While Kurt and Sebastian waited in line to go through customs, Sebastian's phone pinged with a text.
-A car will be there in 30 minutes.
He responded.
-Thanks.
"Isabelle is sending a car to pick us up."
"She didn't have to do that."
"She didn't, but she did anyway. It will make it easier to not have to take the suitcase on the subway."
Eventually they made it through customs and collected their suitcase from the baggage claim area. They found the driver and got in the car. Kurt asked him to stop at the small grocery store not far from where they lived. He ran in and bought a few things. He also stopped and picked up the order he had called in to their favorite Chinese place in their neighborhood. The car dropped them off and they managed to get everything upstairs in one trip.
Kurt carried the groceries and their dinner into the kitchen. He grabbed a clean rag out and washed down the dining table and then washed two plates and plated their food. He put both plates on the table as Sebastian came back into the room. They sat down and ate together.
"I love Paris, but I really like this Kung Po Chicken," Kurt said.
"Me too. You introduced me to it and it's one of my favorites now. When we finish, can we go to bed? I want to attempt to reset our schedules and I'm beat. I intentionally tried not to sleep on the plane. I just want to shower and go to bed."
"Sounds like a great plan. I'm exhausted. I never manage to sleep on planes even when I try to."
A half-hour after they finished eating, they were curled up together in bed. Kurt placed a feather light kiss on Sebastian's lips and he could feel Sebastian's lips move into a smile. "I love you. Sweet dreams, mon abri."
"I love you too."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Slightly more than nine hours later, Kurt woke up. It was already starting to get light outside. He looked at the clock and it was 7:15.
"It's almost light outside," Sebastian said. He saw the time. "Not bad. We just can't nap today so we can go to sleep at the right time again tonight."
"You were already awake?"
"Just five minutes ago or so."
"I don't want to get up."
"We don't have to get up. We just can't sleep anymore. I can think of several things we can do without getting out of bed." He was already lying with his head on Kurt's chest, but he scooted closer. He reached out for Kurt's hand and interlaced the fingers.
Kurt bent his elbow so their hands were over his heart. "A year ago, we were lying similar to this for the very first time, talking and reflecting on the past. So much has changed since then." He pressed kisses into Sebastian's hair. He took a deep breath. "I remember lying here after you fell asleep, stewing in my thoughts and getting mad at myself for all the bad choices I had made."
"And this year?"
"I'm lying here happier than I can remember being and absolutely in love with you. It's been a great year. I learned to face those past mistakes and learn from them. I've learned to stand up for myself in healthy ways. I've learned to open myself back up and risk showing who I am again. I got Sam back, even though I kind of lost him again, I didn't really. I got Adam back as a friend and he's doing well. I like my job. School's almost over. And did I mentioned the man I love loves me back and wants to marry me?"
"In similar news, the man I love asked me to marry him and I said 'yes'. A lot of those other things you said apply to my life as well. I started putting more effort into my therapy sessions after you moved in. I wanted to stop hating myself and hating my life. I wanted to be a person that was worthy of being friends with you and having friends in general. And like you said, I examined my past behavior and made changes and worked through a lot of things. And now we're here and happy together."
"I don't want to get up, but I have to. I'm going to run to the bathroom and I'll be right back with something for us to eat." Kurt came back to the room a few minutes later with two cartons of yogurt, two spoons, and a bowl of cored strawberries and banana slices.
Sebastian came back into the room from the bathroom. "That looks good." He slid back into bed with Kurt and took his carton of yogurt and ate it. He picked up the first strawberry and tried to feed it to Kurt.
He laughed. He put his empty carton and spoon on his side table, turned back to face Sebastian, and opened his mouth. He picked one up and fed it to Sebastian followed by a kiss. They went back and forth feeding each other bites of fruit and kissing until the bowl was empty. Kurt moved it to the side table as well. He moved closer to Sebastian and kissed him again. "You want to read?"
"I do. Or write maybe. But I want to talk about this semester first, if that's okay."
"Sure."
"Come closer." Sebastian leaned forward and put Kurt's pillow behind his back too and got them comfortable. He bent his knees and made room for Kurt to sit between his legs.
Kurt moved and slid into the spot and leaned back against Sebastian, who wrapped his arms around Kurt. "Better?"
"Much." He kissed the side of Kurt's neck. "So, in a pre-emptive effort to prevent what happened last semester, I want you to consider something."
"What?"
"I just want you to consider that in four months this will be over. For better or for worse, it will end. I'd like it to be for better. I was hoping that it what would happen last semester, but they chose that very dark play and it wasn't helpful."
"It really wasn't. I can honestly say that I might prefer being a barista over playing a role in a really depressing play. Anyway, go on with what you were saying."
"Do you have any educational classes this semester?"
"No. That sounds terrible, like I'm not going to learn anything. That's not it. I just mean that I don't have a French Lit class or a history of something class. I have practical classes. I signed up for an advanced stagecraft course. I'm still taking an advanced costume design course. I have vocal performance, my dance course, an advanced stage combat course, an accents course, and I think that's it. Oh, and the senior practicum. The seniors are expected to participate in other seniors' projects, like plays or even short movies because they give the actors experience and things to build their CVs for auditions."
"I know you have some money saved up. I want you to consider this ahead of time. If things get crazy with the musical and your classes, you could survive for two months on your savings. I'm not saying that lightly because I know what it means to you to pay off your loans and have an emergency fund. I guess I'd just like you to consider what constitutes an emergency." Sebastian ran his hands along Kurt's arms gently. "I love you and watching you run yourself ragged is hard to do."
"I know. I struggle because I don't want to ask my parents for help, and you're right that I don't want to spend my savings."
"I'd rather see you in one piece emotionally at the end of the musical than to have you not enjoy the experience because you're under too much stress with work."
Kurt pulled Sebastian's left hand up to his lips and kissed his ring finger. "I know Fashion week is coming up. And late in the semester, there's the MET Gala. I don't want to let my job at Vogue go, but I've already chosen pursuing Broadway over pursuing fashion for now. At the end of the semester, I'll start auditioning with the goal of getting a part. When I do, I won't be available to go to evening events with Isabelle anymore. I won't have time to work for her in the afternoons because I'll be at rehearsals. Unless I'm going to try to work mornings for her and then do the show stuff the rest of the day, I know that I'm eventually going to have to give it up. I've been thinking about it for the past few weeks. The problem is that I don't want to. I like working for Isabelle."
"I know you do. And she likes working with you."
"But I can't do everything. I know. I want you too. I want us. I want this." He leaned to the side a bit and turned his head so he could kiss Sebastian. "This is more important than either of those things, but you already know that I'm driven to succeed. It was what kept me going for so long. That's probably something I should consider talking to Mr. Salazar about. I'll keep thinking. I promise you that you are more important than a successful Broadway or fashion career. Those things can never replace you."
"Mmm hmm." Sebastian went back to kissing Kurt's neck. "That's because I'm irreplaceable," he teased.
"Seriously. Stop for a minute." He scooted forward and turned around. "Lean up." He pulled the pillows up behind Sebastian and slid his feet behind Sebastian and wrapped his legs around him so they were nearly chest to chest. "I know you were joking around, but it's true. I don't ever want to go back to living my life without you in it. Your companionship makes life enjoyable to live. Being with you isn't about proving that I'm worthy of being loved. It's about sharing and comfort and knowing that I'm enough."
"You are enough."
"And I love you more than I want to be on Broadway, but I still want it so bad it's palpable."
"And I love your fire and your drive and your determination to succeed." He kissed Kurt. "You know that."
Kurt nodded. "Well, losing you is not an option. I just have to figure out how to balance everything. The next two months will be a huge challenge. But in this balancing act, you and I are standing on the same side of the seesaw."
"Absolutely."
"Let's go sit out on the sofa where we can both sit comfortably and still be super close. You can read or write like you said, and I can review my lines and read some too. We still have to go out shopping, but let's snuggle first. Do you want to leave our onsies on or get dressed in sweats?"
"Will you brave the City in sweats?"
"Probably not for my pants, but I will put some casual jeans on and warm boots. I'll wear a hat too, so I will have extra snuggle time instead of fixing my hair."
Sebastian leaned in just a bit and kissed him. "Deal."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
At 10:30, Kurt's phone pinged with a text. He leaned out to get it from where he had put it on top of the book he planned to read next. He unlocked it.
-Are you two at home?
-We are.
-Stay there.
Kurt showed Sebastian the texts.
"We can do that."
-Got it. We'll be here.
Sebastian laid his notebook to the side and took Kurt's left hand. He began to kiss Kurt's knuckles and moved from there to massaging his hand. "Do you want me to run the lines with you?"
Kurt handed him the script. "Thank you. Start at the top of the page, please."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
An hour later, Sam knocked twice and used his key to open the door. He found Kurt and Sebastian sitting in the corner of the sofa reading.
"Come on. I brought brunch." He put a bag with the name of a taco place on it down on the dining table.
"Tacos are a brunch item now?" Kurt asked as he climbed out of the corner and made his way to the table.
Sebastian was right behind him. Before they managed to sit down, Sam pulled Sebastian into a hug. "Congratulations!" Kurt was next. "To you too." He turned back to the table and started pulling items out of the bag. "They're brunch because they're breakfast burritos. I have two with turkey bacon, two with turkey sausage, and two with ham. They have scrambled eggs in them instead of rice. So, they have the meat, eggs, cheese, black beans, onions, green peppers, cilantro, and salsa on them."
Kurt filled glasses with water before he sat down. "Sorry we don't have anything else to offer. I could make tea or more coffee if you want some."
"I'm good. Sit down and eat. It's an engagement brunch. Now, I know I am the best man, of course. So, when are we talking about?"
Kurt answered, "Probably this summer." He grabbed a bacon and a sausage burrito.
Sebastian took a bacon one as well, and a ham one. Sam took the remaining two and opened the ham one and took a bite. After a few bites, he started to talk again.
"Summer sounds good. I didn't figure it would be this spring with the two of you graduating and all of the schoolwork you'll need to do for that." He reached out for Kurt's hand and looked at his ring. Once he finished, he looked at Sebastian's. "Those are cool."
"We got them in Paris," Kurt said. "They're made from Roman glass. I'll show you the authentication papers if you want to read about it."
"Roman, like as in ancient Rome?"
"Yep."
"That's awesome. They're really unusual. I like them. So, tell me about the proposal."
The two of them both filled him in on how it had happened.
"So, you took him to the park in the painting I did?"
"I did. He was sitting in the very spot that he took the photo from that you used as the reference for the painting."
"That's cool. Adam said he and Marcus had a good time with you two."
"We did have a good time." Kurt's face lit up. "They splurged and took us to the Moulin Rouge for a show. It was phenomenal."
Sebastian asked, "How are things going with you?"
"Good, good. Our semester started this past Monday. My classes seem reasonable. The school has helped like they said they would and I think I've got the hang of it now. Lexi's been a lot of help. Not with the classes themselves, but helping me stay calm and focused."
Kurt said, "So things with the two of you are good?"
"Definitely. My parents like her and her parents like me. They're not the least bit bothered by the fact that I'm white. Lexi has a mixed heritage and she has family members that look like me and Hispanic and black family members too."
Sebastian looked confused.
"Mercedes struggled with the fact that I'm white and she's black because black people she was friends with, like her back-up singers, were opposed to her dating a white guy. They told her that if she did, she'd alienate potential fans."
Kurt said, "I can see that in a way. When I went to church with her that time when my dad was in a coma, the entire congregation was black. I was the only white person. So, I can see how she might feel pressured to find a nice black guy."
"She eventually said it didn't matter to her, and I believed her, but it would have made her life harder if her family had been opposed to us being together. In the end it didn't matter because she broke up with me and went back to LA to finish her CD. And she's too busy to have time to invest in a relationship. I thought about it a lot after I met Lexi. I asked myself if Mercedes showed up and told me that she had changed her mind, what would I do? And I realized that as much I still loved her, I still don't want a life on the road touring and I can't take that away from her. It's her dream. She's living her dream and she's happy. I realized that I'm done being the sidekick. Kurt and I talked about it a lot before we came back to New York. It was what Mercedes had asked Kurt the morning he woke up in the hotel with her."
Kurt nodded. "She asked whether I was going to be the leading man in my own life. And I feel like I am now and I'm glad that you feel that way too. I love Mercedes, but you're right. She's living her dream."
"And now that I don't feel so lost and I'm not clinically depressed anymore, I can be happy for her, while still living my life and trying to find what makes me happy. Maybe it will be art. Maybe not. But starting somewhere and giving something a try is better than doing nothing. And I do love Lexi. I'm not sure that we're headed towards marriage, but we're good together and that's good enough for now."
"I'm glad for you," Kurt said. "Thanks for bringing us brunch. I bought a few things on the way back last night for breakfast, some yogurt and some fruit, but we haven't been shopping yet."
"You're welcome. We can drive out to Costco if you want."
Sebastian said, "That would actually really help. Do you have the time?"
"Sure. I'm yours until 6:00."
"So, let's change and go," Kurt said. "We can do something together when we get back."
"I'll pick this stuff up. You two go get dressed."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
By 2:00, they were back, the groceries were put away, and the three of them were watching Doctor Who while making homemade calzones for lunch. Once they got them in the oven, they moved to the sofa and squished together. They put their feet up on the ottoman and relaxed until the oven time went off. Sebastian hopped up to pull them out and turn the oven off. He plated them and brought them around to the sofa. They continued watching until the calzones had cooled enough to eat while they watched.
Sam grabbed their plates when the episode ended and put them in the dishwasher. He went to the closet and grabbed something from his coat pocket and took it over to the DVD player. "I rented something silly and hopefully fun while you two were in line." He put the movie into DVD player and put the Doctor Who DVD away. He sat back down next to Kurt, who leaned over and put his head on Sam's shoulder. Sam pressed play.
"The Minions movie," Kurt said enthusiastically. "We were going to go last summer to watch it at the theater, but we never made it there to see it." He didn't take his head off of Sam's shoulder, but he reached for Sebastian's hand and interlaced their fingers. He ran his thumb along Sebastian's index finger gently. He also put his leg right leg over the top of Sebastian's left leg and played footsie with him while they watched.
When it ended, Sam played the special feature shorts. Once they were over, he got up and put the DVD back in his coat pocket. He went back over to the couch and sat back down. "I promise to do a better job of coming to visit. You two should plan to come some time late in the spring and we can go to the beach for the day again."
"Sounds good," Kurt said. "I'm glad you came today. I've missed you."
"Me too," Sebastian added.
"I've missed both of you too. Are you going to try to get back into doing sightseeing on Saturdays?"
"I don't know," Kurt said. "We don't really have a feel for how anything is going to go yet because our classes start on Tuesday. The only other thing I know for certain is that rehearsals for the musical start Tuesday. Even if we don't have time to go out for a full day, maybe we can work something out."
"Send me an email with the performance dates so I can let you know when to get me a ticket."
"I can do that."
"As much as I hate to say it, I've got to get going." He stood up.
Kurt and Sebastian got up too. They walked over to the door with him and hugged him before he got his coat on.
Kurt ended up hugging him again. "I'm glad you came."
"Me too," Sam said. "I'll come back. Once you get your schedules figured out, let me know when will work."
"We will," Sebastian said.
Sam opened the door and left. Kurt closed and locked the door. When he turned around, he walked into Sebastian's awaiting arms and just let himself be held.
"I'm glad he's doing well. I really am. I just miss him."
"I know."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Wednesday evening, Kurt and Isabelle arrived for dinner at 7:00. They brought Isabelle's favorite Indian food with them. Sebastian had already set the table. When they came in, they washed their hands and sat down at the table. They served themselves and began to eat.
"What happened today that caused you to bring Isabelle home for dinner?" Sebastian teased.
She rolled her eyes. "It must be exciting because he's been smiling like a loon on and off since he came by to get me to come here with him."
"So, you both know that today was our second day of rehearsals."
They both nodded.
"There were people milling around and working on different things both yesterday and today. We went through the second half of the musical today, just running lines and learning the blocking. Afterwards, when rehearsal was over, a man approached me. He introduced himself as Mr. Johnson and I recognized him from the Winter Showcase." Kurt took a bite and swallowed. "He is the director for Dear Evan Hansen. He offered me the lead when it opens off-Broadway in May. It will be in previews in late March. I'd have to start rehearsals in three weeks. I have to go in and talk to Madame Tibideaux to see if there is any way at all to make this work."
"So, you were offered the role or you were offered an audition slot?" Isabelle asked.
"No audition. He heard me sing at the Winter Showcase and he watch the rehearsal today and yesterday. I just didn't notice him with all the commotion."
"Kurt, that's amazing!" Isabelle practically squealed.
Sebastian responded, "It is, but how can you start rehearsals for an off-Broadway show when you have Mamma Mia! to do still? And your other classes?"
"I really don't know. That's why I have to go talk to Madame Tibideaux. He's giving me until Friday to answer him. They'll start open audition calls for the role if I turn it down."
"This is what you've worked so hard for," Sebastian said.
"It is. Now, I just have to see if I can both accept the role and graduate."
"I don't want you to feel obligated to continue to come to Vogue if you take the role. I love having you as my PA, but I know this is your dream. Even if you also have dreams of being a designer, you're not close enough to that becoming a reality to give up Broadway. You have a great eye, but having your own line is down the road a ways and I know you know that. I will support you. Honey, you know that. As both a friend and a soon-to-be family member. As soon as you go into rehearsals, you'll start to get paid. Besides you, Caitlyn has been my best intern PA in ages. She's actually good, but I still prefer you. I can get along. Her position ends in May. I am free to hire or rehire anyone I see fit. So, if the show doesn't work out and it closes a few months in, you can come back to Vogue, if you don't get another role afterwards."
"Thank you."
"You're most welcome. When will you be able to talk to Carmen?"
"Tomorrow at lunch. Her secretary is squeezing me in because I told her it was urgent."
"Good. Three weeks gives you time to still do Men's Fashion Week with me. I'll get Caitlyn to prepare to do Fashion Week with me the next week. Find out if you'll rehearse on weekends. Maybe you could go with me to the weekend events."
"I'll let you know everything as soon as I find out, which will hopefully be tomorrow."
"New topic. Tell me about the engagement. I'm so excited for the two of you."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Later that evening, after they had showered, Kurt and Sebastian were snuggled up in bed. Kurt was lying on his back and Sebastian was sprawled out on him, using him as a body pillow.
Sebastian pulled their intertwined hands to his lips and kissed Kurt's knuckles. "You know I'm really excited for you, right?"
"I do." He kissed the top of Sebastian's head. "I'm excited, but terrified. I want this so badly. I can even put it into words. But it's three months too soon. Trying to do all of this will be even harder than we were considering a few days ago. Not working with Isabelle will free up some time, but if I agree to this, I'm going to be as busy as I was last spring. Eating while I walk or study. No free time." He signed. "I want it all, but can I have it all without losing myself? I can't lose you either. How can we make this work?"
"Well, I think knowing that it is temporary is one thing in our favor. You're not going to be facing this forever. When I looked at a calendar, it looks like five weeks of insanity. We can make it through that." He let go of Kurt's hand and guided Kurt's face towards his. He looked him in the eyes. "I want you to succeed. I can make a crockpot dinner everyday for five weeks if I need to."
Kurt kissed him. "Thank you."
"You would do the same for me and I know it. This isn't something magnanimous and newsworthy. This is life. One person has a lot of their plate and the other does what they can to help. I love you and I'm as committed to making this work as you are. Five weeks of insanity can be survived."
"I'm scared and excited. I can't believe he just offered me the role."
"You're really good."
Kurt kissed him again, with a barely there kiss.
Sebastian returned it and they went back and forth until Sebastian gave in and kissed Kurt and pressed in, pulling them flush together and kissing until they had to break for air. He ran his fingers through Kurt's beard. "What did the director or costume director think?"
"Oh, it's good. They both like it. And my glasses possibly. I'm taking those tomorrow. But it will have to go as soon as Mamma Mia! ends. Evan Hansen is a high school student, so I will have to be clean shaven for that."
"Okay. You're gorgeous either way." He ran his hand through Kurt's hair. "How about I give you a massage? Maybe you can relax and fall asleep easier."
"Tempting, but I was enjoying the octopus style kissing we've got going on here."
Sebastian laughed. "More kissing it is, then."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
"Mr. Hummel, have a seat please. I see that you've taken your role as a 40-something potential father quite seriously. The beard and glasses go a long way to making you look older."
"That was my hope." He sat down.
She put her pen down and folded her hands on top of her desk, giving him her undivided attention. "You said this was urgent."
"Yes, Madame Tibideaux. Mr. Johnson approached me yesterday at the end of Mamma Mia! rehearsal and offered me the role of Evan Hansen in the off-Broadway staging of Dear Evan Hansen."
"That is an amazing opportunity for you."
"It is. It's just that rehearsals will start in three weeks. He asked if you would you mind if I called him while we discussed the possibilities of how to make this work. I do NOT want to drop out of NYADA. I want to finish my degree as scheduled."
"I see. Before you call him, let me look at your current schedule and your other coursework. Do you know when he is planning to hold rehearsals?"
"I don't."
"Well, let's go ahead and get him on the phone to deal with that first."
Kurt dialed his number and the three of them spoke for around 10 minutes before Kurt disconnected the call.
"Give me a few minutes to look things over."
"Of course." Kurt took his Mamma Mia! script out and went over the scene they were going to rehearse that afternoon. He looked up when she spoke again.
"Based on what Mr. Johnson offered and what you need to graduate, I will authorize that your voice assignments utilize the score from Dear Evan Hansen. I will excuse you from Advanced Stage Combat class for the five weeks of overlap between Mamma Mia! and Dear Evan Hansen rehearsals due to the time of day that class meets. You will return to class the week after spring break. Your grade will be based on the work you do while you're in class only. I will count your rehearsals for Dear Evan Hansen as fulfilling the Senior Practicum requirement, which, as you know, is an ungraded course. There is nothing else I can do to lighten your load."
"I understand. I appreciate you being willing to work with me on this."
"Having a student hand-picked to open an already successful show reflects well on the school. And you've worked hard. You didn't come to me asking to be given preferential treatment. You came asking how you could fulfill your requirements and not let your performance here suffer. You have never underperformed, even under intense duress. I believe that you can hold up under the very intense five weeks that overlap. I will inform your stage combat instructor of your five weeks of excused absences and your voice instructor of the need to use the score for your coursework."
"Thank you, Madame Tibideaux."
"You're welcome, Mr. Hummel. Congratulations. You've worked hard. I'll be sure to get a ticket to come see the show."
Recognizing by the tone of her voice that he had been dismissed, he stood and left her office.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
He headed for Mr. Salazar's office next. He looked over his script again while he waited. It didn't take long before he was called in.
"It's been quite a while since you've been in."
"It has." He put his bag down and sat down. "A lot of things have happened."
"Such as?"
Kurt explained the revelation he had after the last time he had been in, including the hose analogy that he had used to explain it to Sebastian.
"Well, that's good to know. Realizing that you were still sabotaging yourself and stopping it is an important thing to be able to do for yourself. Once you stopped, what changed?"
"Mostly just how I felt about myself and my relationship with Sebastian. Being in a relationship with an adult is really different. And I know that sounds mean, but looking back on everything, the people I was friends with all had their own problems and probably needed professional help. And I just ended up being the one that everyone turned to. I was used to that role, but I let it go too far. I couldn't face being alone and I made choices that weren't in my own best interest. I think I've gotten the partner role down better now. Sebastian and I are partners. We work together, which is all I ever really wanted. You know, someone who is on my side and actually wants to be with me. And I'm doing much better at the friendship role than I used to, as far as not allowing myself to give more than is reasonable."
"All of those balance issues we've talked about."
"Yes. The other thing that came out of all of my self-reflection after our last meeting was that I realized that I really love my life now. I miss Sam and Adam, but we still talk. I miss all of Sebastian's cousins, but that's because I love being with them. They just accepted me and let me into their lives like I belong. I talked about wanting people to think of me in other ways besides my sexuality first and after spending all of winter break with them, I realized that I already have that."
"I'm glad to hear that. It feels like there's a 'but' coming."
Kurt laughed. "BUT I still struggle with what to do with all of the effort I was putting into being 'enough'. I could never reach my goal before. I was always weighed and found wanting, for lack of a better way to describe it. And once I realized that isn't the case anymore, I'm left with the question of what to do with all of the drive and self-doubt. Rachel wrote this song for Regionals years ago and the chorus asks, 'What do I do when my good isn't good enough?' I know the answer to that. I just keep trying. I keep pushing. I keep working at it. The harder question for me is – what do I do when I am enough? What do I strive for then? How do I live as a relaxed and happy person?"
"You know there's not one singular answer to that question."
"I do. But that's where I am. What happens now that I have what I've always wanted?"
"I think I'm missing some key information. You're still in school. You can't have achieved everything you've been dreaming of and working towards."
Kurt stopped to think for a second. "I skipped some details. Sebastian and I are engaged and I was offered the lead in the off-Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen."
"Well, that does change the picture. Congratulations on your engagement and on the role."
"Thank you. I proposed New Year's morning. And I was offered the role yesterday."
"So all of your self-reflecting made you realize that you wanted to marry Sebastian?"
"It did actually. I realized that the last nearly six months have been amazing and that I want him in my life for as long as possible. And I wanted him to know that, so I proposed. So, now I have the hardest five weeks of my life starting in a few weeks while Dear Evan Hansen and Mamma Mia! rehearsals take place. And two weeks after Mamma Mia! closes, Dear Evan Hansen opens in previews."
"You will be busy. I don't even know how you can be in rehearsals for two shows."
"I'll spare you the details. Basically, I'll be busy about 16 hours a day. Sebastian and I talked last night and we'll talk more tonight now that I have I know more. Even after Mamma Mia! finishes, I won't have any more free time because we'll go into tech week a week later and then I'll have eight performances a week and all of my classes still."
"That's a lot on your plate."
"It is. I think the one thing I hadn't considered with my Broadway dream is that it's six days a week. I won't even have two days off in a week and there's no vacation time. I have a lot of mental adjusting to do."
"So you're definitely going to accept the part?"
"Yes. Taking the part is a step in the right direction. If I do a good job, I'll be more likely to get another part I think. The more experience I have the better I'll get."
"You didn't mention your job."
"I'm going to leave Vogue. I can't do all of it. Once I go into rehearsals for Dear Evan Hansen, I'll get paid. I'll just have to rely on my savings until then. Once the insanity is over after graduation, I still have to face figuring out how to live without so much striving and pushing and stress. I've struggled when we've been in Paris and we're not doing touristy things. When we visited all of the places we went to, my mind switched into 'learn everything about this place' mode, like I was on a field trip in a way. I enjoyed every minute of every place we went and spending time with Sebastian, but my mind was still whirling non-stop. It was on our lounge around days that I struggled to know what to do with myself. My life has been high-stress for so long that I feel anxious when I don't have 20 things to accomplish in a day. I'm going to need to learn how to overcome that."
"I'll look for some resources for you to give to you when you come to see me finals week. Until then, you won't have enough time to read a book on how to enjoy a slower paced life."
"Very funny." He took a deep breath and let it out. "You do make a good point though. I probably won't have time to come in and see you very often. I'll see what I can work out, but I do appreciate you listening."
"You're welcome. I'll be there for Mamma Mia! and I'll venture out to wherever Dear Evan Hansen will be later this spring. Is the beard for Mamma Mia! or just to give it try?"
"It was originally because Sebastian asked me to grow it out, but then once I did, I thought it might be a good way to look older."
"Well, that combined with the glasses makes you look quite different."
"A different hairstyle, make up, and clothing should make the transformation from 22 to 42 more believable."
"Definitely. I'm glad that you're doing so well. I know you may feel edgy, but you've made so much progress from where you were a year ago. You've worked hard and should be proud of yourself."
"I am. I just know myself well enough to know that the amount of stress coming is potentially enough to make me fall back. I'm trying to prepare myself and be as ready as possible."
"A good plan. Are you planning a wedding too?"
"No, not really. We haven't set a date, but we've been considering this summer. The wedding will be in Paris, so we'll have to work on it after graduation."
"That seems like a good idea."
"I know it's fast to be getting married. Maybe I'll regret that, but I don't think so. I've been in the situation of feeling pressured to say 'yes' and then regretting it. And then being pressured a second time into saying 'yes'. I've stood in front of a large group of people, most people I didn't even know and done the whole wedding thing once before. I was tense the entire afternoon and evening. It was insane. But I'm not being pressured now. This was my idea. I bought rings. I asked him. I feel the opposite of pressured when I'm with him. He genuinely makes me feel calm, loved, and like I'm enough. It's an amazing feeling."
"I'm glad for you. You know where to find me if you need some help with the juggling act your life is about to become."
Kurt smiled and nodded in agreement. "I do." He grabbed his bag and left.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
He had one last quick stop to make before he headed to rehearsal, which was the bursar's office. He had made an actual appointment that morning so that he wouldn't risk not getting out in time. He didn't even make it to a chair after he signed in before his name was called. He followed the representative into her office. He took the certificate out of his bag and handed it to her.
"Ah, yes. Congratulations! I can take care of that for you."
"Thank you. While I'm here can you give me some information on school loan repayment?"
"Of course. How would you like this refunded to you?"
"What are my options?"
"It looks like your bill was paid by credit card. Carole Hummel. I can refund the money to her card."
"I don't think that will be a good idea, but let me text her and ask." Kurt pulled his phone out and text Carole.
"While we're waiting for her response, I'll get that information you asked for."
Kurt's phone pinged a few minutes later.
"She says not to do that. Do you want to call her?"
"I'll call the number I have on file." She handed the papers to Kurt and picked up her phone and called Carole. She got up and faxed a form to Carole and continued to talk to her. A couple of minutes later, she took the fax printout to her desk. She ended the call.
"Alright. I'm going to issue a refund check in your name as your mother requested. I'll be right back."
While she was gone, Kurt began to read the papers. She came back and handed him a check.
"Don't lose that. It can't be replaced. It's practically like carrying around $10,000 in cash, which is why we don't usually issue checks, if we can avoid it."
"Thank you for your help. I'll be careful with it." He left and put his bag on crossbody and put his coat on over the top. He decided to leave the school and go to the closest branch of his bank and deposit the check. He texted a classmate that was in the production, telling her that he was running late and asked her to try to cover for him if anyone started looking for him.
He deposited the check and felt a wave of relief and rushed back to the school and managed to be just 10 minutes late. He slipped in the back, and if anyone noticed, no one said anything to him.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt pulled the loan repayment informational sheets back out on the subway and read more. He did some calculations on his phone. He walked quickly and was glad that he had risked going to the bank earlier rather than carrying the check around as he walked through the crowded sidewalks in the dark.
He let himself into the apartment and was greeted with the aroma of dinner wafting through the air. Sebastian heard the door shut and came into the living area. Before Kurt managed to get his coat off, Sebastian hugged him and gave him a quick kiss. He helped Kurt out of his coat and hung it up. Kurt reached down and took his boots off before going into the apartment any farther. Sebastian was back quickly and wrapped his arms around Kurt and started dancing around the room to music Kurt hadn't initially paid any attention to. He relaxed into Sebastian's arms and let himself be held. When the song ended, Sebastian kissed him, released his hold on Kurt, and stepped back.
Kurt took a deep breath and let it out. "Thank you. Will dinner still be okay if we shower now and get comfortable before we eat it?"
"It will be fine. It's a chicken and rice soup, but I haven't added the vegetables or the rice yet, even though they're ready to go in. I can just turn the soup down." He let go of Kurt and adjusted the dial on the stove. He followed Kurt to their bedroom. "Long day?"
"Yes and no. I have good news about school and being able to take the role, but I spent quite a bit of time reading about student loan repayments and I feel sick. Why on earth did I agree to those loans? I can't even talk about it right now. Maybe you can read the papers and tell me that I misunderstood everything. Let's go shower."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
A half-hour later, Kurt was in the kitchen finishing up the soup while Sebastian sat at the dining table reading through the papers. Once all of the vegetables and rice were in the pot, Kurt turned it up and let it simmer. He got his Mamma Mia! script out and put it on the sofa for after they finished eating. When the soup was done, Kurt ladled it into bowls and carried them to the table. Sebastian continued to read. Kurt filled glasses with water and brought utensils and napkins over to the table. About a minute after Kurt sat down, Sebastian laid the papers down.
"So, tell me the good news," he said as he took Kurt's hand.
Kurt explained what Madame Tibideaux had agreed to that morning.
"That's great. I'm surprised, but in a way not too surprised. The school will get a lot of free publicity if you list that you are currently a senior at NYADA in your bio."
"That's true. I am glad that she's not opposing me taking the role and making it nearly impossible to do. Well, even more nearly impossible."
"Me too. So, what's with having me read the loan repayment papers?"
"I have unsecured student loans and personal loans."
"Oh," Sebastian's voice fell.
"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I read them right. If my calculations were right on the subway, the $10,000 I deposited this afternoon as the tuition reimbursement from winning the Winter Showcase may be just about the right amount to pay off the interest my loans have accrued while I've been in college."
"That's insane."
"I know, but it's my own fault for not reading the fine print. I just didn't read it. I assumed that if I borrowed $30,000, I'd repay $30,000 with a small amount of interest. But according to the papers, the loans begin to accumulate interest from the moment they are distributed. If I don't pay that interest before I graduate, the interest owed will be rolled to the principal and the loan payments will be calculated on the new total as the principal." He took his phone out and did more calculations. "My payments are going to be about $1000 a month, assuming that I pay the interest off before I graduate, which saves about $4000 over the life of the loans." Kurt picked his spoon up and forced himself to eat.
"You don't have to answer and I probably already know the answer, but why didn't you let your parents pay your tuition? With your dad being a congressman, he had to have had the money to pay at least half of it or more."
"I was the one who insisted that I needed to come here to go to school, so I only agreed to let him pay the amount that he would have paid if I had gone to a state school. I didn't think it was reasonable of me to ask him to pay more for my college than that. It wasn't his fault that I was so headstrong and believed that the only way I could make it to Broadway was to go to school here in New York City."
"And you've done really well here. And you're getting a chance to prove yourself. And I know $1000 a month seems like a lot of money, but if this show doesn't last long, you could go back to working 20 weekday hours at Vogue plus the occasional evenings, and you'll be able to make your loan payments. I know that's not your goal or the ideal solution. You could even go back to working at a garage part time in addition to working at Vogue and make additional payments toward your principal and pay the loans down more quickly." He reached out for Kurt's hand. "Try not to worry about it so much. I'll talk to Grandma and see what her plan is for when we graduate. I need to find out what expenses will fall to me and when."
Kurt squeezed Sebastian's hand. "I'll try not to worry."
"Once we finish, you can work on your schedule and I'll do some of the reading I need to do. We can do it while we snuggle on the sofa."
"Sounds perfect."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Friday evening, Kurt and Sebastian dressed in coordinating suits and headed out to meet Mr. Johnson at the restaurant he had chosen. They stopped at the podium and gave Mr. Johnson's name and they were led to a table. About 10 feet from the table, Kurt recognized the other person at the table. They took their seats.
"Madison?"
"Kurt?"
"You two know each other?" Mr. Johnson asked.
"We do," Kurt said. "We met a little less than a year and a half ago back in my hometown in Ohio. At the time, she was attending the high school that I graduated from."
"Small world," said Mr. Johnson.
"That it is sometimes," Kurt agreed.
"Madison is continuing with the role of Zoe Murphy."
Kurt smiled and nodded. "I'd like you to meet my fiancé, Sebastian Smythe."
"Nice to meet you," Mr. Johnson reached out to shake Sebastian's hand.
"You too," Sebastian replied.
She smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Sebastian."
"You too."
"Madison is here for the weekend looking at housing options. Since she was in town, I thought it would be nice for the two of you to meet, but with you already knowing each other that will make things easier. Once the rest of the cast is in town, and the rest of the roles are filled, we'll get everyone together."
The waitress came around and took their orders.
"What other cast openings are there?"
"At this point, the rest of the leads have agreed to stay on. We had a couple of understudy and swings that won't be making the move here to New York. Those are the only parts that we'll hold open auditions for. We'll start that process soon. We'd like you to be there for the actual auditions, which will obviously be before we start rehearsals. You gave me a copy of your schedule earlier today, so once we have dates and times worked out, we'll let you know."
"I really appreciate you being willing to hold the rehearsals in the evenings," Kurt said.
"It will be fine. The cast is used to performing in the evenings and having their mornings free."
It didn't take long for their food to arrive. Mr. Johnson talked about the staging and about Evan as a character while they ate. When they finished, he gave Kurt a bag with the script, the score, and copies of the paperwork he had signed earlier that afternoon.
"My apologies for not have the material for the musical with me earlier this afternoon."
"It's fine. I'll start to go over everything tomorrow. I had class and rehearsal this afternoon after our meeting."
"I'm so glad you've agreed to join us. I think you're going to be a great fit for the show. I've heard a lot of people sing songs from the musical, but you felt that song. You portrayed the emotion of the song so well. I can't wait for all of us to get working on everything in a few weeks. I'll keep you updated via email." He got the waitress to bring their bill. He slipped his card in and paid before he excused himself.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Once he was out of earshot, Kurt asked. "Did you graduate?"
"I did."
"I didn't realize that you were senior. How's Mason? I haven't really been in contact with anyone from McKinley since I left. How did you end up in the DC area?"
"Let's see. A little of our backstory. Coach Sue recruited us to McKinley to join the Cheerios. We were both turning 18 that August and being on a National Champion team sounded great, so we decided to do it. We lived in the apartments Coach set up. When all of that craziness happened, everything went nuts. The school closed. We had no choice but to scramble to figure out what to do. We had no interest in attending North Lima. The only reason we moved to Lima was to be on the Cheerios. With no place to live, I went to Virginia since our parents were living in Arlington. I finished out the school year there. Mason enrolled at Dalton and took Jane back with him to Westerville. She went to Crawford County since she didn't like being the only girl at Dalton. We applied to colleges, and I auditioned for roles in the DC area. I got this role and I completed my fall semester at GMU studying theater. I've taken the spring semester off to stay with the show as it opens here. Mason graduated from Dalton and opted to go to Ohio State and is living between Westerville and the OSU campus. Jane will graduate this spring. Roderick, Spencer, and Alistair were redistricted to North Lima, but I don't keep in contact with any of them. I'm assuming that Spencer and Alistair went back to McKinley when it reopened this fall. I don't even know about what anyone else did after the school closed. I heard all sorts of insane things about you after you left, but with the level of insanity overall, I just chalked all of it up to there being something in the water that made everyone insane there. Where did you vanish to?"
"Well, after I left, Sam and I went to DC and stayed with my parents for a few weeks, and then I came back here to New York to continue with my education at NYADA. I'll be graduating in May."
"Am I allowed to be nosy and ask what happened? I saw you get married to Blaine, but that's obviously over and you're engaged?"
"Well, I've only kept in contact with a few people and they've kept what they know to themselves. How about we just go with your theory of it being something in the water? The short version is that Blaine and I were not well-suited to be a couple. I should have stayed in New York where I belong. Blaine and I have spoken three times in the last nearly 15 months. And that was two times too many."
"Wow. So, how did you and Sebastian meet?"
"I went to Dalton the year Kurt was a senior. I had gone to school in Paris prior to that."
"I see."
Kurt said, "We hadn't seen each other since right after Regionals in March of 2012, which was my senior year, so a little over two and a half years." He paused. "I guess that's not completely accurate. I did see him once, but I didn't talk to him when I was in Lima in March of 2013. Anyway, we have a mutual connection. When I came back here, I found out that his second cousin is my boss at Vogue. When I moved back to town, I needed a place to live, much like you right now. He had a 2-bedroom place to himself. He offered to let me and Sam move into his second bedroom. Sam is in college now."
"So, you actually managed to escape the crazy right before it all went from crazy to berserk."
"I did. And I've gained a new appreciation for living a crazy-free life."
She laughed. "I somehow find that hard to believe with you attending NYADA. Does anyone know that you've gotten this role?"
"A couple of people at school – like the dean of my department and a couple of my instructors. I'm going to call my parents this evening. I wanted to make sure it was a done deal before I told them."
"If you don't mind another nosy question, what's with the beard? I've never see you anything but completely clean shaven."
"Oh, I'm playing Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia! at NYADA. The beard is an attempt to look like I'm in my 40's."
"Well, it does make you look a lot different."
"Add glasses, a more mature hair style, make up, and some boxy, boring, business-casual clothes and hopefully it will work."
"When is the production?"
"March 4th -13th."
"I'll be sure to come see you."
"Thanks."
"So what is it that you do, Sebastian?" she asked.
"I'm a senior at Columbia, English major with a psychology minor. I'm hoping to be a published author some day. Until then, I'll write and do something to pay the bills. Right now, I'm a dance TA at NYADA."
"So, you're good enough to be a dance TA and you're studying English?"
"Yes. I love to dance. I might consider giving dance lessons or working as a dance instructor if it pays decently."
The waitress came back around a second time.
"I think that's our cue to leave," Kurt said. "It's Friday evening."
The three of them got up and headed for the coatroom. Kurt and Sebastian retrieved their coats and noticed that Madison had checked a small, wheeled suitcase as well.
"Can we accompany you to wherever you're staying?" Kurt asked. "We'd be glad to."
"Sure, I guess. It's not that far from here."
Once they were outside, Kurt said. "A bit of unsolicited advice – get up early tomorrow and go to several of the college campuses in the area and check their community bulletin boards for 'roommate wanted' ads. You're the right age to move in with a college roommate and you might find something that could work out at a much lower price than trying to find a place using a rental agent."
"That's a good idea. I've not lived completely on my own before. And I'm not sure that living with a cast member is the best option, but I've been considering it since the cost of living here is so high."
"This option might offer a short-term housing solution that you might not be able to find at a remotely reasonable price through an agent. If you find a place until the end of the semester, it will give you time to get your bearings here and figure out where you really want to live."
"That's true. Plus, as much as I want the show to succeed, we all know that it depends on how many people show up to watch it and whether anyone influential really likes it and talks it up. We could run for a few months and move to Broadway or we could close in two months and pack it up. I'll look online tonight and see if there are any listings online and tomorrow morning I'll go out and see what I can find in person. I do have an appointment with an agent on Sunday with places that she's lined up to see."
They walked another couple of blocks before they arrived at their destination.
"This is me," she said. "I'll give you my number if you want. If you have questions or anything you can text or call me. Once I find a place, we can start to rehearse together if you have time. I know you said you have Mamma Mia! to work on as well."
"I do, but I would like to get together and sing at least a few times before we start to rehearse. We've never sung together before and I'd like to do that."
"Sure."
"How long are you staying?"
"Just until Monday after lunch is my plan, but I could stay longer, especially if I find some place that's available immediately."
"How about this? Meet me tomorrow morning at 8:30 and we'll go to NYADA. I'll look over the shared housing board with you and see if there's anyone I know looking for a roommate. Do you know 'Take Me or Leave Me'? Or Barbra's part for 'Happy Days/Get Happy'?"
"Both actually."
"Maybe we can sing those."
"Sounds good to me." She handed her phone to Kurt.
He gave her his. After they swapped back, he said, "I'll see you tomorrow morning then." He texted her the address to meet him at in the morning. "Meet me there and we'll go together the rest of the way."
"See ya then," she said. "And I won't go running to Facebook or Instagram to blab about what you said. Your private life, whatever you can manage to keep of it after a few weeks from now, is your own. But I'll warn you that people are inherently nosy and if there's free access to pester or annoy you somehow, people will find a way. So, be prepared."
"Thanks for keeping what you know to yourself."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt and Sebastian made their way back to the Metro to head home for the evening.
"So…" Sebastian said.
"So?"
"'Not well-suited for each other' is a non-answer answer, but you know as well as I do that people you actually know are eventually going to find out that we're together."
Kurt squeezed Sebastian's hand. "I'm not ashamed that we are together. Are you?" He stopped, causing Sebastian to stop as well. Kurt pulled them towards the edge of the sidewalk, near a building. He kissed him, not quite chastely.
"No, definitely not." He pulled Kurt closer and kissed him. "Let's go home and continue this there."
Kurt smiled, retook Sebastian's hand, and headed for the Metro station again with more spring in his step at a quicker pace than before.
"In a hurry?" Sebastian teased.
"Maybe." Kurt squeezed his hand and winked at him. "I do need to consider the fact that my previous bout of insanity could come back to haunt me if I become famous. I hadn't honestly considered I would get a prominent role so quickly. I honestly figured that I would be doing chorus work and non-speaking parts for long enough that any of that stuff would have been ancient history, but it's not. It was just 15 months ago. I don't want to talk about it, but someone's bound to bring it up, so I need to deal with it ahead of time and not be caught off guard."
They walked along in silence for a while.
Kurt said, "Oh, God. Think of the headline. 'Real Life Runaway Groom. Gold-digging Broadway hopeful ran from wedding to shack up with Smythe family heir worth millions. Will he ditch his new beau after their wedding? Details inside.'"
"To be honest, I don't think there is that much interest in the dating life of off-Broadway stars. Broadway stars are famous within a niche group of people. Most people probably can't name any famous Broadway actors unless the actor has also been in a popular movie or TV show. Now, if you got a role as the new lead romantic interest in a super popular TV show, I could see more paparazzi-type journalism."
"That's true. But I think we should talk to Grandma Smythe and have her set up a meeting with her lawyer for me to sign an air-tight pre-nup at my request."
"We can call her when we get home."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt unlocked the door to the apartment and they both walked in. Kurt carefully put the bag with the script and score on the top of the shoe cabinet. The instant that Sebastian had locked the door, Kurt pushed him back into the door and kissed him breathless. "I love you Sebastian Smythe and it has nothing to do with your potential wealth." He kissed him again, running his fingers through Sebastian's hair. He moved his hands to undo Sebastian's coat and slipped his hands inside and put them on Sebastian's waist. "You are my favorite person and I want to spend my life with you, even if we end up in a shoebox apartment at some point in time, struggling to make ends meet on what the two of us can make working whatever jobs we can manage to get. I never, ever want you to think that I love you for anything other than the amazing person that you are." Kurt slipped his hands up Sebastian's back, between his shoulder blades and pulled them so close there was no space between them. "I love you more than I knew I could love someone." He pressed in and kissed him again. He slipped Sebastian's coat off his shoulders and put it on the back of a chair with his, not even taking the small amount of time it would take to hang them in the closet.
Sebastian followed him to the chairs and wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind and started to place small, open-mouthed kisses along Kurt's neck. "I love you too."
Kurt turned in his arms. "Shower?"
Sebastian nodded and allowed himself to be pulled down the short hall into their bathroom. Kurt shut and locked the door behind them and turned the small heater on before they got in the shower.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
After an enjoyable hour in bed and another quick shower, they dressed in sweats and Kurt went into their spare room to make the phone calls he needed to make while leaving Sebastian to make his in the living room.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
"Good evening, Sebastian," Grandma Smythe said, as she answered the phone.
"Good evening. I have some good news."
"What's that, dear?"
"Kurt was offered a lead in an off-Broadway show that has been successful in DC. He starts rehearsals in a couple of weeks."
"That is good news for Kurt. I'm sure you're excited for him."
"I am. He's concerned though. He wants you to have your lawyer draw up a pre-nup for him to sign. He doesn't want anyone thinking that he's with me because of some financial reason. I don't honestly have any money of my own, but he mentioned that won't stop people from making disparaging assumptions about his motives since he walked away from his last wedding without going through with the marriage portion."
"But that Anderson boy was bad news for him."
"How do you know about Blaine?"
"I confiscated all of your father's investigation information from the PI."
"Right. I knew that. I guess I just hadn't considered that you had read any of it."
"Well, curiosity got the better of me and I did read up on the people that your father had investigated due to their associations with Kurt. Sam and his friend Mercedes didn't turn up much, but the information he had on Blaine was pretty dicey."
"Great," Sebastian said sarcastically. "That's not what Kurt needs. Dodgy reporters digging up the same information."
"Well, in his favor, the P.I. didn't turn up anything negative about Kurt himself. He doesn't have as much as an unpaid parking ticket. He didn't find anything on Burt or Carole either, other than some unflattering information about Carole's first husband's cause of death. But he found quite a bit of sketchy stuff about Blaine. If reporters start looking into why Kurt walked away from that, they'll dig up stuff about Blaine that will make Kurt look like he made a good choice to walk away. Kurt can chalk it up to failed first high school romance and no one will think twice about it."
"I hope you're right."
"So, a pre-nup? I can have that drawn up and sent to the bank for him to sign."
"Thank you."
"You don't have any idea what you're worth financially, do you?"
"About $350, according to my checking account."
She laughed, but kindly said, "Sebastian, dear, that is no way reflects your financial worth."
"Well, that's all that I've earned on my own. The rest of any legal net worth would be due to inheritance, not work on my own part."
"That may well be true, but I still had the controlling share of the law firm when all that went down with your father's ex. Simon had semi-retired last spring he had planned to do all along, which was supposed to last for three years – the three years you were to be in law school. Once you graduated, you were to take his place as he fully retired."
"Alright."
"I'm just going to skip to the ending. One day soon, you and I need to sit down and go through this carefully, but for now the outcome will suffice. I put the estate on the market, but we have not yet closed. That will happen Monday. I sold the law firm. Simon will retain the home that he and Beatrice live in and sufficient savings and investments to live out the remainder of their lives comfortably. Stephen will retain his residence and his license to practice law. He will continue to work for the state of Ohio in his position as State's Attorney, but he will no longer work at the firm once his current cases are closed. Solomon would not have approved of what he has done and I feel justified in selling the firm since you have no interest in taking it over and Simon and Stephen allowed significant funds to be embezzled, which I have reclaimed 90% of. Anyway, I am moving to New York. I have no interest in living in Ohio in this huge mansion by myself anymore. I am buying an apartment in Isabelle's building. It's a 2-bedroom place. Iris and Jameson can visit whenever they want. And I will hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas at my new place this year."
"Wow, that's a lot of change."
"I'm ready for a change. I'm tired of being alone. Everyone thinks they want to live a long time, but it gets less and less enjoyable the more people you lose and the fewer people you have to spend time with. As you've recently found, having someone to spend your life with makes all the difference. I've been alone too long. Losing both of my sisters and Solomon in the last 10 years has been rough. Iris and Jameson still have a lot of people they associate with here and neither of them has completely retired just yet, but they have the means to come visit me in New York. You and Kurt and Isabelle are there. Maybe I can hang out at that retirement home that Kurt worked at that you told me about. I know I'll lose any new friends I make that are my age, but I can't just keep spending my days in solitude. So, New York here I come."
"Well, we'll be glad to have you nearby. When are you moving?"
"A week from Monday. I've hired a moving company to move what I'm taking with me. I've hired a couple of people to help me pack this coming week. Iris and Solomon have already been here and picked up the few pieces they wanted personally."
"Are you bringing the piano?"
"Yes, dear. I'm hoping to get Kurt to play it for me."
Sebastian smiled. "I'm sure he will."
"Once I'm moved in, you and I will have a talk about your financial standing."
"Yes, Grandma. I wanted to discuss how things will be after I graduate. I don't expect you to continue to cover all of the costs of us living here. Kurt was freaking out about his school loans the other night and we need to figure out what our expenses are going to be and how we're going to cover them."
"Of course, dear. We can talk about that as well. Congratulate Kurt for me on getting the role. I'll be flying in next Monday morning. Perhaps we can have dinner Monday evening."
"Kurt and I usually go out dancing on Mondays. The food is good. You'd be welcome to join us. We've been trying to get Isabelle to go with us, unsuccessfully so far."
"Well, we'll see about that. Sounds like fun. Count me in, dear. Just text me the address and time and I'll get Isabelle to bring me."
Sebastian laughed quietly. "I'll do that. I'll see you soon, then."
"Goodbye, dear."
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Meanwhile, Kurt texted Mercedes and told her and then called Sam because he knew it wouldn't be a long call. Afterwards, he called Burt and Carole.
"I called to tell you that I've been offered a role in a show opening off-Broadway and I accepted this afternoon. That song I sang at the Winter Showcase is from the show and the director was at the Showcase. He came to NYADA and offered me the role."
"Oh, honey. That's so exciting! When does the show open?"
"In previews, in late March. The official opening will be in early May."
"So, you're going to be in a professional show?" Burt asked.
"Yes, Dad. I'm the lead in a new show. It's done well in DC and it's opening here off-Broadway."
"What does off-Broadway actually mean?"
"It means that it's opening in a smaller theater that's in the theater district."
"So this is a paying job?"
"It's a real, paying job. I'll start to get paid as soon as rehearsals start in about two weeks."
Carole said. "I wish I could hug you right now. That's so amazing. It's what you've wanted for so long. You did it!"
"I did."
"I'm so proud of you, kiddo! You have to get us tickets on a weekend so we can come see you perform. We're coming to Mamma Mia! too. So, be sure to get us tickets on a Saturday for that too."
"I will. You can stay here with us. You don't need to get a hotel room."
"Let us know which weekends as soon as possible, so we can get the best price we can on flights."
"Of course. The Mamma Mia! tickets go on sale in two weeks."
Carole said, "I have no idea how you have time to rehearse for something opening two weeks after the musical you're in already ends."
"I will sleep fast."
Carole laughed. "Of course you will. Be sure to take care of yourself."
"I will. Bas is already making plans on how to keep me fed."
"That boy loves you," she said.
"I know. I love him too. He's amazing. He's the kind of guy I always dreamed of finding – someone who loves me just the way I am."
They continued to talk for a few minutes before Kurt hung up.
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When Sebastian had finished talking to Grandma Smythe, he walked back to their bedroom to plug his phone in for the night. He stepped into the alcove and heard Kurt's declaration of love and how he was everything Kurt had ever wanted. A radiant smile bloomed on his face as he went into their room.
Just a couple of minutes later, Kurt came in the room and plugged his phone up to charge as well.
Sebastian lay back on the bed and opened his arm out to Kurt as an invitation. Kurt smiled and lay down, putting his head on Sebastian shoulder and wrapping his leg over Sebastian's legs.
"I wasn't eavesdropping, but I heard what you said to your parents when I came down to charge my phone."
"What did you hear?"
"That you love me and what you said right afterwards. I didn't hang around in the alcove listening."
"Oh. It's fine. I don't have any secrets from you – at least not this time of year. Closer to your birthday wouldn't be a good time to eavesdrop if I'm trying to surprise you. And surprises aren't really secrets. Plus, I've told you the same thing that I told them. It's not like I've kept it a secret from you."
"I know." He kissed the top of Kurt's head. "It was just hearing you say it to your parents so matter-of-factly. It made me all warm inside."
Kurt scooted up a little and wrapped his hand behind Sebastian's neck and kissed him. Sebastian relaxed into Kurt's touch as Kurt lay there running his hands through Sebastian's hair. He looked directly into Sebastian's eyes. "Sebastian Fontenay Smythe, I love you with all my heart. You are perfect for me and I want to be with you forever, which is why we're getting married. I will tell anyone who wants to know the very same thing."
"How about the weekend that your parents and Mercedes come to see you in Mamma Mia!?"
He pressed back in and they kissed until they were breathless.