When Kurt got downstairs, he found Sebastian out back playing badminton with Nick, Nina, and Quinn. "No Jeff?" he asked he got close enough for them to hear him.
Nick answered, "He went to his great grandma's in Connecticut with his parents for the weekend."
Paul called out. "Food's done."
They teens put the rackets and shuttlecock in a pile.
Nina said, "That's where Braden is too. He's Jeff's distant cousin in some way. They have the same great grandmother. Jeff's dad is Braden's mom's second cousin or something like that. They showed me a family tree once, but I don't remember exactly. Anyway, they went to her 90th birthday party."
Everyone sat down around the table and they passed the food around. Dave came down just in time to take his seat next to Kurt.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
After they finished eating, Kurt pulled their hammock out of the garage and set it up. He got out the croquet set as well. He went back into the garage and set up to paint the boards for the shelves in Paul and Judy's office. Sebastian followed him into the garage the third time.
"What are you working on?"
"Oh, we're making shelves for Paul and Judy's office. I'm painting the underside of the shelves first. Once they're dry, we'll flip them and paint the other side. Both sides need two coats."
"You want help?"
"Sure. It splatters though. You'll probably want to put something on over what you're wearing. There's some smocks and aprons in that box." He pointed to the shelf. "Pick what you like."
Sebastian opened the box and pulled out what looked like a lab coat. "This?"
"Sure if you won't get too hot. There's art smocks and aprons too."
"I'll just start with this. I've never done this kind of thing. Better safe than sorry."
"You'll want to put some of the shoe covers on then. Look along the front edge of the box."
Sebastian pulled two out and covered his shoes. Kurt handed him a brush and showed him what to do. About 10 minutes later, Dave came out.
"I see that you've found a volunteer."
Sebastian laughed. "Something like that. I'm a total novice. Please teach me your ways, oh, expert shelf builders." He folded his hands in front of himself and bowed his head.
"Well, if making our 11th and 12th bookcases makes us experts, then I guess that's what we are," Dave said. He grabbed an apron and put it on.
"Thanks for sanding them while I was out this morning. I saw you got a few painted already too."
"We told them we'd get it done this weekend, so I did what I could to get the project moving. You finding a job so quickly is a surprise. I figured you'd have to go to several places."
"Yeah, me too. Since Paul doesn't want me to work much, I didn't figure I'd find any place willing to hire me for so few hours. I honestly figured I'd have to tutor people."
Sebastian asked, "Do you have any other brothers or sisters, Dave?"
"Nope. What about you?"
"Only child."
"I have a stepbrother now that I didn't have when we used to talk. My dad remarried not quite a year ago, at the end of the November. He married Carole, who has a son our age named Finn."
"It's okay if you don't want to say, but how did you end up here in New York living with Dave's family? You always seemed close with your dad."
"We were close. When I came out to him he was supportive. He was even supportive of me and Dave. We spent a lot of time at each other's places. And we did things like go camping and fishing and whatnot, just the four of us. Please keep this to yourself."
"I will."
"He met Carole at Parent/Teacher night at school in January sophomore year. They hit it off. Finn and I weren't close, but we knew each other. We were in choir together. He helped me get a try-out for the football team. We'd been in both together since September. I thought we were friendly acquaintances, or whatever. Anyway, my dad asked them to move in with us about a month after they started dating. We had a 2-bedroom house and I was expected to share my basement bedroom with him. I moved a few things out of the room and made room for his stuff, but he was more homophobic than I had realized. And it was unbearable to share a room with him. My dad said he'd put an addition on to give us our own space, but secretly he hoped that we'd just work it out and he could get away without doing it. I stayed at Dave's the first week. I went back the next weekend to get more clothes and overheard them discussing the need to adjust the family rules. The next weekend, I was summoned home and the rules were delineated. I was to follow all of the rules that had been set for my pseudo-stepbrother, but he wasn't going to be required to get a job. It's complicated. But anyway, when the three of them left to go out to eat, I moved all of my stuff to Dave's. Eventually last spring, they bought a different house that had three bedrooms and my dad required me to move in with them. It didn't go well. He was having some unknown medical issues and my stepbrother's friend picked the keyed lock on my bedroom door every day when I was at work. I eventually set up surveillance equipment. I took my clothes back to Dave's. I had left all of my other stuff behind at Dave's when I moved back to my dad's because I had only planned to stay until I turned 18, and then I was going back to Dave's no matter what. Anyway, I moved back into Dave's and I've stayed with them ever since. We left town the day I turned 18. Our 2-year anniversary is in nine days. I've stayed at Dave's at least half of the time from when we started dating until mid-February when I started staying at his place all the time. The other half of the time he was staying my dad's with me, which was one of the things that Carole made against the house rules. Anyway, I've lived with them full–time since mid-February of my sophomore year, minus the two weeks last spring, which is when my dad and Carole bought the 3-bedroom place."
"So, your dad waited over a year to buy a place with three bedrooms?"
"Yeah."
Dave spoke up. "We even did a lot of the interior improvements. We put in the new wire shelving in the closets, put shelving in the pantry, painted the pantry and the three bedrooms, and we built and installed bookshelves three through eight. So, it's not like Kurt didn't try or put in the effort to make the house nice and be a part of the move. He tried to do what his dad wanted, despite the ridiculous rules."
"Once they figured out my dad's medical problem and took care of it, his personality reverted to how he was before, but they weren't willing to change anything. Dad wanted me to live at his place despite how Finn's friends were behaving and I was just done. We just grew apart. Finn is everything my dad wanted in a son as far as personality and interests. He's the quarterback. He likes sports. He's a lot like my dad was as a teenager."
"So, he just gave you up and let you leave?"
"I didn't really give him a choice. After those two enforced weeks at their new place, I left and went back to Dave's. I told him there were two possible outcomes – I'd stay with Dave or I'd leave and not tell him where was going. He put his foot down and I actually left when he ordered me back to his house. After he called and said I could stay at Dave's, I went back. It was all such an avoidable mess. He asked them to move in so quickly. I didn't get a chance to know Carole. She didn't get a chance to know me. I hadn't spent more than a few hours with her during that month they dated. They went out together and didn't include me and Finn on the dates, which makes sense, but at the same time gave me no chance to get to know Carole. Plus, Finn was very spoiled. If they had dated for a few months and spent time looking for a house with enough room for all of us before they moved in, it could have been different. But I was never going to stay there, in the town I lived in, as an adult. I would have waited until graduation if I hadn't had the chance to come here now, but it had been my plan to move to New York as soon as I could for a long time. My dad knew that. He's a small-town guy and that's fine. I'm just not. I'm glad he has them, honestly. If he didn't, he'd be alone. He's happy with them and he still loves me. Maybe in time, things will be different. If I go back to visit at some point in time, I won't be a child. I will be visiting, like any other adult family member that visits. I'm hoping that once Finn grows up that the tension will dissipate."
"So, you played football?"
"We both did. I was the kicker. Dave played hockey last year and freshman year. We didn't have a hockey team sophomore year. Too many of them got expelled to have enough players."
"Expelled?"
"For bullying," Dave said. "Us specifically."
"Four of them beat Dave up and tossed him in dumpster. Fortunately someone saw and called me. They took photos from inside the school."
"That's messed up," Sebastian said.
"A lot of things were messed up," Kurt said. "Things are a lot better here. I'm glad we moved."
They continued to talk and paint. By the time they got the first coat on all of the boards, the first ones they had done were dry enough to flip over and start the process over again.
Kurt said, "You know you don't have to stay and keep helping us if you don't want to. You're welcome to go do whatever Quinn and everyone else is doing, lounging around or playing games or whatever."
"I'm fine, unless you want me to leave."
"Nope. I just don't want you to feel like you have to do work. I didn't invite you over to make you help us paint. I had actually let it slip my mind that we had said we would do it this weekend until I came in here to get the hammock and croquet set. I saw all of the boards stacked up and it reminded me. Dave went out and got them while I was at the shop this morning."
"What do your mom do, Dave?"
"She's a teacher. That's why we need to get these finished. It took them a while to figure out what they wanted to do with their office. You know my dad's a lawyer. He had all of his books in his law firm before, but now he needs to keep most of them here at home. Right now, they have all of their books in boxes still. They're painting the room today, well the second coat. They did the first coat last night."
Kurt added, "They still have their desks to assemble too. Hopefully by tomorrow evening, we can get it all set up."
"So, you get along with Dave's parents, I take it."
"I do. And with Quinn. We've all grown up a lot. Dave and Quinn were both really popular and I was the low-of-the-low socially. Even being the MVP of the football team didn't gain me any social clout, but at least the football team got their act together sophomore year. The football team and the hockey team had been the major source of bullying at school."
They continued to talk and paint.
Kurt finished his last board and began cleaning his hands. "If you like video games, you and Dave could go up and play games on the Xbox or board games or watch a movie. Aaron's going to be here in about ten minutes. He's Nina's partner in ballet. The four of us are going to work on our piece for about an hour, which will give these enough time that we can turn them over and put another coat on the bottoms. I'm going to run up and change." Kurt headed upstairs.
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There was an extended silence, which Dave finally broke. "Look, I know I haven't been the most friendly guy this last week. I want you to know that it didn't have anything to do with you personally. We moved so that the three of us could go to a better high school and so Kurt and I could be ourselves without being on edge all the time. The way we are together here is not how it was where we lived before. We had to be very careful. And even at that, there was violence and vandalism, and of course the verbal insults. Kurt doesn't trust easily and I actually really like it that the two of you already have a history that makes him feel comfortable with you. I'm not THAT boyfriend. I'm not going to tell him that he can't do things with you or spend time with you. I trust him." He moved to the sink and cleaned up.
"Thanks. I did wonder if I had done something to upset you this past week, but Kurt assured me that it wasn't personal and I accepted his statement as truthful. I consider him to be an honest person, even if I think he does hide behind a mask of everything being okay when it isn't given what I've learned about his life before. But in all honesty, if I had been living in a place like that, I would have wanted to NOT talk about it and I would have wanted to talk about other things. So, I get that and I don't hold it against him. Sometimes people just need to step away from what's hurting them for a while, like daydreaming and reading books and watching movies. He didn't lie and tell me that school was accepting. He just never told me he was gay and we talked about things besides school. We did talk about the differences between educational systems, but never the day-to-day things he dealt with."
"So, you knew about him wanting to perform and live in New York?" Dave moved back and gave Sebastian time to clean up.
"I did. And I appreciate you not being THAT type of boyfriend. When I was here my sophomore year, I did join Harmonichords and I was in show choir, but I didn't really put a lot of effort into making any close friends. I did go out when invited, but I didn't really spend much time at other people's houses or anything. I was in a bad place back then. But Kurt's kind of like this buffer. I know so much about him from all the talking we did for two years that I feel comfortable around him, which isn't usual for me. I lost my trust in people. He's showing me that I can still trust some people. I'm not going to flirt with him, well I might, but not in a serious way that I'm trying to steal him from you. But I do like to tease and he and I are already comfortable with that, so some people might see it as flirting. I'm not ready for a committed relationship. And I'm definitely not going to try to destroy yours. I hope that maybe in time we can be friends too. I don't really know much about you other than your family took Kurt in, which makes them really cool. And I know that Kurt loves you. I think every person in at the open mic night last night knows that he loves you."
Dave chuckled. "That was his method of knocking me upside the head. I'll be honest. I was concerned. Not about you specifically, but about the whole situation of being around other gay guys. We've never had that before. When I asked him out, he didn't know any other gay guys. He didn't even know that I was gay until that same day. I had liked him for ages. So, when we started dating it was lopsided in a lot of ways. I knew he was gay and I had spent time observing him and listening to him talk when I could. I know that sounds creeper-ish, but we were freshmen in high school. I just paid attention when I had the opportunity. But he hadn't given my existence one minute of thought. We hit it off and started spending a lot of time together and found out we have a lot in common, but still I was his only option for someone to date. And coming here where he's been accepted so quickly was exactly what I wanted because I love him and I want him to have friends. But honestly, it was overwhelming. Suddenly, there were good-looking, nice, talented gay guys who want to spend time with him and I honestly felt like he could do better than me. I know I'm not the best looking guy and I'm stocky."
"And he decided that he'd let everyone he'd met so far know that he's completely head over heels for you and they have a snowball's chance in the desert."
Dave smiled and nodded. "Pretty much. I do trust him. I just know how amazing he is and I know that other guys will see that too. I don't want to lose him."
"Well, I'm really not an expert at relationships, but I think you've already hit the key issue and it's trust. I think it will be hard for you from what you've already said because you feel like he's going to be pursued by other guys and he'll find someone 'better'. But don't see yourself short. There are a bunch of gay guys who find bears totally hot. Like you said, you two don't have any experience being around other gay guys, but you'll just have to trust me on this point. Bears are definitely in demand in the gay scene. Just because you haven't met any guys who are totally into cute bear cubs doesn't mean they're not out there."
"I'll take your word for it. It's just completely different here and we were apart a lot in August because he had to stay where we were before to finish up his training and take his certification tests to work as a mechanic. And then he was finally here, but we worked non-stop painting, doing flooring, building the shelves, putting the desks together and everything. We had finally gotten settled in and school started. Oh, and the day we went to register for our classes and get our PE uniforms and stuff, Chandler flirted outrageously with Kurt the whole time we were picking things out." He looked around and didn't see anything else that needed done. "Come on upstairs and we can keep talking."
Sebastian followed him. "Just so you know, Chandler is an outrageously flirty person. I'm not sure he knows how to turn it off when there's a cute gay guy around. I think he's like the equivalent of the flirty cheerleader, but in a guy version. But he's harmless. He flirts with everyone and no one takes him seriously. He's going either have to calm down or find someone who is very into hyper guys who talk a million miles a minute and who flirt all the time."
Dave snorted. "Okay. I get it, but I didn't know anything about him at the time. We just walked up and said we needed to buy clothes for PE and he turned the flirting way up towards Kurt, but barely acknowledged me, so it set me on edge that guys would try to steal Kurt. I mean I know he's not a possession and I don't think of him that way."
"I get it. That being your first experience with meeting another gay teen guy set you on edge. I think Kurt is gorgeous and lots of other guys will too, but that doesn't mean that they will want to be anything other than friends with him. Not everyone is a homewrecker. Like I said, I'm not ready for a relationship, but if I were, I wouldn't try to get with someone who's already in a relationship because if I managed to break them apart, who's to say that I wouldn't be the next one with a broken heart when the guy lets himself be led astray by the next hotter or richer or smarter guy?" Sebastian sat down on the futon. "Let's shoot some stuff and you try to relax. There are some playboy types who might try to lure you or Kurt away from each other, but most of the guys at school aren't like that. Now, if you get a fake ID and start hanging out at gay clubs, all bets are off about how guys will behave. Those places can be fun, but they're also well-known for being the type of place that people go to hook up, so you need to be prepared to be propositioned and to learn to turn guys down in a way that's firm, but not condescending."
"I'm not sure I'd like those places."
"They can be a lot of fun, but you'd need to stay together or with a group."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
A little over an hour later, Kurt came in to find the two of them battling Azimio and Puck. He stood behind the futon in between them and watched.
"Top left," Kurt said. He walked into the kitchen area and got out three glasses and poured them all a glass of ice tea. He drank his as he continued to watch them.
"Thanks," Sebastian responded, as he took down the sniper.
"You're welcome. I put two glasses of tea on the counter for you. I'm going to go change back into my regular clothes and go down and paint more. You can come down when you've beaten Azimio and Puck." He put his hand on Dave's shoulder and squeezed gently before he changed and went back down to the garage.
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Later that night, Dave and Kurt were propped up against their reading pillows, lying close to each other reading. Kurt was using his right leg in an attempt to pull Dave's left leg toward him so he could play footsie with him. Dave wasn't cooperating and locked his knee. Kurt gave up and put his book down and started to get up. Dave put his book down quickly and grabbed for him.
"Don't leave." Dave tickled him. "I was waiting for you to get just frustrated enough to tickle me. I was hoping for a tickle battle."
Kurt was squirming. "You were?"
Dave quit tickling him and just pulled him close. "Tomorrow evening we're reinstituting our Sunday evening alone time."
"Really?" Kurt managed to flip himself so that he was facing Dave. He kissed him. "That's the best idea I've heard all week."
Dave could see the sincerity in Kurt's eyes and how excited he was at the idea. He realized that he had been trying to keep his frustration at bay the wrong way. He needed to turn his attention toward Kurt and let Kurt's love fill the cracks. Instead of trying to let his anger out by shooting things, he needed to let himself be filled with Kurt's love and the anger would dissipate in the presence of so much love. "Yes, really." He ran his thumb along Kurt's jaw. "I love you so much. Let's put the pillows away and get under the covers."
Kurt hopped up and put his pillow in the chest at the end of their bed. He held it open for Dave to put his in as well. They pulled the covers back on the bed. Kurt folded the pajamas that he had put on after their shower back in the dresser and got in bed. Dave smiled and did the same. They both turned their lights off and slid under the covers.
"Can I lie on you?" Kurt asked.
"Of course. Come over here."
Kurt scooted closer and snuggled up. He ran his fingers along Dave's chest. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and started to relax. "So what do you want to do tomorrow evening?"
"Hmm. How about massages?"
"Okay," he said cheerfully. "How about dancing?"
"Sure. I love dancing with you."
"Let's cook together too. How about the enchilada casserole? We haven't had that in a while."
"Sounds good."
"What did you find out about the skating practices for hockey?"
"Oh, they start in November. I'm still going to go on Tuesdays and Thursdays to start to get in shape. I'm going to lift on Mondays and Fridays."
"Maybe on the Saturdays that I don't work, we can play tourist. Let's find all of the really cool places to go, like that nature preserve we went to on your birthday. Life isn't going to get any less busy and if we don't learn to make time for ourselves now, we're just going to grow apart. I don't want that. College probably won't leave us as much time to read books we want to during the school year, but I don't want to give that up either. I need that connection to you. We're heading into studying completely different things and it's already started this year. By next year, you and I won't be taking any of the same classes. And that will cut down on what we have to talk about, even if it's just bemoaning the same assignment. I don't want our relationship to just be coming home tired, getting each other off in the shower out of habit, and then sleeping in the same bed. I don't want to lose the best friend part of our relationship. I'd really rather spend time with you than anyone else. I love you as a person and I love being physically intimate with you, but if I had to pick one or the other, I would want you to always be my best friend. I could take care of my own urges, but I could never replace who you are to me. I want you to always be the person I share fantastic news with first. I want you to be the one to make a new recipe with me." He pushed up onto his elbow and leaned down and kissed Dave. "You told me something similar to this when I couldn't talk after the pool incident. You told me how much you had missed talking to me. If we never shared another orgasm, I would miss that, but if I never got to spend time with you and be with you, that would be so, so, so much worse. No way to even compare the two. I want both, but most of all I want us to share our lives. We just have to make it a priority." He kissed Dave again. "I love you too much to lose you."
"I meant that back then and I still feel the same way. And I like your idea about finding places to visit. We'll look for places part of the time tomorrow evening. And I think we should plan what we're going to do on our Anniversary. I thought we'd have the whole evening, but since you took that job this morning, you'll be working until 8:00 that evening."
"Oh. That's right. I didn't even think about that this morning. I was just so excited to find a place so quickly that was willing to hire me to work so few hours. We'll work on schoolwork to make sure we don't have any homework that night and as soon as I get home, we can have a nice romantic dinner together. We can work on the rest of the evening tomorrow if you want. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to shortchange our anniversary. I've actually been looking forward to it."
"I'm not angry. I just want to celebrate with you." He ran his hand down Kurt's side until it rested on his hip. "I know what I'm going to sing if they ever have a 70's night."
"What?"
"Nope. It will be a surprise."
"Mmm. I like your surprises."
"I like yours too. We've just gotten too busy with the move and school starting, but we're fixing that."
"We are. We definitely are." Kurt kissed him.
"Sebastian and I talked while you were practicing with Quinn."
"That's good."
"He reassured me that the guys at school are decent. I told him about how it was so different here and I was struggling last week to not feel like one of those guys would lure you away from me."
"You told him that?"
"I did. You trust him. I decided to go out on a limb and give him a chance. He reminded me that you made yourself quite clear at the open mic night last night. That was very brave of you to stand up in front of all of those people and sing to me. I got used to you singing to me in Glee, but last night was completely different from that. You stood up in front of a whole bunch of people and publicly declared your love for me. You risked a lot. I'm sorry if I made you feel like you had to do that. I've been stupid. I know I'm hardheaded sometimes, but I got your message loud and clear. You don't need to risk alienating people you've not even met yet just to get it through my thick skull."
"I wanted to do it. I'll do it again the next time we go. I'm not ashamed."
"Well, if that's what you want to do, then I will proudly sit and be serenaded by my gorgeous boyfriend."
Kurt kissed him. "Good." He started to hum "Never Gonna Give You Up" and wiggle danced while lying half on top of Dave still.
Dave started laughing. "Snuggle dancing?"
"Hmm. It's a little too hard to pull off. Now you could get up and I could use you as my dancing pole again…"
"Oh, God. That was hot."
Kurt moved and straddled Dave and leaned down and kissed him. "You're hot."
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Sunday after lunch, Kurt, Dave, and Quinn moved the boards to Paul and Judy's office. They worked together and got the shelves assembled. They got the side shelves fastened into the studs, and then attached the wider shelf below the window for the printer to sit on.
Paul and Judy had assembled their desks the evening before and had moved them to the farthest point in the room away from the shelving. Once the shelves were in place, they moved the desks into position and put the printer on the shelf.
Quinn went to get Paul and Judy once they had finished. The three teens helped pull the boxes of books out of the closet and handed the books to Paul and Judy to put on the shelves. They took the boxes out to the garage and flattened them. Kurt and Dave brought in the area rug Judy had picked out and got it positioned under the two desks. Quinn followed them in with the desk chairs after she wiped them down.
"It looks great," Judy said. "Paul and I will finish up all of the details and reorganize the closet. Thanks for doing the shelves. It looks just like I had hoped it would."
"You're welcome," Dave said.
Paul said, "Once we get the pictures on the walls and get our desks organized, it will be perfect. We haven't talked to you much this weekend with you being busy working on the shelving. Let's go out to the living room for a few minutes."
They all moved to the living room.
"How did your first week of school go?" He looked at Quinn. "You and Nina seem to have hit it off."
"I like her a lot. And Nick is sweet. Jeff is crazy, but in a good way. Nina's boyfriend, Braden, will be in town next weekend, so we'll get to meet him then. I want to ask him about Yale since I really think I want to go there."
"He may not have much of an opinion yet since school just started, but I'm sure he'll have more to say as the semester progresses." He turned to Kurt and Dave. "How about you two? Kurt invited Sebastian yesterday. He seems like a nice guy."
"He is. His parents already know and we haven't had much time to talk, like you said." Kurt went on to explain how he knew Sebastian already.
Judy said, "It's such a small world sometimes. His parents seemed nice. I'm going to see whether his mom might like to go out to lunch with me next weekend. We're both new to the area."
"That would be nice," Kurt said. "I have one other thing. I found a job at a shop. It's just 24 hours a month. I'll work Mondays from 4-8 and every other Saturday from 8-12."
Paul nodded. "That's fine."
Judy asked, "Is buying your lunch working out or would you prefer to take your lunches instead?"
"Buying is fine," Kurt said.
The other two nodded.
Paul turned to Dave. "How about your classes at the college?"
"They seem like they'll be interesting. They aren't too hard or anything."
"And no troubles with the school?" Judy asked.
They all shook their heads.
"It's weird in a way," Kurt said. "But I think it will feel more normal in time. We're just not used to being treated like everyone else. No one freaks out in the locker room. I mean, we stay to ourselves and change, but no one calls us names or anything. I just remembered something else. I joined the Harmonichords, which you know because I had to get the extra vest to wear for their competitions. But Wes, the leader, asked me to audition for lead, so I did. Sebastian and I are the lead singers. That's what I meant about it being a good weird that we'd have to get used to."
"Let us know when the competitions are for both groups as soon as you find out," Judy said. "We'll want to come watch all of you perform."
"Sure," Kurt said.
Judy said. "Thanks again for your help. I really love the way it's coming together in there."
"You're welcome," Dave said.
"If you'll give us about a half-hour, we'll be ready to go to Costco," she said. "We'd like to load up those boxes to drop them in the recycle bin, if one of you could do that while we empty out the ones that have the things from our desks."
"Sure, Mom," Quinn said. "Where should I put them?"
"In the back of Paul's truck."
Quinn nodded and got up.
"We'll go grab the tools and get everything put back away," Kurt said. "Oh, wait. You wanted to hang stuff on the walls."
"Why don't you two come help me with that."
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Kurt put the bags he had in his hands on the table. He stepped behind Dave, wrapped his arms around him, and kissed the back of his neck. "We need to do something ridiculous."
"Why's that?"
"Because we're too young to become fuddy-duddies. I'm going to think of something while we're being so organized and mature about living on our own– planning our own meals and shopping and cooking for ourselves." Kurt ran his fingers across Dave's ribs as he stepped back from him.
"Hey!"
"We're too serious these days. I know a lot of serious stuff has gone on, but we moved so that we could enjoy our senior year, not so we'd become senior citizens."
"Senior citizens?" Dave turned and narrowed his gaze at Kurt.
Kurt stepped forward just close enough that Dave could almost reach him, but not quite. "When was the last time we talked about something utterly silly?"
"You're right." He feigned turning back toward the cabinet, but he side stepped and swept Kurt up into a bridal-style hold and spun him around in a circle before he put him back down. "Help me finish putting this stuff away and we'll do something totally weird."
Kurt moved into high gear and got everything put away in no time. He hung the shopping bags on the fold down hooks near the door and went to the TV. He pulled turned the Wii on and got out the Wiimotes. "How about we play Wii tennis or pool? We haven't done either in a long time. Or we could get the driving wheels out and play Mario Kart."
"We can do all three, but we need to get the enchilada casserole in the oven first, or at least soon."
"One tennis match and then we'll make it."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
When they sat down to eat dinner together, Kurt said, "I've been thinking while we were playing."
"About what?"
"About why I feel restless."
"Okay."
"We don't have enough consistency yet. I know we had no options about the timing, but we didn't get a chance to create any routines of our own before school started. I think maybe if we get our schedules out and get a better feel what we're doing individually and together, it will feel more structured and comfortable. Like if we're going to go to that open mic thing every other week, we should put that on our schedule, the we did when we used to have people over afterschool on Mondays. And you used to eat with your dad when I worked until 8, but now that will only be on Mondays. And I'll miss eating with everyone. I think I just have had my life so scheduled all the time that I don't know how to have so much free time, if that makes sense."
Dave swallowed what he had in his mouth. "It actually does. I had a lot of free time, but you never did. I was home and had time to just do nothing or talk to Azimio while we play Halo or COD while you were at work. Now, you're going to be here in the evenings, but you joined four afterschool clubs, so those will take up some of time that you spent working before, but not all of it. And we'll have longer evening because we won't have before-school rehearsals since Singspiration is a class."
Kurt nodded and kept eating. "I think we've perfected this dish."
"Me too. Maybe you can channel some of your energy into designing some things or maybe once the clubs get started, you'll bring home stuff to work on and that will give you something to do. And you're going to audition for whatever play or musical the school is doing."
"I think you're right. Until then, I need to do some designs, maybe try to write some music or write a play, or maybe work on some choreography with Quinn. Maybe we could perform together in the winter program. I'll find out. I think I'm just used to being overworked and gone most of the time on weekdays. I need to look into the college application process and see what I'm going to need and get it ready."
"That's a good idea."
"I could see if anyone's interested in buying cookies like I used to do. That was a fun way to make some money. I won't be spending time working on costumes for Singspiration since everyone bought one outfit for the whole year and they were professionally fitted."
They both continued to eat for a few minutes.
Dave said, "You'll have songs to work on for Harmonichords too."
"That's true. Being the lead will be different."
"I hope it's different in a fun way."
"Me too. Did the hockey coach seem decent?"
"He did. We talked for a while. I think it will be good." Dave waited until Kurt had finished, and then got up and cleared his place.
"Would you mind if we work on the schedules?"
"That's fine. I want you to feel more relaxed. I want me to feel more relaxed. Let's get that done and maybe a 2-week menu of dinners so that we can do a better job of shopping for what we need. It's different cooking for just us three dinners and two lunches a week. Like tonight we have a lot of this left over. We'll need to eat it again later this week."
Kurt loaded his dishes into the dishwasher. He put the lid on the casserole dish and put it in the fridge. "We're used to cooking for four to seven people now. It was just three of us for a long time, but your dad took the leftovers to work for lunch and so did we. Now, we're buying our lunches at school. I think maybe I'm missing that too. I got used to your dad being with us and spending time with us and that hasn't been happening much. It's just been a lot of change in a few months time."
Dave pulled him into a hug. "And then I had my nervous breakdown last week, which didn't help anything."
"You don't believe any of that stuff, do you?"
"No. It was just a lot. We still have that to do too. Dad changed the password Friday. I need to get it from him so we can get into my account and make a list of the places I need to change my email. I can work on that while you work on our schedules."
Kurt looked at his phone. "We've been here two and a half weeks."
"Yep."
Kurt sat down on the futon and propped his head in his hands. Dave was confused by his actions, so he went to sit next to him. He ran his hand along Kurt's back gently. Kurt sniffled a few times, but tried not to cry, unsuccessfully.
"I miss my dad. It's not like I expected him to keep in contact with me really. He's not great at texting or calling. You know that. He never really did those things in Lima. But I saw him at the shop all the time and that felt normal. The shop was where we were like father and son. It was where I was good at something that he was good at and we could do it together, even if we were working on separate cars. It gave us something to talk about. And now that's gone too. I mean I knew it would be as soon as I left for college, but it just hit me today. I worked for Mr. Harmon yesterday and I'll go back tomorrow. And I'll be working in a shop again, but I'll be doing it without my dad now."
Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt and pulled him into his chest and leaned back. He kissed the top of his head. "There's nothing I can say to make this better, but I'm here for you."
Kurt took a ragged deep breath. "I know. That means a lot to me. I miss Mercedes and Azimio and Sam and Puck too. And I miss Sarah and Carlos. And I guess just everyone. I had no friends in Lima until I met Mercedes, and then you. And you brought Azimio and it just snowballed. It sounds silly, but I miss Azimio nagging me for a cake of some sort by naming off a ridiculous holiday that he insisted we needed to celebrate with a cake."
Dave chuckled.
"Please don't think I'm unhappy here. I'm glad we're here and I want to be where you are. You're my home."
Dave held him close. "We're going to be fine, better than fine." He took a deep breath. "It's just a lot of change, like you said."
Kurt leaned back and tipped his chin up and kissed Dave. "I love you."
"Mmm. I love you too. More kisses."
Kurt smiled and kissed him again and again. "Let's go outside and lie in the hammock for a while before it gets dark."
"Okay," he agreed cheerfully. He kissed Kurt once more before he moved his arms to let Kurt up. He stood up and walked towards the door.
Kurt got up and moved quickly and put his arms around Dave's neck and jumped up. Dave caught him and started laughing.
"You haven't done that in ages. You're heavier and taller."
"You're strong and tough." He kissed him on the neck. "Let me down though. I'll walk down the stairs."
Dave let go of his legs, but surprised Kurt by turning quickly and rotating them and pinning Kurt against the door. Kurt ran his hands up Dave's arms and slid his fingers along Dave's biceps and winked at him. Dave grinned and chuckled. He leaned forward and kissed him until they had to stop to catch their breath.
"Hammock?"
"Yep."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
"Well, I think I changed my email on everything I have ever used an email for. I'm not going to delete this one, but I'm removing it from my phone and adding my new one instead. I don't have the password to the old one now anyway, but I'll have you or dad check it with me once a week for like six weeks or something just to make sure I didn't miss something that I still want to get emails from."
"I think our schedule looks good for now. I'm just going to print it like this. We can add to it during the week if we think of anything else." Kurt sent the spreadsheet to the printer. "Once it prints, how about a massage?"
Dave looked at him and waggled his eyebrows and grinned.
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Definitely, yes. I'll go get the stuff out while you shut down your laptop."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Dave was lying face down in the bed while Kurt rubbed his shoulders and upper back. "You could be a massage therapist, but I want to be your only client. Well, you could give girls massages, I guess. Lesbians. That's it. Just lesbians. I don't want anyone else to fall in love with you because of your magic touch."
Kurt laughed. "I can only imagine my marketing efforts. How would I advertise?"
"Word of mouth only."
"That's not much of a business strategy."
"Well, then. I guess just having me will have to be good enough."
"Having you is more than good enough. Having you is amazing." He kissed Dave above his ear. "I don't and won't ever need anyone else. Just you."
"Just you for me. It's always just been you."
Kurt started singing.
You're the one that I want. You are the one I want.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, honey.
The one that I want. You are the one I want.
Ooh, ooh, ooh. The one I need.
Oh, yes indeed.
He leaned forward and started to tickle Dave by licking the edge of his ear. "I think I've gotten everywhere."
"I'm a pile of goo."
"A sexy pile of goo," Kurt ran his finger down Dave's ribs.
He squirmed. "Hey!"
"Just making sure you can still move."
"I can but I don't want to."
"I can't do the front if you stay on your stomach."
"Good point."
Kurt pushed up on his hands and feet and gave Dave room to turn over. "Mmm hmm." He put his weight back on his knees and elbows and kissed Dave. "I thought you might want the front done."
He bent his elbows and put his hands on the pillows near his head. "Far be it from me to deny you access to my arms that you are so fond of."
"Mmm hmm. I'm 99% sure that it's not your arms you're thinking about right now." Kurt pressed in and kissed him and was met with equal passion. "I'll take care of that too."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
After school on Tuesday, Kurt left Harmonichords rehearsal and drove to Paul's office. When he got there, he knocked on Paul's open door, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.
"Hey, Kurt. I have a few minutes like you asked."
"Thanks. I wanted to talk to you alone."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, actually everything is fine. I'm just nervous. I'm not sure how to say this. You know that our second anniversary is coming up this Monday."
"Yes."
"Well, I'm supposed to work that evening and Dave thinks that I am, but I worked it out with Mr. Harmon to work on Tuesday instead."
"Dave will like that." Paul smiled at him.
"So, I'll just get straight to why I came. While all of you were here and I was still in Lima, I planned something for our anniversary. I ordered an engagement ring and I had the inside of the band engraved . I'm not asking your permission because Dave's not a girl and that's an old tradition that I don't even like. I'm telling you because I want you to know that I didn't do this in response to his freak out last week. This is something I've been thinking about for quite a while. I wanted to wait until we were both 18 and we'd been together long enough to see that this isn't just a crush or puppy love or whatever. I really love Dave and I want to marry him. I know we're still in high school and I don't plan on running off and eloping."
Paul smiled again. "If you change your mind on the eloping, just make it an elopement for five, okay? We want to be there for the ceremony, even if you opt for a civil ceremony like Judy and I had."
Kurt was stunned silent.
"Kurt?"
He came back to himself. "Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm great, but stunned. I figured you'd try to talk me out of it and tell me that we're too young."
"Kurt, you became a second son to me ages ago. I've known for a long time that you'd do this at some point. You're both 18. Judy and I had an apartment built for the two of you. You live together like a married couple already. I'm not surprised about you asking Dave or opposed to you two getting married. I appreciate you telling me, but just so you know, I would have never thought you were doing this for any other reason than the fact that you love Dave and want to be married to him. I know you're not asking my permission, but I'm happy for both of you. Dave loves you. Judy and I love you. You're already family, Kurt. I couldn't pick a better partner for Dave if I tried."
"Thank you. I also wanted to see if you can work having a movie night with us once a week or every other week into your schedule. I realized over the weekend how much I miss you spending time with us. For quite a while it was just the three of us. We used to eat dinner together a lot and talk. We like having our own place, and we love Judy and Quinn, but we miss when it was just the three of us too."
"I'd love to. We can work on a guy's night. And maybe the two of you can set aside a time once every other week or something to cook or do something fun with Judy and I can do something with Quinn. I know she's not used to have a father that's involved in her life, but that's not how I want things."
"I'm sure she'll like that. She's just not used to it, like you said. I'm sure you could just take her out to eat different places around the area to look for her new favorite to start with."
"That's a good idea."
"I know I've told you before, but I'm really thankful you took me in. And I know that you moving here was because of me more than Dave. It was for Dave because he wanted to be with me, but you four could have been happy in Columbus or Toledo. It's an overwhelming feeling that you did that for me."
Paul got up and walked around to where Kurt was still standing. He pulled Kurt into a hug. He stepped back and put his hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Those weren't just words I was saying a few minutes ago. I really do love you like my own son. You're as much a part of this family as any of us. Quinn is happier here already. She's already making new friends. Judy likes the school where she's teaching. I like working here. It's different, but I like it. It hasn't really come up in conversation, but Andrew works here in this same law office. I went out to lunch with him Friday. And you heard Judy say that she's inviting Claire out this weekend. We didn't have any friends as a couple in Lima. Judy's friends dropped her like a hot potato when Quinn got pregnant and the few that did still speak to her quit when she filed for divorce. I still did things, like golf, with Azimio's dad occasionally, but that was it. We're starting over here too. We moved for ourselves as well. Lima had nothing to offer us as a couple, even as empty nesters next year. Please don't feel like we were pressured into doing this. Remember that this was our idea. We worked to get things arranged long before we told the three of you about it."
Kurt nodded. "Okay. I'll relax more about it. You can tell Judy, but only if she can keep from giving it away before Monday."
Paul stepped back and walked back around his desk to his chair.
"Could you ask him to do something before dinner? Like weed eat or mow or anything? That way I can make sure he doesn't just stay out until he thinks I'll be home from work. I'd like to take him out for dinner."
"Sure. I can do that."
"I'll let you get back to work. Thanks for letting me stop by."
"Sure. How about Friday or Saturday for the dinner together? You two can cook for me."
"I'll let you know." He opened the door and left it open as he left.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
The school week went more smoothly with them having a better idea what to expect and they started to get accustomed to the every-other-day aspect of their classes.
Dave went to both of his counseling sessions and worked through a lot of the things that the email had brought up and he was feeling much more calm about everything. He read through the parts of the Bible that had been recommended and he used a highlighter to mark all of the things that conflicted with what he had grown up being taught and that Martha had said. It helped him see that whether or not he believed that the teachings themselves were not what he had grown up being taught. He was able to let go of some of the anger and guilt for not being able to successfully pray it away like he had been told to do. And he came away from the sessions with a sense of calm that he had lost after reading the email. He found having someone to talk to about his issues with her that wasn't part of the situation to be very helpful.
Their plan to have all of their schoolwork that was due on Tuesday done over the weekend worked. They focused on it on Saturday during the day. Later that evening, Paul came up and ate dinner with them and watched a movie.
They went out on the lake on the boat on Sunday. They took the books they were reading with them and just lounged around reading. Sunday evening, they horsed around in the kitchen making a new recipe and singing like they did back in Lima.
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Paul asked Dave to come home and work on the yard Monday before dinner. When Kurt got home, Dave was in the shower. He changed quickly into dress clothes and laid clothes out for Dave on the bed. He put Dave's phone on top and texted him to put the clothes on and come out into the living room. He didn't want to scare him by being in the room when Dave opened the door.
Dave came out a few minutes after Kurt had finished. He picked his phone up and saw the missed text. He read it. Kurt heard him laugh and open the bedroom door a crack.
"Kurt?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"How are you here?"
"I switched days. I wouldn't miss our anniversary, if I could help it. Get dressed. We're going out for dinner."
"I'll be right out. Since we're going out, I'm going to dry my hair really quick."
"Okay."
A few minutes later, Dave came out.
Kurt looked back when he heard the bedroom door open the rest of the way. He winked at Dave, and then wolf whistled. "Very nice. That outfit is very flattering. Come sit with me."
Dave sat down. "I like your outfit too. Deep red looks really good on you." He leaned towards Kurt and kissed him.
"Thank you. Close your eyes."
Dave closed them. Kurt stood up, pulled the ring box out of his pocket, and knelt in front of Dave.
"Open your eyes."
He did and he looked at Kurt curiously.
"David Allen Karofsky, I love you more than words can express. I want to be your husband. Will you marry me?" He opened the ring box and held it out to Dave.
Dave was stunned into silence for a few seconds, and then he leaned forward and kissed Kurt. "Yes! Yes, I will marry you. I love you so much."
"Can I put the ring on you?"
"Yes, of course." He held his hand out.
Kurt took the ring out of the box and took Dave's hand. He gently pulled Dave's hand to his lips and kissed his ring finger. As he slipped the ring on his finger, he said, "You are the only one for me." He got up off his knees and sat down next to Dave on the futon. He took his hand and interlaced their fingers. "That's engraved on the inside of the ring." He leaned towards Dave and kissed him gently.
"How long have you been planning this?"
"A long time, but specific planning, over a month. I had to find a ring and order it in time. Engraving takes extra time when you order online. I searched while I was in Lima and you were here."
"I really like it. It's different, but it's really cool."
"I'm glad you like it."
He looked at it more carefully. "It your eye color and mine."
"It is. It's a tungsten carbide band with inlaid lapis lazuli and tiger's eye."
"Do you not want to wear a ring?"
"I do. I ordered a matching ring for me, but you can also choose something on your own if you want. I didn't want to assume. Since mine isn't engraved, it can be returned or exchanged."
"I've looked a few times online, but I never found anything like this. I also wasn't really sure what guys did, you know. Usually guys give girls diamonds and then don't wear a ring themselves until they get married."
"I know. I wasn't sure either, but I knew that I didn't want a diamond ring and I wanted something masculine, but still really beautiful."
"Where is your ring? I'd like yours to match mine. I can get it engraved still, right?"
"I'm sure there's a jewelry store here or in the City that can do it. We'll just have to check around." Kurt opened the ring box back up and removed the small fabric covered mounting piece and pulled his ring out. He handed it to Dave.
Dave removed it from the tiny fabric bag that it was in. He took Kurt's hand and gently slipped it on his finger. "It's always been you and it always will be." Tears slipped down his cheeks. "I love you so much."
Kurt reached out and gently wiped them away with his thumbs. He leaned in and kissed Dave just a gently. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm yours forever."
Dave stood up, and Kurt followed since he was unwilling to let go of Dave's hand. Kurt slipped his left hand up to the side of Dave's face and pressed in to kiss him with all the emotion he was feeling and was met with equal passion.
"Let's stop downstairs. I want to tell everyone and let them know we're not going to stay for dinner."
Kurt nodded. "Sure." He followed Dave through the door, and then locked it behind him.
Dave waited for him, and they went down together. Dave knocked twice and waited a few seconds before unlocking the door and entering the house through the studio. Paul and Judy were sitting in the living room together.
"Kurt asked me to marry him and we're going out to dinner," Dave said excitedly.
"Congratulations," Judy said sweetly. "I hope you enjoy wherever you're going." She looked at their hands. "You have rings. Can we see?"
Dave let go of Kurt's hand and they held their left hands out.
"Those are definitely interesting. The inlaid stripes are the colors of your eyes," Judy said.
Kurt smiled and nodded.
"They're lovely, but very masculine too."
Paul stood up and hugged both of them. "Congratulations. Have a good time. Let us know if you like the place. We'll go there some time if you do."
Dave asked, "You're okay with this, right?"
"Yes," Paul answered. "It just been a matter of 'when' not 'if' to me for a long time now."
"You two already know that seeing the two of you together made me realize how people in love actually look at each other and treat each other. That was a long time ago. I'm not surprised. I'm happy for the two of you." She stood up and hugged them next. "Go have fun. Actually, wait. You two look so nice, let me take a picture of you first." She got her phone out and had them stand on the front porch together and she took the picture. "Enjoy yourselves," she said as she went back inside.
As they got to the driveway, both of their phones pinged with texts. Kurt switched his lock screen and background picture to one of the ones Judy sent.
"Hold your hand out," Dave said. He interlaced their fingers and took a photo of their hands together on his leg. He changed his background picture to the photo of their hands.
"Send me that one. I like that for the background photo too."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
They made it to the restaurant that Kurt had chosen about 10 minutes later. Since it was Monday, there wasn't a long line. They were seated and looked through the menu.
"I don't know what any of this is or how to pronounce it," Dave said.
"Me neither. That's why it's an adventure."
When the server came around, the two of them pointed to the dishes they had chosen. When the she said the name of the dish, Kurt attempted to repeat what she had said. After a couple of tries, he got it right and she gave him a thumbs up. She pronounced the name of Dave's dish and encouraged him to try. After a few tries, she gave him a thumbs up too. She brought their drinks back quickly.
"Ka-na-moo-grab," Kurt said again.
"Nahm-preek-noom," Dave said. "I'll try to remember."
"Me too. I know it's unusual. That was the whole point. We talked about going out and looking for new things to do. Trying new food is on my list."
"I didn't mean to sound like I didn't want to be here. It's just sort of embarrassing not to be able to pronounce the names of the dishes."
"Just forget about being embarrassed. We don't speak the language and we've never had Thai food. This restaurant has to mostly stay open because people are willing to step outside of what they're used to and give it a try."
"You've always been a lot better at not getting embarrassed than me. I may be big and buff, or whatever, but I've always been more reserved."
"I know. I just want you to relax and not worry about being embarrassed when we don't know what we're doing. We'll figure it out." Kurt winked at him.
"What's the wink for?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out. Or to think hard enough about that you figure it out."
"Hmm."
Dave didn't have time to figure it out before their server was back with their food. Both of them took bites of the other's dish throughout the meal. They talked about any and everything. Kurt winked at Dave a few more times while they were eating, causing him to chuckle because he was still unable to figure out why Kurt was winking at him.
"So, what's your verdict?" Kurt asked.
"Two thumbs up and we tell everyone we liked it."
"I agree."
When the server came around, they asked for a box to take their leftovers in. Kurt put his card in the folder when she left their bill.
"Let me split it with you," Dave said, as he reached for his wallet.
"You can pay the next time we go out. This was my idea. This is why I needed to get a job, so I can treat sometimes too."
"But you paid for the rings."
"You can pay me back for mine if you want to, but I invited you out."
Kurt took his card back when the server returned. He signed the slip and left a cash tip. "Shall we?"
Dave nodded and stood up. He grabbed their box and followed Kurt out. He took his hand when they got outside. "It was good and I enjoyed it, especially the company."
"Me too."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Dave stopped and knocked on Quinn's door when Kurt was unlocking their door.
"Hey, Dave. What's up?"
He showed her his left hand. "It's our 2nd Anniversary today and Kurt asked me to marry him."
She hugged him, and then she stepped out farther and hugged Kurt. "I'm happy for the two of you. You're really good for each other. Happy anniversary."
"Thanks."
"Did you tell Mom and Dad?"
"We did. Dad said for him it was a matter of 'when' not 'if'. So, he wasn't surprised."
"Well, congratulations."
Kurt said, "Thanks."
Quinn closed her door back and Dave and Kurt stepped inside their apartment. Kurt closed and locked the door.
"Shower or shower and bath?"
"Umm. Shower. I feel more like snuggling in the bed than in the bathtub," Dave answered.
"Go ahead and get started. I'll put the food away." He took the box from Dave. He went over to the counter, emptied the contents of the box into two storage bowls, and put them in the fridge. He turned all of the lights off and went into the bedroom.
He hung his suit up as Dave was heading into the bathroom. He removed the comforter and replaced it with their blanket. He put the partially folder comforter over the back of the futon. He pulled out the box of supplies he had ordered online and put the contents on the bed and put the box back under the bed before got in the shower with Dave. Once they got out and dried off, Kurt took Dave by the hand and led him to the bed.
"You ordered everything."
"I did. After we finished reading that website about what we'd need and we looked through different products and talked about it, I went ahead and ordered what we had decided on."
"And you want to do this now? You're sure."
"I'm absolutely sure."
"I get it now. Earlier – you were thinking of this stuff and how we don't know what were doing."
"Mmm hmm. We'll figure it out together. We can look at the brochures or that website again if you want or we can go from memory. We're just nervous and that's okay. I know you love me and I love you. If we don't get it 'right' that just means we need to practice until we get good at it."
Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt. He hugged him and took a deep breath. "I want to do this with you."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt lay on Dave's chest propped on his elbows as his shoulders were giving out and he gave in and lay down on Dave. He kissed along his neck. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close and turned them slightly on their sides so Kurt could relax and not feel like he was squishing Dave.
"I'm certain that we need another shower," Kurt said, breathlessly. "How about a bath this time too?"
"Sounds great, as soon as you're ready to move. I never fully considered the amount of physical effort that would go into it."
"Totally worth the effort. I'm just tired."
"I can only imagine. My ideas put you in the position of having to do the work, but I was right about how amazing those hips would be. God, you're sexy. So much better than anything I had imagined."
He kissed Dave gently. "I love you." He nuzzled into Dave's neck and completely relaxed.
"I love you so much. You're not in pain are you?"
"No. What about you?"
"You were very gentle, so no. We'll lie here and rest for a while before we go shower again."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
They woke up a half-hour later and made their way to the bathroom after they put everything away and tossed the blanket in the washer. They showered quickly, rinsed the tub, and filled it with water. Kurt put some relaxing bath salts in and they got in and soaked for a while.
Kurt leaned back against Dave's chest. Dave wrapped his arms around him and drew "I", then a heart, then "U" on Kurt's chest under the water.
"Mmm. I love you too," Kurt said. "Two years ago, you did something very brave and I'm so glad you did. You are the sweetest, most amazing boyfriend. I'll probably still call you that, unless it bothers you now."
"Nope. It doesn't bother me. I'll probably do the same. I'm really glad I told you. I can't imagine continuing on the path I was headed down. I needed to take a completely different path. And now we've been together two years."
Kurt ran his fingers along Dave's forearms. "And lots more to come." He ran his hands down to Dave's hands. He ran his thumb over Dave's ring and then put his hands over Dave's and interlaced their fingers.
"When we were talking about tonight, dancing was on your list of things you wanted to do."
"Mmm hmm. I still want to. Are you ready to get out?"
"Yeah."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
Kurt had his arms around Dave's neck and Dave had his around Kurt's lower back.
Kurt chuckled.
"What's funny?"
"I was just remembering when we first started dating. You were so cute. You made me a kissing stone so we could kiss standing up without me having to tip toe."
Dave smiled. "I did. I wanted you to be comfortable."
"Now, we're dancing barefoot and it's comfortable. I fit in your arms perfectly."
"Mmm hmm." He kissed Kurt. "Now you're just the right height to kiss."
They danced and kissed through several more songs before either one of them said anything else.
"I made us dessert, if you're hungry enough to eat it."
"When did you have time?"
"I did it when I first got home and set the timer."
"You're sneaky and sweet. And yes, I want some of it."
Dave went to the fridge and pulled out a mini-cheesecake. He took it out of the container he was hiding it in and put it on the counter. He turned the light on above the sink so Kurt could see it.
"It's beautiful. Thank you. Don't cut it just yet." Kurt scurried off and came back with his phone. He took a photo. "Okay. Let's eat it. It looks fantastic."
Dave cut into quarters and put two slices on a plate. He put the other two back in the fridge. Kurt pulled his chair around to the end of the table and sat so that they could eat off the same plate. Once Dave sat down, Kurt took his first bite.
"Ooh, that is so good. It's a lemon cheesecake with blueberries. This is a new recipe."
"It is." He took a bite as well. "It is really good. I'll definitely keep the recipe."
[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]
They were up later than they normally were on school nights, but neither of them wanted to sleep. They were snuggled up in bed under the covers.
"I don't want tonight to end. I just want to stay snuggled up with you," Kurt said.
"It's been an amazing evening."
"I forgot to give you something. Help me remember in the morning. I got you this narrow cable key ring that has a fastener that screws shut. You can put it through the zipper on the pocket inside your backpack and fasten your ring to it while you skate since I know you can't wear jewelry while you're playing hockey."
"Thank you. I don't want to lose it. That's for sure."
"I got one for me too because at some point I'll have to not wear mine as well. In a play or something. I'm not sure what the rules are for Singspiration or Harmonichords. We may have to take them off for competitions as well."
"What are you going to tell people if they ask?"
"That some day I'm going to marry the most amazing guy I know." He kissed Dave. "What else would I tell them?"
Dave chuckled. "I don't know."
"Well, it's true," Kurt kissed him on the nose sassily.
"You're something, you know. And those hips." Dave ran his hand down and stopped on Kurt's waist.
"It was worth the wait. I feel closer to you and I didn't feel self-conscious like I would have if we had tried after we first started dating."
"I agree. I think we've gotten to where we can laugh at ourselves and still enjoy everything without being afraid of being rejected. Like you said when we first started dating, it ruins young relationships quite often. I can see how now. It takes a lot of vulnerability and trust to say what feels good and what doesn't. And if one person doesn't feel secure enough to speak up, it could become really one-sided and unfulfilling for that person and end up creating a barrier rather than drawing them closer over time."
"It could."
"I'm so glad we're together. You remember when you asked me to sing for you?"
"Of course. Your song won me over a bit, to be honest. You were so vulnerable with what you said. It was so sweet. It gave me a glimpse into who you really are."
"Then you remember what I said?"
"I do."
"I feel like that with you. I have for a long time. It just came to mind today that I had never told you. I wanted to make sure that you know."
"Even though you may have never said it, I've felt it for a long time, like you said." Kurt snuggled in close, closed his eyes, and relaxed. "Happy Anniversary, sweetie."
Dave felt Kurt starting to fall asleep and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you so much."
"Mmm. Love you too."
