie and dinner and you're not at home. Please let me know you're okay.
He waited a couple of minutes before he gave up and pulled out of the driveway and drove back home.
When he got there, Dave and Quinn were working on dinner. Dave looked up at him when he came into the kitchen. Kurt just shook his head slightly and washed his hands to get ready to help them.
Paul came home and the three of them put everything out on the table and they sat down together.
"I thought you two were eating with Burt," Paul said.
"So did we," Kurt responded. "He didn't show up to the movie. He wasn't at home and he's not answering my texts. I'm going to call Carole next. Finn said she was out at the grocery when I went by before I came home."
Kurt finished what little food he had put on his plate quickly and excused himself. He went out in the back and sat at the table on the patio and called Carole.
"Hi, Kurt."
"Hi. Is Dad okay?"
"Yeah, he's fine. We're just getting ready to sit down to dinner. I'll have him call you after he eats."
"Thanks." He put his phone back in his pocket and went back inside. He sat back down at the table. "He's at home."
Paul scrunched his eyebrows and looked perturbed, but said, "Okay. At least he's not hurt or sick."
Kurt nodded. He sat there until everyone else finished eating. Judy shooed the teens out and said she'd clean up since they had cooked. Dave took his hand and led him back outside.
"Wait here and I'll get the hammock." He came back out and hung it up.
They both climbed in and snuggled up. Dave took Kurt's hand and kissed his knuckles, and then placed Kurt's hand over his heart and put his own hand on top. Kurt took a deep breath and tried to relax.
"I just can't figure him out. I'm not even going to bother trying this time. I'll just wait until he calls back. Did you like the movie?"
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
The next morning, Kurt went to work as usual. Burt didn't come in until lunchtime, and then spent the whole day in his office working on orders, receipts, and payroll. When it was time for Kurt to get off, he clocked out, scrubbed up, and changed. He stopped and knocked on Burt's office door once he was ready to leave.
"Hey, Dad?"
Kurt noticed that he was holding a photo of the two of them from when he got his first pair of coveralls when he was 8. They were technically a Halloween costume because they couldn't find a real pair of coveralls small enough. Kurt had carefully sewn a Hummel Tires and Lube patch over the fake one that was screen-printed on the coveralls.
"Yeah?" He put the photo back on his desk.
"Why didn't you show up to the movies yesterday? You cancelled at the last minute last week. Yesterday, I went to your house after the movie ended and you weren't there. You weren't answering my texts or calls. Carole said that she'd have you call after dinner and you didn't."
"We got caught up in watching a movie. I didn't get your calls or texts. My phone died. I plugged it up when I got home, but I didn't actually power it back up until this morning."
"So, next week?"
"Yeah."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Friday morning, Paul went with Judy to the closing on her house. From there, they drove to the airport and flew to New York to go to the closing on the house in New York. They stayed through Monday so they could meet with the architect and finalize the plans and get the construction process started.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Monday, Dave worked on the yard work in the morning and spent the afternoon working on the online course that he had signed up for. He left at 4:00 to meet Kurt at the movie theater.
"This time, we'll wait. If he doesn't show up, we'll just go home. I liked the movie just fine, but I'm not paying to watch it twice if he doesn't show up."
"That's fine. The new Transformers movie starts the day after tomorrow. I'd rather see that if it's just the two of us going out together."
"Me too."
They stood around and waited until five minutes after the movie start time before they went out to sidewalk to wait. Another five minutes passed before they gave up.
"Library?" Dave asked.
"Sure. I don't have the books I should return with me, but maybe we can find a fun old movie to watch at home."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Friday evening, Quinn picked Tina up from Asian Camp and they went to Indianapolis to spend the Fourth of July weekend there with Mercedes. Puck stayed in town to go shopping with Kurt. Saturday morning, Kurt had an individual lesson with their ballet teacher to work on some things that were specific for male dancers. Puck met Kurt and Dave at the school when the lesson was over. They drove to the outlet mall. They met up outside the store that sold Wranglers and Lee jeans.
"Alright," Kurt said. "Let the hunt begin."
Puck shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Sure. What are we hunting for?"
"Jeans that show off your physique."
"You mean my ass."
"Pretty much."
Puck laughed. "Lead the way."
Fifteen minutes later, Puck was in the dressing room starting to try on the stack of jeans that Kurt had picked out. Dave stood outside the dressing room with a cart holding the pairs they couldn't take in with them.
"I don't need 20 pairs of jeans," Puck said.
"I know. You need a minimum of five for the school week. I'd suggest more, but you could get away with wearing sweats on the weekend, I suppose."
"So, you eliminated all of my jeans?"
"Exactly. They say 'I don't care about how I look.'"
"Well, okay then." He opened the door and showed Kurt the first pair.
"Not bad."
"Yeah. They're fine. Can't I just get more just like these?"
"Nope. You'll look like you're wearing the same clothes every day."
"Fine. Once we get to eight pairs I like, can we stop?"
"Sure, but they're buy two get one free."
"Smartass. So, I should just buy four and get two free and have six pairs."
"You could…"
"Or?"
"There were some slacks included in the sale. You could get seven pairs of jeans and two pairs of slacks."
"Fine."
"Nine pairs of pants for less than $100 is a steal."
"Right." How about these?"
"Turn."
"You just want to see my ass." He turned.
"Those are good. Keep going."
Twenty minutes later, Puck had seven pairs of jeans in the cart and he was on his way to find slacks to try on. "Black and light brown?"
"Khaki," Kurt supplied.
"Black and KHAKI?"
"Yes."
Dave helped them look through the racks for Puck's size. "How about these?"
"Those are too casual. They have pockets on them like jeans. They need to have this style pockets." Kurt held a pair up for them to see.
"Got it," Dave said.
"Why don't you go look through the jeans and see if you see any that you like? Yours are 2-3 years old and you can't beat 3 for $30 for new jeans."
"Okay." He came back about 10 minutes later. "Any luck?"
"We're headed to the dressing room again," Puck said.
This time Kurt waited outside the dressing room. Puck came out far enough for Kurt to see.
"Those look good."
"Excellent. I'll try the khaki ones on next."
Another fifteen minutes and they had finished trying things on. They moved to the line for the register.
"Next up?" Puck asked.
"A coat, tennis shoes, and boots."
"Right. Big bucks for those things."
"Hopefully not too much."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
They hit several Goodwills and got a jacket, a couple of hoodies, some button ups, henleys, and t-shirts on the way to the Garcia's. They even managed to find a new black backpack. Their last stop was at the closest Little Caesar's to get pizzas. They pulled up and it didn't take long to have Carlos on Dave's back and Sarah on Kurt's. Puck carried the pizzas inside while the kids chanted, "Pizza! Pizza!"
After they ate, the kids insisted on seeing all of Puck's new clothes. They helped carry the shopping bags up to Puck's apartment. Sarah and Carlos sort them and laid them out neatly.
"Ooh, I like this shirt, Noah," Sarah said. "And this one. Why did you get so many pairs of jeans?"
"Kurt said my old ones didn't fit right."
"Oh, you got ones that aren't saggy?"
"Exactly."
Sarah convinced him to play dress up for a little while.
"Kurt's right," Carlos said. "The new jeans look a lot nicer. More grown up. That's what you were going for, right? You got shirts with buttons and a coat that's not sporty."
"Right. I'm going to a new school in the fall and I want to look nice."
"Well, I think the new stuff all looks good on you," Carlos said. "You don't look old, but you just look more serious."
"Well, then I got the right stuff."
The kids helped him take the tags off of everything and sort it so he could wash everything and get it put away.
"Why don't we let Noah put a load in the washer and the four of us will go set up a game to play?"
"Yay!" Sarah squealed and took off running.
Carlos ran after her. Kurt and Dave followed behind them. They set up Monopoly Jr. By the time Puck joined them, they had almost finished the game. A few minutes later, Carlos had won.
"We can play one more time before we go to the movie."
"Oh," Sarah said. "Then we should stop because me and Carlos made cupcakes for everyone and we want to eat them before we go." She got up and headed for the kitchen.
Carlos followed along behind her. Kurt and Dave put the pieces to the game back in the box and put the lid on. Carlos came back a couple of minutes later.
"We can't eat in here. We can only eat in the kitchen or dining room. Come on."
The three teens followed him back to the kitchen. Sarah got the milk out and poured two small glasses for Carlos and herself. Everyone helped themselves to a cupcake. Silvia and Gabriel joined them.
"Who's ready to go see Cars?" Kurt said.
"Me! Me! Me!" Both kids jumped in place.
"We were too little to see it in a big theater when it came out. We're going to watch Cars today and tomorrow we're going to see Cars 2," Carlos said. "I'm ready."
"Me too," Sarah said.
When the movie ended, Kurt and Dave gave Sarah and Carlos hugs before they headed back to Lima.
"Thanks for taking Noah shopping. He'll look much more like the nice brother he is when he goes back to school. He won't look like a mean guy anymore, which is good because he's the super-nicest person. And you and Dave too."
Kurt smiled. "I'm glad you approve."
"Are you going to take me and Carlos shopping again?"
"I don't know. I'll have to talk to your mom and see if we can work it out."
"Okay."
"We had fun," Dave said. "Thanks for the cupcakes."
"You're welcome," they said in unison.
Kurt and Dave headed to Dave's truck and waved as the drove off.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Sunday a little before noon, there was a knock on the bedroom door. Kurt stopped what he was doing and opened the door.
"Oh, hey, Dad. It's it 12:30 already? I must have lost track of time."
"No. It's actually not quite noon. I came a little early. Carole and Finn will be here at 12:30."
"Have a seat. I'm just packing up things I won't need this summer, like my sweaters and winter stuff." Kurt went back into the closet to grab more clothes. He put them on the bed and started to fold items and put them in a box.
Instead of sitting down, Burt walked around the room and looked around. He picked up a picture frame with a photo of Dave and Kurt at prom. He put it back down and looked around a little more before he sat down. "Why are you packing already?"
"Why have you stood me up the last three Mondays? Be honest this time."
"You and me, we did this dance for eight years. You and me, like Starsky and gay Hutch."
Kurt smiled.
"Everybody warned that when you were eight and you were bugging the crap out of me that one day I'd be begging for you to wake me up a 4:00am with a nightmare, or you know, wreck the kitchen and play restaurant."
"I was nine. Who knew paella was going to be so complicated?"
Burt laughed.
"So you skipped out on the movies and dinner because you're sad there's not going to be any more movies and dinners? I'm confused."
"Ah, you don't get it yet. I know you got a taste of it when you lost your mom, but it's just like the older you get, you just see. It's just that none of it lasts. And I added to that. I know. I've lost nearly a year and a half with you because of decisions I didn't think through. And I thought that I'd at least have the time we're at the shop with you for the next year. I love you and I know you love me. And I want us to be there for each other and I just keep screwing that up. And soon as you walk out of this house and toward New York, everything's going to change. And it won't change back. Not to the way it was or the way I was hoping it could be at least for a while longer. Look, I am really happy for you that you're going to get to go to the school in New York that will be a good school for you. I'm proud of how hard you work. You've become a man. But you know, sometimes I just want my sweet little boy back."
Kurt nodded, fighting tears.
Burt stood up. He didn't manage to keep his emotions in check. His voice quavered, "I'm going to miss you, Kurt. A lot."
Kurt moved across the room and wrapped his arms around Burt. "I'm going to miss you too, Dad."
They stood and held each other in a bear hug for a couple of minutes.
"I know this new school is a great opportunity for you, but it's the end of our time together and that's hard to face, especially with how things have gone for the last year. I made such a mess of things, but I never stopped loving you."
"I know. I know that. I just lost my place at the top of your priorities list. All I want to know is that you're happy. I want you to be happy. Your business is here. If I could be happy here, I'd stay. But you know in your heart that people don't want people like me and Dave here. I have an opportunity to go to school someplace where my contributions will be accepted, maybe even wanted."
"I get that. And I want you to be happy too."
"I think I will be. The school doesn't tolerate bullying. I can be involved in the kinds of activities I enjoy. And I'm happy living with the Karofskys."
"Just so you know, I am happy with Carole. Finn's still got a ways to go, but he's making progress. Why are you packing so soon?"
"Well, we need to get all of the vehicles to New York in the next two months. Paul and Judy are going to start to drive one there and fly back. Judy's car is going first and she's going to stay after that. Quinn will be the next one to drive out with Paul in her car. Dave's truck will be next. Paul's truck and my Navigator will be the last to go. We're going to send boxes of things we don't need each time a vehicle gets driven there. That way by the time we actually move, we'll have less to take all at once – just mostly the furniture at that point."
"I see. So, the four of them are going to spend time in New York between now and when you officially move?"
"Yeah. I can't leave, so the plan revolves around me. I have to stay and keep working on I won't be able to take the certification tests on my birthday. I have to have two years experience. I can't quit and leave town. I need the next 8 weeks to finish out the two-years experience requirement."
"I get it."
Dave came up the stairs. "Hey, the food is ready if you two want to come down. Carole and Finn just pulled up."
Kurt said, "Thanks. We'll be right down."
Dave nodded and went back downstairs.
"So, we're good? You're not going to keep standing me up? If you don't want to go, just say so. I cancelled my Monday movie dates with friends to go with you. I know tomorrow is a holiday, so we won't go then, but don't just not show up. You freaked me out that day."
"I didn't think about it like that. I'll show up."
"Alright. Let's go eat."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Lunch went more smoothly than any of their family dinners had gone. Dave and Kurt stayed inside and cleaned up afterwards while everyone else went outside. Dave had set up the croquet game and the badminton net earlier while Kurt had been upstairs packing clothes.
Kurt saw that Finn was just sitting on the patio. "Why don't you go ahead out and play badminton with him since our parents are playing croquet?"
"You sure?"
"I'm sure that I don't want to play badminton with him."
"Me neither." He wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind. "You're honestly better at holding your tongue than I am. Plus, I'm not intimidated by his size. I push people around on the football field and on the ice all the time. I could take him down, no problem."
"Mmm hmm." Kurt turned in his arms. He put his hands on Dave's upper arms and slipped them up under the edges of his shirtsleeves. He kissed Dave gently. "I know you can. Let's just finish this up together, and then we'll go out and try to be civil."
When they were done, they went out and sat down across the table from Finn. No one said anything at first.
Finn finally broke the silence. "I've been going to counseling again and I'm in a summer study skills class. I don't hate the new counselor. He's pretty cool actually. The study skills class is okay. I have to learn a lot of words. The counselor is helping me learn to see situations from different points of view and that's part of the study skills class too. Prediction. I suck at it. Mom went with me to a couple of the sessions this summer. She talked to the counselor about the problems between the two of us. I think I finally understand a little better."
Kurt asked, "What exactly is it that you understand now that you did not understand before?"
"Well, like some people value personal possessions more than other people. I have no… attachment, that's the word. I have no attachment to my stuff. It really makes no difference to me if someone uses my stuff or moves it around. I don't honestly remember where I put things, so I always have to look for everything anyway. The counselor talked about something called 'executive dysfunction' to Mom while we were both there. I zoned out through a lot of it, but that's the problem. I really just don't notice things. I don't do it on purpose. It's just like nothing sticks. They talked about how Mom always taking up the slack instead of making me do it just let me off the hook from putting more effort into overcoming my issues."
"Makes sense."
"So, I really just don't get being upset about someone moving something you own. But whether I understood or not, I should have focused in on how serious you were being. Again, I just don't pay attention. Mom took me to the doctor too. I'm going to try taking some medicine for ADD and see if it helps. I know that I have to pay attention, but it just doesn't happen. I start thinking about playing the drums or I start thinking about a movie or video game. And it just takes a single word and I start to think about something about that word, and then I'm not listening anymore. It's hard to explain."
"I'm still not sure what this has to do with me personally."
"Right. Um, oh yeah. So, I refused to do things that I knew I couldn't do right and Mom did them. But you can do everything she can do. I told her I didn't want to be like you because you're not cool and no one likes you."
"That's not true, Finn. And you know it," Dave said, getting aggravated.
"Fine. No one cool likes you. The counselor talked to me a lot about how being able to do those things is going to be a really big deal when I move out. He talked about a lot of stuff. But anyway, I've learned that ignoring your requests to leave your stuff alone was a really bad thing to do. I still honestly can't see why moving things is such a big deal, but the counselor said I need to just accept that it was important to you and the why part didn't matter. So, I'm sorry I didn't listen. I'm trying. That's all I can say. I'm trying to learn how to see things from other people's point of view and I'm trying to learn to predict outcomes better and I'm trying to learn how to learn better."
Kurt said, "All of those are good things. I hope you succeed."
"Yeah, thanks."
"I'm going to go inside to get the desserts ready," Kurt said.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
A few hours later, Dave and Kurt were the only two still at the house. The two of them were snuggled up in the hammock in the backyard.
"Today was an improvement," Dave said.
"It was. A little late, but I guess better late than never. I don't really foresee a time when we'll come back here and spend long periods of time any time soon anyway."
"Probably not. If we come here, we'll either have to stay with them or have the money to stay in a motel."
"Yeah," Kurt said. "New topic. Dramione or Drarry?""
"We've had this discussion before."
"I'm giving you another chance to persuade me."
Dave laughed.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Dave and Judy set off for New York after breakfast Monday morning, which left Kurt and Dave alone for the day.
"So?" Dave asked after he closed and locked the front door.
"So?"
"So, what do you want to do?"
Kurt stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Dave's neck. "Be with you."
"You want to hang on me like a monkey?" Dave teased.
"That could make doing anything else incredibly difficult. I just want to be near you. I know it's inevitable that we're going to be separated at some point in the next few weeks and I just want to enjoy the time we do have together. A day of absolutely ridiculous togetherness."
"Sounds fun." Dave leaned in a bit and kissed Kurt. "How about Uno? You've been ahead far too long. It's time for my big comeback."
"We'll see about that." Kurt kissed him and then took off running up the stairs to their room.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Once it got nearly dark out, they watered down the center of the yard and put a couple of concrete blocks out in the yard like they had done the year before. Once it was fully dark, they started lighting the fountains they had bought.
Dave stood behind Kurt as he sat on the retaining wall and leaned back into him. He wrapped his arms around Kurt's chest and leaned down a bit and kissed him on the side of the neck.
"Mmm." Kurt took a deep breath and sighed. "These are fun to watch."
"Mmm hmm." Dave hummed as he continued to kiss Kurt's neck while he watched the fireworks.
They took turns lighting them off. When they ran out, they cleaned up the trash and put the blocks back in the garage.
"Ready to shower?"
"Let's check all the doors again first."
After they were certain all the doors were locked, they headed upstairs for the night. They showered and got their reading pillows for the bed out. After they had read for about an hour, Kurt put his book on his side table. He scooted closer to Dave and lifted his arm up and slid closer. He slipped his right arm behind Dave and wrapped his left arm around Dave's chest. He put his head on Dave's chest and his left leg over the top of Dave's.
"Comfy yet?"
"Nearly. Am I being too clingy? I can move back over to my side of the bed."
"You're good where you are. Actually, I can read tomorrow while you're at work, if I want to." He put his book on his side table, got up and traded the pillows out, and turned his light off.
Kurt sat up and turned his light off as well. He waited for Dave to lie down before he scooted closer again. "Will you be the big spoon and snuggle me?"
Before he answered, he took the opportunity to kiss Kurt. "Sure."
Kurt flopped over and scooted back.
"Something's bothering you."
"Yeah. I know you need to go help work on the house, but I'm going to miss you. I've gotten so used to sleeping in the same bed with you that I'm spoiled."
"I know, Fancy. I spoil you and you spoil me. And I'm going to miss you too. You make my life more interesting and fun. But we'll have our own place once it's done."
"I know. I just wish I didn't have to stay when you go. I want to work on our place too, but I know you'll do a good job. Maybe tomorrow evening, we can go back to Lowe's and get paint cards and pick out colors. We can buy one of those laminate samples and bring everything out of the fluorescent lighting and see what we actually like."
"We can get a new comforter, if you don't like this one."
"I've actually grown to really like this one because when I see it, it makes me think of you."
"You're sappy tonight."
"I know, but that doesn't make it any less true. We can look at tile tomorrow too. We'll need it for the bathroom. I'd like to put those cool tiny tiles up along our kitchen area."
"Sure."
"Are you just going to agree with me on everything."
"Unless I hate the idea, then yeah. It's not that I don't care. It's just that you have so much fun doing it that I'd rather have you do it because I get to watch you have so much fun with it."
"You're a softie."
"For you, always." Dave kissed his shoulder. "But like I said, if I really don't like something, I'll say so."
"That feels good." Kurt turned over. "Maybe I'm not ready to sleep. Any objections to putting those kisses on my lips instead?"
"None whatsoever." He wrapped his arm around Kurt's back and kissed him.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Burt kept his word and met up with Kurt on Mondays to see a movie and go out to dinner.
Two weekends later, Quinn left with Paul. They took more boxes with them. They disassembled Kurt and Dave's table and took it with the two chairs, so that Quinn and Judy would have some place to sit and eat.
After Quinn and Judy were gone, Burt came over the next two Monday nights and to watch a movie and have dinner with the three of them like they did before he started dating Carole.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
The four weeks after the talk with Burt went quickly and it was already August. Midweek of the first week was Puck's much anticipate 18th birthday. Kurt knew that Puck was having a celebration in Columbus a few days later with his nana and the Garcias, so he went home from work and just made Puck a cake. Dave was more of a nuisance than a help, but they had fun horsing around.
"What's with you and all the silliness? We need to get this in the oven," Kurt said.
"You're right. I'll straighten up." He focused for a few minutes and let Kurt get the cake pan into the oven. As soon as he turned around he pulled Kurt closed and wrapped his arms around him, holding him close.
Kurt pulled back just a bit, so he could look Dave in the eyes. "What's going on?"
"Dad got a call today that the construction has gone really quickly and I'm going to New York this weekend."
"Oh. Well, that's good news on the construction. We had wondered whether it could get done by the time we start school. That's in four weeks, so I'm guessing the answer is yes."
"I'm going to stay for two weeks and fly back before your birthday."
"We knew this was coming."
"We did. I just want to hold you."
Kurt turned his head and relaxed into Dave's embrace. After a few minutes, he stepped back again. "Let's go in the den and snuggle until it's time to take the cake out. Kurt led Dave to the sofa and let him sit down first. He positioned Dave so that he could mostly lie on his chest, and then he lay down. "Better?"
"Much."
"We'll need to get your stuff all packed by this weekend so you can take it with you."
"Yeah. I'll do that while you're at work. I want to spend the evenings with you."
"And you say that I'm sappy." Kurt pushed himself up enough to kiss Dave.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt, Dave, and Paul were waiting in the kitchen when Puck came home. He came in the front door and headed straight for the kitchen to get his dinner out of the fridge and warm it up as usual. When he turned the light on to step in the room the other three greeted him with "Surprise!" and he jumped.
He laughed. "Thanks." He saw the cake on the island.
The three of them broke out in song. When they finished, Puck just shook his head. "You three are nuts, but the best kind of nuts."
"You're free now," Kurt said. "I'm next – three more weeks." Kurt took Puck's plate out of the fridge and put it in the microwave.
"It's weird. I've been thinking about it all day. I looked forward to this day for so long, but now that it's here, it just feels like any other day. I do want to say how much I appreciate you letting me stay here. This has been the best few months I can remember. And in a week, I'm moving on to my new life. And you three will be doing the same thing soon. It's going to be really weird not seeing you guys anymore. I know I'm hardly ever here, but still."
"Is your studio ready now?"
"It is. Everything's done and I'm actually supposed to be begging you to come to Columbus and take Sarah and Carlos shopping this weekend."
"Sure."
"Well, that was easy." He opened the microwave and took his plate out. He went out to the dining room to sit down to eat.
Kurt grabbed the cake and a long knife and took them to the table. "Paul and Dave are going to New York Saturday morning. I'll go with you Saturday morning. I can just sleep on your couch. I can just bring my sleeping bag and a pillow. I'll just come back with you Sunday night, if that's okay."
"Yeah, sure. So, will we be here alone next week?"
Paul said, "Not the whole week. I'll be back Tuesday night. I'll need Kurt to come get me from the airport. I'm going to fly back into Dayton since it's the closest."
Kurt nodded. "Is it okay for me to slice up the cake or do you want to do it?"
"Go for it. Thanks for making it for me. It looks great."
"It's new. Lemon blueberry with a light confectioner's glaze instead of frosting."
"Fancy," Puck teased.
Kurt rolled his eyes and put a slice on a plate and slid it over to Puck, and then cut three more slices.
Puck took a bite. "Ooh, that's good."
Kurt smiled. "I'm glad you like it."
Once they had all finished, Kurt put the cake in the cake carrier to keep it fresh. "We rented Limitless."
"Awesome. I wanted to see that, but never ended up going."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Three days later, Dave kissed Kurt again in their room before they went downstairs. "I love you."
"I love you too. We better get down there before Puck comes up looking for me." He held onto Dave. "I'll see you two weeks."
Dave nodded and hugged him closer. "Let's go down."
Once they were downstairs, Kurt loaded his overnight bag in the backseat of the Navigator. He had put the other things he was taking in the night before. Puck got in the passenger seat and waited. He had finished loading the boxes he was taking while Kurt and Dave were still upstairs. Kurt hugged Dave one last time and got in the driver's seat. Dave got in the passenger side of his truck, and he waved as he and Paul drove off.
"One day I hope to find a girl that looks at me like he looks at you."
"I hope you do too. He's a sweetie."
They rode in silence for a while, both caught up in their own thoughts. Kurt eventually broke the silence. "I brought my sewing machine. All you need to do for your housewarming-slash-birthday present is to go shopping with me and choose the fabric you'd like for curtains."
"You're going to make me curtains?"
"Unless you don't want me to. I thought it might let you personalize your place a little. Plus, you could pick out a couple of paintings or something from Goodwill and we can get you some stuff for your kitchen." Kurt flashed his 'you know you want to let me do this' smile at Puck quickly, and then looked back at the road.
Puck rolled his eyes. "Sure. Let's stop on the way there. I didn't know how much stuff you guys might have left to do this morning, so I didn't give them a specific time when I was get there – just that we'd try to get there by lunchtime."
"That works."
They stopped several places along the way. Once they got to the house, Kurt pulled into driveway and parked.
"Oh, wow. There's outdoor stairs now."
"Yeah. Those went up two weeks ago. It's nice. Now I can come and go without having to knock on the front door and go in through the upstairs. We changed the lock on the door from the house into the studio. Now you need a key to open it from either side. That way the kids can't go in the studio and out the exterior door without anyone knowing and it prevents anyone visiting me from being able to just wander into the house. All the kids have to do is knock on the door and I'll open it and let them in."
"That was a good idea."
They started carrying everything upstairs. Puck unlocked the door and Kurt stepped inside.
"It looks so different now."
"The upper kitchen cabinets and the countertops and appliances made a big difference. Plus, I got the furniture arranged better."
Kurt looked around. The exterior door was in the center of the long wall. To the right were the bedside table, the bed, and the other bedside table. To the left was the TV stand. The left wall had a single window in the middle and a small section of the U-shaped kitchen area, which continue along the other long wall. The door into the Garcia's house was in the center opposite the door to the exterior. To the right was a closet that ran along the bathroom wall. The door into the bathroom was near the foot of the bed. The narrow dresser stood to the right of the bathroom door.
"Now, I see what you meant about the kitchen having a bar area to put those barstools up to. When I was here a month ago, there were no countertops, so I didn't realize that there would be a section that extended there near the door to make a place to sit and eat."
"Right. I'll go grab those and bring them up. That way you have some where to sit and sew."
Kurt followed him down and brought up his sewing machine and tools. He put them up on the counter and went to look for the king size sheet they had found. He pulled it out of the bag and went to stand near the window, waiting for Puck to come back upstairs.
"So, floor length or just the length of the window?"
"Um."
Kurt held the sheet up against the window, doing his best to demonstrate both options. "If you go with the shorter length, I could turn the leftover fabric into pillowcases for throw pillows like I made for Sarah and Carlos."
"Sure. I can pick up a couple of those small pillows if you tell me where to get them. They'd probably be good for reading in bed or watching TV on the sofa."
"We can get a couple when we're out shopping with the kids. Come help me with that desk."
"Sure."
They carried it up and put it on the front wall to the left that had been empty before.
"Looks good," Kurt said.
"I have everything now. I'm ready for a new me in a new school."
Kurt grabbed his tape measure and measured the window length and cut the sheet into the right size. He hemmed the top edge and one side of the length to finish off each curtain. He quickly sewed two 16-inch square pillowcases.
While he sewed, Puck washed all of the things he picked up for his kitchen. When he finished, he dried them all, and decided where to store everything and put it all away. Kurt finished about the same time he did.
"I'll put the buttonholes at the top when we come back. Could we go ahead and wash them while we're gone?"
"Yeah. No problem. Just let me grab those towels I got and I'll go down and put all of it in the washer. It's kind of a pain to go outside and then back in through the door on the side of the house into the garage, but I think I'll do it most of the time just to not have to go through the house." He grabbed the towels, but before he got everything gathered up, the kids started knocking on the door. He went over and unlocked it with his key and let them in.
"You snuck in," Sarah said, said as she threw her arms around Puck. "You came up here through the other door. We just now saw that you're here when we looked out the front window."
"We needed to get the dishes I bought clean and Kurt made me some curtains and pillowcases."
"Like he did for us?" Carlos asked.
"See for yourself."
Kurt held up the curtains.
"He made you big curtains, not a valance like he did us," Sarah said.
"Puck doesn't already have blinds on his windows like you two did."
"That makes sense," Carlos said. "I like these. Very retro – kind of like my stuff, but different colors."
Puck smiled at him. "You've been reading design magazines again."
"The library had a big stack of them for 25 cents each and Mom let me get $3.00 worth of them."
"Cool," Kurt said. "I love those magazines."
"Come on. I'll show them to you."
Puck said, "Go ahead. I'll get this stuff in the washer."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Two hours later, they were seriously scouring The Children's Place for the t-shirt that Carlos had seen online that he really wanted.
"Here it is!" he exclaimed, excitedly. "They have it!"
"Excellent," Kurt said. "Let's get your size."
Carlos handed him a t-shirt. "Let's keep looking."
A half-hour later, they were all four in line with their choices. Neither of them had really outgrown any of their clothes from the previous year, but some of those items had met their fate throughout the year. So, replacements were bought for those items.
Once they were through the line, Sarah said, "Shoes next?"
"Sounds good to me," Puck answered.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
After they finished shopping, the four of them went to the $1 theater to watch Spy Kids 2.
"I'm excited," Carlos said, as the four of them walked across the parking lot. "I loved the first one last week. And then there's the third one next week and the next weekend, we're going to a different theater to see the fourth one because it's new."
They got in line to get their tickets.
"I love my new clothes and shoes." Sarah said. "That place is the most fun place to shop because they have so many stores in the same place."
"I'm glad you had fun," Kurt said.
Carlos said, "I miss Dave though. He's fun."
"He is," Kurt agreed. "I miss him too."
They found seats the kids liked and they sat mesmerized through the whole movie. When it finished, they headed home. Silvia had dinner ready for everyone and they sat down to eat.
Once they finished, Puck stayed to help clean up and sent Kurt off to get working on the curtains again. After Kurt had gotten the buttonholes in the top, he came back down and went back into the laundry area to look for an iron and ironing board. When he finished, he took everything back upstairs to be met with two kids waiting for him on the sofa.
"Can we help?" Carlos asked.
"Sure. Where's Noah?"
Sarah answered, "He went to get tools to put the curtain rods up."
"Okay. Well each of you can put a pillowcase on one of the new pillows. They're in that bag over there on the bed." He handed each of them a pillowcase.
Puck came back in with the tools. While he put the curtain rods up, Kurt let Sarah and Carlos fasten the rolling curtain hooks on the top of the curtains. They each did one, and then slipped it over a wooden rod when Puck held it out for them. Once the curtain was on the rod, Puck put it up and fastened it in place and repeated the process for the second window.
Sarah grabbed the bag off the bed and put the two throw pillows in the middle of the bed. "It would look better if your bed had sheets and stuff," Sarah said.
"They're in that trash bag next to the bed. I just didn't get a chance to put them on yet."
She opened the bag, and pulled everything out. She and Carlos put everything on the bed and made it neatly, putting the throw pillows in the middle again once they finished. Puck rolled the sleeping bag up and put it in the trash bag.
"It looks good," she said.
Everyone looked around the room.
"It does," Puck said. "I like it."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
They spent the a lot of their time playing games with the kids and the time passed more quickly than Kurt had anticipated. Sunday night was more difficult because Dave's lack of presence was so much more noticeable when Kurt was in bed alone in the quiet. The kids had been a good distraction. Kurt picked up his phone and texted Dave.
-I love you.
A few seconds later, he got a response.
-I love you too. We've gotten a lot done in two days. I think we might be able to move in to our apartment by your birthday.
-Really? That would be amazing. I miss you already.
-I miss you too.
Kurt's phone rang about a minute later.
"I'm outside now. I wanted to be able to talk to you."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
The following Saturday, Kurt and Puck said their goodbyes. They had already carried down what little of Puck's stuff was still at the Karofsky's and put it in Puck's truck.
Puck hugged Kurt and said, "Who've thunk, huh? Two years ago, I was a badass jackass extraordinaire – one of the idiots who harassed you. And now look."
"Yeah, you've let the real you be seen. Not that you're not tough – because you are. Just in a different way than you had thought. You've been through so much and you've come out the other side. Now, you get to live life on your terms and make good choices."
"Yes, Dad."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm glad for you. I really do hope you make some friends and have fun too."
"I hope you enjoy where you're going to be in New York. Don't forget us little people when you get big and famous."
"I'll remember."
Puck got in his truck and waved as he drove off.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt spent the two weeks without Dave working on sewing projects for their apartment. He made his first ever Roman shades for all of their windows. He made throw pillows for their bed and the futon that coordinated with the paint colors and the window coverings. He spent time going through his Ikea catalog and picked out desks. He drew the furniture on graph paper and cut it out and made mock ups of the rooms, rearranging everything until he decided on the final layout.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
The Monday evening before his birthday, Kurt went to the movies and out to dinner with Burt.
"Am I going to get to see you on your birthday?" Burt asked as they were waiting for their food.
"Of course. I'm going to come by the shop before I leave town Wednesday morning to go to Columbus to take the ASE Certification tests."
"Which ones are you taking?"
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Tuesday afternoon Kurt drove to Dayton to go get Dave from the airport. He was leaning against the Navigator when he came out of the building. He practically tackled Dave on the sidewalk and hugged him, causing Dave to laugh.
He spoke directly into Kurt's ear. "I'm glad to see you too, Fancy." He wrapped his arms around Kurt and spun him in a circle. "Get back in and let's get going."
Once they were both in the car, Kurt leaned towards Dave, who smiled and met him halfway and kissed him. They talked all the way back to the house. When they got there, they were surprised to find all of the New Directions were there to throw them a goodbye party. Even Tina and Mercedes had somehow managed to get there.
Once everyone had eaten, they helped bring all of the furniture and boxes downstairs to make the job for the movers go more quickly the next morning. After they had moved everything, a lot of hugging took place. Azimio hung around after everyone else left.
"D, I'm gonna miss you, dude. We'll still play Halo and COD." He hugged Dave. "You take care of him, you hear?" Azimio pulled Kurt into a bear hug too.
"I will. You can come see us some time. We have a second bedroom, with an amazing air mattress," Kurt teased.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll see what I can do." He walked down the sidewalk and waved as he got in his truck and pulled off.
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The next morning, Kurt left early for the shop. He stopped and picked up three coffees and muffins at the Lima Bean. He took his phone out and took a few shots of the shop before he reached back in and grabbed the bag and drink carrier.
Kurt stopped briefly to talk to Cassius. He had him sign the form he needed to turn in at testing center. Once Cassius had finished filling it out, Kurt put it in his satchel and he gave Cassius one of the cups of coffee and a cinnamon muffin.
"Thanks for everything, Cassius," Kurt said.
"You're welcome. It's gonna to be weird around here without you. I'm gonna miss you." He put his hand on Kurt's shoulder.
"Me too." Kurt picked the goodies up and moved on to Burt's office. "Hey, Dad. I brought treats."
"I see that." Burt opened the bag and pulled out a chocolate chocolate chip muffin. He slid the bag back over to Kurt.
Kurt pulled both cups of coffee out of the carrier and put them on Burt's desk. He left his own cherry cheesecake muffin in the sack to eat on the way to Columbus.
"Happy 18th birthday, bud. You did it. Now, you're leaving to go out on your own – before I'm ready. But you're ready. I know you are. You're a hard worker and you've got a good head on your shoulders. I'm always going to be here for you." He looked Kurt in the eyes. "You scared?"
"Terrified in some ways. New school, new everything."
"New York is going to be a breeze compared to Lima. Think about all of the crap you've put up with in high school here. You know the difference between this place and New York?"
Kurt teased, "Decent bagels?"
"New York is filled with people like you – people who aren't afraid to be different. You're going to feel at home there."
Kurt nodded.
"And if you aren't scared, it just means you aren't sticking your neck out far enough."
"You really are a great dad."
"I know. It's written on the coffee mug you gave me for Father's Day a few years ago."
Kurt wiped the tears managing to escape.
"Get outta here. You're gonna be late for your tests."
Kurt nodded and stood up. Burt stood as well. He pulled Kurt into a bear hug.
"I'm going to miss you, Dad."
Burt let him go and looked him in the eyes. "Me too. You can always come back."
Kurt smiled sadly, opened the door, and stepped out.
As the door shut, Burt said, "But you won't." He sighed and finished his muffin.
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Dave was waiting for Kurt when he came out from his last exam. Kurt sat next to him.
"We just have to wait for my scores so I can get the printout."
Dave nodded. He put his arm around the back of Kurt's chair and they both tipped their heads back and closed their eyes to rest. When Kurt's name was called, he got up and went to the counter.
"Here's your scores. You passed all of the tests. You just need to use this code on our website to order patches and copies of your actual certificates. Don't lose the printout because you can use it to apply for jobs until you get your certificates in the mail."
"Thank you." Kurt took a photo of the printout and cropped the top part so just the scores showed and texted it to Burt. He put it in the folder he had with him and went back to Dave. "That's it. We can go. I passed them all."
Dave hugged him, and then took his hand as they left the building to start their journey to New York. The plan was to drive five hours, spend the night in a motel, and make the last three and half hours of the trip the next morning.
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Kurt and Dave arrived about an hour before the moving truck. Dave took him upstairs as soon as they got there. They walked into the hallway that led to the studio. The stairs up to the apartments were on the left. At the top of the stairs, Quinn's door was to the left and Kurt and Dave's was straight ahead. There were no doors hung yet, but when Kurt stepped into their space, he wrapped his arms around Dave and kissed him.
"It's perfect."
"We still need to put the flooring down in the bedrooms and paint them."
"We can start on that later today. They can just put all of the furniture in here. At least we won't have to carry it all up the stairs ourselves that way."
"The appliances are being delivered tomorrow. We can go grocery shopping and go to Ikea on Friday, if we get the floor and walls done today and tomorrow."
"Sounds like a plan."
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It was Sunday afternoon when they finally had everything in both apartments finished and they decided to give official tours to the rest of their family. They started in Quinn's place. Her apartment was over the single car section of the garage and over the former attached garage, so it was slightly unusual in its layout because the stairs were near the center of the apartment.
The main room was a combined kitchen, dining room, and living area. The front wall held her TV. Not quite in the center of the room, facing the TV, was the sofa and two end tables. On the left wall, there were two single windows. The one closest to the laundry closet had the dining table underneath it. In the back left side of the room was her washer/dryer closet with the rest of the wall filled with upper and lower dark wood cabinets, except over the sink where there was a single window. The cabinets continued around the corner to the right wall.
Following the wall that the TV was on, there was an opening into the hallway that ran behind the stairwell that led down to an alcove. There was a small coat closet in along the left side of the opening. The hallway and open living area were painted a warm very pale apricot to go with the print on the sofa and the dark wood furniture and cabinets. The bathroom and two bedrooms were at the end of the almost Z-shaped hallway.
Her bedroom was to the left in the alcove. She had painted it the same colors and decorated it the same as before. The only addition was Kurt's vanity. Her spare bedroom had the bed, side tables, and dresser that had originally been in Paul's bedroom. She hadn't yet chosen any bed linens for it yet, but she had painted the walls a lovely pale warm green. They left Quinn's and move to the guys' apartment.
Kurt opened the door and they stepped inside. The door opened back to the right. Once the door was closed an alcove the width of a hallway could be seen to the right. Their laundry closet opened into the alcove and at the left end of the laundry closet, facing the living area, there was a small guest coat closet.
Along the same short wall, was a door into the bathroom. They had painted the bathroom a warm deep turquoise color and the garden tub area had been tiled with a white tile with turquoise and brown marbling in it.
Perpendicular to the bathroom door, was the door to their bedroom. The bedroom also had a door that led into the bathroom along the front wall. They had painted their bedroom a paler version of the same turquoise that they had used in the bathroom. They placed the bed and the bedside tables along the right wall, the dresser on the back wall under the double window, and the trunk at the end of the bed. The closet took up the left wall.
Next to the bedroom door, was another closet that had their coats in it. Next to the closet door was the door into their study, which they had painted white to prevent the paint from distorting the colors of fabrics and drawings. They had bought two white desks from Ikea put them under the double window on the back wall. The closet ran along the right side. Kurt put his sewing table and spotlight along the front wall.
The remaining space along the back wall of the main room had their table with the drop leafs in their folded down position. They had painted the main room an even lighter version of the same turquoise from their bedroom and bathroom. The whole left wall was their kitchen area, which had white lower and tall upper cabinets that extended to the ceiling, with short cabinets over the double window above the sink. They had not yet instealled the gray, turquoise and white glass tiles between the countertops and the bottom of the cabinets. The front wall had the small dresser with their TV on it. The futon sat in the center of the room facing the TV.
Kurt pointed to the wall with the TV on it. "We're going to build shelves similar to the ones we built for Quinn and put them on this wall with the dresser in the center. The center area will have shelves that only go not quite halfway down, leaving room for the TV."
Judy said, "Both places look great. They look completely different, but I really like both of them. I like this unusual floor you two picked. I had never seen it before. It's white, gray, medium, and dark brown all mixed together. It's definitely interesting."
"Thanks," Kurt said.
"We're going to get to work on the closets next, so we're going to head out to Lowe's," Dave said.
Quinn said, "I'll get my drawings, and then I'm ready to go."
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Sunday evening, Kurt sat down on the built-in vanity in his towel. Dave stood in front of him and applied his moisturizer.
"I love our new place."
"Me too." He leaned forward and kissed Kurt. "Shall I continue?"
"Definitely."
Fifteen minutes later, they were in bed, snuggled up together.
"It's a lot smaller in here than in our old room," Kurt said. "That will take some time to get used to, but I like having the separate living area and a separate room to do our schoolwork and projects. This room is just for us. I know we showed everyone today, but when we start to have people over, I don't want them to come in here."
"A private place, just for us."
"Mmm hmm." Kurt scooted even closer and began kissing Dave. "I love you."
"I love you too." He wrapped his arm around Kurt's back to keep him close. "It's hard to believe that school starts in a week."
"We have English and choir together at least."
"Yeah."
Kurt squirmed until he got in the right position and nuzzled his nose into Dave's neck and relaxed. "Everything's completely different, but we still have each other."
"Always."